Learning to live for HIS glory

Lately the Lord's been working on getting to the heart issues behind a lot of the struggles in my life. He's doing it by revealing to me the adulterer I am . . . "You adulteresses , do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."  ~James 4:4 That verse always gets me.  It makes me stop, and usually groan!  Because for me, the idol that probably creeps in to the place God should have in my life most frequently, is a desire for the approval, affirmation, & acceptance of other people.  Sound anything like being a friend of the world? Yeah..... Know what though?  Living life with pleasing people as my motivation is exhausting and frustrating. Sure, I get those high moments.  When someone notices I did a good job and points it out, when a friend or parent agrees that I made the right decision, or when someone who's usually annoyed gives me a g...

Singleness.  Surprised? I am.  See, if I were to be honest, I'd have to tell you that one of the dearest dreams of my heart is to one day be a wife and mom.  And yet, I really, truly am thankful for my singleness.  I realized that just recently.  Actually, just last week, maybe. So for those of you who are walking the single path right now, can I just offer some positive thoughts of encouragement? (those of you who are married, please stick around . . . I'd like to share something with you too.) I know this path can be rather frustrating at times.  I've been there, trust me, I get it.  But you know what?  What a tremendous gift we've been given in this season of life!  The concerns of a marriage and taking care of little kiddos don't have claim to our time, so instead we are free to focus on loving and investing in a variety of other people, learning new things, growing in our love for the Lord, and going on adventures! Now don't ge...

To sit with someone you love as they cry and not have the ability to do anything about the situation that causes the tears, or to hear a beloved voice on the phone break with emotion and not be able to reach out and hug them . . . these must be some of the most difficult situations a person can face.  I know for me they're painful.  This life is filled with burdens, and sometimes they heap up on us till we feel like we're drowning.  Some moments are just hard, sometimes the right words are completely elusive, and often times prayer is all we can offer.  When I start to think like that, I must remind myself that prayer is the most powerful thing we can offer!  Prayer taps into the power of the Almighty God who is ever faithful, created this world, loves perfectly, and raises people from the dead!  His is the power that can change a situation, and use everything for good in the lives of those who love Him. And in those moments when the burdens feel to heavy ...

"Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.  In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.  For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.  Above all, ke...

Discouraged.  That's how she felt.  Thoughts of whether or not her prayers were worthwhile clouded her mind, and she wondered if God would ever come through and work as she had been pleading Him to.  Did her prayers really matter?  Frustration, sadness, discouragement, disillusionment . . . these emotions hung over her like a cloud, and she wondered where to turn--what to do.  "Does He hear me?," she wondered, "Why can't I see Him working?" Do you identify with "her"?  I do.  But maybe that's because these words are a description of me.  Just last weekend I felt like I was living inside a gray cloud.  Discouragement filled my heart and mind because I could not see God at work in those areas where I was begging Him to show up.  However, in the midst of the dark cloud of discouragement, the Lord sent a piercing ray of light to my heart.  He encouraged my weary soul with His truth and in so doing reminded me of His incredibly persona...

Today is Easter or Resurrection Day, a day on which we (as those who believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior) purpose to remember His sacrifice for us on the cross.  But not just His sacrifice, not just His pain and death, no we also remember His life.  For He IS RISEN!  When He died He didn't stay dead, but rose again to give us newness of life . . . to offer us the opportunity to choose Him, and in Him, victory over sin and death.  My heart is overflowing today--overflowing with joy!  For these are the truths that bring joy . . . and hope, and peace.  And I want to remember these truths, not just today, but every day.  For they are just as true tomorrow as today, and just as true next month as tomorrow.  These are the truths that put a smile on my face, and make me cheerful even when I am at work and it is 7 in the morning.  I desperately need to claim them as true in my life, to reckon them, daily.  For then I live as I a...

So I was reading through old journals the other day and came across this word picture . . . I thought I'd share--after a little editing :) . . .   Life is meant to be a duet, a harmony.  Lived out in the ups and downs of human life--it is a dependence on the God of the universe.  It is to be a blending of the Divine and human, woven together so intricately that you cannot tell one from the other.  For this is what Jesus so perfectly portrayed.  He was fully God and fully man, and He is our example.  Much more though, He lives in us!  And it is His example of the Divine and human so perfectly woven into one that we are to imitate . . . our lives in harmony with God and His plan.  When we look just at our own lives sometimes we see missing pieces, and sometimes it doesn't make sense.  Often times it just does not look or sound pretty.  But that is the way harmony works--we are dependent on the other part--because without it we don't reall...