music...one way God speaks to me.

Music is one of the many ways in which God speaks to us! This is something I have become more aware of as many of the songs I have recently listened to give me such peace and joy as well as a better understanding of who Jesus is and who I'm not! I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite songs right now. I pray they would encourage and speak to you as they have done to me!

"Christ is Risen" Matt Maher

"Oh Glorious Day" (Living He loved me) Casting Crowns

 

 "Glory to God Forever" Fee

 

 

 "Your Love Never Fails" Jesus Culture

"It is Finished" Matt Papa

"All I need is You" Hillsong United 

"I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live." -Psalm 104:33

"a peace that passes all understanding..."

 I have felt God's peace and presence in my life recently more than I ever have before. I never knew that my convictions could be so freeing. Over the past couple of months, He has shown me two specific things. 1) I give too much of my attention to material things...I must find my fulfillment in Christ alone and not those pair of shoes I am "dying" to have. 2)I shouldn't "serve God" to make myself look like a "better Christian" (I don't believe there is such a thing) but rather I should feel so compelled by His death for a wretch like me that I want to display "thank you" to Him in every aspect of my life.

While these are things I have heard preached time and time again, God has shaped them into the desires of my heart. As he convicts me of areas in my life that need transforming, yes, there is regret for my sin, but there is excitement knowing that God in his grace can change me from the inside out. With that being said, this requires me too put one hundred and ten percent of my faith in him and not in my own strength like I try to do all the time. Even the smallest glimpse of Who He is and who I am not can compel me to trust His ways and not my own. While my faith may be small, (maybe even smaller than a mustard seed at this point), it has to be in Him...noONE or noTHING else. There have been several instances lately in which I have seen how even if we try to plan things on our own, even down to the finest details,  God is the most beautiful and ONLY perfect planner there is! Nonetheless, there are things in my life I still worry about and therefore am ridiculous enough to try and control on my own.

I am sorry if this post is all over the place but as the Holy Spirit constantly reminds me of my constant need for the Lord, I have to write about how HE he is changing me! I know that I have been consumed with my own selfish desires for far too long and it is my desire that He becomes my number one desire.

"So as to live the rest of the time in flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."
1 Peter 4:2


Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"
Matthew 22:37

Everything my soul searches for is in Christ

Over the course of the past few months, God has really been showing me the things I find fulfillment in when I should be completely satisfied with him. One of the biggest things I have come to realize by his grace is that I value material possessions far more than He ever designed me too. Through this process of Him showing me how my love for material things has prevented me from having a more intimate relationship with him, I have become less content with "buying that new pair of shoes." Even though I know that it will take some time (probably a very long time) for me to allow God to tear down my obsession with material things He has shown me along the way that He is the only source of true fulfillment.

The sermon that was given at the church I go to at school this past Sunday hit very hard on this topic. After listening to it, I feel that it is one of the most influential sermons I have ever heard and I invite you to check it out! http://vimeo.com/24695941  

^"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. "
--Philippians 4:11-13

There has to be more...

 As I have been trying to finish up Crazy Love over the past couple of days, something I have been told and aware of for most of my Christian life has sort of "sunk" in and become very real and convicting to me.  I  feel like I have been so consumed with showing kindness to others  and staying away from worldly habits for so long in order to look like a "good christian" (whatever that is) that I have missed out on how God wants me to value others no matter what they may or may not have to offer me. Because I have always tried to look like the "good Christian girl" by just being friendly, Francis Chan's words were something I really needed to hear.

" I think sometimes we assume that if we are nice, people will know we are Christians and want to know more about Jesus. But it really doesn't work that way.  I know a lot of people who didn't know Christ and are really nice people. ....There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness, and even kindness. "

He then went on to share some verses in Luke Chapter 6, some which include "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that." From my experience, I know it is often too easy for me to be overly nice to someone who I know will for example "return the kindness." Quite contrary, I know even more than that I am not motivated to love those and reach out to those who will not give me anything in return. I am so convicted by this because I know that this is the kind of love that the Lord has graciously bestowed upon me. God sent His only son and Jesus died for no reason other than the fact that he loved me. He knew that I couldn't give Him anything in return, still He chose to die the most terrible death imaginable because He loved unconditionally, something that is radical by the world's standards and expected by Jesus. Realizing that I fail over and over again to show this love to others, I am more grateful than ever that Jesus freely offered me this love. This has caused me look forward to the time I spend learning from the perfect teacher more than ever before. I pray that I could continue to grow more dependent on His word each day!

I apologize if this post was hard to follow, I just learn even so much more about my Savior when I try to write out the things He is showing me in my life!

birthdays and picnics...oh my!

I have enjoyed being home for the past couple of days so much that I honestly don't want to go back to school tomorrow! The past couple of days have reminded me of summer time which will make it even hard to go back and gear up for exams...knowing I will be done in two weeks is motivating, however. :)

Yesterday, I went to Smithfield to celebrate with my friend Mallory, her family, and our friend Shea for Mal's birthday! I love being around her family. They are such sweet, funny, and kind people...just like Mallory. They fixed an amazing dinner of salad, pasta, fruit and party rolls (props to Mal :).  For dessert, the birthday girl herself baked a pound cake with brown sugar butter cream icing...it was amazing! After dinner, Mallory's sweet friend from high school Elizabeth came over and we all had so much fun looking at their old photos from elementary, middle, and high school.  It was so much fun to look back into Mallory's life before I knew her! Even though I didn't know her during those times, I feel like I have known her ( and all the other friends God has blessed me with at Carolina) all of my life and I am so grateful for her friendship...Happy Birfffday, Mal!

Shea, Mal (Birthday Girl!), Me, and Mal's Sister, Copeland

Tonight, Jocelyn and I were going to meet Mallory and some other people to watch one of our friends play in his band but it got canceled so me and Jocelyn went on a little adventure! While we were driving through Fuquay we saw these little costume characters advertising for something, but I don't really know what haha. Jocelyn said, "let's stop and take a picture!" Because you never see stuff like this in Fuquay,  we turned around, parked the car and got a couple of pictures.  It was so random we just had to stop...it was like DisneyWorld had come to Fuquay, but not really...

Just like Disney World!..uh-huh..

Since it was such a beautiful day, we knew we wanted to eat dinner somewhere outside. We contemplated going to eat somewhere on Gleenwood but came up with a better idea...a picnic! Because no picnic is complete without a red and white checked table cloth and picnic basket, we did some searching at Wal-Mart and bought one of each! We decided this investment was well-worth it because we hope to have many picnics with our friends in the future. :) We made our way to Char-Grill to order our picnic fixins...steak juniors, french fries, and Dr.Peppers/Pepsis..yum! After we put all of our food in the basket we headed towards what Jocelyn said was the perfect picnic spot, Lake Johnson.  Well, when we got there it was starting to get a little dark, we couldn't find a good picnic spot, and we felt quite out of place and fat because everyone was either hiking or running and we were toting our cheesburgers!  We then decided our next best option was the WRAL Azalea Gardens..perfect, I had been wanting to go here all spring!  Well once we got there it really was starting to get dark so we were forced to have our picnic under an area light! haha I have to say I have never had a picnic when it was dark out but somehow we managed and it was quite hilarious!

 Char-Grill Picnic!

Like I said, between the Cupcake Bite with Olivia, seeing my family, Mallory's birthday, and the picnic with Jocelyn, I have to remind myself that it's not quite summer yet! I am so thankful for the time I have been able to spend with all of my sweet friends and family and I especially look forward to celebrating our Risen Lord with my family tomorrow! There will be a a Sunrise Easter Service at the cross at 6:30. (all are welcome!)I am so excited because I have never been to a sunrise service and I think it will be very special! After that, we will eat breakfast and go to Wake Chapel's Easter service. I haven't been to my home church in about six weeks so it will be so nice to see everyone! After church we will go to Meme's for a delecious lunch (which I have heard will included twice baked potatoes...yay!) and hopefully the traditional Easter egg hunt! Between the blessings of worship, wonderful family, and good food, my prayer is that my thoughts would constantly be directed on the Savior and the sacrifice He made so that I may live. I can't even comprehend the pain and suffering He endured so that I could live in fellowship and love with His father. I pray that God would show me each day how stained I am and how perfect He is. Happy Easter everyone, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!"

On a side note... one of my favorite songs..Click here to listen!