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sunset

Beauty

What do you find beautiful? 



To me, one of the most beautiful things is the sunset and I love to watch as brilliant colors light up the sky.  One of my struggles, as a girl, is to find beauty in myself.  But God reminded me one night this summer that there is great beauty in me because He is in me!  As I was swinging in a rope swing while watching a gorgeous sunset out at Berry, thinking and praying, God gave me a beautitul picture of what beauty is.  Then sunset was incredible, and as I turned around behind me, I realized that there was just as much color and beauty reflecting off the wall of one of the dorms.  As a daughter of God, and because I was created in His image, His magnificant beauty is relecting through me.  "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to the next."  2 Corinthians 3:18  What a refreshing and peaceful thought that we are beautiful simply because we reflect Him!

Are you sure this is common!?

 9/2/2009 9:57 AM
 I often ask myself that as I look around me and think and wonder 
am I the only one going through this!?
GOD, ARE YOU SURE THIS IS COMMON!  


 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."


     One of the things that has been driving me crazy in ministry is the fact that I am constantly surrounded by people who seem to have it all together!  While I know that just like me, many of them are suffering and struggling in their walk with the Lord, it often never crosses my mind in the moment and I have this belief that I'm the only one that feels this.  It is such a great reminder that we can see from 1 Corinthians that all temtation is common, we know that without a doubt that someone else is going through the same thing we are.  And as awkward and wrong as it sounds when talking about temptation, it is good to know that we're not alone in our struggle!  
     Two things that I have found from this passage that help me in this struggle is God's promise that he will never allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, and even through your struggle whether you see it or not...there's always a way out!  
     First the fact that this tells us that we will never be tempted beyond what we can bear in and of itself is a great promise that we should all be thankful for!  The awesome awareness that this promise provides is that GOD IS TOTALLY IN CONTROL.  If you look at James 1:13 you can see that God is never the one who tempts us, but also looking at the story of Job(Job 1:12) we find that He is the one that allows it! Through this we have a constant reminder that no matter what we are going through God is always in control and watching every situation that we are in.  The only problem with us is that our faith is shaken by our doubts that causes us to lose our belief in His power and control.
     The second thing that comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13 is that God always provides a way out!? HUH?!?!? Are you serious! Are you sure?  "Wait, God I can assure you that there have been many times when I have been tempted that there wasn't a chance I could have gotten myself out of it!" Well, were wrong!  I, hopefully like you, have found myself in a situation many times where I thought to myself, what's the way out!?  The thing that I want to believe as a truth provided by the Bible is that there is always one, its just up to us to find it.  Well reality for us is that were probably ignorant and while were constantly looking for it all around us, its right below our noses in the very place that told us God will provide a way out.  ITS IN SCRIPTURE!  I feel ignorant saying that I have neglected to make this a habit of my own, but SCRIPTURE MEMORY seems to me like the most practical way to combat temptation.  Maybe God's way of providing us a way out was to also provide us with the truths of scripture.  I mean if we read in Matthew 4, where Jesus is being tempted by Satan in the desert, its not like Jesus was looking for the nearest door or trying to run away from Satan.  NO, He looked him straight in the face and "told him off" with scripture!  Was this because He could, He is Jesus, I don't necessarily believe so, it was because He followed the Lord too, and studied his word, and knew just as the Psalms 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you".
    So here's my first blog!  Honestly, its a little deeper than I was planning on going for a first blog, but its definitely something that I am learning myself so what better to write about!  Below I'm listing a short couple of verses that to me can be perfect ways to combat temptation.  Put these to memory!

Psalm 119:11, 2 Cor. 12:9, Psalm 119:105, James 1:12-15, 1 Cor. 10:13, Heb. 4:14-15

                                                                                                     Harris

25 Things

 2/5/2009 12:10 PM
I have been tagged in several of the notes "25 Things" on Facebook... Someone sends you a note with 25 random things about themselves so that you can know them a little better, and they tag you (wanting you to write a "25 Things" note and tag them back) because they want to get to know you a little better.  I wonder what a note from God would look like, maybe something like this:
  1. I love you unconditionally.
  2. You are mine.
  3. I gave my life for you.
  4. My death brought you life.
  5. My righteousness is now yours.
  6. In me, you will hunger and thirst no more.
  7. I am with you.
  8. I will lead you beside still waters.
  9. I knit you together in your mother's womb.
  10. I restored your soul.
  11. I pursue you.
  12. I will never leave you.
  13. I have brought you out of the pit.
  14. I have held you while you cried.
  15. I have poured out my spirit on you.
  16. I have filled you with joy.
  17. I want to know you intimately.
  18. My love completes you.
  19. My love never fails.
  20. Every tear you cry, I hold in my hand.
  21. I have given you hope.
  22. I am the beginning.
  23. I am the end.
  24. I am the way, the truth, and the life.
  25. I am.
He has tagged me, and He wants me to tag Him back.

Prince Caspian

 1/16/2009 5:35 PM

Aslan's Return

So I watched Prince Caspian the other day with my wife and loved it. I was particularly intrigued by the scene in which Lucy (little girl) finally finds Aslan (lion/Christ figure). When she sees Aslan she runs and buries her face in his mane, with a smile that is priceless. The same Aslan who easily destroys all of the fierce enemies in Narnia is the same Aslan that allows Lucy to find comfort in him.

Can you imagine burying your face in the mane of a lion? Of course not, the lion would devour you. But not so with Aslan, and not so with another lion, the Lion of Judah.

Jesus is more powerful than ten thousand lions, yet invites us to find rest in Him. We see this expressed in John 13:23: "One of his disciples (John), whom Jesus loved, was reclining at the table close to Jesus". The literal translation of this verse says that John was resting his head on Jesus' chest. What a great picture of the comfort, peace, joy, and satisfaction that is to be found in Jesus.

He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Lion of Judah, the most powerful being in the universe...yet as believers we can find rest in Him.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28)

Bill Pardue

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My Jesus...

 1/13/2009 6:52 PM
My Jesus STILL died for me knowing that I would sin.
My Jesus gives me a new direction each morning knowing I probably won't follow it.
My Jesus brings me to my knees only to set me up on my feet.
My Jesus loves me even more every time I lose my witness.
My Jesus created me for greatness because He created me in His image.
My Jesus always answers my prayers on His timing.
My Jesus gives me eyes to see past the things of this world and the mind to have the faith that it exists.
My Jesus gives me the ability to do His will knowing I may choose not to.
My Jesus WANTS to come back and call me home knowing that at one point I rejected Him.
My Jesus loves the person I despise the most through me making it a little easier.
My Jesus can answer my prayer on a Jefferson's dollar hanging on the wall that says "Jesus Is Coming".
My Jesus lets me get mad at Him when my plan doesn't work out knowing that I'm about to be shocked by just how radical He is about to be.
My Jesus always works in me and through me even when I'm scared for him to.
My Jesus gives me the confidence to be used by Him even when I don't think I'm capable.
My Jesus forgives me even when I am sick over what I have just done.
My Jesus showed me a complete view of who He is knowing that I would run in the other direction.
My Jesus is still the same in a NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every 30 seconds a child in South Africa is orphaned by Aids...My Jesus is calling them to their REAl home one by one.

--Jessica Vick--