Unconditional Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move a mountains, but do not have love, I AM NOTHING. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
This scripture really stuck out to me. When people think of love they usually think of the feeling not the giving. When we start dating someone, get married or become friends our first thought is usually, "How does this person make me feel?" In the beginning it's usually pretty great. We go out of our way to make the other person think we are their ideal person. We love what they love and go out of our way to make them feel special. As time goes on and they start not being the exact person we want them to be, we "fall out of love" with them. Love however, is a choice not a feeling. We have to choose to love them even when we feel they don't deserve it. We have to choose to make people feel special even when we don't get that in return. We have to choose to stand by them when they mess up or betray our trust. I'm not saying its easy but it is a choice. Because if we don't love...then what we say, do, or give up is for nothing. So think of how you can make the people you say you love...feel loved. Ask yourself if I am loving these people with real love. Am I willing to love unconditionally...and most of all...ask God to help you love them like he loves them because true love is seeing people through his eyes and loving them with his love.

Unity

Psalm 133:1
"How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity."

How do we achieve unity? First our hearts have to be united with God and his will. If we are not united with God we have no foundation.
How do we achieve unity?
Colossians 3:14 says, "And over all these virtues put on LOVE, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Love binds all virtues...love is the key ingredient in unity. If we love one another we make His joy complete. Phillipians 2:1-2 says, "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being UNITED with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion then make my joy complete by being like-minded having the same love, being one in spirit and one in mind."
We have to give up our selfishness and react in Love. If everyone would react in humility towards one another and value each other above themselves unbelievers would see Jesus through us. We would be a witness with actions and not by denomination. God gives us clear instructions in his Word to help us succeed and live fulfilling lives but we often can't see past ourselves to follow it. Romans 15:6 says if we are ONE mind and ONE voice then we Glorify GOD!
So love God above all else, be united with his spirit, and unite your actions with his word and we will glorify HIM =)

Psalm 86:11-12

"Teach me your way ,O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Learning is a never ending process...trust me I know. But what we sometimes fail to realize is that God is a never ending learning process. He is teaching us everyday but it is up to us to learn and follow his path. If we stay in his truth we will walk straight into the goodness he has for us. The road is not smooth but usually bumpy and with lots of twists but if we seek him whole heartedly he will sheild us. So walk with him, talk with him and praise him....and you reap the fruit.

Gods Promises

My Sunday usually consists of the same thing. Mom wakes me up early cause if she's up then everyone should be too =), I have my coffee, and I watch Joel Osteen before I get ready to go to church. Today Joel was talking about God fulfilling his promises to us even when we give up or don't believe. He places those promises in our hearts. So after I watched Joel I was reading the bible and looked up what God says about his promises. This is what I found and its so amazing how God confirms everything through his Word.

Joshua 23:14
"Now I am about to go the way of all the Earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.

NOT ONE HAS FAILED!!! Because God does not fail!! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He never fails us. We can count on his promises.

Jeremiah 31:33
"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I WILL BE THEIR GOD and THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE."

Luke 1:45
"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her."

God fulfills his promises he makes, he never fails, he does what he says he is going to do, and we can't stop him. All he asks of us is to allow him full reign in our lives, trust in that he knows and wants the absolute best for us, and he wants us as we are. He has an outstretched arm... not a fist. He loves us more than anyone can.

Psalm 73:26 says, "My flesh and my heart may fail but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
1 John 3:20 says, "If our hearts condemn us we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

Mark 11:25 Resentment

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins."

This has been an issue for me recently. Resentment. Its hard for me to admit to myself but... it is what it is. I have had resentment and I need to let it go because if I don't then I only harm myself. So today I let it go. I no longer hold resentment in my heart. I will not allow this to have any part in my life.
Jesus wants us to forgive so he can forgive us. God can not bless us if we have resentment in our hearts and it only hurts the one with the resentment. I am so glad that God doesnt give up on us. He is still there no matter what. His grace is always sufficient.

Rejection

One thing every human being has in common is at some point in their life they have experienced rejection. Could've been a minor rejection like someone not making the team in school to a major rejection like from a parent not loving their child. Everyone of us has experienced rejection. What floored me was the fact that Jesus experienced it also. Not just from people but from God also. This rejection is told in Matthew 27:45-51.
"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling to Elijah." Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him." And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The Earth shook and the rocks split."
This was the first time the Son of God prayed and God did not answer him. Why? Cause Jesus was identified with our sin. God had to turn his head and his ears away from Jesus in order for the ultimate sacrifice to be made for his people to be saved. This amazes me when I think about what that means. The same rejection we have faced or felt....Jesus felt. Jesus in the last hour thought that his Father had forsaken him.. How many times in our lives have we felt that God has forsaken us. How many angry prayers have we prayed when something bad happens. We always blame God for forsaking us. But the rejection that Jesus endured was so that God could turn rejection into ACCEPTANCE....If not for that rejection we would not be accepted and forgiven. God wants to do that in our lives. He wants to take all the rejections we have endured and accept us for who we are. He wants us to know when no one else wants us...He does. He wants every flaw, every imperfection, and every bad choice we have made so when he turns those bare branches into fruit producing, we will know his love for us is endless.

Trusting in the Lord

I have been reading a book by Beth Moore called, "A woman and her God." In one part of the book it talks about learning to trust in God in the different stages of life. So I looked up all the verses in the Bible that tells what God says about trusting in him. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." All your heart, not half or a little bit!! And lean not on your own understanding! I have trouble with this. If I don't understand why something happened I try to rationalize it in my mind when I need to pray and wait. Proverbs 28:25, "The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the lord will prosper." Isaiah 26:4, "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself is the Rock eternal. Psalm 37:3, "Trust in the Lord and do good,; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." Psalm 125:1, "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever." Jeremiah 17:7, "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him."
These are just a glimpse in what the Word says about trusting in him and its a lot. God is very adament about trusting in him and casting all your cares on him. So trust in the Lord your God and let him take care of the rest =) As women we are natural worriers and have a hard time leaning on anyone, but God wants to take care of us so we don't have to worry. Lean on him and trust him...he will be faithful to complete his work!

Hebrews 11:6

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is rewarder of those who seek Him."
What is so wonderful is that God wants to have a relationship with us. All we have to do is believe in Him, have faith in Him, and seek him daily. If you start a new relationship with a person you tend to spend all your time finding everything out about that person, you want to spend every waking minute with them, you want to make them happy, and you enjoy being with them. That's how we should be with God. The one who loves us more than anyone can. Who loves us unconditionally like no one else is capable of. Who has all our best interests at heart and who expects nothing but your heart in return. Who wrote a whole book about his love for us and all we have to do is read it =) So seek Him daily through prayer, worship, and His word. Love him like He loves you!

Attitude Romans 15:5

"May the God who gives you endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had."

Attitude.....hmmm...Sometimes its the hardest thing to tame when it comes to dealing with people. Your attitude can make or break you in most instances. Sometimes it is really trying to be nice to someone that has taken everything from you except your birthday. I pray daily that God will give me the attitude he wants me to have and also put his hand over my mouth =) A lot of times though, even when the other persons attitude is awful, you can ward off problems by approaching the situation with a good attitude. It sorta throws the other person off and allows God to deal with the situation. We can do all things through Christ that strengthens us if we give him the opportunity. So we need to react in Love even when we feel like they deserve way less cause God will bless us for it.
Another instance is with your spouse and kids. The people we have the worst attitudes with are the ones we love the most. God wants us to approach our loved ones with a servents heart. Ask yourself, "what can I do to make my spouse or children know I love them?" "what attitude will show them they mean more to me than myself?" "What can I do for them today?"If you do, you will find that not only will they approach you with the same attitude but God will bless you for it.

He works all things for Good =)

Sunday at church my pastor Brent told us a story about a man that would travel to Amsterdam to witness to people by handing out new testament Bibles to the druggies. One day a man asked if he could have a Bible,  not to read but he liked it cause the pages were good for rolling joints. The man thought for a moment then gave him a Bible under one condition. Before he ripped the pages out and rolled a joint he had to promise to read the page. The man agreed and went on his way. A few months later the man ran into the druggie but to his surprise, the man was saved. The man asked the former druggie what changed him. The man proceeded to tell him that he smoked Matthew, Mark, and Luke but when he got to John, John smoked him.
What I took from that was a couple things....the first was that the guy did not judge the druggie. Even though he knew what he was going to use the Bible for he knew that Gods word had power. The fact that the man trusted God to use it for good and He did. Sometimes we are just a vehicle for God. He can use anything for his perfect will. Its not our job to lecture, judge, or look down on people cause that just hinders what God is trying to do. He loves us all and no matter how messed up we are or how good we think we are. So trust God to work all things for good and do what he asks of us which is to Love one another as he loves us.

Romans 8:28

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

We all make mistakes. We all have times when we wish we could have a "do over." I know I do. I have made my fair share of screw ups in my day that I would give anything to go back and do it differently. I had asked Gods forgiveness over and over but still felt I wasnt forgiven. It took a long time but God showed me that it wasn't that He hadn't forgiven me, it was that I wasn't forgiving myself. I felt that I was unworthy of his forgiveness even though I knew what his word said. He showed me that even though the sins I had committed were horrible, thats why he gave his Son. Jesus died a horrible death so we would be able to lay all our sins at the foot of the cross and leave them there. What is consistent in his word is his Grace. His Grace allows us to take those mistakes and turn them into good for his name sake. There are numerous people in the Bible that made huge mistakes that God turned into good. God likes for us to prevent these sins before they occur but He also is quick to forgive us when we fall short. Although I wish I had never committed those sins, I now know that I never want to go through those things again. I am maturing in being the woman, mother, and companion that God is calling me to be. I will always strive to be a woman of integrity and to please God in every aspect of my life.

Proverbs 31:30

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

I know a lot of people who can charm their way out of any situation. I was one of them. But one thing I have realized is that those abilities, although good for the moment, don't last. I do not want to be known for charm, beauty, or any other worldy attribute. I want to be known for my relationship with Jesus. A while back I took a really hard look at my life and asked myself....do people see Jesus through my actions and attitude? Do they see me as a Godly example? I didn't like the answer. It was a big fat NO. Over the years I was not a Godly woman. I chose a path of pure destruction and knew every step of the way. I chose to keep God at arms length cause I knew that I was not pleasing him and I didn't want to feel convicted. What I did realize is that there is no happiness outside of him. Everything fell apart. I was miserable. It wasn't until I was soo tired of being out of his will that I cried out to him to change me. I knew what it felt like to be in his will and out of his will and being out of it was a place I never want to be again. The great thing about Jesus is his unfailing love for us. No matter the mess we get ourselves in he is right there to pick us up and dust off the dirt. We can be the worst of the worst and he will always love and forgive us if we ask him to. So from that moment on I rededicated my life to him and here I am now. I hope people see him through me and I want to always be right by his side. I want to be a woman who fears him and known for loving him whole-heartedly.

James 1:2-4

"Consider it all joy, my brethern, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

I need to read this verse daily =) Sometimes the endurance is the hardest part. Like running a marathon..could you run a marathon if you didn't know how long it was or how tough it would be? What if the only guarentee was that you would be stronger? That's what faith is...its the sustaining power that fuels our endurance. And with endurance comes growth and maturity that will allow us to handle situations the way God wants us to handle them. Without allowing feelings or selfishness to rule. So God wants us to rejoice in tough times and praise him through it because when we give him glory we will see glory in the end result!

Fear

"When fear shapes our lives, safety becomes our God. When safety becomes our God, we worshp the risk free life. Can the safety lover do anything great? Can the risk-averse accomplish noble deeds? For God? For others? NO! The fear filled cannot love deeply. Love is risky. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarentee of return. The fear-filled cannot dream wildly.What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? The worship of safety emasculates greatness. No wonder Jesus wages such a war against fear."

Max Lucado

I've been reading this book by Max Lucado and this stuck out to me. Fear can be a persons way of making sure nothing ever goes wrong in their life and a way of protecting oneself from vulnerability. "fears main goal is to keep you from God's plan for your life." Max Lucado

Better than a Hallelujah

"We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah"
Amy Grant
I love this song because no matter what has gone wrong or how low I feel, I know I can cry to Jesus and its music to him. He loves to rescue us in our worst of times and show how much he loves us. In the times of trials when all we have left is the energy to completely and humbly call for his comfort, he is always right there waiting to scoop us under his wing and love us regardless of the mess we are in.

Psalm 37:4-5

"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He WILL give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in HIM, and He WILL do it."

My sister Michelle gave me a 16month planner as a gift the other day and it's also a compilation of the book of Psalms. Each day there is a new verse. It really touched my heart because its exactly the amount of time I have til graduation, ending just a couple weeks after. So after seeing the very first verse, Psalm 37:4-5, I really felt that not only was this a personal gift from my wonderful sissy but a gift from God. So I prayed and told God that I will dedicate this span of time to him. I know he has my whole life but I felt that this was a time frame to really seek him and to make certain the desires of my heart meet the desires of his. I made a commitment to trust in him to put those desires there and to commit my ways to him. I know that this will be a time of growth and a renewing of my spirit. MY eyes are locked on him and I can't wait to see the end result. Because what God speaks, he will do. His word is set! I also vow to be a woman of faith. I know the things he has spoke and shown me and I have had a really trying time just trusting fully but from this day forward I will put every ounce of faith in those promises. My God is faithful =)

Isaiah 40:31

"Yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

Hurry up and wait. In our day of instant gratification we want God to act immediately. If we are in the midst of trials in our life that makes us the least bit uncomfortable we become restless and discouraged. If we allow God to work in us and through us we will find that when God does move it will be better than we imagined. God takes this time to mold us and shape us into the person we need to be. If we don't allow him to work out all the kinks then we will not be well equipped to face tribulations. This is a struggle of mine. I know what God says, but its hard for me to wait. I know though that he is bigger than any circumstance and when he speaks its as good as done. So I will continue to wait and allow him to work out all the kinks cause I have faith that his word is in the works.

Mark 5:28

"For she thought, if I just touch His garments, I will get well."

Faith....How many times do we claim to have faith that God knows what he's doing, that he has our best interest at heart, and that he will follow through with his word. The lady in the scripture knew that all she had to do was come into his presence and she would be healed. Her faith, Jesus said, had healed her. "Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from suffering."
She didn't try to pay Jesus, she didn't have anything to offer, but yet she knew she had faith. This speaks volumes to me. Sometimes all we have left to offer Jesus is ourselves and thats all he has asked of us. To give him our very being and have faith that he will provide our every need.
Are you facing a mountain that looks to big for you to overcome? It is too big for us alone but we need to tell our mountain how big our God is. He wants to show us he can move mountains if we just cry out to him. We also must allow God to work in his timing also. Our time table is not Gods time table. He works behind the scenes when we feel he's let go of us.
Look at the story of Lazarus. His sisters called out to Jesus to heal Lazarus. They waited but Jesus had not come. We all know that Lazarus died and his sisters lost all faith. Can you blame them? He was dead and had already started the decaying process. Jesus knew....and this always gives me chills...that if he healed Lazarus immediately on all of their timing, the glory of the miracle would not be known. He waited til he was stinking and beyond the ability of the human mind to even comprehend that he would or could be healed. It was at that point that faith was all they had. What did the sister say to Jesus when she saw him? She said to him, Lord if you had been here my brother would still be alive. She had lost all faith cause Jesus did not perform in her timing. and Jesus replied, did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? Chills again....Even after all hope was lost Jesus stepped in and performed his miracles. To this day having faith in Jesus Christ that he will perform his word and move mountains can be seen in this story. Although we may not see him working,, he is working!! Allow him to perform in his timing and you will see miracles above and beyond what your human mind could comprehend!!!
Father, I ask that even though we may not know your working, that we will have faith that you are working for our good. I ask that we will allow you to perform in your timing in Jesus name!! Amen

Phillipians 3:13-14

"I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Shewww a big slap in the face this morning. I allowed myself to get caught up in the past when I shouldve been reaching for what God has in store for my future. When you give it all to God to do his perfect will....leave it there. When we put our hand in things we only mess up what God has worked so hard to build. All I know is that our God puts desires in our hearts and he wants to fulfill those if we would just allow him to do so.

Ephesians 4:2

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Humble- means not proud or arrogant but modest

Gentle-mild in temperment or behavior, kind and tender

Patient- state of endurance under difficult circumstances

Bearing-attitudes toward others

Love-  virtue representing all human kindness

To me this scripture really hit home when I really studied the words and their meanings. How awesome would all our relationships be if we lived by these simple words. If all our attitudes reflected these simple actions. Thats what Christ is with us and thats why he wants us to resemble him by treating people with love, patience, and gentleness.

Ok I want everyone to take one day and treat every person you encounter with these actions. Instead of being quick to anger, be patient and kind, greet everyone with a kind word and see where you are at the end of the day =)

Joel 2:13

"Return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love."

How many times have you felt unworthy of Gods love and grace? I have a ton. Sometimes I would think there is no way God could still love me after things I had done. But what I found was that God poured out his love even more for me. We believe in Jesus dying for our sins but often times we still feel that certain sins are to big for even God to show us grace. But God is faithful, slow to anger and compassionate. He loves us beyond any human comprehension. He wants the absolute best for us not matter the shape we are in. He sent his only Son to show the greatest act of love that could ever be shown.. Think about it..could you sacrifice, watch your only child be beaten and tortured to save people just in your community? Even if they bad mouthed you and hated you? GOD DID =) and all he wants in return is to live in your heart and for you to love him and know he is GOD.

Jeremiah 29: 11-13

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

This scripture is one I read over and over. It has brought me through a lot of struggles I've had in my life. How many times do we second guess that God has our best interest at heart. He knows every desire of our hearts because HE places them there. Our job is to allow him full control in every area not just ones we pick for him.

I remember saying I would never be a nurse..I saw what my mother had to endure and I absolutely did not want to go through that. But God had a different plan. I look back at every step I had to face and know now that God had it all mapped out. Every job I've had, training, education, etc.. has lead me to where I am right now. In the field that I love..Even though I complained half the time about struggles i endured, God still new best and always will and continued to have my best interest at heart. He can turn any situation into something far better than we could fathom with our human minds.

Welcome

Okay this is my very first experience with a blog but I am going to give it a shot..I wanted to start this blog in hopes that people will participate in a daily devotional. I will post everyday, a bible verse, topic, or word and I hope people will participate and share their thoughts on each subject.

First (and most important) subject.....Jesus

What does Jesus mean to you? How has he changed your life? or anything else you would like to share.

I'll go first...Merciful, Grace, unconditional Love, sacrifice, almighty, loving father. He has never left my side even when I deserved to be left. I never want to be apart from him.