Isaiah 61:10-11

"I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul. He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of rigteousness, as a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. For the Earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, so the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display for nations." MSG

I was reading this scripture today and often times if I have trouble understanding it specifically I will look at other versions such as The Message. I really liked this interpretation.
It pretty much says that God doesn't do anything halfway....He likes to show off =) He likes beautiful things and to transform ugly into beauty. When we see drab, dirty, filthy garments...He takes those away and clothes us with beautiful robes of righteousness and salvation...How great is that? And if thats not enough he shows it off to the entire world. He doesn't do anything halfway.
This also made me realize that in everything we do we need to go all out...don't become lazy...but do everything with everything we have and make it shine so people will know God is behind it.

Starting Over

Nothing like getting a second chance....a do-over...or simply a fresh start..  In Lamenations 3:21-23 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have Hope: Because the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
God tells us he is faithful to us...he never leaves..in him we have hope and his compassion is new every morning!! He gives us second chances =) Another way I look at this too is letting go of things that are hindering your life...sometimes we need to just start over..what ends up happening is when we give up those things...new things are able to come into our lives that are far better than the other.

Psalm 27:4-5

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me and set me high on a rock.

If we draw near to God and dwell in his presence he will keep us safe...He will rescue us in our time of troubles and set us on high...How great is that =) Love this verse

“You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It wont happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.”
― Joel Osteen
 Probably one of the hardest yet very true realities. There are a lot of times in our lives when we have to just move on...let things go that are hindering our lives and trust that God is in control no matter the situation. We cant make people act a certain way, cause a situation to turn out the way we planned, or make the sunrise for that matter....we just have to trust that God knows whats best and can do all things. When we realize this...then we open the door for good things that God has for us. So even though it may be a lil rough right now...ur blessing is right around the corner =)

"I encourage you to believe for things that are so big that they take God’s favor, blessings and divine intervention to make them a reality." Joel Osteen

I love that Joel is so encouraging. We often times don't believe that God will do the little stuff in our lives let alone the things we feel are unreachable. But believing that God can and will do the impossible takes FAITH. If we have faith that he will move mountains God will move mountains. I am more excited today than ever that those mountains will be moved in the areas of my life. I have had to let a lot of things goooo....and in letting those things go I can allow God to move in those areas. Those things were hindering Gods best for my life. Now I can start anew and allow God fulfill the desires he has placed in my heart! =))

As C.S. Lewi explained, there are two kinds of people in the end...those who say to the Father,"thy will be done," or those to whom the Father says,"thy will be done."

There is so much truth to this. Often times we want what God wants but we want what we want more....and then we rationalize it in our heads to make ourselves feel it is what God wants. We need to put all feelings, peoples advice, and our flesh to the side and allow the Holy Spirit full reign over our lives. God is there to guide us but if we choose to make our own decisions and not to follow him then he will allow us to do that. But we will also suffer the consequences of our actions. Not saying that we cant ask for forgiveness and follow God but we have to be willing to lay it all down.

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

We are Gods masterpieces =) That is awesome if you really think about it. He could create anything he wanted and he made us his masterpiece. Makes me want to stand up straighter and fix up a lil bit =) but whats so great is that he loves us just as we are. We are all beautiful in his eyes. He loves our imperfections. All those things about us that other people find annoying....he loves. He also laid out a plan for each of our lives and gives us the blueprint (the Word) all we have to do is build it!! Cherish it and love one another as he loves us. Sounds pretty simple right? I still manage to mess it up... but thats when he steps in as daddy and picks me up and sets me back on his path. He is forever forgiving and readily offering his grace. He knows we are going to mess up...we aren't perfect..but he is quick to forgive. Makes me wonder why people resist that kind of love. I never want to be without him a day in my life. He is and always will be the one who holds my heart.

Nahum 1:7

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."

Trust...Trust...Trust....seems to be a common theme in the scriptures...I guess God knew we would have trouble with this one =) I know I have..I still have waves that come but I have learned to speak Gods word against it when it rears its ugly head. If we would just follow his word and not question it we wouldnt have as many issues as we do. But we allow our emotions to get in the way and that turns in to questioning Gods will and then we end up messing everything up because we allowed our flesh to get between us and God. Sometimes we try to fix the problems ourselves because we don't like the way God fixes it. This leads us on a path of destruction that God ends up having to make a detour back to the path he had us on in the first place. Whats so wonderful though is that God is always there with an outstretched arm to pick us up and put us right back on track. He is faithful, loves unconditionally, and has our very best interest at heart. All we have to do is follow his Word, allow the Holy Spirit full reign, and love Jesus with all our hearts.