A Love Worth Dying For

The Song of Songs presents a picture of love between a man and a woman that reflects the love of God. God doesn't love you at a distance or remember you as an afterthought. Look at the words used to express his love: seal, strong, unyielding, blazing and unquenchable. He loves everything about you, the way you walk, talk, laugh and brush your hair. He loves you in more ways than you can ever know because he knows you through and through. He knows your thoughts, when you sit, when you rise and when you lie down (see Psalm 139).

God wants you to believe that he loves you! He doesn't put conditions on his love. He only asks that you respond to his love: "Place me like a seal over your heart." Imagine God saying to you, "I love you so much that I want to be with you intimately, at all times." God loves you with the strongest love imaginable-a love that is as strong as death. In fact, he proved his love through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. This ultimate gift showed us that his love for us was, in fact, a love worth dying for.

"I Don't Want To."

Pensamientos...

Yo se que tu eres herido. Y yo se que es mi culpa, pero he disculpado, desde el fondo de mi corazon, nunca quiero hacerte dano...Pero ahora, tu no puedes perdoname o olvidar, o algo y no me hables...y eso me dano. He tratado llegar a ti, para trabajo contigo en esto, juntos, como deberia ser. La cosa es, eres el hombre y soy la mujer. Por que tengo que perseguir? Pues, yo decidio que la unica cosa que me puedo hacer es te da tiempo...si quieres a mi, entonces vendra a mi. Tu sabes que te amo. Tu sabes que yo quiero ser contigo por toda mi vida, pero no puedo perseguir a ti si tu no quieres ser capturado, y eso es lo que me siento... 

Today is what you make it.. :)

The Valentine that will never let down or disappoint. The one who defines love that men try to prove. I swiped this from my friend's Facebook, she made it today and it was a blessing to read it and be reminded of my Valtentine's love for me! Hope it blesses you as well!

And Now We're Here...

Have you ever felt something coming, something that you knew was going to be painful or hard, and so instead of acknowledging the fact, you simply pushed the thoughts away, swept warning signs under the rug, or even full out ran in the other direction? I have. Recently, in fact. And I am having to learn the hard way now that I went about it in a completely wrong way.

For awhile now, I have been feeling God leading me to do something that in my flesh I did not want to do...not only did I not want to do it, but it scared the daylights out of me to have to. Nevertheless, I knew what was coming, and instead of trusting Jesus and taking the steps He was leading me to take, I kept stumbling around in my own personal darkness, trying to work my way out, but never really knowing what direction I was headed in.

In Exodus Jesus commands us that we must have no other gods before him. (Ex. 20:3) Period. He did not say, "you must give me most of your worship, but if you happen to give some to someone or something else, it is not that big of a deal." No, he demands that we make him first in our lives, that we seek him above everything else, and that we obey him even when we know it will be painful. And let me say, he does not do this because he is a God who wants to make life miserable for us, rather, his word says: "When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15:10-11

In my life, God has blessed me beyond anything I could ever deserve, and in return he asks that I be a good steward of what he has blessed me with...it is all his anyway, so it is not mine to try and control or take advantage of.

I am ashamed to say that in certain aspects of my life, I have not been faithful to be a good steward of his blessings. Not only was I not faithful to be a good steward, but I let people continue to think that I was, I let people continue to praise the way I handled things, I let people keep on thinking that I was seeking Christ when, in reality, I wasn't. And this makes me profoundly sad.

My relationship with my Jesus suffered, I was painfully aware of it, and I still chose to selfishly do what I wanted instead of what my loving Heavenly Father wanted me to do. Oh sure, I was still spending time with him, still spending time in prayer, involved in my churchy activities, but I kept parts of my heart from him. As if I can even do that. He sees it all, he knows my heart, there is nothing I can possibly hide from him. And on top of that, I hurt someone that I deeply love in the process.

So all that said, where I stand now is a new place. Something I dearly loved and cherished has been stripped away, and I am only now realizing how much of a good thing it is. Is it painful? Yes. Do I feel like my heart is laying on the ground in thousands of little pieces and I have no idea how to put it back together again? Yes.  Is it beautiful? Very much so.

The beautiful part is that I don't have to have all the answers. I don't even have to know how to put everything back together again. All I have to understand is that Jesus is the one who is going to bring me through it, and because of that, he is the one who is going to get all of the glory, and because of this I can rejoice.

So, I'll be using this blog to keep track of what I am learning through this season of my life. If I'm really honest, it is for me to keep track of what Jesus is teaching me. If he wants to use it to touch the life of someone else, then I will love that too.

How Do I love Thee?

"I love you" doesn't mean "I love you for now", "I love you until you disappoint me", or "I love you until you change". It means that I accept you for who you are and that I do not wish to change you into someone else. "I love you" means that I want to grow alongside you, do life with you. It means always supporting you, caring for you, and praying for you. It means telling you the truth even when it may not be what you want to hear, and knowing that you do the same for me. It means giving you space, but always being there for you. It means that I do not expect you to be perfect-just as you do not expect it from me. It means not running when things get tough, but standing by you in the good times and the bad. It means loving you when you're in a bad mood, or too tired to do the things I want to do. It means respecting your opinions. It means cherishing the long conversations about nothing in particular that are really full of meaning and purpose. It means loving you when you're down, not just when you're fun to be with. "I love you" means that I know your deepest secrets and do not judge you for them-asking in return only that you do not judge me for mine. It means that I care enough to fight for what we have and that I love enough not to let go. It means respecting you, encouraging you and building you up. It means thinking of you, dreaming of you, and wanting the best for you, and never taking for-granted the blessing of having you in my life. Love is not just a word, it is an action to be shown.

"They have been with Jesus!".. Acts 4:1-22

BCM: Baptist Collegiate Ministries. A place for students on college campuses to meet together and study God's word, and worship. In other words, pretty much the coolest place on campus! :)

Anyway, in my girls small group on Tuesday we talked about quiet times. To a Christian, having a "quiet time" means time spent with God. We take time to go away with him, and just read, pray, and listen to him, just like when we spend time with a friend.

My Bible study leader, Katie, took us through Acts 4:1-22. Peter and John (two of Jesus' disciples) had just healed a man who had been crippled for many years. Peter and John began to teach a large group of people at the temple about Jesus and how salvation is through him and his resurrection. And the healed man was following behind them, sticking close to them, and jumping and shouting and praising God. While they were teaching, the Sadducees (A deeply religious group of people of the time, who did not believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, or his resurrection) heard Peter and John, and they arrested them. But many of the people that had been listening to them teach believed what they said and were saved.

The next day, they were brought in front of the council of the Sanhedrin (the supreme judicial council of the Jews in New Testament times) and they asked them what name they had been teaching in, and Peter told them that it was the name of Jesus Christ. Actually, this is exactly what he says to them:

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, ⁹are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? ¹⁰Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹ For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,    ‘The stone that you builders rejected
      has now become the cornerstone.’
 ¹² There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Yowzers.. can you just see the speechless looks on the council's faces? I can!

The councilmen saw how bold and courageous Peter and John were, and that they were just ordinary men, and they realized that these men had indeed been with Jesus. And the man that had been healed was also standing in the room, and so they couldn't deny that a miraculous healing had taken place in the name of Jesus Christ.

After conferring amongst themselves, the council called Peter and John back into the room and declared that they were no longer allowed to preach in Jesus' name anymore. But just listen to what these men said in response:

¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? ²⁰ We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

Now remember, the Sanhedrin had a whole lot of earthly power, they could throw Peter and John into jail, or worse. But instead, they threatened them a little more and then they let them go. But do you know why they let them go? Because detaining them would have caused a riot. Everyone in town was praising God for the healing of the man who had been crippled! In the face of great opposition, God's words through Peter and John had taken root and more and more people were becoming believers.

So you're probably wondering what this had to do with spending time with God. And it's quite simple when you think about it really..

The more time we spend with Jesus the more we learn about him, the more we learn from him, and the more we start to look like him. And people will notice. Peter and John were just two ordinary men by the world's standards; they were not schooled or particularly eloquent men, but simply by their actions and their boldness the council of the Sanhedrin knew that they had been with Jesus! We should want the same to be known about us. Then when people see us, they will see God, and He get's the glory.

Don't just take my word for it, read it in the Bible here!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%204:1-22&version=NLT

"The Lord bless you and keep you--the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numb. 6:24-26.

Stace Michelle