For our sake.

As I sit here tonight in the quietness of my room, my heart and spirit can not stop dwelling on and rejoicing in 2 Cor. 5:21 and Ephesians 2:4-5. This blog will be simply put...so here it goes

2 Cor. 5:21 - "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Ephesians 2:4-5 - "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved -"

MERCY-God took the away the wrath, punishment, and death that we deserved as sinners and gave us grace, mercy, and life through his son, Jesus when we were so undeserving.

It blows my mind that we did not have to do anything to ask for the gift of grace, but God lovingly showed us his grace through the death of his son. If anything, we deserve eternity without God, but he loves us so much that he sent Christ so that we now might become his TREASURE.

Last night, Bible study was on this topic. I have thought about the significance of grace often in my life, but never really mercy...until last night. I can say that my mind, soul, spirit and every thing else about me has fallen so incredibly in awe with the fact that though were we detestable and haters toward God, though we were living in our flesh day after day after day, God still looked on us with love and sent Christ to cover our sins! FOR OUR SAKE he sent Christ who knew no sin to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God...wow...that makes my heart rejoice! 

I think that this song best explains what I feel tonight:

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

And make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory 

Behold the man upon the cross

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished 

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

So all this to say, just the realization that we deserved wrath but instead get mercy through Christ leaves me standing in awe of who God is and how much he LOVES us and desires for us to know him personally! Just by this truth being revealed to us can change the way we minister to people drastically! As christians, we are living examples of mercy and grace...how great of an impact can that have on those who do not know Christ as their Savior...to say that we were once objects of wrath, but now are walking examples of objects of righteousness, salvation, and GRACE!


This honestly brings me only to a place of humility..when i realize that nothing is from me..and everything is from God..then my heart bows in reverence to the one who holds all things together for our good and works for OUR sake.

Like Paul, I pray that we .. "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the LOVE of CHRIST that surpasses knowledge, that your may be filled with the fullness of God"....(Eph. 3:18)

My prayer for you is that you may know Christ and the power of his great grace and mercy! Take a few moments to fully understand this concept of mercy...I hope that the Spirit radically changes your heart and thoughts of Him


"i think mercy is so captivating because it's so against our nature" - my good friend Laura Hollifield.

Sufficient

2 Corinthians 3:5 - "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God".

The word "sufficient" means - enough to meet a need or a purpose

I sure do love this verse and the reminder that it leaves with me: I CANNOT DO ANYTHING ON MY OWN! In my own strength, I find often that I am weak. When I am not satisfied in Christ, then I am not satisfied at all. Thank God that he knows we are weak, and meets our needs every time! Scripture promises that he does not forsake us or leave us!

Furthermore in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Paul writes: "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Some of you reading this may know that last October through about mid-January I struggled with some pretty intense anxiety/panic attacks. I thought everything was wrong with me and stayed in bed for most of the time. I would go to the doctor at least once a month in this time frame because I seriously thought something was wrong with me...but there wasn't. This all made me realize that I do not hold myself together, Christ does. He is the sustainer of my life and the things that happen to it. He alone is SUFFICIENT to supply all my needs. He keeps my heart beating and my lungs filled with air. I absolutely can say that I did not trust the Lord in this season of life. I felt like He was not in control of anything and ultimately, the root of the problem was that I did not trust in Him. We are not sufficient in ourselves! Through all of that this is what I learned: Through my weakness, God was glorified because it gave me proof and a reason to trust in Him even more! As I said above, He is sufficient in supplying the needs for my life such as keeping my heart beating and alive. Through this experience I can boast in the fact that Christ was glorified through it.

When we are weak, we are made strong! What an encouragement to think that God is enough for us...even in our weakest points. The Lord has graciously shown me lately that trusting in Him and believing in faith that His word is true are keys to being satisfied in Him. Christ is glorified and exalted when through our weakness, his glory shines and his work is displayed. When we are weak, all pride goes out the window. Here we realize that we can not do anything on our own. We must humble ourselves!

Acts 17:24-24 - "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."

God is the Creator of all things. He himself is sufficient. Today the pastor at church said this: "We ourselves are not the resource of all things, but we are connected to the resource of all things".
Christ makes us sufficient to others because he himself is sufficient.


Praise God that he meets our needs! Praise God that His power is displayed in our weaknesses because we can not do it on our own!! Praise God that he meets us in our weaknesses and struggles to show his glory through our lives. He is the sustainer of all things...and in this my soul rejoices today! : )

Summer

Summer is a hard season for me. Summer screams LAZY, COMPLACENT, and ... CHECKS. Why checks? I feel during this season I am constantly hard on myself. All I do during the summer is evaluate where I am with the Lord...a heart check, a soul check, a LOVE check. I have the least distractions during the summer, and because of that sadly, I am more convicted of the things that burden the Lord. Like I said..hard on myself. BUT, during this season God shows me His grace, He shows me that I absolutely can not do this life thing on my own! Realizing how great my sin is in the light of who God is makes me want to worship Him more. Realizing that conviction=discipline and discipline=obedience makes me want to rejoice in the fact that the Lord loves me enough as His child to look out for my BEST interest. Instead of viewing this summer as LAZY, COMPLACENT, and .. CHECKS. I  view this past summer as RENEWAL, REVIVAL, and RESTORATION. It is also REFRESHING. Summer is a great time to look back and re-evaluate where you are spiritually. What is the Lord teaching you in this season? What is He convicting you of is in the way of your obedience to the God?

Hebrews 12:5-13:
⁵And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: 

   "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
      and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
 ⁶because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
      and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."^[a]

 ⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ⁸If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

 ¹²Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ¹³"Make level paths for your feet,"^[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

[a] Prov. 3:11-12; [b] Prov. 4:26

Single Season

A friend once told me that if they could describe me in one word it would be "iceberg". What they said was this.."Kristen, people only see the tip of who you are, the basic level, but they have NO idea that there is a whole lot more to you than just what they see. Just like an iceberg, you only see what is there, but there is a whole mass of ice underneath the water." I have also been called an onion, where people have to peel away the layers to get to know my heart....so true! When the Lord said to guard my heart, I guess I took it seriously : )

21 years, that's how long I have been in this season of singleness...and there is only one word to describe this special season in life, GRATEFUL.
Grateful that I have had a chance to grow closer to the Lord with no relationship distractions, grateful that the only relationship that I have been in is with the Lord, grateful that the Lord has taught me how to be in a relationship when that beautiful day comes, grateful that my mind has been kept pure, grateful that the Lord has shown me how to fear Him in these years of being single.

Have I ever felt alone and unwanted? Have I ever felt like no guy would ever want to pursue me? Have I ever felt like I was just the girl a guy could be "friends" with? OF COURSE!!! My human flesh wonders why all the time why why why haven't I ever been in a relationship, Why haven't I ever experienced what it's like to go on a date, why haven't I ever been given flowers? Do I smell? Do I breath to loud? What am I doing wrong? All these Whys and What if's have haunted me all through high school and college.

Instead of asking all of these why's and what if's and how come's, I have come to a place in my life where I am saying, THANK YOU Lord for guarding my heart, THANK YOU Lord for teaching me how to wait on you, THANK YOU Lord for pursuing my heart, THANK YOU Lord for giving me flowers through your own creation...thousands upon thousands of flowers that is : ), THANK YOU Lord for thinking of me constantly (Psalm 139), THANK YOU Lord for loving me and caring for me, THANK YOU Lord for being patient, kind, good, understanding, loving, and for correcting me when I am wrong in the purest way. (1 Cor. 13:4-7)


So with this blog i just want to celebrate in these years of being single and celebrate what the Lord has done in my heart to prepare me for someone. God knows what He is doing!

To all of you reading this blog:
I pray that the Lord leads you to someone that pursues your heart, just as the Lord pursued ours for salvation.  I pray that what ever relationship you are in that you are seeking the Lord and His guidance for that relationship, I pray that you will understand love and that it is not just a fuzzy feeling-but rather it is an action, an act of obedience and respect, an act of serving and an act of giving, an act of self-sacrifice and of learning. I pray that you will first learn how to love or rather how to be in a relationship from the Lord first! Seek His Word!

God created relationships, the most important one is our relationship with Him. Wait patiently on the Lord if you are single, and seek Him in the mean time! His LOVE is so worth it...learning His love will be so worth it when you are in a relationship.
CELEBRATE in the waiting.

Seasons

Song: Desert Song by Hillsong United

There have been seasons in my life where I have walked closely with the Lord, then there are those seasons where I feel like I haven't felt Him at all. Why is this? If I am going to be real with myself the answer is ME! I fall away from Him. There are countless times where I have felt numb to the truth of mercy, grace, justification and redemption. Why am I not rejoicing in the freedom that Christ gave us? Why can I not see what He is doing in my life? Why am I so worried that He is doing something great in everyone else's life, and not mine? Patience...

There are countless seasons in my life where I have slept walked. Most days I wish that I was out of college so that I could experience what God has for me..thinking maybe he will use me more once I have a degree (: I know I shouldn't have this mind set. I mosied through junior high and high school waiting to be in college. It's my senior year of college now, and looking back, i have done nothing but try to breeze through it without thinking about what God has been teaching me over these last four years in order to prepare me for His future plans. I dont know about you, but I DESIRE to be part of His kingdom's work, waiting is the hard part. I'm sure that when I finally defeat the years of being a single woman (lol) and the Lord (willing) provides a Godly husband for my life, I will be waiting to get married, then waiting to have kids, then waiting till they grow up, then waiting till ... blah blah blah. All these things I DO NOT want to just breeze through and forget about what God is doing in each of these seasons of life. My point is that I DO NOT want to miss out on encountering the Lord daily, I DO NOT want to miss out on what He is doing in this season of waiting- this season of teaching me obedience, discipline, and patience-this season of being single and becoming a woman that fears the Lord and seeks after Him WITH ALL MY HEART!...which happens only with disciple and obedience. This season is a beautiful time with the Lord, a season where I learn His heart, His ways, His desires, His WORD! This is not an easy task, I have to constantly remind myself that I am human and will NEVER get it right. The seeds that the Lord is sowing in my own life now, will be the harvest for tomorrow. Seasons....learn to LOVE them.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday on iTunes that got me thinking about all of this. The speaker was Priscilla Shirer in whom is becoming one of my favorite authors. She was talking about how people in the bible walked with Jesus personally, but missed out on who He was They were actually walking with the KING, but were so easily distracted by their own "world" that they missed out on a season of walking with Him.

Take John 20:11-18..Mary Magdalene returns to the tomb of Jesus, weeping at the fact that her Christ has been put to death. Jesus appears to her, but she thinks He is the gardener. Her eyes were blinded by life's distractions. All Jesus had to do was call out her name. "Mary"...Mary then knew it was Jesus, and believed what the prophets of old said was true, He has risen! Isn't it awesome how "..The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep BY NAME and leads them out." (John 10:3) My desire in reading this passage is that my response daily will be like Mary's when she realized that the Lord was with her..."I have seen the Lord!"..My desire is to have that answer in and out of seasons.

2 Timothy 4:2-"...be ready in and out of season"

Be challenged to seek the Lord in season and out. Know that he is walking with you every step of the way. He is calling us by name daily to do the things of His Kingdom...is your heart in tune to His?

Sovereign Mindset

My old professor, Dr. Meyer, gave our spiritual formation class this piece of paper one day in class. I hope you use this to evaluate your own personal perspective. Just something to consider...

Sovereign Mindset:

-Decisions are tied to habitual prayer life with intentional fervent prayer interludes.

-Decisions are tied to ongoing careful study of the Word. Not tied to nugget theology or proof reading for confirmation of personal agendas. Tied to revelation through ongoing study.

-God's pressing presence in your daily walk which creates an inner sense of urgency to be about His work. It leads you to reach out to those in need regardless of what the need is.

-Peace in adversity

-Evidence of spiritual disciplines and fruit back it up

-Prayer and Power releases: The unexplainable happens in your life.

-You seek double affirmation from wise counsel and affirmation from the Body of Christ

-There is an absence of fear in your decisions. You may be afraid but you are not paralyzed by it.

Temple On Wheels

I have been reading this book called "My Heart's Desire". The theme of it is "living every moment in the WONDER of worship." This book has been one of my favorites so far. The chapter that I just got done reading was so convicting and refreshing at the same time. God totally wrecked my life of worship towards Him after reading this and i would like to share!

Temple= a structure of holiness, a place of worship

1 Cor. 6:19-20=Do you not know that your body is a TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit, who is IN you, whom you have received from God? (this is my favorite part) YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN; YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE. THEREFORE HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODY.

In reading the Corinthians, you must remember that Paul is writing to a kind of church that only worshiped on the Sabbath day. Their worship never seeped over into their daily lives. All kinds of immoral and immature activities were going on among the Corinthians, so Paul writes them in letters addressing this sort of lifestyle.

Paul returns to this idea of the body being the temple of God in-
2 Cor. 6:16= And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will DWELL in them and WALK among them. I will be their God, And they shall be MY people."

There is NO ROOM for anything else BUT God to be first in your life. Our bodies are HIS temple, there is no agreement between anything else. Looking back at 1 Cor. 6:20...He has BOUGHT US for the high price of the blood of Christ, and it's only fitting that we become structures WORTHY of that price.

We will never achieve such worthiness, but we can strive for it by spending time with God, Praying for others(Colossians4:12b), Praying without ceasing (1 Thes.5:16-17), Become a living sacrifice with not just ONE area of life but in EVERY area of life (Romans12:1-2), Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS (Philippians 4:4a) and being steadfast in the labor of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58) and many more/].

As one can see, our lives must change dramatically and it must be a DAILY sacrifice if we are to achieve such worthiness, Worthy of being the temple of God

There is a lot more that could be said on this topic, but I want everyone to get this point.

2 Cor, 6:16=I will DWELL in (you) and WALK with (you). I will be (your) God, and (you) shall be my people.

Looking back into the Old Testament, the ancient Israelites used tents as temples. That tent (temple) housed the law of God, the ark of the covenant, and it traveled with God's people and was carefully guarded. In that way, the people had a physical symbol for understanding the holy presence of God that traveled with them. According to Ephesians 5:1-5 and 2 Peter 1:13-14, the tent Peter and Paul are talking about is the human body itself, which points to the point that we HOUSE the temple of a LIVING God. We could think of ourselves as a beautiful temple, a place fit for encasing the law of God, a place where all people can come experience Him, which is one essential element of a temple.

Through you people can experience the living God just as the Israelites did in the old temple that they carried around where God and his laws dwelled. Thats the idea of having the Holy Spirit come live within us. We are the temple of God now, thanks to the grace and love of Christ.

We must remember that we house THE LIVING God within us, we are not our own, we were bought and saved with the blood of Christ. Such a high price that was paid. We are now God's temple, Let's show the world that we "have been entrusted with the secret things of God" (1 Cor. 4:1) and can even be found worthy enough to house His presence. Think about it...what an HONOR it is that we house the LIVING God within us...if that doesnt light your fire, then your wood is wet : )

I know this is probably a very simple note, but it really hit home for me and makes sense in my heart, and i pray that it somehow makes sense in yours. Enjoy