Yours Forever.

John 10:28-30 (ESV)

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."

This is for real.

I was stalking one of my friends from Butler on facebook and I was looking through his pictures from this summer. He had the opportunity to travel to Europe for an internship and took a vacation to Egypt. I found this picture of Mount Sinai. My first reaction was: the sky is really blue, my second was: Moses was there!
I got goose bumps thinking about how the places in the bible are real....they aren't just made-up, warm fuzzy stories.
I have been working through John and have really struggled with the whole miracle aspect of Jesus' ministry. I mean I believe that he performed these attesting miracles but it is hard to comprehend when you don't get to see them first hand. John wrote for this reason; he wanted people to hear and believe that Jesus was savior.
I was reminded of the verse in Hebrews 4 - THE WORD OF THE LORD IS living AND active, SHARPER THAN ANY 2 EDGED SWORD - God is for real, his word is for real.

Christ v. Christianity

I have really struggled lately with the concept of RELIGION.
Why is it that I have grown in religion and not in the truth of Christ?
It seems that I have been taught and have "known" about the idea of Christ; His saving grace, His love, etc.
But something hit me tonight at youth....when it is said "JESUS LOVE ME" what happens?
As Dustin put it, that thought should EVOKE something, should stir something inside.
I asked myself How has God shown that he loves me? and I know that as John 3:16 states, He sent his son into the world to die so that I can live. I KNOW that, but do I BELIEVE it.
I seek to find trust in the truth that by "surrendering completely to the action of resting fully in the AbSoLuTe & ALL-ENCOMPASSING sovereignty of God: His LOVE, POWER, justice, and grace through the KnOwLeDgE of HIS WORD I can believe.

Back Home Again, to....Montana?

Pictures from my recent trip to Montana....it's beautiful and just simply majestic!

1) Sunset from Austin's backyard.
2) Skikahoe Falls.
3) Our detour through Yellowstone.
4) Mountains!!!

I can't get no.....satisfaction.

As the song says, "I can't get no, satisfaction."
however, as a believer, we have full satisfaction in Jesus.

But, why is it SO gosh-darn hard to find satisfaction in Christ alone?
My mind has been trying to figure this one out for days....with no avail.
Why is it that me, as a women, seek my satisfaction in places other than my daddy? And I mean S-E-E-K.
I have found myself rummaging through Target searching for another perfect dress for a group date, because one of the 20 that I have in my closet won't be good enough.
I have found my eyes and mind wondering toward women around me who are cuter, more "together", and most certainly happier than me curious what makes them tick.
I have found myself disheartened when I don't receive a speedy response to an urgent e-mail.
But what I haven't found is satisfaction.
I haven't stumbled upon the something that will make me smile continuously and keep me upbeat.
As I sit here in Panera, a bit frustrated that the bf didn't have time for a lunch date, I wonder....what am I doing wrong?
I try to pin point one thing that I can change, or a certain something I can cling to more, or less...and nothing.

As I have sought what to do, I have had an epiphany: what if instead of seeking, I STOP and be sought.
Not in a worldly sense, but a spiritual one.
What if I slow myself, my thoughts, my emotions down and just listen.
I have a feeling that what I will find is an eternal satisfaction.....
In looking the past few hours at lies we believe as daughter's of the King, I have noticed a lot about TRUTH.
What is truth, where do we get truth, how do we process truth....I believe what I need is a lesson in simply LISTENING to the TRUTH.

Suffering.

Driving to STL last night I had the opportunity to listen to some podcasts. After listening to the Passion Podcast I stumbled across a Francis Chan one titled "Is Suffering Optional?" I had never thought about this before. Intrigued, I turned it on.
I was blown away by the amount of times in the New Testament that God calls us, as His children, to suffer. From Matthew to Revelation, God paints a not so pretty picture....we are to die as Christ died. We are to be hated as He was hated. We are to make a ruckus as Christ did.
I couldn't help but laughing when he asked: What made John 3:16 so popular?
Who decided that our lives as Christians would be picture perfect.
I agree with Francis when he said that we often draw people into the faith with words like hope, grace, peace, love, etc. But we fail to mention that, through EVERY ONE OF THOSE IS TRUE, the most often forgotten is SUFFERING. If we join Christ is His cause, we will be persecuted, but one day we will wear an eternal crown!

Revelation 2:10
Do NOT be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

God's Creation.

Tonight Austin and I had the opportunity to look at Saturn through Butler's telescope....only a mere 1 billion miles away from earth!! I was expecting beautiful colors and this massive picture and instead saw only a black and white snap shot of the planet and it's 6 moons. The best way to describe it would be that it looked like one of those pictures from your eye test in elementary school....so not realistic. But all I could think about was creation. This planet is massive and beautiful and was created by God's very hands!!