Change

I have realized that change can be very difficult. I used to prize myself in thinking I handled change great. In reality, I do not at all. I get angry, tired, pessimistic, and isolate myself at times. There are periods where I look for something to fill this void, this emptiness within my heart. I have to remind myself that I do not get my self-value from being constantly surrounded by college girls in a dorm or watching television or playing on the internet, or even working (the list could go on....)

It is so easy to lose sight of what really brings you joy in life, which is Jesus. I can be enjoying an afternoon with nothing to do but relax. The devil instantly attacks me with thoughts that I am alone, there is no one in the world that cares about me, etc. This is an outright LIE! We have to claim victory in the name of Jesus! Otherwise, these thoughts can become all consuming! This is how people are led into depressions. Unfortunately, the devil loves to attack me like this all the time.

So, my question is, what do you do in these times when you feel alone? When you have nothing to do but relax? Do you go to facebook to find security by talking with friends? Do you watch tv to distract yourself from how you feel? Do you eat food to make yourself feel comfortable? What is that one thing that keeps you from going to God? I know for me personally, it is not one item, it is several things. That is why it is a discipline. Right now, one of my ways of dealing with these feelings is to journal.



Here are a few verses that relate to what I was talking about:

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Romans 8:38 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus Our Lord."


In the end, God can and WILL deliver us from any situation that we are bound in. The only thing we have to do, is ask. God shows up when you call upon Him, I guarantee it.







Psalm 56

-I am reading this imagining that the men who are hotly pursuing me is every thought I had that tries to pull me down into a depression. The thoughts telling me I am nothing, I am alone, no one cares, those are the men who are pursuing me in this Psalm-


Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me;
all day long they press their attack.

² My slanderers pursue me all day long;
many are attacking me in their pride.

³ When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.

⁴ In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me?

⁵ All day long they twist my words;
they are always plotting to harm me.

⁶ They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
eager to take my life.

⁷ On no account let them escape;
in your anger, O God, bring down the nations.

⁸ Record my lament;
list my tears on your scroll ^b]">[b]—
are they not in your record?

⁹ Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.

¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise-

¹¹ in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

¹² I am under vows to you, O God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.

¹³ For you have delivered me ^c]">[c] from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life. ^d]">[d]

Baseball games, Cars, and Angels

I received this in an email chain, but the words brought tears to my eyes. Read them.


"Every fork in the road is a choice and a challenge."

You are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander to the game you want to see or meal you want to eat, when suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir? A choir of trumpets? You don't know, but you want to know.. So you pull over, get out of your car, and look up. As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one. The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open, and people are Staring at the sky. Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store. The Little League baseball game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds And what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen. As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part. A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None. From every hue ever seen and a million more never seen. Riding on the flow is an endless fleet of angels. They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time, until they occupy every square inch of the sky. North. South. East. West. Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison, and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear the cherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, holy, holy... The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who join the angels in worship. Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns and there He is... Jesus. Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration: I am the Alpha and the Omega. The angels bow their heads.... The elders remove their crowns... And before you is a Figure so consuming that you know, instantly you know: Nothing else matters... Forget stock markets and school reports. Sales meetings and football games. Nothing is newsworthy... All that mattered, matters no more.. For Christ has come.

Never Quit...

I was listening to a sermon by Joyce Myers today and she spoke about John Wesley's "failed" attempts at preaching. (They were not real failures though...) She read a few incidents from his diary. I've re-worded them to make it short and to the point but it is really interesting.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 5th Wesley preached at St. Ann's and was asked to never come back again.

Later that evening he preached at St. Johns and the deacon asked him to get out.

Sunday May 12th... He preached at St. Judes and couldn't go back there either.

Sunday am May the 19th - Preached at another church where the deacons called a special meeting and said that Wesley could never return.

Sunday evening May the 19th - Wesley preached out in the open on a street and then got kicked off.

Sunday am May the 26th -While Wesley was preaching in a meadow a bull got loose and ran him and everyone there away from the field. (I don't think he ever finished his message there)

Sunday am June the 2nd -He began preaching at the edge of town and got kicked off the highway.

Sunday pm June the 2nd afternoon

PREACHED IN A PASTURE WHERE 10,000 PEOPLE CAME TO LISTEN TO HIM!!!!!!!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------


Wow, what a story! I wish I could read his diary personally! I'm sure he went into more detail about all those events. It just goes to show that you should not be intimidated by failure. Sometimes there must be an outward appearance of failure in order for true success to come. Please keep that in mind the next time you are going through a hardship. You never know what lies ahead of you :)

God's Word Will Not Return Void

My husband and I have decided to start a bible study. For right now it will only be every other week but it is starting April 9th. While we were talking and praying about it, a half of a verse popped into my mind. It had to do with God's word not returning void. I could not remember the exact verse or even where it was located. So, Ben and I did a search for it and we came across this:

¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
¹² “ For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;"

This is found in Isaiah 55.

When I first looked at it, I immediately looked at in the aspect of God speaking to us regarding the bible study. I felt that God was saying if we tell people about Him, the Holy Spirit will do the rest for us, his word will never go out void. It will always accomplish something "it shall accomplish what I please." In my mind I saw it as a blessing from God saying go forth! Hence verse 12, "For you shall go out with joy, and be lead out with peace."

Another interesting view of this verse came from my husband. (I love reading things and seeing how differently we interpret them) Ben immediately thought of Christ. After all, in John it does say that Jesus is the same as the word who is the same as God. (WoW, that can seem really confusing I know! Let me know if I need to explain it). Anyway, Jesus was sent out by God to "accomplish what [God] pleased." And, of course, Jesus did not return void. Jesus returned victorious! He had cleansed us all of our sins and conquered death.

Here is the entire passage that I felt connected too:


⁸ “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
⁹ “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ “ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
¹² “ For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

If you look at this passage as a whole, I see that God is God of all. He controls everything, the snow, the rain, the sun, the moon. I felt that this could also become a message to anyone who is prideful or someone is trying to accomplish something all by them self. You have to remember, God is in control, if you let go, let God handle it, it will save you stress and anxiety. Plus, it will turn out so much better than if you tried to make things happen on your own. If you follow God, he will allow you to go forth with JOY and PEACE with the TREES CLAPPING and MOUNTAINS SINGING!


God bless everyone!

God will answer our prayers - Faith & Healing

I'm still reading through the book of John. I have overwhelming faith right now, that God can and will heal any ailment that you are experiencing. God is sovereign. He has the power to heal if you believe and ask him too. I pray right now that there is a healing touch over any one's body who needs to be touched by the hand of God. I know a friend of mine who is struggling with muscular dystrophy. I proclaim healing in her body by the name of Jesus Christ. God says that "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it" Tonight God, I ask for healing in my best friend's body. Lord take every muscle that causes her pain and may all pain be released. I will not give up God. I will keep praying for a miracle for her every single day.


I love how at times, I do not want to actually take the time to read the bible; but when I put forth the effort, God meets me there. Tonight, I read about the Holy Spirit. God gave us the Holy Spirit to stay with us forever until Jesus returns (John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God.)

My grandmother is 75 or 76 years old. She is the woman I aspire to be someday. She has lived her life loving everyone else as if they were her own child. I think she truly exemplified this concept: "The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them." My grandmother would give her life for any of her grandchildren if she had too. She loved like Christ loved us. A series of unfortunate events (some including the simple process of aging & dying) has led her to her sad position that she is now. Over Fourth of July weekend last year (2008) we thought she was going to die. I was thankful to have decided to go down to Missouri that weekend to be with her. She was in the ICU, critical condition, and the doctors told us to prepare ourselves. My father along with his two brothers had made the painful decision that if she had stopped breathing, that they would not attempt to revive her. This was a hard time for my family. We had hope, but we assumed that God would decide to take her at that time. My brother asked me to go with him to find the hospital chapel so we could pray for her. During this time, we prayed together, and then we prayed separately. While I was praying on my own, God gave me this overwhelming calm and peaceful feeling. I knew immediately that she was going to be fine. I KNEW she was going to make it through the night. I had witnessed someone else become healed from a physical ailment once before and this was the exact same feeling I experienced then. I told my brother what I had felt and we both just kept praying that this was truly God's word. The rest of the night, I did not worry as much. I knew that I had heard from God and that he was going to spare her life. This is exactly what happened. My grandmother made it through the night!! It was amazing. Later, I also found out that my grandma had some type of experience with God, I think it may have been a vision. Anyway, in this, she is speaking with Jesus and she is telling him that she is ready to go home. Jesus replies telling her that no, he is not ready for her to come home yet. He still has something for her to accomplish. I don't know what it was she has to do yet, but I think it is amazing that God can use a woman who is 76 years old!!!! It just goes to show that God does use every single person who calls upon His name!!

Anyway, that about sums it up for tonight! God loves us all! He can use you, no matter where you have come from, what you have done, or where you feel that you are headed. He loves us all equally and cares SO much about us. He DIED so that we may live a life free from pain and agony.

Remember...

"The greatest love a person can have for his friend is to give his life for them"....

That is what Jesus did. He loves you.


God Bless,
Ashley

Vines, Fruit & a Gardener - John 15:1-4

Vines, Fruit, and a Gardener comes from John 15 in the New Testament. (This comes from the Good News Bible Translation)


"I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me."

Nature is beautiful. It is the one place in this world that no matter what is going on, I can feel completely relaxed. I love just sitting in nature and dwelling in God's spirit. It is peaceful there. So when I began reading John 15, I thought of that peaceful feeling that I receive when I am outside dwelling in God.

I absolutely love how Jesus can speak to us in ways that we can connect with him. Of course, sometimes it takes a little knowledge of their culture at the time to be able to understand his words, but for the most part it speaks to us still today.

Alright, onto the actual passage now. The first thing that popped out to me when I began reading this passage was "I am the real vine." To me, this is just like Jesus saying, "I am the real Messiah." From Jesus' time on (and even before Jesus came I am sure) people testified that they were the Messiah. So when I read that "I am the real vine" it was a peaceful feeling knowing that I serve a God who IS the real vine.

The next thing that Jesus says is that God is his gardener. So even while Jesus was on this earth, God was still taking care of Him just as God takes care of us today. You see, even though Jesus was perfect, he still faced temptations just like everyone else. He still had to have his vines pruned & trimmed just like every other person who followed God. He states that God "broke off every branch in me that does not bear fruit." Every possible negative thing in Jesus' life that in some way would not glorify God, God got rid of it! It is the exact same for us too! If we ask for God to remove a sin, a burden, a pain in our life that is not bringing God glory or bring us closer to Him, God will completely remove that dead branch from our life!

With that said, we have to remember that blessings do not always come without pain. Just as the dead branches get cut off, the living branches also need to be pruned: "and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit" This pruning process can be painful. We have to remember that in every bad circumstance, there is a God that is helping us through it. It may feel painful, but in the end, God may bring us even more blessings than we had before!!!

The next verse says that "You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you."
Basically, I look at this in the aspect that when we become saved, that is the cleaning process. There is no pain in becoming clean, it is refreshing and wonderful. Everyone loves that feeling of taking a warm long shower. You feel relieved, fresh, and joyful when you get out. That is what salvation is meant to feel like. All the things that had weighed you down before, made you anxious, nervous, or depressed, that is no longer your problem when you become saved. It becomes God's. He will take care of it for you. Now, in order for those problems to no longer harm you, God will have to cut off some branches and he WILL consistently prune you from now until the end of your days.

The last few verses all tie together.

"Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me."

Jesus is saying that we cannot try to live life by ourselves. We need more than food, shelter, money, and all that this world says it can offer us. If we try surviving on the world alone, then we will die and shrivel up like a plant that is not watered. God specifically states that He will not leave us so long as we love and follow Him.


A branch cannot bear fruit by itself........


I love you all!
Good night and God Bless!

Speaking of Faith - Political Issues & Christianity

If you are confused on how your political life should look like because you are a Christian, try listening to this program called Speaking of Faith. This program speaks on all religions, political issues, and so on. Simply google "Speaking of Faith" open Itunes, and download a podcast! (It's free!) The one that I am specifically speaking of is from April 18, 2008. It is called Evangelical Politics: Three Generations.

It's great! I will post my thoughts on this program later :)

God Bless everyone and have a great day!

-Ashley-