I Have Found by Kim Walker
I have found a peace that plows on through the storm.
I have found a joy that jumps over sadness.
I have found a love that lights up every room.
I have found, I've found You!
You are all I want, You are all I need,
Everything my heart could hope for.
We are longing for, the Glory of the Lord,
Cause we know there's so much more!
I have found a trust that teaches how to rest.
I have found a grace that guides me by the hand.
I have found a strength that stands like a mountain.
And I have found, I've found You!
-------------------------------------------------
In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth. In the beginning God created mankind, made in His image, perfect and pure. Then, with one bite death enters the world. The creation has become tainted. But God in all His glory makes a promise - a promise they we will one day, once again, be able to be in His presence clean and pure, justified, stains removed.
Today, although we still struggle with sins and temptations, we can have hope. Why? Because the Creator of the universe has given us a Savior that has saved us from being eternally separated from God. God has redeemed our sins and made us once again clean and pure.
We wrestle with the things of this world and we struggle with fleshly desires and sins. We forget about the big picture and what God has done for us. We forget that God sacrificed His own flesh and blood, His only Son do die for us so that we, His unrighteous children could once again find favor in His sight, that in His eyes we can once again be found righteous.
God is the Lover of our hearts, our souls. He longs for relationship with us and will stop at nothing in order to have that relationship. The thing about God though is that He won't push us. God, my friends, is a gentleman and although He so desperately longs for a relationship, He won't push into something we aren't ready for.
My goal is wake up every morning, knowing that God loves me. My prayer is that, just how God is the Lover of my heart and soul, that I would be the lover of His. That I would intentionally seek Him, that I would realize everyday that He is the only one that can fill my soul, that no other thing will do. That I would wake up, praises on my lips, scripture on my heart, and filled with joy. That He would be the only thing I long for, hope for, knowing that He is so much more than anything on this planet earth.
I want God to be my everything.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Blessings. (a.k.a. to sum up the recent days...)
God is so much bigger than our situation.
The last couple days have been a whirlwind to say the least. Finals, friends, and overall school and relationship stuff has been really weighing my thoughts the last couple of days...
For those who know me and have seen me get nervous, I must admit, I am not the funnest person. My stomach develops a pit in it, my thoughts wander and I am really distracted, my palms sweat and my hands shake. It's just not pretty.
The last couple of days I have fallen prey to this disease and let me tell you, it's not fun. Stress does weird things to people, especially to people like me who over-analyze everything.
The good news is my friends, God works everything out for our good. He hears our prayers and the desires of our hearts. He is a compassionate God who takes pride in His children. God is truly amazing, you guys and I think that is one fact I really tend to take for granted or forget. I forget how good He is and how much He's blessed me with.
Despite the anxiousness I felt this morning, I am now completely at peace in my situation. I realize that God has everything under control and all I have to do is listen and be patient. During this time in my life, I have really come to understand certain things about myself, but I think, I know, there's alot more I need to learn.... but I think that's why I am ok with where I'm at. I have a God who loves, amazing God-sent friends, and a family that sticks with me no matter what. I am so blessed you guys, it's unexplainable. I feel indescribably happy and at peace right now. God's voice is the only one that matters...
So, now I wait. I wait patiently and I wait contently, knowing that God is a great and loving God who knows exactly what I need and when. I wait knowing that His timing is absolutely perfect...
I am blessed.
The last couple days have been a whirlwind to say the least. Finals, friends, and overall school and relationship stuff has been really weighing my thoughts the last couple of days...
For those who know me and have seen me get nervous, I must admit, I am not the funnest person. My stomach develops a pit in it, my thoughts wander and I am really distracted, my palms sweat and my hands shake. It's just not pretty.
The last couple of days I have fallen prey to this disease and let me tell you, it's not fun. Stress does weird things to people, especially to people like me who over-analyze everything.
The good news is my friends, God works everything out for our good. He hears our prayers and the desires of our hearts. He is a compassionate God who takes pride in His children. God is truly amazing, you guys and I think that is one fact I really tend to take for granted or forget. I forget how good He is and how much He's blessed me with.
Despite the anxiousness I felt this morning, I am now completely at peace in my situation. I realize that God has everything under control and all I have to do is listen and be patient. During this time in my life, I have really come to understand certain things about myself, but I think, I know, there's alot more I need to learn.... but I think that's why I am ok with where I'm at. I have a God who loves, amazing God-sent friends, and a family that sticks with me no matter what. I am so blessed you guys, it's unexplainable. I feel indescribably happy and at peace right now. God's voice is the only one that matters...
So, now I wait. I wait patiently and I wait contently, knowing that God is a great and loving God who knows exactly what I need and when. I wait knowing that His timing is absolutely perfect...
I am blessed.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
P is for Purity.
According to the U.S. Department Bureau of Justice Statistics, American students spend approximately $5.5 billion on alcohol a year; that’s more than they spend on soda, tea, milk, juice, coffee or books combined.
-The percent of students reporting street gang presence at school nearly doubled between 1989 and 1995, increasing from 15.3% to 28.4%.
-7 in 10 girls in the U.S. have had sex before the age of 14
-An estimated 2.1 million people began smoking on a daily basis in 1997. More than half of these new daily smokers were younger than age 18.
What does it mean to be a generation that seeks the face of God? What does it look like to be a generation that has clean hands and pure hearts, which goes against the flow and follows hard after God no matter what the world may say? It certainly isn’t what the stats exhibit.
Today is the day to rise up and become that Pure Generation. Today I want to persuade you to be that generation.
1 John 3 says “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not been revealed what we shall be, but we know when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”.
Pastors all over the U.S. and other parts of the world have pushed the “pure movement” but I think a lot of people fail to realize that purity isn’t just about not having sex before marriage, its WAY more!
God wants us to be pure in not only our “love lives” but with our spiritual, physical, and mental “lives” as well. And this doesn’t just include your thought process. Purity isn’t a sex thing, or just a head thing, it’s a heart thing.
My life is patterned with moments of un-pureness. I have gotten mad at my roommate, my parents, my brother, my friends, you name someone, and I have probably gotten frustrated with them at least once. My driving habits could do with a little more purity; tailgating or yelling at the driver in front of me is probably not something that brings my God joy, let alone a smile. Thinking not so pure thoughts about a professor that has really gotten on my nerves probably not the most God-like thing I could have done. Gossiping with girls on my floor, not probably the most loving thing to do.
Pure comes from the Greek word Hagnos (Hag-noss), meaning clean, modest, undefiled, morally faultless and without blemish. And it actually comes from the same root as the word Hagious, meaning holy. Through God’s grace and compassion, and the sending of His Son down, through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and unconditional love we now have the capacity to mimic Jesus, to be holy as He is holy. We can now strive after what’s right because we know the “greener” side.
So, purity, what does that mean? Purity comes in many different forms. The New Testament frequently talks about loving purely. 1 Peter 1 talks about loving sincerely and loving each other with a pure heart and not just that special someone, but loving everyone. Jesus talks about “loving others just as you love yourself” but what does this actually look like? Loving someone doesn’t have to be showing physical affection! How about buying the person in back of you their coffee at the Aerie or Starbucks? How about thanking your professor after a lecture for putting the time to teach? How about thanking the people who do the dishes at Caf for being so giving of their time and appreciating their work?
Actions are another aspect where purity can take root. Actions are based on intentions, so really making sure our intentions are pure is a good start. When you cut that person off on the freeway, what was your intent?
My mom growing up would constantly ask us if we were unsure about a situation “What are you committed to cause?” So what are we committed to cause as followers of Christ, as students, as friends, as boyfriends, as girlfriends, as employees, as people? What are the intentions behind our actions? What were we committed to cause when we cut off that car on the freeway, when we got mad at a friend, when we cheated on that exam, when we told that little white lie? What were we committed to cause? Were we trying to make ourselves look better, put someone down, or were we trying to be the “Jesus” in that situation?
For my Christian Thought I like, I’m sure many of you, had to read Ortberg’s “Life You’ve Always Wanted”. In this book Ortberg talks about living with a well-ordered heart. This chapter really hit home for me because I know I can kind of put God and purity on the back burner in my life. And it’s not about being pure AND living life, it’s about being pure WHILE living life. Incorporating purity into our daily routines and not just doing it to check it off our to-do list. Ortberg says that “when the heart is well-ordered it is not only increasingly free from sin, but also increasingly free from the desire to sin”. What does this mean? It means that when we can put God back on the pedestal where He belongs, the pursuit of purity gets easier, and this is how we are able to attain holiness, just as He is holy. Imagine a world filled with people who are all pursuing holiness and purity. Tabloids sold at grocery stores would be filled with stories about acts of lavish generosity and spontaneous sacrifice committed by noncelebrities we have never heard of. Television shows would be about men who secretly desire to dress as men. People would ask “how are you?” and really want to know what’s going on in the other person’s life. Intentions would be focused on what’s pleasing to God and edifying to other people, rather than us.
How can we start living a life of purity? So glad you asked!
Number one: begin to become more aware of your surroundings and the situations around you. A lot of the time with school and stress we will get so caught up in the “big” things that we won’t focus on the little things. We will talk and think without even realizing what we’re doing until it’s too late. Solution? Become more attentive to the things that are going on around you. Ask God to open up not only your physical eyes but your spiritual eyes as well. Only through becoming more aware will we be able to notice how we’re actually acting and what we’re actually saying.
Number two: read your bible. The only way we can ever to be holy, just as He is holy is to actually find out how Jesus acted. By reading the Gospels we can learn how Jesus went about treating and talking to other people. Only by really digging into scripture are we able to see what Christ was committed to cause.
The life of pursuing purity isn’t an easy and sometimes isn’t the most fun one. I know I have had to back out of situations where I know I wouldn’t have able to pursue pure things, like a late night movie where the movie really isn’t the best I could be watching, or not hanging out with a group of friends that would be inevitably be drinking before the night was through. Sometimes yeah, we might not feel that “cool”, but then we have to ask ourselves, what’s cool? For me, I always have to come back to the fact that God’s ways are so much cooler than anything else, and I know that pursuing His ways will lead me to something so much better than the world has to offer, and let me tell you, the reward is so much greater!
Today, I persuade you, no I challenge you to be the Pure generation. To go against the flow and pursue purity! Believe me, its well worth it!
-The percent of students reporting street gang presence at school nearly doubled between 1989 and 1995, increasing from 15.3% to 28.4%.
-7 in 10 girls in the U.S. have had sex before the age of 14
-An estimated 2.1 million people began smoking on a daily basis in 1997. More than half of these new daily smokers were younger than age 18.
What does it mean to be a generation that seeks the face of God? What does it look like to be a generation that has clean hands and pure hearts, which goes against the flow and follows hard after God no matter what the world may say? It certainly isn’t what the stats exhibit.
Today is the day to rise up and become that Pure Generation. Today I want to persuade you to be that generation.
1 John 3 says “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not been revealed what we shall be, but we know when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”.
Pastors all over the U.S. and other parts of the world have pushed the “pure movement” but I think a lot of people fail to realize that purity isn’t just about not having sex before marriage, its WAY more!
God wants us to be pure in not only our “love lives” but with our spiritual, physical, and mental “lives” as well. And this doesn’t just include your thought process. Purity isn’t a sex thing, or just a head thing, it’s a heart thing.
My life is patterned with moments of un-pureness. I have gotten mad at my roommate, my parents, my brother, my friends, you name someone, and I have probably gotten frustrated with them at least once. My driving habits could do with a little more purity; tailgating or yelling at the driver in front of me is probably not something that brings my God joy, let alone a smile. Thinking not so pure thoughts about a professor that has really gotten on my nerves probably not the most God-like thing I could have done. Gossiping with girls on my floor, not probably the most loving thing to do.
Pure comes from the Greek word Hagnos (Hag-noss), meaning clean, modest, undefiled, morally faultless and without blemish. And it actually comes from the same root as the word Hagious, meaning holy. Through God’s grace and compassion, and the sending of His Son down, through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and unconditional love we now have the capacity to mimic Jesus, to be holy as He is holy. We can now strive after what’s right because we know the “greener” side.
So, purity, what does that mean? Purity comes in many different forms. The New Testament frequently talks about loving purely. 1 Peter 1 talks about loving sincerely and loving each other with a pure heart and not just that special someone, but loving everyone. Jesus talks about “loving others just as you love yourself” but what does this actually look like? Loving someone doesn’t have to be showing physical affection! How about buying the person in back of you their coffee at the Aerie or Starbucks? How about thanking your professor after a lecture for putting the time to teach? How about thanking the people who do the dishes at Caf for being so giving of their time and appreciating their work?
Actions are another aspect where purity can take root. Actions are based on intentions, so really making sure our intentions are pure is a good start. When you cut that person off on the freeway, what was your intent?
My mom growing up would constantly ask us if we were unsure about a situation “What are you committed to cause?” So what are we committed to cause as followers of Christ, as students, as friends, as boyfriends, as girlfriends, as employees, as people? What are the intentions behind our actions? What were we committed to cause when we cut off that car on the freeway, when we got mad at a friend, when we cheated on that exam, when we told that little white lie? What were we committed to cause? Were we trying to make ourselves look better, put someone down, or were we trying to be the “Jesus” in that situation?
For my Christian Thought I like, I’m sure many of you, had to read Ortberg’s “Life You’ve Always Wanted”. In this book Ortberg talks about living with a well-ordered heart. This chapter really hit home for me because I know I can kind of put God and purity on the back burner in my life. And it’s not about being pure AND living life, it’s about being pure WHILE living life. Incorporating purity into our daily routines and not just doing it to check it off our to-do list. Ortberg says that “when the heart is well-ordered it is not only increasingly free from sin, but also increasingly free from the desire to sin”. What does this mean? It means that when we can put God back on the pedestal where He belongs, the pursuit of purity gets easier, and this is how we are able to attain holiness, just as He is holy. Imagine a world filled with people who are all pursuing holiness and purity. Tabloids sold at grocery stores would be filled with stories about acts of lavish generosity and spontaneous sacrifice committed by noncelebrities we have never heard of. Television shows would be about men who secretly desire to dress as men. People would ask “how are you?” and really want to know what’s going on in the other person’s life. Intentions would be focused on what’s pleasing to God and edifying to other people, rather than us.
How can we start living a life of purity? So glad you asked!
Number one: begin to become more aware of your surroundings and the situations around you. A lot of the time with school and stress we will get so caught up in the “big” things that we won’t focus on the little things. We will talk and think without even realizing what we’re doing until it’s too late. Solution? Become more attentive to the things that are going on around you. Ask God to open up not only your physical eyes but your spiritual eyes as well. Only through becoming more aware will we be able to notice how we’re actually acting and what we’re actually saying.
Number two: read your bible. The only way we can ever to be holy, just as He is holy is to actually find out how Jesus acted. By reading the Gospels we can learn how Jesus went about treating and talking to other people. Only by really digging into scripture are we able to see what Christ was committed to cause.
The life of pursuing purity isn’t an easy and sometimes isn’t the most fun one. I know I have had to back out of situations where I know I wouldn’t have able to pursue pure things, like a late night movie where the movie really isn’t the best I could be watching, or not hanging out with a group of friends that would be inevitably be drinking before the night was through. Sometimes yeah, we might not feel that “cool”, but then we have to ask ourselves, what’s cool? For me, I always have to come back to the fact that God’s ways are so much cooler than anything else, and I know that pursuing His ways will lead me to something so much better than the world has to offer, and let me tell you, the reward is so much greater!
Today, I persuade you, no I challenge you to be the Pure generation. To go against the flow and pursue purity! Believe me, its well worth it!
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