QUICK HITS: Psalm 119

Yep it’s been awhile since i’ve updated this, and it’s just been laziness but with summer here, I will do more hopefully!

Quick Hits—just picking out some solid verses that WOWed me while i was reading. May God speak to you in these and I highly encouraging the whole Psalm.

PSALM 119 (NIV)

v.20 – “My Soul is crushed with longing After Your ordinances at all times.” (NASB)
v.32 – “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”
v.37 – “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”
v.50 – My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.” 
v.71-72 – “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”
v.74-75 – “May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word. I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”
v. 96 – “To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.”
v.123-24 – “My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promis. Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees.” 
v.130 – ” The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
 

fasting for life

First, sorry i have not updated in a very long time, I blame myself and I’ve just been really busy in between with this being the last couple weeks of classes.

In Uganda the past couple weeks, the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) signing has been drawing extremely close. Deadlines to sign the FPA have been pushed back many times in order to ensure that this peace process will begin. With an original deadline of March 28th, then April 5th, then April 10th things are still looming. Most of this is due to the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, pushing it back. He does not want to show himself yet to sign it and was even within a couple miles of the table where he would have to sign it at one point, but did not want to. Please continue praying for this peace in Uganda. It is the longest running war in Africa at 20+ years. Also, if this FPA is signed the rebuilding process in Uganda is a long one, and technically Joseph Kony is still going to be a free man running around Sudan and the Congo. 

With all of these events going on so recently and hope is really high, I have been enlightened by scripture to as why I am passionate about Invisible Children. Why God cares for the kids and families of Uganda. My accountability partner and myself challenged each other to memorize Isaiah 58:6-9 awhile back and it reminded us of our mission to the lost, the broken, the hungry, and the injustices of this world. Keeping in check that to be a change its starts with how we live our lives. That fasting is not just about staying away from something (i.e. food, FACEBOOK, tv, video games, etc.) for awhile and spending that time in prayer, but fasting also becomes how we walk our lives. Seeing what God has blessed us with and taking opportunity of it. Finishing our meals, taking care of our rooms/houses making sure they’re clean and neat, not wasting water. Living this type of fasting can bring about life that gives hope saying “I am thankful for what God has given me” and gives understanding to what others may not be able to attain. Therefore helping us INTERCEDE for the lost, the injustices, the broken, the poor, the kids in Uganda, the war in Uganda, even our friends and family. Intercede for somebody or something today it makes a difference. Check out how you are living life. I’ll be first to say i don’t always clean my plate at dinner time.

Isaiah 58:6-9 (NIV)
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
Then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say:
            Here Am I.
 

 

OVERCOME

This week while on spring break, God challenged me to share my testimony with my parents. It was the most nerve wrecking thing I’ve experienced. Trying to plan it out, I fasted the lunch the day before. Nothing went as I planned when it finally got to it yesterday at lunch. Things quickly turned into a college/career lecture, and a couple of other things were said. At first I was downed and sad, but God picked me up again. He showed me that I took one of the biggest steps of faith in my life so far. I overcame such a big task and Satan was against me, using words through my parents to try and bring me down. In Revelation 12:11 it says that “They overcame him, by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;” No matter what my parents through at me sometimes, I am freed by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, and that one day my testimony to them will make an impact on their lives. If you are a believer, and believe that Jesus died for our sins, making us right with God, and that He rose from the grave. Then your testimony means  a lot no matter what you’ve been through. You are a part of God’s story. Share your testimony with someone. No matter how they respond, you have planted a seed in their life. We ALL have a great testimony by the blood of Jesus Christ.

strength and courage

In my old testament class, we studied the story of Joshua. Though not mentioned in class at all, what stuck out to me the most was when God calls Joshua and instructs him to take over Canaan, he tells Joshua to be “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6), “Be strong and very courageous” (1:7), “Be strong and courageous.” (1:9), and “Only be strong and courageous!” (1:18). Joshua was able to conquer 16 cities including Jericho and Ai. 

I believe that God has called us to do the same and conquer cities. If we are strong and courageous for our God and engage others with the love of God, and have faith that He can do many things, then through us God will begin to transform the hearts of the lost around us. By being strong and courageous in the Gospel, God will help us accomplish many things in life and help us overcome the ways of the world.

Go out and “ONLY be strong and courageous!” for the Sovereign Lord. Tell others your story of what God has done in your life, tell them the story of Jesus Christ who saved you, tell them of the amazing gift that awaits them.

LOVE God

The Greatest Commandment

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”(Mark 12:30)

On this Valentines Day, there are many singles out saying, “I wish I had someone that loved me, and someone I could share my love with.” But the truth is that there is someone that loves them and thats the living God. God gave his one and only son for us, that our sins may be atoned for, and to show us that He loves us and wants us to be with Him.

   All I have to say for today is allow God to be your Valentine’s today, remember what God has done for us, remember that he has an unfailing love and he will never leave us or forsake us. Be in communion with God by loving Him back through prayer and how you live your life today and everyday. He will give us a joy/happiness that will be unexplainable, and love that no one else on earth can give us. If you are in a relationship and trust in Him, loving Him first, then He will bless your relationship and allow you to love the one you are in relation with more than you can do on your own. No matter what your situation is and what you’re going through today, remember that YOU ARE LOVED!

Happy Valentines Day everybody!

LOVE God, LOVE people 

LOVE people

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”  -1 John 3:23 Today is a big day for the organization To Write Love On Her Arms, and for Christians who support the organization. TWLOHA asked supporters to write LOVE on their left arm today to raise awareness about depression among mainly teens but in general. By doing so this opens up the opportunity to let others know that they are loved, to share the story of TWLOHA, and even opens doors to share the Gospel with the lost. 

This cause is great, but God has convicted me of “Why not everyday?” “Why do you need a special day like this?” I know writing LOVE on my arm everyday in permanent marker might give me ink poisoning, but why not take the time in our daily lives to say to someone “YOU are loved.” It doesn’t have to be religious or anything just simple. Through practice many doors are opened for one to began to share the Gospel. Especially in this Valentine’s season, tell someone that “you love them, and so does Jesus, the King of Love.” Let them know someone cares about them. Possibly even do something for them, to express this love…by them a meal, give them a home made paper heart, make them cookies, give them HUG. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with acions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

I love what TWLOHA has to say about  LOVE:

“We often ask God to show up. We pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be His body, to move for things that matter. He is not invisible when we come alive. I might be simple but more and more, I believe God works in love, speaks in love, is revealed in our love…..We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don’t get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won’t solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we’re called home. “  

Lays Wavy Chips

As I was eating Lays Wavy chips, I noticed this on the back of the bag:

“It all starts with farm-grown potatoes, just as it always has. Simple, wholesome and real.”

“We like to cut them in wavy slices to give them a big crunch. Then we cook them in 100% pure sunflower oil, which brings out the wonderful potato taste.”

“Finally, we keep things simple, adding salt for flavor”

“In fact, we can’t think of anything else that would make our crispy chips more delicious.” 

         God created us for the same purpose.  That we may grow in Him, letting Him mold us for His will, and then sending us out to feed the lost and hungry.

         First, we must be willing to give our lives fully to God. Believe in Him, recognizing that we have sinned, and that He sent His son to die for our sins. We must be a seed sown on good soil.

“14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—

thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.“                        -Mark 4:14-20

We must plant ourselves in the good soil, and grow ourselves so that we may become great tasting potato chips to the world. If planted in the path, rocky or among thorns, we won’t produce crops and eventually be a stale chip or chip with no flavoring. It starts with our own efforts to plant ourselves in the good soil, the love of God, and then we will grow into the best of the best potatoes. God will take us and mold us into crunchy and flavored chips that will feed others.

In fact, I can’t think of anything that would be better tasting than God’s home cooking.”

Beauty

 What a beautiful past couple of days it has been. The weather has been great. I remember last Friday it being cold and walking from class to my dorm in pouring rain. Temperatures in the upper 70s even 80s down here in Wilmington. Didn’t get a chance to go to the beach, but as I was walking around campus I saw the beauty of God once again. Clear CAROLINA BLUE skies fresh air, not to hot, not to cold, not to humid, just perfect. Everyone was in a good mood. It’s always nice to just sit and relax and look at what God’s creation. It sticks out even more as we are covering “creation” in my Intro to Old Testament class. How God just put everything together so perfectly is indescribable. With the simple words of “Let there be…” He created the light so we can see, the sky we see, the plants around us, the animals running around, and the people we encounter. All this, God created for us to enjoy because He loves us. He wants to see us smile, laugh, and have fun. We should return to Him by giving him our life to him in complete devotion. Loving Him and loving others as we go about our daily lives, and we will see the magnificent and beautiful God we have.

“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” -2 John v.6 

“One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ” -Oswald Chambers  

 

ENGAGE

At Overflow, we were challenged to think of one word. One word that we would like to focus on for the upcoming year. After prayer and some thinking my ‘one word’ for the year is ENGAGE. This is something I personally struggle with. Just starting a conversation. Part of it is me being introverted. Part of it just being lazy and into myself. To break the barrier when I’m tired and actually talk to people. To just be more intent with sharing the Good News. The key points for me in this one word process are:

-ENGAGE more people in communication. I find myself talking to people I know already when I’m in new environments. It’s time to reach out, break my own comfort zone

-ENGAGE people with the Gospel more intently. We can be examples of Christ to others for a very long time, but then there’s the next step of sharing the Gospel.

-ENGAGE with God in conversation more often. Open Prayer. I’m slowly learning that the power of prayer is bigger than I thought. And when actually speaking verbally my prayers, instead of just reciting in my own mind, there is power.

I’m still in the process of making a set of verses to back up this ‘one word’ but here are 2:

“For God did not give us  a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord…” -2 Timothy 1:7-8

 ”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20 

I would like to invite others to take part in this too. Make a list of ‘one words’ that you think you might need some improvement on in your life. Pray about it. Find some scriptural reference to back it up. And then focus on it this year.