My God's Not Dead

This past week we had revival services at my church. I was only able to attend two of the five services, which made me really sad, but God provided me with so many opportunities this week to experience revival outside of the four walls of our church building. 

On Tuesday night I was out with my Impact Team assisting with Trailblazers. Trailblazers is an after school program for kids at Pendleton Street Baptist Church. We have kids of all ages, and most of the time it seems like they are actually the ones ministering to us. Yes, it does get stressful but there is nothing better than walking into a room and getting bombarded with hugs from a bunch of adorable children. Seeing those kids is definitely one of the best parts of my week and I am so blessed to be given the opportunity to hang out with these kids. 

I was ecstatic to be able to attend the revival service at my church on Wednesday night. We had a "youth night" of sorts and I experienced worship in a way that I haven't in a really long while. One of the sings we sang was "Like a Lion" by the David Crowder Band. I first fell in love with this song when I heard at Look Up Lodge this summer. It speaks of the majesty of our Lord, which is something that we often overlook. The lyrics of this song have been stuck in my head all week, and I thought I should post them so that they could be stuck in your head too.   :)

"Let Heaven roar and fire fall. Come shake the ground with the sound of revival."

That is my prayer this week. I do not want revival to end at my church. I want it to continue and to spread throughout our community. I could turn this into a parody of a political speech, but I won't for the sake of time. So, just trust me that if we let revival sweep across our hearts, it could eventually affect our entire generation for Christ. 

Fully Known

"For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known."

1 Corinthians 13:12

This verse comes from the quintessential "love" chapter in the Bible. I used to feel that it was a bit out of place, but now I am coming to understand exactly why this verse fits so perfectly in this chapter. I talk a lot about what it means to love something or someone, and this verse goes right along with that concept. When you love someone you want to know everything about them and see them for who they truly are.

Jesus loves me. I am fully known by Him, and that is an incredible thing. The God of the universe knows me fully! That's kind of crazy. He knows my fears, my favorites, and my failings. He knows my favorite color and he knows that I am OCD about most food. He knows that I am afraid of birds, and he knows why as well. He knows my greatest weaknesses and temptations. He knows what makes me feel close to Him and he knows what romances me. He knows those things that I can't tell anyone else. And He knows not because He has to, but because He wants to.

The Bible verse that I mentioned really excites me, because after realizing that Jesus wants to know me and loves me so much, I started to fall in love with Him. Therefore, that means that I want to know Him fully. I want to know everything about Him. The verse refers to a mirror. I believe that this is speaking of the fact that right now we can't see Jesus face-to-face. We are only seeing a slightly skewed reflection of Him through the Bible and other people. But one day, because I am a child of God, I will get to see the real thing!

A couple of years ago when I was going through a rough time, I remember being frustrated because Jesus was the only one that could truly hold me and comfort me, but I couldn't see Him face-to-face. He couldn't physically swoop me up in His arms and tell me that everything would be okay. When I read this verse, it reminds me that one day He will truly be able to do that. I will really be there with Him and I will know Him fully, as I am fully known. The thought of that is what makes life worth living.

Keep Your Chin Up

Yesterday I saw something quite perplexing. A student was walking through the parking lot with his head down. I do not mean that he was glancing down to see where he was going. He was literally staring down at the ground. Now, in all fairness, he was probably just really focused, or in deep thought about something. He was probably just in a hurry. That's not what it looked like though. It looked as though he were embarrassed, possibly even ashamed.

Well, of course a simile automatically popped in my head and a lightbulb went off. We, as Christians, tend to be "that guy" a lot. We are keeping our heads down just trying to get from one place to another without being particularly noticed. We don't flat out deny that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, we just conveniently forget to talk about Him. We may have every intention of ministering, witnessing, and making a difference, but that's not what it looks like. When we conveniently forget to take a stand for our Lord, we can come across as embarassed, possibly even ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, don't get so caught up in your goals that you forget why you were created. Don't metaphorically keep your head down, just trying to get by and be good enough. I don't want to miss an opportunity to serve, and if I continue to keep my head down I am going to get to Heaven with a seriously lame amount of crowns to lay at my King's feet. And that's just not okay with me.

So, for the sake of our glorious Savior, please keep your chin up.

A Means to An End

You have all heard the saying, "This is just a means to an end."

For example, all of the classes that I attend are just a means to an end. I am only attending so that I can learn the information that I need to become a music teacher. The classes are the means to an end, not the end in and of itself. However, I will still try to do my very best in these classes because they are what will lead me to my degree in the best, most efficient way.

How does this apply to Christianity?

Well, most people view salvation as the means to an end, and Heaven as the end. While salvation is the only way to go to Heaven, it is important that we do not focus so much on our rewards, but rather on our Savior.

Jesus is the reward. He is what we should seek rather than a treasure of silver and gold. He is the treasure.
Jesus is not a means to an end. He is the end point that we should all be striving for. When you love someone, you don't just want their gifts. You want them. One of our chapel speakers spoke on this very topic a few days ago, and it was also reiterated in a study that I'm doing with our college Sunday school class at church.
We are going through the book Crazy Love and I am finding that I don't know much about loving Christ at all. But, I am striving for Him and I am so excited about what He is going to show me through the rest of this study.

The challenge is to think about what you love most about God. Do all of the things that come to mind have to do with what He does for you, or do they have to do with His character?

I am learning that just to be known by the Creator of the universe is far better than any other gift that I could ever receive.

For Better or Worse

Last night I watched a show on TLC called Four Weddings. The point of the show is to compare four different weddings from the viewpoint of the brides. They go to each other's weddings and then score each other based on several different categories. The best wedding wins a dream honeymoon. It's actually a pretty good show. 


While I was watching the ceremonies I was struck by a specific saying that occurred in the vows. We have all heard a bride and groom vow to love each other for better or worse, indicating that through the good times and the bad they will be there for each other. 
All four of these women pledged that no matter what happened they would stand by their man and their love for him would not change. 


This got me thinking about the love of my life, also known as Jesus. This could sound corny to some, but it's true so that is how I am going to refer to Him. Could I make that same wedding vow to my Savior? Could I look Him in the eyes and say that for better or worse I will love Him just the same? How about you? Could you tell Jesus that even when you don't understand His plan or His purpose, your commitment would not be shaken?


Most of the time I have no clue what God is up to in my life. There are questions marks in my life right now, and sometimes God answers my prayers in a way that I do not particularly like. So, how is my love for Christ displayed in times like that? Do I let Him lead the way and understand that He is all-knowing, or do I question His sovereignty?


How I respond to God in these times of difficulty truly displays my level of commitment and love to Him. It helps to reveal to the world whether I truly love my Lord or whether He is just a habit in my life. 


So the next time that you go to a wedding, try to imagine that you are the bride and Jesus is your groom. Would the vows be true in your life, or would they just be meaningless words to a Savior that you don't even really love?

My Favorite Things

I generally write about some pretty heavy topics, so for this post I thought that I would lighten things up a bit and just let you all get to know me a little better. 


These are some of my favorite things on this planet.

• Freshly-baked cookies with a giant glass of milk
• Clothes that are fresh out of the dryer
• Toms
• Flannel shirts--particularly flannel shirts that are much too big for me, and therefore, the most comfortable thing EVER. :)
• Driving down the ride with the windows down and my music blaring
• Monterrey's Mexican restaurant...but only if I'm with my very best friends
• Opening presents
• Star-gazing on a really clear night
• Surprises
• Japanese food
• Israel (I've been once, and I intend to go back again soon.)
• Audrey Hepburn movies
• Libraries
• A really great pair of worn-in blue jeans

Well, that's me in a nut shell. 

He is the Only Constant

This week has just been one of those weeks. You know what I mean. The amount of school work that I am doing has dramatically increased, and with it my stress level. I have had more tests this week than I care to count and I am overwhelmed with the thought of keeping my grades up. 


I was driving down the road yesterday pondering all of these things, and I realized that I had let stress and worry win that day. I had let the devil consume my mind with things that will one day fade away. In the mean time, I had not spent much time reading Scripture and giving my cares over to the Lord.


I may have a stressful life at times, but I am so glad that Jesus is the one constant thing in my life.


God is still good even when there aren't enough hours in the day. He still reigns over the earth even when I bomb a test and just want to crawl in bed and go to sleep. God doesn't change through any of that.


Therefore, my attitude about Him shouldn't change. I should still spend just as much time worshipping Him. I should still spend just as much time reading about Him. Most importantly, I should still spend as much time talking to Him.


So, today I am going to let Jesus fight my battles for me. And even when it seems like I'm losing, I'm going to try my very best to honor Him just the same. He makes everything work together for the good of those that love Him.