in the love of Christ

I am saved. I am a member of the Bride of Christ. There is no question. My commitment is eternal. So is His. We live in a place in waiting. We are the Bride waiting for her Bridegroom to come and make the eternal commitment final. We are the Bride waiting for the wedding of eternal weight. Have you ever heard a true member of the Bride of Christ say, “If Christ returns, the union will be complete”? I sure hope you haven’t because that is not how this whole Bride-Bridegroom Covenant works. Let me tell you, there is no if . There is only a when. Upon salvation the covenant is made between each individual and Christ for eternity. On the bigger scale, the covenant has already been made between the Church (aka the Bride of Christ) and Christ Himself (the Bridegroom). I am ranting but my point is this: there is no question of if there will be a wedding. There exists no doubt in the mind of Christ’s Bride that there will be a day of union. I can guarantee that there is no doubt

I have this plant. It is a cute little green thing that is pretty resilient. It was given to Billy and me by my friend Laura as a “love plant” at our engagement party. This little plant doesn’t need too much to survive. In all reality, all it needs is water and sunshine. This is all. Water and light. (You may already see where this is going) This semester has been quite busy though and I have recently forgotten to give it water. At first I watered it a little bit every day and always turned it to make sure that every part of the plant was getting some sunshine. If I didn’t turn it for a few days, I would look up to see my plant reaching over one side of its little pot towards the window and the side that didn’t get sun looked a little weak. Well, yesterday, I looked up and couldn’t see the leaves of my little plant. Why? Because they were all limp and laying down over the side of the pot as I had forgotten to water it for…three weeks. It also had not received much sun since the blinds

I have no real way of starting this so I am going to jump in head first. I have had this beautiful explanation of what an engagement was like in Ruth and Naomi’s lifetime. I am presently finishing the book Shattered Dreams, by Larry Crabb, and am daily blown away by just how much God has packaged into the story of Naomi and Ruth for all of us to learn from. The engagement topic of Boaz and Ruth is one very interesting part of this story and one that I probably would have missed without a wiser man’s direction toward what God tucked away between the lines. In Shattered Dreams, Crabb describes the true definition of an engagement in four pages of detail and commentary. I have now read those pages countless times and am convicted by what I have learned. Ever since Billy popped the question and all the plans started moving forward, my mind and heart have turned continually to how much preparation a wedding takes. I keep thinking to myself, with every step of this adventure, that, fo

I am not a huge fan of any type of biting insect. I am especially not a fan of sneaky biting insects like “No-See-Ums”. However, they are sometimes unavoidable. I have to put on bug spray to guard myself from them. When I know that I will be somewhere near them, I guard myself even more with coats of the toughest bug sprays. I was in Santiago, Dominican Republic last week for 7 days. I covered myself in bug spray but, no matter what, I got attacked by the darn things. Then the itching began. I had to sit still and try not to scratch them. I would de well for a day and then scratch for twenty minutes causing enough damage for a lifetime. It took so much self control not to give in to the temptation of scratching the bites, even as I looked at the scars from last years bites. I find myself in this same kind of “Bug Bite Temptation” in my life all the time. When I foresee spiritually dangerous situations, I pray and put my spiritual bug spray on. Sometimes I even ask friends to pray as we

As I was studying the book of Joshua tonight, I found an exciting story. As I read it, I couldn’t help but think that this is how the church today should behave. In the time of Joshua, Israel conquered many nations by the hand of God. They faced thousands and killed them all. They lived their lives constantly reminded of how faithfully God had fulfilled every promise He made. Alter all of the battles for land were done and each tribe of Israel had been given their inheritance (in the form of promised land), the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (known as the Eastern Tribes) headed across the Jordan river from the other tribes to the land they had been given on the other side. Though this river would separate them from the other tribes that made up the nation of Israel, it did not change the fact that they were a part of Israel. Joshua blessed the Eastern Tribes as they left for their inherited lands. He said to them, “Now that the Lord our God has given your brother

“And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 My question to myself: does this apply to people too— Does/would God use people living in sin to do His will? I believe that God is truly powerful and perfect enough to use anyone and anything to work for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose. Why do I believe this? Two reasons: I have seen Him do it and His Word tells me so. It is really that simple. My next thought is somewhat connected to this belief so please hang in there for a second and I promise to get to the point by the end of this. I have often wondered how it is that Christian’s I know have been able to do many things that are pleasing to the Lord, despite some hidden area of sin in their lives. Example #1: a man sitting in the pew accepting Christ as he hears the Word of God from the mouth a well known preacher who has secretly been having an affair for

Just a thought… Mark 14:38 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” Woah! That is the truth and I have just sat here and thought about how true it is! I asked myself a few questions after reading that and here is what I have realized: -What am I watching for? I am watching for sin and all things that could either destroy me/my walk or lead me astray from my Father’s will. -What am I praying for and why should I pray? I am praying for God’s guidance and strength. There are going to be situations in my life where I am tempted to do something, say something, think something, etc. In those moments, I will need help and God offers it so I pray about it, involving Him in my scaring moments and tough times. Also, in 1 Corinthians 10:13, it says, “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

Yesterday, my church started a series entitled “People of the Second Chance” and I am very excited for what God will do and has done through it! It focuses on the story of the Prodigal Son. Pastor Pete talked yesterday specifically on the role of the younger son, the prodigal, and all of the things that occurred in his life. He talked about reasons that the son ran from home for so long and also why/how he decided to turn back and go home to his father. You can find the whole sermon at www.crosspoint.tv but I do not have enough time or writing skills to rehash the entire sermon. As for my own life, I can and have identified a point in time where I was running from God. I ran really far and for a long time. But when I realized, by the grace of God and through His communities, that I was running from God, I turned around and He was there. He was right there with His arms open telling me that none of the things I had done took His love away. Amazing! Today, I can say that I am not running

The Lord never ceases to leave me speechless, reeling in His magnificent, sovereign nature. Today, I have been kind of packing up my room but also just kind of staring at my stuff. I am finishing my first year of college. Major accomplishment. I am also proud to say that I am finishing my first year of college with a stronger faith than before, having grown with the Lord much over this year. Another major accomplishment. I would like to say that it has been really easy to follow everything He shows me and see Him in everything all the time. That is what I would like to say. But that is not what I can say. The truth is I see Him in everything all the time in other people’s lives. Weird, right? I can see Him in other’s lives all the time. I am quick to take note when someone tells me about a new thing or a development and it is so obvious to me that it is the Lord working. Just today, a girl who has gotten very close to some of my friends and I here recently headed to the hospital for so

I’m listening to my roommate practice her guitar. She got it as a present and now she is learning how to play. Before I went to dinner tonight, she was sitting there with her guitar and a chord cheat-sheet practicing a worship song. The pauses between chord changes reminded me of when I first learned to play and how exciting it was to learn more and more everyday. Well, when I got back to the room after dinner, I could see her guitar stuff lying on the floor like she had been practicing forever. When she walked back into the room (after I jumped out and scared her to death since she didn’t know I was back in the room… quite hysterical… I thought she had pooped in her pants), she was excited to play the song she had been practicing for me so I could hear her progress at changing chords. She sat down and said she was still nervous when she started to play. I listened and watched as she played the song quicker than before and with determination. The look on her face as she was nodding her

“Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39 I just came upon this passage. I have been praying for the Lord to reveal a few things to me, specific things pertaining to how His will gets carried out and how humanity plays a role. I believe He has showed me a little bit. In this story, the apostles are being persecuted for following a command of the Lord that had given to them by angels. While the apostles stood before the Sanhedrin, Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29) The apostles are explaining that they have to do what the Lord commanded them over all the advice, the statutes, and the desires of any man, including themselves. In this situation, that meant putting themselves at risk for persecution. But they followed God anyway. Aft

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:9-11 “Love must be sincere.” I was reminded by one of my morning devotionals just exactly what “sincere” means. The word “sincere” translates to “without wax”. Long story short, when clay pots got cracks, back in the old days, they became useless because they could no longer hold water. The people selling pots would fill the cracks with wax making them appear to be good. So when a person got a pot that had no wax and no cracks, they called it a sincere pot. I really don’t know what to say, other than that I know I have days when my love isn’t quite sincere sometimes. Some days, when I am running late to class, stressing about school work, worrying about what I won’t get done today, I can feel that the love I shared with my friends, family, or boyfriend was

I read a tweet this morning. It was the first thing I read when I woke up. It was a tweet from Max Lucado (the sad part is that I check my twitter right after my morning prayer). Max said “When God gives an assignment, He deposits the ‘want to’ and the ‘can do’ in the same heart.” Yesterday, I was faced with a situation I have never been in before. A friend asked me to accompany her to the hospital and I immediately jumped up, knowing that this was no accident. But the situation was one I have never faced. This world is so broken and full of hurt that I am sure I will be forced to face it again someday, but hopefully not soon. I spent about four hours in a hospital with the strong desire to stand up and tell the person how valuable they were, how great God’s love is for them, how purposeful and intentional their life is!! But I did not stand up and shout (that would have been strange). I also did not stammer through words or wonder what to say because, when the moment was right for the