Building the faith Hall of Fame

I had a much needed sweet time in the Word of God this morning and it came after a night of selfishness. I don't know if this is true with anyone else but when I speak for myself I know that I sing my love for the Lord, but when He is simply asking me to spend time with Him when I'm tired, or ill...then it seems the love is no longer there. That is not right...His love for me was so deep He took it to the Cross, and then STILL continues to love me even when I do not return that love. I was thinking about my relationship with the Lord today and I can speak about it all I want, but I want HIM to know of my love...always.
I am still in Hebrews and this morning's study was just refreshing! I think the Lord is convicting me about the passion I have for other things-not that I can't enjoy other things, but I pour into things so much and then find myself "too tired" to work on the actual jobs God has CALLED me to do! Where are my priorities? Christ is taking backseat and that's NOT right. Oh Lord, help me set my gaze on what matters-why I am on this earth! Hebrews 10:35-39 are an assurance of salvation for me! Verse 38 says, "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Wow..what is faith? 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I looked up some of these words on E-sword (an AWESOME Bible study program that downloads FREE online...it has been wonderful!) ..."Substance" in the Greek means what is says-"the essence"-what makes up, holds up, fills and establishes things "hoped for" (which means "to expect or confide (expectation or confidence)" the "evidence" ("proof-literally)- a conviction of things not seen! Faith is the "setting under; support" of all our expectations in Christ! AND the proof of what we haven't seen yet-think about it! How many times have you had faith Christ would keep His Word or answer a prayer in His time-those are all evidences-PROOF-not only of His past faithfulness but also of His faithfulness to come!! How exciting is that?
If He could work so powerfully and faithfully NOW-just think of what He will do according to His Word! i was thinking tonight...what are some of the evidences that result from my faith? The whole chapter of Hebrews 11 has been named the faith "Hall of Fame", giving examples of people who had faith and who God worked through MIGHTILY! What is my faith "Hall of Fame" for the Lord? These people were mentioned here as heroes of the faith, but as much as we consider them heroes God is lifted even higher through their testimonies, because HE is the substance of our faith!
I wanted in the short space that I have here to list out what God has done in my life...little evidences of faith in Him that will hopefully show You what they've shown to me as I reflect on them...that He will never cease to take care of me :)

FAITH HALL OF FAME:

July 2010: My sophmore year at PCC I felt like the Lord had led me to the intent of graduating with a Bachelor's in Advertising/Public Relations and then using that to work with the Academy of Arts Ministries. Through a very long series of missed courses and credits that wouldn't transfer, I found out that it was going to take me 6 years altogether to finish. I wanted to be at the Acad SO badly and couldn't understand why God was keeping me back. I tried every way I could to transfer out but none of my credits would transfer...I just wanted to graduate with my class and GO! I got down on my knees to talk with the Lord and I said to Him, "I will go wherever you want me to go-I trust You!" and He said to me, "Do you?" I said, "Of COURSE I do! ..You are God!" and He said to me, "Then stay." It was there on my bedroom floor that I submitted to His will and that year I met a young woman through the crisis pregnancy center where I worked at the time who was 7 months along and a Christian, but had no church and no family. The next year she became one of my dearest and closest friends; she came to be a part of our family at home and at church and I was privileged to be there the night she had her little girl :) If I had gone when I wanted to I never would have had a part in her life nor she in mine!
I finished my fourth year-the year I was supposed to graduate) and the Lord gave me the opportunity that summer to lead a summer drama team with the Academy. It was during the summer that Doctor Chavers called me and asked me to come on staff, also offering to complete my Bachelor's through the Academy of Arts. Every single one of my credits transferred, and a year later in May 2011 I was able to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Sacred Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design. I was thinking back on all of this and realized that IF I had graduated PCC "on time" and gone to the Academy like I had always planned, I would have been there in the fall of 2010 anyway...just like I was when I transferred. It made me think to the conversation with the Lord in my room that day...that maybe He just wanted me to submit and He already had everything else taken care of...how incredible it is to TRUST in the Lord...to have the faith that He works for our good and believe that enough to follow Him no matter how bizarre the call. I do not say this to lift myself up, but to remind myself that there is never an occasion NOT to trust Him.


There are so many points in the Word when the Lord tells His children to REMEMBER His works in their lives! Every time I get discouraged or doubtful I think back on all the Lord has brought me through and it brings me to the Eternal thought...there is NEVER an occasion not to trust Him!  I'm going to keep thinking on these things, and it is my hope to add to this collection of God's faithfulness to me! I would love to hear of His to YOU as well! Tis' so sweet to trust in Jesus! Oh for Grace to trust Him MORE! Thank you for your faithfulness, Father!

Four eyes are better than two

This may seem like something very small but to me it was very big...I lost my glasses a few months ago (which is really unlike me) and have been going off just contacts, but when my eyes need a rest I am completely blind. I planned on getting a new pair of glasses over Christmas break if I couldn't find them by then, so today I headed out on the search. I got a really great deal on my glasses last time around because I bought reading glasses frames and then just paid to have my lenses put in them, a whole lot cheaper than paying for the frames full price.
I wandered all over kingdom come until I had convinced myself to buy a pair of frames from Claire's in the mall. I don't know if you've ever been to Claire's, but it's like a pre-teen explosion of justin bieber and "juniors" fashion...but I found frames there so I was standing in line...if you can just picture this...I am 23 and I am in the middle of a line of girls all under 14...anyway, the line was so long it was out the door so I had time to contemplate what I was about to purchase, and the more I looked at the glasses the more cheap they looked...if you are a Claire's fan, I'm sorry if your fashion frequent has been wounded...not everything there is cheap, but my frames were and I thought...I can do better than this with money Christ has given me...
So I put the glasses back and headed over to TJMaxx where they tend to have stuff like that made a little more sturdy. I found all of three pairs and about gave up, but when I walked out the door I saw Dollar General...if you know my family, we are HUGE thrift store people...we've always gotten really nice stuff, you just have to know how to look..anyway, the point is I didn't knock it, but I walked in and it was like the emporium of reading glasses...I actually found a pair that I liked and that was sturdy for $6...so I paid and headed to OptiClub...I've always gotten my eyes checked there and a few years ago I found out my camp counselor from Bill Rice Ranch worked there, so she was kind enough to give me a discount when I bought the first pair. Anyway, the man that worked with me was SO helpful, he looked me up on the computer and said he'd just charge me the same as the last visit and even give me and upgrade with lenses that prevented glare (awesome for wearing with the stage lights at the Acad!) ...so he closed the sale and then disappeared behind the counter and jumped up and seriously STACKED like every set of glasses cases he had in front of me and told me to pick one. I picked out of niceness but thought yeah right they are probably $400 so forget that, but after I had picked one I asked the price and he said no charge, they come with the purchase. So long story that I chose not to shorten, about 20 minutes later I had a new pair of glasses and a case all for $90 with tax :)
What is the point of this? I got in the car and I thought, I asked the Lord to give me glasses, both of us knowing I had a legitimate need for them. But not only did He just meet the need, He gave me the best! I like these even better than the previous pair and they were an even better deal! I was thinking about all of this on the way home and I thought, it is this way in my life. God knows what I need and like Doc says, "He knows my address"...He sends what He knows we need exactly when we need it. And if I take this to heart in every other area in my life...He will ALWAYS meet my needs...but let HIM meet them instead of trying to pilot the plane yourself! I think we will find that His plans are always the best, if we will simply let Him meet the need when He knows it needs to be met...if we will WAIT on Him.
I put a picture of the glasses below...one because i heart them immensely! and two because every time I wear them I will be reminded that God sent those right "to my address" today, and He can do the same in every other area of my life!

Feeding the appetite for living

I was reading in "Shadow of the Almighty" tonight and this was an incredible quote I had to share, (written to Elizabeth Elliot from Jim in context of God leading them to wait to be married, and Jim going to Ecuador without her)
"We may imagine what it would be like to share a given event and feel loss at having to experience it alone, but let us not forget-that loss is imagined, not real. I imagine peaks-enjoyment when I think of doing things together, but let not the hoping for it dull the doing of it alone. What is, is actual-what might be simply is not, and I must not therefore query God as though He robbed me-of things that are not. Further, the things that are belong to us, and they are good, God-given, and enriched. Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living." -Jim Elliot
I think that is where we find ourselves alot of the time, wishing for the "used to be's" or "could have been's" so strongly that we miss out on the state God has placed us in RIGHT NOW. I talked with a good friend a few weeks ago and he said he counsels guys in his dorm so often that literally hunger after being married so much that they miss the place and station God has put them in right now. 1 Corinthians 7 is a chapter I have come to read alot over the past 2 years and Paul says marriage is not wrong (of course not, it's ordained by God!) but if a man CAN abide the way Paul did it is better for him!
I got a chance to talk with one of my best friends a few nights ago and she has been married for almost a year in June and she said something that the Lord really pricked my heart with. She absolutely LOVES her husband and their marriage but she said it is a big change in that once you are married, you belong to your husband...Christ still comes first, but marriage brings the partnership of you AND your spouse into that relationship you have with Christ. In a state of singleness, you have a very special time when it is just you and the Lord, only the two of you. Don't get me wrong, she wouldn't trade marriage for anything...but I found the Lord saying to me..."You are wishing away a precious time and if you don't treasure it, you will wake up one day to find it has passed." There is a verse in 1 Corinthians 7 that is my absolute favorite-it is verse 24, "Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God."
The Lord will never leave me nor forsake me, and what stages He brings me to and through He will be a part of every single one..but what He has given me NOW is to be guarded and cherished! Paul said it, Jim Elliot said it...I want my life to be lived to the fullest in the state God has placed me in! He has the time table, and when He decides to move I will gladly move with Him, but if He ever moves to marriage, I do not want to walk down the aisle to that next stage in my life looking back with regrets that I wasted this one wishing for that one! This is "wherein I am called" and I want to abide with God fully-feeding the appetite for living the hilt right where He has placed me, all the while knowing that He is shaping, molding, and preparing me for the future.
I don't know what He has planned for me, but I know that I can trust Him enough to throw myself into His service right where He's placed me! Life is too short to live off longing for what He hasn't given me or may never give; I only need to abide with Him, and He will fulfill all my needs in His time.

Being All There...

"Wherever you are, be all there"...A quote by the famous Jim Elliot. At least to me they are heroes the faith. I've been reading alot about the lives of Jim and Elizabeth Elliot and if there is anything that stands out especially it is that their lives were built on trust and obedience. A majority of their lives were spent in following direction they didn't understand, but they followed, trusting the guidance of their Creator. They lived what Jim Elliot quoted above-no matter what state God met them with, they lived to the hilt every situation they believed to be the will of God...wherever God put them, they were ALL there. That is what I seek for my life to be- a testament to God's exciting and powerful work! By this blog I hope to give testimony to you that God is very much alive and that maybe through my life you will see not only His great sense of humor, His friendship, and His love...but also His desire that YOU draw nigh unto Him as well...and when I look back from Eternity, I hope to hear my Savior say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" for being all there...