Monday, March 28, 2011

monday...you're not all that bad.

nice things about today:

1. looking like a crazy person all day (seriously...severe bed-head and no makeup) only for boo to tell me that i look beautiful

2. mom and sis surprising me with a visit, a new forever 21 dress, and a passion tea lemonade from starbucks...yum! 

3. realizing how blessed i am allll the time!




stress, cold weather, cramps, & allergies... you have nothing on me :)



Sunday, March 27, 2011

"God is most glorified in me when i am most satisfied in Him"

why am i talking about satisfaction in the Lord? i always knew it was important...but i guess it recently hit me that being satisfied in God is vital. since our human nature is wired to need and depend on something, to chase after something that will fill us up, like the things listed in the previous post, i realized that whatever i am finding my satisfaction in is what will define my life and me as a person. it's like when Jesus said, "for wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 


even more importantly, my holiness is dependent upon my level of satisfaction in Him. think about when the serpent tempted eve...what did he do? he made her think that God was holding out on her...that He wasn't enough for her...that there was still more in store for her outside God's will. he caused her to become dissatisfied in the Lord. her dissatisfaction in God is what caused her to seek full satisfaction in something else and to fall into sin. isn't it the same with us? if we do not let our Lord and Savior meet all our needs, we will give all our time and affections to an idol. we will fall into sin. 


however, if i am fully satisfied in the Lord...if He is my source of delight, hope, security, strength, and joy...then i do not need to search for those things elsewhere. sin is not even appealing, because i realize its shallowness & insufficiency to provide those things for me. the more satisfied i am in God, the less sin there will be in my life, because i will not "need" it. 


john piper said that "God is most glorified in me when i am most satisfied in Him." i have heard that quote before and always believed it...but i recently truly understood it. He is most glorified in me when i'm most satisfied in Him, because He is glorified in the holiness of my life, which clearly can only come through satisfaction in Him. 



Saturday, March 26, 2011

the master plan of God.

good morning lovelies! i am looking forward to a relaxing saturday. i hope everyone was able to watch the UK/OSU game last night...amazing! i am so proud of my wildcats.


anyway, back to this little study on satisfaction in God. i wanted to share a few thoughts and quotes with you from mike bickle's book.


you see, God gave us the desires listed in the last post, very intentionally. 


"the master plan of God is an amazing thing. He created a Bride for His Son, watched her fall into imperfection, and then offered His Son to redeem the Bride for Himself. all along God rested, confident in knowing He has endowed the Bride with longings she could not ignore. He knew the enemy would use those longings to manipulate Jesus' Bride. Even this did not make God nervous. He knew what He had to offer. as she has run from place to place trying to fulfill her longings, God has remained confident she would only find fulfillment in returning to the identity and destiny for which she was created -to be the Bride of Christ. she will have to come to a holy romance if she is ever to be truly happy." 


the emphasis on certain phrases is mine. the desires, expectations, and needs we have are good. they were intentionally put there by our Creator to draw us to Himself. these longings are designed to make us needy and dependent on Him. of course, the trouble comes when the enemy waves sin in front of our face and makes us believe that the sin will satisfy our longings. it looks like a remedy, but the truth is it separates us from God. 


mike bickle describes the devastating effects of sin so well: "the pleasures sin had to offer suddenly appear as they really are: cold, hollow, and always demanding our time, attention and energy while butchering our hearts piece by piece." 


is that not the truth? have you ever experienced a counterfeit to the satisfaction of God? it left you disappointed, ashamed, embarrassed, broken... etc. 


what counterfeits do we turn to? it's different for everybody, as the enemy knows how to bait each one of us. but here's a starting list: drunkenness, dependence on the opposite sex, flirtatiousness and immodesty, popularity, perfectionism, performance/striving for approval...im sure there are many more. these are easy to turn to...but they can draw us away from intimacy with God faster than we know. 


even still, as mike bickle says, the Lord is confident because He knows the hollowness of what we chase. He knows that sooner or later, chasing after sin and idols will get old...it will bring us to our knees because we do not feel perfectly loved or satisfied. 


for some it will take unthinkable wreckage to bring them to the Lord. but they will realize that He has always been worth whatever it cost them to be loved, and then healed, and finally satisfied and whole. 

Friday, March 25, 2011

satisfaction.

we all have a craving to be satisfied... and we will chase after that craving. what does it mean to be satisfied? the definition says that to satisfy is to fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or demands of; to give full contentment to. 


dont we all have desires, expectations, needs, and demands? the question is, what are they?


we all desire love. perfect and unfailing love. a love that pursues.
we all desire to be accepted.
we all need to be found beautiful or worthy.
we all need peace and stability. 
we all desire to make a difference and make our lives count for something.
we all desire to enjoy our lives and to experience joy.


thats a list we came up with in bible study, which i think is pretty dead on. 


the seven longings of the human heart, by mike bickle, takes this even farther and talks about seven longings that every human has. the list we came up with actually matches most of the longings that are written in this book. they are:

1. the longing to be enjoyed by God
2. the longing for fascination
3. the longing for beauty
4. the longing for greatness
5. the longing for intimacy without shame
6. the longing to be wholehearted
7. the longing to make a deep and lasting impact


so i will leave with that and come back with more on our desires and our need and will to be satisfied. 


by the way, totally recommend mike bickle's book...it will give you so much insight into your own heart and why God created you the way He did. 


as for now, spending some time with boo. GO WILDCATS! 







Saturday, March 19, 2011

march 19-jesus calling.

i love the truths in my devotional so much today... i must share them!


march 19


I speak to you from the depths of your being. Hear me saying soothing words of Peace, assuring you of My Love. Do not listen to voices of accusation, for they are not from Me. I speak to you in love-tones, lifting you up. My Spirit convicts cleanly, without crushing words of shame. Let the Spirit take charge of your mind, combing out tangles of deception. Be transformed by the truth that I live within you.


The Light of My Presence is shining upon you, in benedictions of Peace. Let My Light shine in you; don't dim it with worries or fears. Holiness is letting Me live through you. Since I dwell in you, you are fully equipped to be holy. Pause before responding to people or situations, giving My Spirit space to act through you. Hasty words and actions leave no room for Me; this is atheistic living. I want to inhabit all your moments-gracing your thoughts, words, and behavior.


-Jesus Calling


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

cilantro lime chicken

ridiculously easy and delicious!

ingredients: 
chicken breasts
2 tbls olive oil
3 tbls lemon juice 
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
lots of cilantro! 
cut up lime (optional)

place chicken breasts in baking dish and drench in olive oil and lime juice mixture. sprinkle with the salt and pepper. cut up fresh cilantro and sprinkle all over chicken. bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes (baking will vary depending on size of chicken breasts). bake with cut up lime if desired. 



this is really good served with beans and rice or sautéed peppers. or both if youre really hungry :)

Monday, March 14, 2011

the vision.



okay everyone...this is long. but read it. this came from a 24-7 prayer ministry  and talks about the prayer for our generation of Christ-followers. my heart longs to live this...and i believe the heart of every Christian longs for such a reckless abandoned love as well. what would it look like if those of us claim to follow Christ actually did...?  i am convicted...and motivated! 

The Vision

So this guy comes up to me and says "what's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this… The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice. They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won. They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying. What is the vision? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games. This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause. A million times a day its soldiers
choose to lose that they might one day win the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground 
The whisper of history in the making 
Foundations shaking Revolutionaries dreaming once again 
Mystery is scheming in whispers 
Conspiracy is breathing… This is the sound of the underground
And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. 
The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".
Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter! Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive
inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide. Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,
they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.) Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make demons scream in shopping centres. Don't you hear them coming? Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon. How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

a stormy wednesday night.

oh goodness... new obsession: the bonbonerie.  mom and i ate there for lunch today. i am in love.


also, it is thunder storming and i love it... i love thunderstorms.


now if i could just get started on this paper... doubtful :) 


oh, one more thing...girl scout cookies will be the end of me.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

thankfulness & joy.

good morning/early afternoon!

i hope you all are having a fantastic march 8th so far. ive decided to make a list of things i have been thankful for recently. thankfulness is the root of joy, so having a thankful heart must be the secret to joy. if i am honest, joy hasn't come naturally to me lately, so i am going to choose to be joyful anyway...even if i have to force it!

so, i am thankful for:

-the fact that God uses the weak to lead the strong
-the weather (ever so gradually and slowly) emerging into spring
-a husband who pulls me into his lap and prays for me when i am nervous
-sleeping in this week + extra nap time
-fresh groceries
-a successful two-day unit that i taught to my third graders
-eight more weeks of school
-a little sister who is playing basketball in the regional semi-finals tonight (starting varsity as a freshman, whhaaatt?)
-having the opportunity to go and lead on the 1twentyone retreat this weekend. check out the video below!




blessings to all of you :)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

reminiscing: fall, chocolate, sunsets, and friends.

feeling a little under the weather tonight, but am reminiscing through some old journals and came across this one from september of 2009 that makes me smile:


"the past few days have been so beautiful with a fall breeze and the warmth of His love. i have enjoyed sharing chocolate on my fire escape with good friends, peace reigning in my house, the gorgeous colors of the sky in sunsets, and an amazing cinnamon pear chocolate truffle from godiva this evening! oh, and singing kim walker's version of "my romance" with kelly, bre, and melanie while driving down my street last night! it was only for a few seconds, but the worship was powerful! it's just like the saying, "we do not remember days, but moments." there have been so many beautiful moments lately! 


my boo is coming to visit and to church with me this sunday night! i haven't seen him in over two weeks and miss him like crazy. i can't wait!"




Tuesday, March 1, 2011

30 day challenge-bored.


confession: i am bored with this 30 day challenge.

another confession: once things begin to feel like an obligation, i lose interest. 

sooo ill keep the 30 challenge prompts in mind for future posts, but for now, i am done.

i know, quitting after day six...lame. 



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