Truly Loved + Wholly Surrendered

If Christ gave His all  for you, why can't we give all back to Him? Think about it, Jesus gave all of His love, all of His grace, all of His mercy, all of His forgiveness. He continually blesses us and reminds us of His greatness. I think it's human nature to want to hold back, but once we realize that He already knows and He still accepts you, it makes it easier to let go of everything. Give Him all of your thoughts, your relationships, your doubts, your concerns, your love, your praise, everything that makes you, you. He wants it all. He wants YOU. I think we sometimes get caught up in how we're feeling or what the circumstances look like. Jesus still loves you, but He also still wants all of us and that will never, ever change. He loves you too much to leave you the way you are, but He loves more than enough to accept you the way you are. He won't force you to change, but He does want to help you change to further His kingdom while we're living here on earth. Can...

I've had this topic on my heart lately, and I think it's so important to follow Christ in service. Over the past few months, I've had the attitude of "ugh, again?" "do really have to help? again?" "this is not fun" etc. However, being a servant for those around us and for those we love actually brings joy because we are showing that we love them enough to help them. Serving others is really simple, it's not something that we should dread doing. Jesus is the best example of them all, and since we're following Him, we should be doing the same, right? Serving others can be as simple as helping your mom (or dad) out for dinner by setting the table, doing the dishes, etc. It can be doing something that someone else is very capable of doing themselves, but doing it for them instead. I feel like people nowadays focus a lot on themselves and what they want and how they feel. Serving others isn't based on your feelings. If you serve someone,...

I had this thought earlier this week: when you're little and you get hurt, you want to run to your parents and have them help you, comfort you, etc. Even when you're older, you still look to your parents for that comfort. It's the same way with God, He knows each of our hurts and scars, and He wants to help You because He loves you so much! His love is deeper than the ocean, and we can't really imagine how deep the ocean is. The ocean has a drop point where it's like a cliff and then all of a sudden it just drops to the vast deepness of water. That's also like God's love; it gets deeper and deeper and suddenly you're just surrounded by the love of God everywhere You turn. There's no reason to fear God or His love for you. All you need to do is accept it. This next part comes from 'How He Loves' by Kim-Walker Smith: His presence, His love Is so thick and tangible in this room tonight. And there are some of you here that have not encountered ...

It seems like sometimes you're extremely confident in who you are in Christ and other days it's hard to believe that the love of God is a true, and real thing. I think that's when satan sees his opportunity to defeat you, when you're in that moment of hopelessness, BUT, Jesus has overcome! His love for you IS real and true and deeper than you could ever imagine! I think the days of despair come quickly after the days of confidence, and after the days of "Yes! I love You, Jesus! You are mine, and I am Yours!" Satan wants to bring you back to that place where you were before you received that new revelation or new realization about God's character. He wants to try to revert your mind and take away your joy. It's in those times that I run to my Father and I press even further into Him. It may be hard in that moment, but God sees the heart and He knows the feelings and situations and I believe there's a greater reward. Satan feels intimidated when we a...

Sometimes, I feel like my story isn't all that great. You know, born and raised in a Christian home, got saved at the young age of seven, known God my whole life, really. But, no, I've recently realized that you don't have to have lived a horrible, sinful life. You don't need to be a drug addict or an atheist for years for God to use You! Every story is important to God! Since you have a story, you are noticed by the king of Kings! Don't be discouraged because it sounds like someone else's story seems "better" or more meaningful! No,  I say be grateful that you lived the life you lived, and let God use you no matter what background you came from! The ordinary become extraordinary because their hearts are open to the Father's plan for your life! When you surrender your whole being, your whole life to Jesus, He begins to mold you into this person that you were supposed to be. Let that happen to you, even if you are just a regular person living by fai...

So, I've been thinking and I find it very interesting that we relate nature and the creation of the world to our lives. Like, grace as an ocean, or bending like a tree to His great mercy. Although this is from one song, it's so true that we can relate it to our lives because HE created it, He created US. I don't think it's a coincidence that His creation relate to one another because it's all life. I don't think it's a coincidence that we think of the challenges in life as mountains that we climb, or that the low moments of our lives are like valleys. I think God knew that we would be able to make these connections and I believe He wanted it to be like this. I think He wanted us to look at the moon and wonder how many other people are also looking at it. Or, to look at rain and be reminded of His grace and mercy that He has given us. I know that when I look at the sun setting, all the colors remind me of His radiance and power, yet He chose to love a person ...