God awed me from the beginning of my day today to the end. I woke up and gazed out my window at a beautiful picture of the sun rising above the snow filled trees next to the creek in my backyard. As I was getting ready for the day I listened and sang along to worship music: today was going to be a good day. When I walked to the PRT station, I saw the snow glistening across the mountains kissed by the sun and I smiled to myself and thought, "God you are so beautiful." After my first class I couldn't help but feel defeated. I was stressed by all of the work and harsh realities of being a television journalism major. Then I went to ride the PRT back to my car so I could get my car inspected (oh yeah today happened to be the last day oops!) and of course the PRT was broken down. So I trekked to the bus stop where about 75 students were waiting on the bus and made my way on board. After returning to my car, I realized I was blocked in by two other cars who were parked illegally and had 15 minutes to get across town to my inspection appointment. Thankfully, one of my good guy friends was able to get me out while a girl friend of mine called the inspection place to let them know I'd be late. Oh and my gas tank was on E (oops again lol). Soooo, I go to get my car inspected and of course they try to rip a young college girl off, but my daddy talked them out of it so now I have the stupid orange sticker I need so I don't get pulled over! Now, this does seem like a bad day, but after it all I still feel like God is good. After a three hour Law class I finally got home to spend some sweet time with Jesus in front of the fireplace. God is so good that way. Even when we are at our lowest point, he calls us to rejoice in Him. I just felt a peace come over me while I layed with my blanket, bible, and ipod listening to God tell me how much He loves me, even when I have a bad day. He revealed this verse to me in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 it says "This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is." This just speaks wonders to my heart. Even when we have our worst day, Christ suffered so much more for us so that we could have life. It kind of makes me realize what James meant when he said "when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy." We should rejoice in the fact that we have a God that loves us so much and we can trust that He will be there through every trial, always. So, God awed my from the beginning of this day to the end and everything in between was just more proof to how much He loves me.

God is good ALL the time

Lately, the focus of my life has been really trying to figure out God's will for my life. This seems like something as Christians we always think we have the right to know. We're always praying, "Lord if it is Your will, do this or that" But we really should be praying with boldness and confidence because we often forget that anything that is in line with His nature is in accordance to His will. We don't need to wonder whether or not its in Gods will to grant us freedom from sin, joy, health, strong relationships, or a beautiful marriage because these things are encompassed in His character, that is what he wants for us. Ephesians 11-12 says, "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,  in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." How do we not have faith that God's will is being done in our lives if we really know Him? If we are truly in communion with the Holy Spirit, than we don't have to worry about what God's will for our life is because it should already be in progress. Sometimes its harder than just praying for God's will to be done. Sometimes in order for His will to be done, our own will must be sacrificed. I think Paul said it perfectly in Galatians 2:20- "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Living through Christ is not only praying for His will to be done, but doing it. Its taking the will of God no matter what you're emotions and flesh tell you, and actually succumbing to it. Once you've done this, a huge weight is lifted off your shoulders, because you will be glorifying God, "who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." We have such a great God that he has everything figured out for us, we just have to follow Him.

Come.

Toward the end of last semester someone in bible study recommended that we pick apart the verse Matthew 11:28. So for a couple weeks I broke this verse down word by word and its been so encouraging. This is the verse in its entirity- "Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Now this is Jesus speaking to all of us when he says this. The first word "come". It just makes me picture abandoning EVERYTHING and running to Jesus; our deepest desires and needs, who we are, and who we want to be. He is inviting you to come. That's an open invitation to receive His love. The next two words "to me" make me think of how many different things we try to run to for rest. Only to Jesus do we need to run. He wants us to only go to HIM, not wordly things like- movies, tv, music, books, relationships, etc. We have the privilege of being able to go directly to the God of the universe!!! And he wants us to go to HIM only! "All". It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. EVERYONE IS ACCEPTED BY GOD THROUGH JESUS! "Weary" means physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, or strain. "Burdened" means you are carrying something around that is weighing you down. We are all broken people in need of a savior. We're constantly trying to work hard and carry our own failures to get to God, but we can't do it. We need Jesus! We are weak and He is strong! and the Last words- "I will give you rest". Jesus is rest for our soul. He wants to be there for you if you'll let him. So when you're feeling weary or burdened run into the arms of Jesus and you'll experience an overwhelming peace.

Set-Apart Devotional by Leslie Ludy: Experiencing God's Restoration

When I write about the level of purity and innocence that marked my relationship with Eric, it may seem hard to believe that we both came from very impure backgrounds.  Eric and I grew up in Christian homes and went to youth group, but like most Christian young people today we approached purity from a selfish vantage point.  We constantly asked, “how far is too far?” rather than “how far can I possibly go to please God and honor my future spouse?”  And as a result, our lives were full of sin, selfishness and compromise.  Both of us gave our heart, mind, emotions and bodies carelessly away in temporary flings, even though we “technically” kept our virginity.  For most of our young adult lives, saving a kiss until our wedding day would have been the last thing either of us would have considered doing.

By the time I caught a vision for the amazing purity and breathtaking beauty that marked a Christ-centered love story, I honestly felt like it was too late for me to ever experience it.  Sure, I’d technically kept my abstinence commitment, but my purity had been forsaken long ago.  I’d allowed the treasure of my heart, emotions, and body to be trampled time and time again.  I knew I was unworthy of a God-written love story.

But then, in His gentle, tender, patient way, my King began to show me that I could be completely washed clean, restored, and made new.  If I was willing to repent and receive His forgiveness, I could be set free from all the baggage of the past, cleansed from all the impurity I’d allowed into my life.  And I could experience the fullness of a brilliantly pure, God-scripted love story, through the power of His redemption.  It seemed almost too good to be true, but it was exactly what He promised.

God-scripted love stories are not just for those who have never compromised.  In fact, the very reason that Christ sacrificed everything for us was to offer us the chance to be restored, washed clean, and given a hope and future.

If you feel that you’ve “gone too far” to experience a truly pure and beautiful God-scripted love story, let me assure you that it’s never too late to be restored and made new by His amazing cleansing blood.

Repentance means turning and walking the other direction.  Once you awaken to the fact that you are heading over a cliff, simply stop, turn, ask God’s forgiveness, and then, by His grace, head in the other direction.  There is no reason to look back or second-guess your position as His child.  You should not expect a second-rate version of romance.  Once you have been restored by Him, you are clothed in His righteousness.  You are entitled to all the benefits of His amazing Kingdom.  Your forgiveness is complete.  Your sin is removed as far from you as the east is from the west.  It is finished. 

We only need to read God’s word to know for certain that He did pay the price for our sin, once and for all.  We should never cheapen His amazing sacrifice by wondering whether His work on the cross was truly sufficient.  And we shouldn’t try to improve ourselves before coming to Him in repentance.  We shouldn’t focus on our unworthiness – but on His conquering, redeeming, transforming power; His precious blood shed on our behalf.     Once you’ve been forgiven and set-free, you are ready and able to experience His very best for you in the area of romance.

Spiritual Fitness

I was at the rec center today doing my normal workout and I was thinking while I was running and jamming out to some Lecrae; i'm never going to lose weight if i don't change the way I eat. It's so true though. No matter how far I run or how many weights I lift a hundred times, I won't lose weight unless I stop eating garbage and eat healthier. I think this thought taught me a lot about my spiritual fitness. I'm never going to lose the weight of my sin if I'm not completely commited to Jesus Christ. No matter how much I read my bible, and go to church and bible study, I'm never going to grow closer to Christ without changing my spiritual diet. Lately it has been a struggle to feel close to God. But with his gentle spirit nudging my heart, He has made me realize that I've been filling my life with garbage. Eating up the things of this world, instead of His word. My desire has been to satisfy my stomach with movies, music, television, even schoolwork, and by trying to fill myself with these things, they have essentially left me feeling more empty than ever. I know my God is much bigger than any sinful stronghold. By confessing my sinful desires, He will satisfy me with His unfailing love. It blows my mind that I would even want to consume these desires instead of Him. It reminds me of when Adam and Eve were in perfect harmony with God and wanted more. How could you ever want more than to just be with God??? I know that while here on earth we're always going to try and fill up on garbage, but by walking in His redeeming Spirit there is forgiveness and He will always bring us back to Him. Through Him our desires can be truly fulfilled and we can become "Spiritually Fit" with all the fruits of His Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 says "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." This is my desire, to be used by you. Please help me walk by your Spirit Jesus and not desire the things of this world, but only desire You. Amen.