I Love You

"Death shall not part us // It's you I died for." 

He loves me! Jesus loves ME! He loves me and desires me so much that He gave everything, even His life to be with me. It doesn't matter what I've done, He doesn't care where I've been, nothing I do can change the depth of His love.

"Your My beloved, lover I'm yours // Death shall not part us // It's you I died for // For better or worse // forever we'll be / My love it unites us, and it binds you to Me // It's a mystery." [ Beloved, by Tenth Avenue North]

It seems so simple, like I should have figured it out by now. We've all heard one of the most quoted verses of the Bible, you know the one..... "For God so loved to World, He gave His only begotten son...." But I have a head time accepting it. My sinful, prideful heart tells me that once I'm good enough, once I've changed these things, then I can spend my life with Him. After I've worked through all these things, then maybe I can experience His love.

But He wants me just as I am. He is seeking me out, and nothing I can do (or don't do for that matter) can bind me to Him, only His love can do that. He wants to romance me, to yearn for me, to fight for me, if only I will let Him. I think of the story of Hosea, whose wife keeps running back to her prostitution, who keeps rejecting his love, but yet he continued to seek her out, to love her, to cherish her. If that's a human example of the Lord's love, how much more does he seek us, love us and cherish us. It gives me shivers to try and imagine it! "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." [Romans 8:38-39]

And He wants the same for you. He wants to fight for you, to embrace you, to cherish you.

Now.

Just as you are.

Not tomorrow, not years down the road, when you might have things figured out.

Now.

Let him.

 

Walk on the Water

"So what are you waiting for // what do you have to lose // your insecurities try to alter you // You know you were made for more // so don't be afraid to move // your faith is all it takes and you can walk on the water too." ~Britt Nicole Walk on the Water

I want to walk on the water. I mean how awesome would it be to actually walk on the lake? I was thinking about this the other day, and it hit me how we can walk on water. Not in the literal sense [although I do believe that could happen!] but in other virtual sense, such as walking above the storm, walking over the problems of this life, things that drown others, that pull them down.

"Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary."

"Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, 'It is a ghost!' And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying 'Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.' "

And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if that is You, command me to come to You on the water.' So He said, 'Come'. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' And when they got into the boat the wind ceased." [Matthew 14: 22-33]

Why was Peter the only one that walked on the sea to Jesus? For one, he was an overcomer. He was already learning to walk above the things of this world, walk above the apparent storms by concentrating on the Lord. [you may want to read an earlier post about overcoming, Offensive Wrestling ] But another fact was that Peter was able to hear from, and recognize the Lord and His voice. While the others thought that Jesus was a ghost, Peter said, "Lord, if that is you......"

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks the disciples who the people say He was and then He askes,

"But what about you? Who do you say I am?" And Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." [Matthew 16:15-18]

Peter heard from the Lord. And on this rock, this man that God revealed things to, on this rock He will build His church. And the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. If we can hear from the Lord, we will begin to be able to walk on the water, and nothing will prevail against us.

I want to be "this rock" that the Lord will build His church on. I want to be the kind of person that the "gates of Hades will not prevail against." And I want to walk on the water too.......

 

Long Distance Friends

I've meet a lot of super cool people at the photography classes that I've taken through IPS but most of them live far, far away. So we decide to have some fun and all shoot the same things on the same day and upload our finished photos on facebook for us all to enjoy. Thought I'd share them here as well =]

 :: Texture - Woven ::

 

:: Teapot ::

:: Mail ::

:: Toothbrush ::

:: and this was my "wild card" ::  :-)

My Sister, Sarah

My sister Sarah, who is 8 years old is making a quilt for our other sister's baby doll. She's been working hard on it and she did a great job! I loved her look of concentration, so had to take some photos.

Freely Give

Today I read this verse and it brought back something that God was showing me early last year. Jesus is sending out the twelve disciples, and told them, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." [Matthew 10:8]

Last year God was showing me how, like the story of the man whose king forgave his debts, but he went out and demanded that his debtors pay, we are obligated to pass things on..... in that case it was mercy, but to me God was telling me to pass on love. But the same goes not only for the power to heal, cleanse, raise the dead, cast out demons that He has given us, but also the knowledge and wisdom that he's shown us. Another verse that I read today says, "Whatever I tell you in dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops." [Matthew 10:27] I guess I've never thought of it that way, but we have an obligation to pass on the things given to us. It's like we are allowed to use it, but we must pass it on at the same time.

One thing, though, I'd like to clarify is that we still need to be lead by God. I'm not saying that we need to go out and tell everyone we meet everything that God has shown us or spoken to us. [ouch! that sounds like it could be painful at times!] I think in some instances that would be like "casting our pearls before swine." There are times that it's appropriate to keep things to ourselves. When Jesus healed the leper in Luke 5 He charged Him to tell no one. [verse 14] Sometime people might not be ready to see or hear certain things, because after all it takes a certain degree of faith to handle things, like Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

So remember to pass on the gifts that the Lord has blessed you with, but also be lead by Him. Remember that some things aren't yours to keep :)

I'll Still Worship

"Feels like I've been here forever // why can't You just intervene // do You see the tears keep falling // I'm fallin' apart at the seams."

"But You never said the road would be easy // but You said that You would never leave // And You never promised that this life wasn't hard // but You promised You'd take care of me."

"So I'll stop searching for the answer // I'll stop praying for an escape // but I'll trust You, God, with where I am // and believe that You will have Your way // just have Your way."

"And even if my dreams have died // and even if I don't survive // I'll still worship You with all my life // my life." ~ Have Your Way, by Britt Nicole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEVlau4VEJk

Quench Your Thirst

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” ~John 4:13-14


"The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."
~Isaiah 58:11

Six Things that keep us alive in Minnesota

I know I've blogged about the cold before.... but it's here again!

today when I woke up it was -32* and there was ice everywhere.... like the door hinges. All I could think about was these things that I am SO thankful for here in Minnesota, the six things that keep me alive....

Slippers!!!

Wool Socks to put in those slippers....

wood stoves to play cards by....

and just hang by...

Coffee!!!!

and you can't forget a good game of hockey, to keep you warm.



And last, but NOT least, long underware! but I thought you might not care to see a photo of those :-)