Just Live!

We often find ourselves lost. Don't know where to go next. We feel like we are short of something. Something we need every day. That is a blessing. It is an opportunity. Instead of being negative all the time when something isn't how we want it, we need to search for God in it. Because I guarantee you that He is right at the center. When you feel like something isn't going as YOU have planned, first remember that that isn't how it works, things go by GOD's plan on HIS TIME, not yours. He is in control, and its the best because He knows exactly what is best for you, even if it doesn't seem like it in the moment. So when you feel lost or in need or negative, it is an opportunity for you to turn back to Him, to hop back on His train. You need to learn to live in the moment. Worrying too much leads to over thinking, and that is just unnecessary. If you just keep your focus on God, you have nothing to worry about. If it is in the past, don't worry about it. If it is in the future, don't worry about it. Even if it is right now, don't worry about it. JUST LIVE!!! WORRY IS SUCH A WASTE OF PRECIOUS TIME THAT GOD HAS BLESSED YOU WITH!! HE IS CONSTANTLY BLESSING YOU AND YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS EVEN A SECOND!!

James 1:2 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

It Never Stops

We cannot stop wanting God. We cannot stop wanting to grow. When we hit a "good streak" in our faith, we cannot just be satisfied with that and stop. That isn't how faith works. Your faith is shaped ultimately by God, but also by the events and things happening around you. We can never "see it all." There is always going to be more. God is so infinitely great, and it just doesn't stop. When you get bored, it's not God's fault. It's not because God isn't doing anything. It's because you've stopped trying and stopped pressing forward, you have found some sort of content with where you are now and by filling yourself up with worldly entertainment, which takes away from your wanting God. You have to lay those things down. You have to continue to search for Him. You will find Him everywhere. He will continue to reveal Himself to you in new, amazing ways. 

And in that process we have to learn to be thankful. Thankful for what we have right now. Thankful for the many blessings God gives us. Thankful for our circumstances, whether they are good or bad. Know that everything you have belongs to God. It is not yours. You are not even yours. You are God's. When you lose sight of that thankfulness, you have to remember to spend quiet time with Him. Start with small chunks every day, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes. Its about forming a habit of doing it every day, yet we have to remember we don't want to view it as a habit because then it will seem to get old. We have to view it has a positive experience that is helping us grow each day and improving the quality of each day. We have to learn to see things through God's eyes, for He is our guide. 

Psalm 119:105 NLT
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
    and a light for my path.

Psalm 40:5 NLT

O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
    Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
    You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
    I would never come to the end of them.

"The Best Way To Overcome Your Fears"

You Are Not Alone. You're Never Ever Alone.

If you ever feel so alone you don't know what to do, just please please know that God with you, and He loves you more than anyone on this earth, and your worth it. Your life is worth it. You can never do something so bad or so wrong that God won't stop loving you. Find someone to talk to and know that there are people that care for and love you, even at your darkest times. 
My heart breaks for the people who struggle with self worth and feel like no one loves or cares for them or that their life isn't worth living. 
There is so much to experience in this world that God created! Its so beautiful! Many of us barely scratch the surface of really experiencing all of the awesomeness God has put before us. There is so much to do. So much to see.
Praying for those who are feeling alone, scared, and worthless today. 
You are not alone. Do not be afraid. You are so worth it.
God can and will pull you out of your deepest darkest holes. He will never let go you you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

"I'm Not Who I Was" - Brandon Heath

Romans 12

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

³ Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. ⁴ Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹² Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.¹³ When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

¹⁷ Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸ Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;

    I will pay them back,”
    says the Lord.
    If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
    burning coals of shame on their heads.”

²⁰ Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.

²¹ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

All of Creation - MercyMe

God's Will

God's Plan

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 NLT

12 Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. ¹³ Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.

¹⁴ Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

¹⁵ See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

¹⁶ Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

¹⁹ Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Do not scoff at prophecies,²¹ but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. ²² Stay away from every kind of evil.

2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT

For we live by believing and not by seeing.

Hello, My Name Is - Matthew West

Trust Is So Important

Isaiah 12:2 NLT
See, God has come to save me.

    I will trust in him and not be afraid.

The Lord God is my strength and my song;

    he has given me victory.”

Many times throughout our life, our comfort zone is pushed further than we are willing to let it go. When things happen in our life that put us out of our comfort zone, we can't just stop living and crawl back under our safety rock. That rock ain't protecting you from nothin'! When you stay there, you're not living! Living a full life with God is not about staying in the same place all your life, what good would that be. If we all just stayed in the same place all our life, nothing would ever happen in the world, no one would ever change, no one would see how great God really is. When you're pushed out of your comfort zone, kicked out of the nest that you grew up in or whatever, God is pushing you to go. He is pushing you to do something for Him. You have got to start trusting and living more. You have to just know that He is protecting you. You have to trust Him with all parts of your life! If He is leading you to go do something, you have to move your life around that command from God. You can't just move that part of your life. You can't live just that part of your life with God and take care of all your earthly needs in "another life." God wants all of you. He wants you to give yourself up to Him and go out of your comfort zone to live for Him and share His word and His light. God will give you the strength you need to move forward for Him, just ask for it. Just trust Him with every step you take.

Psalm 61:2-4 NLT

From the ends of the earth,

    I cry to you for help

    when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the towering rock of safety,

 for you are my safe refuge,

    a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.

Let me live forever in your sanctuary,

    safe beneath the shelter of your wings!

Elevation Sermons

http://elevationchurch.org/sermons/in-fin-8
To this point, I've seen part 2 and part 3. And it just blows my mind what we can learn from these stories in the Bible. I guess I mean I knew, but then again, I've learned so much more from those two sermons than I ever thought I could.
Just the real life today kind of application that Steven Furtick brings to those old stories is so awesome! It applies to everyone no matter where they are in their life. I know that both sermons really touched me!

Always Come Back to God

Psalm 119:50 NLT

Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.

God is always with you. He knows when you are going through a tough time. Jesus knows exactly how you feel. Sometimes it seems like there is no one else on earth you can turn to. That is why you have to turn to God. You will find Him in His word. There He will comfort you. He will show you the way. He will let you know it's all going to be okay. He is taking you on your life journey and you have to follow Him and not let go. God's way isn't the best way if you want the quickest way. God's way isn't the best way if you want the least painful and suffering way. God's way isn't the best way if you want the easy way. But God's way is ultimately the best and He promises you will become the best version of you if you take His way. His way has the most meaning, you learn the most lessons, and you certainly live the best life that He is offering. And if He gave you your life in the first place, why would you not want to live up to your potential and serve and praise Him the whole time?

We have to turn to the Bible when we need help. However, you can't expect to turn to the Bible read something and it be all better in a second. Time heals. God heals on His time, not yours. According to His plan, not yours. 

We also cannot just take pieces of the Bible out of context just to fit exactly what we want to hear. I don't mean that we can't hold on to certain verses of scripture during certain times of our life. I just mean that we can't twist the words because God's Word is ultimate, He provided us with it, we can't change it. It is what He fully intended for it to be. 

We have to know that through everything, we are never alone. You belong fully to Him and Satan cannot have you. God will protect you. Sure you will fall into sin (Romans 3:23 NLT "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard."), but that does not mean that God will stop holding and loving you. 

Hebrews 13:8 NLT

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We have to go through each day searching for the little bits of Heaven that God has placed on our path. We have to hold on to those things. It could be as simple as the beautiful weather. We have to take time to enjoy those things. He puts so many opportunities in front of us and we often miss them. I know I've missed a bunch lately. I have sort of gotten wrapped up in my own life doing what I want to do when I want to do it. But that isn't how it works. And I continually realize that I'm not happy living like that without reminding myself that God is constantly there and constantly blessing me. 

This morning I asked God to open my eyes to the things that I so often miss. 

He will renew you if you let Him. There is always hope.

Hebrews 6:19 NLT

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

This was so comforting to read...

Be Thankful

Don't take things for granted…that can be much tougher to do than it is to say. I mean once we are rollin' with our day, we can so easily get wrapped up in things. We forget to be thankful for the simplest  things around us that God created. I know I'm guilty of this everyday. 
And other times we take things for granted by focusing on what we don't have. We begin to want that and forget all the many things that God has blessed us with. That makes our mind dark and more prone to Satan's picking at you. You are more likely to be pulled in by Satan if your mind is focused on negativity. 
So to avoid that all together, think happy thoughts! Be happy with what you have! I know times may seem rough and it may be easy to overlook the simple blessings around you, but trust me, they are there all the time. 
I encourage you today and this week to remind yourself to be thankful for the little things, you live a much happier life that way. Thank God tons and you will feel and see His light shining brighter around you. 

Colossians 3:15 NLT
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

I Love How God Works

I was so taken away this morning by both Abundant Life and Jesus Calling. 

Abundant Life could not more perfectly describe the struggle I often have some days, and I assume many other people as well. 

And then I read Jesus Calling which entirely supported Abundant Life.

And I just thought there is not better way I could sum this up than Nancy Guthrie and Sarah Young have done here.

I really hope this reaches and connects with someone like it did me.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT

Never stop praying.

Proverbs 3:6 NLT

Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.