~God loves you

Does God really love me?

I'd surely like to know

Because in this world of fear and pain

I don't know where to go.

Does He care?

When my heart is broke in two

When all around dessert me

And I don't know what to do.

Does He see?

When I'm beaten and abused

When I have no one to trust 

And I'm totally confused.

Does He hear?

When I'm crying out in pain

When I'm living in rejection

And I try to hide the shame.

To be honest, I can't relate to this poem. As far back as I can remember I've never questioned God's existence or His goodness. I don't know what it is to be rejected and alone. I don't know what it feels like to be broken hearted and have no idea what to do about it.
So I Really don't know why God prompted me to write this poem, and I really didn't know what to do with it. I can't reach out to you girls that are hurting like this and put my arms around you and say "I know what you're going through."
But here is what I can tell you; God knows how you are feeling. He knows what you are going through. And He loves you. He cares about you. He sees your tears. He hears your cries. He wants to hear your voice. He wants to see your face turned up to Him. He wants to put His arms around you, and comfort you. But it's really up to you.
God has plans for you. Plans to give you hope and a future; if only you resign all that you are over to His will and care. He is the only one to supply your need. He is the only one who can fill the empty place inside you. Without Him...there is no hope.
God loves you.
He gave His Son to die for you.

Now what are you going to do about it?

~Peace I leave with you

"Peace I leave with you"

The Father says to me

"Not as the world giveth

For I give freely

Let not your heart be troubled

I'm bigger than any fear

Do not be afraid

For I am always near

Will you please just trust?

I'm waiting to show my power

Just cry out to me, child

I'm listening every hour

You don't know how it hurts
When you do not come to me
If you look into my face
The tears in my eyes you'll see

My body was scarred for you
Yet you seem not to care
You go to all your friends
But don't come to me and share

Yes, I do know them already
But I want to hear your voice
I want you to come to me
I want it to be your choice

Forcing you is not my will
I just simply call
But if you do not heed my voice
I will cease to speak at all

You don't know how long I'll wait
So please don't delay
My face will light up with a smile
When you come to me and pray"

God can take care of you. Do you believe that? He can take care of your money and your health, your family and your things. He is all powerful. He is all mighty. So many times we limit God because we do not believe he can do everything. We don't ask Him to help our financial situation, but we will go to a bank and get a loan. We don't go to Him begging to know why we have a sickness and for Him to heal it, but we do run to the doctor and get a prescription to fix it. What are we telling Him when we do that? Do we really trust God? Do we really cast our cares upon Him? Because He does care for us and wants to show us He cares. We need to put down our feelings of relying on man for help and let God show us His power.
  Now I'm not saying going to the doctor is wrong but first I would encourage you to ask God: Is there a reason why you are letting this happen? or Is this a consequence for allowing some sin in my life? Everything boils down to our relationship with God. Are we where we are supposed to be?
Is my heart right with God?

~Why are you here?

Well I'll answer that right away with what I believe. You are here for a purpose!
1. For God's pleasure ~Revelation. 4:11
2. To bring glory and honor to Him ~Psalm 29:1
3. To bring others to the knowledge and truth of Him ~John 8:32
4. To help set souls free! ~John 8:36

Sooo, how can YOU do that?
I'd say all those points can be summed up in living a life totally dedicated to Him. Your complete life and total surrender to His will is the greatest gift you could give God. Even if you personally never "win a soul for the Lord," by living totally for Him you will have sown more seeds than you could ever imagine!

What can you do NOW?
-Dedicate your life to God
-Identify lies in your life
-Become free of those lies
-Share what God has shown you, to others
-Start mentoring someone (younger sibling? struggling friend?)

As you can see mentoring others was the last on my list. You can not be an effective witness for God until you have dedicated your life to Him and dealt with the sin and lies in your life.

What should be evident in my life after this?
-Peace that God is in control and knows what's best.
-Love for others, a deep care for their soul.
-Joy, God is so good you just can't help but be joyful!
-Patience through trials and with difficult people.

There are more but are you getting this? The fruit of the spirit is the evidence! Oh but there is one I have to add that isn't 'technically' a fruit of the spirit.

-Hope because God is on the throne and has already conquered!

Just remembering that one thing can keep you from despair and depression.
God is always faithful!
Will you be?

~Desires

I came upon this verse and it reminded me so much that our hearts as single girls should be set on God not seeking after relationships with guys. It just seemed to fit my post so well!

Lord I've a desire, it's mainly this,

To have a husband, to love, to kiss.

To serve you together in faithfulness,

To raise a family that you can bless.

Yet Lord I realize you want my whole,

My emotions, my mind, my will, my soul.

And Lord my desire can not take your place.

I must completely seek your face.

So in a box, my desires will go,

And open only, when you say so.

On the day you provide the leader for me,

And we'll promise to serve you faithfully.

But, for now a different desire I'll chase.

One that's nobler, of a higher place.

To love and to seek your will and not mine,

And then I'll know, my desires are thine! 

  As girls we all know what it's like to have desires. To find that perfect man, (for us!) get married, and raise a family. These are all good desires, but they have to be given to God so He can save them for His perfect time.
  You may be wondering...

Why can't I think about them now?

Well because right now they are only distractions. Are you ready to be married now? Probably not. So if you seek after them now you will be getting ahead of God's timing.

What should my desires be right now?

We girls need to be focusing our lives on having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, serving our families, and learning to be housekeepers. It all boils down to learning to be a godly woman. This time of our life is for preparing.
Also the relationship and respect you have right now with your father will either be a hindrance or a help, depending on how close it is. If you do not respect your father (the authority in your life) how will you respect the man you marry? He will then be your authority. If there are things you hide or don't tell your father, you will also  not be able to be completely honest with your husband. Our relationships with our fathers are to prepare us for the relationships with our future husbands. There are many things to be working on now! Before you're married.

How will I know if it's the right time?

Definitely lots of prayer and seeking God's will. I know this doesn't work for everyone because of having unbelieving parents, but your mom and dad, especially your dad should be the ones to help direct you in this. Always work with your parents even if they aren't Christians. There are many blessings in the Bible for honoring and obeying your parents. As long as it doesn't make you go against God or His word. As young women our hearts and emotions are vulnerable. If you have a Christian father I hope he is doing his best to protect your heart and that you are allowing him to. Back to the question though. You will have to be trusting God and asking him to show you His time, with your parents and also by yourself. It is doubtful God will bring the right man along until you have given up your desires and are serving Him right where you are.

How do I give them to God?

To start off, it has to be from your heart. If you just tell God you want Him to have your desires, and don't mean it, well you get the point.
So just give them to Him. Tell Him that you are now committed to wait on His timing. The thing is, in giving up that, it will leave an empty spot. You know, all the times you spent dreaming, thinking, and planning has to be replaced by something, but what? That is going to be up to you, God and your parents. (I don't care if you are 18 or older God gave you parents for a reason) Ask God what He wants you to be doing right now, and ask your parents what they think you could be working on.

What if I don't give them to God?

If you don't you are telling God that you don't want His best and that you plan to do it your own way. I would feel deeply sorry for you. It might not come right away but there will be consequences. There always is with sin. And yes not giving your desires to God is sin. You're holding out for your own and God will not take second place to anything.

What am I supposed to get from this?

God has a plan for you. Greater than you could ever imagine. But you will only see it if you wait on His timing and do it in His way. 

Oh and if any of you are wondering what brought this on... well you may have guessed it by now but my family and I are going through Sarah Mally's book "Before you meet Prince Charming."  ;)

~Heart issues

                       I can't wait for good weather because I am running very low on pictures to use!

I decided to continue what I was thinking about in Romans 6. My last post I went over verses 14 and 15 so I'll start at 16 and continue through 18.
  "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey," So in other words, what you serve is your master, and what you spend the most time doing  and thinking about the most is your god.
  "Whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." (the penalty of sin is death and the reward for obedience is righteousness) This next part is another one I really like "But God be thanked, that ye were (used to, have been but are no longer) the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered you." Can that be said of you? That you were the servant of sin, but now you have obeyed from the heart? Obeying from the heart-that got me to thinking. How many ways are there to obey? Offhand I could only think of two. From the heart and from the mind. What's the difference? Well I would say obeying from the heart is submission. It is giving up your will to someone in authority. Obeying from the mind is just compliance. Doing it just because you have to or maybe because it'll look bad if you don't. It is saying 'I reserve the right to fulfill my own will.' That is not submission. Its is not godly, so it is sin.      "Being then made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness."
Are you free? Just recently we began watching a series of sessions by John Regier about the 12 locked hearts. If you have never heard of him I would encourage you to look him up. Anyway because of watching those sessions that part about being free really stuck out to me.
  Back to are you free. Is your heart filled with joy and peace that God has saved you and allows only good things to happen in your life? Do you accept yourself physically how God has made you and praise Him for it. Do you continually look for and rebuke the lies that Satan and Self bring to you? If so, are you striving to help others to the same freedom Christ has given you?

 I know, I ask a lot of questions, but as Christians we should. We need to be continually evaluating where we are spiritually and striving to move on to a higher understanding of Him.

~Patience in welldoing

Imagine with me that you are helping out at an elderly person's home (and of course doing your best!) maybe cleaning or something. And here someone comes up to you and starts criticizing you and telling you what an awful job you are doing. (Assuming this person is a non-believer.) How would you respond? If you simply smile and respond kindly you are doing exactly what God wants you to do. (If you have the right attitude as well, that is!) In 1 Peter 2:20b-21 it says 'but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:' 
  God says it is acceptable to him when you respond correctly. And through that, what a witness we can be to others! God brings things like that into our lives for a reason, but we have to choose what we are going to do with it. Get upset, maybe retaliate, or praise God.
  Now something like someone criticizing us isn't really that big a thing, but what about if someone were about to harm you? Would you grab a gun and defend yourself? Maybe even shoot them? Just one question about that: What kind of a witness would that be? Is that how Christ would respond? (oops that was two!) Umm I don't think so. He commanded us to love our enemies, to bless the ones that curse us, to do good to those that hate us, and finally to pray for the people who wrongfully use us and persecute us. (Matt 5:44)
  You may say "Well I need to protect myself and those around me!" All I have in answer to that is "How big is your God?" Is He not big enough or strong enough to take care of you? Yes, what I am talking about here is non-resistance. Please understand that I am writing this out of complete love for all of you out there reading. but if this offends you, I suggest you take it up with God. I got all this from His word.
  I urge you, if you don't agree with this, go talk to Him about it.
 
To sum it all up: I wholeheartedly believe God IS big enough to take care of us, it all comes down to weather or not we will trust Him and allow Him to do it.  

~Why do you believe?

   Why are you a Christian? 
I always feel kinda on the spot when someone stops me while I'm out and asks me questions about my beliefs or lifestyle. I know in my heart why I'm a Christian but so many times when its popped on me I can't get my thoughts together.
  Do you know that in the Bible there is a command for you to be ready to answer questions like that? (If you don't know the answers yourself then I would suggest going and spending time with God right now to find out.) In 1 Peter 3:15 it says 'But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.' But there is also a verse that talks about not worrying what you will say. (Matt. 10:19-20) Now by this I'm not telling you the Bible contradicts itself because it doesn't. God can't so the Bible can't. What I'm trying to bring across is that there needs to be a balance between knowing it in your heart/living it, and letting God direct your words. I'm really saying this because I see so many young people living a 'Christian lifestyle' because that is what they are supposed to do and they never seem to have it as their own. Their parents say so, or their preacher says so. What they don't realize is that they are missing the intimate relationship God wants with each one of us. Its wrong and therefore its sin. Did you ever think about that? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this to tear anyone down but to push you forward! If you don't have this relationship fall down before God and beg Him for it! He won't deny it! He wants it more than you could ever imagine! You may say you still don't know how to get that. Well if you truly want it and put everything into getting that relationship, God will show you the way. A lot of it depends on you though. How important is it to you, to get it? Two things are necessary to obtaining it though: a broken and contrite spirit.

~A purposed heart

What can God do with someone who has totally dedicated their life to Him, and promises to keep themselves pure?
 Well I found one answer to that in the book of Daniel. The verse that really got me thinking on this was Daniel 1:8 'But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine that he drank.' So Daniel explained his problem to one in charge, because he could not eat it. By this you can see Danial obviously knew what God asked of His people, and he was determined to do it even though it could cost him. He would please God. And he did. It shows how pleased God was with Daniel and the three others that stood with him, (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) and that He rewards those that stand on His word. In verse 17 it says 'God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.' It also says in verse 20 that the king 'found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.'
  So here's a question: Did God only bestow those kind of blessing back then, or can it still happen today?
Most certainly it still can and does happen. (Except you won't see it unless you're looking.) But how?
The answer is in Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices are a broken spirit and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise." In order to please God we need to have a humble and willing heart to do what He asks. I love what David says in Psalm 27, where he writes about God asking him to seek His face. David replied that his heart said 'Thy face Lord, will I seek.' It wasn't just his mouth saying it but it was the deepest part of his heart crying out to be where God wanted him to be. And he did seek God's face. How else did he become known as the 'man after God's own heart?' 
  So once again it comes down to us. We are going to have to make a decision. Is this how we are going to live? Wholeheartedly seeking Him, honoring Him, obeying Him, and ultimately living for Him? But there is only one way we will be able to do that. Its by knowing what is required of us, and there is only one book that gives the guidelines and directions for that. The Bible.

~My yoke is easy

  

   Sorry about not posting lately, our internet hasn't been working the greatest so that's why I haven't written in a while. This post was actually written about a week ago too. (Just to let ya know!)

  I just listened to an amazing story last week with my family. Have you ever heard of “Sir Knight of the Splendid Way”? Its done by Lamplighter. I was very touched and inspired by the many messages and points they bring out in this allegory. (I really like allegories. One of my favorites is “War for Mansoul.”)

  There were a few things in the story I couldn’t quite agree with but for the most part it was a very good story that brings out many aspects of the Christian life. The main one being the Vision of the face. In essence it is the vision we are given when we first turn over our lives to Christ. To serve, follow God and His ways, and then Lord willing, go to live with Him someday.

   In the story, the young knight Sir Constant is continually tempted and sometimes even led astray by the Black knight and his accomplices. When Sir Constant realizes he has fallen, he seeks to see the vision of the face of the king that he saw when he was first knighted.

   It made me think of my own life. I want to seek the vision of the face, but so many things come up to do, and places to go that I forget the real and most important thing: God placed me here to reflect and shine His light in order to bring others to Him.

   Another thing that really hit me from the story was that you can’t fight someone else’s battles for them. Yes, you can help prepare them, pray for them, and encourage them, (And you should be doing all that.) but you can not fight for them. It is ultimately up to them.

   I would very much encourage you to listen to it, except don’t go at it just to hear a story. Ask God to open your eyes to truths you haven’t seen before.

   Our lives are a spiritual battleground. Satan is after you. He will do ANYTHING to get you. In Sir Knight of the Splendid Way, the Black knight is always just around the corner waiting for Sir Constant. The problem is, he is always wearing a disguise. And in that same way Satan is trying to get YOU! Telling you to lie outright is a definite no-no for most Christians, so he gives you excuses and gets you to simply ‘stretch’ the truth. Satan will not give up on you simply because you name the name of Christ or because you have beaten him once before. It is a continual battle that you will always have, that is, unless you just give up and surrender to him.

   In their last battle, the Black knight tries to convince Sir Constant to give up by telling him “You are no match for me!” And I just LOVE Sir Constant’s very humble reply. “You are right. But in the name of the King, I can do all!” We like Sir Constant need to realize that we have no power over Satan, … on our own. The only way we have a chance is by trusting God and relying on His strength, not on our own. You know what? It is so much easier then. Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

   Is your yoke easy? (No I’m not saying you won’t have trials, but if you know that God has them in your life for a reason, then you should be able to smile and thank God for them.)

    If your yoke isn’t easy, may I suggest that you’re trying to carry your burden on your own?

~Love NOT the world

(Just a little bit of humor up there, but isn't this how a lot of people live? Like their horses or other animals are the most important things in life.)

Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. -1 John 2:15

I may be getting a little personal here but this is from the Bible and we as confessing Christians claim to believe the whole thing, right? So this is part of it.
   Paul encourages here to ‘Love not the world neither the things that are in the world.’He's not talking about people obviously, because we are to love all men. Paul is speaking of the worldly pleasures and the lusts of our flesh. So how does this apply to us as girls? Maybe stylish fads? The latest shoes? The coolest new hair style? We as girls probably struggle with these categories the most. But what is that saying of us? That we are more worried about what other people think about us than what God thinks about us? I'll be honest with you, those don't affect me that much but my love for horses may be higher than it should. I love working with them and learning from them. So please pray for me that I can keep horses in their proper position and God at the center of my life.
  In John 14 verse 21, Jesus gives us a very clear test as to see where we are, and if we truly love God. He says "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to him."      

 Did you notice the test? If you know His commandments and obey them, (with a pure heart) that means you love Him because you WANT to do what He asks. Then if you love Him, you will be loved of God, and Jesus will love you and show himself to you. 

   So do you love Him?

John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments." 

~A walk that guides

  
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." ~Colossians 2:6-7

  At church on Sunday, the minister made mention of two men and asked the congregation to consider them and evaluate which of them “walked in love.” (Eph. 5:2) That got me to thinking about our walk. To start with, what is it? To me our walk is our way of life; the way we live. It could also be our testimony because it is what others see of us. What does your walk tell others? Do your words and actions line up?
  After listening to the sermon I decided to find all the verses in the Bible that contained “Walk in.” This is what I came up with.

Walk in the light  -Isa. 2:5

Walk in newness of life  -Rom. 6:4

Walk in the spirit  -Gal. 5:16

Walk in love  -Eph. 5:2

Walk in wisdom  -Col. 4:5 

If you notice, walk in, is a command. We are to be doing these things. How are we to do that? By following the one who said it, and ultimately through our life, or our walk, we will direct others to Him!

~Here am I

 ~ Isaiah 6:8
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I; send me.”
   It always gives me chills to read that verse. it’s the cry of my heart too. “Here am I; send me!” I want to be completely and totally in God’s hands so that he can look down on me and say “I have a job here, and I also have a willing young woman. She can do it!"
   My heart cries out “Yes! Yes, Lord. I’ll do it for you. For if you are with me, who can be against me?”                           With you I can love unconditionally, with you I can serve wholeheartedly, and with you I can conquer victoriously!
   Without you, I am broken-with you I am complete.
   Without you, I am rejected-with you I am accepted.
   Without you, I am discarded-with you I am chosen.
   Without you, I am fallen-with you I can rise up on eagle’s wings.
              You are everything I need! 

Just decided to add this picture because its one of my all-time favorites of Dunny!

~My Destiny

This song has been a terrific inspiration to me. I find when I'm feeling down on myself or discouraged I can turn and claim the truths in this song. (Songs and poetry touch my heart like nothing else. Except God.) This song so well depicts what God thinks about His children. Are YOU one of His? If you are, this is how he views YOU!
     YOU are chosen! New creation! Trophy of His grace! Do you claim that, or are you still wallowing in unbelief and lies that Satan hurls at you? Satan will tell you: you are not worthy, not good enough, and that you will never measure up. The truth may seem a bit startling but you are not good enough. None of us are. If we were Jesus would never had to come and die, but he did because we are all sinners headed for hell. Scary? For some, yes. But for others who believe in Jesus and follow His commands there is no reason to fear because He is preparing a place in heaven for us. Because of Him we can stand and say "I am not worthy because of what I did, but because of what He did."

Now about the other part concerning not measuring up, just remember this one verse. Its very familiar. You probably have already memorized it. In Philippians 4:13 Paul very emphatically states "I can do all things," but it doesn't stop there. It also doesn't say "on my own." It says "through Christ who strengthens me." Isn't that thrilling? He is there to help! We aren't alone! We can fight Satan with confidence, because if we're on God's side, we have already won!

~Love the morning light!

Yesterday morning I came down from my bedroom and looked out the kitchen window overlooking our back pasture. I was so excited to see a mist hanging over the field and two of our horses out in it. After grabbing my camera I ran out there and started snapping pictures. I have always wanted to take some like this!

As I was standing there trying to figure out which angle would work best I noticed the sun was in a really good spot. So I started setting up the horses to get the sun to highlight their bodies. It turned out really neat! (In my opinion!

As you can see I use our buckskin Dandy most the time. He's very photogenic!

Now this one is Dunny. He actually put his ears up! Hey if anyone has any ideas on different or neat horse pictures or angles, let me know! I'm always looking for new ideas.

I noticed this spider web as I was coming back in and wanted to try it with the neat lighting. Let me know what ya think.

~Rejoice!

Rejoice! I love this verse but often don't take it seriously enough. In the Bible the writers will repeat the things they want to be emphasized. In this verse it says twice about rejoicing. Many times I forget this command. I'll be standing on the deck watching the sunset thinking "Wow thats neat!" but I don't even tell God how great He is for putting it there. God loves to send things our way just so we can praise Him. It brings Him joy and pleasure when we the creation give the glory and honor back to Him. In fact thats why we were created. In Revelations 4:11 it says "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

~Proverbs 3:5-6

Right now in my life, I don't know where God is exactly leading. The last year has been a little rough (Well more than a little.) but I can see He used it to draw me closer to Himself. There was nothing I could do - except cry out to Him. "I'm trusting You" became a phrase I often told Him. Part of my world seemed to be crumbling. That is when I had to realize I wasn't centered on God, only partially. And If God was only part of my life, where was the rest of it? Will God allow anyone to serve two masters? Will God allow for anything other than Him having first place? No. Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. That is all too clear, but how many of us really live by the first commandment? If you drew up a chart of all the thoughts and things you did to honor God in a day, would it outnumber the rest? I'm not saying I have all this down pat either. I'm still a work in progress the same as anyone else. He's still working on me.

~Psalm 4:3~

My Favorite Song
Here I am before You Lord, Falling at Your feet.
 My longing is to know You more, Your purpose to complete!
 When I look around me, Its so hard to understand.
I want to see You move Lord, I want to see your hand!
  Trusting You Lord, Does not come easily to me.
Trusting You Lord, I need your eyes that I might see!
When the way is dark, and I'm afraid, and don't know what to do,
Help me take my eyes off me Lord, And keep my eyes on You!
 I stand upon your promise Lord, You have a plan for me.
And though I may not see it yet, I'll trust You faithfully.
You have spoken to my heart, A message strong and true.
So I'll gather up my courage Lord, And humbly follow You!
  Trusting You Lord, Does not come easily to me.
  Trusting You Lord, I need your eyes that I might see!
When the way is dark, and I'm afraid, and don't know what to do.
Help me take my eyes off me Lord, And keep my eyes on You! 


This has been my life's plea for the last several years. I'ts me turning and calling to God, knowing that he will answer. He is always waiting with open arms for us to come running to Him. That reminds me of a saying I heard the other day. It was "Even when you only take one step towards God he will take several steps toward you." I had to think about that because it confused me. Why would a little bit of effort on my part make God draw closer to me? God NEVER changes. So therefore God will never move. We are the ones who need to be drawing as close to Him as we possibly can. So please make sure when you read quotes like that or anthing for that matter, always check it out based on the truth: God's word.