All the good that is in me is from Him. I have no good in me apart from Him. Any beauty that anyone sees, any kindness, any joy, any love, any goodness, is all Him. It's Jesus. He is the glorious, worthy one. He is where all praise and glory is due.
Any time I have ever acted in love, kindness, gentleness, mercy, compassion, ANY GOODNESS AT ALL, it has been Jesus. It's HIM. It's His heart in me. He is alive in me.
I AM NOTHING WITHOUT HIM. With Him I am full of the fruit of the Spirit. Without Him I am selfish, self-seeking, self-absorbed, prideful, arrogant, everything I don't want to be. He is what makes me Beautiful. It's His Spirit. It's His character, His nature, His heart.
All the glory is His. Jesus has made me what I am. If you look at me and think I am beautiful, praise my Maker and sustainer.
All glory, honor and praise belongs to Him.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
A Standard of Faithfulness
"Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?" Proverbs 20:6
Faithful men are and have always been rare.
I have seen a few in my life. My 2 grandpas and my Dad are the ones I admire the most.
I have watched my grandparents' marriages for years and seen them grow closer and closer.
I have observed my Dad getting up every morning without fail to read his Bible before going to work. No matter how tired, weary or discouraged he is, he gets up every day again and is faithful in the mundane. He goes to my brothers' sports games. He supports me 100% in everything I do and have done.
A sure sign of someone's character is to watch them in the every-day, mundane, how they live their life. How do they do things that are done every day? How does their heart look and what attitude do they have? Are they steady? Do they keep going while keeping their heart soft before the Lord and not just checking-out?
I have seen very, very few of these people, but I have seen some. They are out there :)
Faithfulness is extremely rare especially in modern day American culture, and everywhere for that matter.
I will always hold faithfulness as one of the highest, most noble and admirable qualities a person can have.
Until I get married I will have high standards regarding faithfulness.... and I will marry someone like my Daddy <3
Faithful men are and have always been rare.
I have seen a few in my life. My 2 grandpas and my Dad are the ones I admire the most.
I have watched my grandparents' marriages for years and seen them grow closer and closer.
I have observed my Dad getting up every morning without fail to read his Bible before going to work. No matter how tired, weary or discouraged he is, he gets up every day again and is faithful in the mundane. He goes to my brothers' sports games. He supports me 100% in everything I do and have done.
A sure sign of someone's character is to watch them in the every-day, mundane, how they live their life. How do they do things that are done every day? How does their heart look and what attitude do they have? Are they steady? Do they keep going while keeping their heart soft before the Lord and not just checking-out?
I have seen very, very few of these people, but I have seen some. They are out there :)
Faithfulness is extremely rare especially in modern day American culture, and everywhere for that matter.
I will always hold faithfulness as one of the highest, most noble and admirable qualities a person can have.
Until I get married I will have high standards regarding faithfulness.... and I will marry someone like my Daddy <3
Thursday, March 1, 2012
At the End of the Day
Pressure's on. Time is short, and learning to manage time and use free time wisely is one of the most important tasks one could ever master.
I always feel, before my head hits the pillow at night, a tiny twinge of hunger. With that comes a train of thoughts: "I need to do more." ......."I need to start upping my workouts to an hour or maybe an hour and a half. I need to go to bed on time. I need to figure out my finances. I need to really read up on the presidential candidates and do some real research. I need to read the news and find out what's going on in the world. I need to really know what's happening. I need to call this person. I need to catch up with so-and-so. I need to work on my relationships with people and really invest in them. I need to send so-and-so a letter/card/email/gift. I need to sit down with so-and-so and share my heart with them. I need to make sure I'm prioritizing what's most important to me. I need to.........." on and on and on.
And what ends up happening, is I just think of what I need to do, and I don't ever actually do it. And I just keep knowing that I really need to do it. That's not getting anywhere.
There is one thing above all else that must take first place. This must be the one absolutely necessary thing, that if nothing else gets done, this does. I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT.
See, this ONE thing, will make all of that other stuff fall into place.
INTIMACY. Intimacy with Jesus. I must have intimacy. I must keep my secret place alive. I must guard the flame within.
One thing I have learned over the past 6 years is that you must have daily bread. You can't keep going on what God gave to you yesterday. It's just like the manna in the wilderness. The Israelites could only have that day's portion that the Lord provided, and if they tried to save any in order to "stock up", the manna would go bad overnight and they would wake up to find it.
What has God spoken to me TODAY?
What did I learn today?
What did my heart grow in today?
What did the Lord and I talk about today?
Sometimes I feel like I have this temptation to ask myself those questions and then answer them with "Well the past few weeks I've been feeling this .....or this...." and I have a feeling that's not what the Lord is after. At all.
I want my relationship with God to be THRIVING. I want it to show in my face, in my eyes, in my smile, in my vibrant joy, that I KNOW GOD. I want the world to see so evidently that I know the LORD. And we talk, and we're tight.
Intimacy is the one thing. And truly, everything else, FALLS into place. If you get the first things first, everything else follows in its proper place.
- GLORY FOLLOWS ORDER -
When the sun is setting, I want to feel so close to the Lord. When I lay my head on my pillow at night, I want to be full from my portion. I want to be satisfied from my daily bread.
At the end of the day this is all that matters.
I always feel, before my head hits the pillow at night, a tiny twinge of hunger. With that comes a train of thoughts: "I need to do more." ......."I need to start upping my workouts to an hour or maybe an hour and a half. I need to go to bed on time. I need to figure out my finances. I need to really read up on the presidential candidates and do some real research. I need to read the news and find out what's going on in the world. I need to really know what's happening. I need to call this person. I need to catch up with so-and-so. I need to work on my relationships with people and really invest in them. I need to send so-and-so a letter/card/email/gift. I need to sit down with so-and-so and share my heart with them. I need to make sure I'm prioritizing what's most important to me. I need to.........." on and on and on.
And what ends up happening, is I just think of what I need to do, and I don't ever actually do it. And I just keep knowing that I really need to do it. That's not getting anywhere.
There is one thing above all else that must take first place. This must be the one absolutely necessary thing, that if nothing else gets done, this does. I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT.
See, this ONE thing, will make all of that other stuff fall into place.
INTIMACY. Intimacy with Jesus. I must have intimacy. I must keep my secret place alive. I must guard the flame within.
One thing I have learned over the past 6 years is that you must have daily bread. You can't keep going on what God gave to you yesterday. It's just like the manna in the wilderness. The Israelites could only have that day's portion that the Lord provided, and if they tried to save any in order to "stock up", the manna would go bad overnight and they would wake up to find it.
What has God spoken to me TODAY?
What did I learn today?
What did my heart grow in today?
What did the Lord and I talk about today?
Sometimes I feel like I have this temptation to ask myself those questions and then answer them with "Well the past few weeks I've been feeling this .....or this...." and I have a feeling that's not what the Lord is after. At all.
I want my relationship with God to be THRIVING. I want it to show in my face, in my eyes, in my smile, in my vibrant joy, that I KNOW GOD. I want the world to see so evidently that I know the LORD. And we talk, and we're tight.
Intimacy is the one thing. And truly, everything else, FALLS into place. If you get the first things first, everything else follows in its proper place.
- GLORY FOLLOWS ORDER -
When the sun is setting, I want to feel so close to the Lord. When I lay my head on my pillow at night, I want to be full from my portion. I want to be satisfied from my daily bread.
At the end of the day this is all that matters.
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