Lead me to the cross...

"The Cross is God's plan for freeing you from the guilt and punishment of your past sin. At the Cross we see both the depths of our depravity and the heights of God's amazing love for us. We witness both the terrifying intensity of God's wrath for sin and His unspeakable mercy and love for sinners." -Joshua Harris

While reading this morning this passage really stood out to me. It portrays clearly the reason for the Cross and its meaning. Harris talks about ways that man ineffectively tries to deal with past sin. One point he addressed was "living self-righteously." One way this can be seen is when someone sins and then goes in to shock saying "I cannot believe I just did that." Why is he so surprised? "It is because he self-righteously viewed himself as basically good instead of inherently wicked." His grief over his sin isn't because he disobeyed God, rather it is that he failed to live up to his inflated opinion of himself. Can you relate to that? This struck me pretty hard because many times I have sinned and really beat myself up over that sin for weeks, months, and even years after.

He also says that self righteousness is also seen when a person refuses to accept God's forgiveness. They say, "I just can't forgive myself. Maybe God can, but I can't." This is saying that "my standards are higher than God's standards." Instead of acknowledging that their sin turned them away from God and coming humbly to let Him wash it away, they try to become their own Savior and deal with it themselves.

"The cross undermines our self righteousness." If any one of us were righteous, there would be no reason for God to send us a Savior. I think that we all need to be reminded of daily is the meaning of the Cross. John Stott writes, "Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us (leading to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading to repentance)...As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both 'I did it; my sins sent Him there,' and 'He did it; His love took Him there.'"

Lord, i pray that I will be humble in bringing my sin to the Cross and instead of dealing with it myself, I will lay it all down and let your grace wash it away. I pray that I will not beat myself up over my sins and my past but rather accept your love and forgiveness and praise you each day for sending your Son and loving me so much to go to the Cross and bear it all. <3

Washed clean in love

"A woman in the town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." -Luke 7:37-38

This is a story about a woman who was broken and in need of love and compassion. She recognized her sin and her faults but she had the courage to go into the presence of Jesus. She came to him and became his servant as she washed his feet and cared for him. Jesus talked to her the same way he talked to his disciples who were sitting around him. Then she left, clean and forgiven, knowing that He returned her love and that she was special to Him.

This woman did something that day that had the chance of impacting the rest of her life. I can imagine that it took her a long time to make her plans and carry them out. I think that it was more than just courage driving her to go to the house. It was love. This woman is remembered because she loved so much. Despite her past, her sinful and shameful life, it was her love that drove her to fame and it is why we remember her today.

My prayer for all of us is that we will love the Lord as much as this woman loved Him. Many people believe that they are not worthy to be in the presence of the Lord because of their horrible past or the sin that they are trapped in. But as you can see here, this woman was a prostitute and carried a shameful past. However, Jesus accepted her and received and returned her love. No matter what your past looks like, no matter where you are in your life right now, the Lord is waiting with open arms and longs to love and comfort you.

Lord, I pray that I may love you as much as this woman loved you. I pray that my past will never hold me back from loving and serving you. Thank you for forgiving me and accepting me when I do not even deserve it. <3

Another year older...

Hello everyone!!

I cannot believe it's already the second week of June! Time goes by waaay too fast! Last Friday was my birthday and I turned 20!! Whooo....Yeah well nothing too exciting, nothing really changes when you turn 20...just another year older I guess! But I will say this was probably one of my most fun birthdays! I went out with a couple of my roommates and one of my really good friends and we had a blast! However, I do have a funny story! So I had been looking all last week for a fun place/restaurant that we could go to and so I discovered this Mediterranean Grill and hookah lounge...it looked soo nice on the website, outdoor patio, nice couches, flat screen tvs...and all that jazz! Okay so me and my 3 girlfriends get in the car and head down to Dallas to find this place! Well we get close and we are kind of noticing that the neighborhood/area is kind of sketch...and we pull up to this restaurant...oh man....I don't

know how they managed to make the place look sooo nice on their website because in person, it was nothing like that! And there were like 2 people there! Sooo we park and we walk in the door and the people that work there are just sitting hanging out....So we stand there a little while and they just stare at us....ummm...okay....awkward! They didn't even come up and ask to seat us! So we get a little freaked out and we head back to the car! We were cracking up laughing but we were definitely not staying there! So we went down the street to Glorias mexican restaurant and I'm so glad we did! I'll post some pics from our night! I wish I had taken one

of that creepy restaurant though!!

So yeah, we had a very fun night celebrating and being a little crazy with my girls! Thank the Lord for good friends! :)

Don't stop swimming...

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to find his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." -Matthew 16:24-25

So I know I haven't wrote on this in forever, and it is about time I start up again. It is finally summer and there has been so many changes in my life in the past few months. I am already over halfway through with college and it is so crazy how fast time flies! I feel like just yesterday I was moving into the dorms and discovering what college is all about. I feel like I have learned a lot about myself in the past year and God has closed many doors while opening others. Sometimes in life God asks you to do something, and you wrestle with it for a long time. I was in that place for a very long time...what do you think is going to happen when you try to wrestle with God? He always wins. Although we may not be able to see the future, God is holding it in his hands. So I got tired of wrestling with God and decided to let him have it.

Lately I have been feeling more at peace with the Lord and know that I do not want to let anything get in the way of my relationship with Him. I have been looking back through my favorite book, "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and this is what really stood out to me...

"Following Christ isn't something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and see. If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream."

I think in this season of my life this is crucial for me to remember. I will honestly admit I have not been always putting Christ first in my life. Many times I let my others passions consume my schedule. Reading this again has reminded me that this relationship with Christ can not be second or third of my priorities. Yes, I love him and I long for a relationship with him that is intimate and close. But what am I doing about that? I can't stop swimming. I must keep moving, keep learning, and communicating with him daily. I know I am not perfect and I am constantly having to battle my flesh, but that is why he has given me the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to overcome.

I pray that this wisdom will help you like it has me today...and that you will never stop actively pursuing the Lord...never be content with where you are but always learning more and falling more in love with the Savior of the world.

Lord, forgive me for the times I have stayed content with where I am at. Forgive me for letting other things get in the way of you and me...I'm sorry and I pray that you will continue to purify my heart...amen.

"First" in 2011

So I watched church online this morning through Lifechurch.tv. Craig Groeschel started the year off with his sermon called "First." I have been thinking a lot about new years resolutions and things that I want to do differently in 2011. Craig asked us, "what kind of year was last year for you spiritually?"

He listed three categories that one might fall under: Spiritually Apathetic (not really doing anything or feeling motivated to go further with the Lord), Spiritually Inconsistent (sometimes you are consistent with making God a priority and other times you fall away and get too busy), and Spiritually Consumed (you are going strong and giving God 100% and always putting Him first in your life).

When I look at 2010 and be honest with myself I would say that I was Spiritually Inconsistent. There were seasons that year where I was going strong and felt like I was really growing and going somewhere with my relationship with the Lord and then there were seasons where I found myself consumed with other things and offering God what some may call "leftovers."

Craig gave 4 points in his sermon which I want to make as part of my new years resolutions. Here they are:

1. First of the Day: Seek God

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." -Mark 1:35

2. First of the Week: Worship

"not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

-Hebrews 10:25

3. First of the Month: Tithe

"A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD." -Leviticus 27:30

4. First of the Year: Fast

"Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there."-Joel 1:14

At the end of his sermon Craig mentioned something that really stood out to me. He said "if you want what you had then do what you did. But, if you want something you've never had, you have to do what you've never done."

So as you examine your last year and think about the new year, remember that quote. God has the potential to do huge things in 2011 but are you ready for that? Are you ready to surrender everything right now and make Him FIRST in your life?

Here is my bible verse for 2011:

"Seek the Kingdom of God above ALL else, and live righteously, and he will give you EVERYTHING you NEED." -Matt. 6:33