Sentence Tuesday

Praise is a funny thing, 

for it will either draw out a humble spirit

or the ugliest of attitudes. 

-Raquel Rodriguez

Birthday Surprise. It's Scarleth!

Hi Lovelies! Today's birthday surprise comes to you from Scarleth. A little bit about her, she is passionately in love with Jesus, bold, outspoken, and has a tremendous God given zeal for the broken and abused. May her words encourage you this day in a post she has titled: Humble Spirit. 
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[photo credit]
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Humility can only be found through the impact of Christ’s love in our lives. This is important to know because God has called both you and I to give ourselves selflessly to His call and purpose. He requires that we love others as Christ loved the church, giving Himself as ransom for many. Jesus didn't save us to show off what He could do but as an act of love, obedience and humility before God. 

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:8

Jesus was humble, obedient, selfless, and His own interest was for the interest of others. He commands us to do the same. We are commanded to be like Jesus. Does that mean are we to be perfect? No. We are all sinners and all have fallen short of the glory of God, but through His grace and love we are redeemed. It is not by all the “good” we have done or have yet to do, but by Jesus alone.

There are three characteristics of Jesus that I want to share with you today! If you’re a note taker (like me) you might want to write these down…

1. Submission to God

“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 Jesus did just that, He was obedient to God during His life here on earth. He taught all and He healed the sick. He prayed and fasted for forty-days and forty-nights When He was tempted by Satan and the angels of God ministered to Him when He resisted. You and I are called to resist the devil through an absolute submission to Christ. Unless we are completely and utterly surrendered to His word we will not be able to stand against the enemy when he attacks. How do we begin to submit to God? Through reading and meditation of His word, and a life of prayer. It is fundamental that we yield to the presence of God through obedience.

2. Selfless Service

A humble spirit values the welfare of others. “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others.” Phil. 2:3-4. Jesus models selfless servitude for us in that He humbly came to earth to serve others. He came looking for the sick not the healed. He came to rescue and restore the brokenhearted. I have had “hands on” privilege of serving God's people. In my life, there is nothing more gratifying for my soul than helping others. No greater joy than to be there for those in need, witnessing God's work in the midst of chaos. He uses people like you and me to bring glory to His name, when we allow our selves to be selflessly involved in the work that He has placed us in. Every day is an opportunity to help someone, it doesn't matter how big or how small that task is, just help. At the end of the day, it is not about you, it is all about Him. All the glory belongs to God.

3. Selfless Love

Loving others, for God is Love. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11. The love of God is immeasurable, His love overpasses our mindset. He loved us so much so that He gave His one and only son in ransom for our sins {John 3:16}. What is selfless love? Caring for the concerns of others before our very own. Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours. We are His children and we are called to be obedient, humble, selfless… If we want God to use us greatly we must allow God to break us deeply. Selfless means the quality of unselfish concern for the well-being of others. Isn't that what Jesus desires? For us to love others and care for others needs before our own? This is what He has called you and I to be Selfless.

I exhort you to take a double look at your life, seek the areas that are affecting your personal relationship with others. Examine your walk, thoughts, ministry, all the things you do on a day to day basis. I leave you with the following verse and I pray that the Lord continues to speak to you as He has spoken to me. 

“Remind them to be subject to rulers, authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” Titus 3:1-2

Lyrical Friday - On My Knees

{photo credit}

Hello There.
Today's post is for any one who is weary, tired, burdened, overwhelmed, afraid, maybe even terrified, depressed, discouraged, rejected, humiliated, empty, alone, disappointed or feeling guilty, ashamed and condemned. It could be that you find yourself hopeless and dismayed. If things are not looking good for you from your view point, this song is for you.
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May hope arise for you through the only gateway of hope: Jesus. Only He can fully satisfy your hungry heart and quench your thirst for life, joy and hope. He is your Savior, Redeemer, Father, Friend, Lover of your Soul, Provider, Healer, Teacher, Guide and every other role you need Him to be, He already is. Surrender your hurt, your pain, your all. As the song begins (and lyrically speaking, it's quite short) meditate on the words, let them sink in and become your words. As the music continues, scroll back up and meditate on these verses, let these sink in and become your prayers and anthem.
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O LORD, hear my plea for justice.
Listen to my cry for help.
Pay attention to my prayer,
for it comes from honest lips.
Declare me innocent,
for you see those who do right.

You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.
You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.
I am determined not to sin in what I say.
I have followed your commands,
which keep me from following cruel and evil people.
My steps have stayed on your path;
I have not wavered from following you.

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.
Bend down and listen as I pray.
Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways.
By your mighty power you rescue
those who seek refuge from their enemies.
Guard me as you would guard your own eyes.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 17:1-8

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In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul. Psalm 138:3
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 It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24
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You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4


On My Knees, Seryn 

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On my knees
I can see
Where my heart
needs to be.
When this life
Gets to me
I'll be found
On my knees.

birthday surprise! It's Anelle.

We've made it through the month of November celebrating the faithfulness of the Lord. And now for our last cheer, our last hoorah, the cake topper, the grand finale... I present to you my sister Anelle! Things I won't say about my sister in her presence: I admire her wisdom, her jokes are pretty funny (that's why I steal them), that I love her and will forever wait for her to tie her long shoe laces (inside joke). She is one of my best friends and really my life wouldn't be as blessed without her.
May the Lord bless you greatly through her post:

"Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’”
13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed o his house." 2 Samuel 12:7-15

How do you respond when you're confronted with your own sin? Do you readily accept your guilt like David did, or do you deny that you have done any wrong?

Part of what makes the Bible so fascinating to me is that it tells the story not of how God has dealt with blameless people, but of how he has dealt with a pack of failures like you and me. What set David apart from other Biblical figures, what made God call him a "man after His own heart," was what David did with the aftermath of his mess-up. "I have sinned against the LORD," he said. Let's see how other people match up:

a. A short while after Cain killed Abel, God asked Cain a very simple question, "Where is your brother?" That was Cain's cue to confess what he had done, but did he own up to anything? No. Instead of showing any type of sorrow or any shadow of repentance, Cain 1. lied to the Almighty God and 2. gave Him attitude by saying these now famous words: I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? (I can almost picture him crossing his arms and rolling his eyes, Sheneneh-style).

b. More than once, Saul disobeyed God. In 1 Samuel 15, when Samuel rebuked Saul for not following God's orders, Saul first played stupid (v.20) and then admitted guilt, but with a justification attached. He admitted that he had sinned but then added, "I was scared of the men, and so I gave in to their demands." Like that was supposed to make it better. He sounded kind of like Adam and Eve: "the snake made me do it..." "the woman you gave me..."

c. In Genesis 18, we find Sarah eavesdropping in her tent while 3 messengers are telling Abraham that she will bear a son in a year. When she heard that piece of news, she laughed to herself. God brought that to Abraham's attention saying, "Why did Sarah laugh?" The Bible tells us that Sarah got scared, and her best come-back was, "I didn't laugh." And God said, "No, you did laugh."

It reminds me of the time that some of my 6th grade students accused this one boy of eating in class. When I asked him if it was true or not, the boy looked at me straight in the face and told me-- with chip crumbs all over his mouth-- that they were lying. I had to laugh. It takes a lot of guts to admit wrongdoing, even when you're caught red-handed. It's hard to realize that we're just flesh and that we do fall (very) short of perfection. I hate lies, and, still, I straight-up lied to my sister once because I didn't want to deal with the truth of what had happened.

And yet, the worst thing we can do after we sin is keep it concealed. The Bible says that the truth sets us free (John 8:36). 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness." James 5:16 says, "Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed."

When God grants us the opportunity to confess our sins, we might as well grab hold of that chance, and of the healing that comes with it, because I've learned that with Christians there is no such thing as secret sin. It will eventually come to the light.

Who will you be like? Will you be a Cain, a Saul, a Sarah, or will you be a David?
God bless!