hello from Montana

Hey Lovelies.
This past Friday morning I jumped into a car and headed on a cross country trip to the beautiful state of Montana. I joined great friends to surprise their daughter, who is like a younger sister to me. I was her youth leader and throughout the years developed a beautiful relationship. We arrived last night around 8pm and the surprise was hilarious and sweet.

I am not a road trip kind of gal. On the contrary, 45 minutes is sufficient to make me go wild and grow anxious in a car. But I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought. It wasn't bad at all. We drove through Florida (obviously!), Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and finally made it to Montana. It was beautiful, though Missouri should be renamed Misery, because that's what it was, a miserable boring state to drive through. And inspire of a 4 day drive, it was pretty spectacular to see God's workmanship... anything better that the Florida flat lands!

Arriving to Montana was surreal and powerful. It truly is God's country. To see how perfectly detailed each scenery is, solidified my faith in God as Creator. He has vividly stamped His fingerprints and signature over nature. Each pine tree perfectly placed.  Mountains proudly standing higher than the clouds. Rocks upon rocks being sustained by the very breath of God. Crisp air. Calm and serene towns. Quietness that overwhelms you, and causes you to stop and listen for God. I wish I could bring you here.

This morning I have been meditating and thinking.
I don't need to ride cross country to be in quietness. I can purpose to have quiet moments throughout my day. It would have to take a sacrifice, a death of other pleasures, in order for me to be attentive to God. But cultivating a life in Christ is cultivating quietness, stillness, and purposeful discipline. I've just arrived at "God's Country" and it is proving to be God's teacher.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way 

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam    

and the mountains quake with their surging. 

There is a river whose streams 

make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells. 

God is within her, she will not fall; 

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; 

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;  

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done, 

the desolations he has brought on the earth. 

He makes wars cease 

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; 

he burns the shields with fire.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; 

I will be exalted among the nations, 

I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us

 the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Enjoy the pictures from my phone (mostly taken at 80mph)

Rest for the weary and burdened

Then Jesus said, 

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

 and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

Jesus understands weariness. As a small ship crosses Galilee, and a storm’s fury terrifies His companions, Jesus sleeps. 

His physical frame is worn and His stamina spent from ministering to multitudes. So worn and weary is He that even the crashing of the waves, the whipping of the boat, and the shrieking of the winds do not awaken Him. 

If you've ever felt so tired you couldn't take another step, and if you've wondered whether God knew that feeling, here’s your answer: There is One who not only knows your weariness but who says, “I’ll walk the next step with you because I've been where you are ... and further." 

—Jack Hayford

Praise In The Presence Of God 

Our Royal Nature

Our Royal Nature You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable. 1 Peter 1:23 Peter earnestly exhorted the scattered saints to love each other "earnestly from a pure heart" (verse 22), and he did so not on the basis of the law or human nature or philosophy, but from that high and divine nature that God has implanted in His people. In the same way that a sensible tutor of princes might seek to foster in them a kingly spirit and dignified behavior, finding arguments in their position and pedigree, so, looking upon God's people as heirs of glory, princes of royal blood, descendants of the King of kings, earth's truest and oldest aristocracy, Peter said to them in essence, "See that you love one another because of your noble birth, being born of imperishable seed, because of your pedigree, being descended from God, the Creator of all things, and because of your immortal destiny, for you shall never pass away, though the glory of the flesh shall fade and even its existence shall cease." We would do well if, in the spirit of humility, we recognized the true dignity of our regenerated nature and lived up to it. What is a Christian? If you compare him with a king, he adds priestly sanctity to royal dignity. The king's royalty often lies only in his crown, but with a Christian it is infused into his inmost nature. He is as much above his fellows through his new birth as a man is above the beast that perishes. Surely he shall conduct himself in all his dealings as one who is different from the crowd, chosen out of the world, distinguished by sovereign grace, part of God's "peculiar people." Such trophies of God's grace cannot grovel in the dust like some, nor live in the fashion of the world's citizens. Let the dignity of your nature and the brightness of your prospects, O believers in Christ, constrain you to hold fast to holiness and to avoid the very appearance of evil. Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth For Life with written permission.

she doesn't have it all figured out...

 

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Lyrical Friday - Forever

Good Friday to You!
As Christians, we dare not only celebrate the joy Easter is, but we celebrate the darkness of crucifiction. We celebrate that Christ endured humiliation, He endured stripes on His back by whips, He endured the gruesome cross, He endured the a confined and lonely grave, He endured the totality of death. We celebrate the gift of sacrifice. We celebrate true, undefiled, and, perfect love. We celebrate redemption. We celebrate freedom. We celebrate victory. We celebrate life. We celebrate a future and a hope. We celebrate joy. We celebrate laughter. We celebrate mercy. We celebrate grace.

In our celebration, we magnify He who is wholly and only worthy of all glory, all honor, all praise —Jesus! Jesus Forever!

-

Forever by Kari Jobe is absolutely beautiful. And as a special treat, spoken word by Isaac Wimberley is icing on this cake. May your heart be moved to gratitude, surrender, and praise. God bless You Friend.

Forever, Kari Jobe

The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Savior of the world was fallen
His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse was broken

One final breath He gave
As Heaven looked away
The Son of God was laid in darkness
A battle in the grave
The war on death was waged
The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting
Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated

Forever, He is glorified
Forever, He is lifted high
Forever, He is risen
He is alive
He is alive

We sing Hallelujah x 3 The Lamb has overcome

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.

Matthew 28:1-10

Sentence Tuesday

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

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. 2 Corinthians 12:9

The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Exodus 14:14

Create in Me a clean heart

Rend Collective is currently one of my favorite bands. I was very pleased to see that they wrote YouVersion reading plan. Below I am sharing a portion from Rend Collective's The Art Of Celebration plan that goes hand in hand with their recently released album by the same name. 

We love quick results don't we? We are constantly fine-tuning every aspect of our lives to eliminate that despicable enemy known as "waiting."

So when we first meet Jesus, hopes are high. This is the God who crafted everything, from elephants to supernovas, cilantro to Everest in just seven days: surely he's going to transform us in an instant... like Ramen noodles of righteousness.

He could, but he often chooses not to.

He turned Paul's life around while on the Damascus road, right? Sure, but that was just the beginning. The refining process was still going on in that jail cell in Acts.

He gave the shepherd kid, David, mastery over a giant. But years later, as a man he failed to master his lust problem, giving in to adultery and worse, a murderous cover-up.

It's in the middle of this mess that he wrote Psalm 51.

"Create in me a clean heart"

I'm sure he was desperate for an immediate transformation of character. But that isn't what he got. The Lord is patient. David's heart was renewed by traveling the painful, winding roads of confession, accountability and repentance, in the company of the Holy Spirit. The Lord didn't shortcut the work of cleansing David's heart.

We may be frustrated with patterns of sin that repeat in our lives, our niggling character flaws and lack of discipline. We may want "one-click" holiness. But Jesus doesn't wave a magic wand of saintly character over us.

Don't lose heart - he's not finished with us yet. He promises to finish what he started in us.

We can change. He will change us.

 (For those unfamiliar with YouVersion, it's a Bible app with helpful tools such as word search, bible reading plans, and devotionals.)

Prank It Forward

Happy Tuesday to You!



How awesome was that?
Love the concept of paying it forward. You and I can change the course of someone's day. So whether coffee, lunch, or whatever it may be, make someone's day brighter by sharing God's love through action.  Let's pay something forward today.