Enthralled

July 30, 2011

Jeremiah 9 - 16

9:24 "But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

11:4b "Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God."

*What a beautiful promise.

12:1-17 *In chapter 12, Jeremiah is asking why good things happen to evil people. The Lord answers and tells Jeremiah that the evil people will in time receive their punishment. I think it is important to remember that Christ will punish his people when and how he chooses.

*Another thought I had regarding this chapter is that so may times we envy the prosper times of other people. However, I know that with out all the trials I have gone through I would NOT have learned more about Christ and my faith would NOT have grown. So why envy the evil person? Maybe Christ is not even wasting his time trying to teach them his righteous way. The Lord is not teaching them anything. I need to learn to rejoice in my trials because it means God is taking his time to refine my faith or punish me for my sins because, as a parent punishes a child out of love, so Christ gives me trials to in the end have a healthier, stronger, and more beautiful community with himself.

15:20b "They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD."

July 29, 2011

Rest for your souls.

CLICK on the picture to expand.

[This picture was taking in Haiti, March 2011, by me]

Jeremiah 1-8

1:8 "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD."

1:19 "They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

2:27-28 *This verse speaks of how the Israelites only came to the Lord in time of trouble. This is very convicting in my own life because I am the prime example of someone who has a tendency to forget God when things are great and seek God when time are tough.

3:10 "Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD."

Pretense: an attempt to make something that is false appear true. False display of feelings.

*We all need to have a heart check each and every time we come to Christ. We cannot fool our savior with a half-hearted approach.

3:22 "Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness."

* All we have to do is COME. We do not need to have everything figured out or have our lives together before we come. God alone is the only one who can truly heal our souls... just go to Him.

7:23 "Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you."

8:11 *It seems that all throughout Jeremiah the people of Israel are convincing themselves that everything to okay. They seem to constantly lie saying there is peace, when in reality God keeps saying there is NO peace. I know that a lot of times in my life I constantly lie to myself to hide guilt, shame, or fears. However, once again, we cannot fool our Lord.

Reading my love letter.

I have been challenging myself lately to sit down and read through the Bible as though it were a story. I put aside all my commentaries and study bibles. For the first time in my life, I am reading the Bible as a love letter written to me. I started in jeremiah, merely because that is where I was when I decided to change my approach, and I am loving the way the word of God flows. Scripture seems more personal, and Christ seems closer. As though a father is watching their child read. Throughout my reading, I will post some verses that stuck out to me and some notes that came to mind.

June 23, 2011

Antiques

Went antique shopping with my dear roommate Brandi and found a couple of great things...

On sale :)

Old hardback books. Wuthering Heights was my favorite.

June 22, 2011

Calculating God

Five steps to increasing your faith. Three ways to improve the way you witness. We all have the tendency to reduce God to a list of things to memorize or an action plan defined by specific steps. I like order in my life. I like organization, lists, and plans. I love my planner... probably too much. I need to know when, where, why, how, and who. I like math. I like that math is made of formulas and even if you don't understand "this is just the way it is." I have never like English; too many exceptions. I definitely cannot spell either; too many special exceptions to words! Unfortunately this mindset has a tendency of carrying over to the way I view the gospel... even Christ. When I read the Bible, I like to break it down and reduce it to mere lists I can memorize and carry with me for the rest of my day.

Recently, I have been have this feeling that something was missing from my spiritual walk. I refused to believe I had just become so desensitized to the gospel that it didn't move me any longer. Even among the empathy, I had this desire deep down inside for something more. I am still not quite sure what. But I knew I needed something... anything. I would pray to God to give me a desire, a purpose, a goal. It was then that I realized my problem. Knowing facts about God is not the same as knowing God.

Christ is more then theology. And even greater, God will not exclude someone from his grace because they have the incorrect theological checklist.

I think about when I was in Haiti and remember what I felt like to feel God... I mean really feel Him to the point where I would look up expecting God to be in front of me. In a world so fast-pace, driven by instant gratification, it is hard to remember that knowing God is about having a relationship. Reading the Bible is more then just highlighting the verses that "speak" to you and then writing them down in a journal. The Bible is a story about a God who desires to have a relationship with us.

I am challenging myself to start reading the Bible as a story written for me. It is hard not fall back into the habit of simply reading and listing. But I truly believe that if everyone would just sit down and read the Bible as a TRUE story, we would all begin to feel the power of Christ move a little more in our lives everyday.

June 21, 2011

Park Ave Photo Shoot

On Saturday, I took my sisters on a little adventure to Park Ave. We just walked around, enjoyed the sun, checked out cute shops, and enjoyed being with each other :)