Ok, I wanted to apologize for being so out of it recently but the end of summer is almost as bad as the end of school for me.
So, today I learned the song "east to west" by Casting Crowns. I love the whole chorus. If you haven't heard it, it says
"Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west 'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again In the arms of Your mercy I find rest 'cause You know just how far the east is from the west From one scarred hand to the other"
It applies to me so personally, especially the "I can't bear to see the man I've been rising up in me again" because 7th-9th grade I honestly hated myself. I thought I was a monster I thought I didn't deserve to live and that I was just a burden to other people. But, something I didn't know until early this year is that one of my best friends had been praying for me to see myself as God sees me. Now I sort of do. I don't LOVE myself, there are always things to improve on but I see how I am made in Gods image and how much my friends care about me and how I encourage them. So, all of that to say, I'm always afraid that that person, the self-loathing, Self-centered, monster of a person will rise up in me again.
I read through Proverbs 18 today. My favorite verse in this chapter was verse 29
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a close friend whop sticks closer than a brother"
I worshiped to Give Me Faith, What Faith Can Do, and I Will Rise.
An extra added note for tonight. Earlier today I was looking through a book of photographs of national parks and most of them I was just like "Oh, that's pretty" or "That looks cool" But there was one picture in particular that almost brought me to tears because of its beauty. It's really just a simple picture but it's Amazing, this is a link to the picture http://hopanseladams15.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/ansel-adams-07.jpg
All I could think while looking at it was that God created the Oceans and rocks and the moon to control waves and the Photographer (Ansel Adams) with an amazing eye for beauty in simple things. I just think we have the most amazing, creative, beautiful God.
I prayed tonight as always.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 18:16
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Lead Me To The Cross
Het guys! So tonight I learned "Lead Me To The Cross" By Hillsong United.
I love this song because I can just lay myself down before Christ whenever I sing it.
I read through Proverbs 17.
I worship to There is No one like you and I will rise.
And I prayed tonight.
With Love,
Grace
Galatians 2:20
I love this song because I can just lay myself down before Christ whenever I sing it.
I read through Proverbs 17.
I worship to There is No one like you and I will rise.
And I prayed tonight.
With Love,
Grace
Galatians 2:20
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Amazing Grace
So, I have put off learning this song for a while because it sounds fairly conceded coming from someone named Grace but honestly, It is one of my favorite hymns so I learned Amazing Grace today.
I worshiped to Trading My Sorrow, You Deserve, and Every Move I make.
I read through Proverbs 16. I really liked verse 4 which says
"The Lords works out everything for His own ends. Even the wicked for a day of disaster"
I really liked that verse because it's just a reminder that God does have a plan even when Things are hard and we don't understand.
I prayed today as always.
It's kind of awesome how much God has changed me in the past month. I'm starting to see things with a new pair of eyes and even when I feel my human nature creeping up I know exactly what it is (Most of the time)m and can shut it down with prayer.
My prayer for all of you is that you can trust that God will work in your life even when you can't see how things will turn out ok.
With Love,
Grace.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
I worshiped to Trading My Sorrow, You Deserve, and Every Move I make.
I read through Proverbs 16. I really liked verse 4 which says
"The Lords works out everything for His own ends. Even the wicked for a day of disaster"
I really liked that verse because it's just a reminder that God does have a plan even when Things are hard and we don't understand.
I prayed today as always.
It's kind of awesome how much God has changed me in the past month. I'm starting to see things with a new pair of eyes and even when I feel my human nature creeping up I know exactly what it is (Most of the time)m and can shut it down with prayer.
My prayer for all of you is that you can trust that God will work in your life even when you can't see how things will turn out ok.
With Love,
Grace.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
He Reigns
Ok! So, today has been a really cool day.
I'm actually not going to start where I usually do i'm going to start with this afternoon when I met with my youth pastor for coffee. We Talked about the direction youth group is going and it was really encouraging to me because I haven't been able to be there on sundays because my family changed churches so I kind of felt like I wan't as much a part of the youth group as I used to be but I got to see how I can be involved in the youth group more than most even though I can't be ther sunday mornings. I really love that about the church (How it should be at least). the church body is like a family and even if you can't be there you are still loved and cared for by your fellow Christians. A biblical example of this is every church that Paul started. In His letters he writes a lot about coming to visit them so that he can encourage them and they can encourage him. never once in His letters is there resentment about not being at the church he is writing to.
Today I learned the song "He Reigns" by The Newsboys. It's a fantastic worship song and if you haven't heard it you need to listen to it.
I worshiped to Lord I Lift Your Name On High, Always Forever, and It Is Finished.
I read through Proverbs 15 tonight and the first verse is one that I'm just going to touch on real quick. 15:1 says "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger"
If you think back to arguments you've had in your life you will find this so accurate. If someone said "Hey, you did this wrong and I think you should fix it" if you reply with "Oh! ok you're right let me get on that!" even if you think you did it right already there is no way that person will get/stay mad at you unless they are struggling with something personally, but if you responded by saying "Well you did this, this, this, and this wrong! how do you have any right to tell me what to do?" 90/100 times the other person will get angrier and that is just one example of how harsh words stir up anger.
I need to take that proverb to heart a lot of times because my first response to almost anything is to snap at someone and that just makes it harder on me and them.
I prayed today about the same as yesterday.
One extra thing today! I finished reading The Magicians Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I've read the whole Chronicles of Narnia before but not for a while so I'm re-reading them. As I was reading through the part where Aslan is singing the world into existence I am just reminded of Gods beauty and creativity. I mean, God created every single detail of the universe. he created you, every little detail of you. And he didn't do any of this "By accident" He didn't create you and say "Hey, I like those freckles on her nose! I didn't even mean to do that!" God is so creative and beautiful that you see it in every aspect of His creation.
Well, that's all for tonight. My prayer for all of you is that you can see Gods beauty in everything you look at. Whether it's in the mountains on a hike in perfect weather or if its you coffee as you're sitting here at your computer. Like, seriously coffee was inspired by God. it had to be! like, who in their right mind said "Hey! we should roast this bean and then grind it and then pour hot water through it!" God, loves us enough to give us coffee. just saying haha.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 15:1
I'm actually not going to start where I usually do i'm going to start with this afternoon when I met with my youth pastor for coffee. We Talked about the direction youth group is going and it was really encouraging to me because I haven't been able to be there on sundays because my family changed churches so I kind of felt like I wan't as much a part of the youth group as I used to be but I got to see how I can be involved in the youth group more than most even though I can't be ther sunday mornings. I really love that about the church (How it should be at least). the church body is like a family and even if you can't be there you are still loved and cared for by your fellow Christians. A biblical example of this is every church that Paul started. In His letters he writes a lot about coming to visit them so that he can encourage them and they can encourage him. never once in His letters is there resentment about not being at the church he is writing to.
Today I learned the song "He Reigns" by The Newsboys. It's a fantastic worship song and if you haven't heard it you need to listen to it.
I worshiped to Lord I Lift Your Name On High, Always Forever, and It Is Finished.
I read through Proverbs 15 tonight and the first verse is one that I'm just going to touch on real quick. 15:1 says "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger"
If you think back to arguments you've had in your life you will find this so accurate. If someone said "Hey, you did this wrong and I think you should fix it" if you reply with "Oh! ok you're right let me get on that!" even if you think you did it right already there is no way that person will get/stay mad at you unless they are struggling with something personally, but if you responded by saying "Well you did this, this, this, and this wrong! how do you have any right to tell me what to do?" 90/100 times the other person will get angrier and that is just one example of how harsh words stir up anger.
I need to take that proverb to heart a lot of times because my first response to almost anything is to snap at someone and that just makes it harder on me and them.
I prayed today about the same as yesterday.
One extra thing today! I finished reading The Magicians Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I've read the whole Chronicles of Narnia before but not for a while so I'm re-reading them. As I was reading through the part where Aslan is singing the world into existence I am just reminded of Gods beauty and creativity. I mean, God created every single detail of the universe. he created you, every little detail of you. And he didn't do any of this "By accident" He didn't create you and say "Hey, I like those freckles on her nose! I didn't even mean to do that!" God is so creative and beautiful that you see it in every aspect of His creation.
Well, that's all for tonight. My prayer for all of you is that you can see Gods beauty in everything you look at. Whether it's in the mountains on a hike in perfect weather or if its you coffee as you're sitting here at your computer. Like, seriously coffee was inspired by God. it had to be! like, who in their right mind said "Hey! we should roast this bean and then grind it and then pour hot water through it!" God, loves us enough to give us coffee. just saying haha.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 15:1
Monday, August 5, 2013
There Will Be A Day/Lead Me
Hey everyone! my internet stopped working last night again and that's why I didn't post .
Last night I Learned Lead Me by Sanctus Real, I don't remember what I worshiped to but I did worship, I read through proverbs 13 and I prayed.
Tonight I Learned there will Be A Day by Jeremy Camp. I really love that song for the same reasons I love I will rise.
I Worshiped to How He Loves and It Is Finished.
I read through Proverbs 14
And I prayed tonight. Especially for Patrick Chin who's going through chemo and specifically asked for more prayer today and I also Prayed for this kid Wesley Baker. I've never met him in my life but he got in a car accident a week or 2 ago and he lives only 2 towns over from me so I've been praying for him but I just decided to Focus on those 2 people the most tonight.
I actually would like to request for you to pray for me and my family right now. For me to be more enthusiastic about doing my Blog. I Love the worship and the prayer but reading my bible and writing are just hard for me right now and I would like prayer for me family as we're in the process of adopting a 7 year old boy out of the foster system and that exciting but frightening as well.
Thankyou all for reading this and keeping up with me and holding me accountable when I don't feel like spending time on this.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 13:7
Last night I Learned Lead Me by Sanctus Real, I don't remember what I worshiped to but I did worship, I read through proverbs 13 and I prayed.
Tonight I Learned there will Be A Day by Jeremy Camp. I really love that song for the same reasons I love I will rise.
I Worshiped to How He Loves and It Is Finished.
I read through Proverbs 14
And I prayed tonight. Especially for Patrick Chin who's going through chemo and specifically asked for more prayer today and I also Prayed for this kid Wesley Baker. I've never met him in my life but he got in a car accident a week or 2 ago and he lives only 2 towns over from me so I've been praying for him but I just decided to Focus on those 2 people the most tonight.
I actually would like to request for you to pray for me and my family right now. For me to be more enthusiastic about doing my Blog. I Love the worship and the prayer but reading my bible and writing are just hard for me right now and I would like prayer for me family as we're in the process of adopting a 7 year old boy out of the foster system and that exciting but frightening as well.
Thankyou all for reading this and keeping up with me and holding me accountable when I don't feel like spending time on this.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 13:7
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Lord I Lift your name on high
Hey guys! it's late and I have to get to bed because I spent to much time with worship.
I learned the song "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High" and it's just a really cool song that I've been singing as long as I can remember so i'm glad I can play it now!
I worshiped to Always Forever, It Is Finished, Set A Fire, No One Like You, I Will Rise, and Forgiven.
I read through Proverbs 12 tonight then prayed!
Sorry it had to be short tonight but I honestly would rather take a while and worship and have fellowship with God than make a long post and have to cut out some worship.
My prayer for all of you is that you will put God first in your lives.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 12:1
I learned the song "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High" and it's just a really cool song that I've been singing as long as I can remember so i'm glad I can play it now!
I worshiped to Always Forever, It Is Finished, Set A Fire, No One Like You, I Will Rise, and Forgiven.
I read through Proverbs 12 tonight then prayed!
Sorry it had to be short tonight but I honestly would rather take a while and worship and have fellowship with God than make a long post and have to cut out some worship.
My prayer for all of you is that you will put God first in your lives.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 12:1
Friday, August 2, 2013
Lord, I Need You
Hey guys! So tonight I learned "Lord I Need You" by Chris Tomlin. I like that song because I do need God and it reminds me to ask for Him not just assume He'll be there.
I worshiped to Revelation Song and You Never Let Go.
I read through Proverbs 11 and I actually liked it a lot. It was talking again about holding your tongue which I needed to be reminded of today so I think it's just really cool that God shows you exactly what you need when you need it.
and I prayed tonight as always.
My prayer for all of you is that The Lord would make clear his plans for you and when he tells them to you that you would have an open mind to his plan for you because God always knows best.
With Love,
Grace.
Psalm 91:1
I worshiped to Revelation Song and You Never Let Go.
I read through Proverbs 11 and I actually liked it a lot. It was talking again about holding your tongue which I needed to be reminded of today so I think it's just really cool that God shows you exactly what you need when you need it.
and I prayed tonight as always.
My prayer for all of you is that The Lord would make clear his plans for you and when he tells them to you that you would have an open mind to his plan for you because God always knows best.
With Love,
Grace.
Psalm 91:1
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Doubled Up
Hey guys! sorry for not posting last night! I did everything and then went to post and my internet was being lame and wouldn't let me. So i'm going to blog about last night and tonight.
Ok, so last night I learned "Wonderful Merciful Savior" And I think it's a really cool song. and the lyrics are extremely comforting. I love the 2nd verse it says "Counselor, comforter, keeper. Spirit we long to embrace. You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost our way" I can't tell you how many times I have felt lost and hopeless and confused and I need to remember to ask for Gods comfort and counsel because he's the only one who really knows what's best for me and he's the only one who can give me true peace through struggles.
I read through Proverbs 8-9 and actually enjoyed it. I'm jus going to post and comment on the verses I highlighted.
8:5 "You who are simple gain prudence you who are foolish gain understanding" I liked that one because I'm pretty foolish and I can't do anything right so knowing that I may gain wisdom through God is encouraging.
8:13 "To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech" That verse is kinda convicting because do we really HATE evil? do we really hate when people do bad things as long as we come out on the good side of it? Do we really hate wordly things? Do we really hate that there are half naked women on the front of magazines? And if we're honest, we don't. And we need to so that we can keep our eyes on Christ.
9:6 "Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding" I need to take that one to heart because I know that sometimes I would rather live in ignorance. It's easier, less painful, but I know that it ends in tragedy. I need to remember to seek wisdom and no matter what the out come to follow her ways always.
9:8-9 "Do not rebuke the mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; Teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." I find this verse incredibly true in my life. 2 Years ago if someone had told me I was doing something wrong my response probably would've been "Screw you, I know what i'm doing. leave me alone" Now (I'm not saying i'm righteous, i'm just saying I have grown in Christ) if someone were to tell me I'm doing something wrong I will step back, look at it from another angle, and pray about and thank them for guiding me. It's amazing how different the outcomes of those to responses are. When I didn't accept other peoples wisdom I always end up hurt more than necessary but now, if I follow Gods plan as he reveals it through other people It is much easier. I still get hurt, I still screw up, but much much less.
9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the holy one is understanding" again, I have found this stunningly true in my life. We gain knowledge of "The Holy One" by studying His word and hence we have understanding.
I worshiped to Always Forever and Come Thou Fount.
Something new I got to pray for last night was the processes of my family adopting a little boy. It's at the very beginning so we don't know where it will go from here but we are praying that God would help us to trust Him no matter what the outcome of this situation is.
Adoption is really cool because that's how we are saved. God has adopted us into His holy family and something really cool about adopted children is they cannot be written out of the will. They will always be an heir to whatever you have even if you hate them by the end of your life but you can write your biological children out of your will. It's amazing how this law lines up with what God has done for us, God "wrote Christ out of his will" for a period of time so that He could adopt us! and now that we have been adopted nothing can ever take away our inheritance.
Ok! Done with yesterday's on t today's!
So I learned the song "Beautiful One" by Jeremy Camp. I really like that song because it's pure worship. all the whole song is is telling God how beautiful and wonderful He is.
I worshiped to How He Loves and Set A Fire
I read through Proverbs 10 tonight and I can't go through every verse I highlighted because half of the chapter is highlighted but i'll go over my favorites from the chapter.
verse 4 says "Lazy hands make a man poor but diligent hands bring wealth" That one sonds like a no brainer like "duh, work=money" so it's obvious but we always seem to forget and fall back into laziness.
verse 8 says "The wise in hear accept commands but a chattering fool comes to ruin" Another obvious one but a good reminder.
verse 19 says "When words are many, sin is not absent but he who holds his tongue is wise." I love this verse because my father has been telling me this my whole life only phrased like this "If you never open your mouth people can never confirm that you're stupid" so It's just good to remember.
I prayed tonight and thanked God for the things I always forget to. Like, His word. I mean, how amazing is it that we have one giant letter from God that will show us different things at different parts of our lives? I just think it's really cool.
Well, thanks for bearing with me through that long post! my prayer for all of you is that you will not only accept when a brother in Christ rebukes you but that you will ask to be held accountable for the way you conduct yourself. I pray that for you because it will bring you so much more joy in your walk with Christ than walking in ignorance.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 8:32
Ok, so last night I learned "Wonderful Merciful Savior" And I think it's a really cool song. and the lyrics are extremely comforting. I love the 2nd verse it says "Counselor, comforter, keeper. Spirit we long to embrace. You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost our way" I can't tell you how many times I have felt lost and hopeless and confused and I need to remember to ask for Gods comfort and counsel because he's the only one who really knows what's best for me and he's the only one who can give me true peace through struggles.
I read through Proverbs 8-9 and actually enjoyed it. I'm jus going to post and comment on the verses I highlighted.
8:5 "You who are simple gain prudence you who are foolish gain understanding" I liked that one because I'm pretty foolish and I can't do anything right so knowing that I may gain wisdom through God is encouraging.
8:13 "To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech" That verse is kinda convicting because do we really HATE evil? do we really hate when people do bad things as long as we come out on the good side of it? Do we really hate wordly things? Do we really hate that there are half naked women on the front of magazines? And if we're honest, we don't. And we need to so that we can keep our eyes on Christ.
9:6 "Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding" I need to take that one to heart because I know that sometimes I would rather live in ignorance. It's easier, less painful, but I know that it ends in tragedy. I need to remember to seek wisdom and no matter what the out come to follow her ways always.
9:8-9 "Do not rebuke the mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; Teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." I find this verse incredibly true in my life. 2 Years ago if someone had told me I was doing something wrong my response probably would've been "Screw you, I know what i'm doing. leave me alone" Now (I'm not saying i'm righteous, i'm just saying I have grown in Christ) if someone were to tell me I'm doing something wrong I will step back, look at it from another angle, and pray about and thank them for guiding me. It's amazing how different the outcomes of those to responses are. When I didn't accept other peoples wisdom I always end up hurt more than necessary but now, if I follow Gods plan as he reveals it through other people It is much easier. I still get hurt, I still screw up, but much much less.
9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the holy one is understanding" again, I have found this stunningly true in my life. We gain knowledge of "The Holy One" by studying His word and hence we have understanding.
I worshiped to Always Forever and Come Thou Fount.
Something new I got to pray for last night was the processes of my family adopting a little boy. It's at the very beginning so we don't know where it will go from here but we are praying that God would help us to trust Him no matter what the outcome of this situation is.
Adoption is really cool because that's how we are saved. God has adopted us into His holy family and something really cool about adopted children is they cannot be written out of the will. They will always be an heir to whatever you have even if you hate them by the end of your life but you can write your biological children out of your will. It's amazing how this law lines up with what God has done for us, God "wrote Christ out of his will" for a period of time so that He could adopt us! and now that we have been adopted nothing can ever take away our inheritance.
Ok! Done with yesterday's on t today's!
So I learned the song "Beautiful One" by Jeremy Camp. I really like that song because it's pure worship. all the whole song is is telling God how beautiful and wonderful He is.
I worshiped to How He Loves and Set A Fire
I read through Proverbs 10 tonight and I can't go through every verse I highlighted because half of the chapter is highlighted but i'll go over my favorites from the chapter.
verse 4 says "Lazy hands make a man poor but diligent hands bring wealth" That one sonds like a no brainer like "duh, work=money" so it's obvious but we always seem to forget and fall back into laziness.
verse 8 says "The wise in hear accept commands but a chattering fool comes to ruin" Another obvious one but a good reminder.
verse 19 says "When words are many, sin is not absent but he who holds his tongue is wise." I love this verse because my father has been telling me this my whole life only phrased like this "If you never open your mouth people can never confirm that you're stupid" so It's just good to remember.
I prayed tonight and thanked God for the things I always forget to. Like, His word. I mean, how amazing is it that we have one giant letter from God that will show us different things at different parts of our lives? I just think it's really cool.
Well, thanks for bearing with me through that long post! my prayer for all of you is that you will not only accept when a brother in Christ rebukes you but that you will ask to be held accountable for the way you conduct yourself. I pray that for you because it will bring you so much more joy in your walk with Christ than walking in ignorance.
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 8:32
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
What Faith Can Do
So, tonight's been a great end to a not so great day.
The song I learned tonight was "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless. At one point it says "It doesn't matter what you've heard, impossible is not a word it's just a reason for someone not to try" And I really like that because it's unbelievably true.
The songs I worshiped with tonight were Always Forever, I Will Rise, and Give Me Faith.
So, I haven't cried in worship since elevate and before elevate I hadn't cried for a while but tonight when I was singing the last chorus of I Will Rise tears came to my eyes because eternity with God will be so wonderful. there will be no more pain, no more lies, no more tears, no more suffering, no more sin, no more death. All of that will be wiped out by the glory of God. Now indulge me for o a moment and let me paint a picture in your head. Think of the worst day you've had. Now think of the complete opposite, now multiply it by 10,000 and that will be what eternity with The Living Holy God will be like! No you might be thinking "Oh joy, I get to do the same thing for the rest of eternity. Exciting" But worship is not just singing songs or bowing down or naming attributes.
Think of your favorite food. You can probably almost taste it right now and now your mouth is watering. Now think of the last time you had that food, the moment it touched your tongue and you remembered why it is your favorite food. that moment of "mmmmm" as you savor the taste. THAT is worship! That love for that food and that wanting it, craving it. That is worship and that is what worshiping God will be like! Not eating him of course but that feeling of contentment, that love, that enjoyment, that wanting more of will be how we will worship him for the rest of eternity only magnified to a level I cannot comprehend. Now that you have that image in your head go listen to I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin and you might get why I had tears in my eyes while singing the last verse.
I read through Proverbs 7 tonight.
When I prayed tonight I prayed that God would constantly remind me that I am living for him. Now I have to different paths to go down with this subject so bear with me.
When I was at camp the way one of my pastors described our side of the relationship with God was that we forget to remember. the analogy he gave us was this.
It's not like you forgot your keys to the car and had to go back in to get them, it's like you see the keys and forget what they are, forget you have a car and you're just like "What the crap are these?"
That is how we forget God sometimes (Most of the time) we forget to remember Him. We go through our daily lives not even thinking of Him (unless you are so mature in Christ that He is all you think about. If that is you, I respect you and hope to achieve that level of righteousness in Christ) And then we get home and we're like. "I guess I should pray to this God guy now" And we don't remember His glory that He has shown to us! So I just prayed that God would help me to remember.
The other thing I wanted to share with you guys was a habit I picked up over a year ago and have done on and off since I first learned about it.
There's this video game where you're holding a basket and you want to catch all good stuff but avoid the bad stuff and that's pretty much how we live our lives right? "Oooh A raise! I'll take that! Thanks God. Oh wait, is that cancer??? Nope i'm going to do everything I can not to catch that in MY basket God!" If you don't admit to doing that on some level you're lying. Our response should be to keep our hands (Switching from baskets) Open to anything God want us to catch, we shouldn't close our hands to God and say "I don't want your will God" so I physical reminder that I was shown was to write "Joy" on the palms of my hands. It's just a constant reminder that if we keep our hands open to God he will give us Joy. But don't confuse Joy with Happiness.
So yeah! my prayer for you all is that God will invade your every though so that you will always have Joy in Him.
With Love,
Grace
John 15:11
The song I learned tonight was "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless. At one point it says "It doesn't matter what you've heard, impossible is not a word it's just a reason for someone not to try" And I really like that because it's unbelievably true.
The songs I worshiped with tonight were Always Forever, I Will Rise, and Give Me Faith.
So, I haven't cried in worship since elevate and before elevate I hadn't cried for a while but tonight when I was singing the last chorus of I Will Rise tears came to my eyes because eternity with God will be so wonderful. there will be no more pain, no more lies, no more tears, no more suffering, no more sin, no more death. All of that will be wiped out by the glory of God. Now indulge me for o a moment and let me paint a picture in your head. Think of the worst day you've had. Now think of the complete opposite, now multiply it by 10,000 and that will be what eternity with The Living Holy God will be like! No you might be thinking "Oh joy, I get to do the same thing for the rest of eternity. Exciting" But worship is not just singing songs or bowing down or naming attributes.
Think of your favorite food. You can probably almost taste it right now and now your mouth is watering. Now think of the last time you had that food, the moment it touched your tongue and you remembered why it is your favorite food. that moment of "mmmmm" as you savor the taste. THAT is worship! That love for that food and that wanting it, craving it. That is worship and that is what worshiping God will be like! Not eating him of course but that feeling of contentment, that love, that enjoyment, that wanting more of will be how we will worship him for the rest of eternity only magnified to a level I cannot comprehend. Now that you have that image in your head go listen to I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin and you might get why I had tears in my eyes while singing the last verse.
I read through Proverbs 7 tonight.
When I prayed tonight I prayed that God would constantly remind me that I am living for him. Now I have to different paths to go down with this subject so bear with me.
When I was at camp the way one of my pastors described our side of the relationship with God was that we forget to remember. the analogy he gave us was this.
It's not like you forgot your keys to the car and had to go back in to get them, it's like you see the keys and forget what they are, forget you have a car and you're just like "What the crap are these?"
That is how we forget God sometimes (Most of the time) we forget to remember Him. We go through our daily lives not even thinking of Him (unless you are so mature in Christ that He is all you think about. If that is you, I respect you and hope to achieve that level of righteousness in Christ) And then we get home and we're like. "I guess I should pray to this God guy now" And we don't remember His glory that He has shown to us! So I just prayed that God would help me to remember.
The other thing I wanted to share with you guys was a habit I picked up over a year ago and have done on and off since I first learned about it.
There's this video game where you're holding a basket and you want to catch all good stuff but avoid the bad stuff and that's pretty much how we live our lives right? "Oooh A raise! I'll take that! Thanks God. Oh wait, is that cancer??? Nope i'm going to do everything I can not to catch that in MY basket God!" If you don't admit to doing that on some level you're lying. Our response should be to keep our hands (Switching from baskets) Open to anything God want us to catch, we shouldn't close our hands to God and say "I don't want your will God" so I physical reminder that I was shown was to write "Joy" on the palms of my hands. It's just a constant reminder that if we keep our hands open to God he will give us Joy. But don't confuse Joy with Happiness.
So yeah! my prayer for you all is that God will invade your every though so that you will always have Joy in Him.
With Love,
Grace
John 15:11
Monday, July 29, 2013
Storms
Today there was a big thunder storm and the pressure from storms always gives me a headache so I've been in pain all day and I've been snappy to everyone and I don't like beiong snappy. It made me look at myself and ask "Ok, this is a physical storm and this is how you deal with it, how the heck are you going to deal with an internal one?" so I just need to pray about that and i'd appreciate it if you guys would too!
So I learned "This Man" by Jeremy Camp and I think the chorus is really cool when it says "Would you take the nails from his hands" Because like, if we could save the creator of the universe but be persecuted ourselves... Would we? and I think we should all wrestle with that ourselves.
I worshiped to marvelous light and come thou fount.
I'm actually getting kinda tired of proverbs because it's just the same thing over and over again.
And I prayed tonight.
With Love,
Grace.
Psalm 62:1-2
So I learned "This Man" by Jeremy Camp and I think the chorus is really cool when it says "Would you take the nails from his hands" Because like, if we could save the creator of the universe but be persecuted ourselves... Would we? and I think we should all wrestle with that ourselves.
I worshiped to marvelous light and come thou fount.
I'm actually getting kinda tired of proverbs because it's just the same thing over and over again.
And I prayed tonight.
With Love,
Grace.
Psalm 62:1-2
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Walk By Faith
So, the song I learned today was "Walk By Faith" by Jeremy Camp. I really need this song right now. I'm trying to learn to be content in being single. any of you who don't know me that are reading this, I'm a Junior in highschool right now which of course means EVERYONE is dating or talking to someone and that make it pretty hard on someone who knows they don't need a significant other. I know I don't need anyone as more than a friend right now because I need to focus on God and my walk with Christ but it's a real struggle to say "Ok God! Do what you want with me and I ask for nothing/no one" Because my human nature craves attention and love but I shouldn't be seeking that attention and love in guys I should be seeking it in Christ so I need to walk by faith and know that Gods will is better than mine and that the struggles prepare His will for me and that they will form me into the person I need to be To do the work he wants me to do.
The songs I worshiped to today were Always Forever, Come Thou Fount, and Oh Praise Him.
I read through Proverbs 5 today which was pretty cool. It's about not letting unrighteousness come from your lips and I highlighted verse 5 which says "The you main maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge" So pretty much what I think that verse is saying is "Shut up and you'll never sound stupid" And that's something I need to work on because I am CONSTANTLY running my mouth to anyone who will listen and I probably come off dumb, rude, or mean most of the time so I need to work on that more.
When I prayed tonight I thanked God just as much as I requested from Him and that's kind of new for me and also, most of my requests were requests that would bring glory to Him not me or any man.
So yeah! I pray that you guys could be content in whatever situation God has put you in and that you won't only be content in it but that you would give thanks for it! If God has you in a certain situation, even if you can't feel Him, He has a reason for it.
With Love,
Grace.
Mark 2:5
The songs I worshiped to today were Always Forever, Come Thou Fount, and Oh Praise Him.
I read through Proverbs 5 today which was pretty cool. It's about not letting unrighteousness come from your lips and I highlighted verse 5 which says "The you main maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge" So pretty much what I think that verse is saying is "Shut up and you'll never sound stupid" And that's something I need to work on because I am CONSTANTLY running my mouth to anyone who will listen and I probably come off dumb, rude, or mean most of the time so I need to work on that more.
When I prayed tonight I thanked God just as much as I requested from Him and that's kind of new for me and also, most of my requests were requests that would bring glory to Him not me or any man.
So yeah! I pray that you guys could be content in whatever situation God has put you in and that you won't only be content in it but that you would give thanks for it! If God has you in a certain situation, even if you can't feel Him, He has a reason for it.
With Love,
Grace.
Mark 2:5
Saturday, July 27, 2013
From The Inside Out
So, I learned the song "From The Inside Out" by Kristian Stanfill(?) and I personally think its a pretty cool song. I mean, that's what this whole blog is about for me. Being changed by God from the inside out to have a closer relationship with Him. And it's weird. I get the being changed on the inside by spending more time with God but I actually feel better physically. Like, instead of feeling on edge most of the time I feel, content I guess? I can't put my finger on the feeling but it's really cool.
I worshiped to I'm alive, Oh Praise Him, and Beautiful Things. I actually really like that line up now that I think about it. I usually just do random songs that catch my eye but those three are really cool Together because I'm Alive and Beautiful Things are about how God has changed us and is continuing to change us and we Respond (with Oh Praise Him) in worship and awe. So I just realized that as I was typing it out!
I read through Proverbs 4 tonight. A lot of Proverbs sounds the same to me "Keep wisdom in your heart...... Do not stray from the path of wisdom..... Listen my son" On and on and on it goes so if my posts start looking the same, that's why but 2 verses that stood out to me were
4:18 "The path of righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter 'til the full light of day" I think I liked that one mostly because it's a beautiful image of growing in righteousness.
4:23-24 "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life" I like this verse a lot because it reminds me that my heart is so important to God that He doesn't want it to get hurt so I should honor Him and guard it.
My prayer tonight was mostly for God to let His light shine through me.
My prayer for all of you is for you to ask God to transform you from the inside out.
With Love.
Grace.
Psalm 138:1
I worshiped to I'm alive, Oh Praise Him, and Beautiful Things. I actually really like that line up now that I think about it. I usually just do random songs that catch my eye but those three are really cool Together because I'm Alive and Beautiful Things are about how God has changed us and is continuing to change us and we Respond (with Oh Praise Him) in worship and awe. So I just realized that as I was typing it out!
I read through Proverbs 4 tonight. A lot of Proverbs sounds the same to me "Keep wisdom in your heart...... Do not stray from the path of wisdom..... Listen my son" On and on and on it goes so if my posts start looking the same, that's why but 2 verses that stood out to me were
4:18 "The path of righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter 'til the full light of day" I think I liked that one mostly because it's a beautiful image of growing in righteousness.
4:23-24 "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life" I like this verse a lot because it reminds me that my heart is so important to God that He doesn't want it to get hurt so I should honor Him and guard it.
My prayer tonight was mostly for God to let His light shine through me.
My prayer for all of you is for you to ask God to transform you from the inside out.
With Love.
Grace.
Psalm 138:1
Friday, July 26, 2013
Forgiven
Sorry for being kinda late guys! but I'm just gonna count this for the 26th even though it says its the 27th because it's about 1am right now.
So the song I learned today was "Forgiven" by Sanctus Real. I think it's a really pretty and encouraging song.
When I was at camp one of my pastors started talking about dubstep. He was making fun of it and stuff and we were all laughing but then he said "We listen to dubstep, or whatever type of music works best, to drown out something, and that something is our guilt and our shame" Everyone fell silent because we were all condemned because we all do it but he went on to say "No amount of substitution for God will drown out our guilt and shame" I find that to be so true. No matter how loud your music is, no matter how long that horse back ride is, how hard you work out, how long you play with your team, how long you spend perfecting turns and tricks It will always end and we will be overtaken by our guilt and our shame again and again. BUT if we stop substituting things for God we will see His forgiveness and the blood cleansed cloak he has put around us. We will see that we are forgiven and we do not have to be guilty or ashamed ever again because of the gift that God has given us.
Sorry for taking so long to get to the point but yeah, I though it was worth it!
The songs I worshiped with today were Always Forever, Oh Praise Him, and Set a Fire.
I read through Proverbs two and three today. I almost didn't read three but I decided that since two is rather short that I should read two chapters today and I'm so glad I did. Specifically there was one verse that I really needed today and that verse is 3:6
"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight"
Another couple verses that I really need in my life but not specifically today was 3:25-26
"Have no fear of sudden disaster or for the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared"
Now I don't want anyone to think that That verse is saying that bad thing won't happen to us. What it is saying is just that when bad things happen to us we do not have to fear because we have a savior who will hold us and keep us no matter what. The verse stood out to me because it says "Have no fear of sudden disaster..." And I have a tendency to worry about so much. I will keep myself up at night with worry and it has gotten to the point of almost a panic attack and everyone is always saying "Oh don't worry! Trust God!" Now that is wayyyyyyyyy easier said than done. So this verse is just really cool and I think I'm going to memorize this one.
My prayer today was kinda different. It was more thankful. I started thinking about the stars somehow (ADD much?) And how there are giant flaming balls of gas lightyears away from us that we call beautiful and then play connect the dots with to make pictures in the sky. Like how mental is that?? But God instilled that creativity and that love for beauty inside of us because we are created in His image and He is an extremely creative God who appreciates beauty. It's one of the many ways that we have been created in the image of God and I think it's so cool.
My prayer for all of you is that You will stop substituting other things for God and that you will come to Him and spend your time in Him so that you can see that you are washed clean.
With love,
Grace.
Proverbs 2:7-8
So the song I learned today was "Forgiven" by Sanctus Real. I think it's a really pretty and encouraging song.
When I was at camp one of my pastors started talking about dubstep. He was making fun of it and stuff and we were all laughing but then he said "We listen to dubstep, or whatever type of music works best, to drown out something, and that something is our guilt and our shame" Everyone fell silent because we were all condemned because we all do it but he went on to say "No amount of substitution for God will drown out our guilt and shame" I find that to be so true. No matter how loud your music is, no matter how long that horse back ride is, how hard you work out, how long you play with your team, how long you spend perfecting turns and tricks It will always end and we will be overtaken by our guilt and our shame again and again. BUT if we stop substituting things for God we will see His forgiveness and the blood cleansed cloak he has put around us. We will see that we are forgiven and we do not have to be guilty or ashamed ever again because of the gift that God has given us.
Sorry for taking so long to get to the point but yeah, I though it was worth it!
The songs I worshiped with today were Always Forever, Oh Praise Him, and Set a Fire.
I read through Proverbs two and three today. I almost didn't read three but I decided that since two is rather short that I should read two chapters today and I'm so glad I did. Specifically there was one verse that I really needed today and that verse is 3:6
"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight"
Another couple verses that I really need in my life but not specifically today was 3:25-26
"Have no fear of sudden disaster or for the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared"
Now I don't want anyone to think that That verse is saying that bad thing won't happen to us. What it is saying is just that when bad things happen to us we do not have to fear because we have a savior who will hold us and keep us no matter what. The verse stood out to me because it says "Have no fear of sudden disaster..." And I have a tendency to worry about so much. I will keep myself up at night with worry and it has gotten to the point of almost a panic attack and everyone is always saying "Oh don't worry! Trust God!" Now that is wayyyyyyyyy easier said than done. So this verse is just really cool and I think I'm going to memorize this one.
My prayer today was kinda different. It was more thankful. I started thinking about the stars somehow (ADD much?) And how there are giant flaming balls of gas lightyears away from us that we call beautiful and then play connect the dots with to make pictures in the sky. Like how mental is that?? But God instilled that creativity and that love for beauty inside of us because we are created in His image and He is an extremely creative God who appreciates beauty. It's one of the many ways that we have been created in the image of God and I think it's so cool.
My prayer for all of you is that You will stop substituting other things for God and that you will come to Him and spend your time in Him so that you can see that you are washed clean.
With love,
Grace.
Proverbs 2:7-8
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Always Forever
Today was actually a really good day. I hope all of you had a good day too!
So I learned the song "Always Forever" by Phil Wickham. It's a new one to me but it's growing on me fast. It's really pretty and I love the lyrics. The lyrics pretty much just say how much we need God and how much we always will need God.
The worship songs I did today were You're Beautiful, Give Me Faith, and Set A Fire. I can't get over what a good song Set A Fire is. I Love playing it for worship just because how simple and true it is. When it says "No place I'd rather be than here in Your love" I truly mean it. Like, There is not better place than where you can feel the love of God around you. A way I've found to be able to feel God (I'll be the last to say that it's easy) Is to just stop. We're all always so busy with jobs, friends, family, commitments, and everything else but if you just stop. Turn off your phone, turn off your internet, turn off your lights, turn on some worship music and just pray and ask God to meet you there He usually will. But don't be disappointed if he doesn't. "No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul by means of the dark night"
Tonight I started Proverbs and I'm really excited about reading through Proverbs.
I prayed for you guys tonight more than usual. I hope that God works in your lives in stupendous ways
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 1:5
So I learned the song "Always Forever" by Phil Wickham. It's a new one to me but it's growing on me fast. It's really pretty and I love the lyrics. The lyrics pretty much just say how much we need God and how much we always will need God.
The worship songs I did today were You're Beautiful, Give Me Faith, and Set A Fire. I can't get over what a good song Set A Fire is. I Love playing it for worship just because how simple and true it is. When it says "No place I'd rather be than here in Your love" I truly mean it. Like, There is not better place than where you can feel the love of God around you. A way I've found to be able to feel God (I'll be the last to say that it's easy) Is to just stop. We're all always so busy with jobs, friends, family, commitments, and everything else but if you just stop. Turn off your phone, turn off your internet, turn off your lights, turn on some worship music and just pray and ask God to meet you there He usually will. But don't be disappointed if he doesn't. "No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul by means of the dark night"
Tonight I started Proverbs and I'm really excited about reading through Proverbs.
I prayed for you guys tonight more than usual. I hope that God works in your lives in stupendous ways
With Love,
Grace.
Proverbs 1:5
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Blessed
This morning I got to get up and go straight to dance class which was fantastic. God says whenever two or more are gathered in His name that He is there, He never said what you had to be doing. I go to a Christian dance studio so whenever we're there we are gathered in His name and His presence is always there. I just think I am so blessed with knowing the creator of the heavens and earth and that He would not only let me know Him but he would also bless me with fantastic people all around me. I also had youth group tonight. Now don't get me wrong, worshiping on my own is awesome and all but worshiping with your family (church family) Is completely different and beautiful. Worship tonight reminded me again why I love worshiping.
So I learned "Alive Again" By Matt Maher. It's probably one of my favorite worship songs of all time. I love the chorus because it's all about how God called us and made us alive again and I just think it's really cool.
The songs I worshiped to on my own today were. How He Loves, It Is Finished, and Here's My Heart. The songs I worshiped to with my youth group were Marvelous Light, This Is My Fathers World, Every Move I Make, Come Thou Fount, In Christ Alone, and You're Beautiful.
Well, I read Romans 16 today which means I'm Done with Romans! It was a really cool book to read through. A lot of chapter 16 was Paul telling the church in Rome to greet the people He is sending to their church which I think is an example to us.
When I was at windy gap (A Church Camp) a couple years ago all of the girls in my youth group were watching the guys play volley ball and a girl from another church came over and sat with us so we started talking to her and including her in conversation and generally being friendly. After about five minutes the girl says "My friends over there bet me five bucks that you guys wouldn't talk to me if I came over here and just sat down"
Whenever I think of that conversation I get kind of sad for the church today. I mean, isn't it our call as Christians to be accepting and loving? "They will know you by your love for one another"
Why aren't we living that? Is it really that hard to love others? To say a kind word? I think we should "greet" Fellow Christians openly even if they're another denomination. I was at a church planting conference a couple months ago and one of the speakers said "WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM!" and it's true! If you believe that Crist died to save our souls because He loves us and that it's faith that saves not works We are on the same team! I doesn't matter what you think about predestination or what you believe about end times! now i'm not saying you shouldn't know what you believe but those subjects aren't what saves you. So I encourage all of you to accept fellow Christians with open hearts no matter what denomination they are or where they're from.
My prayer for you is that God would pour His love into your hearts and that your hearts would pour out into the world around you so others may see the love of Christ through you.
With Love,
Grace.
Romans 16:20
ps: Sorry for changing the font on you but I like this one more.
So I learned "Alive Again" By Matt Maher. It's probably one of my favorite worship songs of all time. I love the chorus because it's all about how God called us and made us alive again and I just think it's really cool.
The songs I worshiped to on my own today were. How He Loves, It Is Finished, and Here's My Heart. The songs I worshiped to with my youth group were Marvelous Light, This Is My Fathers World, Every Move I Make, Come Thou Fount, In Christ Alone, and You're Beautiful.
Well, I read Romans 16 today which means I'm Done with Romans! It was a really cool book to read through. A lot of chapter 16 was Paul telling the church in Rome to greet the people He is sending to their church which I think is an example to us.
When I was at windy gap (A Church Camp) a couple years ago all of the girls in my youth group were watching the guys play volley ball and a girl from another church came over and sat with us so we started talking to her and including her in conversation and generally being friendly. After about five minutes the girl says "My friends over there bet me five bucks that you guys wouldn't talk to me if I came over here and just sat down"
Whenever I think of that conversation I get kind of sad for the church today. I mean, isn't it our call as Christians to be accepting and loving? "They will know you by your love for one another"
Why aren't we living that? Is it really that hard to love others? To say a kind word? I think we should "greet" Fellow Christians openly even if they're another denomination. I was at a church planting conference a couple months ago and one of the speakers said "WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM!" and it's true! If you believe that Crist died to save our souls because He loves us and that it's faith that saves not works We are on the same team! I doesn't matter what you think about predestination or what you believe about end times! now i'm not saying you shouldn't know what you believe but those subjects aren't what saves you. So I encourage all of you to accept fellow Christians with open hearts no matter what denomination they are or where they're from.
My prayer for you is that God would pour His love into your hearts and that your hearts would pour out into the world around you so others may see the love of Christ through you.
With Love,
Grace.
Romans 16:20
ps: Sorry for changing the font on you but I like this one more.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Here's My Heart
Today I learned "Here's My Heart" by The David Crowder Band. It's a really cool song because pretty much the whole song is you proclaiming that you want to give your heart completely to Christ. It's also an awesome worship song because after you sing it once the lyrics are really easy to remember so you don't have to worry about remembering the next words and you can just worship freely.
I worshiped with a ton of songs today! I played Christ Is Risen, Everlasting God, No One Like You, Give Me Faith, Set A fire, and It Is Finished. so that was really cool just to be able to have all the time I wanted to worship today.
My prayer today was more.... sincere I guess? than it has been in the past 2 weeks (It's been 2 weeks! YAY!) I actually prayed for myself today which I don't usually do a lot of and I also prayed for my future husband, the poor sucker could use all the prayer he can get. it was really cool just to offer up my future and my problems to God for Him to do what He wants with me.
I read through Romans 15 today and it was really cool. I feel like sometimes we forget that a lot of the books in the new testament are actually letters. while I was reading through Romans 15 tonight it was just really cool to realize that this book that I am reading was first read by a church (Or multiple churches) in Rome over 1000 years ago and has been read by millions of Christians ever since! Like I just think that's really cool.
verse 2 says "Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up" I think that verse is really cool because Paul doesn't say "Each of us should please our friends" He says "Neighbor" Because even if we don't "Like" our neighbor (Everyone around us) we should still be encouraging and uplifting towards them.
Verse 7 says "Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" I really like that verse because there is so much discrimination in our culture (Not that there hasn't been in the past). If The church lived by this verse we would live in a different world.
My prayer for you today is that you will be able to have the time to step back and worship God without time restraints. whether you worship God by hiking, writing, singing, playing in instrument I pray that you will make the time to worship The creator of heaven and earth.
With Love,
Grace.
Romans 15:13
I worshiped with a ton of songs today! I played Christ Is Risen, Everlasting God, No One Like You, Give Me Faith, Set A fire, and It Is Finished. so that was really cool just to be able to have all the time I wanted to worship today.
My prayer today was more.... sincere I guess? than it has been in the past 2 weeks (It's been 2 weeks! YAY!) I actually prayed for myself today which I don't usually do a lot of and I also prayed for my future husband, the poor sucker could use all the prayer he can get. it was really cool just to offer up my future and my problems to God for Him to do what He wants with me.
I read through Romans 15 today and it was really cool. I feel like sometimes we forget that a lot of the books in the new testament are actually letters. while I was reading through Romans 15 tonight it was just really cool to realize that this book that I am reading was first read by a church (Or multiple churches) in Rome over 1000 years ago and has been read by millions of Christians ever since! Like I just think that's really cool.
verse 2 says "Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up" I think that verse is really cool because Paul doesn't say "Each of us should please our friends" He says "Neighbor" Because even if we don't "Like" our neighbor (Everyone around us) we should still be encouraging and uplifting towards them.
Verse 7 says "Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" I really like that verse because there is so much discrimination in our culture (Not that there hasn't been in the past). If The church lived by this verse we would live in a different world.
My prayer for you today is that you will be able to have the time to step back and worship God without time restraints. whether you worship God by hiking, writing, singing, playing in instrument I pray that you will make the time to worship The creator of heaven and earth.
With Love,
Grace.
Romans 15:13
Monday, July 22, 2013
Oh Praise Him
Ok, so today's been a little crazy but I got everything done anyway!
So I learned oh praise him be the David Crowder Band because its a really cool song.
I worshiped to Beautiful things and Jesus paid it all.
So when I read my bible today I read through Romans 14. Now most of you don't know that i'm vegan (I don't eat anything with meat, milk or eggs in it) Because it's just my own convictions and I live by them and don't expect anyone else to and reading through Romans 14 kind of confirmed that I should live by those convictions even though it's talking more about Jewish laws I feel as though it applies to me as well. Verse 3 says "The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him" Verse 6 says ".... He who eats meat eats to the Lord for he gives thanks to God and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God" Verse 14 says "As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean itself. But if anyone regard something as unclean, then for him it is unclean"
So through reading that I was just confirmed that what I am doing is right for me. So yeah!
Praying today was really cool because I almost never remember what people ask me to pray for and today I remembered almost everything people have asked me to pray about.
My prayed for you all is to listen to whatever convictions God puts in your heart even if they seem completely crazy, God has a reason.
With Love
Grace
Psalm 116:8
So I learned oh praise him be the David Crowder Band because its a really cool song.
I worshiped to Beautiful things and Jesus paid it all.
So when I read my bible today I read through Romans 14. Now most of you don't know that i'm vegan (I don't eat anything with meat, milk or eggs in it) Because it's just my own convictions and I live by them and don't expect anyone else to and reading through Romans 14 kind of confirmed that I should live by those convictions even though it's talking more about Jewish laws I feel as though it applies to me as well. Verse 3 says "The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him" Verse 6 says ".... He who eats meat eats to the Lord for he gives thanks to God and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God" Verse 14 says "As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean itself. But if anyone regard something as unclean, then for him it is unclean"
So through reading that I was just confirmed that what I am doing is right for me. So yeah!
Praying today was really cool because I almost never remember what people ask me to pray for and today I remembered almost everything people have asked me to pray about.
My prayed for you all is to listen to whatever convictions God puts in your heart even if they seem completely crazy, God has a reason.
With Love
Grace
Psalm 116:8
Sunday, July 21, 2013
White Flag
ok, it's been another tiring day so just what I did today.
I learned "White Flag" by Chris Tomlin.
I played You deserve and Marvelous light.
I read through romans 13
and I prayed.
Sorry for being so short today guys.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 13:1
I learned "White Flag" by Chris Tomlin.
I played You deserve and Marvelous light.
I read through romans 13
and I prayed.
Sorry for being so short today guys.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 13:1
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Open Up Our Eyes
The song I learned today, as you might have guessed, was "Open Up Our Eyes" by Elevation Worship. It's really cool because God kinda did open up my eyes when I read my Bible but I'll get to that later.
The songs I played for worship were Christ Is Risen and You Deserve.
Prayer was really cool because I asked God for the strength to forgive someone I've been holding a grudge against for 2 years. That was really hard because I don't want to forgive him.
I read through Romans 12 today. verse 21 says "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" And God kinda showed me that holding onto this grudge was not good so I should overcome it with good instead of let it control me. So yeah! that was really cool.
I pray that all of you will be encouraged by God to do His will and to stay focused on Him even when it's hard.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 12:18
The songs I played for worship were Christ Is Risen and You Deserve.
Prayer was really cool because I asked God for the strength to forgive someone I've been holding a grudge against for 2 years. That was really hard because I don't want to forgive him.
I read through Romans 12 today. verse 21 says "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" And God kinda showed me that holding onto this grudge was not good so I should overcome it with good instead of let it control me. So yeah! that was really cool.
I pray that all of you will be encouraged by God to do His will and to stay focused on Him even when it's hard.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 12:18
Friday, July 19, 2013
I Will Rise
So, prayer was fantastic, like nothing else today so that was a good part.
When I went to learn a new song, my sister (Who had enough energy to tell me stories up til this moment) said she was tired and that I needed to stop playing guitar.... I almost had a break down. I haven't been mean or spiteful (out loud at least) for a week and I was so close in that moment and it scared me. I don't want to be like that at all. I hate being mean, like, so much. So I took a deep breath, knowing I NEEDED to worship and went to my father and he said I could only play two more songs. So I learned "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin. It's fairly fitting because when you his the bottom (Or pretty close mentally) There is no where to go but up but you can only rise through Christ so I thought the song was appropriate.
I then played It Is Finished so that I could be reminded of the grace that God has bestowed on us and that I needed to pour that grace out on my siblings.
I read romans 11 today aand it was pretty cool because Paul said the Gods chosen people were hardend to Him so that we as gentiles could receive Gods grace in order to make Israel Jealous to bring them back to God. You should read the chapter yourself because it's really cool and Paul says it better than I do/.
Tonight I'm going to ask you guys to pray for me. Just that I can keep my eyes focused on God even when I feel like ripping my hair out or crying. Thank you!
With Love,
Grace.
Romans 11:36
When I went to learn a new song, my sister (Who had enough energy to tell me stories up til this moment) said she was tired and that I needed to stop playing guitar.... I almost had a break down. I haven't been mean or spiteful (out loud at least) for a week and I was so close in that moment and it scared me. I don't want to be like that at all. I hate being mean, like, so much. So I took a deep breath, knowing I NEEDED to worship and went to my father and he said I could only play two more songs. So I learned "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin. It's fairly fitting because when you his the bottom (Or pretty close mentally) There is no where to go but up but you can only rise through Christ so I thought the song was appropriate.
I then played It Is Finished so that I could be reminded of the grace that God has bestowed on us and that I needed to pour that grace out on my siblings.
I read romans 11 today aand it was pretty cool because Paul said the Gods chosen people were hardend to Him so that we as gentiles could receive Gods grace in order to make Israel Jealous to bring them back to God. You should read the chapter yourself because it's really cool and Paul says it better than I do/.
Tonight I'm going to ask you guys to pray for me. Just that I can keep my eyes focused on God even when I feel like ripping my hair out or crying. Thank you!
With Love,
Grace.
Romans 11:36
Thursday, July 18, 2013
In The Darkness
So, what's pretty cool is that God can make bad things seem so small. Like right now, I know someone who has 2 months to live, my grandmother (who is like a second mom to my siblings and I) could die any day now, my mom is really sick, one of the people I look up to most when it comes to worship is going through chemo, my big brother is in Denver and I miss him like crazy, I've been sick for the past week and a half and my best friend lives 16 (at least) hours away. but you know what? I can take that all in stride because God is so much bigger than all of that. He is my peace, my strength, and my whole world. I don't understand how people can live their lives without God.
Well! moving on! So, when I prayed today, whenever I requested something of God I ended it with "If it is your will" Which I have done in months, mostly because I wanted what I wanted not what God wanted. Now I realize how childish that sounds but to God, we are all children. I think something my pastor said at camp a couple weeks ago kinda clicked in my head yesterday. Even though I already said it, I'm going to say it again only this time I really believe it.
My pastor told a story and the story went like this. Once there was a rabbit, he was a fairly average rabbit but one day he saw sexy carrot (his words not mine) and all he could think about was sexy carrot. He chased her across a bridge, under a tunnel, all the way through Indiana and on to seatle and then all the way to the moon nd back to earth then back to home where he finally caught her! He was so happy and he sat down and ate sexy carrot The End!
and he stopped and we all sat there and wondered why. He then proceeded to say "Getting what we want isn't always what's best for us."
The story goes on a little further and you find out that the rabbit died from eating sexy carrot. The rabbit got what he wanted but it ended up killing him. My pastor said that we are a lot like the rabbit always casing our "Sexy carrot" because we all think "If I just had _______ I'd be happy" or "If only _______ liked me I'd never want anything again" And if you really search yourself you'll find that we do the same
I read through Romans 10 tonight and it was pretty cool. I enjoyed reading it.
I learned "No One Like You" by the David Crowder Band today and I think that's what made me think of everything I just wrote because there is no one like God which means that nothing can fill that God shaped hole except for Him.
I played You Never Let Go, You Deserve, and Set A Fire today.
I pray that all of you, and I, will stop chasing "Sexy Carrot" and pursue the Living God.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 8:28
Well! moving on! So, when I prayed today, whenever I requested something of God I ended it with "If it is your will" Which I have done in months, mostly because I wanted what I wanted not what God wanted. Now I realize how childish that sounds but to God, we are all children. I think something my pastor said at camp a couple weeks ago kinda clicked in my head yesterday. Even though I already said it, I'm going to say it again only this time I really believe it.
My pastor told a story and the story went like this. Once there was a rabbit, he was a fairly average rabbit but one day he saw sexy carrot (his words not mine) and all he could think about was sexy carrot. He chased her across a bridge, under a tunnel, all the way through Indiana and on to seatle and then all the way to the moon nd back to earth then back to home where he finally caught her! He was so happy and he sat down and ate sexy carrot The End!
and he stopped and we all sat there and wondered why. He then proceeded to say "Getting what we want isn't always what's best for us."
The story goes on a little further and you find out that the rabbit died from eating sexy carrot. The rabbit got what he wanted but it ended up killing him. My pastor said that we are a lot like the rabbit always casing our "Sexy carrot" because we all think "If I just had _______ I'd be happy" or "If only _______ liked me I'd never want anything again" And if you really search yourself you'll find that we do the same
I read through Romans 10 tonight and it was pretty cool. I enjoyed reading it.
I learned "No One Like You" by the David Crowder Band today and I think that's what made me think of everything I just wrote because there is no one like God which means that nothing can fill that God shaped hole except for Him.
I played You Never Let Go, You Deserve, and Set A Fire today.
I pray that all of you, and I, will stop chasing "Sexy Carrot" and pursue the Living God.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 8:28
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Give Me Faith
God is good. That's how I want to start this post.
I woke up this morning and went to the doctor and I'm not too sick at all and should be better tomorrow! Yay!
Ok so, I actually prayed for one of my unsaved friends today. It was hard because that subject is kind of an open sore for me because he's the first of any of my close friends that might not be spending eternity with the living God. that really hurts to think about you know? But I prayed for him for the first time in like 2 months today so that was pretty big.
Quick disclaimer before I move on. I just want to make it clear that whenever I say something that implies I've grown in my faith please keep in mind that it's nothing I do. It's only by Gods grace that I grow at all.
Moving on! I also found out that a guy who used to work at a coffee shop I go to all the time is dying of cancer and only has 2-3 months left to live. I heard about it from his room mate/co-worker and she said that God is working through him, through this like, nothing else but it's still hard to see him in pain. So my prayer for him, because he does know Christ and is getting closer to going home, was for God just to ease his pain so he can continue doing Gods work.
I pray that all of you will be able to see as I've seen through others that what we want is not always what we need. Sometime the worst thing we could have is what we want and sometimes, God gives it to us so that we can learn to trust Him instead of chasing after our worldly desires.
The song I learned today was "Give Me Faith" by Elevation Worship. If you haven't heard the song I strongly suggest you look it up. The lyrics are so true. My favorite part of the whole song is the bridge (Like most songs) because the lyrics just say over and over again "I may be weak, but Your Spirit's strong in me. My flesh may fail but my God you never will." The lyrics get to me every time because God has made that true in my life over and over again both physically and spiritually.
About a week before the dance recital this past year I twisted my ankle and it hurt so bad but came the day of the recital I just prayed and prayed for Gods Spirit to work through me because I knew I couldn't do it. That recital, I danced more confidently than I ever have and it was not by my own power but by Gods.
A spiritual example would be something that didn't happen to me but to a friend. One day when we were all talking she shared how she was doubting her faith and how it was hard for her to know if it was her faith or just her parents that she kinda just went along with. We spent about 10 minutes telling her that it was ok and that we'd be there for her until we moved on to another girl who was struggling with some pretty hard stuff and the girl who was "Struggling with her faith" preached to the other girl like nothing else and said just the right things. In that situation her flesh was failing but Christ worked through her anyway and used her for His purposes.
The songs I played for worship today were Hearts on Fire, You Deserve, and Revelation Song.
I read through Romans 9 today and it's my favorite chapter so far. there were 3 verses specifically that I though were really cool so I'm just going to type them out here. Verse 16 says "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort but on Gods mercy" Which goes right along with what I was saying about "Give Me Faith" Because if it were up to us to trust God and do good things I think we all know that we'd be screwed. The other verses were Verses 20-21 and they say "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it 'Why did you make me like this?' does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use"
I think those verses are really cool because especially us as girls tend to question how God made us and I think it's perfect to just respect the maker by loving how he made you.
So yeah! I'm praying for all of you that you can ask God to give you faith, that you can trust Him to be strong when your weak.
With Love,
Grace
Hosea 2:23
I woke up this morning and went to the doctor and I'm not too sick at all and should be better tomorrow! Yay!
Ok so, I actually prayed for one of my unsaved friends today. It was hard because that subject is kind of an open sore for me because he's the first of any of my close friends that might not be spending eternity with the living God. that really hurts to think about you know? But I prayed for him for the first time in like 2 months today so that was pretty big.
Quick disclaimer before I move on. I just want to make it clear that whenever I say something that implies I've grown in my faith please keep in mind that it's nothing I do. It's only by Gods grace that I grow at all.
Moving on! I also found out that a guy who used to work at a coffee shop I go to all the time is dying of cancer and only has 2-3 months left to live. I heard about it from his room mate/co-worker and she said that God is working through him, through this like, nothing else but it's still hard to see him in pain. So my prayer for him, because he does know Christ and is getting closer to going home, was for God just to ease his pain so he can continue doing Gods work.
I pray that all of you will be able to see as I've seen through others that what we want is not always what we need. Sometime the worst thing we could have is what we want and sometimes, God gives it to us so that we can learn to trust Him instead of chasing after our worldly desires.
The song I learned today was "Give Me Faith" by Elevation Worship. If you haven't heard the song I strongly suggest you look it up. The lyrics are so true. My favorite part of the whole song is the bridge (Like most songs) because the lyrics just say over and over again "I may be weak, but Your Spirit's strong in me. My flesh may fail but my God you never will." The lyrics get to me every time because God has made that true in my life over and over again both physically and spiritually.
About a week before the dance recital this past year I twisted my ankle and it hurt so bad but came the day of the recital I just prayed and prayed for Gods Spirit to work through me because I knew I couldn't do it. That recital, I danced more confidently than I ever have and it was not by my own power but by Gods.
A spiritual example would be something that didn't happen to me but to a friend. One day when we were all talking she shared how she was doubting her faith and how it was hard for her to know if it was her faith or just her parents that she kinda just went along with. We spent about 10 minutes telling her that it was ok and that we'd be there for her until we moved on to another girl who was struggling with some pretty hard stuff and the girl who was "Struggling with her faith" preached to the other girl like nothing else and said just the right things. In that situation her flesh was failing but Christ worked through her anyway and used her for His purposes.
The songs I played for worship today were Hearts on Fire, You Deserve, and Revelation Song.
I read through Romans 9 today and it's my favorite chapter so far. there were 3 verses specifically that I though were really cool so I'm just going to type them out here. Verse 16 says "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort but on Gods mercy" Which goes right along with what I was saying about "Give Me Faith" Because if it were up to us to trust God and do good things I think we all know that we'd be screwed. The other verses were Verses 20-21 and they say "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it 'Why did you make me like this?' does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use"
I think those verses are really cool because especially us as girls tend to question how God made us and I think it's perfect to just respect the maker by loving how he made you.
So yeah! I'm praying for all of you that you can ask God to give you faith, that you can trust Him to be strong when your weak.
With Love,
Grace
Hosea 2:23
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Set a Fire
This one's going to be short because I'm really tired and I think i'm getting sicker again. so, sorry guys.
I started out my prayer today with thanking God for a good day which is new for me so that was pretty cool.
I learned Set A Fire by Jesus Culture(?) and its pretty convenient because right now I feel like I need God to set a fire in my soul.
I played You Never Let Go, Come Thou Fount, Be Thou My Vision, and How He Loves.
I read through Romans 8.
Sorry for it being so short today but I'm just totally drained. I'm praying for anyone and everyone reading this that God would set a fire in YOUR soul for him.
In Love,
Grace.
Romans 8:1
I started out my prayer today with thanking God for a good day which is new for me so that was pretty cool.
I learned Set A Fire by Jesus Culture(?) and its pretty convenient because right now I feel like I need God to set a fire in my soul.
I played You Never Let Go, Come Thou Fount, Be Thou My Vision, and How He Loves.
I read through Romans 8.
Sorry for it being so short today but I'm just totally drained. I'm praying for anyone and everyone reading this that God would set a fire in YOUR soul for him.
In Love,
Grace.
Romans 8:1
Monday, July 15, 2013
Sing, Sing, Sing
Ok so again I did everything really late today. I woke up 2 minutes before I was supposed to be at dance which is 15 minutes away so, I'm about to say the most awful thing that I hope I can learn to over come, I didn't have time to pray this morning. But I prayed anyway later in the day!
I'm probably going to say this every day but God is really working in my heart right now and changing me to be more like him and you can see it clearly through my prayers.
Today I read through Romans 7 which was cool because Paul compared us to a wife who was widowed by the law and remarried to God because of His Son. It was really cool. The second half of the chapter is about how we are bound to sin by the law. Like, the law says "Do not covet" Our sinful nature start to covet things around us. and in Romans 7:15 Paul says something that most Christians have thought before, he says "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" I think it's really encouraging that someone that wrote so many fantastic letter to the early church struggled with sin as much as we do. I think sometime us as Christians have a habit of putting bible characters on a different level from us and assume that we will never be able to reach that level of righteousness, but, with the exception of Christ, Almost every bible character was as screwed up as we are! Matthew? a tax collector (who, if you didn't know everyone hated and was usually a theif as well). John and Mark? Two bickering brothers that fished for an occupation. Paul? He murdered Christians before Christ redeemed him and then after he was redeemed Paul writes that there is a "Thorn in his side" A sin he constantly struggles with!
So that level of closeness with God is not unattainable.
The song I learned today was "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Cris Tomlin. It's not my favorite to play but that's ok. the lyrics are still fantastic for worship.
The songs I played today were How can I keep from singing, Beautiful Scandalous Night, and One Thing Remains.
I pray that you will seek God in his fullness and reach as far as you can for Him instead of waiting for him to pursue you further and I pray that you find joy in Him when you do.
With Love,
Grace
John 15:4
I'm probably going to say this every day but God is really working in my heart right now and changing me to be more like him and you can see it clearly through my prayers.
Today I read through Romans 7 which was cool because Paul compared us to a wife who was widowed by the law and remarried to God because of His Son. It was really cool. The second half of the chapter is about how we are bound to sin by the law. Like, the law says "Do not covet" Our sinful nature start to covet things around us. and in Romans 7:15 Paul says something that most Christians have thought before, he says "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" I think it's really encouraging that someone that wrote so many fantastic letter to the early church struggled with sin as much as we do. I think sometime us as Christians have a habit of putting bible characters on a different level from us and assume that we will never be able to reach that level of righteousness, but, with the exception of Christ, Almost every bible character was as screwed up as we are! Matthew? a tax collector (who, if you didn't know everyone hated and was usually a theif as well). John and Mark? Two bickering brothers that fished for an occupation. Paul? He murdered Christians before Christ redeemed him and then after he was redeemed Paul writes that there is a "Thorn in his side" A sin he constantly struggles with!
So that level of closeness with God is not unattainable.
The song I learned today was "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Cris Tomlin. It's not my favorite to play but that's ok. the lyrics are still fantastic for worship.
The songs I played today were How can I keep from singing, Beautiful Scandalous Night, and One Thing Remains.
I pray that you will seek God in his fullness and reach as far as you can for Him instead of waiting for him to pursue you further and I pray that you find joy in Him when you do.
With Love,
Grace
John 15:4
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Slaves To Righteousness
I didn't get to go to church this morning which was a bummer because it was family worship today so I slept 'til noon and then we had my cousins over for brunch so I didn't start today to do list until like, 1:30.
Its been really cool writing down my prayers every day because I can watch how God is changing me. Like today, I prayed for my mom and grandma to get better which I haven't done in forever because I had kind of given up hope and for other people I prayed that the stuff they're going through would bring them closer to God instead of asking God to fix it. So, I just think that's cool and yeah!
I learned "How Can I Keep From Singing" by Chris Tomlin. I could sing the whole song without thinking about it but today, when I was playing it, I focused of every word and they are so true to my life right now. Like, whenever I think about God I start to just overflow and I could sing and shout how amazing he is forever! But the bridge is me favorite part because it's about being able to worship God through the hard times through the good time when you pray when you know he can hear your prayers when your on you death bed when you are with Him in heaven. It's just beautiful.
As you've probably guessed I read Romans 6 today and it is probably my favorite chapter yet, especially the second half. The second part is titled "Slaves to Righteousness" I'm going to post the whole section because telling you to look it up in your Bible is probably useless so here you go!
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you take the term "Slaves to Righteousness" out of text it can sound almost negative but the way Paul puts it is that we were redeemed from being slaves of sin which only lead to pain and death and we became slaves to righteousness which brings us life and a relation ship with our living God! I just think it's amazing that we have been given that opportunity. I'm just a teenager and to think of sacrificing my future child so that a bunch of ungrateful, evil, stupid people could have a better life is CRAZY! I would never be able to do that and that's what God did for us. Not only that but as Crist was on the cross He said "Forgive them father for they do not know what they are doing" so all of that to express how beautiful it is to be a slave of righteousness and how much we don't deserve it.
The songs I played today were Hearts On Fire, It Is Finished, Revelation Song, and Your Grace is Enough.
I pray for everyone reading this that you have become a slave to righteousness and that you have accepted the free gift of eternal life.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 6:23
Its been really cool writing down my prayers every day because I can watch how God is changing me. Like today, I prayed for my mom and grandma to get better which I haven't done in forever because I had kind of given up hope and for other people I prayed that the stuff they're going through would bring them closer to God instead of asking God to fix it. So, I just think that's cool and yeah!
I learned "How Can I Keep From Singing" by Chris Tomlin. I could sing the whole song without thinking about it but today, when I was playing it, I focused of every word and they are so true to my life right now. Like, whenever I think about God I start to just overflow and I could sing and shout how amazing he is forever! But the bridge is me favorite part because it's about being able to worship God through the hard times through the good time when you pray when you know he can hear your prayers when your on you death bed when you are with Him in heaven. It's just beautiful.
As you've probably guessed I read Romans 6 today and it is probably my favorite chapter yet, especially the second half. The second part is titled "Slaves to Righteousness" I'm going to post the whole section because telling you to look it up in your Bible is probably useless so here you go!
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you take the term "Slaves to Righteousness" out of text it can sound almost negative but the way Paul puts it is that we were redeemed from being slaves of sin which only lead to pain and death and we became slaves to righteousness which brings us life and a relation ship with our living God! I just think it's amazing that we have been given that opportunity. I'm just a teenager and to think of sacrificing my future child so that a bunch of ungrateful, evil, stupid people could have a better life is CRAZY! I would never be able to do that and that's what God did for us. Not only that but as Crist was on the cross He said "Forgive them father for they do not know what they are doing" so all of that to express how beautiful it is to be a slave of righteousness and how much we don't deserve it.
The songs I played today were Hearts On Fire, It Is Finished, Revelation Song, and Your Grace is Enough.
I pray for everyone reading this that you have become a slave to righteousness and that you have accepted the free gift of eternal life.
With Love,
Grace
Romans 6:23
Saturday, July 13, 2013
I can't imagine
So, I woke up this morning and felt worse... again. It has not been a fun week physically but spiritually, this has been a fantastic week!
My prayer this morning looks very similar to yesterdays except for one thing, I have become more thankful. The further I dive into God through His word, Prayer, and especially worship the more I am in awe of how much He has blessed me and I can't imagine what my life would be with out him. It's not even like I can take credit for that though, I can't be like "Look how good and thankful I am because I worship God more than you do!" NO! I can't do that! because if it weren't for the death of Christ on the cross I wouldn't even be able to worship God and if it weren't for the Holy Spirit inside of me I would have no desire to! which make everything just that much more amazing!
Ok, moving on. The beginning of romans 5 is about how we have been save by grace through faith and the second half is about how Adam's sin damned all man but Christ's death has redeemed us! It's fantastic to think about but yeah that was bible reading this morning.
The video for Elevate (A camp my youth group goes to) that one of my friends was making was finished today so I watched it of course. It was pretty much a condensed version of the who week we were there and it was so cool. The bit of worship he filmed were two different songs. one was "You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham which is like, our youth group's SONG. and the other was "You deserve" by Hillsong. So I decided to learn "You Deserve" Because the words ring so true to me. the bride says "I can't imagine my life without you, with out you 'Cause it's all for you yes it's all for you God" over and over again and it's just fantastic.
The worship songs I played today were How Great is Our God, Beautiful Things, and Jesus Paid it All.
With Love
Grace
Romans 5:8
Twitter: @graceshanksalot
Instagram: @graceshanksalotxvx
Facebook: Grace Burdett
Email: graceburdett@gmail.com
My prayer this morning looks very similar to yesterdays except for one thing, I have become more thankful. The further I dive into God through His word, Prayer, and especially worship the more I am in awe of how much He has blessed me and I can't imagine what my life would be with out him. It's not even like I can take credit for that though, I can't be like "Look how good and thankful I am because I worship God more than you do!" NO! I can't do that! because if it weren't for the death of Christ on the cross I wouldn't even be able to worship God and if it weren't for the Holy Spirit inside of me I would have no desire to! which make everything just that much more amazing!
Ok, moving on. The beginning of romans 5 is about how we have been save by grace through faith and the second half is about how Adam's sin damned all man but Christ's death has redeemed us! It's fantastic to think about but yeah that was bible reading this morning.
The video for Elevate (A camp my youth group goes to) that one of my friends was making was finished today so I watched it of course. It was pretty much a condensed version of the who week we were there and it was so cool. The bit of worship he filmed were two different songs. one was "You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham which is like, our youth group's SONG. and the other was "You deserve" by Hillsong. So I decided to learn "You Deserve" Because the words ring so true to me. the bride says "I can't imagine my life without you, with out you 'Cause it's all for you yes it's all for you God" over and over again and it's just fantastic.
The worship songs I played today were How Great is Our God, Beautiful Things, and Jesus Paid it All.
With Love
Grace
Romans 5:8
Twitter: @graceshanksalot
Instagram: @graceshanksalotxvx
Facebook: Grace Burdett
Email: graceburdett@gmail.com
Friday, July 12, 2013
Jesus I Come
I think it's becoming a pattern that my first paragraph is a disclaimer for the title of each post because I just wanted to clarify right now that I have know how to play "Jesus I Come" since I started leading worship so this post isn't titled that because it's the song I learned. Ok, moving on.
I woke up at about 4am and could not stop coughing for 2 hours straight this morning. needless to say, that was not a fun experience. well I fell back asleep by the grace of God and woke up around 8:30 but stayed in bed till 9:30 when my coughs forced me to get medicine so I did not have a great start to this morning.
When I started praying I informed God how sick I am and asked him to heal me if it was his will and that lead me to pray for one of the band member of Hadriel, Patrick, who started chemo Monday which lead me to pray about his wife and unborn child which lead me to pray about my friend who is pregnant and for her and her babies health. all of that to say, it's just really cool to see how God can change your mindset from "Woe is me" to "Please bless others" through prayer.
When I opened my bible and started reading through Romans 4 I thought it would never end! The whole chapter pretty much says in too many words "Abraham wasn't righteous because of his acts but because of his faith so we are the same" but I read every word anyway and it paid off! the last verse says "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" And I just think that's the coolest verse ever now. Like that's the gospel in a nut shell!
At some point in this who ordeal Jesus I Come started playing and I stopped doing whatever and listened to the lyrics not just the song. I think Jesus I come is exactly how all of us should respond to Christ. Christ has offered us life instead of death, calm instead of storm, health instead of sickness, and freedom instead of the bondage of sin! how can we react to that except for acceptance and worship!?
I cannot claim to comprehend all that has been done for us through Christ but the small glimpse I have been shown I unbelievably beautiful and incomparable to anything else in this world and that causes me to respond in worship so I decided to learn the "Revelation Song" by Philips, Craig, and Dean. Just the though that Angels are worshiping God with the same words is so amazing to me so that's why I chose to learn that song. The worship songs I played today were All in All, Hearts on Fire, It Is Finished, and Christ is Risen.
I have been able to see and feel a transformation in myself in the past 4 days that I have never experienced outside of a camp or retreat and it's amazing.
In Love,
Grace
Romans 4:25
I woke up at about 4am and could not stop coughing for 2 hours straight this morning. needless to say, that was not a fun experience. well I fell back asleep by the grace of God and woke up around 8:30 but stayed in bed till 9:30 when my coughs forced me to get medicine so I did not have a great start to this morning.
When I started praying I informed God how sick I am and asked him to heal me if it was his will and that lead me to pray for one of the band member of Hadriel, Patrick, who started chemo Monday which lead me to pray about his wife and unborn child which lead me to pray about my friend who is pregnant and for her and her babies health. all of that to say, it's just really cool to see how God can change your mindset from "Woe is me" to "Please bless others" through prayer.
When I opened my bible and started reading through Romans 4 I thought it would never end! The whole chapter pretty much says in too many words "Abraham wasn't righteous because of his acts but because of his faith so we are the same" but I read every word anyway and it paid off! the last verse says "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" And I just think that's the coolest verse ever now. Like that's the gospel in a nut shell!
At some point in this who ordeal Jesus I Come started playing and I stopped doing whatever and listened to the lyrics not just the song. I think Jesus I come is exactly how all of us should respond to Christ. Christ has offered us life instead of death, calm instead of storm, health instead of sickness, and freedom instead of the bondage of sin! how can we react to that except for acceptance and worship!?
I cannot claim to comprehend all that has been done for us through Christ but the small glimpse I have been shown I unbelievably beautiful and incomparable to anything else in this world and that causes me to respond in worship so I decided to learn the "Revelation Song" by Philips, Craig, and Dean. Just the though that Angels are worshiping God with the same words is so amazing to me so that's why I chose to learn that song. The worship songs I played today were All in All, Hearts on Fire, It Is Finished, and Christ is Risen.
I have been able to see and feel a transformation in myself in the past 4 days that I have never experienced outside of a camp or retreat and it's amazing.
In Love,
Grace
Romans 4:25
Thursday, July 11, 2013
It Is Finished
Hey guys! the title is kind of deceiving but you'll get it soon enough!
I woke up this morning so unbelievably sick. Sore throat, coughing nonstop, headache, and being so tired I felt like I couldn't move. But! I still prayed and thanked God for What I do have and I prayed for all of my friends and family too! It was hard to focus but I did it!
I had to finish school for today so I did that (I know its summer but I'm homeschooled) And then pulled out my guitar and tried to decide what song I wanted to learn so I went on my Spotify worship playlist and listened for a little while until "It Is Finished" by Matt Papa came on and I decided to learn that one.
Part of me just really likes that song but another loves every single word in that song. It gives me a sense of victory in Christ ("Christ Is Risen" does too but that's another story) Like I can conquer anything through Christ because Christ conquered freaking death! It also reminds me of how much God loves us! which leads me to what I read in my Bible today!
I read through Romans 3, as most of you could probably guess and I got to verse 23 which says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Now if you have grown up in the church you have heard that verse more than a few times and it always does what it's supposed to do. It makes me feel like a rotten, evil, loser who can't get anything right but, as often as you hear that verse you almost never hear the next one which says "And are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus"
Does that not sound wonderful!? We are justified FREELY by His grace! that means that there is nothing that we can do and the Christ did everything. One of my favorite lines in "It Is Finished" is when he says "Hell was silenced when you cried, It is finished" Christ silenced hell for us guys! how wonderful is that to think about?
After I read my Bible I played some worship songs (Still sounded pretty rough) and I played Heart of Worship, Holy is The Lord, Jesus I come, and Trading my Sorrow. after reading scripture and seeing something new for the first time responding to God in worship is so beautiful and just fills my heart with joy.
I hope I can encourage anyone reading this to get into your Bible! it's not easy, and sometimes it will be a complete drag and your not always going to have an "AHA!" moment like I did today but it is so worth it to be able to know the God that you're worshiping and to be able to worship Him better and more completely because you know more about his beautiful, perfect, character.
In love,
Grace
Matthew 7:7
Twitter: @graceshanksalot
Instagram: @graceshanksalotxvx
Facebook: Grace Burdett
Email: graceburdett@gmail.com
I woke up this morning so unbelievably sick. Sore throat, coughing nonstop, headache, and being so tired I felt like I couldn't move. But! I still prayed and thanked God for What I do have and I prayed for all of my friends and family too! It was hard to focus but I did it!
I had to finish school for today so I did that (I know its summer but I'm homeschooled) And then pulled out my guitar and tried to decide what song I wanted to learn so I went on my Spotify worship playlist and listened for a little while until "It Is Finished" by Matt Papa came on and I decided to learn that one.
Part of me just really likes that song but another loves every single word in that song. It gives me a sense of victory in Christ ("Christ Is Risen" does too but that's another story) Like I can conquer anything through Christ because Christ conquered freaking death! It also reminds me of how much God loves us! which leads me to what I read in my Bible today!
I read through Romans 3, as most of you could probably guess and I got to verse 23 which says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Now if you have grown up in the church you have heard that verse more than a few times and it always does what it's supposed to do. It makes me feel like a rotten, evil, loser who can't get anything right but, as often as you hear that verse you almost never hear the next one which says "And are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus"
Does that not sound wonderful!? We are justified FREELY by His grace! that means that there is nothing that we can do and the Christ did everything. One of my favorite lines in "It Is Finished" is when he says "Hell was silenced when you cried, It is finished" Christ silenced hell for us guys! how wonderful is that to think about?
After I read my Bible I played some worship songs (Still sounded pretty rough) and I played Heart of Worship, Holy is The Lord, Jesus I come, and Trading my Sorrow. after reading scripture and seeing something new for the first time responding to God in worship is so beautiful and just fills my heart with joy.
I hope I can encourage anyone reading this to get into your Bible! it's not easy, and sometimes it will be a complete drag and your not always going to have an "AHA!" moment like I did today but it is so worth it to be able to know the God that you're worshiping and to be able to worship Him better and more completely because you know more about his beautiful, perfect, character.
In love,
Grace
Matthew 7:7
Twitter: @graceshanksalot
Instagram: @graceshanksalotxvx
Facebook: Grace Burdett
Email: graceburdett@gmail.com
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