I'm not who I was

Every semester I like to take the time to reflect on who I useto be, who I want to be, and where I am at life.
--I also look back over ppast journal entries to remind myself where I was at that point in life--
While the change isn't dramatic, I notice. My actions are similiar, my outward life is simliar, but the motives inside my heart are changed. It's amazing how much our thoughts can differ from what other's see and not even purposely. I was reminded this week that:
Proverbs 21:2 ESV --Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

How's your heart? Are your motives pure?

What's my motive? That his might power be known.
Psalm 106:8 ESV --Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power

In youth group we have been talking about Sin, God's wrath, grace, and walking out faith.
It's amazing how one verse can grab you. There's a passage in the bible that says (paraphrasing) anytime you know something is wrong but do it anyway... that's sin.

Reality Check: Is what you're doing making God's power known, or are you doing whatever you want because it 'looks, feels, seems' good?

It's so easy to have wrong motives, how wicked can our thoughts quickly become. But when we bounce all our thoughts against the standard of "does this glorify God?" 1. We say less. 2. We speak life.

Waiting/Transitions

In between connecting all the great moments of life are these amazing periods of transition (or as I like to call them 'waiting time'). I'm an antsy person, so on a road journey I'm the type of person who just wants to GET THERE! Forget the little stops along the way, keep rolling! That's probably why I don't like to travel with my people. I like to plan out my route, conquer each obsticle, and arrive as quickly as possible. The problem is I look at life the same way. I'm always planning (because life never stops or slows down) always remaping around obsticles, but because life is always moving it sometimes feels like never really going anywhere. It's that time of anticipating the awesome things God's going to do that I always get antsy in. What is the God of all creation planning? What are the next 5 years, 10 years going to look like? Even though I have no control over some areas, I plan them anyway, replan, and often replan about 50 billion more times. Oh tomorrow, you whom never come. Oh tomorrow, you whom I am always waiting for.
Today I started to wonder, what Have I been missing today while focusing on tomorrow? I decided probably a lot.
So here's to TODAY... because I'm starting to realize even transitions have beautiful moments.

Thank you Katie

Love Came Down

A friend posted this link on Facebook, and since I am up with a sprained ankle, I figured I would listen.
God always knows what we need....


Wrestling with your faith is HARD. I want to believe that despite my constant failures, my inconsistent love, and my fear of what would happen if I really knew God- He still loves me.

It's hard to feel worthy of a God who knows all. But I keep reminding myself, it's the beauty of His grace. He doesn't give us what we deserve, eternal punishment. He offers us an 'out'-which only requires to do the one thing hardest for the human race- to give up control of our own lives to Him and trust.

Faith- trusting that God is who He says He is and He will do what He has promised to do.

Photo:Courtesy of Google Images