To Love

I am very naive when it comes to life, but I truly believe that the purpose of life is to love. We should love God and love people.

Through this, God is continually being revealed. In 1 John 4:8 it says, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Therefore, when we love, God is revealing Himself to others through us.

You don't have to have a special job for this. You don't even need special qualifications to love; you just need to live in the presence of God.

I was just reading in 1 Corinthians and in chapter 1 verse 25, Paul writes, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

Many times we forget that it's not about us, our strengths, our life, etc.

I mean why do we try to stop ourselves from fully depending on God's strength and wisdom? Aren't we just missing out on the infinite blessings that God wants to lavish on us?

While I was in Africa, I had the AMAZING opportunity to fly over Victoria Falls in this crazy contraption thing. *Scroll down for picture* The pilot was talking about how the waters overflowing in Victoria Falls symbolized God's love overflowing in us. 

The magnitude of love that God pours into us is beyond anything we could ever imagine.

It is impossible to love until we know God's love for us.

When we find ourselves in God and live in Him, His love will overflow in and through us, touching the lives all around us. 

That is what I believe the purpose of life is.

Here are some amazing pictures revealing God's glory!

Loaves and Fish

There is a song called "Not in a Hurry" by United Pursuit. One particular line absolutely captivates me. It says, "All I ever have is loaves and fish."

I've always been astounded by Jesus' miracles, but I've never thought of applying them to my life.

In the Bible story, the little boy has five small loaves of bread and two small fish. He could've just been lost in the crowd. I mean the story's title is "Jesus feeds the five thousand" right? So what pushed this little boy to stand up and offer his little amount of food?

Children have a way of really putting things into perspective. I doubt that he thought his food would be multiplied and would feed over five thousand people. He probably thought that he could feed a few people.

I mean it isn't radical thinking to share what you have with someone else who is in need. 

God wanted to use this little boy. He wanted to use a random, ordinary kid who had little to offer. He knew that this kid would say yes.

The truth is that we each only have a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. We can help a couple people on our own. We can share our gifts, our talents, our money, etc, yet by ourselves we still only help a few.

But when we give our loaves and fish to God, he multiplies it. What if by encouraging one person, God shows them someone that they can then encourage?

When there is a generation of followers of Jesus who give God everything they have, people are changed.

You notice, the little boy did not become the center of attention after he gave the disciples his food; he simply was a vessel of God's love. 

When we give God our loaves and fish, God's love is poured out.

It is as if our lives are a painting of God's remarkable love and creation. When we give Him the paintbrush, our lives are full of God's glory. We are simply the painting that displays the incredible love that God has for His people.

It starts with giving God our five loaves and two fish. It starts with standing up and being different. It starts with loving the one in front of you.

Spiritual Ups and Downs

This a guest post from my good friend, John!

Do We Have Selective Hearing With God?

Do we have selective hearing with God? 

That's a serious question, in fact, quite a dangerous question if we allow ourselves to explore the thoughts that come with it. 

We go to church on Sundays and sometimes Wednesdays. We praise God. We read books that expand our knowledge of Him. 

But do we really hear God?

I feel like growing up in the church and being surrounded by Bible verses has almost desensitized me from the reality of them. 

I read over 1 Corinthians 13 like "yeah, love is patient, love is kind..." but I don't grasp the reality of it, the way that God literally breathed every single one of these words. 

Lately, I feel like everyone's been throwing around the "Pick up your cross and follow me" verse, but do we know what that actually means? I don't. 

I've been going through Acts lately and it troubles me to see the difference between the church then and the church now. 

I'm guilty of slamming the "American church" but I'm completely in the wrong when I do that. 

The truth is that even the churches that made up the Early Church got distracted. 

They forgot their mission and ignored God. 

Who are we to judge, when our mission is to love?  

Do we realize that we have selective hearing with God? 

We hear God say "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" but we don't think about that being in our own backyards. When we hear that, we're like "Okay, God! Take me where you want me!" 

But sometimes He wants us to bake cookies for our neighbors or hang out with awesome old people at nursing homes. 

Yet, we find ourselves overtaken with distractions. 

I'm so guilty of trying to get a group together to go to the nursing home or to make hospital visits where we hand out cute little balloons to children and it just not happening. When we can't find a time that works for everyone, I'm secretly relieved because it's easier to be distracted and to go through my days not engaging my soul in Kingdom work. 

But you know what's funny? 

God never calls us to the easy.

He calls us to engage our heart, soul, and mind into everything we do. 

When we look into these things, we always see Jesus. 

And there is nothing greater than seeing Jesus. Ever.

So I'm done not actively caring. 

I'm done being distracted. 

I'm done being obsessed with myself and what is easy.

I'm ready to be propelled into eternal purpose and destiny because Jesus is alive and well and speaking.

What Do We Really Need In Our Lives?

So I've been trying to write a new post for about a week now...but somehow this thought struck me today and changed the whole focus of the post so here we go.

I was pondering the question "Does God satisfy us?" earlier. But really, that is not even the question. The question should be "If we had everything taken from us, our families, our friends, our work, our ministries, would we say 'God is all we need' and mean it? Would we be okay with God and only God if it came down to it?

I am completely in love with my Savior but alas, I still find myself filled with distractions. It's not that they're bad distractions but they take away from me finding who I am only in Jesus.

Friends are so amazing and talking to them and having them there to bask in Jesus' greatness with me is such a blessing but when I post a picture on instagram and then am constantly checking to see who's liked it is a tad obsessive.. What's it matter if so and so liked the picture or liked the status?

A lot of girls struggle with what people think of them. I am definitely one of those girls. My goal in life should not be that everyone likes me.

If Jesus is my main example for how I should live then what am I doing? Why am I so focused on what others think and say about me?

I actually finished up with my little second graders early last night and had the privilege to join the middle school girl's class. Some of the points talked about were things that you feel that you can't live without. Me being the little Jesus freak girl that I am says Jesus. There is absolutely no way I could live without Jesus.

And this is true. But something interesting that I read yesterday was talking about spiritual gluttony. Which really caught my attention. Basically, when I go to church, I get filled with Jesus; when I'm in my car, I have these crazy awesome worship jam sessions and I get filled with Jesus; I study my Bible or read amazing Christian books that show God's crazy wonders and I pray and I get filled with Jesus...but what happens when you're doing all of that and then not using that fire that Jesus has ignited your heart with to show who He is? We are the hands and feet of Jesus! But we sure don't act like it a lot of the time.

I love sleep, food, and social media. Oh and missionary blogs. But when it's 11 at night and I've been busy all day and I come into my room and crawl into bed and all I want to do is sleep, shouldn't I still take a couple minutes to reflect on the day and thank Jesus for everything He did for me? Or if I'm emotionally exhausted and I feel like just going to sleep and forgetting my troubles momentarily, shouldn't I come to Jesus, the healer and protector of my very soul?!

The things we love, the things that frustrate us, the things that we talk about most, the things that capture our eye most quickly all show us what is most important to us. God doesn't want any competition. He's not supposed to be just above the rest of everything in our lives, He's supposed to be in the very center of everything in our lives to the point of everything we do, everything we think, everything we say is flowing out from Him.

When that happens, we will be out of our comfort zone, we will be tired, we will be hungry, we will feel empty at times but He fills us back up every single time!

I feel like this post was all over the place but you know....God is still good.

Our Savior's Love

Just imagine sitting on a playground full of kids...when one little girl whom you've been playing with looks up at you with huge, gorgeous brown eyes and says the words "Can you just be my mommy?"  I didn't know what on earth to say to her so I simply hugged her a little tighter and wished the moment would never end.

This little girl didn't know me. She knew my name and she knew what I looked like but she didn't know my past or where I came from. I didn't know her either yet in that moment, God saw it fit to put us together, for me to show her God's love. And to think, God's love is so much greater than the love I was showing that girl.

I wasn't able to give her a lasting human relationship where I would be with her as she walks through the rest of her childhood, finds herself, grows up into an adult, and lives the rest of her life. But you know what I could tell her? I could tell her about my loving Savior and my loving Father. I could tell her that he will never leave her and that in every single moment that there's no one else there for her, God will always be there for her.

Don't you think that sometimes we need to be reminded of this? We get so caught up in our lives and in our schedules and we lose sight of God. We forget that He has it all in the palm of His hand and he knows what he is doing. I mean he's been doing it since the beginning of time right?

"Your plans are still to prosper, You have not forgotten us
You’re with us in the fire and the flood
Faithful forever, Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us"

God's there whispering, "Come to me....Come to me..." Will you listen?

Where My Trust Is Without Borders

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"

For those of you who haven't listened to the new Hillsong album, it is AMAZING! This song is probably one of the best on it but they're all fantastic. This one is called "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail). Check it out if you haven't yet!

Think about these lyrics though. "where my trust is without borders." Without borders! An endless amount of trust.

In Matthew 14, it talks about when Peter walked on water.

Verse 29. "Come." He (Jesus) said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. Verse 30. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Verse 31. Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Let's take this story back to the lyrics. "Let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me."

Y'all, Jesus is saying "Come." Take a step out on faith. When God brings you out of your comfort zone, I guarantee you that your faith will be made stronger! The waves are rough, everything around you tells you to give up. But you have to keep your eyes on Jesus.

Philippians 4:14 says, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

We have something great waiting on us! We can't give up! We have a Savior who loves us and cares for us and the least we can do is follow Him. It'll give us so much more satisfaction than anything else.

We can't be scared to do the unknown. To go against what everyone else says is okay and good and right. We are set apart! We are different! We have to act different, to show people who our Savior is because if we don't then no one will.

I greatly encourage you to just listen to this song, close your eyes, bask in the greatness of God, and then apply these lyrics to your life and truly seek Christ in every single situation of every single day!