Jeremy Camp - There Will Be A Day - Video Devotional

Tenth Avenue North - You Are More (Official Music Video)

God's beauty

Psalm 19:1-4a
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech of language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

Have you ever watched someone paint? From my experience, i have noticed that whatever people paint reflects themselves and their personality. A free-spirited, fun person usually uses a lot of colors with minimal straight lines and organization. Those people usually like things such as splatter paint. More organized and simple people tend to want theirs to look perfect...perfect lines, perfect in all the extremely small details, etc. They usually like have a picture to look at when creating something 3D (even if it's supposed to be original). I am not an art expert so all of these details may not be completely true. They are just things i have noticed from watching certain people. and i have noticed that there are some exceptions, but that's not the point i'm trying to make here. You can tell a lot about a person by their artwork.

What does God's artwork say about Him? Have you recently noticed how flowers sparkle after it rains, how vibrant and beautiful rainbows are, and how gorgeous plants are? Not only are plants beautiful, but they are extremely helpful to us as they take in carbon dioxide (which is harmful for humans) and gives us oxygen (a necesity to live). Does it take your breath away when you watch the perfectly radiant sunset? It should. These are things we pass by everyday in our busyness. We see them constantly over and over again and we too easily become oblivious to their wonder and beauty. How hard do you think da Vinci worked on the Mona Lisa? How do you think he would feel if we all of a sudden decided it has been marveled at long enough (if he were still alive)?

I encourage you to go outside right now and just sit or go for a walk. Admire God's magnificent artwork. Listen to the birds sing; watch the clouds dance by and the trees sway to the rhythm. The other day, i noticed the trees sway to the exact same beat as the worship song i was listening to and i knew God was telling me something! Let's worship our Creator along with His other creations!!!

"Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness" psalm 96:9a

listen to the song "Something Glorious" by Revive

I need Someone

so the other night was a completely amazing God-night (the same night that i wrote my last blog) and God put a tune and words in my head while i was taking my shower so i started writing a song and this is the finished result:

verse 1:

here i am
broken down
i'm so tired of sinning
it's breaking me
but it's not too late
i can change
but not in my weakness
no, i need some help


chorus:

i need Someone that knows my heart
that won't ever from me depart
i need You
i've sinned so much my heart was dark
even then will Someone bigger than me bend
down and grab my hand
hold me and never end
what i need is You


verse 2:

here i go
in the wrong direction
i look to friends
for satisfaction
but that's not enough
to fill my hole
to satisfy my
need for You


then the chorus again


bridge:

i can see us hand in hand
You won't ever make me stand alone
apart from You, i am nothing
i don't wanna live without my King
i am amazed
so in awe
so in love
with You!


chorus 2:

i have Someone that knows my heart
God won't ever from me depart
i love You
even though i sin, You cleanse my heart
You're much bigger than me and yet You bend
down and grab my hand
You hold me and won't ever end
what i need is here
i need You

lead me

i've been meaning to get on here and share about what God did in my life at student life camp and i hope i will soon, but for now, there's somthing else i wanna say.

before you read this, i encourage you to go to youtube and listen to the song "lead me" by sanctus real. but just in case, here is the chorus:

lead me with strong hands
stand up when i can't
don't leave me hungry for love
chasing dreams but what about us?
show me you're willing to fight
that i'm still the love of your life
i know we call this our home
but i still feel alone.

basically, the guy was not being the husband and daddy he should be. i'm not a mom or wife yet, but i am a friend, a daughter, a sister, a grandaughter, etc. and i am right there where the guy who wrote this song is. it may not be really visible or it may be, but i realize that a lot of times, i won't be the person i should to all of the people around me because of my selfish desires. i mean really..how many of us struggle with giving our time, our space, our love when people start getting on our nerves and more to everyone around us just because we are tired or wornout even from doing the stuff that we wanted to do. let's pretend we love going to the pool so much that we do it whenever we have time to. we go and get wornout from something we love and come back and treat everyone like they don't mean anything to us and use the excuse that we are tired.
the thing that gets me is laziness. i LOVE to just sit and watch tv. there are even sometimes that i get tired of tv or of relaxing and want to do something productive, but i just am too lazy to do anything about it. then i get in a bad mood and it effects other people. my laziness even effects people that don't know it. one of my desires is to use my time to help and encourage others. for example, i teach the 6th grade small group during the school year (well, they will be 7th grade this year). my desire is that if i need to prepare anything to teach them this year, i'll do it the second i have free time.
let's look at it from another perspective: "don't leave me hungry for love" i've recently experienced this. i don't know what brought it on, but i was just craving love from other people. i think we all go through that at some point. well, first of all, God is enough for any and all of us, but we also need to remember that He put the people He put in our lives for a reason. read Philippians 1:1-11. it talks about people being united together through Christ to do His Will. i know that i need to always remember that other people are craving for love too. i know how that feels and i can say that throughout my life, i have seen where God let me go through feeling left out and stuff (just like everyone goes through at some point in their lives) to really open my eyes and see that everyone i look at wants love. everyone wants people in their lives that they know will ALWAYS be there for them. i don't know about you, but i definitely want to be that person that people know will always be there for them.
kinda recently, i've discovered that we can get SO much done in just 20-30 minutes. i mean if you sit down and study the Bible for just 10 minutes a day, it makes a BIG difference. i've seen it first hand in my own life. God can and will use any amount of time He gives us for His Will IF WE LET HIM. that's something i know i need to work on and i hope this encourages others to work on it too because i know i'm not the only one!

look in Proverbs for verses about laziness. 10:4, 12:24,19:15, *20:13*, and there are more too. if you want more, i can find more for you.

colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

and remember, we can't do this alone: Proverbs 28:26 "He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe."

trusting everything to God

God is so wonderful! He has worked so much in my life the past couple of weeks and i guess i just wanna share what He has done. i hope it helps someone.
the first day at staff camp i was just feeling kinda left out but don't get me wrong...it was my own fault because i didn't really try that hard. anyway, God told me that i don't have to try to fit in and that i don't need anyone or anything in my life. no matter how much i love my friends (and i do have some incredible friends), God is all i need. the first night of worship, rush of fools played and i don't even know how many songs were about God being all i need, but there were a lot! music is my favorite way to worship and God used that to show me how stupid it is to rely ONLY on people to feel loved when i have a God that is with me ALL the time without fail! when we got to celebration the next morning, the first song they played i think was 'Your Grace is enough' and there were many more throughout the week!
so then we get to mullens and i get a chance to continue trying to live out what i learned at staff camp about not needing people around me all the time. although i did have some amazing worship times, i still felt like me and God were not that close. though i think i was getting close enough that satan got afraid. first of all, some things that frustrate me are 1) when i can't find something that i really want right then 2) someone elses old chewed gum on anything of mine and 3) BUGS! well, i was getting up in the morning to do my devotion and i can't find my sweatshirt. i finally found it in the locker room, but i think i was getting kinda frustrated. then i get my slc notebook to bring it to my devotion and it was set on gum. i sit down to do my devotion and a HUGE fly gets on my sleeve. i shoo it away and it comes back right away. no matter how many times i shoo at it, it doesn't leave me. at this point i wanted to cry i was so frustrated. so i went to my mom (who was also doing her devotion) and she shooed it away for good then i went back to do my devotion. i don't know if that really was satan, but i honestly think it was. devotions have almost always been a struggle for me and still are. but i decided that it wasn't going to get in the way of my devotion that morning so i sat down and had a pretty good devotion.
throughout the week, God laid on my heart the fact that i get jealous too easily. i was talking with a friend about her and God spoke to me through her. she said that sometimes there are things in between us and God that we need to get rid of. God hit me really hard right then and immediately the 2 words that came to mind were selfishness and jealousy. i realized that the reason i hadn't felt that close to God that week was because my selfishness and jealousy were in the way. i was so happy that i couldn't stop smiling and i actually started crying. i very very rarely ever cry when i'm happy but i guess i just saw God in that so much and i loved it.
also, something someone said at mullens stuck out to me. they said that instead of saying "show me, God, and i'll do it", we should be saying "i'll do it, God, now show me what it is that You want me to do". that's like Isaiah 6:8-9 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' He said, 'Go and tell this people: ...'" God wanted someone to do something for Him. Isaiah volunteered before he even knew what God wanted him to do. Isaiah says "Here am I. Send me!" he doesn't say "tell me what it is and i'll see if it fits in my schedule." It's hard for me sometimes to trust my future wholly to God and then just follow. i like to be in control. and i know that probably everyone else feels the same way sometimes. It's just like i need to trust God to be everything i need. He's the only One that will NEVER let me down or make me feel unloved! sometimes i may feel like He let me down, but that is when i focus on what i THINK is best instead of what God KNOWS is best.

chasing the Light

i had the most amazing night on Tuesday. God taught me so much and just drew me closer to Him that night. i came home from small group and wrote something like this:

Chasing the Light...what does that really look like in a person's life? To me, it means giving up your whole life to chase after my Savior, the only true Light shining in me. Tonight, i went to probably my favorite small group meeting i've ever had. First of all, God has blessed me beyond words with this group. i realized something tonight that may be life-changing. Recently, i think i've been quiet at small group, but tonight i felt like i was talking a lot and while i was participating in answering most, if not all, questions, it struck me: i know this stuff back and front. If you ask me something that we've learned in church our whole lives, i can most likely answer you on the spot. Maybe i could even show you a Bible verse that relates. But do i really live it out? Does it show in my life? I am a true Christ-follower..., so hopefully the parts i actually life out show. In fact, i have reason to believe they do because of a few instances i've experienced this year at Fort Mill High School. But why are tehre only a few? Why do i act like a selfish brat at home just because i'm tired or had a bad day or am just mad or upset with someone? I really want to change that, but to be honest, i remember an exact moment in church one Sunday morning several years ago that i though almost the exact same thing. That show me even more that i need to step it up. i need people (including my family) to see the evidence of me chasing the Light. if i didn't change a lot several years ago, what makes me think i can actually carry through and change now? i have to admit, i am doubtful because i was planning on doing it with my own strength. i think i still have kinda that mindset, but i know if i do, i will fail miserably.
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength" - Philippians 4:13.
Do you remember when you were a child who was afraid to be in the deep end of the pool unless you were on your daddy's back? I am a weak child who needs her Heavenly Father to carry her through the deep end of the pool. It's harder to carry a child who is kicking an screaming the whole way though. So it all comes down to trust. Trusting doesn't always come easily to me, but it is way harder to try to swim in the deep end by myself and drown. God wants us to trust in Him. My favorite verses right now are Romans 8:37-39: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." i highly encourage y'all to read that passage starting in verse 28.