Hopelessly Devoted to You (Ode to My Future Husband)

Who is this man that has captured my heart
That has captured my soul
That has captured me whole

Who is this man that has incited my love
Who has produced this notion
Of my eternal devotion

His love overcomes me like a great tidal wave
His embrace soothes me like oil on my skin
His strength comforts me like soft spoken words

His eyes pierce through my soul like a sword
His touch sends shivers down my spine
His mind reads my heart like an open book

There is no length he wouldn't run
There is no height he wouldn't climb
There is no measure he wouldn't take

His passion is incomparable
His faith is unshakable
His wisdom is undeniable

He is the wind beneath my wings
He is the blood with in my viens
He is the only one who can see my transparent heart

This man I have never met
This man I have never seen
This man I have never spoken to...
But this man is waiting for me!

Seeing God through the Clouds!

We have all seen these hidden beauties that hang in the sky watching over us all with their grand magnificence, somehow eluding their well-deserved recognition. These wondrous entities I am referring to are clouds. However, clouds are much more then that; clouds remind us of our great and glorious God. Clouds, being one of the most unique and diverse creations of nature, can be an extremely effective means of revealing God’s diversity, sovereignty, and glory.

First and foremost, clouds, just like God, are nothing if not diverse. Year-round we witness nature transforming the basic cloud types into an unending show of shapes and colors. This in and of itself reflects God’s diversity, for the creator of these unique and original clouds, we know, must be capable of so much more. But not only are clouds diverse and unique, but also extremely vast, stretching across the entire sky.

Clouds are extraordinary examples of God’s sovereignty. They cover the skies around the world all at once, resembling God’s omnipresence. Also clouds help us predict coming weather changes, just as God prepares our hearts for upcoming storms by placing various signs throughout our lives. Being a continual reminder of God’s sovereignty, clouds give us an even greater sense of wonder at the glory of our God.

God’s glory surpasses all understanding, and though incomparable, clouds are still an excellent representation of God’s greatness. Some clouds are awe-inspiring entities, brilliantly embodying God’s glory. And others are massive, overwhelming entities that overcome us with a sense of God’s greatness. But it is the times when they leave you speechless that we know we are witnessing a true representation of God’s awesome glory.

Being one of the most unique and diverse creations of nature, clouds can be an extremely effective means of revealing God’s diversity, sovereignty, and glory. We can clearly see how similar clouds are to God and how greatly they represent many of His characteristics. And now having this new found understanding, I hope we can also have a new found appreciation for those hidden beauties that hang in the sky, waiting to be recognized for all that they are.

Love...why, why not?

Love,

Desparately needed

Painfully lacked

Why?

So abundant, yet so scarce

Something that flows so freelly

Yet, is absent with the most in need

Why?

Selfishness, ignorance, insensitivity

Excuses, rationalisations, blind-eyes turned

No one cares, no one notices, no one acknowledges...

It's still there

Why?

Why not?

Why not reach out?

Why not care?

Why not be self-sacrificing?

Why not love?

To be loved

To be accepted

To be comforted

Why not???

Why not now?

True beauty...

"Your whole life you are developing your inner beauty. And with as much effort that you put into your inner beauty, as it unravels, it will amplify your outer beauty that much more!"

What is true beauty? Is it how pretty your face is, how nice of hair you have, how lovely your eyes are? Is beauty really dependent solely on a person’s outward appearance, or is it more than that? Is it possible that a person’s true beauty is actually dependant on more of what’s inside of them than on what’s outside? I think so.

I believe that true beauty springs more so from a person’s inner beauty than their outer. When a person spends more of their time concentrating on developing their inner characteristics instead of their outer, then that generates a beauty far greater and far more durable then any superficial, limited, outer characteristics could ever generate. When a person is beautiful on the inside, it radiates through out their countenance and can even enhance their outward appearance to others. But we can never know a person’s true inner beauty, or lack there of, unless we are willing to look past their outward appearance and see what’s really inside of them.

Also on another note, throughout the entire Bible, God praises our inner beauty above all else. Kindness, gentleness, humbleness, generosity, courageousness, confidence, these are the types of characteristics that God tells us that we should work towards and strive for. Achieving these kinds of personal accomplishments is what allows us to live truly happy and satisfying lives. This is what helps us to become more like God everyday. When we die and go to heaven, we will never hear anyone praising us because of how beautiful we looked or because of how our outward beauty caused people to just adore us. But what we will hear is how our inner beauty affected others; how our kindness and generosity inspired others and caused them to start a chain reaction of good deeds themselves. When we concentrate our focus on our inner beauty instead of our outer, we open the door to allowing God to work through those characteristics to change lives and to further the kingdom of heaven. And that is a goal worth living for!

The Longings of My Heart

I LONG for YOU
I LONG for MORE
I LONG for the LOVE that I ADORE

I NEED you HERE
I NEED you NOW
I NEED you to SHOW me exactly HOW

I CRAVE your LOV
I CRAVE your GRACE
I CRAVE your PRESENCE here in this PLACE

YOU are the AIR that I BREATHE
YOU are the HOPE that I NEED
YOU are EVERYTHING to ME

And I CANNOT LIVE without your LOVE
And I CANNOT STAND without your STRENGTH
And I CANNOT HOPE without your FAITH

THESE are the LONGINGS of my HEART
THESE are the LONGINGS of my LIFE
THESE are the LONGINGS that I LONG

Because YOU paid the ULTIMATE PRICE!!!

What is TRUE beauty?

The age-old question of women from everytime and every place,
Women everywhere want to feel beautiful!
But what comprises true beauty???

Some say rich, shiny, gorgeous hair
Others say a pretty face
You could even say an attractive physique
But none of those are TRUE beauty...

These things I have listed they appeal to man's flesh
But TRUE beauty is sooo much more!

TRUE beauty comes from within...
It comes from a kind heart
From a humble soul
From selfless love
From a gracious spirit

TRULY beautiful women are not petty
Are not immature
They do not gossip
They are not jealous of their sisters in Christ

TRULY beautiful women read the Bible daily
They seek after God's heart
They long to know and love Him more
They despise the fleshly pleasures of this world
They stand for truth and righteousness
And they have enough self-respect to guard their heart from those who should not be trusted wth such a precious gem.

Do not be deceived by pretty faces and flattering words
Because it is what is beneath the skin, on the inside of their hearts
That TRULY reflects a woman's TRUE beauty!

My Short Sermon for the 2010 FIne Arts Festival - "The Freeing Power of the Cross"

Freedom…we ALL need freedom in our lives. Freedom from bad habits, freedom from deceived thinking, freedom from addictions, freedom from pain. There are so many things in this world that take captive our minds, our spirits, even our souls, and our hearts are crying out for freedom from their bondage. Well that is exactly what Jesus dying on the cross did. When Jesus gave of himself and as it says in Isaiah 53:4, “borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” He unleashed the power of God into the world, a power so great that it can, quite literally, change everything. And this is what I am going to be talking about today; how the power of what Jesus did at Calvary opened the door to our freedom.

The first power that enables us to have freedom is the power of God’s forgiveness. The power of God’s forgiveness is so radical that it can take any number or any degree of sin and completely wipe it out of God’s record, so we can be“…perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” as it says in 2 Timothy 3:17. And I want you to listen to that, when it says perfect it really means perfect. So when God looks at us He doesn’t see the filth of our flesh but the righteousness and perfection of Jesus’ blood. And do you know what that does? That changes everything, that completely frees us from the guilt and shame of our all past mistakes and even from the worry of any future mistakes. And when we don’t have to worry about messing up the time, because we will, that allows us to live in such confidence because we know what our savior did for us up on that cross. And I don’t know about you but for me that is a pretty liberating feeling.

And so because of God’s forgiveness we are able to enjoy the freedom that comes from this next power, which is the power of God’s joy. Like it says in Nehemiah 8:10, “…the joy of the Lord is our strength.” This could not be more true, because when we are totally filled with the joy of the Lord, we can not help but be overcome with the power that frees us from having to live a life of negativity and pessimism. We experience the freedom of a power that turns our mourning into dancing, a power that turns our depression into rejoicing, a power that gives us the strength, that when the world is telling us that we should be down because the economy is bad, we should be depressed because our finances are bad, we should be discouraged because our families are falling apart, we should be frustrated because we can never seem to stop making mistakes, it gives us the strength to turn to that world and say “Well you can go ahead and be down and be depressed and be discouraged and be frustrated, but as for me I am going to dance and I am going to sing and I am going praise the Lord because He saved me from the fiery pits of hell and He has given me a new life free having feeling sorry for myself. And THAT changes everything.

But now its time for the last power, and what I definitely consider to be the greatest power, which is the power of God’s love. God’s love, God’s perfect, pure, infinite love is what truly changed everything. Because as we all know “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But what we don’t always think about is what it says in 1 John 4:18 that, “…perfect love casteth out all fear.” God’s love casts out all fear??? Do you realize…that changes EVERYTHING!!! For without fear we have the freedom to live the way God created us to live, without fear with the freedom to be exactly who God created us to be, without fear we have the freedom to do all the extraordinary things that God has created us to do, and without fear we have freedom from the bondage of Satan’s lies that have bound down the power and potential and destiny that God has placed inside of us that has been waiting for something to come along and change everything. When we acknowledge what Christ did on that cross 2000 yrs ago and realize the power that it gives us for our own lives today, we become able to receive the power of the forgiveness, the joy, and the love of God…that changes EVERYTHING!

His Great Forgiveness!

Oh God, I have been a horrid, wretched sinner! I have disobeyed you, I have neglected you, I have sinned against you countless times. And when I look to you in total shamee, expecting to be greeted with the bitter feel of disappointment and overwhelming hurt, instead, you look at me and smile and say "Don't feel bad, my child! It's ok, I have already forgiven you!" And I can't help but be brought to my knees in astonishment at such an extraordinary capacity for forgiveness. I feel tears begin to roll down my cheeks in humble reverence to my Lord whose greatness passes ALL my understanding!

True Love Waits (for the ladies!)

~BarlowGirl - Average Girl~
So what I'm not your average girl
I don't meet the standards of this world
Chasing after boys is not my thing
See I'm waiting for a wedding ring

No more dating
I'm just waiting
Like sleeping beauty
My prince will come for me
No more dating
I'm just waiting
'Cause God is writing my love story

Boys are bad that's certainly not true
'Cause God's preparing one for you
If you get tired waiting till he comes
Gods arms are the perfect place to run

Sleep that's the only thing
For me 'cause when I sleep God's
Preparing one for me

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This is seriously like the theme song of my life! ;)

Throughout my life, I have struggled in this area soooo much. I have always been so needy and desperate to find "The One," "My Prince Charming," or even just someone who will like me and make me feel special (how pathetic is that!?!) I just wanted to feel special, so i was willing to accept any guy (just about) who would just pay attention to me or act like he was interested in me even the slightest bit. But i never actually told the guys that i liked them, although i never really had to because i was pretty much the worst EVER at hiding my crushes. And all of them just ended up being emotion roller coasters because none of the guys (whether they pretended to or not) actually liked me, so i was pretty much in a hopeless situation no matter what. But for years and years, crushes after crushes, after crushes, after crushes!!!! I would put myself through the mental and emotional stress of having crushes on guys that couldn't care less about me just because i wanted even the illusion that someone cared for me like that.

But i would say probably around my junior year of high school, i started a slow..very slow realization of my worth and my worth to God. Over the years God has been teaching me many lessons (whether i actually learned them immediately or not) about my worth and how precious i am. And I just want to share some of these truths with all of you girls out there who deal with these kind of self-esteem issues too, because i know you all do to some degree, whether you admit it or not!

1st Truth - You are more precious than gold! - God says you are all perfectly and wonderfully made! That means no matter how much you weigh, no matter how tall or short you are, no matter how nice of hair you have, how clear of a complexion you have, no matter what clothes you wear, no matter how well you do you make-up, no matter how other people (or even you) think of how you look...you are absolutely GORGEOUS in God's eyes!!!! And you need to hear that and receive it..truly receive it! Let it sink in. Go to a mirror if you have to, close your eyes pray for a few seconds and ask God to let him see yourself as He sees you and open your eyes and see what a radiant, beautiful creature of God you are.

2nd Truth - God's opinion is the ONLY one that matters!!! - I just got through telling you what God thinks of you, and now that you've received that and accepted it. You need to take all the things people say and think about you. That means girls you walk by in the hall that snicker and gossip when you walk by because your wearing last years sandals, the girls that may talk about non-flat your stomach is in the locker room and how they need to introduce you to mr. anorexia diet, or the guys that treat you like dirt because your not cool, pretty, or nearly slutty enough for them to give a second thought (or a first one for that matter), the boyfriend that doesn't quite treat you right but you over look that because hey at least he's willing to date you right??, or that parent that calls you ugly because they have a drinking or drug problem or maybe they are just have their own set of issues their projecting on you. All those people, all those thoughts, all those LIES, come from the pit of hell and their Satan's attempt to try and attack you, to bring you down, and steal away the beauty and the joy that God created you to radiate as a reflection of him. Let God's opinion of you overcome your entire perspective, kicks all those thoughts to the curb!!!

3rd Truth - YOUR man, THE man, the RIGHT man is out there waiting for you, don't waste your time with a bunch of losers - God is preparing for you right now, the perfect man for you, your prince charming, someone to sweep you off your feet, your mr. wright, "the one", however you want to look at it. God had him picked out for you at the beginning of time and he is the only one God ever intended you to be with emotional and especially physically in the context of a romantic relationship. And so all these guys that are "good guys", that "aren't that bad", that are so perfect except for these several imperfections, they are all nothing. Do you know what they are??? They are Satan's attempt to get you to settle for less than God's best. He is trying to steal away all those pieces of your heart that God had planned to be the glorious gift you would one day give to your future husband, and he wants to tear it to pieces. He wants to bring guy after guy into your life to take your heart and destroy it, kick it, punch it, maybe give it the chair a couple times. He wants to take that perfect, innocent, pure, clean heart and turn it into a beat up, bruised, scared, dirty, cold, hard, corrupted old piece of trash that no one would ever want. But God doesn't want that to happen to any of you! But even if it has, it doesn't matter, because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses our hearts and makes us new again.

But if there was anything you need to remember from this is that your divinely appointed future husband is out there, and he is waiting for you with an incomparable anticipation; God created you for perfection, don't sell yourselves short, you are worth sooo much more than that. True love waits, so wait for him..he's waiting for you! =)