Provider

-god of materialism-

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:21

Where is your treasure?

Try to answer that question for yourself before you read this.

We will come back to that subject, we are about to talk about a god of materialism, a god of the American dream. Money. Money seems to be the star of the American dream, am I right? of the 38 parables Jesus tells, 16 of them deal with this god of materialism. I mean, that is a lot of focus, that tells me that often Gods main competition for my heart could be materialism.

Materialism- a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.

That is the definition, considering material possessions and physical comfort as MORE important than spiritual values. Wow, that hits hard. It is so easy to get caught up in all the "things" of this world. We have talked before about how enticing the world is, people are attracted to the newest thing, even if what they have is perfectly functional. People want the best that there is, the newest thing out there. We want to possess all that we can, all of those voices, telling you, "you need more, more, more. She has more than you, the new iPhone is out, buy it, what you have is not good enough." That is a god of materialism, and I ask you this as well as ask myself this, how often do we worship the god of materialism rather than the Lord God?

"The key to keeping materialism in its right place is to remember that everything belongs to God."

Twice in the past week has this been brought up without me even starting the conversation, and don't you love when God starts repeating himself to get your attention? I LOVE when this happens, I don't think it is just coincidence, purely God. Can't you just imagine God saying "Oh, she did not pick that up the first time..... lets try that again Marge." Now that he has showed me this twice, I think it is pretty important to share with all of you!

We worship God as the Provider. And when we start to see every possession as Gods, it helps us develop an attitude of gratitude that leads to a heart of worship, directed at him. It may sound silly, but if you imagine putting on Gods clothes in the morning rather than yours, I guarantee you will care a whole lot less about what everyone will think about them, and how expensive they are. You will just want to wear them, and represent Christ! Because he has provided for you, all you will want to do is worship him.

Gratitude leads to a heart of worship, and the interesting part is that when your heart is focused on worship, there is no room for the god of materialism. When we worship the god of materialism, a person's worth is determined not by the symbol of the cross but by the symbol of a dollar sign, and that is the opposite of what Christ teaches us about worth, and finding worth in Him!

So here is the question I have been asking myself. Can I give thanks and be content with what I have? 

...but when you think about it, what do I actually have?

It's all about finding your treasure in him, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


Photo of the Day!!!

I am combining my photo and my thankful thought into one today, because I have such awesome, supportive parents who look after me so well. I mean seriously, these two people are awesome. My dad is the funniest man I have ever met, and my mother is the most caring, passionate person I have ever met, the amount of things God has shown me through these two are immeasurable. It makes me so sad that sometimes I do not honor them like I should because they truly do deserve so much from me. I am proud to be their daughter, and I mean can we just look at how adorable they are?!?! The showed up to my show choir concert matching tonight! By the way the concert was amazing! I love show choir, but I was more excited to take a cute picture of my parents than with my friends at the end, haha. Anyway I love my parents!




Song of the Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8p3n5wzFpM


"Simplicity"
I come in simplicity
Longing for purity
To worship You
In spirit and truth
Only You
Lord strip it all away
'Til only You remain
I'm coming back
To my first love
Only You
You're the reason I sing
The reason I sing
Yes my heart will sing
How I love You
And forever I'll sing
Forever I'll sing
Yes my heart will sing
How I love You
I come with my broken song
To You the Perfect One
To worship You
In spirit and truth
Only You
Only You
Give me a childlike heart
Lead me to where You are
Cause I'm coming back
To my first love
Only You
You're the reason I sing
The reason I sing
Yes my heart will sing
How I love You
And forever I'll sing
Forever I'll sing
Yes my heart will sing
How I love You
How I love You
How I love You
How I love You
My first love
You're the reason I sing
The reason I sing
Yes my heart will sing
How I love You
And forever I'll sing
Forever I'll sing
Yes my heart will sing
How I love You




power in simplicity...

The Sound of Heaven Touching Earth

Spirit Break Out (link)


God, I am giving everything over to you, I am putting my life IN your hands, the same hands that hold this universe. I refuse to search for worth in the gutters of this world when you are EVERYTHING. My life will be dedicated to you. I refuse to allow the devil to whisper in my ear, I refuse to believe the dreams that he puts in my head at night. God walk with me, come dwell with me, lead me, give me joy. I will find strength in you, and you alone. Father I know I cannot do this on my own. I am nothing without You. Lord give me compassion, give me your patience. Let your Holy Spirit dwell in me. If I fill up my life with anything but you I know that I will just be chasing the wind. You are substance. God help me become more like you everyday. Give me the fire Lord, build me up through devotion and discipline. Teach me to be effective with my prayers. Father I know you have a purpose for my life, and there is power in purpose. You have placed power in me. Help me to grow stronger in you everyday. Plant me in your word God, allow my roots to run deep, and to always desire more and more of you. God I am giving you my burdens, and I know that you will remove my anxiety. Replace my fear with confidence Lord, help me to obey what you want me to do, and teach me to depend on YOU in everything I do. All things big and small. You are good, you are good, you are good. Help me walk in love Lord.

There is room for your soul, it expands, you can breathe again. You can rest. It is good. All is well.

MVP

God is The real MVP

"For YOU have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I SING for joy."

Psalm 63:7

Often times we tend to focus on ourselves, you find yourself in a mindset where you are the hero or heroine, and something tells you that asking for help would be admitting weakness, which would perhaps cause someone to think that you are not qualified...which sometimes to me, sounds like the worst thing possible... So instead, I hide my lack of knowledge, put on my mask of strength, and forge ahead. Listening to that voice of a hero or heroine feels right at first. She sounds so noble! So strong! She can handle this right? Sometimes she can, and that gives me confidence to trust her again. But her ultimate goal is to mask the weakness, to hide what she cannot control, to appear stronger than she really is. This hero or heroine tells us we have to know everything, and when we don't, we have to hide. Heroines do not want to be high maintenance, they do not want to be seen as needy or weak or unable to handle things.

The Hero carries everything. It is like getting on a subway, where you will need to stand until you get to your destination, and you have a backpack FULL of heavy school books, but you keep that backpack on your back, ultimately making your back sore when you could of set it at your feet for the ride, and take off a load. It just sounds like common sense, but when we apply that same situation to our burdens in life, suddenly that becomes complicated.

"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus said that guys...

God is already carrying my load, why do I insist on carrying it too? Hahahaha that is just so unnecessary!! I can just hand all of it over! That is just so cool to me. The voice of the hero tries to convince us to hold onto control in every situation, to manage every event and person around us. God is not welcome to interrupt the life of the hero. And yeah, that sound like tough crackers, but think about it...the hero has his schedule planned out, he does not like disruptions. God does not ask us to carry burdens. He does not ask us to come up with a plan. He simply asks us to come. Sometimes admitting that weakness is the doorway that the Lord will use to work in your life.

Jesus is calling you to a deeper, truer, freer identity. ALL he wants is simply you- minus your good works, minus your perfect attendance, minus your politeness, minus your right answers, minus your strength, minus your good looks. He wants you!

When you really believe that, you may discover that ALL you want is Jesus, simply Jesus. Not just to get into heaven or to help you be a good person, or to do the right thing, but simply...love, and be loved by Him.

If we put our faith in our intellect, we will never be fully satisfied. When we put our faith in God, we will overflow.

And when it is hard to have faith, remember that just because it does not make sense to you does not mean it does not make sense at all. Sometimes the most intellectual thing we can do is to be at peace with the questions, to say fully and confidently, "I don't know, but I trust God anyway." It is about telling yourself... " I don't know how this story will end, but I know enough about the storyteller to TRUST."

Photo of The Day




Song Of The Day

This IS my favorite song of the moment, and has been for a few months, granted I have a lot of favorite songs...this song, oh my goodness. Please listen to it, it is just so good. You know when you really like the beat of a song, or the chorus, or the first verse? I love EVERY part of this song, everything about it! Goodness it is so good. Anyway give it a listen and I will give you a hug! I mean I really don't have words, it's totes my fave...

PILGRIM DAYS (link)

Brother sisters join this song
As we journey home
Brother sisters join this song
As we journey home

Hold my hand and walk with me
Till my pilgrim days are done
And there I’ll find this jubilee
Until my chains you’ll see undone

I walk towards eternity
With hands held high
Unashamed I will enter in
With love on my side

Hold my hand and walk with me
Till my pilgrim days are done
And there I’ll find this jubilee
Until my chains You’ll see undone

I walk this path you lead
and You keep moving me on
I know You’re with me
Lord in Zion

To Him who sits on the thrown
To Him who reigns forever
To Him who sits on the thrown
To Him who reigns forever

Blessing and honor and glory and power

Thankfulness

I am thankful for my amazing friends and family, who support me all the time. I am thankful for encouragement and laughter! 

Dying to Self

Letting It Go

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realties of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who IS your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (NLT)

Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things of above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ an God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, the you also will appear with him in glory. (NIV)

Colossians 3:1-4 I really liked both of these translations, and even though they are very similar I wanted to include both.

Things of heaven, things of heaven, things of heaven, set my thoughts on things of heaven. Set my heart on things of heaven. Earthly things tend to cloud up my mind, confuse me, and leave me so worried. Worried about how everything will work out, and scared. The world is so sad, but Christ gives us little pieces of heaven to ponder on daily until heaven is fully revealed when Christ comes.

You guys, I absolutely love music, it is truly one of my favorite things. Playing an instrument, listening to other people play music, listening to Pandora, singing in show choir, singing in church choir, all of it! To me music is a little piece of heaven, it is something that will always connect me to God, it is very special to me. People can worship God in anything they do, and when you ask most people what worship is, they will probably say something about music or singing. Which is a totally valid answer, because music and singing, are ways to worship Christ. To me, worship is really and attitude of your heart, a reflection of your heart. Worship can take place in everyday conversations, playing music, playing your favorite sport... and the list goes on and on. Music means a lot to me, and most of the time when I am singing a song, or playing music, I can close my eyes, and see a little piece of heaven. I love music, when I use music to glorify God, He shows me a piece of heaven. I imagine that if you dedicate something that you truly love to God, he will show you heaven through that thing.

Eternal things. Most days I find myself drifting into the ways of the world. Things of this world seem so enticing, but what is cool, is that when you set your mind on things of above, you will want more and more. Once you see that little piece of heaven, you will want more.

My human nature tells me to follow along with the ways of the world, Colossians tells us that when you have been raised with Christ, you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When you accept Christ, and decide to live for him, and I mean really live for him, your life becomes hidden in him, you die to yourself, you die to this world, and you become a part of Christ.

My mom recited this poem the other day, and now I am learning it, I love poetry, it is something that I have always enjoyed, but I love to memorize things. I love memorizing scripture, and quotes and prayers, and poetry. Lately I have really been enjoying poetry, but this is the Prayer of Saint Francis.

LORD, make me an instrument of your  peace
Where there is hatred, let me show love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console
To be understood, as to understand
To be loved, as to love
In pardoning we are pardoned
In dying to self we are born into eternal life.

I absolutely love this prayer, but the part that I think applies to this blog post the most would be, for God to grant not that I be understood, but for me to understand, not for me to seek love from others, but to love others! When we die to ourselves, we are born to eternal life. It does not matter if the world understands me, it does not matter if the world loves me, God understands me and God loves me!!

When we die to ourselves we are born into eternal life.

Photo of The Day






Song of The Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbMvFdRDvg

Thank You for the cross that You have carried
Thank You for Your blood that was shed
You took the weight of sin upon Your shoulders
And Sacrificed Your life so I could live

Now nothing is holding me back from You
Redeemer of my soul
Now nothing can hold me back from You
Your Love will never let me go

Thank You for Your death and resurrection
Thank You for the power of Your blood
I am overwhelmed by Your affection
The Kindness and the Greatness of Your Love
The Kindness and the Greatness of Your Love

Thank You that we’re living in Your Kingdom
Jesus You’re the King upon the throne
Thank You for the way You always love me
Now I get to love You in return
Now I get to love You in return

Jesus, You make all things new

-Jesus makes all things new, you, me, everything. He is everything! I am so thankful for living in his kingdom! There is nothing holding me back from Christ and I am running towards him.



Thankfulness

I am thankful for my youth group, and how excited they are. Even when you are sick and do not feel great, they will make you feel loved, and special. Seriously some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and I really want to learn with them this year, and invest in all of their lives.