His perfect timing

It's been six wonderful, sanctifying, fun, challenging, new, blissful, and divine months being in a relationship with this man. 


The Lord has done so much in us this past year and we are forever grateful for His perfect timing.  

I adore him. 

Last year I had no idea what God was up to with Dave and I. 

There were many tears. 

And it was all God's plan. 

Dave and I often reflect on last year and our story and smile about what God has done to each of us. Last year wasn't the right timing. We didn't understand then. But we understand now. 

God had this in mind all along. 

Job 42:3  You asked, 'Who this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?' It is I- and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.

We get to PLANT GRACE

My sweet friend, Ashley and I often talk and process through sin we discover in our lives. We ask ourselves and each other questions to tell whether our thoughts of desires are sinful or not. Jesus points us to the image of bad fruit growing from a bad tree in Luke 6:43-45. I pray the Lord will expose my heart by the Spirit through His Word, but the mistake that I've been making is that I dwell when I'm looking at myself rather than dwelling on Christ. The Spirit is showing me that I'm getting so wrapped up in weeding out my sin, and neglecting to plant grace! 

Tim Chester does a great job at teaching this by saying, "Along with weeding out sin, we need to plant grace. When other plants are thriving, weeds grow poorly because they're deprived of space, light, water, and nutrients. It's the same with Christians. When our thoughts are filled with the glory of God and our lives are filled with the service of God, there'll be less room for sin and temptation (Gal. 6:7-10)  
 
I want to daily harvest the weeding out sin in my heart and planting grace, making less space for sin.  

Robert Murray M'Cheyne said, "For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ."



Don't forget to plant grace.

Hope in the Midst of Pain

My friend Jeanine, who is unlike any other person I've ever met, wrote this blog about chronic pain and I wanted to share it. 

God is good. I'm thankful for the hope I am given through Jesus Christ in the midst of my daily pain :) 

The Thorn is a Gift

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Jeanine

Chronic pain is an unspoken issue . . .

Chronic pain is an unspoken issue that is more common than I thought. I’ve dealt with it since age eight, and in honor of some of the most precious and godly women in my life who also deal with chronic pain, here are my lessons from pain in the last few years:

1.  The thorn is a gift.

It makes us see the power of God– We have to turn from our own weak power to rely on ”God who raises the dead” 2 Cor. 1:9

It keeps us from arrogance– “so to keep me from being conceited…”  Pain is a safeguard from conceit and arrogance. In physical pain we are humbled by our inability to control even our own body. 2 Cor. 12:7

2.  We are called to a life of pain “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” It is simply a part of being a Christian.

3.  Physical pain is a very clear test of what is truly inside of us. Because you can’t escape physical pain, you are forced to face your sin, your lack of faith, head-on. I can’t just shake it off and go get a cup of coffee or clean the house to distract myself. I have to face my pain—face what I really think about it, and about God. These are HUMBLING times. You can’t fake faith here; false faith is too weak to survive the bashing waves of physical pain. “that the tested genuineness of your faith … may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

4.  God uses pain…

To make us holy

To make us not rely on ourselves

To make us rely on God

5.  Pain increases our faith

6.  Pain sets our hope on Him

7.  Pain helps us understand Jesus uniquely “… that I may know him … and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”  Jesus was a suffering servant and we can understand Him uniquely in our pain. This is precious.

8.  Pain makes us look forward to heaven.

Though pain can be excruciating (this word, btw, comes from the cross of Christ), the benefits can mysteriously outweigh the burden.

BUT, be aware Christian. Just because you have physical pain does not promise you will be improved by it. If we let God use our pain, He will refine us like gold. If we spend our pain in bitterness, anger, frustration or despair, we will waste our pain.

The thorn is a gift.

Or you can waste your pain, and it’s just pain.

Which do you want yours to be?

 

 http://whdowntownblog.org/2011/10/the-thorn-is-a-gift/

Sleepover at the Abajian's!

Wednesday night I got to do something that was out of the norm and I'm very thankful for it. 
My friends, Megan and Matt, whom I respect, admire, adore, and flat out love, are two people who have taught me more than they'll ever know about Jesus and His gracious love. They are and always will be so dear to my heart. I can really talk about them forever, but that will be on a different post :) 
 So Matt was out of town this week which meant Kellie and I got to go over and have a sleepover with Megan! It was quite a treat. We opened a bottle of wine, baked some Pillsbury choc. chip cookies, watched Steal Magnolias, talked, laughed, and then finally slept. Getting some quality time with with these two women was such a privilege and was one of the highlights of my week. 
I'm so thankful for my friendships with them and learning from their hearts and what God is doing in each of them. The Lord is using them in such a sweet way in my life.

Be a good Jesus

Ephesians 5:1  "Imitate Jesus, therefore in everything you do, because you are his dear children."

Let me share something with you that I've read in a book I'm going through called You Can Change. (Super cheesy title, but the book is legit).

'I was dropping my daughter off at school on the day of her Easter service (she was playing Jesus, miming as the class acted out the triumphal entry). On the way we picked up Anna, a young Christian girl who'd been baptized in our church a few months earlier. As Anna was getting out of the car she shouted to my daughter, "Be a good Jesus today."  "Same to you," I shouted back (though not quite quickly enough for Anna to hear). 

Be a good Jesus! Our job is to study the glory of God revealed in the life and death of Jesus. We're to study his character, learn from his role, and understand his motivation, so that in every situation we can improvise the part. We'll face situations that Jesus never faced. But if we understand his character well enough, we'll be able to improvise. We'll be a good Jesus.'

I always want to represent Jesus well, but I don't always. My sin and selfishness takes my eyes off of Jesus and His gracious throne and tunes in onto me. It's a sin that so easily entangles me. 
May I grow to know Jesus more and more intimately so I can imitate Him well.  




Be a good Jesus!

Friday Mornings

Friday mornings, (if I hear my alarm) I have the privilege to wake up at the crack of dawn to meet some lovely ladies at Starbucks at 6 to dive into the Word together. If you really know me, you know that I'm NOT a morning person. To hear my alarm clock go off at 445 AM is far from my favorite time. But when I remember that I get to sit around a half a dozen or so girls who love Jesus and are pursuing holiness, it makes it all worth it. And it's only one day a week, so I just need to get over how flippin early it is ;) 

Each week, one person suggest what chapter or passage we read and we journal and mediate on it individually before conversing about what we learn from the Scripture. It's quite divine. 

This week Emery had a read over Joshua 24 and we talked about how important it is to remember all the marvelous things the Lord has done in each of our lives. Just like God rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, He has rescued me from so much. 
I love Joshua's discipleship to the people and him stressing to the people the seriousness of serving the Lord."....for he is a holy and jealous God."


Think of things God has rescued you from and what prayers He's answered. Let's always remember HIM and praise Him.... for He is a holy God.

They spelled my name right! 

I can trust God

I love hammocks. Laying in one, swaying back and forth, looking up at the sky in wonder, and just relaxing. It's quite wonderful if you ask me. 

Do you think that laying in a hammock is an act of faith? I lay my weight on the hammock, trusting the material, trees, and rope to bear all of me and relax because no effort on my part is holding me up.


 

I don't cling onto a tree or something else as my backup in case I fall through. The hammock holds me and I don't have to worry, right? 

I think trusting God is like laying in a hammock or bed. When we trust the author and perfecter of our faith we put no boundaries on what He can do and don't doubt He's going to stop sustaining us with His everlasting love. 

Why do we put trust in a hammock or my bed to carry us, but then worry about things out of our control instead of fully trusting the completely sovereign, infinite in wisdom, and PERFECT in love God? 

In the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges he says, "Confidence in the sovereignty of God in all that affects us is crucial to our trusting Him. If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God's sovereign control, then we cannot trust Him." 

Because God's love is infinite and His power is unlimited we CAN truly entrust everything to Him.   

Psalm 56:3-4 

But when I'm afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?   

 

I'm thankful my Jesus is big and mighty and reigning and I can trust in HIM alone.


 

Faithfulness

I love reading blogs. Odds are, if YOU have a blog of any kind, I more than likely blog stalk you.

While contemplating on starting a blog, a dear friend of mine suggested I make a blog of counting a thousand things I'm thankful for. So I'm taking her up on the suggestion. 


I am thankful for the Lord's faithfulness. God is so faithful. We can depend on HIM never to be unfaithful to His promises. The Lord's faithfulness means He can be relied upon and will never be unfaithful to those who trust in what He has said. 

Deuteronomy 32:4 says, "He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!" 

I am dependent on HIM and His faithfulness alone. He is faithful in His everlasting love and I get to see His faithfulness each day. He has given me everything I need to live a godly life. I have been cleansed by the blood of Christ and been forgiven of my sins, all by His faithfulness. 


Your faithfulness Lord is what I cling to and will continue to cling to all the days of my life.