a little christmas fun... hope the reality of God in flesh in the form of Christ is powerful and humbling to you as it is to me.  Emmanuel - GOD is with us and in us!  

there's never going to be a day in the history of days that God's kingdom doesn't go forward...there's not really anything else that does that in life. - a conversation between louie giglio and matt redman

that's it. that is my confidence in these days. it lines up with who God is: He CAN'T stop loving His people - that's who He is. and LOVE CHANGES PEOPLE. It's the power that causes change in our lives - because we realize we are valuable to Him. our worth is caught up in the cross and we cannot deny His love, which is actively pursuing us.

the kingdom redemption and rescue is all around. it's all the places and events where Christ is reconciling hearts and situations to himself. His truth and life WILL prove faithful and real if we will take it by faith. i hope and pray i am an instrument in His hands. i trust i carry His life in me to communicate the gospel to whoever He places before me, and i am so glad that His life is the force and it's not all up to me.

God, move your kingdom forward before our eyes like never before.

i have gotten this question a lot from girls so i figured it was worth posting...

Christ is ALL and in ALL...

Hey! glad you wrote- it's means so much to me that you would even ask... this is something the Lord taught me this past year a lot about... I think the phrase 'guard your heart' comes from this:

Prov. 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
This is the NASB version which i like b/c it shows the word guard to mean "watch over" the AMP version says be diligent over...
This is indeed important but i agree w/ you in that it has really been thrown around to the point that no one knows what it means anymore. anytime you make a theology out of one verse you usually end up frustrated or lost! I think it's very important to watch over your heart- to take care of it by renewing it to truth and asking the Lord to search and know it and change it when it's out of line... i think, especially with women, our temptation is to live by feelings and those feelings (i.e. having a crush on a guy or thinking there is something there when he has said nothing to you about it) and feelings move to a false reality. then you are totally on this roller coaster because you were not renewing your heart and mind to truth, but to your human feelings. (see romans 12:1-2)

I think we need to pick that Proverbs 4:23 verse apart according to scripture:
if you read about what the heart is and how that word is used in scripture it's usually the seat of our desire, it is "deceitful above all" and "God is greater than our heart" It's the part of us that is often what we feel and may not ALWAYS be in line w/ truth- that's why I John 3 says 16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

so you see - people in their sin(flesh/self effort) can close their hearts (that's why we much be in touch with what God is doing in us individually, praying and asking Him to reveal any sin in our lives). When their heart, the container of the wellspring of life, is closed, they miss the gospel in their lives, and their hearts can even condemn them (this is one way we are deceived into believing lies), but we must REASSURE our hearts of what it true: (Remember when David tells is own soul: "Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul"?) that HE laid His life down for us, and His love is complete, perfect, abounding -

So we may often FEEL condemned, unworthy, unacceptable, or needy but TRUTH is what GOD says, regardless of how I feel.

All of our worth, significance, and acceptability comes totally 100% from Christ - and we must often (as I am choosing to do even today) cast our entire heart, all that we are, onto the love of Christ. That's why he said in John 15, "Abide in my love, remain in my love..." We throw ourselves in total trust and abandon into the life and love of Christ that He gives freely.

To NOT guard your heart is to allow those needs for love, acceptance, worth, security, etc... that only Christ can meet... to consume you instead of letting Christ meet them. It can be so subtle and that's why Proverbs reminds us to "be diligent" over our heart. When you look to ANY other source (whether guy or girl friends or family or school, etc...) above or outside of Christ you are not guarding your heart because your "wellspring of Life" will be dry if you are drinking from THE Living water.

Specifically, in relationships, it is to live in the reality of that relationship, not an imagined fantasy. (this is where the heart can deceive you into thinking it's more, or moving further along, etc, than what it actually is, and this is where the heartbreak often happens) It is to always look to Christ first and not to a person. When they disappoint you (they will) you look to Christ. When they ask too much of you (and you know when they do this) you don't give in because you find acceptance in Christ and not what you do for them. And when your heart is broken, you can survive that because all along your have cast your hope in Christ, not making that person an idol, or one from whom you receive your primary acceptance and love from. God is your primary provide for that need!

Here's a little more on the heart for you/ How you can practically guard your heart:

Phil 4:5 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Eph 1:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

So, REJOICE, offer up your requests to Him, THANK HIM in faith for His deep love and acceptance towards you, know the Love of Christ (pursue intimacy with Him)... that you may be at peace (accepting His gift of Life to you) and full (complete, not lacking in anything) in Christ.

We, as children of God and believers in His power that lives and dwells in us, are called to live out of our fullness and Christ- the full heart, confident in Him alone, is the guarded heart.
Or at least that's the first step... when the wellspring of live isn't flowing... you'll know what to do. And it will always be a journey but it's a journey to intimacy with Christ that He is overjoyed to walk with you in.

Hope this helps,
and let me know if I could help you any further! If I can do anything at all for you (get together or whatever) let me know!
love
katie b

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V78mEMTB-tY

part 1 of a video from our trip to hong kong!

I feel like the Lord is definitely shouting through my circumstances and what's been going on:
2 weddings of couples where the pursuit of the bride we long distance yet totally consistent and committed (Orlando-Birmingham, and North Carolina - China!!) remind me of how He pursues us. The gospel really is too good to be true. It really is! Then I watched Diary of a Mad Black woman... on TBS... some hard stuff in there and pretty funny but there is definitely sacrificial love... LOVE is what breaks down walls... and it takes force to break down walls and love is the perfect power to do that! And then, I have heard the stories of people being in close relationship with friends where their Christ like love for one another- their effort in being intentional and not backing up brought about the love and life of Christ in such life changing ways that people are ruined for the present!! Lastly I watched my granddad weep at the foot of his wife of 64 years' bed as he has done for the last month and a half as he watches her slip more each day into the throws of dementia. Even when she pushes and cuts at him in her conscious moments, he comes everyday to the nursing home and looks for the good things about the day yet mourns the loss of the love of his life and his best friend as he's known her, dreaming of the day they can return home.

To sit and think that He takes pleasure in us because we are His- not because of what we do or accomplish- really it is a gift of grace! Even when we ignore the fact that He is pouring out to us! He has given it ALL! It is that grace that changes my life! It is so powerful that even though I have heard this before it's like I have heard it for the first time--that is the GOSPEL!

Do not despair or be discouraged- the Lord your God loves YOU for YOU and He is so committed to you knowing that. WE just have to open our eyes and see- He may be whispering or he may be screaming, but step back and look- He is in ALL things, declaring His glory and offering all He has that you may know Him.

This hymn just sealed it for me...

O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO
(arr. by Jason Sears, orig. by George Matheson...)

1. O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
May richer, fuller be!

2. O light that follows all my way,
I yield my flickering flame
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
May brighter, fairer be.

O Love (that will not let me go)
That will not let me go
O love (that holds my trembling soul)
That holds my trembling soul
O Love (that will not let me go)
That will not let me go
O love (that heals and makes me whole)
That heals and makes me whole
O love love that will not let me go



-------------------------------
3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

here is an amazing group of folks who are having a great time teaching english in hong kong. we are really blessed to have a team that enjoys each other and works so well together!!

Jeremiah 33
3I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD



There is a certain value to getting away. The Lord has set His creation before us to point us to Himself. You can't ignore it. It only exists to call us into deeper fellowship with Him. It's interesting that the tabernacle of worship to the Lord in the Old Testament start's with outer courts, which are lit by natural light. Worship begins in the natural, stirring our senses, opening our physical eyes. He's grabbed our attention and invites us to MORE...



Then our soul begins to sing- in the holy place the light source was from a lamp. IN our sould His word brings light and clarity to our hearts and minds. This is where we are transformed and changed.



And finally, through the veil to the holy of holies, the only source of light is the glory of God- outshining all that we have ever seen. Our spirit engages in union with Him: the ultimate act of worship. There is nothing that brings perspective more than true worship by the Spirit. THAT is when we taste the glory of God. In His very presence is the fullness of joy! (Psalm 16:11)



Psalm 96
8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;[a]
tremble before him, all the earth!
10Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved

“The question is, can we say,

simply, honestly, not because we feel that as evangelicals we ought to,

but because it is a plain matter of fact, that we have known God, and that

because we have known God the unpleasantness we have had, or the

pleasantness we have not had, through being Christians does not matter

to us? If we really knew God, this is what we would be saying, and if we

are not saying it, that is a sign that we need to face ourselves more

sharply with the difference between knowing God and merely knowing about him.”

-J.I. Packer in Knowing God


What would it be like to no longer complain, to quit fixing our eyes on “stuff” and weld them to Him? Knowing Him fully (and you can never know all of Him) makes those things so much smaller…


I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE how creative and just plain smart the Lord is. I love how He can make many seemingly seperate truths all come together. I love how he takes those truths and makes them experience, illuminating and revolutionizing how I see things and do things and understand things.


“The word of the Lord is LIVING and ACTIVE, sharper than any double edged sword…”


His Word is not still. His Word is not void. It’s not just an idea, it is a PERSON! A person who is living and active in us. His LIFE is in us and causes us to not be the same. This gift of grace is not just love and acceptance unconditionally, but it is the gift of TRANSFORMING POWER!


John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.


When the Word abides in us we cannot help but be changed. The little pleasures or lack thereof become smaller as we see Him in all this glory- as we KNOW him. (In HIS presence is the fullness of joy)


Fixing our eyes not on that which is seen but that which is UNSEEN:

2 Cor 4: 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.


We think that the tangible, touchable things are so real yet it is all over scripture that He is what’s real. The spiritual is true reality. There is a certain CERTAIN freedom in that- My eyes have truly been opened as I have had the privilege of studying some about prophecy and end times and how God works and how we experience Him in these days:


Basically, HE IS UNSHAKEABLE the rest is SHAKEABLE, unreliable, pointless, you name it. The things that consume us (or should I say we allow to consume us and tempt us and imprison us) are not what knowing Him is about. Knowing Him is saying I consider all this rubbish that I may gain Christ… That I may know Him (Phil 3:7-8) Heb 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.


When we know Him we hold things loosely, because the things we usually grasp with our very life are “shakeable things”- people, our daily comforts, our “way”, our plans. He is so faithful to shake things a bit because He knows Life is better when we know Him as Life and when we know what/who is lasting, life-giving, and better than all we could ask or imagine.


Hopefully this will be our Word that sums up the truths: He is enough, He is BETTER…

Jeremiah 9:23Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”


I am glad to delight in Him.

“Learn to love to be alone with the words of God- that’s when crazy things happen in your own life- that’s when you hear the calling of God on your life!” -Francis Chan


The calling of God on your life = “until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you…” Gal 4:19, happens when we seek Him out for everything and in everything.


Hebrews 13-amplified version

5Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]


6So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?


This is the only freedom I have-


I am convicted by this but praise the Lord - I heard this weekend that conviction, ,which leads to confession and repentance is a sign of growth! I know one thing and that is I do not want to just stay the same, getting more and more stagnant. I welcome this “hardship as discipline” (Hebrews 12:7) and trust God to do the rest. So that all that comes from my life is nothing but His life, He IS good to keep me on my face, especially on the days when I fight it. Then real repentance, growth, and revival happens. My prayer is that my personal revival will spark it in those who know me. My heart is revived by the gospel- the whole gospel from start to finish. THEN I experience the JOY of my salvation. Then I realize, in the midst of my sin/old thought patterns, how He conquers (actually has conquered already!) it more than I can ask or imagine, and He refines more and more of me. He and I are close and intimate in our conversations as I let Him in (haha, whatever it is to “let” God in…) on what I’m really thinking… and He lets me in on what HE is thinking. It’s amazing. HE IS AMAZING!


Lord-


in the moment i was afraid- i thought i was alone. “but though i feel alone, i am NEVER alone- you are with me” thank you for this Word that you will not in any degree leave me helpless or forsaken. I am not an orphan but your well-provided for daughter. Lord it is my joy to know you in this intentional and intimate way. I could not ask for any more than that!

Hebrews 4:14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.


“But the claim made for Jesus is that he has passed through the heavens, he has passed outside the limits of time and space. He is no longer contained within, limited by, those boundaries that hold us within physical limits. He is outside, above, beyond, over all, therefore there are no limits to his power.

It is wrong to think of this relationship in terms of space. Growing up as children there is a tendency to think of heaven as “out there” in space somewhere, on one of the stars, perhaps, some great distance removed from earth. Because of the figurative language employed in Scripture we think of going “up” to heaven and “down” to hell. … But surely the idea that is conveyed to us by the figurative language of the Scriptures is that heaven is outside time and space, therefore it can be within us as well as around us, above us, and beyond us. The throne of grace is not in remote space; it is right in the heart of a believer in whom Jesus Christ dwells. To come to the throne of grace does not mean to go into a prayer closet and shut the door and address an appeal across the reaches of space to some distant point in heaven. It means to reckon upon the One who indwells us. The throne of grace is that close to us, that available to us. (R. Stedman)”


Wow. I believe this with all I am as I sense the Lord moving and changing our community. I know without a doubt that He is doing great things in me! Tony Evans said with great excitement this morning, “He doesn’t come just to change our lives but to EXCHANGE our lives!” He gives us His very life. He is the only thing being that is eternal, so He IS eternal life and that is offered to us today! That is more real than anything!


Christ is all-sufficient! There are places in us that ONLY His word can affect. He gives grace to change and bring life to our flesh: our weakness. That is where HIS LIFE is seen most! All that which we depend on outside of Him: our pride manifested in self-strength and self- protection, performance to gain acceptance, self-deprecation and other acts of the flesh where we try to do what only God can do, are only hurting us. God SEES right through those. He is not surprised or unable to wield a sword that brings death to this flesh and life all in the same blow. THAT is why we must RUN (Heb. 4:14-16 - this run is evidence of faith) to the throne (a place of power and authority) of grace and receive that which is already ours by the sacrifice Christ has made.


I have never been more blessed. I have never felt more rich in Him. There is not a doubt in my mind that He is able to accomplish more than we could ever dream and imagine. He is more available than I could have dreamed. That is truth and anything less is a full out lie. It’s amazing the power of the TRUTH of the indwelling word: the power of Christ living in me.

God has a unique PLAN for every believer:

He, since the beginning of time, has pursued and romanced a people that He loves unconditionally. When we still were His unbelieving enemy He died for us. We died with Him. He took our sin upon Himself to romance us once again and to buy us back. We are raised to new life, reborn if you will, and we MUST continue to live! By finding fellowship and understanding in Him, He has won our hearts! So we invite Him in to dwell in us. Renewing our minds to truth and becoming a LIVING sacrifice allows His purpose to happen in our lives: we begin to reflect Him as we go on to maturity through healing and refining.

You dwellings of Jesus! Allow Him to build you up into Himself! Make more room for Him in your life by living out of your fullness and completeness (salvation) that He offers. Your whole life’s purpose is wrapped up in Him: He has bestowed GIFTS on us (namely Himself- shining through our unique personalities)! We must build up CHRIST’S body using our unique gifts, and He WILL be glorified in and through us! May we stand in awe of Christ’s compelling love and walk forward into the advancing kingdom before us.

Take the time to start anew
Maybe it's in front of you
Take the time to walk down your street
And heaven knows who you might meet
Take the time to be okay
And laugh a bit along the way
You could take me for a ride, we could just drive all day

chorus:
And we could breathe again
Step outside our front door
And gaze upon the stars
And know we're not alone
So run into the fields
Scream louder than you can
It's good to be alive
And breathing air again

Take the time to stop and stare
Heaven's beauty everywhere
Take the time to think about
Someone else besides yourself
Take the time to be okay
And laugh a bit along the way
You could take me for a ride
We could just drive all day
-robbie seay

Is 33: 5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion(me) with justice and righteousness,
6and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is Zion's(my) treasure.

That pretty much sums it up... my life in a couple pics and sentences...