Baptism - Yes, it's that important!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing." Galatians 2:20-21

Yup! I am reviewing my lesson for JH in a couple weeks on baptism, and it reminds me of when I got baptized. It was in February of 2005 - I remember it really well. I don't know that there was one instance or something that someone said particularly that spurred this act of obedience, but I think it was more of the Holy Spirit's gentle nudging that I needed to make this declaration of faith. The thought that really made me think was, "how can I witness to people and tell them how important it is to follow Christ and obey his command when I am not even obeying him myself?" It was pretty powerful and didn't take long for me to take the plunge (pun intended). It was one of the most important and memorable moments in my relationship with Christ, and it make me smile to reminisce this afternoon! :)

The LORD's strength in my weakness..

Okay - I know I like to go a couple months between postings, so after this one I might not put anything up for a while but I really want to document down this morning...

My very first online class towards my MAR -Discipleship have begun today. I have been SO EXCITED leading up to today - ever since October when this whole process began. I am excited to learn more about what I believe what I believe, and I want to be better equipped for where God will lead me in the future. I truly believe he led me to begin seminary classes, but I am not sure where He is going to take me with that.

I looked mid-week, last week, when the syllabus and the like were posted for my class and thought, okay this is going to be great. I am taking Survey of Christian Doctrine as my first class and knew that it would be a challenge, but if I am being honest I was really thinking, "How hard could this really be?" I mean, I grew up in the church and have a lot of basic knowledge so that should make it a whole lot easier. Well today I have off of work for a holiday and decided to get started with my reading and really try and plan this semester out. I really want to do well in this class and not procrastinate, like is my tendency with school. Well I opened up my book this morning and realized that I have to read 135 pages of the textbook and post to a discussion board by the end of the week. Okay, that's fine I can do that. Then I actually started to read the book and realized it takes me ten minutes to read two pages because I have to read it that many times to just understand what the author is trying to say. Okay, starting to get a little overwhelmed, but it will be fine. Decided to look ahead to see what I will need to get accomplished each week, including a 10 page paper by the end of the eight weeks on theologies that I have never heard of before - which I don't understand at all (I know that's the point of a research paper, but super daunting). I am starting to realize this will NOT be as easy as I have been envisioning. Add the class on top of everything else I have going on in my life these next eight weeks - full-time job, Jr. High responsibilities, worship team, keeping up with relationships - and that is when I became super overwhelmed and out came the tears and second guessing. "What did I get myself into?" "I can't do this, I don't understand what I am reading at all." "How is all of this going to get done?"

I am not posting this right now to be felt sorry for in anyway! I still truly believe that the LORD led me to begin this process, beginning with this class. I am posting this to show what His strength is going to do in my weakness through these next eight weeks. I would not be able to do this on my own - EVER! But I am going to give all I have to this class and everything else going on, relying on the LORD for my strength and wisdom with everything. That is my prayer- I am not perfect and might stray from relying on Him and try and take back control (cause that is what I tend to do), but I don't think that will last very long because I will just get overwhelmed again and have no where to go but back into the arms of my Father! I don't know how many times I will post here during these next eight weeks, but I plan to post at the end of the class with how God got me through them!

I received an e-mail from my pastor this morning with a verse that I think will be my go to verse for the next 8 weeks:

"He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich source of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure." Isaiah 33:6

I also found this verse encouraging too when I was reading through Isaiah 33:

"O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress." Isaiah 33:2

Watch out THEO 510 - God and I are going to kick your butt this semester! :)

Just What I Needed to "Hear"

I read (my wanting is everyday, but it doesn't always turn out that way) "The One Year Worship the King Devotional" by Chris Tiegreen. Today's devotional in particular really hit home with me. Every day there is a passage of Scripture to read - Chris then summarizes what the passage was about and then applies it to everyday life. I am going to type up today's devotional below. The Scripture for today is 1 Chronicles 16:23-29, but I am actually going to write 1 Chronicles 16:7-36 because it is so good and such a good reminder of how amazing our God is! :)

^"7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the LORD in this manner:

⁸ Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
⁹ Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
¹¹ Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

¹² Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
¹³ you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
¹⁴ He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵ He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
¹⁶ the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁷ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
¹⁸ “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”

¹⁹ When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
²⁰ they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
²¹ He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
²² “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”

²³ Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

²⁵ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

²⁸ Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
²⁹ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
³⁰ Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

³¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
³² Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
³³ Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
³⁵ Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;
gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
and glory in your praise.”
³⁶ Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.

Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.”'

I bolded some of the verses that truly stuck out to me when I was reading this. Some of them are amazing reminders about how worthy God is (see below for further explanation) and some of them are great encouragement to me, like verse 10 "Glory in his holy name; let hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." I have been struggling recently with my quiet times and really making my relationship with the LORD a priority in my life and I can really see a change in me, not for the better. I am anxious, selfish, snappy and I just don't have the love for others like I should. I believe it is because I have been cutting myself off from the One who feeds me all I need to accomplish the opposites of above - peace, selflessness, thinking before I speak and how to love people. I need to keep God at the center of everything, all throughout the day - I need to be God-concious. :) Below was today's devotional:

"IN WORD: God is not just worthy of praise, He is most worthy of praise. In other words, whatever praise we can give Him, He deserves it. We cannot overestimate His worth because He is worth more than anything.

Think of how that applies to our lives We might wonder if it's worth giving up a habit for Him, but if He's worth more than anything, the answer is clear. We might consider giving up our careers or our ambitions for Him, and we wonder if it will be a worthwhile gift. But if He's worth more than we can imagine, it is. We may wonder if our praise, worship, and sacrifice will be worth the payoff to us, but we're asking the wrong question. Whether it is worth it to us is not the point; He's worthy of it. That's all that matters.

There is no greater investment than God. Whatever we can give to Him, pout out of our hearts to Him, lay down before Him, and do for Him, it's a profoundly worthwhile offering because it is directed toward a profoundly worthy God. No gift is lost on Him. No sacrifice for HIm is ever considered unimportant in His eyes.

IN DEED: Consider what you have to offer Him. Your obedience? It is never about earning His favor; it's about offering Him your best. Your purity? it isn't because He's a killjoy but because He wants you for Himself - and He deserves you. Your possessions? They are meaningless trinkets in His eyes, and He wishes you could loosen your grip on them. Your time? You have an eternity before you; there's no need to spend time on yourself. Your talents? He gave them to you so that you could worship Him in ways no one else can. Your relationships? The God of relationships wants to demonstrate His peace and His love in them.

What are you holding on to? Lay it down. Give it to Him. It's right to do so. He's worthy of whatever you have."

He is worthy of so much more than I give to him. The second part of the devotional - "IN DEED" - was a slap in the face to me on a couple aspects. The first one would be my time. How am I spending my time? Yes, I am involved in church ministries and love that - but what about the rest of my time? When I could be spending my time getting to know God better, building on friendships, doing chores and being productive in general - I have just become lazy lately. BOOOOO. Also, when he says "it's never about earning His favor; it's about offering him your best." I love that! I get caught up in where my deeds will get me - I forget that I do them for His glory, not because of what I will get because of it. I am made free because Jesus willingly died for my sin. He became sin so that I can have a relationship with God. Jesus is the ONLY WAY! Faith is Jesus is what gets us to heaven and nothing else - not even our deeds. My hope is in Jesus Christ, and as I remember that I can't help but smile! :)

Enough of my stream of consciousness for today. It is time for bed! Goodnight!

Uke update!

Hello! Alright, so I said I would give a uke progress update in August and it is now November. I have to be honest.... there is not much of an update. Haha. I was on a kick for the first month and partially learned "Bubbly" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I have since forgotten those songs and tonight was inspired to try and learn an Ingrid Michaelson song... "The Way I Am." I have posted a little video of myself playing and singing the first verse and chorus of the song. You might notice that I am just playing the chords at this point - that is because learning the strumming pattern is HARD - at least for me it is. Just something to work on I suppose. Okay, now I need to stop procrastinating and finish my JH lesson for the retreat this weekend!!!!!!!!

I am Yours, I am Forever Yours

"If my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear Your voice
I’ll hold on to what is true though I cannot see
If the storms of life they come and the road ahead gets steep
I will lift these hands in faith
I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done
And the life I have because Your Son

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

When my heart is filled with hope
and every promise comes my way
When I feel Your hands of grace rest upon me

Staying desperate for You God
Staying humbled at Your feet
I will lift these hands and praise
I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done
And the life I have because Your Son

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

I am Yours
I am Yours
All my days
I am Yours

I am Yours, I'm Yours forever
I am Yours, I'm Yours forever
I am Yours, I'm Yours forever Lord

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours"

I just heard this song for the first time this evening. It's called "Love Came Down" by Brian Johnson. I love the chorus of this song - it just makes me smile to remember and think about how Christ came down and set me free because he loves me! And man do I need his rescuing --- everyday I need him. I need his promises. I need his love. I need his hope. I need his wisdom. I need his forgiveness. I need his words. Sometimes I need that reminder for my soul that I am HIS I am FOREVER HIS!

The second half of the second verse was convicting for me tonight.. "Staying desperate for you God, staying humbled at Your feet.." --- sometimes I am not desperate for my God. I don't like to type that out because I don't want it to be true, but sometimes I am not. I get to some points in my life where I feel like I am coasting right along and everything is great and I lose that desperation for Him. How do you keep that desperation for God even in the good times? The more I think about it, I keep coming back to having daily time in the Word and in praying - truly getting to know my God on a personal level (which might be one of my biggest failures). I think if I do that, a relationship with between me and God will develop like an extremely close relationship. The type of relationship where you miss talking with and continually learning about the other person - in the good and bad times. I want to long for my time with the Lord, like I long for conversations with certain friends. Like I said above, I know I NEED that time and everything that I gain from that time with Him (I know from past experiences) - but somehow, sometimes that doesn't always translate into my staying desperate for Him. I am working on my daily time with the Lord and pray that my selfishness of wanting more sleep, wanting to do something else instead, always making excuses - doesn't get in the middle anymore!

Just a few thoughts I had when listening to this song tonight, and I wanted to share (probably with myself since I don't push this blog...haha). It's just good to get these thoughts out. :)

Got my uke today!!!!

YAY! I am so excited about this! The box came to my door and I couldn't wait to open it! Went to get the scissors and I felt like a kid on Christmas - excited yes, but more like when the gift was a Barbie and it took FOREVER to get her out of the box! This uke is like a Barbie for 25 year old me! :) I FINALLY got it out of the packaging and started to strum away - no it was not tuned yet. Haha. Next step was to get right on YouTube and look up "how to tune a ukulele" - I got quite a few hits on that, so I picked one and started trying to tune it. A couple of them went - even the ones that said beginner - went way too fast for me... but between a couple of them I think I got pretty close! I still think it needs a little more tuning, but I am going to outsource for that. :)

That is my latest fun purchase. I can't wait until I actually start to learn the chords and different songs. I have this awesome thought in my head of being able to take it with me to Hawaii and play on the beach. That is my goal! I will keep you posted on my progress!!!

First Post!

Okay , so everyone seems to be blogging these days, and I think it is about time I join. Really I just feel like it will be a good place to share my thoughts - even if no one reads this but me! :) I would love to share great times, thoughts, and my love for the LORD in this blog. It is me in a nutshell, "A Tiny Nutshell." :) Enjoy!!!