James 3: A Story

I took the 5:54. Will you?

Lord, I Lift My Brother to You

Are you there God? It’s me, Jessica. I have a formal request or should I say favor to ask. Please help my spiritual brother. I know he has been going through a lot of emotional turmoil lately. Please comfort him and help him discern Your will for him.

I feel like I can’t stop thinking about him. Please help me to focus on You. Please help him focus on You. Because if You are not the key player in our lives, life simply isn’t worth living. We both need to bring You back into a clear focus. If we don’t, we will be headed for destruction, which is exactly what the enemy wants. Help us to push Satin away.

I love you more than anything, God. I praise You and I know that everything happens for a reason. Looking back on my life, I have realized that everything You brought me through was for a purpose: to bring me closer to You.

I pray that my brother is drawn closer to You. I ask that I will not drive him away from You because that is not what I want at all. I just want him to be really happy. I want him to be fully satisfied spiritually. If it takes him being away from me to do so, then that’s what it takes.

If he can no longer communicate with me, I will be understanding. Even though it hurts, I want him cross the finish line with You by his side. I just want to thank You for the time you let me spend with him because he has helped me in so many ways. He has truly has been a blessing. He helped me battle my sorrows when I needed it most. If only I could return the favor.

Mary, please pray for me to keep in touch with God. I know that praying has sometimes felt like work to me, but now I so badly need to talk to Him. My soul is in desperate need of prayer right now.

Lord Jesus, I love You. I praise You. You are number one in my life. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The King is Enthralled By Your Beauty

The first sermon in the series “Beautiful, a series for women and the men that pursue them” tackles issues such as a women’s identity, culture, beauty, and what God has to say.

Women (and myself!) try to find identity in appearance, “home”, kids, relationships, career, and religion.  Yet, when the very thing that one finds his/her identity in is taken away then what… In the sermon Perry indicates that women who are doing this are “tired.”  Tired of trying so hard and falling short. Tired of going through the three hour beauty routine only to have the rain come and mess everything up! Tired. Simply tired.

Furthermore, culture surrounds us with definitions of beauty. Pictures of beauty abound in magazines, television shows like “America’s Next Top Model”, the internet and every other media outlet. Culture screams multiple ways to become beautiful.  If only you buy this kind of make-up or that dress, then you will feel beautiful, you will look “sexy.”  Or better yet, eat this frozen dinner and you’ll magically lose those 10 extra pounds that keep you from feeling “beautiful.”  Yet, if you did lose those extra pounds, would it ever be enough? Can we ever meet or feel like we’ve met culture’s standard of beauty?  Are we always stuck in the “not good enough” category?

Besides, what is beauty even? Does beauty consist of make-up and high-heels or of skinny jeans and cute tops?  Or maybe beauty comes with the perfect job and perfect husband? Maybe we should turn to scripture instead to find our definition of beauty. Then, would more women be able answer the “Me, Beautiful?” question in an affirmative way? Perry’s main verse, Psalm 45:11, states: “The king is enthralled by your beauty.” God sees who we can be.  God sees us through the lens of Jesus. Let God show You what He sees about you.

Don’t Worry, Be Praying

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for what He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we will understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

This is something we all need to remember, regardless of how stressful life can be. And since school is almost over, I especially need to remember this in the next couple of weeks.

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving.

“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Ephesians 5:19-20

8 Reasons Why I Don’t Share My Faith

Lately, I’ve been thinking about why I have such a hard time sharing my faith. I found a video that helped me identify reasons excuses I make for myself.

 #1: I don’t know enough

#2: I’ll be a religious nut

#3: I’ll say the wrong thing

#4: I’ll be a bad witness

#5: Don’t know how to start

#6: Might be made fun of

#7: Won’t make sense

#8: Might get beat up

 

 

P.S. I’m not letting these excuses stop me from sharing my faith anymore.

You Are Beautiful My Sweet Sweet Song

The 119th Wing’s worship leader sang this song for worship service. It reminded me to be thankful and accepting, instead of questioning my life.

 

Who are we really following?

At the NDANG chaplain worship service, one of the chaplain assistant’s served his last day. He graduated from North Central University to be a youth pastor in Wilmar, MN. We will miss him, as he used his musical talent to worship God and told so many amazing stories.

 Today, he shared a baseball story, where he comes up to the bat and lets out a swing. Strike one! He starts feeling nervous. So, he makes a couple practice swings for the second pitch. Strike two! Now he plans on bunting the final strike, making it easy to sprint to first base. However, he decides to swing it at the last second, and CRACK–he hits the ball and runs like the wind to first base. Pausing on first, he looks up to see his coach saying, “HOMERUN!” As he slides back to home, the crowd rises and applauds.

 On this day, his girlfriend said, “If he hit’s a homerun today, I know I’m supposed to marry him.” When they got engaged, she told him about the baseball story and feeling like he was “the one” for her. When he asked her to marry him, he also asked her to “follow” him. This made sense. When we marry someone, we also agree to follow them. The same applies if we give our hearts to Jesus–we agree to follow Him. It is important to marry in Christ, something I have been thinking a lot about lately. When people enter a good marriage, they just seem to “know” they are the one.

 This relates to my previous relationship and “knowing” whether he was the one. The person I was with was unsure about his faith. I did not know what to do and I kept blaming myself. But then I realized that this is up to God and that I cannot take His place. God’s plan seemed to be different from my own. I shouldn’t be in a relationship just because I feel loved. I need someone who follows Christ and loves me as Christ does. My plan would be to stay with him, but I felt God tugging me away from that plan.

 Our plan to “bunt” everything thrown at us and taking the easy way out is not God’s plan. He wants us to feel confident, without turning back. No matter how much I try to plan, I just need to give my life to God. He wants to play a part in every decision we make. This includes all decisions–relationships, jobs, everyday choices, and so on. If we don’t allow Him to play this role, who are we really following? Ourselves? Our girlfriend/boyfriend? Other idols? God wants us to chose Him to defeat the idols that are continually thrown at us.