And Pilate again said to them, "Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" And they cried out again, "Crucify him." And Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him." So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Mark 15:45-15

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Psalm 50:1-2

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25: 4-5

This has been a pretty rough week for me. I'm going through some pretty difficult stuff right now. Through it all, I'm realizing that I need to shift my focus from man to God. I cannot fear man, I need to fear the Lord. I really struggle when someone thinks badly of me in any way. It crushes me like a ton of bricks. Basically, I let the opinions of others control me more often then I'd like to admit. I'm reading a book right now (thanks to my sis, Jenny) called When People are Big and God is Small. It's about codependency and the fear of man. It has been very eye opening to me, and I believe I have opened its covers at just the right time. So I am going to be strong, and stand on God's word, and follow His leading. That is the only way. It gets exhausting trying to please everyone all the time. I'm at a point in my life right now where I could take two very different paths. One is a little easier in the sense that worldly things would be steady and seem to work out. The other path is much harder. It requires constant faith, constant trusting in God and His provision and His kingdom. It takes me to the unknown, and it scares me. I'm choosing the harder path, and I believe no matter how much I struggle through it, in the end it is the right path, and I'm praying that God would be glorified. So any prayer would be readily accepted. Just wanted to share where I'm at....love ya'll!

"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests me made known to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7

LOVE this scripture! And desperately need to cling to its truth. I have been struggling lately just with anxiety about different things and just straight up sadness. Good to remember the Lord is near and His peace transcends all understanding.

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but the interests of others." Phillipians 2:3-4

This is really really hard to do. In your own power that is. I have been praying this week for the Lord to transform me and live out this truth in my life. I love the remainder of this passage:

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. " Phillipians 2:5-8

Just such a sobering reminder that not even Christ counted himself as equal with God, being himself God, and made himself nothing.....humbling himself to the point of death on a cross! The most humiliating death, the death of a criminal, our Lord, our Creator died for us. So when my pride acts up this is what I need to remember! I need to be obedient to the Lord, I need to count others as more significant than myself, and humble myself. That's what I'm focusing on this week. Love to all!!!

Bible Verse Time

And I am a little late! Here it is....

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:10-12

I should really try to memorize that whole passage because it is soooo important. I especially appreciate the part that says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. It really puts it into perspective for me especially when I'm struggling to forgive someone. It helps me to realize that satan is the real enemy. And then it motivates me to pray for the person I'm struggling in relationship with and pray against the enemy, instead of closing myself off to that person or becoming bitter. Oh trust me, I have my fair share of that too. But this scripture reminds me that my struggle is with no person, but with the enemy of our souls. I am also really encouraged by the first verse; "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might." Just by reading that a boldness rises up in me. God is so mighty, and he wants us to be strengthened in his might. I sometimes picture the lion in the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe. I love that picture of a Lion, so mighty, almost terrifying, but so loving and just at the same time. Awesome!
Love to all!

Emotional Randoms

I've just had one of those days when random emotions sweep over me throughout the day. Deep sadness was one of them. It makes me so sad that so many people struggle so much with deep-rooted insecurity. Myself being one of them. Insecurity is such an ugly thing. It is absolutely vital that we realize that our worth cannot be based on our actions, or our performance, or our looks, or our acceptance by others. Our worth is in Christ alone. This is something that I need to truly learn to accept. I constantly second guess myself and beat myself up all day long because of stupid things! I allow condemnation and guilt define me. Ridiculous, I'm tired of it!!! There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST JESUS!! (Romans 8 I think) I also had a wave of almost tears just hearing about a daughter and a father having a conversation. Her dad has struggled with alcoholism his entire life and has been sober now for almost a year I think. She said since he gave up drinking he's started eating more sweets and drinking Mountain Dew. He went to the dentist this week who discovered he has 8 cavities. Well, her dad was telling her this and beating himself up for it and fretting about the cost of getting all the cavities filled and literally beating himself up for getting all of these cavities. She just looked at him and told him that she is so proud of him and she will pay for every single one of his cavities because this is so much better than when he was drinking. Just that picture of a daughter telling her dad she's proud of him and its okay to have some stupid cavities because him being present is so much more important than his dental hygiene. I don't know, I've just had one of those days where I realized how broken and screwed up and hurting we all are. All of us. Every single one is a complete mess. And Christ took our sin upon himself, LITERALLY on the cross so that we could be saved. Jesus is so awesome, dude! I just love Him. I just wish more people would realize how much He loves them.

Love

Hello!

I have a new memory verse. Are you ready?

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19

I constantly walk around doubting God's love for me. It is so difficult to comprehend a God as merciful, yet righteous and just, that could love me more than any human ever will. But I need to bank on that love. I need to grab it and lock it inside of myself and KNOW His love for me. Otherwise life just beats me up pretty good and the enemy gets the best of me. So thank you, Jesus, for loving lil ol imperfect, messed up me.

Memory Verse

Okay, so I know it's been quite awhile. My apologies. When you're chasing an 11 month old all over the place you don't get a whole lot of time to yourself. So, excuses aside, Stacy has guilted me into memorizing scripture. (Just kidding, Stace, encouraged is a better word). So my first choice is........

"Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.." Phil 3:8,9.

Oh to truly count everything else as rubbish and only find value in Christ. What peace this would bring, what pure joy. I am currently suffering some loss in my life right now, not necessarily for His sake, but it is loss none the less. I pray that through this I would gain Christ more and more.