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Love is?
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · Uncategorized

Love is?

carriedinthecross2 Comments

We all know the song. ‘Wherever you go, whatever you do I’ll be right here waiting for you. Whatever you say, though my heart breaks, I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

That song easily applys as a love song from Jesus. No matter what we do or say, even if it hurts Him He will never stop loving us. How many times do we break His heart? How many times do we make Him cry? He never holds it against us and keeps on loving us. He waits for us to come back to Him and He holds us close against His heart and tells us it’s going to be okay. That’s what true love is.  It’s not flowers, it’s not chocolate, it’s forgiveness, and no one knows forgiveness like Jesus. He took our sins upon Himself and made it so we could be forgiven, that’s amazing! We keep falling away and He keeps reaching out to catch us when we call. No matter what He loves us, truly loves us.

Nightmares 
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · Uncategorized

Nightmares 

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Fear ye not and see the salvation of the Lord- Exodus 14:13

How many of us have been in a situation where we were completely and totally terrified? Where, as Victor Hugo puts it, we ‘breathed fear’? 

The times when uncertainty overtakes reason, and possibilities, (no matter how irrational), come storming into our minds and filling us with complete fear. We become an embodiment of fear, and thus we become an embodiment of evil. Fear is not of the Lord, fear is of the devil, when we become filled with fear we become filled with the devil. 

Is it a sin to fear? I would say no, it is a lack of faith, but fear is a very hard thing to overcome and should not be categorized with other, more controllable emotions. All emotions are part of us but fear is placed in us, it is caused by something. Like hearing a thump in the office when you’ve just watched a really creepy movie, out comes fear. Or when you see a massive spider crawling up your pant leg, fear, (or fascination, some people like spiders). You were fine and then something happened to make you afraid. There are much much bigger fears too. The fear of losing a loved one, the fear of financial insecurity, the fear of dying and so on. Some fears are completely overpowering and take hold of their victim in a life altering manner. Fear always has a cause. The devil loves to see us afraid, it puts us off our gaurd and makes us unstable, then he can really get to work. God warns us about fear because He knows how overwhelming it can be. He tells us not to be afraid, 

“easy for you to say, you control all and see all,” we respond, 

but don’t forget that Jesus knew fear that few of us can imagine. God almighty, one who sees all and knows all, most powerful being EVER, was so afraid He sweat blood. We must not ever downplay the fear Jesus felt because He is God, His fear was very real. Jesus understands. He knows your fear and He doesn’t judge. He has a nail pierced hand reaching out, He’s saying “walk with me, I will protect you and go through this with you, you are never alone.” We never need to be afraid, we have a right to be afraid, but Jesus makes it unneccsary because we are not alone, we have God with us and legions upon legions of angels ready to fight on our side; with God numbers are never a problem, His army is always greater and always stronger and we always have Him because He always has us. So fear not because Jesus has overcome the world and He can help you overcome the causes of your fear.

You break it you buy it
Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · Uncategorized

You break it you buy it

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We have all seen the signs while shopping warning us that if we break anything we have to pay for it. The same is with people, if you break them you buy them. If you cause someone pain it’s up to you fix that pain. A simple ‘sorry’ doesn’t always fix things but if it’s with the heart then you tried and that counts right? Sort of. Not really. You have caused a crack in that person, a pain and it needs fixing. You need to do your best to cause the fix to the break you have created. Words last painfully longer than physical harm, even if those words weren’t meant to hurt, or weren’t even meant to be said, they still hurt and hurt a lot. It’s sometimes very hard to cure the pain you’ve caused but the pain the other person feels is your responsibility to fix none the less. We need to pray hard about how to fix the pain we have caused other people. We can’t always fix the pain but we have to try. Our best bet is to never say anything that hurts anyone, but when we do hurt others we can’t just say ‘oh well’ and move on we must realize our fault and fix the problem the best we can and then leave it in God’s hands.

Just a littke bit warmer 
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · Uncategorized

Just a littke bit warmer 

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I spent today like I spend most days off work, with my dog. This week so far has been particularly cold so long walks were out of the question. But today when I stepped outside I was pleasantly surprised by a warm breeze and a bright sun. This warmth encouraged me to take my dog all over town; we went through the snow on some hiking trails I hadn’t explored in years, and when we finally turned to go home it wasn’t with an anxious heart to get back inside, it was with a satisfied step which showed how nice a time we had had. This walk made me think how just a little warmth can go a long way. The warm air outside encouraged me to walk farther and do new things just like the warm encouragement from a pearson can make us want to continue on and take another step. The word encouragement is defined as the action of giving someone support, confidence or hope. In life we often face ‘cold’ days, times when the sun doesn’t shine and everywhere we turn we are hit by a blast of ice crystals. In these times it’s amazing how one person can make a difference. One person can take that day and either make it better or worse. When someone feels low and we try to lift them up, wheather we know them or not, we make God smile. That’s why God made so many people He knew we would need each other when the road grew too long. A word of support is like a warm breeze, it makes you want to add more footprints to the path of your story instead of stopping where you are. A simple “it’s going to be okay” or “you can do it” can be just what we need to carry on. So always try to be encouraging, who knows, your words may be the difference between someone’s success or failure, so choose them wisely and make them kind and encouraging. 
Galatians 6:2    Carry each other’s burdens, in this way fulfilling the law of Christ.

Do you want to be new?
Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Do you want to be new?

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Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God-Truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4: 23-24

We all ‘say’ we want to be more like Jesus. To be anointed with His kind of grace but do we really?

How many of us as humans would raise our hands and say, “Me Lord, make me more like you,” and actually mean it?

Not many. Because to be more like Christ we need to change from our old, sinful self into the new enlightened version that God has for us.

Sacrificing things to become closer to God is not an easy task and there are few who would take it up; but to put on the nature of Christ we need to follow his ways. Pray more, be kind to those who hate us, care for those in need, and throw a table or two once in awhile when none of the above are being effective.

But the greatest thing we can do to be more like Christ is love

Too much noise not enough sound 
Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Too much noise not enough sound 

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When you are so blessed but you let little things irritate you.

Remember how Corinthians said ‘if I have not love’ or in some versions charity, what am I? I resounding gong or a clanging symbol. Lately I have looked around and seen blessings on top of blessings, answers to prayers not just for myself but for others aswell and yet when the guy cut me off on the highway my response was less than charitable. When the third person that day nearly banged into me in Wal Mart and I turned to my mom and complained that wasn’t charitable either. In Wal Mart I should have expected to get banged into at least once, and later my mom and I were laughing about the strung together multitudes and then I realized; we had a great day altogether we were both in great moods, why did these things bother me? Let me rephrase that, who was really bothering me? The devil is clever making us react when little things happen, one reaction after another and soon something nice can be something not nice. For my day my friend Holy Spirit stepped in and said, ‘excuse me Lauren, that’s not the girl I raised talking,’ and I realized I was wrong in reacting, and like I said my day was great. Complaining about bad drivers is slander. I know that sucks most of us love to yell at traffic (or at least many of the people I know do) it’s cathartic in many ways, but it’s still slander. As Aladdin once said, ‘if I were as rich as you I could afford some manners.’ Can’t people as rich as we afford some Grace?

I feel terrible letting those things get to me, does the person in the silver Kia hatchback feel at all bad about my yelling at him? no, does the kid who nearly ran me down in the store feel bad? I hope not, He was having a bad day getting dragged around grocery shopping with his mom he doesn’t need my short fuse bothering him. That’s the problem, we all have things that we let get to us and it tears us down, and quite possibly tears others down too, especially the person we complain to. We need to learn to tell the devil to get lost and control how we react to things, or else we lack charity. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be a gong.

A touch without a feel 
searching · Uncategorized

A touch without a feel 

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When we are going to church, praying, reading our Bible but we feel nothing; we are touching God but not feeling Him. We all go through these ‘cold wars’ where our fire for God has burned low, if not completely out but it’s when we stop fighting during these wars that we are in trouble. We must fight to feel God again, to regain our connection to Him. We must push harder and seek deeper lest we lose all touch and feel of Him. We must fight until our ‘cold war’ heats up and we are on fire for Him again. So we must keep reaching out and touching God with the knowledge that He is reaching back; and though our grip keeps slipping we must try again and again until we feel His hand holding us. 

As the old song goes, ‘reach out to Jesus He’s reaching out to you.’ Don’t be afraid that you’ll never find your fire again, just keep diligently searching and you will eventually see that Jesus never left you no matter how cold you felt. He was always there waiting for your flame to rekindle and burn again, and yes, He was praying for you through the battle and helping you every time you let Him. So burn on little candle and let your light reach all around you starting them on fire too. If you put enough candles together soon you have a blazing inferno and that light will continue to reach until the world is on fire for Jesus.

If only they’d look closer, they’d find out there’s so much more to me.
Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · Uncategorized

If only they’d look closer, they’d find out there’s so much more to me.

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Don’t you ever wish that people would look closer, that they wouldn’t judge simply from an off hand meeting? People don’t see the real you until they take the time to get to know the real you. Jesus looks closer right away, he never judges even after He sees the true man/woman behind the mask, He loves you no matter what you are like. If only people could be more like Jesus, often times you wont know what the person is like until they feel comfortable to bring down their barriers and stop hiding behind the front they put up. True, some will prefer the false you and like you less once they get to know you, but others will like you even better when they see the true, genuine article. Don’t be afraid to look closer at people before you decide if you like them or not, Jesus wasn’t, He has always seen us with all our flaws and loves us even more for them, because the flawless can’t be refined.

Not just a misfit 
Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

Not just a misfit 

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Remember the island of misfit toys in Rudolf? The place to go when no one wants you because you don’t fit in. I realized recently how much I can relate to those toys. How often I feel like I just don’t belong and it made me wonder how many other people feel that way? I exspect many do. The world is made up of categories and either you fit in a category or you don’t really fit anywhere; but God didn’t create those categories people did. God didn’t make us to fit in a box and be stacked with all the other boxes labeled the same, He made us to stand out. God made us Rachel, Lauren, David, Ryan, Max. He didn’t make us athlete, equestrian, book worm, mathalete those are just parts of us, the whole is so much more than a category.  Some of us don’t have a category to climb into and maybe that’s because God has made us too unique to be just one thing. God loves  His misfit toys because they are the ones who will go on to shape the world the way God wants it. They will go on to be the next David Livingston, Martin Luther King, Peter, Mosses, Hur. Some people may only have a very small role to play in the big picture, but that role will be significant and amazing. God has made sure of that! Even if you never realize what you’ve done, we all will have done something amazing in God’s plan by time we are through here on earth. 

So embrace being a misfit, it’s the misfits that change the world.

The gift not under the tree
Christianity · Devotional · Jesus · Uncategorized

The gift not under the tree

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At Christmas time we think so much about gifts; giving and receiving. C.S. Lewis says that the greatest sacrifice was not on the cross but in the Manger. God reducing himself to a human baby to save the world. We mostly think of Jesus Himself when we think of Christmas, we don’t always acknowledge the sacrifice that God went through. There is no one on this earth who knows more love than a parent’s child, (Weather natural born or adopted). 

Jesus is in truth an only child. Being one myself I know what that means. It means that there is no one else for your parent to share their love with other than you. You are top on their list and are more valued than anyone else. Now think, God gave His most valued treasure to us to be mocked, beaten and murdered by us. Every tear Jesus shed God would have felt, every lash, every nail. I know that God turned His face away because of the sin Jesus took for us, but that doesn’t mean His heart wasn’t in agony for His beloved son. 

No one I know would sacrifice their child for anyone, let alone a world that mocked and hated them. So as God placed His child in Mary’s arms, knowing what would befall Him, He gave up the center of His heart to save us.