What kind of generation are we?

“Oh give us clean hands,
and give us pure hearts.
Let us not lift our souls to another!
Oh God let this be,
a generation that seeks,
Who seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob!”

     Young people, are we this kind of generation? We as youth and young adults are the future of the world. What kind of legacy will we introduce to the world? Will we be a generation that truly seeks His face, a generation that has clean hands and a pure heart, a generation that lifts our souls only to the God of all glory? Or will we be a generation that struggles to reveal our light and be His tools?

    If there’s any hope for the future, it is through a Godly generation rising up in the name of Christ, bearing His cross and carrying His banner of mercy over our lives. That hope is through our generation rising up and being different from the world, pointing to our Savior and making a difference for Him. It through a generation that brings mercy, love and grace into a dark and merciless world. It is through a generation that burns for our Savior and is not afraid to let His name be know, to proclaim His kingdom to all people everywhere. A generation that brings Christ to the world.  Let us be that generation, a generation that God can use for His glory!!

“If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 

1 Peter 4:11

“For the glory of God!”

A lesson thorugh pain

 They say if you hurt deeply it's because you love deeply. Guess that's why my eyes burned from all my tears and my heart ached so badly as I lay in bed last night. It's the words you never want to hear about a loved one, "I'm sorry, she's gone."  It's the gut wrenching fear for their eternity and the raw ache of "what more could I have done?!" as you say good bye that person.

  Last night my 23 year old cousin passed away after a long battle with illness. It was the first time I've ever seen someone pass to the door of eternity. As I stood at her bedside holding her hand while Mama prayed with her, I was begging God, as I had done all week, to please not take her until she was right with Him. I was scared. I was terrified for her as I thought of how close she was to meeting God, yet she was not ready. We prayed until she had passed on. Then it hit me. A wave of such terror and sorrow as I had never known. My cousin was standing before the throne of God and I had no idea where she was going from there. As I begged God to bring her into His folds, all I could think was "what more could I have done?! What more was God telling me do that I didn't do?!"

   This though bugged me late into the night as I lay awake long after everyone else was asleep. As a Christian, I had "done my duty" to her and had planted seeds for years. Yet as a cousin, I know I could have and should have done more. Though I tried for years to witness to her (through Mama she did accept Him once, but walked away from Him when she was older), there came a time when I gave up and from then on I didn't mention it again. I only prayed. How we all prayed for years!!! My heart burns today as I think about my cousin, somewhere in eternity, and I do not know where she is.All I can do is cling to the promises of the Bible that God is mighty to save even at deaths door and that those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). I heard somewhere, that Christians have the power over one's eternity, even once they've passed on. That we can change someone's eternity through our prayers and our belief. Though I don't know if this is true, I continue to pray for my cousin, beseeching the Lord on her behalf to take her home with Him.

   This situation has really shown me just how fragile human life is, through a painfully personal example of that. I keep thinking, "how many more people like Alicia, have I allowed to pass through my life without making a better attempt at planting seeds into their lives? How many times has God tried to get my attention to witness to someone and I have haven't done it?" I haven't been making the most of every opportunity I've been given. I've been neglecting my duty as a Christian. I pray that God will help me learn this lesson once and for all, and apply it to my life in all areas, so that I never let another opportunity slip by without doing anything about it.

"For He knows how weak we are;  He remembers we are only dust.
Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die." 

Psalm 103:13-14

"For the glory of God!"

Created to be his help meet

(God has laid this post on my heart for the past 2 months.  I started it before I left for Zambia and it was supposed to be part of a "series." But while I was there I always got distracted writing about other things. Lol. So here it is, it's finally done.)

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”  Genesis 2:18

   Some women are called to singleness, but for most of us God has marriage in our future, and has personally hand picked the right man for us. However, something we often forget is He has also hand picked us for that man, knowing that no other lady would be right for him. 

  Ladies, if a man was evaluating us right now to see if we would make a good wife, would we pass the test? If a man was secretly checking up on us and reading everything we wrote on the internet, talking to friends and family, and watching us to see what we're like, would he approve of what he saw and read? How is our life and walk with the Lord reflecting who we are on the inside? 

  Instead of spending all our time day dreaming about our prince, let us evaluate ourselves to see if we are ready for marriage. We were created to be a help meet to our husband. That means we are to come alongside him in partnership, support and encouragement. To be a helper to him. Are we ready for that? Are we ready to take on all the responsibilities of running a household?  Are we suitable material for a wife?Are we guiding our actions and words to prepare us for marriage and to honor our husbands?? Are we women prepared for marriage or are we just overgrown little girls wanting to be married? 

"For who can find a virtuous wife? Her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:1 

   Ladies, Godly men seek Godly and virtuous women for their wives so it is important that we are such before we ever think about entering into a relationship. I once heard someone say "marriage does not change a person, but that person can change their marriage." Whether for the good of the marriage or not is up to us. If we want to be a good wife and have a strong marriage, it is important that we start now while we are both young and are not in a relationship, because being a good wife does not start at the alter, it starts years beforehand as we prepare for and head towards that ultimate goal. How we conduct ourselves as single women will be carried into marriage, so it is vital that we work on becoming a Proverbs 31 woman right now. If we answer any of the above questions in a negative sense, then we are not ready for marriage. Let us be studying what God says about being a Godly wife and work on making ourselves such a woman. Eric and Leslie Ludy have some great books out about what Godly relationships should look like, and Debi Pearl has a highly recommended book for women, called Preparing to be a help meet. These are all highly recommended books to read before we enter into a relationship.

   If we seek now to honor our future husbands in all our thoughts, words and actions, when he finally wins our heart he will be blessed beyond measure with this gift that we give him: the gift of our purity and virtue. Whoever we marry will be our best friend for life. We need to ensure that we are the kind of woman that will also be a best friend to that man. A woman who will bless him and stand by him all the days of our lives. The kind of woman he has searched for and prayed for for years and the wife that he wants us to be and God has called us to be.  

Here's a link to a really sweet song about being faithful to your future spouse, Faithfully by Eric and Leslie Ludy: (Turn my music off at the bottom of page)

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time and...it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry,wait for it,because it will surely come; 
 it will not be behindhand on its appointed day."

Habakkuk 2:3

"For the glory of God!" 

 

Glory to God forever? Or on occasion?

    
“Glory to God forever”…… such powerful and inspiring lyrics! But it makes me stop and think….am I really glorifying God forever or am I more of a once in a while glorifier? 

      I recently did a Bible study with the kids in Zambia on the Parable of the talents. As I studied up on the passages before the study the Lord spoke to my heart. He challenged me in how much I was praising and living for Him in my day to day life. Sure, I was in Zambia in obedience to His call, working with orphans and widows,  but that’s not enough.  I can’t go on a mission trip and spend months or weeks at a time serving Him and praising Him all day, then come home and leave all that behind. And sadly that’s exactly what I was doing. I would come home and get so wrapped up in my day to day life and become so comfortable here that I would forget to be living for Him in every possible area.

   God has given me my abilities and skills for a reason. Not to waste them while I’m home, but to use them for His glory wherever , whenever and however I can. He has created me for the purpose of glorifying Him in all that I do. From here on out I will use my life for Him, every chance I get. I pray that this song will be the declaration of my life and that my life will be living proof of His love.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 

John 4:22-24

“For the glory of God!”

He knows better than I

"My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.           
For He can view the pattern       
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side......

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why...." "The Master Weaver's plan," Benjamin Malachi Franklin

    Our life is like a woven pattern and Christ is the Master Weaver.  Each gold and silver thread are the victories, the joys, and the times of happiness and prosperity in our lives, and the dark threads represent the time of confusion, trial or hardships that are in our lives. Both threads are equally important to our spiritual growth and our refinement of character. God use hardships and times of joy and peace to shape us into the person He wants us to be. We may not be always understand why thing happen the way they do or what God is doing in our lives, but as the He is weaving our life's paths, He alone sees the way the pattern is unfolding and He alone is capable of leading us through life on the right path. He knows us and He knows our lives better then we do, for He wove us together in the secret place and we were made fearfully and wonderfully (Palm 139) by Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16) When we stand before Him one day and look back on our life, we see how all the pieces fit together and how every situation was a part of His plan and worked for our good in the end. Right now we are a work of art, on that day, we will be a masterpiece, completed in the day of Christ Jesus!

 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 

Ephesians 2:10

"For the glory of God!!"