I love Him because He first loved me.

Who was this disgusting fleshly being that I had become? Or more accurately so, that I was. All the King’s glory that once was within me I traded over for quick thrills. There is no satisfaction in any of what I choose over my King but I chose it all anyway. In my mind was engraved the ideas that the poor offerings of the world were capable of filling my glass, yet in my heart I knew He was the only one who can fill it to overflow. My King was patient with me. He had the authority and the power to end me for a wide variety of transgressions, which all were equally as shameful. Yet He had chosen to have grace towards me. I pondered the reasons but my mind couldn’t fathom such kindness for a peasant such as myself. A peasant, yes, was how I had grown to see myself. My greatest talent was begging for mercy, another chance, and dare I say, forgiveness. Stupid of me to even request such things, yet the King offered them up gladly. “I care not what you have done” He said, “I care only about you.”

When I was alone I wept because I was unworthy. But most of all, because I had fallen in love with the King, the very king I continued to wrong. I screamed in frustration to the air demanding how perfection could even look upon me in my torn dirty rags. I was a mess, unclean and always falling. My diseases continued to thrive in me and I wished so desperately to be relieved of them, but they became a part of me.

But nonetheless my King told me He loved me, that He wanted to walk hand in hand with me. It was then my desperate attempt to fix myself began. In my life all I knew was that I loved Him therefore I would clean myself up, I would make myself worthy for Him. I would do anything to be by His side, the only one who has ever loved me.

I cleaned up and people were shocked. I changed my life around for my King. People were impressed and so was I. I had become a sight to see, people began to look up to me. But when I called for my King He was silent. I began to feel worried. He would not say a word. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. I clinged to the memory of when He told me He loved me… I would yell out to him on mountain tops, asking where He was… He never answered.

The wickedness inside me began to seep through. My discouragement led to other things, which caused me to stray away from the One I claimed loyalty to. I could not bare the pain of being alone. I told myself I did all I could and slowly lost hope. As time passed, I stopped searching for my King. I thought of Him throughout the day, knowing He was always going to be my first and only love. But I gave up searching for Him.

One night, a knock at my door. I opened it to see the King. I fell to my knees at the sight of Him. I put my arms around His legs and begged Him not to leave me. “Where were you? Why didn’t you answer me?” I cried and cried at His feet. He looked at me and said “my lovely, I have been waiting for you but you never gave me your hand. But fret not, I am here. You have no need to perfect yourself for I am perfection and I am your King. Walk with me, hand in hand, that is all I ever wanted from you, my dear. The rest will come.”

As I gave Him my hand peace washed over me. I realized then that all I ever had to do was reach out to Him, and He would save me.

Always will be

Making You my eveything has resulted in the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had. I feel You with me everywhere I go and I know you’re as happy about this as I am. You’ve changed me completely…I’m a better person when I’m with You. I want to be in Your presence every minute of the day and it’s easier to resist temptations simply by keeping myself near to you. From everything that’s happened to me this past week I realize I’m starting to know what real love is all about. I’m Yours, Lord. I always will be.

From filth to glory

I question my self, Lord, because I know in my depths of my heart and soul, You are all I want. If I had nothing else but You, I’d be happy. if You decided to scrap every plan I ever had for my life, I’d be ready to do Your work. You have my heart, You are my life. I desire You most. I love You most. I yearn for You more than anything else. But then…there come times when I choose my fleshly desires over You.

It confuses me how I could sin against the One I love with every fibre of my being. It makes me angry with myself that I claim to love You, then turn around and partake in the very things You despise. But I can’t help it. I’m so weak. I try to resist, and sometimes I succeed, but sometimes I fail… and sometimes it’s a lot of times.

But despite my actions, I know in the core of my spirit that You love me still. I will never run from You like I used to when I didn’t understand Your grace. It just bothers me that I am so human. I want to be more holy, I want to be more like You, but I’m held back by my humanity… And though your Spirit works in me and transforms me and helps me conquer sins and wrong attitudes, there is still that part of me that will always desire to give in to my flesh.

But despite everything, my King, I love You with all of me. I want more of You, more of Your presence. And, Lord, whenever You extend mercy to me, I fall so much deeper in love with You. You even use my sin to somehow make our relationship stronger. That’s how good You are. You take my filth, turn it into beauty, and then use it all to bring the glory back to Your name. You are magnificent and holy and to be adored. I love You so much.

Too

I come to you again, broken and ashamed
I’m forever amazed by Your grace
I don’t think it’ll ever be easy to grasp
The way You love me is beautiful
How You softly pour Your love onto me
By gently speaking kind words in my ear
My heart pounds in my chest—overwhelmed by You
Tears stain my eyes when You bless me with Your presence
Take my heart, Lord, and keep it for Yourself
I am Yours, my beloved
And I love You too

All of me for You

Take my life and every part of it, Lord
I'm not holding back, you can have it all
It's not even hard for me as it once was
I've fallen so deeply in love with You
That my heart is already Yours
Now I ask that you please take the rest

No matter what comes at us, Lord
It's not a worry anymore
Because I know that our love is lasting
You've taken me and You've fixed me
We've built our relationship out from brokenness
We've journeyed long and hard
I know we're unbreakable and inseperable
Nothing can snatch me from your grip

My God, I know I will be safe under Your protection
All the days of my life, You'll be holding my hand
No matter what comes, You never fail to be there
Through trials and temptations, You offer me an escape
When I am joyful, You take delight in my laughter

My Beloved, Your glory takes my breath away
Your presence is overwhelming
Your holiness humbles me before You
All I want is to be closer to You
And walk with You in obedience
Fighting the good fight of faith

Everything I ever needed

Whenever we spend time together, I fall more in love
You let me talk about silly things and you don’t get freaked out
when I randomly burst into a river of tears
My King, you’re such a gentleman in all your ways
You treat me like a lady and call me sweet names
When I sing, you think I sound beautiful even when I don’t

You never forget to remind me who I am
That in your eyes I am beautiful, lovely and desirable
And the fact that you think so is causing me to believe it too
You’ve changed me and the way I think about myself
You’ve changed my outlook on people and the world
Every day I feel myself becoming a little more like You

Every day you tell me of your everlasting love for me
How there’d be nothing I can do to ever sway your affections
You’re everything I always needed but never expected to get
You are my Beloved, there’s none other I’d have but You
Forget everything else, Lord, I just want You
How could I not? For the perfection that You are

Who could reject You after knowing a love like this?
I’ll spend forever with you, Christ Jesus
I will gladly follow You where ever you go
For You are my King—my Saviour
And I love You with all my soul

Depending on God

Despite the fact that King David was a man and a king, I find that I really relate to him so much right now. Like, when I read about him and the things he wrote… I just completely get him. It feels like he is describing my life.

This past Sunday my pastor even preached about him, and he pointed out that King David was a man who was entirely dependent on God. He relied on God and loved God since he was a boy, through good times, through the bad times and even as an old man… So David loved God and stuck with God all his life. He was a man after God’s heart. And even when he sinned in unthinkable ways, he STILL pursued God through his shame and guilt and pleaded with God to forgive him and not take the Holy Spirit—God’s presence—away from him… And so because of the sincerity of David’s heart, God forgave him. (Psalm 51)

So it makes me think, that even when I sin against God, I shouldn’t ever run away from God in shame, but run to God in repentance. I must depend on God through EV-ER-Y-THING.

This sounds like simple stuff, but how many times do we actually remember to run to God in repentance instead of away from him in shame?

My affections for God

Things that stir my affections for Jesus. These are things that when I do, hear, and/or partake in them, they widen my appreciation and love for God.

• Worship
• Prayer
• His presence
• Connecting with people
• Listening to a crowded room worship God
• Comfy blankets & perfect pillows
• The knowledge that Jesus loves me
• Speaking about Him
• People when they're vulnerable
• Coffee when I'm exhausted
• My puppy's joy dance when I get home
• Photography
• Creativity
• Puffy clouds
• Autumn
• Long heartfelt hugs
• People confiding in me
• Listening to sermons
• A good night of sleep
• Nature
• Animals

Things that rob my affections for Jesus. These are things that when I do, hear, and/or partake in them they hinder my relationship with God.

• Sin
• Watching television
• Worldly music
• Gossip
• Curse words
• Negative thoughts
• Choosing stuff over God
• Dwelling on negatives
• Not spending time with Him
• Mushrooms (lol jk)
• Trying to solve my own problems
• Worry and doubt
• Fear

There's much more than this, but these are all I could think of right now and they have recently been the main things that either edify or hinder me. Also, the idea to write this was inspired by Matt Chandler in this sermon in which he speaks about it "disciplined delights" at 35:15 minutes if you want to fast-forward it to watch that one part and understand better what he means.

God is up to something

I am overwhelmed. Completely and thoroughly overwhelmed by all that God is doing in my life. I never thought I'd be the girl who had potential to do something big for God. I never thought it was going to be me. My whole life I've bought into the lies of the enemy that I'm not good enough or strong enough or talented enough to be used greatly by God. I've been through so many changes in my life. I've been to the pit of brokenness and back. But this year topped it all. It has been the biggest battle of my life. It's been a good hard fight. It was time to get serious or accept defeat. So I got serious: I chose Jesus.

I remember one night I said to Him, "Lord, I don't want to be carnal Christian. I want to be one of the people that answers to your calling, that lives the life You have for me, that gives everything up to serve you, and so Lord, I am Yours."

Let me tell you, He sure has taken me up on it! The things He is teaching me, WOW! He is transforming my life, my ways, my behaviour, my attitude, and my thoughts. He's absolutely tearing me apart and putting me back together in a way that will glorify Him. He has been fervently teaching me to walk in the fruits of the Spirit, teaching me about prayer, and truly helping me to understand His word. He is teaching me the BE a Christian in mind, body, soul, and Spirit. He is breaking the walls, barriers, bondages, doubts, and fears, and replacing it with His reassurance and goodness and passion.

It is a beautiful process I am being taken through. And I'm still going through it. I still have tons to learn. It takes time to break bad habits and develop new good habits. But the change so far is evident. I see it. My parents see it. People see it. This weekend a bunch of ladies at my church retreat told me I have an amazing testimony, and I was like "what? me? I have a testimony?" I never thought of my life as a testimony. I've seen so many people giving their testimonies up on stage at church and always thought "I'll never have something special like that that can stir people up and touch their hearts." But this weekend I was shown that I was wrong. That that was also lie from the enemy.

There are no words to explain my thanks to God, for all that He is doing, and for the time He is taking to shape me and mold me into the person He desires me to be. All I could do that I know of is to continue loving Him and telling people about Him.

I am not the same person I was even a week ago.

Getting closer

I used to rely so much on having someone to talk to during the day, as in someone to text. I really just liked having someone to keep me company. And when I stopped talking to one person, I'd start with another. It's as if I wasn't okay being alone all day.

About 2 months ago I stopped that. Sure, I text here and there, but I no longer rely on people to make me happy or keep me company throughout the day. Instead, if I am feeling lonely, I talk to God, I read my Bible and/or Christian living books, or even listen to worship music. I bring those 3 things with me to school, just in case I get bored and feel like passing time.

Ever since I've started doing this I've felt such a deeper connection with God. I feel more complete. It feels good to put all my trust and hope and affection towards God. It is amazing to be free from the bondage of needing people, because honestly it was destroying my relationship with God. It seems so small, but when people take up time that deserves to be given to God, it affects you. Well, it affects me.

I can't thank God enough for answering my prayers. I ask him frequently to reveal to me things in my life that are taking the place of Him, and He always shows me new things that are actually huge that I never noticed before. Actually, I have also been asking for more Christian friends and it's like out of nowhere I am hanging out with people and find myself stopping for a moment to think "wow, how did I get here, sitting at a table with these amazing people talking about God?" because a few months ago I didn't even know them. He answers our prayers so subtly sometimes and then one day you realize everything for the answered prayer it is, and it's so overwhelming.

It's safe to say I'm in love.

God is bigger than your failure.

So you failed. You failed hard. You failed really hard. You are currently the worst you've ever been. You've strayed away from the you everyone knows, and became what you believe to be some kind of monster version of yourself. You lie, you cheat, you have so much anger and you act on it, you are involved in so much sin, you haven't spoken to God in at least a month.You're just out of control.

Yet all your family, all your friends, they have no idea. So they treat you like you're the best person in the world. They even come to you for advice. And deep down inside you hate yourself and you feel fake but you can't come clean because you cannot risk being judged by people you love. You want them to think good of you. You know you're good deep down, but you're just going through some messed up stuff right now.

You feel ashamed and guilty, you feel dirty. You feel like a mess. You want to talk to God, you want to be back in relationship with God but you don't even know how to get there anymore. You used to be doing so well, you and God were so close and you were so sensitive to his presence and his love. But now, you think "how do I even approach Him knowing what I've done?"

Well, I'm here to tell you that there is no condemnation for those who know Jesus. It says so right here in Romans 8 1-2:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

I'll break that down for you. There is no judgement for those who have salvation in Jesus. Before Jesus came and died for us, we were under the curse of the law which we see in the Old Testament which basically went like this: if you sinned, you'd have to sacrifice one of your best lambs and then ask for forgiveness and only then would God forgive you.

But then Jesus came in the picture and because He lived a perfect sinless life, he was the ultimate sacrifice that could ever be made on our behalf. He was perfect and innocent, and He took the fall for us, died a criminal's death....for us... And now because of that ANYTHING you do is paid for before God's eyes. You cannot be condemned for your sins, because Jesus already paid for them.

So even though you're ashamed of yourself and you see yourself as horrible, filthy, dirty... GOD sees you as perfect, blameless, spotless, clean, beautiful, and He absolutely adores you. And all he wants is for you to come back to Him so he could love on you and help you overcome all your fears and insecurities.

We run away from people who we think will judge us and not want us. That is not God. God is chasing after you begging you to just stop and turn to Him so he can show you that He doesn't want to judge you or condemn you, or hurt you, but to simply and wholeheartedly love you.

If you're in a mess, and you feel like you're in too deep. I can promise you that it's not too deep for God. He's already waiting, and the second you open your heart to Him, he's gonna be there with his hand out stretched waiting for you take it so he can guide you back on the right path.

Important

In those times where thoughts like 'you're not good enough' or 'you keep failing' come to your mind. When you tell yourself you aren't worth of God's love, and when you're embarrassed or disgusted or ashamed of your actions... It is important to remember that God knew you were going to stumble. He already knew you were going to fail. Repeatedly. He knew you were going to hurt that person, or look at things you shouldn't, or tell lies just to edify yourself, or cheat on your loved one, etc. He has always known your downfalls and He knows you will always have downfalls. He knew he was going to hear the same prayer over and over again asking for His forgiveness about the same thing all the time.

And He still loves you. He still wants you. He still wants to help you and work through it with you. He still died for you, knowing how much you were going to mess up and disobey him. You're not surprising God with your sin. He expects that because He knows it's inevitable. That's why God sent his perfect and sinless son to come and carry the burden and punishment for us. So that we won't have to. So that it's paid for. Because He loves us.

Don't ever let your sin get between you and God, or make you feel so guilty that you're too ashamed to even pray. He's not judging you, all he wants is for you to trust in His love for you so that you will come to Him, even when it's hard for you.

Despite all that we do. He loves us. It's very important to remember that.

Releasing the past.

Today was not a good day, to say the least. I am a combination of many emotions but hurt and anger are the most dominant.

I recently started restoring my relationship with God, and I’ve been so happy about it. I don’t want to ever go back to that place where the second something bad happens, I become too overwhelmed to pray. I don’t know why people do that, when we need God the most, we push Him away the most. It’s weird. But this time, through my situation I want to stay close to Him and allow him to comfort me. It’s not as easy as just doing it. It takes a lot of effort to let God in. To put away my frustrations and just give them up to Him.

Sometimes I desire to hold onto the things that have hurt me, because they’re mine, and they define what happened to me, and giving them away is scary because it means I no longer have an excuse to wallow in my grief when I’m not having a good day.

I have come to learn that it takes courage to give your troubles to God, and allow him to replace it with peace and joy. It harder to be happy, because you have to choose it. You have to choose to move on, and you have to never look back. But I’ve also learned that God takes care of us. He wants to be there for us and get us to trust Him enough so that we give up our pains and heartaches to him so he could give us a better life, one full of joy and laughter and peace.

So I’m giving up these feelings of hurt and anger that have completely consumed me today. I’m releasing them, and by doing so, I will allow God to fulfill me with Him instead. And it doesn’t mean I will never think of the things that I’m letting go of, but when I do think of them they will not have the power to hurt me or make me angry anymore.

Lighthouse

I am not afraid anymore. I am not full of shame and guilt anymore. I have given that all up to You and you have gladly taken it from me. You took away my burdens that you already paid for on the cross. You've washed me of my sins and given me a clean slate. You have declared me yours. Therefore I am Yours, I give myself to you. I surrender my life to you...everything. I have tried living life my way. My way never worked, my way led me to dark places. But you were gracious enough to take me by the hand and walk me out of the darkness. You sanctified me, and replaced all the darkness in me with your light, and you wrapped me in the comfort of your love. You are in me and you made me whole.

Now it is my turn. With the shining light you have instilled in me, I will walk back into the darkness, only this time to reach out to others once like me. I will pull them out of the darkness and lead them to you... I will tell them of what you have done for me. I will testify of your grace, of your forgiveness. I will be a living display of your love.

expectation

"What can I expect if I become a Christian?"

Oh wow, what a question that is. You know, some answers you may get to that might make you want to run away... and to be truthful, I really really dislike some of the answers I've seen to that question in the past.

I've heard how Christians are expected to do this, this, this and that. How we're expected to live a good Godly life, to be an example. That we're expected to have THIS opinion on THAT topic and no questions asked or else you can get up and leave right now.

Well you know what I think you can expect from being a Christian?!

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you." - Isaiah 54:10

You can expect to be LOVED!! You will be fiercely loved! You will be loved by Jesus with adoration, and you will be taken care of, and you will be FORGIVEN!!

Now that's beautiful!!! God doesn't expect anything from us! He just wants us to believe in Him and appreciate the sacrifice His son Jesus made on that cross for you! That's all he wants. And it is only when we choose God and fall in love Him that we naturally become like Him. It is then that we live according to the way Jesus lived. GOD'S LOVE and Holy Spirit that comes IN US is what causes us to BE CHRIST-LIKE.

And don't get me wrong, you should live a good Godly life... but the thing is, God's love is not dependent on that. Living a good life should come naturally if you claim to be a genuine Christian. It says that plainly in John 14:15: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." And a little further along in verse 21 it continues to say "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."

trials

I think when it comes to trials that we go through we ultimately have two choices. You can either choose to humble yourself and rely on God, or you can choose to get mad and push him away.

Up until last year, I'd always push him away, and as a result I would find myself so far from God I barely knew who He was anymore. I believe we go through every situation in order to grow and I believe God gives us tests in order to see how much he can trust us with, how mature we are, how much we can handle, etc. But he doesn't do it in a bad way at all, He tests us to help mold us into who we are meant to be, and to help us build our faith.

It's only in the past year that I've really committed myself fully to God. Where I chose that through thick and thin I will never leave Him, that I will always turn to Him and never against Him. As a result of that, there is an intimacy I've never felt before. There is a trust between us, a bond. It's a beautiful relationship. And as a result of my faithfulness He gives me more, blesses me more, and I am able to receive His love in larger quantities and quality.

Pushing God away is the worst thing you can do, because what are you without Him? He is everything, which makes you nothing without Him. No matter what you're going through, whatever difficult decision lies before you, whatever sin you're living in that you hate yourself for... none of that is a good enough reason to push him away. It's actually all the more reason to draw closer to Him. He wants you. He wants every bit of you, He wants to be the one you count on and the first one you tell when something good or bad happens to you. He wants a relationship with you. He never judges you, never hurts you, always forgives you, always loves you, always comforts you, always looks after you, and He holds your future in the palm of His hands.

"Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?" - Matthew 6:26

So, why do we turn from Him? It is human nature I guess, we inevitably let emotions take control of us. You must train yourselves to choose God every time. It's going to be hard, you're going to want to give up sometimes and it's going to take a lot of faith to continue seeking God through your hardships.

But once you do make the choise to lean on Him, your life will be changed. Forever. So turn to Him. Choose Him under any circumstance. He is waiting to love on you. You just have to let him.

"No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:39

purpose

I don't like the message of love Hollywood gives in movies, books, and music, etc. As if without that certain person we love our life would not be worth living. The song that brought this topic to my attention was Bruno Mars' song "It Will Rain":

If you ever leave me, baby,
Leave some morphine at my door
'Cause it would take a whole lot of medication
To realize what we used to have,
We don't have it anymore.

There's no religion that could save me
No matter how long my knees are on the floor
So keep in mind all the sacrifices I'm makin'
To keep you by my side
To keep you from walkin' out the door.

'Cause there'll be no sunlight
If I lose you, baby
There'll be no clear skies
If I lose you, baby
Just like the clouds
My eyes will do the same, if you walk away
Everyday it'll rain

Love is not obsessive, it is not unhealthy. That is why we cannot allow people to be our validation. Your significant other should not determine your worth. If you make someone your world, your everything, you'll surely fall apart if they ever leave you. People are human, we make mistakes, we can't handle such responsibility. We are not able to hold a person's worth in the palm of our hands and promise not to destroy it, and it's unfair to put that on someone's shoulders.

God is the only one who has the capacity and ability to fill the void and satisfy the longing in your heart. God is the only one who NEVER will leave you. God can take that responsibility. He can hold you up and make you strong. We need Him, and living without him, without his love, is compromising the life we were made to live. We were made to be loved by God. We all want God and crave his never ending unconditional love. Some people may never realize it's actually God they are searching for rather than their spouse or career, or their "purpose"... God is your purpose. And it's so heartbreaking to me that people will look everywhere except to God to find it.

I think Hollywood takes that desire we have and puts its own spin on it, claiming you find it in another person, or in things like money and sex. I believe everything Hollywood stands for and presents to us in any form of media goes against the Christian church. But it's so subtle. The Bible says the world is against us and that the devil will do everything to misguide people, and that people will believe it.

I just think people should be cautious with what they allow to influence them, and be aware of what subtle subliminal messages are being sent to us through the things we watch and listen to.

God is love. If you put your trust in Him, you will find happiness.

dating

I don't know what it is with people these days who just go out and date anyone they find themselves attracted to. I really don't get it. To me, if you are going to date someone, they have to have at least some of the qualities you would look for in a future spouse. What is the point of going out with someone if you have zero intention of anything long-term?

The world will try and tell you that you should just go with the flow and date around and see what happens but I really don't believe in that. I think everything you do, every decision you make, should be prayed about and only when God's will is in line with your heart's desire should you take a step forward into a relationship.

forgiveness

I’ve come to this point where what I realized had me left in awe of the goodness and love and graciousness of God.

No one is hopeless. Even when they’ve done horrible things, hurt people they loved, hurt themselves, hurt God… even if they’ve been to jail for murder. They are not hopeless in God’s eyes. What human can give out that kind of love and forgiveness? Who but God has the capacity for that much love?

I just feel so bad for people who truly believe they are worthless and hate themselves for the things they’ve done…people who are on the brink of suicide because they think they will never be forgiven. If only they knew that God forgives maybe they would regain faith in themselves, faith in God.

There was once a famous Atheist lady who said “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.”

And just that, I believe, speaks volumes. Everyone wants to be forgiven.. And there is a God who forgives ALL things if only we ask, even the things that we humans cannot imagine ever forgiving someone for.

potential

I never wanted you to feel alone, or unloved, or unwanted… It has always made me sad to think that you believe these things about yourself. I see you so much better than you see yourself. I see so much potential in you. Potential that you could fulfill if only you chose to believe me when I tell you you’re worth it. You deserve goodness, and love, and loyalty. I know happiness seems like a distant memory to you, but you could have it back. You simply must choose it.