Ever Important

Matthew 6:27
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

This verse is very familiar, but one that seems to need a lot of repeating. When your family is hurting or your friends are struggling, it's very hard not to worry about them. But look at it from Father's point of view. Our worry tells Father that we do not trust him to handle things. That is, of course, ridiculous. Father has a plan for everyone's life, He forgets no one, and He absolutely knows what He is doing. Worrying is a time wasting activity; instead of worrying, we should pray. Have faith in Father and let His peace rest your soul.

Last night at The Village was great. We sang "Come Ye Sinners" by Todd Agnew, a song that was unfamiliar to me but contained a line I loved.

Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus ready stands to save you
Full of pity, love, and power
Come ye thirsty, come and welcome
God's free bounty glorify
True belief and true repentance
Every grace that brings you nigh
I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior
Oh, there are ten thousand charms
Come ye weary, heavy-laden
Lost and ruined by the fall
If you tarry until you're better
You will never come at all

This expresses to me so clearly how pointless our lives are without Jesus (which was the message last night). We cannot live on our own. Father built our bodies, provides us with air (and everything else we need), and protects us, loves us, cares about us. And maybe most importantly, Father defines us. As followers of Christ, we are not defined by our jobs, our families, our friends, but by our Jesus who lives in our very hearts. Go to Father with your struggles, your pain, your worry immediately. If you tarry until you're better, you will never come at all.

Now it's truly Saturday

I got to sleep in today. It's such a nice feeling. =]

Matthew 6:22 says The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

This verse is found in the midst of a passage about treasure and priorities. As children of God, we are instructed to store up treasure in Heaven rather than here on Earth, because the Earth will fade away but Heaven is eternal. This verse seems to be telling us to make certain we are using our eyes to look at things Father approves of. But I also think it may be saying something about how we express ourselves with our eyes. If we've invited Christ into our hearts to cleanse our sins, we have Him living inside us, and it is our job to let Him spill out of us and affect others. Simply smiling at someone can make their day, and we can shine God's light out of our eyes.

Pretend it's still Friday...

I'll post again later for Saturday; Friday deserves some space, because it was a great Friday. Mom, Ketcher and I drove up to Dallas today; we'll come back Sunday.

First, the Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love. Love is the key. 1 Corinthians 13 is well known for being all about love. The love of Father is something genuinely indescribable; but it's something I sincerely hope everyone experiences. A song comes to mind--one of my favorites which was used in the dance concert I attended tonight. It's called "How He Loves" and is by either John Mark McMillan or Kim Walker. Both versions are excellent. The lyrics are beautiful; the chorus is simple: Oh, how He loves us so. Oh how He loves us. How He loves us so.

The girls (and a few boys =]) I watched dance tonight are fantastic at expressing the love of Father. They are all beautiful, inside and out, and I love them very much, even the ones I don't really know. The company is called Ingredients and is a part of Dance Revolution's ministry. DR is a convention I go to here in Dallas each November. Christian dancers from all over Texas and the surrounding states gather and take classes from amazing teachers, put on a great show, and are treated with church Sunday morning--a huge production put on by the DR staff and Ingredients. I look forward to Dance Revolution for months before it happens each year. I have had the privilege of ministering with the company occasionally since it's creation last school year because of the connection between Ms Karin and Mr Kato and Ingredients (both Karin and Kato travel with DR as teachers; I'm lucky enough to have them all the time). Several of our girls have graduated high school and gone on to Ingredients as well. They have ministered so much to my heart; I talk to many of the girls weekly online. They're awesome children of God with amazing gifts and talents.

Meanwhile, I'm once again loving the city of Dallas. I think tomorrow Mom and I are going to go to Grapevine Mills Mall and we'll go with Ketcher and Dustin to The Village Church tomorrow night.

Sweet dreams!

TILT

I'm remembering, for once, that it's Things I Love Thursday!

I love... Drinking PEPSI and playing Gardening Mama in choir because it's after Showtime! so there's nothing left to worry about.

I love... Getting out of school when it's still morning.

I love... Feeling loved right before falling asleep.

I love... Listening to Harry Potter on audio book.

I love... Macaroni and cheese.

I love... Summer weather. Yes, it's hot, and I really love it.

I love... Dallas, where I'll be by this time tomorrow to go to the Ingredients concert and hang out with Ketcher's friends.

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I often feel that it is simply impossible to please people. No matter what you do, how hard to try, how many things you accomplish, it never seems to be enough for some. Today's verse reminds me that I should just stop worrying about pleasing people. It is never going to happen, so instead of expending all that energy toward a futile goal, I should utilize my time to please God. Not to say that I am just going to blow off people and decide no one matters anymore. No. Not true, not good. But my main concern should be following God's path and His instructions, not trying to make people like me. Their opinion is not going to last for eternity. God's is.

School is so close to being over I can taste it. Mom and I are driving up to Dallas this weekend for Ingredients Spring Concert, and I cannot wait to see all my girls up there. <3

John 15:13

So perhaps this blog is going to be a daily dissection of the Bible verse that is patiently waiting in my inbox each morning. That is okay, right? =]

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus died for us. And since Jesus is God in human form, GOD DIED FOR US. Hello, that is crazy! Why, why, why would the ultimate, superior, all-knowing, self-sufficient, powerful, amazing God die for measly humans like me? Like the beginning of the verse says, the key is LOVE. God loves us. He was willing to sacrifice His son so that we could live forever in Heaven with Him. My mind cannot fully comprehend this, but I am so, so thankful for it. 

Proverbs 12:16

Biblegateway.com has a "Verse of the Day" e-mail that duitfully sits in my inbox each morning until I awake and click on it. Sometimes it takes several days to share a group of verses (earlier in the week it featured Ephesians 6:1-10; the armor of God), but generally it is just a random verse. Today's was Proverbs 12:16.

A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

I do not recognize this verse, but I love it. How often do people (especially teenagers) get into stupid fights with their friends? Every day it seems when you go to public school. Everyone around them can see that the two are arguing about something that does not truly matter; but they are stubborn and insistant. When you can let the unimportant insults slide, life becomes easier. No one's opinion truly matters except for Father's, anyway.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The Bible verse I picked to display in the tail of my name on my letter jacket was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 because these verses beautifully describe the way I often view my life.

There is a time for everything, 
       and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die, 

       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal, 

       a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh, 

       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up, 

       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend, 

       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate, 

       a time for war and a time for peace.

It has been made very obvious to me that these verses are true (all of the Bible is complete, perfect Truth). Father has put me through many seasons, and I am only seventeen years old, not even through high school yet. Unlike the seasons caused by the rotating and revolutioning of the Earth (though here in hot, humid Texas, we pretty much experience summer and...cooler summer), Father's seasons do not follow a pattern every year. Some last for a lifetime. Others last only a few weeks. And His seasons can overlap. The important thing is to follow where He's leading, let the season He wants for you take over. Don't try to hang on to the spring when Father is ready for summer. His timing is perfect. Go with it.