His glorious grace.

-it is by grace we have been saved.
-grace is the very core of our lives. the reason for such a great price to be paid for such filthy undeserving people. grace is what paid for our sins and allowed us to enter into such a thing as unconditional love with the King of the universe. 

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. 

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. 

With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."

-Ephesians 1:3-10

-God accepted us and forgave us when there was absolutely no reason for Him to. 
-He paid an incredible cost to pay for us: you and me, sinners, humans falling short of His glory and stumbling through a faith we hope to have. us, dirty and broken. 
-the perfect God paid such a cost as his only son, to pay for US!! that makes no sense- that should blow our minds, but we take it for granted completely.
-we have been sentenced a lifetime and eternity of hell with our sins, and every single sin was paid for with such an enormous price. that is grace. 

"For sin shall not have dominion over you, 

for you are not under law but under grace" 

-Romans 6:14

-God's grace brings salvation to us. it brings life, light, love. it brings all of this teaching us also what it means to love, what is means to show grace. 
-i believe God shows us things like love and grace in enormous ways because he is teaching us how large of a part they play in faith and in our relationships here on earth. He wants us to learn from the biggest examples of grace, what it is and what it looks like in its purest most real way. so we can show grace to the world as God showed grace to us. 
-grace is so powerful and so beautiful. He lavished on us the riches of His grace. they are rich with mercy and love. -how beautiful His love is for us. so pure and real!
-Grace was shown in His sacrifice of Jesus, shown to us in the most raw way- that we might see how undeserving we were of forgiveness and how much God paid for our forgiveness. 
-He is making grace clear to us in that alone. that we must forgive willingly showing grace, so we can also reveal and show Jesus. 
-we say we want to reveal Jesus in our lives, in how we live. grace is a huge way to reveal Jesus through our lives. for grace is what reveals the very existence of our own lives.  
-love unconditionally- show your love to others without conditions. did God hold conditions over His love for us, no, never. if He had we wouldnt have gained His love. to love others like He loves us we must show grace in our unconditional love. 
-it goes against this world completely, that we should forgive even when they are undeserving, grace is apparent because it is rare in this world. you dont understand and know grace without Jesus. he allows us to love others through His unconditional love for us. 
-let us love like Jesus. so we can show Jesus to this world. revealing how He loves us and forgave us without any reason to besides love. when we dont see reason to forgive, to accept, remember what God did for us, did He have reason? He didnt. 
-He loves us even through our sin, we should love others through everything, so we can be more clear pictures of Christ on this earth. 


we were dead,God's grace saved us,God's grace gave us life.

humble yourself

this life is not mine, it does not belong to me, my life was purchased by Jesus Christ and belongs to HIM. 
- sometimes we let this slip our mind in our daily life, this world has made everything about you. about you being comfortable, living where your'e comfortable, finding a a place in life that is comfortable and good for you.
-if my life belongs to Jesus, then i should strive to be like Christ walking this earth, wherever that is for each of us, my life belongs to Him so he should gain my whole life- i must give Him all of it.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." - James 4:10

"He must become greater, i must become less." - John 3:30 

- humble yourself before Jesus, becoming aware of our position before Jesus, showing us that God is everything, and i am nothing. 

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, 

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

rather, he made himself nothing 

by taking the very nature of a servant, 

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, 

he humbled himself 

by becoming obedient to death, 

even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 

in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father."

-Philippians 2:5-11

- my life here on earth is just a tiny cell to somehow be used to bring God glory. i am to live as His servant, taking a place in this world as a servant for Christ. a servant is one you doesnt work to boast of themselves but works so they can boast of Jesus!
-but to think He needs us and our life is so far from the truth. that is where we must humble ourselves before Him, realizing how we are nothing. our life is His, so everything in it should be for Him. glorifying Him.
- realizing this is also realizing you are to become uncomfortable in this life for Him. 
- going against the worlds way, but humbling yourself with the fact that Jesus died for you, humbling Himself through death.  (so the least we can do is humble ourself through life.)
- if He did that for you, we must take that and humble ourselves in each day, living for Him in everything: meaning not living for ourselves, something hard to grasp as human but something worth striving to grasp and live.
- find humility, and trust comes from this. trusting in Him so we can surrender our life to Him.
- trusting is not a leap of faith, and it is not a blind faith. while we dont see what there is before us in the future,  we can see the one we trust. that is faith.


i am nothing, YOU are everything.

i run to You first.

isaiah 32:21:

whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "this is the way, walk in it."

proverbs 1:33:

but whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.

i am surrounded by people: friends, great friends walking with Christ, family, protecting loving parents, mentors, teachers, tons of people looking out for me, for my best interest. and although they have the best wishes at heart, i know You, God, are the only one who truly knows whats best for me and my life here on earth. i find myself looking to others for advice, asking for help with decisions from my great friends. when i NEED to be running to You, always You, You first, You in the highest. i will only fall deeper and deeper into darkness if i listen to this world and not You first. instead of running to others, turning to others, listening to others, or acting because of others, i will act only in Your perfect Holy Will. i'll pray first, lifting everything to You. i will listen to You and hear You in the silence, i will make time for you FIRST, and i will be guided by You instead of the glamours of this world. while i try to look to other to fit my needs, You are the one that fits EVERY need! and while others may only want the best for me, NO ONE knows our unique relationship. Your perfect guidance will NEVER fail, all i have to do is come to you with everything, and hear Your voice in the crowd of this world. and the closer i am with You, God, the clearer Your voice seems to be to me. You are my Father, my teacher, and my best friend. You created me in beauty, You sent Your son to die for all of my sins, You created a perfect path for my life to glorify You. so who will i listen to? how can i go on not listening to You before anyone else. You know, You love, only You perfectly! so i turn to You with everything, You will not fail, guide me, uphold me in Your hands God, i love You, i need You. no one knows whats best but You, not me, not anyone else in this world, i surrender it all to You!


Psalm 73:24
YOU guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into GLORY.

perseverance.

i am lovin' reading from James today... faith and deeds, the words of our tongues, wisdom, about tomorrow, humbling yourself...but especially about patience & perseverance..
James 1:2-8
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
& verse 12 says:
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.


-God continues to bless me through His word. i've gained so much wisdom and strength in the word this week, its as if He is guiding me to and through each book i read...i know He has a purpose for each word and the exact time i read it. and i aim to get everything He has intended for me to out of the words i read.
-we need the trials He places in our paths. -i know this very well. but that is much easier said than truly believing and grasping. 
-you can say those words as much as you want and think you believe in them but until you are placed right in the middle of a struggle, a trial you cant face alone, you cant completely believe the words that we NEED trials. 
-trials test our faith, which we need constantly as humans. 
-but its hard to think that we would consider it joy to face trials of many kinds, im at a place where i do consider the trials i face joys...
-i find myself at a place of growing right now, i know God is putting me through pain and pretty tough trials that are producing great perseverance in me.
-im giving this time completely up to God, right now and the future, His marvelous plan includes my pain right now, it includes alot i dont understand. im not praying that i would understand this time, or anytime to come, but praying for complete trust, surrendering it all to my God, who holds my world in His hand!
-i believe in God's plan for me and everything that is included in that path, i have no doubts that His plan is much much greater than my own. "you must believe and not doubt"
-to be stable we must not doubt, we cannot doubt in this walk with our Father
-those who persevere through all the trials they are given has stood the test. they will receive the crown of life!
-but to persevere through any trial means realizing that we have no other constant in our lives, or in this world, than our God.
-He is the only thing in our life that wont change, that wont leave us, He will never leave our side. we must realize how crucial that is in our lives.
-CRUCIAL!! its so crucial to realize that we need that constant to hold on to when things change, when there is nothing else we can hold onto without losing it at some point.-YOU CANT LOSE GOD, it isnt possible. so why would we ever attempt to hold on to anything else if it wont hold us up forever?....we have a constant -and it is God...a constant love. a forever. a promise. hold on to that!
-and that is where you find perseverance-in your only constant. 
-i have found so much joy in my trials through God's love for me, the wisdom He gives me in these verses that shine a light through these momentary struggles i am facing. i have patience in His timing, knowing that patience is also trust. which builds our faith!
-patience knowing that my God is shaping me in these trials to become a stronger woman of God, with greater perseverance. 
-"blessed is the one who perseveres under trial" 
-i thank my God for the trials He faces me with, for i can feel the growth and perseverance shaping me as i walk with my Father through each day..


YOU are my constant.

lose your life for me.

the purpose of our crosses is to keep us from going astray from Jesus, their purpose is to drive us back to His cross. to keep our redeemed souls close with Him forever...


Luke 9:23-24
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
-Jesus says we must deny ourselves (our sinful nature that always goes against God's will) 
-He calls us to fight our sinful self.
-then He says we must take up our cross, we each have different struggles and unique challenges, we each have our own crosses. which we are called to carry daily. not once a year or every now and then, but daily we are to carry our own crosses, our personal sins.
-yes, He promises daily challenges and problems to those who follow Him. our own life is compared to the cross, full of pain and suffering. but why? 
-Jesus sends us the cross- for the purpose that we deny our sinful nature.
that instead of living to please ourselves, and looking to only nourish our own wants and needs-which would be saving our lives - and losing our souls forever..for eternity. 
-Jesus sends us the cross. He sends each of us our own troubles and problems. because we are his children and He loves us.
-so, why does He give us pain in our troubles? -because He loves us. because it drives us back to Him for the strength to get through those struggles. the ONLY strength that will overcome everything.
-if we dont take up our crosses daily and follow Him our struggles and sin will build up like mold and grow worse and worse, preventing us to go to Him with all our hearts, completely and totally vulnerable with all our heart, and be close to our Savior. 
-for each of those times we are most concerned with pleasing our own sinful self, it drives us to His cross, to forgiveness in His blood. it drives us to His Word that overflows with the love that is shown in His death on the cross. it drives us back to His promise of eternity, of a forever love. it drives us back to the blood He shed so we have continual strength and forgiveness. it drives us back to Jesus. 
-our crosses drive us straight back to His cross. 
-cant you see that He places problems and pain in our lives to bring us closer to Him.
-we find this in His Word, and that Word helps us to deny our sinful self and to find nurture and love in our faith.
-"whoever loses his life FOR ME will save it"
this means denying ourselves everything that influences us, each in our own personal struggle with our own sins, it means denying what leads YOU away from God & Christ's blessings through His pure grace that washes us clean and pours over us through the gospel. 
-we must deny our sinful self, and take up our own cross daily. 
that means more to me now than it used to, after really reading it i grasp the true meaning of it all.
-that i must fight my own sins, each and everyday, and take up my own cross to drive myself back to the strength of Jesus on His cross. 
-the one who went to the cross for you in love sends you crosses, struggles, out of love to keep you close with Him for eternity! so you might lose your own life and stop pleasing yourself to instead live to only please Him...


lose your life for me and save it.

precious promises.

we have absolutely nothing to do with our gift of faith, except accepting it. the preciousness of His promises isnt affected by our unworthiness. that is what makes it precious- is that its from God, and He doesnt change, how precious are His promises to each and every one of us!

2 Peter 1:3-11

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. but whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. for if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

this gives a clear picture of His precious promises and how we can make every effort to receive everything His promises have for us. to soak it all up in our lives...

-His promises offer the love and glory of Christ as our base to grow strong in our role in the divine nature. 
-He is within us, this he promised, to allow us to grow more and more Christlike. 
we have been made new in Christ and have escaped the corruption and lust of the world in our new birth. now it is left for us to make this new birth evident to everyone by our new and changed self and actions. 
-our participation in the divine nature is just the start of Christian living, not the final goal. so once we have been made new in Christ and change our behavior we are called to continue in this relationship. to dive deep into every little crease of Him and completely change our mind and heart to be more like Him every day.
-it takes full participation, and it shows as we let our thinking and living in our lives be renewed.  
-we are called to make EVERY effort to CONFIRM our calling and election! that means letting absolutely everything in our lives revolve around Christ's love and in that mindset we will gain qualities that will make us increasingly effective and productive in our walk with Jesus.
"add to your faith: -goodness, and to goodness,
                           -knowledge, and to knowledge,
                           -self control, and to self control, 
                           -perseverance, and to perseverance,  
                           -godliness, and to godliness,
                           -mutual affection, and to mutual affection,
                           -LOVE.
for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 


-without them we are blind, and forget the past sins we have been cleansed from.
do everything you can in your each and every day and in your life to confirm your calling instead of just stating it. CONFIRM IT & change your life for eternity! 
that is His promise, and our life, with Him-in Him, defines these promises for each of us!


confirm your calling.

be still.

i find almost as much joy and peace from reading my old journal entries as i do from writing new ones everyday.
today i am reading old pages from my journal, and it reminds me of where God has taken me this past year and where i have been with Him. it takes me back to those emotions and reveals to me the growth i have had, and most importantly shows me how God works in our lives, His intricate meanings weaved inside His course for us...we dont see it at the time but everything plays a part in this course. 
-i am thankful for my journaling over the past year, i can truly say it has strengthened my relationship with Christ so much.
-i look forward to my time away from this world with God everyday, time with my creator, my best friend, my constant, my love. my quiet time with Him is important in my day and in my life.


He calls us to be still and listen in His presence, so He can strengthen us. 
-our lives are busy, and i hear people say it all the time-that we dont have as much time, that we have too much to deal with everyday in this busy world...
-but the truth is- you always have time for the God who has given you THIS time, that has given you THIS LIFE. 
-so how can we ever say we dont have time or are too busy to spend time alone growing with the one who gave you each minute your living? 
the busier you are the more you need time alone with Him.

John 15:5- I am the vine, you are the branches. if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.

i remain in Him by listening, being still and quiet, reading His word, and writing to Him and about Him. spending time with Him allows me to remain in Him- living in Him, because without Him i can do nothing.i have also found much strength in each day from this time with Him-i feel stronger because i am sufficient in His strength through our time together. 

-if we do not take time from everything else to be with Him we will be trying to rely on our own strength  
-although i know that this strength wont last for long and will become exhausted.
-after our own strength isnt able to hold us up anymore we will either cry to God for help or turn away from Him in pain. 
we NEED to walk close with Him, and depend only on His strength through everything and everyday. 


take time away from this world to be with your God and you will find blessings of peace. 
...along with strengthening yourself and your relationship with Him. 


"walk in the light with Me, and you will reflect Me to the watching world."
-alone with you