It's All About the Fit (Boys and Jeans)

About a week and a half ago, I decided that I could use another pair of jeans. Jean shopping isn't always a pleasant task for me, but I went. I had in my mind a kind of style I wanted. So I go to Old Navy and decide to try on a plethora of jeans. I wasn't sure what size I was, what length to get, what style was good for me. I just went jean crazy. Some that I had tried on were too big, too long, too short, too small, or just weren't the right color I was looking for. There were some that I tried on that were great in many aspects, but there were a couple things I disliked. I thought to myself, "No matter how much I like the way the jeans look on the shelf or on the rack, it's about the jeans fitting me, not me fitting the jeans." And then, in a moment of sheer brilliance, I realized "Hm...that can actually be applied to boys."

Sometimes when you see something you like and you try it on, it doesn't fit. It just doesn't work. And that's okay. You find another pair that do work. You don't change to fit the pair that doesn't work, you find something that fits you.

So in every girl's wardrobe, there's always that one pair of jeans they have that make them the happiest. They're the favorite. They're comfortable and the make her look good! It's almost like they were made for her because it's all about the fit!

I hope you understand my analogy. And just so you know, I did walk out with a great pair of jeans that day. They were just what I was looking for. As for the boy that fits, he didn't show up that day. That's okay for now though. :)

Stop. Drop. Wait.

"Be more quiet now and wait for the voice to say, 'be more quiet now and wait for the voice to say...'"
-David Crowder

When was the last time you were quiet? When was the last time you waited and, more importantly, waited with patience? Maybe you should try it more often. Maybe it shouldn't be a maybe and maybe you should do it.

Stop thinking about tomorrow. Stop thinking about the things that are bothering you. Just stop it. Drop it. And wait on God. Give God the attention He deserves and the attention He desires from you! Yeah. I said it. God desires your attention.

What good are you worrying and impatience going to do you anyway? They'll just leave you with a headache. Don't rush. Don't sit and wait for 5 minutes and be done. Learn to quiet your mind and quiet your heart. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

Do you want to be a true worshipper? Do you want to have a strong relationship with your Creator? Turn your brain off to everything else and focus on Him. Put your hope and faith in Him.

Be here now. Be here in His presence. Sometimes you'll have to wait to feel it. Don't let that stop you. Be where you are, where you are. God is there. God is here. Open your eyes to Him in THIS moment. Right here. Right now. Even when your world is upside-down, find your peace and center in Christ. That will only happen when you take the time to find Him.

I'll leave you with a quote. Elisabeth Elliot said this:

"The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived- not always looking forward as though the 'real' living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow."

Book Review #1

"Developing the Leader Within You" by John Maxwell

Now that I have been acquainted with THE John C. Maxwell for a couple years, I thought it was time to actually read one of the books he always talks about.

Here's what I got out of it:
-Realize your potential.
-Care for people and not just your personal agenda.
-Be a person of excellence. Go the extra mile.
-Success is achieved by planning and sticking to the plan!
-Separate the good from the best.
-Be a person of integrity. People won't follow you if they don't trust you. (This doesn't just apply in the leadership arena. Integrity is important to God.)
-If you want to grow, expect change. You're not going to grow without it.
-Nobody likes a bad attitude. Don't let it get in the way of your growth.
-Leaders see potential in others and encourage them to go for it.
-Learn how to be a problem-solver. People always have problems.-
-"The size of the person is more important than the size of the problem."
-"Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it."
-Motivate people. Your dreams aren't going to come true without them.
-People buy into the leader before they buy into the leader's vision.
-"All great leaders possess two things: one, they know where they are going, and two, they are able to persuade others to follow."
-Be a model for people to follow.
-"God's gift to me is my potential. My gift back to God is what I do with that potential."
-Learn self-dicipline. Conquer yourself before your conquer the world.
-Take responsibility and accept accountability.
-Become character-driven instead of emotion driven. Commitment vs. convenience.

Those are just a few of the things I got out of the book. I encourage you to read it if you plan on being a leader of something somewhere in your life. You'll get a lot more out of reading the real thing than reading my really really brief Cliff's Notes version.

I give it a B.

Phobia

"The fear of man brings a snare (a trap), but whoever leans om, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high." - Proverbs 29:25

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation-whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?"- Psalm 27:1

It is human nature to fear something. It is a constant uphill battle for many people. It could be a fear of losing money, losing friends, losing someone's good opinion, losing something. I have noticed in my own life that I have feared/fear a lot of different things. I'm not talking about my irrational fear of snakes or your fear of spiders. I'm talking about something bigger-the fear of people. What if they don't like me? What if I'm not good enough? What if I get rejected? What if I say something wrong and I look bad? All these "what if" questions! At some point in their life, everyone has asked themselves one or all of these questions.

Fear is the antithesis of faith, or the opposite of faith. Where faith is, fear is not and vice versa. There are 5 things that I have noticed about both of them.

Fear:
1.) Originates from Satan.
-John 10:10 says he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Fear is stealing, killing, and destroying your faith everytime you let it win.
2.) Resides in your heart because of insecurity.
-You are taking your word about yourself over God's Word.
3.) It is selfish.
-The moment you are in fear, you aren't just trying to protect yourself, you're refusing to let a light shine in you for other people to see.
4.) It starts with a loss.
-The glass is half-empty. People living in fear see only what they lack.
5.) Paralyzes your effectiveness.
-Ever heard of the phrase "scared stiff?" Fear doesn't act or move. It stands still. It is bondage.

Faith:
1.) Is from the Lord.
-Romans 12:3 says that God gave each of us the measure of faith. It is necessary for you to exercise it.
2.) Comes from an intimate knowing of God's love and power.
- "There is no fear in love, but full-grown love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love." 1 John 4:18 The more you get to know God's love, you're faith increases.
-1 Corinthians 2 :5 tells us that our faith is not to rest on man's power, but on God's.
3.) Concerned about God and other people.
-Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).
-In Matthew 28:19&20, Jesus tells his disciples to go into the world and tell everyone about Him. That doesn't happen without faith in Him. Once you know His love, you can't just keep it to yourself.
4.) Starts with what you have.
-The glass is always full! If someone living in true faith sees the glass half-full, they will know God will fill it up until it overflows.
-Kingdom living says that with God anything is possible at any given moment. God is more than enough for you.
5.) Faith takes action.
-It is impossible for a person to be stagnant if they are feeding their faith everyday with God's Word. They'll want to move and want to share! It is freedom.

The battle is in your mind, but let faith take root in your heart. Guard your heart and your mind so you won't be swayed. Remember it is not you who live, but Christ in you.

So basically that's about all I have for you today, kids. Thanks for lending me your eyes. I hope you continue to learn and let your faith develope. God began a great work in you and He will bring it through to completion. I shall leave you with some scriptures and I pray they speak as much to you as they did to me.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. - 2 Timothy 1:7

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. -Isaiah 26:3

For I the Lord your God hold your right hand, I am the Lord, Who says to you, Fear not, I will help you.- Isaiah 41:13

Have I not commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.- Luke 12:32

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God's peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. - Phillipians 4:6&7

:)

La-La-La-Love

The past couple months, God's really been showing me how much He loves people, including myself. Do you really know how much He loves you? Really? If you could only get that one thing...just that ONE thing, it'd change things. It'd change you. It would change you to change things.

Take a look around you. His love is displayed everywhere. Are you breathing right now? That's because He loves you. You breathe Him in and out everyday and don't realize it. That breath is a life force. In Him you live and move and have your being. Why? Because He loves you.

His love for you cannot be expressed enough on earth. He gave everything for you, just to have YOU. With that love He has given us, if we recognize it, comes the enablement to rock the world for Him. The cool thing is that your love will grow more and more for Him and His people when your realize that love. It's big. It's ginormous. And it gives. It gave to you.

It's astounding how much people don't realize this simple fact. We try sooo many other things that fail, but the thing that will work we ignore. But once we realize the fact that God is the only one who can fix us, fix our hearts, fix the world, it's so much easier to cast out distraction. Nothing anyone has ever said to you, nothing you've ever said about yourself can keep you apart from God's love. Nothing can snatch you from His hand. What manner of love is this? The God kind of love. He's never left and He never will.

People look for love in a lot of different ways. Stop looking everywhere else to find that fulfillment because it breaks His heart! Christ suffered a death no one else could ever handle. Do you know that you were on His mind the WHOLE time? Yeah. You were. He abandoned paradise so you have a life with the Author of love. He died and rose again for you because He has too much love to contain. HOW CRAZY IS THAT!?

Let God mend your heart. He's the only one that can do it. You are His prize and He wants you to know it. Knowing this love takes away fear until nothing is left but His perfect love and peace. Nothing is too big for this love. His love always wins.

All God wants is you to return love back to Him. Don't fight it. Take whatever is distracting you and holding you back and put it on Him. Put it on the cross. He takes your heavy burden and gives you a light one. He doesn't like to see you struggle or hurt. Nothing is too much for God's redemptive love. It casts out fear and confusion and leaves no trace of evil. Christ's love is all for you.

There's a place in God's Kingdom only you can fill. Doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy? There's a specific calling on you and there are dreams inside you. And your heart didn't make those dreams, He did. It's His dream and you get to live it. There's so much in store for you if you throw everything else out and take His love in. Those dreams take some work to fulfill, but guess what? His love and grace covers that too. You better believe He works all things out for the good of those who love Him.

I encourage you to learn more about love and draw closer to Him. Dive into Him and get lost in His love.