In so many different ways we experience growth. We experience growth through loss, gain, life lessons, doing things we don't want to, but you know what.... it always leads to growth. This last Sunday I was sitting in church and a part of the sermon was about praying and letting God mature you for growth in him. Over that weekend I had experienced a situation where I was able to put into action something I had been learning in my bible study. I finished reading the the book Identity by Eric Geiger, and the girls and I shared what stood out to us and one of the things was when your faced with an opportunity to sin ask God to remove the desire, and if you have the desire/temptation to sin ask God to remove the opportunity. Now I mean as humans we have temptations to sin all the time, whether it's telling your boss off or holding a grudge against your friend or doing something you shouldn't be doing. Sin always "sounds" good until you do it and then you feel like crap.
Anyways I had the opporortunity to do something that would have led to me feeling like crap and as I felt the temptation coming I prayed. If I'm being honest it was a lame insincere attempt to ask God to remove the opportunity, but I did it anyway. And to my surprise my half hearted prayer was answered, now I didn't realize it until the very next day but when I did realize, I was so happy. It hit me as I was listening to the message in church and I was thinking in my head woah God answered my prayer, and he answers my prayers all the time, but he even answered my prayer when I wasn't even sure I wanted him to.
I began to think of all of the things I went through to be at this point. Why I was brought into the situation and faced with an opportunity to sin I mean I know I'm faced with this stuff all the time but all of the tiny details that brought me to this point kind of random and insignificant. But on Sunday I realized that yeah that whole weekend was unnecessary, but it was all for my growth. It's cool to know that even when I don't feel like I need/ want God he shows me he isn't giving up on me and continues to pursue me. My relationship with Jesus stands firmly on his promises to never give up on me. It was all for my growth. Even when I don't see it, the Holy Spirit is at work in my life. :)
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completetion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
Friday, November 22, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Bloglovin'
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11233761/?claim=ukanujuhvnk">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
New to this whole blog world. Trying to get the hang of everything. Come follow me!
New to this whole blog world. Trying to get the hang of everything. Come follow me!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Love
This may be a little uncomfortable to read, and if you are a little sensitive you may want to stop reading here.
Have you ever loved someone so much that you would want to spend eternity with them? That is exactly how much God loves us. He loves us so much he sent his son to die on the cross for us. He loves us so much that even though we fail him every day of our lives he still wants us. He pursues us and wants to spend eternity with us. His love is relentless. He calls us to love one another the exact same way. (John 15:12) But what if that meant standing out or being different... As Christians we need to be standing out from the world around us. (John 13:34-35) But having first hand experience as a human who sins all the time, I know it's not easy. We like to fit in. But if you call yourself a Christ follower, you need to be aware of the importance God presses in His Word about telling the good news of Jesus and loving others.
Are we willing to make our friends and families maybe feel a little bit uncomfortable? Usually not, because we don't want them to think differently of us. But are we really NOT willing to sacrifice our comfort for another's eternal destination. SILLY RIGHT? Where they go after they pass away should be the biggest concern we have for people. Imagine a life without God, now imagine an eternity without God. Whaaattt? Never telling someone of the unconditional love their Father has for them seems selfish. Why would you want someone you love to never experience the joy, and love that comes with knowing Jesus? I watched a video one time with an Atheist comedian who put it this way... "if you believe in a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, because it's not worth telling them this, because its socially awkward... well how much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them the gospel, how much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that. If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you did not believe that, theres a certain point where I would tackle you, and this is more important than that."
Wow and that came from an atheist, he even sees the importance of sharing eternal life with someone.
When someone passes away we assume they go to heaven... but that is not always the case. We love people so much that of course we throw things out there saying "See you soon" "Now you're watching over us" "Heaven gained another angel" "God only takes the best" "Hope your having a great time with [enter another loved ones name here who passed away]" never mind the fact that we should be desiring to go to heaven to be with our Savior, but all these things are usually thrown around after a passing assuming they believed in Jesus Christ and are now in his presence. We can only hope that they are in the presence of God, but if we even have to question whether or not they lived their life for God what does that say?
If somebody I loved dies I would want to know that I did everything I could to share the message of Jesus' love to them. I would want to know that I was actively pursuing them the way Jesus pursues me. Now that is love. How can we risk someones fate by not ever wanting to share the message of this great love because it makes things awkward? My hope and prayer is that you can see the importance of what it really means to love. Not an earthly kind of love that can fade, but a genuine love that is wanting to see them someday praising The Lord beside you and having that peace and assurance after they pass that yes.. I will see you again.
Have you ever loved someone so much that you would want to spend eternity with them? That is exactly how much God loves us. He loves us so much he sent his son to die on the cross for us. He loves us so much that even though we fail him every day of our lives he still wants us. He pursues us and wants to spend eternity with us. His love is relentless. He calls us to love one another the exact same way. (John 15:12) But what if that meant standing out or being different... As Christians we need to be standing out from the world around us. (John 13:34-35) But having first hand experience as a human who sins all the time, I know it's not easy. We like to fit in. But if you call yourself a Christ follower, you need to be aware of the importance God presses in His Word about telling the good news of Jesus and loving others.
Are we willing to make our friends and families maybe feel a little bit uncomfortable? Usually not, because we don't want them to think differently of us. But are we really NOT willing to sacrifice our comfort for another's eternal destination. SILLY RIGHT? Where they go after they pass away should be the biggest concern we have for people. Imagine a life without God, now imagine an eternity without God. Whaaattt? Never telling someone of the unconditional love their Father has for them seems selfish. Why would you want someone you love to never experience the joy, and love that comes with knowing Jesus? I watched a video one time with an Atheist comedian who put it this way... "if you believe in a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, because it's not worth telling them this, because its socially awkward... well how much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them the gospel, how much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that. If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you did not believe that, theres a certain point where I would tackle you, and this is more important than that."
Wow and that came from an atheist, he even sees the importance of sharing eternal life with someone.
When someone passes away we assume they go to heaven... but that is not always the case. We love people so much that of course we throw things out there saying "See you soon" "Now you're watching over us" "Heaven gained another angel" "God only takes the best" "Hope your having a great time with [enter another loved ones name here who passed away]" never mind the fact that we should be desiring to go to heaven to be with our Savior, but all these things are usually thrown around after a passing assuming they believed in Jesus Christ and are now in his presence. We can only hope that they are in the presence of God, but if we even have to question whether or not they lived their life for God what does that say?
If somebody I loved dies I would want to know that I did everything I could to share the message of Jesus' love to them. I would want to know that I was actively pursuing them the way Jesus pursues me. Now that is love. How can we risk someones fate by not ever wanting to share the message of this great love because it makes things awkward? My hope and prayer is that you can see the importance of what it really means to love. Not an earthly kind of love that can fade, but a genuine love that is wanting to see them someday praising The Lord beside you and having that peace and assurance after they pass that yes.. I will see you again.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Five On Friday
Favorites
One. Along with my bible, this devotional is my one of my absolute favorites!
Two. Next we have.... my chapstick! LA winds were getting a little wild this past week and my lips were not having it! These little gems go with me just about everywhere, can't get over their cute egg shape and yummy scents. Currently using the blueberry acai one, purchased at Target. :)
Three. Today I am also loving the weather, I miss my hometown where it actually feels like Fall, but I am not complaining I do love Mr. Sun.
Four. Another one of my favorites is fresh running water, we sometimes take advantage of that. I lovee SHOWERS. Of course mine does not look anything like this, but nonetheless showers are great.
Five. Drum roll please...... Last, but not least one of my all time favorites is everything that comes along with November! Changing colors of the leaves, Thanksgiving, boots, cardigans, scarves.. wait I live in LA, I don't get to wear that stuff quite yet, once in a while the temp drops and Im completely dressed in Autumn wear, but what else...the nighttime hits a little earlier, pumpkin spice lattes, Thanksgiving, Christmas being right around the corner, and did I mention Thanksgiving?
Fall in general is my favorite season. :)
A Little Hello
Hey everybody! I did it!I finally made a blog. So basically I decided to make one because I have an endless amount of thoughts that rush through my head minute after minute and Twitter only allows me 140 characters and it is never enough to try and get my point across. After about a month or so on deciding whether or not to get a blog, because I probably have one too many social media websites I adhere to, I finally joined. Here I hope to share my thoughts and little bits from my everyday life.
A little about me~ My name is Ashley and I'm from a little city in Central California, I recently moved to LA for school to pursue a degree in Deaf Studies. I know, I know, not what you were expecting. Maybe you were expecting that I came here to be in the entertainment industry, sorry to tell ya.. not exactly.
My biggest desire is to bring glory to the Most High. Isaiah 26:8
A little about me~ My name is Ashley and I'm from a little city in Central California, I recently moved to LA for school to pursue a degree in Deaf Studies. I know, I know, not what you were expecting. Maybe you were expecting that I came here to be in the entertainment industry, sorry to tell ya.. not exactly.
My biggest desire is to bring glory to the Most High. Isaiah 26:8
He has blessed me with a passion to sing, and dance.
Not me, just a really cool photo from Pinterest. Ha.
I am learning American Sign Language, and plan to somehow incorporate that with maybe breaking a language barrier for restoration of victims that were involved in human trafficking. How that looks in detail, I am not sure. Join me on my journey as I discover what God has in store for me and where he leads me!
Thank you for taking time out of your lovely day to visit my blog. Stay tuned for more~Ashley
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)