Location of My Heart

Wow I have not been on here in a very long time. Way too long! I just want to let everyone know that I am doing well :) I visited colleges this week, and it really hit me-I am going to be a senior next year! This was a very exciting realization, but a scary one as well. It made me think "Am I ready for this? Am I being the kind of leader I should be? Are people looking up to me? Am I showing others the love of God through my position?" While I was thinking this, I knew that God was telling me to evaluate myself and the way I have been living. I knew that I had to change so that I was FULLY living for Him, giving Him ALL of my heart and not only part of it, which I have done before. God tells us in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." I realized that I wasn't and I decided to change that. So I prayed right there, on the campus of JMU, and asked Him to help heal my heart. What a burden I felt lift off of me! It was amazing. The work of the Lord at work again :)

It's not me, it's You

       So at campaigners a couple weeks ago, we talked about Moses. How God looked over him and protected him ever since he was a baby, because he had GREAT plans for him! God knew that he was going to do great things, even when Moses had no confidence in himeself. As we were going through this, I thought, "Hey, that's me. Sometimes I doubt my purpose for my life, but God has it all planned out!" Exodus 4:11-12 says:

So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?  Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
       I mean, the way I see it is that if God has promised to help Moses through everything and "teach" him what to say, then He will do the same for us! When we don't have any idea what we are supposed to be doing in life, we just have to talk to God and ask, just like Moses did. It amazed me when I realized how often I don't do this, and then I wondered how many of my fellow believers did. I know that the Church a lot of the time will talk about praying for God's direction in everything, but who actually does that for EVERYTHING? I know I don't.
       My challenge for myself is to go to God in everything, even things that I don't think are a big deal. All decisions can be made with the help of Christ. He loves us and WANTS to help us to live the way we were created to. He takes delight in it!

This is where I'm meant to be

So today I visited a different church with a friend. The person who gave the sermon talked about Matthew 28:18-20: "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.' "

The sermon was about how we are called to bring people to Christ, so they can be disciples. He said that the word "nations" didn't mean that we had to go across the world to share the love of Christ, but that we are to be interspersed with the different groups of people around us. He gave the metaphor that "the Earth is not a pancake, but a waffle." Now this seemed really bizarre to me at first, but then he explained. He said that when you pour syrup on a pancake, the syrup covers the pancake by itself, with no work involved. This would be like missionaries going to a missionfield but not doing anything. With a waffle, there is work to be done in order to have the syrup spread from one square to another. You have to move the syrup on purpose. We must be deliberate in spreading the word of God and have a purpose for doing so. We have to put work in for the glorification of Christ.

I know that in my own life, this is much easier said than done. Sometimes I think that the people around me will see that I am different and know why. But that just isn't the case. I must talk to my friends about how the love of God has changed me and changed my life. Not only how but why. Explain to them that His love for me is so deep that I WANT to live for Him and be with Him forever. I have to be able to reach out of my comfort zone and be bold around groups of people that may or may not know the love of Christ. I have to go out and share with people I don't know that may not have heard how amazing He is before. That is why I am where I am. There is a reason and purpose, and I am going to follow what God has laid out for me to do-for Him.

"My heart and my soul, I give You control. Consume me from the inside out Lord"

Last night I had an amazing night with a friend. We just hung out, talked about the Lord, and looked up some of our favorite songs. It is friends like this that just make me want to sing with joy. Spending time with fellow believers makes my heart gladden and I always feel full of hapiness. Unfortunately, the people I spend time with sometimes dictate how I act. Thinking about that makes me sad because I should act as a child of Christ no matter who I am with. Loving Him is what I want to be all about-all the time. He is my creator and I want to please Him in everything I do.

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16