My Thoughts Today

Have you ever stopped to think about what you, in this very moment, desire most? I could make a small list of things I desire: 

-To be debt free

-That Drew would have a teaching job for the fall

-To own a lovely house

-To have a new car

What is the deepest desire of your heart though? Of course it's easiest to think of worldly things you desire, at least it was for me. But that's because as humans we long for perfection and we're not living a "perfect life" until we are debt free, have jobs, own a house, drive a nice car, etc. As humans we try to seek fulfillment of this longing for perfection in earthly pleasures or achievements. It's our human nature. But if we're not careful, this often causes us to create idols. When we desire things before Christ, that is an idol that is standing in the way of drawing closer to Him. 

"You shall have no other gods before me." 

-Exodus 20:3

Jesus Christ is the only thing that can fulfill our human longing for perfection because we are made perfect in Him. We need to seek Him to find our fulfillment and feel completely satisfied. 

Lord, I want You and You alone to be the deepest desire of my heart because You fulfill my yearning for perfection.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

-Psalm 37:4

These are just some of my thoughts after doing my devotions today that I felt led to share. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Happy November

A lot has happened in the last seven days of November…

We gained an hour over the weekend, 

it gets dark a lot earlier now, 

gas prices have gone back up, and 

America has re-elected President Obama for another four years in office. 

I am comforted in knowing that whatever happens, the Lord is sovereign over all, and it was His plan all along. He has a plan for us and for our country and the Lord will use Obama to carry out His plan. Our job now is to pray for wisdom for Obama as he tries to lead our country the best he can. I went on facebook for a quick minute last night just to read my notifications and came across this 'Bible Emergency Numbers' on 98.5 KTIS's facebook page. I think today would be a good day to share this with you being that we all have mixed feelings about the next four years. 

Bible Emergency Numbers

When you are sad, call on John 14

When people have failed you, call on Psalm 27

When you have sinned, call on Psalm 51or 1 John 1:8-9

When you are worried, call on Matthew 6:19-34

When you are facing danger , call on Psalm 91

When God seems far away, call on Psalm 139

When your faith needs encouraging, call on Hebrews 11

When you are lonely and scared, call on Psalm 23

When you grow bitter and critical, call on 1 Corinthians 13

When you feel no one is on your side, call on Romans 8:31-39

When you are seeking rest, call on Matthew 11:25-30

When you are seeking peace, call on John 14:27

When the world seems bigger than God, call on Psalm 90

When you want Christian assurance, call on Romans 8:1-30

When you feel you're failing, call on Psalm 121

When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, call on Psalm 67

When you need courage, call on Joshua 1

When you want to get along with others, call on Romans 12:9-21

When you don't understand what God is doing, call on Isaiah 55:8-9

When you want to live a happy life, call on Colossians 3:12-17

When you pray, call on Matthew 6:9-13

When you are in need, call on Philippians 4:19

When you are losing hope, call on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

When you need an idea of Christianity, call on1 Corinthians 5:15-19

When you feel depressed, call on Psalm 27

When you want to do good works, call on John 15

When your pocketbook is empty, call on Psalm 37

When you're losing confidence in people, call on 1 Corinthians 13

When people seem unkind, call on John 15

When you're discouraged about your work, call on Psalm 126

If you find the world growing small, and you great, call on Psalm 19

I hope this is able to bring you comfort not only in the season this country is in, but in your own personal lives as well. Just remember overall that God is the one in control and He works everything out for His good. Happy November!

Anxiety and Money

I've been thinking a lot about mine and Andrew's future lately. Thoughts and questions are constantly circling through my head. Thoughts and questions such as: "Where will we be in a year? Will Andrew find a contracted teaching job? Will we ever be able to afford an apartment, or will we be apartment managers forever? Will we ever pay off our debt? Will we ever own a house? Will we ever have money we can use to go on trips and see the world? How will we ever be able to afford children? Will we have to raise our children in an apartment? How do other people do all this?" All these questions spin through my head time and time again. It usually leads me to feeling anxious, almost like I'm drowning- like we can't move forward with our life or really start living life until our debt is paid off. I guess it basically boils down to the fact that I've been feeling anxious about money, jobs, and our current living situation. The Lord is always faithful though and he always knows to give us the right reminders when we need them.

Today the Lord reminded me that first of all, all of our money is His. We are just stewards of His money. He promises to provide us with what we need and doesn't promise us any more. He reminded me that anxiety is a result of envisioning the future without Him and the best defense against worry is staying in communication with Him. When I turn my thoughts towards the Lord, I can think much more positively. If we must consider upcoming events or future events, we should follow these rules:
1. Do not linger in the future because anxieties sprout up like weeds when you wander there.
2. Remember the promise of the Lord's continual presence; include Him in imagery that comes to mind.
This mental discipline does not come easily because we are accustomed to being god of our own fantasies. However, the reality of the Lord's presence with us, now and forever more, outshines any fantasy I could ever imagine. How thankful I am to have a faithful God that is able to communicate with us and tell us the truth we need to hear!

And He said to His disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?" - Luke 12:22-26

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. -Ephesians 3:20-21