Words You Don't Hear Very Often

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:18-19 (New Living Translation)

"I am in love with Jesus. I fall more in love with Jesus every second of my life." I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. I sat there on the floor of Cabin 27 at Sky Ranch Christian Camp with all of my friends, as our counselor Dana shared these words with us. My face was a mixture of confusion and awe. In love with Jesus? Well, that's weird. How can you be in love with someone you can't even see? And it was in that moment that my heart discovered truth. The truth of the matter is that there is a God, and this God is so completely and fully in love with us. The truth of the matter is that we will never fully comprehend the depth of His love for us. The love that a family member or spouse has for us will never compare to His love. We must realize that the love a human can give us is simply that: human. But God's love? God's love is unfailing. It is perfect. It is unchanging, no matter the circumstances.

Read these words carefully: we can never be separated from Christ's love. Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (New International Version). Nothing we do can ever take away Christ's love for us. God turns to each of us, meets us where we are, and says, "I love you. I love you more than anyone on this earth can ever love you. So stop turning to the things or the people of this world. Turn to me. I am what you need. I will give you the love for which you've been searching. And more."

But then at some point we look ourselves in the mirror and think, I am not worthy of love. I am nothing. I don't deserve to be loved because I have made too many mistakes. Nope, not me, God...You've got the wrong person. Yet God will persist in His love for us. He will again turn to each of us, meet us where we are, and say, "So you've made some mistakes. Who hasn't? So you've messed up along the way. Who cares? I will continue to love you.  You've lied, you've cheated, you've stolen, you've lived in jealousy, you've hated Me, you've abandoned Me, you've given up on Me? So what. I have forgiven you. And I have not forgotten you. You are made new today. You are wiped clean. I have given you a new soul, a new spirit. And in spite of all You've done, I still love you just the same."

The truth of the matter is that God is so unbelievably, undeniably in love with every single one of us. Because in His eyes, we are all His children and even though we make mistakes and we fall short of His glory - "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 (NIV) - we could never fall short of His love. My prayer for you today is that you may be overwhelmed with Christ's love for you. Experience His love; live in His love. And I hope and pray that some day you may be able to look another person in the eyes and say, "I am in love with Jesus. I fall more in love with Jesus every second of my life."

Song of the week: "Your Love" by Brandon Heath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vbg2dpX-EY

Photo credit to one of the best friends I've ever had, Raleigh Ward :)

The Key to Life

I like to think that coincidences are just God's way of saying, "I am still here." My new Notre Dame friend Sarah calls them "God-incidences." The greatest God-incidence of my life occurred on August 22, 2009, three years ago today. And it was on this day that God changed my life forever.

Everyday I wear a key necklace to symbolize that God is the key to life. God holds the keys to each of our hearts. The reality of life is that we ALL face some sort of struggle...whether that struggle be an addiction to alcohol or drugs, a low income, or various insecurities. The struggles we face imprison us; they lock us up in chains and make us feel like we are nothing and will become nothing. They keep us from moving forward. Yet God, in His glorious grace, comes to save us. He is the KEY that sets us FREE from our chains. He releases us; it is because of Him that we are set free.

But the key that I wear everyday is no ordinary key...remember August 22, 2009, the day that changed my life? It was on this day that God gave me my key. You might be a little confused. Let's rewind a little.

It was the summer of 2009. I was headed to the small town of Van, Texas, for what was to be an amazing week of summer camp at Sky Ranch Christian Camp. There, I met a girl in my cabin named Madi from Louisiana. Madi soon become a role model for my life. Although she had lost both of her parents at a very young age, she was one of the strongest Christians I had ever met, so deeply in love with her Lord. I soon discovered that Madi wore a key everyday to symbolize that God is the key to life and that He holds the keys to our hearts (keep in mind that this was before I had my own key). I thought it was so cool how Madi was able to share God, the Creator of the Universe, with the world simply by wearing a key necklace.

A few weeks after camp, I was thinking about Madi's key, and how much I wanted to start wearing one too. While praying, I came to Jesus and said, "You know God, it would be cool if I had a key." And that was it. I didn't think anything was going to happen. But three days later, on August 22nd, something happened. And that "something" brought me closer to Jesus than ever before.

It was a special day in my family. That Saturday, we took my older sister Rachel to Texas A&M University to move her into her freshman dorm. I was packing last minute things for the road trip and all of a sudden I heard a voice saying these words over and over again: "Change your earrings. Change your earrings." When I opened my earrings drawer, what was the first thing I saw? Nothing but a small, silver, absolutely perfect key. A key that I had never seen before in my entire life. A key that doesn't go to anything at all in my entire house. A key that, I believe, was given to me by God Himself, so that I may tell the whole world of His great love.

Lord, thank You for giving me my key three years ago today. You are so so good to me, and I don't deserve Your love. Thank You for sending me Madi to teach me that YOU are the key to life, the key to love, the key to peace, joy, freedom...You are the key to everything I've ever wanted. I pray that my lovely readers may realize that today, God. Help them to realize that the satisfaction for which they hunger and thirst is found in You and You alone. Whether they realize it or not, You are what they're really searching for. You are the key to life. And You've set us free.

Song of the week: "The Struggle" by Tenth Avenue North
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSH3Q6O_7w8
In the midst of our struggle, while we sit in chains wondering how to move forward, God sets us free. He is the key to freedom. He is the key to life.

My beautiful key that brought me to Jesus

give us Your eyes

"For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been CLEARLY seen, being understood from what [He] has made, so that all men are without excuse." Romans 1:20 (NIV) ~ In other words, we have no excuse NOT to believe in Christ, for His glory can clearly be seen through His creation, if only we learn to see creation with HIS eyes...

I know what you're thinking. Yeah, all this "redemption" stuff sounds great, but where do I even begin? How can I possibly bring Christ into my life? Remember these words: it starts with the mind. If you want a relationship with the Lord, you need to start changing the way you see the world. With all the violence and destruction that exists in our world today, it is quite easy to generalize the world as "bad." Stop right there; take a look at this. "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31 (NIV). To God, the world is not bad; it is good. And not only is it good - it is VERY good. The same goes for ourselves. When we look in the mirror, we immediately think of the external and internal attributes that we would like to change about ourselves. We immediately seek out the "bad." Yet Jesus turns our faces toward Him, looks directly in our eyes, and says, "You are not only good. You are VERY good. And there's nothing I would change about you. You are my beloved."

If you want a relationship with the Lord, you need to start seeing as Jesus sees. A friend of mine came to me once and said, "Haley, I want to try out this whole God thing, but I just don't feel Him. I can't see Him anywhere in this crazy world we live in." The reality is that Jesus is everywhere. Jesus is the friend who drops everything she is doing to comfort you on difficult days. Jesus is the teacher who spends hours with you after school helping you with your homework. Jesus is the doctor who takes care of you in the hospital when you are sick. Jesus is friend, teacher, and healer. Whether you realize it or not, Jesus is present in all times, all places, and all people. One of my favorite quotes is, "God has no hands and feet in this world but ours." Christ is as present in this world as much as we share Him with this world. It's really up to us to let "everything that has breath [to] praise the Lord." Psalm 150:6 (NIV). We must be His hands and feet. We must let His glory reign. Let Him use YOU to redeem the world.

The first step to establishing a relationship with God is changing the way you see the world. Stop seeing the world and its people as simply "bad," and instead realize that God declared all He had made to be VERY good. Sure, this world is full of crazy people who do some pretty evil things...but what we must realize is that in God's eyes, we are all His children, and although our actions may often prove to be evil, we are still beautiful, inherently good, and worthy of forgiveness. We must begin to see other people the same way that God sees other people. Another one of my favorite quotes is "See Christ in everyone you meet." See Christ is that friend, that teacher, that doctor. Seek the Jesus that is inside of us all. Seek the goodness that is inside each person.

My prayer for you today is that you begin to change the way you see this world. Focus less on the mistakes we make in life, more on the miracles of the Christ...less on the evil that exists, more on the Father's love that persists. God, let us see all things in the way that You do.

Song of the week: "Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AkNqLuVgY

Pictured: My beautiful best friend Lauren Baskett

(Photo credit to Alizah Wilson)

Hungering for His Love

"Tell them how much I love them."

The other day I was praying, "Lord, what do You want me to tell Your children? What do they need to know? How can I help them get closer to You?" My mind was racing with questions, thoughts, concerns..."Lord, I want so desperately for these people to know You more, and to give up their lives for You. How do I help them see Your beautiful face?" And in the midst of my anxiety, the Lord was quick to quiet my fears with these seven words: "Tell them how much I love them." That was it; that was my answer. This week, Christ has helped me to realize that the first step to developing a relationship with Him is realizing just how much He loves us. This is where you must begin: on your knees, with your head held high at the foot of the cross, gazing into His most beautiful eyes that tell of His great love for all the world.

If I could have one wish, it would be for each of my loved ones to know Jesus. And if I know one thing in this world to be true, it is this: there is nothing greater than knowing Jesus. There is nothing greater than seeing His face and being in His presence. Nothing in this broken world could ever compare to His love. The reality is that we all hunger for love. We all want to know that people actually care for us and that we are actually wanted in this world. What we must realize is that every single one of our intense longings for love can only be completely satisfied right back where we started, at the foot of the cross...on our knees, with our heads held high, gazing into His beautiful eyes.

Do you understand how much Christ loves you? Jeremiah 31:3 says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (NIV). But maybe you've gone down a different path in your life...maybe you've chosen to stray from Christ, to do your own thing. And now your mind begins to race with questions, thoughts, concerns: What if I'm too far gone for Jesus? How could He possibly forgive me, little imperfect me, for the many awful things I've done? How could I ever win back His love? Stop right there. You have His love. You've had it this whole time. God loved you with an everlasting love the day you were born. And today, He loves you with that same love. And tomorrow, His love for you will still be there. What you must realize is that no matter how many times you screw up, God is there. And God is real. God is active; He is living; He is in this world no matter how much you try to ignore the fact that He is ALIVE. His love for you is alive and is growing and growing every day.

So take a step back. Everything you've done in the past? So what. Christ has forgiven you. He has made you NEW. Ignore the past; live in the present. Today, open your eyes and realize just how much He loves you. Live today with the knowledge that Christ, the Savior of the world, the Son of Man, the God of all, loves YOU with an everlasting love that will never fade. Live in His love today. Cling to His love today. Let Him sustain you and carry you all the days of your life. Lord, I pray for my readers, that today You may overwhelm each and every one of them with Your great love. Show them Your beautiful face. I did my best in telling them how much You love them, and I'll let You do the rest and work so actively in their lives as You always do. And remember, my dear sweet readers, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

Song of the week: "Turn Around" by Matt Maher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCi8P7W_tAw

Special thanks to Raleigh Ward for the picture :)

Redemption

"He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:7 (New Living Translation)

How sweet is the redemption of the Lord. This summer, God has redeemed my life in ways I never thought possible. He has given me a new hope, a new joy, a new purpose. I came to Him, broken and in need of repair. He was so quick to welcome me with open arms, to bring me home to Him. He told me, "Forget every wrong you have committed in the past, for I have forgiven you. I am giving you a new life. Come journey with me. You are my beloved, and I am yours." I'll say it again, how sweet is the redemption of the Lord. If only we realized just how good He is. If only we understood even a fraction of His grace and His love. I can't help but smile and cry tears of joy when I think of the way He has redeemed my life. When all I could see was darkness, He gave me light. He set me free. He redeemed me. Let Him do the same for you in your life. He is waiting to redeem you; He longs to be in relationship with you. "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT). So welcome to my blog. Welcome to the Lord's sweet, sweet redemption. My prayer for you today is that you may begin life anew with Christ. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. Anyone who belongs to Christ is forgiven. Anyone who belongs to Christ is redeemed. Your old life is gone; your new life with Him has begun.

Song of the week: "The Redeemer" by Sanctus Real
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdOKuj_6bsw