faithful

I think today is a good day for a post that is short and sweet. Here we go.

The Lord answers prayer.

He is faithful.

He hears us when we call his name.

He is eternal.

Rejoice in Him always.

"But You are always the same, and You will live forever." Psalm 102:27

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

Sometimes it is difficult to praise the Lord in all of our circumstances, but He calls us to do so. And when we do as He commands, our stresses and worries fall away, and His peace that we receive is astounding.

grace and the imperfect

God has really been trying to get a hold of me lately, and for some reason, I'm fighting against it. It's shocking to realize how different my relationship with Christ has been in the past several months because of a lack of spending time with Him.

This post is an attempt to be honest. Honest so that it's relatable. Honest so that maybe I can connect with someone on another level and they can see that we aren't perfect. That's so important to understand. We are not perfect.

But God is.



You see, the beautiful thing about being imperfect is that God doesn't expect us to be perfect. That's what Jesus died for. There is no pressure on us to be the perfect Christian. Sin happens, but God's grace covers it all. Christ accepts us just as we are. He meets us where we are regardless of what we've done or what we're continuing to do. This doesn't mean that you have free reign to do whatever you want, but when Christ works in your favor, suddenly sin doesn't seem so appealing. When you receive Christ, you are a new creation. You, as a new creation, gain a new perspective on life, an eternal perspective.

"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

Remember: you don't do works to receive salvation. You do works because you have been saved. You do God's work because when Christ is in your life, doing anything else doesn't seem to make sense.

I constantly feel like I'm fighting against so many things in my walk with the Lord. I sometimes feel like I want to give up and just give in to sin. Things would seemingly be easier that way. But all sin does is destroy the true joy and peace and love that we experience when in the presence of the Almighty.

The next step is to take what seems like a chore and turn it into the relationship. Think about the things that God has done for you in your life. Remind yourself why you began to follow Him in the first place. Think about your actions and the consequences they lead to. Once you grasp that God's grace is more than enough, Christ will miraculously transform your mind and, more importantly, your heart.

the potter and the clay

Again, I'm posting to say that every day, I am changed by the Father. The past several weeks have been a little difficult. The reason being that it's quite a struggle to let go and let God take complete control of your life. Especially for me. I can be a little bit of a control freak.

Have you heard the song "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman? The bridge in that song says, "You give and take away." Well, I'm currently experiencing the second half of that phrase. I can honestly say I've never had to live this out before, and if I have, I just never took into account that it was God working in me. At the time being, everything that I thought I wanted is floating up in the air, and I'm beginning at square one. I'm starting over. God has taken away the things that I thought I wanted so that He can really do something with my life. It's very humbling, but the humility that I am learning is something that I treasure more as time goes on. While I may not know at all what I want, I believe that the Lord will start filling my heart with desires that are pleasing to Him.

Let's talk about the potter and the clay comparison for a moment.

Jeremiah 18:3-6 says, "So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 'Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?' declares the Lord. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.'"

The Lord demonstrates that He is the potter and we are the clay. This passage is specifically talking about God taking control over Israel because of the evil that has engulfed it. But we can look at this in a more personal way. If God is the potter, and we are the clay, God has a plan for our lives just as the potter has a plan for the clay he is shaping in his hands. If the potter sees an imperfection in the clay, he breaks down the clay to rebuild it into the beautiful pot that he had planned for it. In this same way, when God sees something in us that He wants to change, He breaks us down so that He can build us back up into the beautiful creation that He had planned all along.

I heard a sermon in the past year that centered around this passage, and the pastor speaking said something that has stuck with me ever since then: when the potter is shaping the clay, he never tells the clay what he will turn it into. In the same way, we don't have any right to demand God to tell us what it is He's creating in us. We have to allow God to work in us and have faith that He will guide us every step of the way without questioning Him or giving up on His plan for our lives.

This brings me to my current reality. I honestly believe that God has been breaking me down so the HE can be the one to build me back up. Since I am, like I said previously, starting at square one, I pretty much have no choice but to go in the direction that the Lord is leading me. And while this is quite intimidating and I have absolutely NO CLUE where the Lord is leading me, I know that just by following His lead and His example, He will create something beautiful in me that can and will be used for His glory. Not only that, but He will lead me to have a fulfilling life with no regrets.

bucket list

Bucket list time! This is not the completed list, but it's all I can think of for the time being.


1. learn how to play the guitar.
2. own a horse.
3. audition for american idol.
4. ride in a hot air balloon.
5. go to mardi gras!
6. sing the national anthem at a thunder basketball game.
7. live in LA
8. go to hangout fest, bonnaroo, coachella, and lollapalooza.
9. befriend a rockstar.
10. sing on national television.
11. swim with dolphins.
12. get married.
13. have some kids of my own.
14. write a song.
15. visit jim morrison's grave in france.
16. get a tattoo. (or several. i've heard they're addictive)
17. see incubus live.
18. be on the kiss cam at a sporting event.
19. go on a mission trip.
20. travel the world.
21. bring someone to Christ.
22. adopt a child. maybe several.
23. meet johnny depp
24. go to ireland.
25.

Yesterday, I realized how much the Lord has changed me. I was saying things that I've never heard myself say before. I was overcome with a sense of peace and patience that I don't think I've ever felt before. I speak of Him more often in daily conversation. He is becoming more and more important to me every day. I really have become a totally different person. The shallow things that were important to me before are losing their value compared to the love of Jesus. As I follow the Lord in my daily life, I see Him working in me. Several friendships that I have have been rekindled and are more Christ-centered. And as every day goes by, I am amazed more and more by the Father.

After reflecting on all of these things, I have come to this conclusion:

following the Lord is the best decision I've ever made.

I am amazed at the way God has brought certain people around me for encouragement. I was skeptical of walking with the Lord at first because, let's face it, I'm usually skeptical about making big commitments. But the things He has been doing for me and around me has removed all skepticism that I had. What has made the biggest impact is the relationships with which He has surrounded me. When I can talk about the Lord with friends or family, it makes me love Him even more because I can then share with other people the things He's doing in my life, and I can hear about what He's doing in the lives of the people around me. At the end of the conversation, I feel closer to God and closer to the person that I was talking to.

If you're reading this, and you think that God could never love you, or you don't want anything to do with God, or you believe in Him but you're perfectly comfortable living your life just knowing He's there, I promise you that once you are able to accept the love and grace of Jesus, your life will NEVER be the same. It will be the best decision of your life. Trust me, the skeptical one. Your life will have meaning. You will have guidance. God loves you, and He wants so badly to be close to you. You have worth in Jesus. The relationship that you can have with Jesus will be the most rewarding and loving relationship you'll ever be in, and He will bless you beyond what you can imagine if you just trust Him.

give Him everything.

As every day goes by, I am amazed more and more by the love of the Father. Every day, I enter into His presence, and it never fails that by the time I end my quiet time in the Word and move on to the rest of the day, I feel this amazing peace that seems to completely flood over me. You know, there are so many days where I feel like I'm the most selfish person that has ever existed, and I think, "There's no way that I can come to the Lord today." Those are the days that He touches me most. Those are the days that I am completely overwhelmed at the power of His presence and love. He never ceases to answer me when I call. He never stops loving me. He never leaves my side. Right when I think that I don't deserve His love, He reminds me that I am His and that I find my worth in Him.

I was talking with a friend yesterday, and he was telling me about how he doesn't want to call himself a Christian because there are things in his life that he needs to figure out and change. My response? You don't need to get your life together before you come to Jesus. He takes you just as you are. No matter what you've done in your life, no matter how many times people may have told you that you are unworthy or that you don't matter. No matter how you've treated people or how people have treated you. No matter how bad you think you've messed up and you can't fix anything. He loves you just the way you are, and there is nothing you can do that will make Him love you any more or any less than He already does. What wonderful news! I think that's something that should be celebrated on a daily basis. As long as you truly believe with all of your heart that Jesus has was crucified for our sins, that He rose again on the third day and defeated death, you have become a new creation in Christ. You are one of His children, and you will be able to spend the rest of eternity with the Lord in heaven. What a miracle! We are so undeserving, and He takes us anyway. He gives us the choice to follow or not follow, but when He is so good and faithful, why in the world would you not want to take that FREE gift that He has given you? If you are a believer, you are forgiven, you are new, your slate is wiped clean.

If any of you feel like you're falling apart or that you aren't worthy of love, God loves you. He loves you more than you can ever imagine. He loves you more than anything in the history of creation.

At the end of the day, I can count my blessings and see how God has truly worked in my life. We are all undeserving of salvation, but God loves us so much that He gave us Christ. As if that isn't enough, He calls us to give everything to Him. Any fears, any doubts, any problems, anything that is troubling us or worrying us. Once we surrender everything to Him, it's truly amazing the kind of peace you experience. The Word says in Philippians 4:6-7: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I'll leave you with this: challenge yourselves to place everything at His feet and see how He responds.

Thanks for reading. I'll hopefully post a blog soon that might not be so heavy. Ha!

perspective

To the objective eye, my life hasn't really changed a whole lot. I'm still just working at the law firm full time. I'm still living at home with my parents. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my life. 

All of those things are the same, but if you knew me, you might be able to notice that my life is changing. I have learned to alter my perspective on the things in my life that are important. As far as my friends and family are concerned, they will always and forever be collectively two of the most important things in my life. However, with some of the experiences that I've had since I've graduated college, my life is beginning to take a new turn.

I am learning to become a fully devoted follower of Christ. He is why my life is changing. He is the reason that I am beginning to rethink my goals in life. He is becoming a bigger influence on my life daily. It's truly amazing to me how much life is changing since He has become a priority. It is still a struggle to allow Him to control my life completely, but I'm working on it. When you allow God to take control of your life, things just seem to fall into place. There are so many things about this life that are uncertain, but one thing is true and unchanging: my God loves me, my God sacrificed His only son for me so that I may be able to live with Him forever in heaven. While no one deserves heaven, Christ died so that we may have life to the full with God in heaven. What beautiful news! God's love for me proves to overwhelm me and humble me every day.

A dear friend of mine has, in the recent past, made me realize that it is a true blessing and honor to serve the Lord of the universe. Being a Christian isn't about what you can and can't do; it's about showing the world who God is in your life. It's about His saving grace. Once you stop thinking about how you're restricted, you can experience true freedom. Freedom from sin, freedom from baggage, freedom from pain, freedom from trying to please people that will inevitably fail you. The Lord never fails. The Lord is always faithful. The Lord is loving and just and righteous. Everything that you could ever need, God has already given you through Christ. 

I am humbled to say that I have landed a spot on the worship team at my LifeChurch.tv campus. My first weekend to serve on stage with the team is the last weekend of December, and I am SUPER excited! It's such a blessing to be able to serve with a church that God is using to do incredible things. My life is taking a different direction than I expected it to, but I'm anxious and excited to see where the Lord takes me. I have to remind myself, though, that it's all about Him. 

"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." Romans 8:38-39