BRACE YOURSELF!

     Sometimes God just speaks to me in the most unexpected moments. And those moments are so precious to me. It is always just a few words or one sentence but it ALWAYS sticks to my heart and speaks to me in a HUGE, life changing way. This is what He said and what He has been tattooing on my heart the past week:

"I own the skies, the ocean, and all the stars and I STILL desire your heart, Taylor!"

     Tears are welling up in my eyes just writing this. This is so beautiful, God is SO beautiful. Those few words have really been working on me. At first I tried to fight God. I said, "Woah, but God I think bad thoughts sometimes or curse under my breath when I get really frustrated. You can't want me ALL the time." But still those words He spoke to me rang in my ears louder than all the arguments I came up with.

     I have definitely felt God's love everyday since He saved me, but now it seems like I have a little bit of a deeper understanding of just how great His love for me is. It blows my mind! God has this PERFECT love, and even though I am so imperfect (I'm actually pretty messy!) He still loves me so very much!

"The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love."

Psalm 145:8 (NLT)



"But God showed His GREAT love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

Romans 5:8 (NLT)

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, 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."

Romans 8:18-19 (NLT)

     All throughout the scriptures it speaks of God's love. He showed His love in the greatest way possible when He sent His son, Jesus Christ. He lived a totally sinless life, touching lives and teaching others along the way. Then He died, HE DIED. He didn't go to sleep for three days, Jesus died the most painful death. It should have been me that was beaten and ridiculed and hung on that cross, but my Jesus loved me so much He took my place. He died the death I deserve. But then He got up out of the grave and defeated Hell! All for us! 

     Think about this; Your Heavenly Father sees your sin more clearly than anyone else, yet HE LOVES US MORE THAN ANYONE!!! This makes me want to jump around and shout! Jesus is just so rich in love!

     I could go on forever about Christ's love, but I will not. Just know if you don't have anything else in this life, you have a Heavenly Father who desires your heart and loves you more than anyone else ever could. I have prayed over this blog and the readers and I pray that if you have never felt God's love that you might. But brace yourself, you wont be the same, you can't be the same after knowing God's love! 



     

    

Is Social Media the Best Place to Vent?

     We live in the age of social media. Everyone keeps connected online, you don't have to be with someone to know who they are with or what they are eating. Everyone documents EVERYTHING on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, or Vine.

     Lately, I have noticed a trend on all social media sites. On twitter friends "subtweet" negative things about one another. And many people mistake Facebook for their personal diary, writing statuses about all the drama and people they don't like in their life. Gossip and bitterness between others has soared to a new level since smart phones and tablets became so available. Lets see what the Bible has to say about all this talking.

"The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences."

Proverbs 18:21

     Have you ever heard the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."? I used to scream that at the kids who picked on me on the playground in elementary school. The truth is that words are very hurtful. My tongue can bring more harm to others than my hands or feet. As believers, when we use social media to vent we do bring death (harm) to those who may take offense in what we say. I may think no one is really reading what I post on Facebook, but anyone can see it and it can not only hurt their feelings but can hurt my witness to that person as a Christ follower. 

     When we turn to social media to argue or hint that we are mad at someone who is our friend on that site, we are bringing death into someones life again. In Matthew 18:15-17 it tells us how to handle situations where another person has sinned against us. If Betty Sue upsets me, I am not to go on Twitter and "subtweet" her to death stirring up more drama. Biblically, I am to go to Betty Sue alone, and when I am calm, to say how I feel and settle things. Jesus was not a coward, and as His followers we are not to be cowards. If you have a "dispute" with another believer I encourage you to not turn to gossip online, but settle it face to face.

     Lastly, Ephesians 4:29 says "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."  So, if you have nothing uplifting to say to one another in person or on social media, say nothing at all. I challenge you to let go of the negative words today and only say those things that are helpful and encouraging. Jesus died and rose again for YOU, how can you not be positive?
 

Happiness VS. Joy

     It has been WAY too long since I have blogged! I promise to post more faithfully! Between getting married, working a full time job and jumping into a new ministry with my husband (I am still getting used to saying that!) we have been SUPER busy! In the next week I will be working on a blog post about all our wedding/honeymoon/summer adventures with pictures included to update everyone!

     I had never given much thought to the words "joy" and "happiness" before until I was forced to think and meditate on those words about a week ago. I have been reading through a book called The Fruitful Wife by Hayley DiMarco and this book dissects the Bible verse Galatians 5:22-23 ("The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.") And Mrs. Hayley took a whole chapter to talk about joy and happiness. Also, last Sunday my husband preached on joy. So of course these two words have been on my mind a lot this week.

     When I think of happiness I think of my wedding day or laying on the beach or drinking a cup of coffee on a breezy porch. It is a good feeling, but that feeling never seems to stay for very long. The wedding day ends, I end up burnt on that beautiful beach and then the dogs start barking next door as i try to sip my coffee peacefully. You see, happiness is dependent on good circumstances. Happiness can not honestly be realized in the midst of sadness or hurt. That is why no one is always super happy, singing songs all day long. Everyone experiences trials and tough times.

      Joy on the other hand is totally dependent on the perfect nature of The Creator. The awesome thing about this is that our Lord NEVER changes. He stays the same forever and ever unlike the ever changing circumstances of our happiness. Joy coming from the Holy Spirit, who lives in us as Christians, can withstand all sorrow, doubt, pain we may experience. Joy is found in the knowledge that we are children of The One True King, that The Creator of the Universe showed us grace and mercy even when we did not deserve it! That even when everything seems to be going totally wrong, we know that God has it TOTALLY in control and in the palm of His hands. Knowing that we have a never ending, unshakable relationship with Jesus is true joy. Kay Warren said it best ----> "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of ALL details of my life; the quiet confidence that ultimately ... everything is going to be okay; and the determined choice to praise God in ALL things."

     Being human and all, joy just is not something that comes naturally to us. Each day we must choose Jesus and the joy that that He brings. My challenge to you is this: Everyday for a week, as soon as you wake up, pray:

"Today I choose You Jesus, even if everything goes wrong, I choose to be joyful in You." 

    

    

    

If you don't use it, you lose it.

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them."

Romans 12:6a

God has given ALL of us unique gifts. Maybe you can sing, or have a deep desire to serve others, or maybe you give the best advice. Whatever your gift may be, it was given to you from God. 

Guess what God gave you that gift for?

No not so you can be rich and famous someday. Not so everyone in America will know your name. Not so you can become the next Mother Teresa. 

God has given us our gifts to GLORIFY HIM. Not ourselves, not our parents or our coach. But the one, true God who will never, ever fail us. 

I just wanted to encourage all you ladies and dudes out there to use your gifts properly. And the only proper way is for God's glory. I also want to encourage you to step out in faith if you simply have not been using your gift at all. Maybe your embarrassed or think you really are not that great. Go pray about it and ask someone you trust to help and support you in the gift God has given you.

Brothers and sisters please do not waste the gifts God has given us. He has HUGE plans for each of us, and I can assure you we do not want to miss out on His mighty plan for our lives. 

Are You a Slave?

Christians,
I believe we all have had or still have that one sin that drags us down and beats us to pulp. We let it control our lives, how we think and act. We let addictions to pornography, gossip, and alcohol dictate how much time we spend with Jesus. We know what we are doing is wrong but for some reason our sin has a hold on us. We have become slaves to that sin.

I have GREAT news for you, check this out!:

 

"Sin is NO LONGER YOUR MASTER, for you no longer live under requirements of the law. Instead, you live in the freedom of God's grace."

Romans 6:14(NLT)  

 

As a Christian, a Christ follower, SIN is no longer your MASTER! This is good stuff! Sin can no longer control what you think, what you eat, where you go, what you look at, or who you hang out with. Sin has no hold over you!

 

Now, brother/sister, Jesus is our Master. He has bore all our dirty sin and nailed it to the cross. This should get you pumped! We are freed from our sin and now slaves to Jesus, the greatest master, the Kings of kings!

 

Even though we are sinners and totally do not deserve it, God gave us His gift of grace to live in. So lets not be slaves to our sin. Look to the Word to bring you out of your temptation and bask in God's grace daily!

 

What are you struggling with as a Christian? Have you realized Jesus freed you from that? Go to Him in prayer and ask forgiveness. Then memorize scriptures that will help you to overcome the next time you are tempted. BASK IN HIS GRACE, AND MERCY, AND LOVE!



Jesus VS. the world

Why do we spend so much time watching Jersey Shore and Teen Mom? Why do we spend all of our money on the latest Ipad or this seasons newest Coach bag? The world has us brainwashed. All these commercials and radio ads are telling us to "sit down and watch this" or "go spend $400 bucks on this because its super cool!" The world fills our mind with so much junk.

What if we put down the television remote or put our cash back in our wallets and picked up a Bible? What would you find then? Food for your soul?

"Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink -- even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk -- it's all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I have promised to David."        -Isaiah 55:1-3

In this scripture, God is telling us "Hey why are you wasting time and money on stuff that doesn't matter and things that will eventually fade away? I can give you what is truly important. Something that rust can not destroy. I can give you eternal life, unfailing love, second and third chances, grace and mercy when you mess up and soooo much more! And it is free!"

Jesus wants to quench our thirst and fill the hole in our hearts. He wants us to long for Him and need Him to guide our footsteps. Jesus is SO much better than my big t.v. or my Iphone. It is not bad to have material things or to watch television, just please watch what your are feeding your mind. 

Ultimately we have to make a decision. It is not an easy decision to make, but it is life changing. Will you choose Jesus, life, and unfailing love? Or are you going to stick with the world that is going to fade away?

Thank You.

I can't wait to see Your face.

 I can not wait to bow at Your feet and look upon Your beauty, Oh Lord. I am ready to worship You and sing praises to You for eternity.

Jesus, You are Most High. You are more beautiful than anything I have ever laid my eyes on. You are so kind, to save a sinner like me. I am so unworthy, yet Lord you are totally worthy. You are perfect, so perfect. Christ, You paid a debt You did not owe, and I am forever grateful.

The way that God loves never ceases to amaze me. I want to love others the way He loves. I recently saw the band Newsong in concert. They have released a new song called "Swallow the Ocean". One of the band members described what it was about and this is what he said: "If all the water in the world was turned into ink and it was spread out across the sky to show God's love, the oceans would be empty and it wouldn't come close to showing how much He loves us."

Wow! That is A LOT!!! God's love for us is so great, he deserves all our praise! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! For loving and caring for me when I do not deserve it. Thank You Jesus for second chances and the heart change that can only be from You! I love You PaPa God!

"Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!" Psalm 96:4