Tag: Jesus

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Twenty

Courtney2 Comments

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Day Twenty: Describe the best day of your life to date

Truth be told, I’ve had a lot of really good days in my life. I can remember clearly days that I first met the friends I have now, accomplished dreams, and faced fears. Nonetheless, the greatest day of my life—the day that many of my good days have hinged on—is the day that accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

I was young-ish when it happened—past the age of Veggie Tales but too young to have any major mistakes or regrets in my past. I was eleven years old and I was reading a tween series called The Ponytail Girls (Each book came with a free scrunchie!) and at one point in the book, it talked about accepting Jesus into your heart. By this point, I had been going to church with my mom for about two years and was beginning to learn a good deal about the Bible. I knew that I wanted Jesus, so I kneeled down on my bathroom floor, and prayed the prayer.

This was my come-to-Jesus-moment—with a teeny-bopper book and a  shower right next to me. No joke. 

Considering the seemingly ordinary nature of the moment, it may seem strange to some that I would point to that day as my greatest. Nonetheless, I believe that many of our stories have small beginnings. The decision to accept Christ was the start of my journey as a Christian, washed in the blood of Jesus. It was my way of saying that I’m all in—if having Jesus in my heart was the way to have Him walk with me through my days, than accepting Jesus into my heart was what I was going to do.  

That moment was the start of one of the greatest adventures of my life. I have the peace of knowing that God holds my future and that He has a plan. I’ve had a sense of stability through some of life’s hardest moments—from heartbreaks to friendship drama. Most of all, I have the assurance of eternal life with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

If you’re reading this and have never made the decision to accept Christ, than I strongly urge you to do so. All you have to do is confess that your a sinner in need of a Savior, ask for forgiveness, and accept His grace. 

You may just look back on it as the best day of your life. 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Nineteen

Courtney2 Comments

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Day Nineteen: If you could spend fifteen minutes with any celebrity, who would it be and why

I’ll be honest, when I first starting thinking about this challenge, I had no idea how I was going to approach it. I have a couple of celebrities who I like and admire, and just a few short hours ago, I was planning to either write about Britt Nicole or Tim Tebow (Both awesome people, right?). Nonetheless, just now, God revealed to me who it is that I would most like to meet and who I would like to talk about in this post.

Jesus. 

If I could spend fifteen minutes with literally any person, I would spend that time talking to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Could you imagine what it would be like, getting to talk to Jesus Christ—in flesh and actually have a conversation? To me, that would be a dream come true.

There are so many things I’d ask HIm. I’d ask about my life. I’d ask about my family line, and those who came before me. I’d ask about my future, and my past—all those I’ve encountered over my years on earth. I’d ask what it was like, coming to earth as God in flesh, and living His life, knowing that He’d die in the worst possible way.

 Most of all, I’d stand in awe of Him. I’d stand taken back by the fact that He created the world, and knows each of us by name. How He created everything from nothing, and how He’s written each of our stories before we were born. I’d thank Him for all He’s blessed me with—my family, my friends, my life. It would be an experience too overwhelming to even write about.

The lyrics to the old song by MercyMe, I Can Only Imagine, sum it up best.

Surrounded by your glory

What will my heart feel

Will I dance for you Jesus 

Or in awe of you will I be still?

Will I stand in your presence 

Or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing Hallelujah?

Will I be able to speak at all? 

I can only imagine

I can only imagine…

How about you—if you had the chance to spend fifteen minutes with Jesus, what would you ask Him? What would you say? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below! 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Two

Courtney7 Comments

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Hey everyone, I hope your day has been pleasant! Sorry I’m posting this a little late in the afternoon, I went to see a movie today and just got home!

Today’s prompt is “Describe the good, the bad, and the ugly of yourself“. I’m not quite sure how to go about doing this, but I’ll do my best!

The good: I believe that I’m an overall nice person. I try to be kind to others and hardworking in my aspirations. I also try (sometimes unsuccessfully, as a fallen human) to put Jesus first in every area of my life.

The bad: As I’ve written about in various places before, I tend to struggle with OCD and perfectionism. Struggling with OCD/Perfectionism isn’t a sin, but it can make it harder to focus on the important things in life and keep my priorities straight.

The ugly: Sometimes I have a tendency to speak without thinking. I’ve gotten better about this, but sometimes if I’m in an argument, words will spill out that I never should have said. Furthermore, as a fairly type-A kind of person, I hate being wrong—which can sometimes manifest itself in pride.

The good news is, God’s grace is enough to cover us—even when we feel like a bit of a hot mess.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says “But [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

None of us are perfect and we all struggle with a host of different issues, but Jesus took our place on the cross so that we may spend eternal life with Him. He’s there in our sins and our strengths, are successes and failures.

Jesus is always more than enough—in the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

Quote Challenge #2: Day Two

Courtney2 Comments

Hey everyone, sorry I’ve been kind of inconsistent with this blogging challenge. For the last couple of days, I’ve had a cold, and have lacked motivation to churn out a new blog post. Nonetheless, I’m feeling better and I’m happy to be back! 

Today’s quote is one by one of my favorite Christian authors and thinkers—C.S. Lewis.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C. S. Lewis

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For many, the decision to surrender everything to God can be a scary one. Becoming a Christian means handing over the steering wheel to Jesus, trusting that He knows what’s best for us and will lead us to a destination better than the one we would have chosen for ourselves. For some, it means fear of ridicule from peers who formally liked and respected them. For others, it means loosening the reins on our plans and allowing God to come in and make tweaks when needed.

But, I’ve found, the pros will always outweigh the cons. 

Jesus, while demanding everything, often takes us to places beyond our wildest dreams. For every “no“, there’s a bigger “yes” around the corner. In my own life, He’s opened doors that previously felt bolted shut, answered prayers to problems that seemed beyond fixable, and surrounded me with a family of believers that I know have my back no matter what. There’s just one question that we all have to answer before He can work in our lives. 

“Will we trust Him?”

For each person who has ever been born into this earth, there is a decision to make—follow the world, or follow Jesus. We cannot do both. 1 John 2:15 says “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” This does not mean we aren’t supposed to love people—it simply means that we must not see this present world as our home. The world promises false happiness, the kind that will soon fade away. Jesus promises eternal happiness. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 

In this world, we will have troubles—but we will also have blessings and eternal life—if we hold fast to faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelations 3:20 

Since I forgot to nominate people in my last post, I’m going to nominate six bloggers in this one! The nominees of this challenge are…

  1. Dainty M.
  2. D’Dream 
  3. FearfullyWonderfullyMe
  4. Julian For Jesus 
  5. Passion And Pixels 
  6. Thrive (AKA Nora Elkins Blog) 

What Are You Chasing?

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“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” – Mark 8:36 

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What are you chasing? The answer to this question is different for everyone. For some, it may be a better job, or any job at all. For others, it may a relationship—either romantic or platonic. Still for others, it may be a dream or goal you have yet to achieve.

What are you chasing? 

The truth is, we’re all chasing something. The thing that we’re chasing is often the thing that we tend to obsess the most over—the thing that takes up our thought space in our free moments. It is often accompanied by thoughts such as “I’ll be happy when…” or “This will be my moment…” No one is immune to this chase, because deep down inside, something tells us that we were born for it—we were born to pursue. We weren’t meant to stay stagnant. 

This pursuit is not a bad thing, but it can become a bad thing when focus more on the things of this world than the things of God. It can be such an easy trap to fall into that most of us don’t even realize we’re doing it. Truth be told, I struggle with this on a nearly daily basis. I’ve written in previous posts that I struggle in a big way with OCD and perfectionism and often those tend to be the driving forces in my chase.

I’ll analyze something that I’ve completed over and over again to the point of insanity. I’ll make a long and detailed bucket list that I absolutely must complete before I die. I’ll set up grand, exciting goals for myself and worry whether they’ll ever actually happen at all.

Again, I’ll clarify, having dreams is not a bad thing. Desiring to be in a relationship or have a family is not bad. Hoping to get a good position at a job is not bad. They only become bad when they take the place that only Jesus should have and become an idol. God wants to give you the desires of your heart, but first He wants to become the desire of your heart. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” We are called to seek God before we seek anything else we desire.

Here are some points to remember as we go throughout our week and strive to put God first.

  1. It’s not about you – Recently, God has convicted me that I have unintentionally made my aspirations about me. The ironic part about all of this is, many of my goals pertain to ministry—things that are supposed to further His kingdom and reach people for Christ.  Nonetheless, I’ve somehow managed to turn these callings into what ‘I’m’ going to do.’ I’m’ going to change the world. ‘I’m’ was going to leave my mark. I’ve made God’s callings about me rather than God, and I repent of that. Sometimes, we can make ministry and outreach the focus, rather than an outpouring of the One who should be our focus.
  2. Everything but Christ will someday fade – Moments don’t last forever. Someday, that goal that you’re working so hard for will only be a past memory. Someday, that wedding day celebration that you’re planning on Pinterest will only be a photo in an album. Someday, that glamorous job will loose some of that excitement it once had. The only thing we can chase that will never fade away is Christ, Who is outside of space and time. 
  3. Let Go And Let God – I know, this saying is beyond cliche—but it’s true. In the words of a recent Jason Gray song “You can’t add a single day by worrying…You can’t change a single thing by freaking out, It’s just gonna close you in, Oh don’t let the trouble win.” God is going to do things in His timing, which is often different than our timing. There have been many times in my own life where I’ve wanted something to happen right. this. instant. Usually, in those situations, God tells me to wait. I’ve found that when I listen, and wait on His timing, it’s always for the best.

How about you? What are some things you’ve been chasing? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments section! 

 

 

Only Jesus

Courtney3 Comments

“I lost Jesus in there. It seemed one could be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus.”-Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts; Making Peace With An Evolving Faith.

Celebrity scandal. Wars. Gun control. Religious freedom. Republicans vs. Democrats. The 2016 election. Chaos. Crime. The economy. 

With so many issues in the world, distraction has become one of our most accessible vices. Even on Christian websites, the top news stories are drenched with current events and political jibber-jabber. The nightly news, like an addiction, pulls us in and threatens to keep us there.

I’m as guilty of it as anyone. People and current events fascinate me, and I’ve spent my share of time online, trying to figure out my stances on various issues. I love finding new information and sharing what I’ve learned with others, and I believe that learning about people and their unique places and journeys of life can help us to become more caring and compassionate human beings.

An interest in new information is not a bad thing. God wants us to be able to reason and think critically about different matters. Half the book of Proverbs is about wisdom, and the importance of it. Not to mention that God created our brains with unbelievable complexity to process life—both the present and eternity—with.

The problem comes when we become so consumed with the news, life, and viewpoints that we completely miss Jesus. Sometimes, it even gets so out of hand that we end up waging wars with those-who-disagree-with-us-on-topic-XYZ. I’ve seen this happen a lot during this point in history. Somehow, as a Christian culture we’ve reduced our faith to politics, rules, and religion, completely missing the amazing otherworldly story that God is writing in our lives. In the name of “being right”, we’ve turned to lecturing, shouting at, and hurting those who we’re called to love.

Suddenly, the story of the two sisters from the Bible comes to life, and we live as Marthas instead of Marys. We’re worried about many things, but we forget the one big thing.

A vibrant, feeling-alive-I-can-touch-the-sky relationship with Jesus. Living as a poem rather than an instruction manual. Loving vibrantly, the way Jesus did. Sinking into God’s peace when the world feels chaotic. Breathing a sigh of relief and realizing that we don’t have it all together, but knowing that Jesus does.

Sometimes, we need to let go of the worries, let go of the troubles, and look up instead of looking around. The world will always be crazy, but we serve a Savior who calmed the waters and walked on them. He can calm storms and raise the dead, and continues to calm the storms inside of us, making us come alive when we feel dead.

Only one person is big enough to do that, for you, for me, and for all of Creation, and that person is our friend, Lord, Savior, and redeemer, Jesus Christ; who bled on a cross so that we could have live forever. The things of this world may not be big enough to calm our seas, but Jesus always is. No matter how menacing the clouds and no matter how loud the storm, Jesus can always calm it. And, He always has been, and always will be, more than enough. ❤️