more than a feeling

Hey, girls!  I (Nicole) am so glad that Jess opened the next few weeks up to whatever the Lord might say, in whatever direction he leads.  Not having a “theme” is really going to allow us to just open up to you guys about what is going on in our personal relationships.  I hope that we can all gain something from it!

I wanted to give you a little peek into my relationship, lately.

Quiet.

Yep, very quiet.  I am still reading my bible, praying, and just spending time with Him throughout the day, but it’s been a pretty quiet couple of weeks.  I haven’t really felt his presence.  I haven’t really been moved like crazy.  I haven’t really had an exciting couple of weeks.  But, the Lord is teaching me though that.

I’m a gal who puts a lot in emphasis on feelings. 

“This doesn’t make me happy.”

“I’ve just been in a bad mood.”

“Well, that just ruined my day.”

“That style of worship just doesn’t do as much for me.”

“I didn’t have an amazing morning in the Word… something must be wrong.”

Almost all of my thoughts are connected to my feelings, but this is a dangerous place to be, my friends.  Completely relying on feelings will lead to a life on a rollercoaster.  You’ll be happy one day, in a low pit the next, and you just can’t seem to find steady ground.  I have definitely been in this place and I’m just now learning to find my way out.

If I based my life on my feelings towards this circumstance in my life and this moment in my day and this week I just had I would be in a pretty rotten place.  I would be miserable, completely discontent, and an anxious mess. 

We must learn to live beyond our feelings. 

I think the Lord has been more quiet lately to see if I could be content just to meet with him, sit with him, and accept the truth that is in His word.  No, not every morning spent in the word is going to totally blow your mind.  But, should I still be content to sit and learn and wait for Him to speak?  Yes!  Even though I may not have a warm “feeling” about where I am in my walk, God is no less there.  My faith has to go deeper than just a feeling, because if it doesn’t, it will be really easy for me to give up in the quiet times. 

The Lord is still being faithful to me, no matter how I feel.  I allow my emotions to control my thoughts, my actions, and ultimately, my faith. 

I need to place the TRUTH about my feelings. 

THIS is the truth…

“Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” Deuteronomy 7:9

“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.” Psalm 9:10

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

“God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

No matter where you are in your walk, God is faithful.  Seek him through the quiet times.  Don’t let your feelings get the best of you.

Love you!

Nicole

Listen to Wisdom

I (Jessica) am a very self-driven and determined person, and I would say that fear failure more than anything. I want to be great at everything that I do, and I constantly strive and push myself to always put forth one hundred percent in everything that I do. This can be a good and bad quality to have because, I either am very successful or I beat myself up for falling short or completely failing. I get stuck in a negative mindset and shut off to the thing or person that I fell short of, and this is never a good place to be in. Proverbs 19:20 tell us to, "listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise."We have to find faith in our moments of fear, and we must seek wise words and God's plan because that is the key to being content, success in life, which will bring your life alive.

We all want to be successful in life, I would say that is a safe and valid statement. All of our dreams look very different, but the desires that burn in our hearts create the same feelings. Some of us strive to reach those desires harder than others, for me I go after what I want with a lot of effort. We do not need to worry because if you, "delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4. Very often, I try to stick to the path that I think or make myself believe that God would want me to be on in order to be successful and reach the desires of my heart. I have a lot of trouble just letting things happen and fall into place because I try to make everything harder than it has to be. I am SO analytical and try to figure out my life before it has had time to even play out yet. I have to remind myself very often that I need to just live and quit worrying. I am learning that I have to put forth more faith in God and believe in his powerful ways, which will be much more impactful on my life if I just step away and let him take action, which leads me to these wise words, "it is simply absurd to say you believe or even want to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything He tells you.  . ." 

Where is my faith in GOD ?!  I am constantly asking the what ifs and whys about different aspects of my life whether it's small or big in my eyes. I am also learning that walking in faith does not mean that I am going to try and pretend that none of my negative feelings exist and that I can swallow them down and carry on with a fake positive outlook on the situation. Do not try to fool yourself or convince God that you are walking in faith with the right mindset, it will catch up to you SO quickly and you will be stuck. You have to set your heart in the right direction by emptying out everything that is holding you down, and once you release all the ties by being honest with yourself and truly listening to God's wisdom you will be able to carry on in your walk of faith with true positive outlook. 

Walking in faith and listening to God's wisdom is not always easy, especially when you are constantly trying to make something work or figure out why this or that did not play out like you planned in your  life. My advise to you is to simply STEP AWAY, quit trying to figure out your life and just live. Listen to the wisdom that He is pouring out and use it to help you reach the walk of faith, which is standing on the highest point that you can reach and being completely confident that you are will not fall. Then when you are at the steepest point you take off in faith, and God will guide you along the way. God places us exactly where He wants us to be and we must be faithful to him by listening to what He wants us to do. In order to fulfill the life that God has for us we need to be less focused on our plan and just live out every day by seeking his wise plan. However, do not get so caught up in trying to figure everything out that you become biter and cold because God's nature is loving and compassionate; so therefore; He wants us to love other and laugh while enjoying life. God will stir up love and passion within you if you let him take complete control, be faithful to him by showing him you trust him with your life !!! His ways are greater and higher than you and I can even comprehend, so reach out to him and will pour wisdom and love into your life. 

Much Love to You,

Jess

Choosing Faith ALWAYS

This week as we focus on FAITH I think that's it's important to talk about actually choosing to have FAITH in every single circumstance. In our lifetime we will all be faced with choices and situations where we have to make a decision and choose FAITH!

This past weekend, my church had our Christmas Program. I am in the choir and one of my favorite songs was called, "A Baby Changes Everything." This song has been stuck in my head since Sunday, and when I was singing it earlier I relaized that the Christmas story is a perfect illustration of choosing FAITH. Think about it...

What if you were a teenage girl that found out you were pregnant, and you knew for certain you had never been with anyone. How scary would that be? I know the first thing that would go through my head would be what people were going to think of me. Also, think of how scared Mary was for Joseph to find out. What if he didn't believe her? What if he abandoned her and left her alone? So many "what if's"...

Have you ever been in a situation where there were a lot of what if's? I think that as Christians, if we don't make the decision NOW to always choose FAITH the devil will use those "what if's" and try an get us to become unsure and scared.

See, Mary chose FAITH. She trusted God and so did Joseph. Did it get easier? Not right away...

Not only were they about to have a baby, but they had to travel many many miles before they gave birth. What happened when they got to Bethlehem? There was no room in the inn! Do you think that was easy to hear? No, not at all. However, they chose FAITH and they chose to trust God. 

In the end what happened? 

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born! How amazing is that? God told them something that seemed crazy at first, however they chose FAITH and Mary gave birth to our SAVIOR! 

To me, this is huge. This just shows that God can do big things when you chose to have FAITH and chose to trust in Him. He will never disappoint you if you are following His will. That is an amazing promise that should make you want to jump for joy right now! God always has our best interests at heart, He only needs us to follow Him and trust Him. It's that simple. 

Remember this week that if Mary can trust in Him when He puts a baby inside of her unexpectedly, you can trust Him too with whatever you're dealing with.

Here is the song I referenced earlier. This is really awesome if you have time to watch!

 

Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!

Love y'all,

Savannah

Trust

Trusting God is one of the hardest things in the world to do... but it is also the most vital thing we can  do for our spiritual life.

Everyone is always saying "just trust God", but that's so much easier said than done. In a world where were constantly comparing ourselves to others and basing our happiness off how we measure up to others it's just hard to let go and trust that God has our lives planned out. 

If I'm being honest here, there have been more times than I can count in my life where things just weren't going right, and instead of relinquishing things to God I felt like I could fix it and I could make it right. I wanted it to go my way and the only way for that to happen was for me to do it. But oh how wrong I was.

The area where I struggle with trust the most is in my relationship with my boyfriend. Living in the south it is a common practice for people to get married straight out of college. This has always been my dream. I have it all planned out in my head. Unfortunately, that plan is not unfolding the way I had hoped. I struggled for a long time with accepting God's plan and getting rid of my own. I wanted to be engaged last summer and when that didn't happen I was really upset with God. He knew how bad I wanted that to happen and it seemed like it was happening to everyone around me, but not me. It felt like I woke up every morning to news of someone else getting engaged, and instead of being happy for them I was jealous. Jealousy is an ugly thing and it really started taking a toll on my relationship. For months I was so bitter about the whole thing. 

I prayed so long for God to take this pain away. I knew what I wanted, but I also knew deep down that what's later is greater. I knew I had to give up what I wanted and go with God. 

What seemed like over night, I started feeling much better and started embracing where I was in life. I got to the point where I realized that right now is my time to grow into the women that God so desperately wants me to be. I am learning so much about myself in this season. 

The other day on Facebook I saw this video. I literally bawled my eyes out the entire time I watched it. This is what this season of my life is all about... becoming a Proverbs 31 women. 

I'm not ready to be engaged, God is still making me into the women that my future husband deserves. 

I have fully embraced where I am in my life and I honestly couldn't be happier. It's amazing what happens when you give up on your own plan and start TRUSTING in God's. 

If you are struggling with trusting in God's plan for your life please pray this prayer...

"Heavenly Father, I come to you today broken. I am broken because I have not been fully trusting in Your plan for my life. I thought I could do it on my own, but I know that Your way is the best. To you my future is a memory, because You're already there. From today on I will trust in You. I pray that You will continually remind me that You are in control.

Amen."

One day I'll stand before You and look back on the life I lived, 

I cant wait to enjoy the view and see how all the pieces fit.

Be blessed,

Jamie

never ending faithfulness

Can you believe that we are on week SEVEN of this nine week series??  It seems like the weeks have just FLOWN by, but I know that I have be stretched so much in my faith the past several weeks.  As we get close to ending this series, I want you to be thinking about what YOU would like to see on the blog next!

Would you like to talk about relationships, prayer, how to study the bible… you name it!  Whatever you would like to see happen here, just let us know.  Comment below or send us an email because we would LOVE to know what you think!

This week we are going to be talking about a few different aspects of faithfulness, but today I (Nicole) just want to bring you the ULTIMATE story of faithfulness.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve experienced at least some form of unfaithfulness, untrustworthiness, or you’ve been affected by disappointment.  Our human nature makes it absolutely impossible to avoid these feelings or avoid CAUSING these feelings for someone else.  Sometimes we are going to screw up and we’re going to cause someone not to trust us, or someone else’s actions is going to cause us to question their devotion to us.  But, there is One who’s faithfulness will NEVER be in question; One that will NEVER be untrustworthy.

At the very beginning of the world, God had plenty of reasons to abandon his creation.  After he made them perfect and without want, they deliberately sinned against him.  And then God decided human kind wasn’t worth saving.  So he condemned Adam and Eve to Hell and there was no hope for the world after that.

Wait… what?

Adam and Eve sinned against God, but God never turned his back.  In fact, because of their sin, God gave the greatest sacrifice of all.  His Son.  Think about the darkest places you’ve been where you’ve been away from God, chosen to trust in your own guidance, and walked hand in hand with the world.  The moment where you were at your LOWEST, God still didn’t leave you. 

Want to hear something that will blow your mind?

That was the moment that God was most faithful to you.

Because that was the moment God sent his Son to die for.

The times where you can’t even stand the sight of yourself, remember that God’s faithfulness will never leave.  You’re never too far gone and you’ve never chosen the broken road too many times. 

God’s faithfulness will always, always cover you.  Even though you may know the intense heartache of unfaithfulness in people, there is a God who has been more faithful to you than you could ever know.

My challenge for you today is to think about ONE instance where you know you were far from God.  A moment in your life where you couldn’t see the light, or if you’re like me, you chose to ignore the light.

Think about that moment… and then think about the God who stuck with you through it.  His faithfulness never leaves.

Psalm 36:5
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Love y’all always!

Nicole