how he came

Happy Tuesday BEFORE CHRISTMAS, y’all!  You’ve probably already noticed because of our lack of posting yesterday, but this week we are doing things a little differently.  I can’t believe that we are nearing so close to the end of our journey through the fruits of the spirit.  Have these weeks flown by, or what!?  Here we are at week 8 talking about gentleness.  We decided to incorporate the Christmas season into our posts this week, so you’ll be seeing this post by me (Nicole) today and a post by Jessica later this week!

To be honest, when we were thinking about what each week would look like during these nine week, we were stumped when it came to gentleness.  I  never want you guys to think that we are up on some high pedestal claiming that we know the bible inside and out.  We don’t.  We are normal college-aged girls who just want to love Jesus with everything we’ve got.  We clearly don’t have it all figured out… since the ideas for these post came last weekend.  :)

The Christmas story is one that we have heard so many times that I am afraid it is losing it’s “magic” with some people.  You know when you’ve heard a bible story in Sunday school so many times that anytime anyone mentions it, you say “yeah, yeah.  I know that one.”  Oh, how we miss out on the richness of these stories by growing blind to the fireworks behind every story.

Even though we’ve heard the Christmas story time and time again… let’s not grow tired of hearing it.  Let’s see the fireworks today!

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

Luke 2:6-7

Some of you might be saying “so what?”  What is the big deal in these two verses?

I believe the character of Christ is shown in these two verses.  When I think about God, I usually think about how great, mighty, and powerful He is.  He is this huge supernatural power who has the ability to see all, judge all, and understand all.  He’s straight up overwhelming.  And yet… this big, powerful, all-seeing God sends Jesus to earth as a baby.  He didn’t send Him in on a cloud of fire.  He didn’t cause the earth a great earthquake, or a mighty storm.  He sent him on a quiet night to be born in a barn.  He was born to simple, faithful parents.  He wasn’t born in some majestic kingdom, in fact, he laid where animals ate.  Everything about the birth of Christ speaks volumes of his character to me.  He came gently.  He didn’t come with some big “ta da”.  He just came.  As a helpless baby.  To be born quietly in the night.

I don’t know about you, but that brings so much peace to my heart.  So often it is so easy to be intimidated by God.  He is this big, strong being who could wipe us off the map if he so pleased.  He could have judged the world as soon as man fell, but he didn’t.  He sent Jesus Christ to be born in a humble, gentle way to remind us of how he loves.  He sent Jesus to tell us that it’s okay that we mess up sometimes, because there is always forgiveness.  He sent Jesus to show us what true love looks like.  He sent Jesus to show us what forgiveness looks.  He sent Jesus without condemnation. 

Christ was gentle.  He was gentle in his birth, in his life, and in his death. 

He was gentle to remind us of how deep his love is for us and how strong his devotion is.  There is nothing we can ever do to take away the security we have in Christ.  NOTHING.  We can’t sin enough, fall down enough, run enough, say “not now” enough… the blood of Christ covers it all.  His gentleness tells the story. 

So, whenever you feel like you’ve just “gone to far”, think about the story of Christ’s  birth.  Remember how he was sent humbly and gently to love and to forgive.  Not to be heartless and condemning. 

He came to be gentle.  He came to love.  He came to save.

Merry Christmas, friends!

Love y'all.

Nicole

Jessica's Baptism Video!

Happy Friday!!

I (Jamie) am so thankful for all that I've learned this week about God's faithfulness.

His love is unfailing and He will never leave our sides.

Even though we all face difficult situations it's really reassuring knowing that we have the creator of the universe on our side!!

This past Sunday Jessica was baptized at our church. 

Over the last four years I have seen Jess change so much.

She has always been a huge encourager in my life but over the last year especially God has really blessed our friendship and helped us to connect on an even deeper level.

Before Jess was baptized she told me that she just wants her story to help ONE person come to Christ. I know that her story will relate with so many people and I know that God is going to use it in big ways. 

I have never met anyone in my life who has as much passion as Jessica does. This girl does nothing half way, she is an all or nothing kind of person and I LOVE THAT ABOUT HER! 

She is seeking Jesus with all of her heart and is no longer living for the world.

It's people like her that really make this world a better place.

I know I'm biased because she is my BFF, but she is honestly one of the most amazing people I have ever met.

After watching her story I know you will sense how authentic her faith is and how this is just simple for her.. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and we were made to worship Him, plain and simple. God is faithful and no matter what happens in our lives God is still God and God is still good.

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a women who fears the Lord should be praised!"

Be blessed,

Jamie

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

You are Good

As  we end this week on goodness, this song is one of the first things that popped into my head.  It's so easy to forget how everlasting boundless the Lord's goodness is.  No matter where you go, how far gone you are, or how long you've been away, His goodness will always be forever.

We just have to accept it.

We hope you have a great weekend!

Worship

I hope y'all are having a great week, and I pray that God is speaking to you each day as we post what He has placed on our hearts!

This week as we reflect on goodness,  I have constantly had the song, How Great is Our God, in my head. Not only is the Lord the definition of goodness, He is also our GREAT God! So, as Christians what are we called to do in order to honor our great God?

Worship! 

We have been made to worship God in every aspect of our lives. When you hear the word worship you most likely think of singing a song, closing your eyes, and holding up your hands. However, worship is more than just singing. Worship is a lifestyle that includes everything we think, say and do. For me, that was huge. Worship isn't just something I do on Sunday mornings. It is something that should occur in my life daily. Wow. 

When I came across this definition of worship, I sat still for a few minutes and let it sink in. I thought, "So, in order to worship my Great God, I must live it out all the time by the things I think, say and do?" That changes things, friends. How many times a day do you find yourself thinking things that you would never say out loud? Or how many times have you made a comment to a friend about what someone is wearing? In all of these situations, we are not worshiping our great God like we were made to do. 

Another thought I had...don't we all worship something? Many of us worship a relationship we have in our life or a significant other. Some worship money, clothes, food, and there are many other things. How can you find out if there is something in your life that you worship? What is the one thing in your life that you are constantly thinking about? Ouch. Yep, that's probably something in your life that you worship. However, as children of God we are called to only worship Him! We need to change our focus and we need to make sure that He is who we are worshiping and nothing else.

My next thought...how can I do a better job of encompassing worship in my life every single day and making it a lifestyle? I decided to take some steps that would remind me each day that I was made to worship my great King and nothing else.

1. I decided to type this verse up and put it in a place where I would see it each morning...

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
   and by your will they were created
   and have their being.” Revelation 4:11

2. When you wake up each morning, pray that God will remind you constantly to worship Him in your actions, your words to others, and also your thoughts. Spend time with Him and allow Him to fill you up with His Spirit. This will change your day and will also change your life. By doing what we are all called to do, God is able to use us in so many ways and we will be blessed!

I encourage you to also put this verse somewhere that you will see it daily and have it as a reminder to change your lifestyle to one of worshiping our GREAT God in every moment of every day!

-----------------------------------------------

Savannah

 

Seeing Good

We all face dark days and want to give up when we can no longer see the light, but if you are fighting the good fight you do not give up even when the “going gets tough”, you push on! We all are broken sinners, which makes it difficult to stand firm in your faith without God's constant support and mercy he freely gives us. We must always find the goodness in every situation, even in the midst of suffering and pain, it took me awhile to learn how to do so.

Caught In SIN 

There was a time in my life when I was in a very bad place because I was in constant sin, which was naturally followed with a lot of discontentment. I was living for myself, and I did not really even know what my purpose in life because I felt very empty inside. I was entangled to my sin, and I was constantly searching for fulfillment. I sought satisfaction to my discontentment through a lot of heavy drinking while partying along with unhealthy relationships with guys. I was striving to be happy but only plunging deeper into sinful misery. I could have chose to let go of my negative entanglement of sin; however, I chose not to see the good in anything because I felt bogged down by my mistakes, regrets, which gave me no hope for anything good in my life. I was completely blinded. We find in Hebrews 12:1 exactly what we should do when we feel trapped, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Blinded by Sin

 I was in desperate need of a savior, but surrendering was not easy, change is never easy.  I could not see any goodness coming from believing that God wanted to pour out his grace to me because I did not feel worthy of it, but grace is receiving something that you do not deserve. I just did not want to accept something that I did not feel worthy of. Pretty dumb. However, God made it clear to me that I did not have to continue living in the dark, he worked on my heart by pushing me to accept his grace. He also made it clear that I needed to take responsibility for my life. I could no longer blame other people or my “misfortunate luck” as causing factors of my failure and suffering. I realized I could either chose to get it together and move forward, seeing all the good that I could see at the time or I could continue driving myself further into the darkness of my miserable life that I was living. 

Connections to Job

In the Old Testament we find Job in the middle of a bad place in his own life, “I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely" (10:1).  Job's story is much different from my on story because I was in the midst of suffering because it was self-inflicted; however, Job's suffering was not his own fault. Job had lost his wealth, children, and health. He was very upset and expressed his emotions like any human would normally do, likewise I finally expressed my suffering to God even though I had caused it. I was in at similar boat as Job because my emotions were very in line with his emotions of pain and suffering. No matter the cause of suffering it will eventually lead to death if it is not handled correctly, you will become so absorbed in self-pity you will become very unhealthy in your choices and actions.

I chose to move forward, and I started pulling myself from all of the negative influences and surrounding myself with more positive influences. During this changing process, I moved backwards and forwards in my faith for awhile, I was not grounded. As we look back to the story of Job we find him asking why me and he constantly was pleading his innocence to his friends. His friends were convinced that there was some great sin that was causing his suffering.  His friends tried to point out to Job that he did need to repent of sin, and that his view of God was very narrow-minded. One of his friend's, Eliphaz, tells Job the following which is truth, "submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored--so clean up your life (22:21-23 NLT)." In another encounter, Job's friend Elihu speaks truth, "He (GOD) gets their attention and commands that they turn from evil. If they listen and obey God, they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives" (36:10-11 NLT). 

Finally, God answers Job in a whirlwind with a series of questions. . . 

"Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

Brace yourself like a man, because I have questions for you, and you

must answer them. 

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.

Who determined the dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?

What supports the foundations and who laid the cornerstone as the 

morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,

and as I clothed it would clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?" (38:2-9 NLT).

God is Good

How powerful is that? Changes your perspective on the greatness of God, just a bit does it not ?! God's view of suffering is that it causes us to trust him for who he is, not what he does or does not do. Job finally repented, but not for hidden sin that his friend's were insisting that he repent of, instead he repented for questioning God's sovereignty and goodness. In conclusion, God points out that Job's friends were wrong for judging him without knowing what God was doing. However, God did bless Job with a fruitful life after his confession. 

Likewise, I asked for forgiveness for not trusting God and believing that he was Almighty in power to save me; however, I also repented of all my known sin that I caused because I was living for myself and my desires. Since that point, I strived to be obedient and see good and positive aspects of my life. I started making new friends who are still are strong influencers on my life right now, and I started seeing life with a totally new perspective.  I am able to love others in a way that I have never be able to love. When before I was very closed up and I did not know how to show affection to others; however, since then I have noticed that I have compassionate heart ready to pour out into my family, friends, students, and even strangers. I am able to love in this way because God points out the good in so many people, things, and situations in my life because, he has removed the “blinders” and I am no longer narrow-minded to a negative outlook on life. 

While I still struggle, sin, and face suffering, I direct my motives and questions to “what is this doing to help me grow in my faith’ and I keep in mind that God is GOOD and cares a great deal for me. While sometimes we do not understand his reasoning he must endure suffering whether we bring it on by our sin or it comes unwanted. Just know that he reigns ALMIGHTY in power and he is GOOD all the time !! He will bring good things out of your suffering if you choose to see the good and keep hope for the future, HE has made a promise to you, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).

Much Love To Y'all :)

Jess

for the good

God’s goodness is easy to see when fun, exciting, happy things are going on in life.

marriage

the birth of a baby

new friendships

financial security

What happens to God’s goodness when bad things happen?

divorce

infertility

loneliness

debt

God’s goodness stays the same.

Even in the midst of all of life’s struggles, pains, and disappointments God’s goodness is still there for us to embrace.  If there is anything that I have learned through my walk with Christ it is that my walk shouldn’t be based on my current circumstances.  Life is a rollercoaster; there are good days, bad days, sad days, and happy days.  But, our days would be much more consistent if we chose to keep our eyes on the only one who DOESN’T change.  If we only look at our present surroundings, we are sure to get discouraged and become obsessed with looking at the bad.  But, if we focus on God and the goodness of his nature, we will understand that he LOVES us and that is actively working everything out by HIS plan.

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Romans 8:26-28

While you may be in a time in your life where you are asking God “Why”, remember how much he loves you and how he wants GOOD for you.  Jeremiah 29:11 says that he wants to bring good, not harm to us.  We are his ultimate treasure.  He sent his Son to die on a tree… just for us.  His plans for us are more than we can comprehend, so we just have to keep our hearts fixed on him and not allow our circumstances to change what we know is true.

God is working all things out for the good.

Love y'all!

Nicole

God IS Good.

Welcome back, friends! I hope y'all had a great weekend.. I know I sure did {even though the Dawgs lost in the SEC championship game!!} 

The MAIN reason I had such a wonderful weekend is because of an amazing event we had at our church on Sunday called United.

United is an event where we celebrate, through baptism, the spiritual birth of middle and high schoolers. It was a time for those who were ready to publicly profess that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. We had 28 students get baptized. It was an AMAZING night full of amazing stories of just how GOOD GOD IS! 

Our topic this week is goodness.. and today is all about how God IS good.

You see, as I sat down to start writing this post I prayed and I asked God to tell me what to write about. The only thing on my mind was United and these students that got baptized. To me, that is a PERFECT example of just how good God is. He is at work in all of their hearts and they just want to tell the world about God's goodness. So, instead of having a discussion today I just want y'all to watch this video of one of me and Jessica's 6th grade girls. Listen to her story and watch as she symbolically associates and identifies herself and her life with Jesus. I hope this paints a picture for you of the goodness that is Christ. 

He IS good. He will always be good. 

"You cannot have goodness without God, just as you cannot have God without goodness. God alone is good."

Be Blessed,
Jamie

Defeat the Foothold

When you keep your emotions and hurt feelings locked inside it does nothing but cut you deeper. Withholding feelings and not pouring out truth will only build up anger and frustration, which gives the devil a great opportunity to attack. Has someone has said or done something to you that got under your skin and really bothered you, but you did not take any action because you thought you could just "sweep it under the rug"? However, you find that you are constantly shoveling junk under the rug, and you do your best to carry on being KIND! Out of the goodness of your heart you sincerely try your best to keep your mind off the negativity of the situation with that person; however, you realize that the more you avoid the thoughts and feelings the more often they come up. Eventually,  your emotions get strung out to shreds and you reach a breaking point ?! 

The Devil Will Take a Hit, Will You Withstand ?!

We all fall into traps and God knows this will happen and he shows grace every time, "Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that GOD will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:25-26. You have to decide how you are going to handle yourself when you reach your breaking point. Either you can act out in anger or find it within you to humble yourself and express your feelings with the person in a rational and kind way. We find in Ephesians, "in your anger do not sin" so there you have it, a direct route to take, God is telling you not to let your anger defeat you and be wise with your actions!!! Do not listen to another lie that the devil is feeding you because it likes to magnify things and your anger to get the best of you if you do not get it under control. 

Communication Carries You Far

So what do you do with all those conflicting feelings that are eating at you ? You may not think it is impossible to sort through the complexity your situation; however, God is not going to push you harder than you can withstand. Personally, I cannot stand confrontation and I will avoid a situation that bothers me until it starts completely consuming me. I will try to convince myself that I can handle the situation, and I am great at pulling out the idea of, oh I just do not need to worry about it because time will just mend things. However, that is SO wrong the bible tell us, "do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold" (Ephesians 4:26-27). I have learned that if something bothers me then it is more than likely not going to just disappear. Quit waiting around and start communicating.  Life is not easy by any means, we all face troubles and hardships; however, you can either live in bitter discontentment or in peace through faith in God. In Matthew 18:15-17 we find valuable and wise action steps to follow, "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love."

Confidence in Yourself and Trust in God

Taking the first step is always scary because you are moving into the unknown, but rest assured that you are moving with God and remember this, "For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.

 He gives us grace and glory.The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right." Psalm 84:11. Be truthful with your words and speak on what is pressing on your heart, and all of those negative and lingering emotions that hang heavy on your heart will no longer exist. You are making yourself whole by resolving the conflict that you are battling with the feelings that you are holding onto and you will feel peace once you let it all go. In Epehsians 4:31-32 we are told  to, "get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be KIND and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." 

Action Steps

Pray for guidance and wisdom.

Abandon the lies that the devil has been feeding you.

Speak truth and remember God is near every heart. 

Forgive and move on with kindness uniting you as one through your faith.

Positive thoughts will lead to positive outcomes.

You need the Lord all of time, and I promise that the more that you seek him the closer he will draw to you. He is willing to help you through anything. 

Acting out KINDNESS

  This week we are talking about KINDNESS and how it applies to our lives. Today I (Savannah) am going to be talking about how ADOPTION is one way you can do that.

Adoption is a huge part of my entire family, and it has impacted my life in many different ways. Recently, I attended a church that dedicated the entire Sunday to their Orphan Care Ministry. My SIL is part of this ministry, and she has helped it grow into a wonderful thing! It was truly an amazing service, and I think many hearts were impacted from it. The pastor of ministries spoke, and he did a wonderful job speaking about adoption. The title of the sermon was "Adoption Is the Heart of the Gospel."

He began by talking about how there are two types of adoption...vertical adoption and horizontal adoption. Horizontal adoption is what comes to most peoples' minds when hearing the word adoption...giving an orphan a forever family and a forever home. However, vertical adoption is something that every child of God experiences. We are adopted into His forever family when we believe that He is the one and only Lord and savior. It was amazing to connect the word adoption to the very thing that we are all created for. Adoption is truly the heart of the gospel.

We are all called to care for orphans in our lifetime...

"Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to orphans, the homeless and loveless in their plight..." James 1:27

Here are some ways you can do it...

- Discover adoption and impact an orphans life forever...go to one-27.org

- Head over to this blog...http://everythingbeautifulshay.blogspot.com...and check out the right sidebar. Here, my mom has posted many opportunities to reach out to those that are going through the process of adoption.

- Pray for the needs of more than 160 million orphans in this world...

If that doesn't move you to care for orphans in some way, maybe these precious faces will. 

These are five faces of once orphans who now have forever families. Only by the amazing gift of adoption did they receive this amazing and wonderful thing. A thing that you and I take for granted every day...

 My sister EllaKate...given a forever family at 11 months old...

...now she is a beautiful and healthy 6 year old...

My sister ShayleeJoy...given a forever family just over 1 year ago...

...now she is healed from a heart defect and is healthier than ever...

My baby brother Will Perry...given his forever family just a couple weeks ago, read his story HERE...

My nephew William...given a forever family at 5 years old...

...now a handsome and healthy 8 year old...

My nephew Daniel...given a forever family at 5 years old...

...now a happy and healthy 6 year old...

Please act now because adoption is our mission and a way that KINDNESS can become apart of our lives each and every day. 

If it's on God's heart, it should be on our hearts too!

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " Acts 20:35

 ---------------------------------

Savannah

Passion 2012

Well, it has happened. . . we got mixed up on our post dates :) whoooppsss. Savannah and I (Jessica) will pick up back up on kindness, Thursday and Friday. I hope your day is moving along perfectly, but if not here is a "pick me up" just for you: "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."Psalms 18: 1-2. Do not dwell on what has already happened, keep moving forward with a positive attitude and make the rest of this day great !

 On a different note, I want to share with you about Passion 2012. Passion is a conference that is held in Atlanta, Georgia where tens of thousands university-aged people gather together to worship and strengthen their faith in God. Watch the videos below and see what it is all about, my words will not do this event justice !! I am so excited about this unique event and I hope to see you in Atlanta !!!!! 

Also, perfect timing because tonight there is a live podcast at 9 p.m (livepodcast.268generation.com)

Go to the following website for more information about prices and registration, http://268generation.com/passion2012/#!/register/

Much love to you all !!!! :) 

Life's Greatest Challenge

"I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never-I promise-regret it. Live out this God-Created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our father is kind; you be kind." Luke 6:35-36 The Message. 

I'd be willing to bet that most of us have someone in our lives that we just don't like. Maybe they did something to hurt us, or maybe there is just something about them that irritates us, maybe we feel like the choices they are making aren't right. Whatever the reason, most of us have had a person like this in our lives at some point. We build up these negative feelings towards them in hopes that we will make ourselves feel better. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Usually we end up feeling worse and the negative feelings consume our lives. It eventually ends up effecting other parts of our lives that are not even related to this person. 

As Christians we are called to love our enemies. The love described here is a general love, meaning you don't romantically love them or even love them like you love your best friend, but you love them in a genuine way-meaning you care about their well-being. To love your enemy is to find it in your heart to put aside differences and love them regardless.

This is life's greatest challenge. 

But why? Why would we want to love someone who has harmed us or someone who gets under our skin. It's simple: because Jesus loves us. We are sinners, we hurt the Lord time and time again but guess what.. he doesn't leave us. He loves us unconditionally just as we should love others. 

Showing love to your enemy is to show Christ's love on earth. I feel like so many people have this warped view of Christianity because they see those who claim to follow Christ making judgements against their enemies. As followers of Jesus we are called to love EVERYONE-no.matter.what! 

I know it's not easy, let's be honest the last thing we want to do is smile and act like that person doesn't bother us.. but if we think about it in terms of Jesus' love for us it makes a whole lot more sense. Jesus is a friend to sinners, and so should we. If we want people to come to Jesus we have to love them like He loves them. Let our hearts be lead by mercy and not judgement. 

Listen to the lyrics of this song and really think about the relationships you have in your life. Are you loving like Jesus? Are there some people you need to make things right with? 

"Help us to remember we are all the least of thieves let the memory of your mercy bring your people to their knees, no body knows what were for only what we're against when we judge the wounded, what if we put down our signs, crossed over the lines and loved like You did?"

Click here for video :)

Be Blessed,

Jamie

It was His idea

Monday morning to YOU!  I hope every one of you had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with your friends and family.  There is something so special about Thanksgiving week for me (Nicole) and I look forward to that week full of remembrance and thanksgiving all week.  This year was extra special.  I spent the weekend before thanksgiving week in Georgia with Jamie, Jessica, and Savannah!  Yep, the Fearless gals were all in one place together, and it was perfect, y’all.  I’m sure you will hear more about our fun weekend at the end of the week, but I can’t wait that long to show you a picture of us ALL TOGETHER.  :)

As Jessica likes to call us, “The Fearless Four”! Ha!

We are starting this Monday with a little post on kindness. 

Let’s just jump right in the Word, shall we?

“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in the world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7 MSG

If that doesn’t make you want to jump up and down on a Monday morning, I don’t know what will!

Let’s unpack this verse a little bit by looking at it from the end to the beginning.  It is IN Christ that we are shown kindness.  God shows us kindness THROUH the life of Christ.  Isn’t that essential to our faith?  Because of Jesus Christ, all good things flow. 

Let’s look at the next few verses in that passage before going back to 2:7.

“Saving is all his idea, and all his work.  All we do is trust him enough to let him do it.  It’s God’s gift from start to finish!  We don’t play the major role.”

Wow, rich stuff.  Kindness originated with God.  When Adam and Eve sinned and caused the human race to fall, God decided to send someone to take the blame.  Even though we did NOTHING to deserve the grace that came through the blood of Jesus Christ, He sent him anyway.  God IS kindness.

As Ephesians 2:7 says, God has all the time in the world and the next to shower us with his grace and kindness.  Do you know what that means?

His grace and kindness won’t stop.  EVER.

Grace, love, forgiveness, kindness and every good thing was his idea.  Nothing that we have ever done has made us worthy.  The “saving thing” was all his idea and all we ever have to do is trust him.  That’s it!  We don’t have to wrap our lives in a little bow and pretend everything is perfect.  We can rest in his perfect love, forgiveness and kindness.

To lead us into our discussions about having kindness towards others this week, let’s apply this:

God showed us eternal kindness by sending his son to die for us, even though we mocked him, laughed at him, and are ultimately unworthy of his forgiveness.

God showed us THAT kind of kindness.

Aren’t we supposed to reflect the heart of God?

Here is my challenge for you.  This week think of someone that you haven’t shown kindness to “because”.  You know that that “because” is for you. 

Maybe the person really hurt your feelings.

Maybe the person went out to hurt you on purpose.

Maybe the person turned their back on you when you needed them most.

Maybe the person has been downright MEAN.

Whatever the “because” is for you, I want you to think about one way that you can show the kindness of Christ to them.  God could urge you just to pray for them, or he may push you to be so bold as to step out of your comfort zone to show kindness to them.

Whatever the case, be Jesus to someone else.  Show kindness to them in a world full of people who don’t because of their “because” situations.

After all, Jesus showed kindness to you through the cross regardless of all the reasons he could have withheld it “because”.

We love because Christ loved us. 1 John 4:19

Nicole

TGIF :)

Happy Friday y'all!! I hope you have learned something about patience this week, I know I sure have! The Lord really tested me with patience this week and thankfully I was able to take everything we talked about this week and apply it :)

I wanted to end this week a little differently than normal. Usually our Friday post is a wrap up of everything we talked about throughout the week, but today I want to show y'all a video that my church made, it takes us into our next topic, kindness.

Enjoy!

for some reason it won't let me embed this video so just click here for the link!

Be blessed,

Jamie

**Also, please note that we will be taking this next week off to spend time with our families over Thanksgiving break!**

Patience Produces Endurance

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help up develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” Romans 5: 3-5

I (Jessica) went home over the weekend to spend some time with my family and relax. Saturday morning I would have have been quite content on the couch with my Mom drinking coffee; however, I decided to go for a run because I am training for another half marathon. Reluctantly, I started off my run stiff, I was freezing, my legs felt like the weighed a million pounds, my chest was hurting more like burning, and running up an incline on gravel is flat out HARD. I wanted to give up so bad because I felt like I was running at the pace of a turtle; however, I continued to push forward in hopes that my run would get better. Finally, I reached some level ground and I start picking up my pace. My pace continued to increase greatly throughout the run, and I was able to actually enjoy the run. Even though my run started out awful, it ended up being one of my better runs. I did not give up in the beginning when it was brutally hard, and I kept driving forward even though I had doubts and was experiencing physical pain. I find so much truth in this verse, "And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." Hebrews 12:2.

Life can throw strong punches, and they will hurt if you do not have defense against them. God is your defense. Life can seem to be just like the beginning of my run, unbearable and hard. Do you ever feel like you can not move through life one second longer because you feel as if you are carrying more than you can bear ? Do you ever question if you are ever going to get an answer to prayer ? Yep, we live in a twisted problematic world; however, God is right by your side and he will help you push on though anything, it takes endurance though. 

To endure means: "Inch by inch, anything is a cinch"

To endure means: "There is no gain without pain."

To endure means: "When faced with a mountain, I will not quit. I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath . . . or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with God's help"

We all want our lives to run smoothly without problems, but without adversity there would be no challenge to push to be successful. Everyone would just be on even ground, there is no glory for God in that type of lifestyle. We cannot always get what we want when we want it, that is just life and you know that, but do you accept it? When we can not see any good in our lives and everything seems to be up in the air, you must find the strength not to give in, instead push twice as hard. You cannot push harder without God, and all you have to do is put your FULL trust in Him and ask for his help. We all get impatient, but you must not let those feelings control you or else you are going to be pushed to exhaustion and failure. God is not trying to tease you or ignore your requests about what you desire, instead he is building your endurance while you are waiting. Align your desires with God by praying, and in His time through the endurance that he produces in you, the blessing will come.

You may be asking well how long am I going to have to suffer through this--  I can only take so much. God will not push you harder than what you can handle, He knows what He is doing. Give thanks for everything that you do have and do not focus on what you do not have; by doing this you are expressing trust to God. If you keep your mind set on what you want you are going to completely miss what He has planned for you. 

I know that waiting for what you want seems impossible and at times it is painful in the midst of the process. However, I do know that God has a purpose behind what He is doing in your life. God is never going to fail you because He loves you more than we can fathom. God's love is your strength, and it will hold you together. Constantly remind yourself that nothing that keep you from His love, and that is your internal push towards eternity.

Whenever you receive what you have been patiently waiting for it is going to be SO rewarding and fulfilling because you know that it is fully deserved because you waited patiently. You did not give into your own selfish desires to try and seek out what you wanted on your own, instead you stuck it out with God. Do not give into those temptations of giving up, just endure everything and keep moving forward. Do not ever back down or let negative thoughts win you over. The problems that you are facing do not define you, God defines you, and all you have to do is keep moving ahead in strong faith with a heart that is patient to his plans. Your patience will pay off, and the moment you start to fade just remember this, "Because he (Jesus) never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God." Hebrews 12:3 The Message

Much Love,

Jessica