Singing More Than Words

   Not long ago, I heard a pastor quote the words of A.W. Tozer who said: "Christians don't tell lies, they just go to church and sing them."
   When I worship, I often don't pay attention to the words that I'm singing. They are familiar, old hymns that I could sing in my sleep, with words like "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine", "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound", or "Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever". I don't always listen to the lines that role off my tongue, I just follow the words. I don't always mean the things I so readily sing, I am only following the music.

A Note for the Heart // Set Apart

     If you were brought before court and accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? 

To Everything a Season

    I slung my grooming bag up over my shoulder and trudged to the barn. Snow crunched beneath my boots and sparkling flakes fell from the sky. It was a beautiful day, but not my idea of the perfect weather for my horse and I. After all, I couldn't ride thanks to a thick layer of ice on the ground.

A Note for the Heart // Tribulation

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Being a Christian doesn't mean we won't have trouble.

When Scripture Gets Put on the Back Burner

   Life is busy. I'm only seventeen and believe me, I know how crazy life can get. It often feels like I'm bouncing from one activity or responsibility to the next with zero time to think in between. Finishing school has turned out to be busier than the last however-many-years of education, and although learning new things is exciting and inspiring, it takes up time that I once used to relax. There are only so many hours in a day. Thirty minutes of wasted time in one day doesn't seem like much - until you realize that you've wasted 15 hours by the end of a month. (Kind of makes you want to get up and get moving, doesn't it?) I set aside a few hours for studying, a couple for writing/drafting a story, and several for working, cleaning, playing, etc. We only have so much time to live life to its fullest!

   And we only have so much time to make an impact for the kingdom of Heaven.

A Note for the Heart // His Grace is Sufficient

  

   Sometimes, I step back from my life and catch a glimpse of how I live it. Every now and then, I look a little deeper than the surface and see the person that I am.
   Selfish, envious, bitter, lying, cruel, broken.
   My sinful heart disgusts me.
   In these moments, I am driven to my knees beneath the weight of utter despair. How can I be anything more than this, when I've already tried and have failed?
  "But He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
   And in that moment when I acknowledge my weakness, He reminds me of His power. I am lost - He is faithful. I am broken - but with Him, I am made new.
   I am loved, I am beautiful, I am precious in His sight.
   I am cherished, I am accepted, I am forgiven.
   On my own, I am nothing. But as soon as I abandon my human efforts, and am emptied of myself until there is nothing left, my God is there to become everything I need.
   His grace is sufficient in my weakness.

   "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)