Fellowship with the Lord

“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9) Do you know what God wants you to do more than anything else today? He wants you to fellowship with Him. He wants you to walk with Him and talk with Him. To discuss the things of life with Him. He wants you to draw near to Him and partake of His very nature. So many of us get so caught up in striving to please God in the things we do that we forget our first and highest calling is just to be in fellowship with Him. That’s right. God longs for us just to want to be with Him. Have you ever considered how much it would mean for you to just come to God and say, “Father, I didn’t really come today to get anything. I’ve prayed about my needs already and Your Word says they’re met according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. So I just came to be with You. If You have anything You’d like to tell me, I’m ready to listen…and I want you to know that whatever I see in Your Word, I’ll do it. I’ll put it into effect in my life.” Why don’t you tell that to God today? He’s waiting to have fellowship with you.

The Secret to Success

Joshua 1:8 NLT - Study this Book of the Law. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.

Relationship Run

Here's a little something I read online... Thanks, Julie!

For all of you who spend way too much time wondering who “The One” that you’re going to marry is, here are some things I have learned recently:

During Winter Ramp Damon said something kind of as a side comment that really impacted me. (And I’m sure every one who was single in the room picked up on this as well) He said, “If you want to find your spouse just run as hard and as fast as you can after God, and then look over and see who’s running next to you.”That is such a powerful word! Well naturally the single minds start to think, “Hmm…well who is running next to me?…” And as I was pondering this the Holy Spirit interrupted my thoughts and said, “Julie, are you running as hard and as fast as you can?” After I thought about it for a minute my honest response was, “Well…no.” And His response to me was, “Well then don’t look.”

Wow. What a rebuke.

But what a freeing word! In a moment I realized that my only responsibility is to focus on running as hard and as fast as I can after God. To lay aside every weight that hinders. To stop settling for a “normal” walk with God instead of a supernatural one, and to really press into God, growing up into spiritual maturity. Like Mrs. Karen says, “Where you stop is where you stop!”

Being single is a time in your life to treasure. It’s the only time in your life that you have where it’s just you and God - where you don’t have to worry about the responsibilities of a spouse, or kids, etc. It’s a time where you can so easily put all of your attention on Him. And if you’re feeling lonely, just realize that loneliness is nothing more than an invitation to find a deeper security in God. Most people get so busy trying to fill the lonely times with distractions that they miss the Divine “Come up here.”

All of that to say, let’s set ourselves this year to cut out distractions and run as hard and fast as we can - to run in a way as to receive the prize of encountering Him.

Julie

It's All About Love

Love. It was always a love thing. From before time began, it was a love thing. God’s been in love with me since it was Him and only Him. He loved me before He even created the sun, the moon, the stars. So on that day, the darkest day in history, when He went up on that tree, it wasn’t because He had to. He certainly did not have to be persecuted like He was. But for some reason, He did.

Love. It was love that drove Him to ask for forgiveness on behalf of His persecutors. It was love that drove Him to forgive me when I committed the lowest of sins. It was love that drove Him to pick me up on my darkest of days, my loneliest of nights. It was love that drove Him to push me when I didn’t feel like being pushed, because He couldn’t leave me where I was.

It’s His love that sheltered me on the coldest of nights, when Hope felt so far away. And the moments where I could not feel Him? His love was there to reassure me that He was there. When I cursed at Him, lied to Him, told Him I didn’t want Him, His love was there to show me that I would be no where without Him.

And then I see all the people living for today. All of the people, places to be, people to see. I see all of them and I wonder how many of them have truly known Love. Not the selfish love of this world. But the Love that is always patient, always kind. The Love that is not easily angered. The Love that keeps no record of wrongs. I wonder how many people have shown them that type of Love. The Love that my Father has shown me. I see them going about on their separate ways. Each one of them with a story to tell. And if I could just show them a little bit of the Love that He’s shown to me.. .

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8. God’s Love isn’t something you have to look for. God’s love is everywhere. In a child’s laugh, the chills that run down your back during a song, the happy tears you cry with friends, it’s all Him.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13. Plain and simple. If we have Love, we have everything. I don’t know why God chose to love me, but He did. It wasn’t something He had to do. When I think about my life and how undeserving I am of it all and how He still chose to love me, I’m simply amazed. When I’m asleep at night, He comes up with reasons to give me another day. And throughout my day, He’s holding my hand the entire way. Simply out of love.

 Love. That’s all it comes down to in the end. Our relationship with Him. The love of His that we shared with others. How we responded to His love, His tender touch. It’s not about the religion, or anything like that. His love. His love that brings me back to Him each time. His love that compels me to love. That’s what I live for. 

“And then I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me. This is how I know what love is…”

Reposted from: Taylor's Tumblr Account

SOAP it

You’ll need three items (Bible, Pen & Journal).  Here is a simple way to journal every day!

S for Scripture
Open your Bible to your reading for the day. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.

O for Observation
What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you.

A for Application
Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

P for Prayer
This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

“People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway. ” — Mother Teresa