Wedding Season.

So wedding season has started with a roar it seems. The roar which started in September of this year for me, will last until September of next year. Even on facebook, it seems as if every day someone new is getting engaged. With all this wedding commotion, I've just been thinking about the beauty of a wedding- how anxious the bride and groom are for their special day, all the planning and preparation that goes into getting everything and the grandness of the celebration in its entirety. Here are some of the thoughts that have crossed my mind while pondering the topic of weddings. (Please excuse the randomness of the thoughts, hopefully you'll find that common thread of thought that will tie this whole post together):

Can you imagine the wedding that will take place when Christ our King returns for the Church, His bride? Can you imagine how He must be longing for that day? All the preparation that is taking place, all the majesty and splendor it will have. It is the wedding of a King! A kingdom rejoices when the King gets married! Wait, am I a bride fit for a King? Brides look SO beautiful on their wedding day- clothed in perfect white, not a hair out of place, just perfect. The King has already given me my white robe to wear. He paid for my robe with his blood! The love story between Christ and the Church. He loves and paid for her with his life, she willingly submits to His leadership. While the Church is on earth, He asks her to remember Him and live for Him. While Christ is in heaven preparing a place for his bride, the bride is asked to prepare a place for Him in the hearts of those on earth.

How beautiful that day will be! When the bride is united with her husband to be!

Weddings are so much more beautiful when one looks past the flowers and formalities- when one steps outside of the view of surroundings and beautifully decorated venues to gaze at what the marriage actually symbolizes- the union of Christ to the Church.

Consumed.

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (KJV)
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (NIV) Lamentations 3:22 

This verse has been on my heart for the past, I don't even know how long. It's been on my mind and heart for over three weeks now. The verse just strikes me as beautiful. If you were to ask me within the past three weeks what is beauty, I would probably reply- It is because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed. I don't know about you but I find a bit of irony in this verse. I see the LORD's great love..and then I see me being not consumed. We are always so quick to say God is Love. But where I fail to spend a good amount of time is on the reality that Hebrews 12:29 so vividly brings to our attention- for our God is a consuming fire. God could very well think about destroying my sinful self right now and I would vanish into thin air- never to exist again. But because of His Mercy. because of His Love. I am not consumed.

When I think about a sinful creature like me, I'm awestruck with wonder at how beautifully His holiness and love worked together on the cross. His love for me didn't overpower his hatred of sin. He fulfilled both in one transaction. How awesome is our God.

Once again,
Because of His Mercy. because of His Love. I am not consumed. 

A Relationship.

For the past couple of days I've been thinking about relationships. "Oooo" you might say, or "Jerry's got someone on her mindd" But no, that's not what I'm writing about. What I've been thinking about is the very essence of what a relationship is-what goes into building and keeping a relationship. When I hear the word relationship, I automatically think of words such as commitment, faithfulness, time, love, etc. Commitment- to the person who you're having a relationship with. Faithfulness- to honor the commitment you've made. Time- set apart with them and for them. Love- for them. Basically, a relationship requires you to put in effort on your part- or in other words, a relationship comes with you doing work! A very plain or basic statement about the result of a relationship is that it results in bringing people closer together.

But what happens if one person puts all the effort in while the other just sits back and does nothing? You might say the relationship will go nowhere, you might even bet on the relationship ending pretty soon. But I wonder if this is how I am in my relationship with God. He puts in all the effort, loves me unconditionally, provides for me, cares for me, never forgets about me during the day..etc. while I sit back and enjoy it all, without even taking a moment to thank Him during my day.

The term "relationship with God" has been replaying in my head over and over again-this idea that I should have a strong relationship with God. I'm sure many people, including myself, really want to have a stronger relationship with God. But sometimes I find myself wanting a relationship without having to do any of the work that comes along with the relationship. But many know and can attest to the fact that relationships like that never last. God wants to have a real, strong, lasting relationship with me. He's been putting in the effort all along. How can I ever hope to get closer to him if I don't set apart a time in my day to talk to Him? How can I expect that I will be more faithful to Him without really ever committing to Him? How can I expect to grow closer in a relationship with God without showing the same dedication that He shows to me? If I have any hope of getting closer to God and having a stronger relationship to him, I guess I better be prepared to do my part.

What I mean by working on a relationship with God can be compared to a situation like this:
Jack is a father. He has a son named Billy. No matter what, Jack will always be the father of Billy but the child and the father might not have a relationship with each other. They may not speak during the day, or for months even. But they are still related.

This is kind of like our situation with God. Nothing can stop God from being our heavenly father, but while He is our Father, we may not have a relationship with Him.

God is pursuing a relationship with each and every one of us. He wants us to know Him. He knows us better than we know ourselves.


Psalm 139:1-5 "Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my way. Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord. You have encircled me; You have placed Your hand on me."

Keeping a relationship with God is no different than trying to keep a relationship with a friend. It takes time and effort. But the result is better than anything we can ever hope for in this world.


James 4: 7-8 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you."

Once you're in a relationship with God, nothing can ever separate you from God. You may have to work to get closer to God, but you never have to work to get love from God.


Romans 8: 38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God desires, longs, yearns for a relationship with his children. I know having a strong relationship with Him won't happen in a day. Relationships take work. I pray that this year I'll put in more effort on my part to make this relationship stronger. I know He loves me no matter what, but I don't want to be the one in the relationship who puts no effort in- I want this relationship to work and I guess it's about time I got to work.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

It's been a long time, We shouldn't of left you...without a dope beat to step to.

School has started :( Blog posts will come....sorry for the wait!

A King

Once upon a time, there was a King. This King was the king of a land. In-fact he made the land that he was king over. This land he made was his perfect little creation. He then decided that he wanted friends in this land. Not like the trees or clouds, but friends that were just like him-caring, loving, sharing, honest, and just fun to be with. He wanted friends who would be there with him but at the same time recognize that he is the King. So this King created a nation, and filled it with people-his people. He looked after the people of his nation, went out to fight their battles with them, provided them with clothing, shelter and a secure nation. Only, these people decided to reject him as their king. They decided that they wanted a different king. He kept calling them to stay as a part of his nation but they denied and rejected him and joined other armies and nations. So the King, being a fair and just king, allowed the people of his nation to have freedom to choose who they wanted for a king. So the people left his kingdom for other kings and nations. Soon afterwards, the people realized that they had made the wrong choice-they had chose to serve and become a part of the wrong nation. They realized that if they stay with these other kings, they would die. The King knew he had to help his people even though they left him. So he got on his horse and rode out to battle to bring his people back. He defeated dragons and witches and warlocks and voldemort and lollll. He gained victory for his people and the nation that left him. Today, the King has brought many of the people of his nation back home. Though the battle is won, some people of the nation willingly choose to stay with the other kings even though they know they will die. The people of the King's nation have been ordered to go out and search for survivors, lost souls, lost friends, still following other kings so that they too will be brought home-to safety and life.

For the past couple of weeks, I've really been meditating on God's Kingship. How our God is really a true King. His character revealed in scripture even shows Him as a King! He has a people whom he cares and provides for and a kingdom which will one day be complete. The way Isaiah captures the awesome scene of his vision of our Lord seated on his throne just boggles my mind. But don't take my word for it! Here, take a look:

Isaiah 6: 1-7

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:
   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
   the whole earth is full of his glory.”
 ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
 ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
 ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

WOW. How beautiful is that? I can picture in my mind, with my limited capacity, just a glimpse of what Isaiah is seeing and I'm dumbstruck. The King on this throne, wearing an exquisite, large robe- fit for a king, with a train that fills the temple. Beautiful Seraphim flying, calling out, proclaiming the holiness of the King. Isaiah is so humbled by this scene that he cries, "Woe is me!!!" He knows he is a sinner yet he has seen the King. Yet, a seraphim flies to him and assures him that his guilt is taken away, his sin is atoned for.

It reminds me of the graphic picture on Calvary where my King wore a crown of thorns and where moments before, he was adorned with a purple robe as a mockery of his very kingship. I thank my God and King that he has won victory for his people. With a King like the one true God, I can't imagine why people don't want to be a part of his everlasting kingdom. But one thing is sure, my King has asked me to go out in search for people who don't know about this awe-inspiring King and his everlasting kingdom. My prayer is that I can continue meditating on my King and follow out his orders to help expand his kingdom. I'll end my blog-post with the final verse I was meditating on.

Isaiah 6: 8

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

   And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

[Isaiah 6:1-8, As found in the NIV version, Emphasis mine.]

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Just a thought.

So on my walk, I've been reading the book of Numbers. Trekking through the wilderness with the groaning, moaning Israelites and witnessing every miracle God performs for His people. The other morning, as I sat down with my breakfast ;) I read Numbers 14. The setting takes place in Kadesh in the Desert of Paran where all Israel camped awaiting the return of their spies who had gotten the unimaginable chance of a lifetime to see the land that God was planning and willing to give to His people. Now usually, people are so excited to get a "First Look" at anything. Be it a movie or a car or a new item in technology like let's say the Iphone 5! :p Whatever it may be, you get my point. People die to get a first look or first touch or first taste at something before the rest of the world has done it. There is some kind of thrill that comes along with being the only person to ever see it before any other has laid their eyes on it. But what I saw here, when the spies returned, was nothing like the anticipated thrill I was yearning for. Trust me, I was excited to see how these chosen men would go and see the lovely land of Canaan and bring back the amazing report of how excited they were-It was The promised land after-all! But no. Numbers 13: 32 says: "And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored." Wha? Come on guys! This is the land GOD is giving you! It's like taking a present that President Obama gave you and badmouthing it right in front of him! In the midst of my utter disappointment at how the Isrealites acted, in chapter 14, I found God's reaction. Num 14:36 ^"So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— ³⁷ these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. ³⁸ Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived."

WOW. I mean yeah. God must have felt terribly hurt by those bad reports those men brought back to the Israelites. Those men turned the whole community sour against God by just word of mouth. The only two who did no such thing were Joshua and Caleb.

Then a thought struck me. I saw myself standing amongst the community of Israel. Then a more vivid image-I saw myself as one of those who brought back a bad report.

I didn't like the feeling I had in my gut now. I know God was speaking to me. There are so many times where I can recount me thinking and even speaking badly of something. Something I didn't like about someone or a situation that God gave me that I didn't like. I wondered if God feels the same kind of hurt He felt in that wilderness with the Israelites when hurtful things come out of my mouth. How could I say that I didn't like what God created? How could I complain to God that one of his creations were something less than perfect? How could I DARE try to doubt God? No, I didn't want to grieve God. I wanted to see myself standing right next to Joshua and Caleb. Seeing what God gave them and having the faith to say, Yes! Even though the land has people living in it, God said He would give us this land, and I know He'll stand true to His word. They never spoke a bad word about what God created for them, showed them, and ultimately gave them.

It was really an eye opener at how seriously God takes what His people say. Be it about His creations or what He gives them. It really challenged me to watch everything I say this week.I don't want to be a moaning, groaning Israelite. I want to be an encouraging Joshua. A person careful about what he speaks like Caleb.

Just some verses to help me this week with my challenge.
James 3: 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
James 3: 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.