what i'm reading

This is what I'm reading right now. It's all about freedom in Christ and what that means and how it applies to our lives today. Will review soon.

believe

My friend Loree is an Olympian and is a hammer thrower. She is very dedicated to her training and keeps getting better and better. It's exciting to see where she's going in life, and what she's doing. She trained me for several weeks last year at the gym and she was an awesome trainer. Now she's in Arizona. You can read more about her on her website... www.loreesmith.com (I feel so popular to know her!) Anyways, I did this painting for her. The stick figure is supposed to be the hammer thrower and the word believe has the huge exclamation point next to it. I put that in there to encourage her to not give up. The red, white, and blue colors in there were intentional, as was the gold sprinkled in throughout. :)

remain

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
John 15:7

I think that is an awesome promise. I did mostly white as the background on this one because I think to remain in Jesus and have His words remain in us, we have to cut a lot of stuff out of our life to make Him the primary focus. My opinion on this verse is that it points out what happens when we are so in sync with God that whatever we ask for will be given to us. I think maybe part of the reason that happens is that if we are in tune with God, and the stuff that breaks His heart breaks our hearts, then our desire is only to do what God wants us to do. Or only to have what God wants us to have. And so when we ask for something, it's probably a desire that God put in us to have. Our desires match up because of where our heart is.

I included hearts to spell out the word remain based off verses that come a little later in John 15:9-11: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be complete in you and that your joy may be complete."

i know someone...

i know someone who says what they mean. and follows through consistently on their promises. never has let me down and i can confidently say i know they never will. never has broken my trust, never has broken my heart. has been faithful to me even when i haven't been. has affirmed me when i do something right...reminding me that i live to please Him and no one else.

i know someone who reaches out to me when i need it and cares about my life. and what i go through. and is always available for me to talk to, no matter what time it is. and loves to hear from me, wants to hear what i have to say. i know someone who has done more than bend over backward for me. this person is my Savior, my Lord, because He died for me. my God sent his only son to die for me. so i worship Him, and i give Him my life and my dreams and say that i want to become who He wants me to become. my God wants the best for me and knows what's best for me.

i know someone who loves me and He IS love.

and He loves you too. has a plan for your life, too. sent His only son to die for you, too. His name is Jesus and there is no one greater.

trust

One of many things that I love about God is how we can trust him with absolutely everything...with our whole life. He will never leave us, never give up on us, never break our hearts. We may become broken in our lives before Him, but He is always with us, close us to us. And we don't always understand why things happen, but God knows all and has the best in mind for us. So this verse came to mind for this one: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." --Proverbs 3:5-6

perserverance

"Consider it a sheer GIFT, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it." --James 1:2-5 (The Message)

The NIV says it this way, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

I did this painting for a friend who has gone through a lot of trials. But she didn't give up on herself, she didn't give up on God, she didn't give up period. And I think that's amazing and inspiring given all that she has gone through. So I want her to always remember that if another storm comes, it could be a blessing in disguise. It's another chance to trust, another chance to grow, another chance to allow God to shape her into the woman He wants her to be. And on top of that, as hard as it may seem at the time, all the challenges coming her way...they're a gift.

The $17.00 Candle

This morning I went over to my friend Julie's place for about 30 minutes before I had to leave for church. I was going to help with her garage sale she's been having this weekend. (She's moving.) When I got there she told me what had just taken place. Some timid high school girl walked up to her and was selling things as a fundraiser for her school. She looked tired and discouraged and even though Julie usually doesn't buy stuff when it comes to these kind of things, she felt like she should give her a chance to at least go through her spiel. So the girl sat down and Julie tried to get make her less nervous by asking questions about what she was selling. Evidently she was selling magazine subscriptions and some other random things. She got a few people to buy some stuff from her at a trailer park, but now in this neighborhood, she'd been rejected like 20 times already.


Julie looked through the stuff, and although she didn't really want or need any of it, decided she should bless this girl and buy something from her. So she picked out a $17.00 candle, which she normally would not have done.

No sooner had that girl left after she bought the candle, when lots of people suddenly started showing up at the garage sale. In no time she had made up that $17.00. In fact, people were giving her MUCH more than what she was asking for on just about everything. Isn't it usually the other way around at garage sales? But I watched yesterday and today, and she'd want $2.00 for a box of clothes, but someone gave her $10.00. She'd ask for a dime and would get a quarter. It was amazing!

We were talking about how counterintuitive it is. You'd think that in order to get more money at a garage sale, you should ask for more and then make the price lower if people want to bargain with you. But when you do the opposite and practically give stuff away, you suddenly are getting more money than you even expected in the first place. And then we started talking about how almost every aspect of Jesus' character is like that. It's counterintuitive and the exact opposite of what society tells us.

I told a friend at church this story and she said, "Yeah, the moment you start hoarding money, it controls you. But the minute you start giving it away [to God, to those in need, to ministries, etc.] you're blessed beyond belief and everything just 'works out' financially." I agree with that...that moment you try to control your money, it controls you. I don't want to be controlled by money. This story has inspired me to WANT to give more...it's just amazing how God can use you to bless someone else, and in the process, even when you don't expect it, you find yourself being blessed as well.

Remember Me

There is a lot going on. People are losing their jobs all over the place, and some are losing their house. Businesses are closing. Others are sick with the swine flu or afraid of getting it (I think I already had it right before it hit the news). I know more than several people who have lost loved ones recently. There is a lot of stuff going on right now, it seems. It feels like all [or a large part of] the news lately has been bad news. More so than usual. Has anyone else been feeling or noticing this?


Worry has been creeping into many minds right now, I'm sure. It has for me. Even though it says in the Bible, "Do not worry...," I still do. But I try not to. And why do we worry in the first place? I think it's because we forget. We forget that we have a God who is always faithful. One who will never leave us or forsake us. One who knows our needs even better than we do.

And so while painting this picture for a friend...I was struck by the importance of remembering what God has done for us. As I was sketching out ideas, I realized there was more than one word in the word "remember." That would is "ME." It made me think about remembering God's faithfulness whether things are going good or bad. And remembering His promises. And most of all, remembering to talk to God and replacing my worries with prayer. A cool thing happens when we do that, according to Philippians 4:6-7:

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

No matter what happens in our lives, we have hope because we have Jesus, and not only that, but He gives us peace. We just need to remember Him. I hope you are encouraged by the painting and if you're going through a hard time that you can imagine Jesus gently saying, "Remember Me."

Fearless by Max Lucado

Fearless by Max Lucado is about trusting God and what He says in His word so that we can live everyday without fear. Jesus tells us over and over to "not be afraid" in the Bible, which is emphasized in this book by Max Lucado. Each chapter addresses specific fears - such as the fear of not mattering, the fear of disappointing God, the fear of what's next, or the fear of running out. With those fears, Max points to examples in the Bible and how we can apply Jesus' authoritative words to our lives today.

Especially timely given our current recession, this book reminds me that it's possible to live without fear and we experience so much freedom when we do! Jesus tells us to not be afraid because he WANTS us to not be afraid. I don't know about you, but I fear way too many things. This book encouraged me and urged me to "be among those who stay calm." The chapters and content flowed very easily and Max tells stories that are relevant and engaging to this topic of fear. I highly recommend this book! Read some of it below, for a sample. You'll see what I mean. :)

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Listen

Life gets so busy sometimes. And my mind is always going, too. I'm always thinking. Thinking of what I HAVE to do next and what I WANT to do next. Confused about relationships. Worrying if I said the wrong thing to someone or the wrong thing at the wrong time. Counting calories. Trying to keep up on phone calls and listen to voicemails. Wondering what interesting thing I can tweet about. Wishing I would stop dreaming about all the work I have to do. And checking my texts when I wake up in the middle of the night. (I use my cell phone as an alarm clark, so it's hard to resist reading my texts when I look at the time).

And among all these things, wanting so badly to clear my mind so that I can focus on just one thing at a time without getting distracted. Especially God, and what it is He wants to say to me. I know that He listens to me when I pray, but I want to listen to Him, too. And I know that one way of listening is by reading the Bible. But I'm convinced that if I slow down enough to be still before Him, wherever I am, He'll get through. Usually He goes straight to my heart about something. Something He knows that matters to me, and typically it's that thing that I just can't get out of my head. God is so personal like that.

I like the idea of listening to God because it means being quiet, but attentive before Him. Giving Him our undivided attention. He might just want to say that He loves us, cares about us, or understands what we're going through. Or He might want us to just know that He's there. Maybe other times He wants us to trust Him as He reminds us of His faithfulness. Whatever it is, once we're focused and listening, God will sort out all the stuff that's occupying our mind and will pick out what He wants to deal with. And we can leave the rest with Him.

“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life..." Isaiah 55:3

Sounds like an invitation I want to be a part of...