Pursued.

I have so many thoughts buzzing around my mind tonight...thoughts that I should probably put to bed but they are far too active to settle down.  Tonight a friend reminded me that I am made to be pursued.  I'm worth someone desiring me!  This thought brought on a whole new thought process to life:

God is pursuing us. (old thought new understanding I guess!)
He isn't ambiguous or beating around the bush, He wants us to know that He desires us.  Now, this might be my relational personality here but...I really believe that God uses the people in our lives to pursue us and love us.   He works in many other ways too but I think the main way God loves us is through people.

How sad to think that we can postpone a thoughtful gesture God wants to do or hold back a sweet nothing He wants to whisper in someone's ear.  I know God is much greater than what He asks of us but what gift are we keeping from Christ's bride when we keep our gifts and words from God to ourselves?  What are we holding back when we choose not to love someone unconditionally?  Much more than we can imagine, I'm sure.

I am unbelievably thankful that God is much greater than our mistakes and hesitations.  And that His heart for everyone is so great He doesn't want to stop pursuing us, even when we try to walk away.  He is the ultimate Pursuer.

Another thought on this topic is that I don't want to ignore His pursuit.  I want to embrace each moment the Lord spends with me, each gesture and whisper He sends my way.  There is no need to play hard to get with God.  He finds joy in knowing us intimately so we can get to know Him intimately.  We just have to be real with Him and follow His heart.

I Dare You to Live

"Without vision people perish"

I don't have much right now but to say, dream big.  Don't let circumstances fade the visions and passions God has placed in your heart.  They're there for a reason and to let them go by unnoticed or untouched would be denying who God has made you to be.  Follow His urging, and if you don't know for sure that it's Him, He is going to bless you for seeking after His heart.  Step out in boldness and don't let fear get in the way.

I truly want my dreams to be reality.  I can picture them right now as words on a page or paint on a canvas and then one day taking a deep breath and coming to life.  In fact, I can't picture them doing anything but dancing off the page.  The one thing I cannot forget is that I control whether they breathe or lay asleep.

Choose It

When life becomes so focused on one situation or event it takes everything out of you.  You start seeing your joy focus in on those moments of peace, healing, and strength.  Relationships become so involved in your situation(s) that it's hard to decipher true friends from the ones who just feel bad for you.  And most importantly, you become self absorbed.  Even though you hate what you're going through and all your energy is spent on your "situation," all you can do it talk about you.  It's consuming you, eating away at any selfless part of you.

Unless you choose to not be overcome by self pity, vanity, and discontentment.

When our joy is fixed on something greater than ourselves it is always there, no matter what circumstances are.  If we let our lives depend on the crap we're going through then we are missing out on a lot, and I, for one, do not want to miss out on life.  Relationships are too important to let them slip away because of selfishness.  If we choose to be focused on circumstances (bad or good) rather than people, we are going through life without any true relationships because we cannot see past how they can help us, hurt us, or sooth us.  We are made to love God and we do that by loving others...it's not about what they can do for us!  In fact, if we try to make friends by what we can or can't do for them we are making just as much of a problem as they are.

Our relationship with God affects every part of our lives, especially our relationships with others.  I know I have a lot of soul searching to do right now.  I never want to be so focused on myself and the things around me that I forget who I really am...and to be honest, that is the exact direction I'm headed in if I don't start choosing what my heart is set on.

In the words of John Murphy, Choose it!  

Love is Action

"If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you clutched it for yourself; whereas if you had poured it out unto the Lord, you would have been the sweetest person out of heaven. If you are always taking blessings to yourself and never learn to pour out anything unto the Lord, other people do not get their horizon enlarged through you." -Oswald Chambers


I was reading Luke 11 this morning and meditating on truly asking, knocking, and seeking...God desires to give to us when we step out in boldness, right?  I felt as though something wasn't clicking though, like I was missing a part of what God is telling me this morning.  Then I read my daily excerpt from My Utmost For His Highest (above quote) and it all just clicked.  Often I ask God for a blessing, one that He's laid on my heart, He gives it to me and then I'm happy.  That's it, I am satisfied that He has answered my prayer...  It's beautiful to be satisfied in the Lord but I'm missing the step of action!  God gives us blessings so we can bless others,  and ultimately so we can love Him better.  Love Him by serving, worshiping, sharing...LOVE IS ACTION!  I don't know how many times I've said that, prayed that, and meditated on that, but have I ever lived it?  It breaks my heart to think I have missed loving my Father in the way He has called me to love.  My prayer today is to love Him the way He has loved us, to sacrifice who I am and what He has given me.  I want to be fertile ground for God to grow something so beautiful through me.  


As my friends from Off The Wall say so often, 'Love God Today!'

Spread the Music, Spread the Love

For some people music is life.  It consumes everything they are, want to be, and choose to do.  I realized recently that I am the only member of my family who is not talented at some instrument or gifted with a beautiful voice.  BUT that hasn't smothered the world music creates for me.  It brings life, peace, releases frustration, feeds my creativity, and expresses my heart better than I usually can myself.  Best of all, music can bring freedom.  Check out the Art and Justice League and what they are doing with music to bring freedom to the children of the world!