I turned to the Lord in prayer and fasting...

Okay, so it's pretty much been ages since I last wrote on here. A ton has happened in my life and God has been teaching me mass amounts. I barely even know where to begin.

The church I attend here at school, North Ridge, has been doing a twenty day fast. I chose to fast from Facebook and coffee. Those of you who know me are probably in shock from the second one. I pretty much live on coffee, or at least I did. I realized that I had a major dependency on that caffeine and that God commands me to be totally dependent on Him alone. I'm not saying that drinking a cup or two of coffee everyday is a sin, starting tomorrow I'm going to drink it again. However I am saying that for me, this twenty day break from it has truly taught me to depend on God alone for my sole source of joy and energy. The break from Facebook has just helped to minimize distractions. Fasting, I've learned, is not giving up things that are bad, it is simply taking a break from good things that can sometimes take your focus off of Christ, and to use the time that you have to spend with God and to ask Him to teach you things during the time of your fast.

The fast was just what I needed right when I needed it. Some things I learned?
These are some things I wrote in my journal during the fast.

I learned a lot about God's love...

• Jesus defines love
• God says to me, "You can't push Me away" that's something I've been doing all my life, pushing God's love away, and running away from it.
• His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 132)

I also began going to a Bible study with some friends every Thursday morning at 7am before my 8am class...some things I've looked in there?

• What does a God-centered relationship look like? The fruits of the Spirit...Purity...
• What does it mean to ABIDE in Christ? Resting completely in Him...Nothing else distracting...
• Gods ways are so much higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8)...I need to stop telling God what I want and listen to Him telling me what He wants for me
• Am I being faithful in what God has set before me? (Matthew 25:14-30)

Some amazing events I went to during the fast:

• 4 RUF large group meetings
• A Worship Night on campus
• Secret Church simulcast
• 2 church services
• Take it to the Streets service project, the Methodist Children's Home

This was my first real experience with fasting, and it's been a really good thing for me. God has taught me a lot and I know that He will continue to do so now that my fast is over for now.

The Best Part Of Waking Up

This morning, as I was pouring my coffee, that cheesy little jingle came into my head:

"The best part of  waking up is Folgers in a cup"

You know how it goes. It got me thinking what, to me, is the best part of waking up? Why is it that I get out of bed every morning to face the day before me? So I just starting thinking of some things in my head, and I promise you, I don't think I've ever written a legit poem in my life until now, but here it is.
-taye

The best part of waking up isn’t Folgers in a cup,

It’s knowing my God reigns and that He will never change,

That He has the power to conquer my foes,

And that He has the knowledge of days no one knows.

I know that He holds all my times in His hand,

And in the other He holds the whole world as it spins.

Day after day I am certain to fail,

Yet He holds forgiveness for all of my sins.

When I seek Him, His face I will surely find,

When I seek with all my heart, all my strength, and my mind.

On the cross He did bear all my sin and God’s wrath,

And then darkness came and covered the earth,

Yet darkness cannot keep Him and death has no hold,

For salvation and life shall follow Him home.

Though struggles I face and may be hated by all,

He gives me a promise, an eternal reward.

The earth on which I stand is not my home,

To the end I will endure, until I worship at the throne.



Good Saturday?

So there is Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, what's Saturday? I'm going with it's good too. So happy Good Saturday! Oh goodness, last night I went to my church's simulcast of David Platt's Secret Church . . . wow. It was like nothing I've ever done before. Thanks to two cups of choffee, my friends and I made it through the night, and I learned so so so much. I was telling a lady last night around 11:45pm how it was so much being thrown at me and God was just spilling over through David Platt, it is going to take a while to finally be able to begin absorbing it all. He was correct in saying that Secret Church is like drinking from a fire hydrant. Ha. It'll be a bit before I can get my thoughts together to share a little of what I learned throughout the six hours in the Word from last night, so today I'm going to leave you with a verse, that is so good on this "Good Saturday".
-taye

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus at all times, but especially this weekend and tomorrow. But also, know that the Cross is not meant to be thought of only on Easter Sunday once a year, it should be at the front of our lives every single day that we are alive. Jesus is the only way that we are alive right now, but if you have not trusted in Him and surrendered your entire life to Him, you are far from alive, you are still dead in darkness, unable to force yourself to come to life, and only through His death on the cross for us, but more so for the Father, is life and salvation from eternal darkness found.



Moment of happiness

I love spring break. Today, I slept until 11:33, watched Gilmore Girls while drinking coffee, made super chocolaty chip scones and thoroughly cleaned mine and my mom's cars. It's times like this when I have nothing pressing that needs to get done that I get a lot of thinking done. Here are some thoughts.
-taye

Moment of Happiness

Sometimes, there are those sudden moments of complete happiness that spring upon me from out of no where. Right now is one of those moments. Nothing extremely significant or exciting has occurred today, it has been mostly a day of laziness: sleeping late and doing nothing productive. In these random happy moments there are a few things I want to do and yet I do not know which I want to do most:
 
   Shout to God in joy with a giant smile stretched across my mouth
   Stare up at the stars in awe and in wonder, with no particular thoughts to fill my mind
   Make coffee (after all, that is always an excellent solution to any feeling)
   Write a song. Or write a million songs that will all turn out to be the best ever (although most songs I ever write turn out horribly with no music to accompany them, so I typically do not go this route)
   Just dance (no, not the Lady Gaga song) whether to music or not, I just want to let it all go and dance what I feel for once

And yet none of those actions seem to express the immenseness of this feeling of joy. The best part about it, however, is that it has no apparent cause. It is a feeling of utter freedom and yet one of a sense that I belong to something perfectly. One that I am loved; one that I am making a difference; one that I am fulfilling my purpose, even if I do not always know clearly everything that purpose includes. It is a feeling that I am exactly where I need to be, doing exactly what I need to be doing, and heading to exactly where I need to go. This moment of happiness is one of the best feelings in the entire world.