{Alive in Christ}

Exactly one year ago, I attended a Christian conference in Atlanta called Passion. It was an extremely eye-opening experience for me and God showed me a lot in four days that I will never forget. So here I am once again, January, the beginning of the new year of 2012, and I just got home yesterday from this same conference. It was once again life-changing, and I want to tell you all a little bit {but knowing me it will probably turn into a lot} about my experience this year, and what God showed me these past four days in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome with 45,000 other college students.


First, before I start telling you what happened the past four days, let me tell you what occured the days preceeding Passion. Lately, I have been asking God a lot to show me what love truly is. Last year at Passion I really felt the complete love of Christ in my heart, but there's a difference between feeling something and knowing it. I wanted to know it. I had also been asking God to do some major work within my heart, I didn't really know what specifically that would intell, but I knew something needed to be done. I feel as though this summer and first semester at school I had lost some of the passion that I had previously in my life. I felt just a little dry, and in need of some major refreshment from Christ in my heart and soul and life.


1. I realized how weak my worship has been. God is powerful, sovereign, almighty, and His strength, compassion, forgiveness and love NEVER run out, and yet I barely give Him the time of day when it comes to worshiping Him for all His goodness and faithfulness and love. Most importantly, He brought me back to life when I was dead in my sin. The most reasonable response to that would be to give Him my life that He raised, and yet I've been doing a lazy job of trying to do what's expected of me as a Christian, not always with the heart that should be its motivation. As I stood there during worship the first night of Passion, I truly began to worship Him with all of my heart, letting go of everything else that existed but Him. It was then that He showed me, "This is what you're missing as My follower, as My daughter. You don't give me your all everyday." That began a grueling, necessary, conviction process for the week.


2. There's a line in the song "How He Loves" that says, "Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss, and my heart beats violently inside of my chest." I've always wanted to be so in love with Jesus that my heartbeat speeds up and I get butterflies when I spend time with Him. It happened. I finally felt what it feels like to be really in love with Jesus. I can't remember what song I was singing, who was speaking, or what day it was, but I fell in love with Jesus this week, and it's never going to fade away. God showed me that love isn't found in a marriage or in a feeling inside of you. Those are simply ways that God expresses His love for us and gives us a picture through those things of what His love looks like. Love is innocence and perfection dying on a cross for my filth. Love is forgetting that the world thinks He's insane in order that He may raise me back to life while I was completely dead in my sin. Love is that even when I fail, and do things that break His heart, He chooses to love me anyway. Love isn't a picture of a heart drawn by a little kid, or a piece on candy someone gives you on February 14th. Love is Christ crucified for the sins of the world and for the glory of God.


3. Actions speak louder than words. I've been using that phrase as an excuse to keep quiet about God my entire life. Using that as an excuse to simply listen to others when the topic of God came up in conversation, even though I had a ton floating around in my mind I could have said. I've used it as an excuse that my "living out the gospel" instead of speaking it would work just as fine to fulfill the Great Commission. God gave me a holy slap in the face this week. The Great Commission is not about going and hoping that your good deeds will shine brightly enough that people will know exactly why you act that way without any words being involved. The Great Commission is about going and making disciples. Romans 10:14 says,

 "...how are the to believe in whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

 The answer is that they can't. God calls us as Christians to PREACH the gospel, not only to live it. The preaching and the living have to go together, and it won't be effective with only one or the other. 


4. As Lecrae was rapping in worship on Wednesday night, he mentioned Romans 1:16,

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel..."

 With a broken heart I realized that every time

     "God doesn't call us as Christians to live comfortably, but to step out in faith everyday to do things for HIS KINGDOM and for HIS GOSPEL that are OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE. Our lives should be used for HIS GLORY, not our comfort."

I made a list of New Year's resolutions, they're all good and I plan on working on them. But now I have a life resolution: that I will fearlessly proclaim the gospel through my life in EVERYTHING I SAY and DO. That the only life people see when they look at me is Jesus, and that my life will bring glory to the name of Jesus. Elisabeth Elliot summed it up best in this quote: "I have one desire now- to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it."

"Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts."

{Isaiah 26:8}

268generation.com

{Love Came Down At Christmastime}

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that your day has been filled with blessings, fellowship, good food, fun, and most of all, Christ! These are some things I've been thinking about a lot this week...hope you enjoy thinking about it as well!

What is love? Love is not the fickleness that the world is constantly telling us. It’s not a word that should be meagerly thrown around like it has no meaning. Love is not sex, making out, hooking up, or holding hands. Love is not simply being married to someone. Love is not that warm, fuzzy, butterfly feeling you get when you’re with a certain person. Love is not living with someone. Love is not something that happens when your eyes meet. Love is not a struggle; it’s what holds you together when struggles arise. Love is not selfish, conceited, or hurtful.  Love is not insistent upon winning. Love does not focus merely on the present. Love is not something that makes you sad. If love is not any of these things, then what is it?

Love, I’m learning, is not about the temporary, but the eternal. It doesn’t focus solely on the present, but thinks often on the future. Love is realizing that another person’s life is more significant than your own—that you would willingly give your own life in order for that other person to live, if need be. Love is when you desire to forfeit your own personal happiness if, in doing so you could bring an ounce of joy to another person. Love is, when during a fight with someone, you already start thinking of your apology. Love is when you see yourself with one person when you imagine every night for the rest of your life.  Love is selfless. Love is encouraging. Love makes you smile so big that nothing could wipe that smile off your face. Love is perfectly content to walk hand-in-hand with one person for the rest of your life. Love is boundless. Love is freeing. Love gives you a sense of security and vulnerability all at once. Love is faithful, and love is hopeful. Love is pointing another person’s focus in the right direction at all times, even if that direction isn’t what will make you happy. Love can handle anything with some work, and love endures all things.

There are millions of examples of “love” stories all over the world. I know this from experience of “loving” (no pun intended) them throughout my childhood, and even now. There are Disney Princesses who always end of getting swept out of a sticky situation at the last minute by Prince Charming.  There are tons of romantic comedies that come out in movie theaters every month where an unsuspecting couple falls in “love” only to allow some minor misunderstanding to separate them for a time, only to fall back in “love”. There are fairytales galore where a young maiden finds herself in some sort of distress and a knight in shining armor (why is his armor always so shiny anyway?) rides in on a white horse to save her. Then there are numerous copies of sketchy romance novels with Fabio on the covers thrown about on bookstore shelves.  

But the truest, most pure and perfect example of love is told in the true story of one man, born as a miracle one starry night many years ago. Though the tale is so familiar to me, and so many others I know, it never gets old because it’s the reason I am alive today, and the reason I have freedom and forgiveness. Jesus (which means “God with us”) was born of a young (probably around 12 or 13 years-old) girl named Mary. Now Mary, being so young, was still a virgin. How did she have a child then, you ask? The power of the Holy Spirit came upon her and conceived the baby within her (I wonder if Mary felt that?). Nine months later, Mary and her fiancé Joseph start a journey to a small town called Bethlehem to register with the Census that was taking place all over the land. While they were there, it came time for Mary to give birth to her son, except there was one problem: there was no room left for them to stay anywhere. Finally, the found shelter in the stable (kind of like a screened-in porch without the screen used for holding animals) off of someone’s house. The miracle baby was born, but this wasn’t just an ordinary baby. Apart from his being conceived by the Holy Spirit, this baby had a huge future planned for Him. He was to be a King and a Redeemer for all the people of the world. Shepherds and Wise Men from far away came to see this baby to bring Him gifts and worship Him, for they knew what He was to become.

Thirty years later, this miracle child became a man and began His ministry. He had the power to heal people and to perform miracles. He turned water into wine, and fed thousands with only a little food. He made the blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear, and the sick healthy. But the religious group, called the Pharisees, didn’t like Him attracted so much attention away from them, so they began a plot to kill the man. The even got one of Jesus’ followers to get in with the plot and help them get to Him. So the Pharisees meet Him in a garden one night during a festival called the Passover, and they arrest Him. Then the people judge to have Him crucified a typical punishment for major criminals. So He was whipped and beaten, then hung on a cross to die. He was placed next to two thieves, who joined the crowds in mocking Him. After His death, many more miracles occur, but the biggest miracle of all came exactly three days after He died. You remember Mary, His mother, from the beginning of this story? Well her and her friend Mary (yes, there are two Mary’s, try not to be confused) go to the tomb where He was laid, only to find that the giant stone which had been closing the grave, had been rolled back. Confused, the other Mary leaves, while Jesus’ mother Mary begins to cry in the garden outside the tomb. A “gardener” approaches her only to be Jesus Himself. Jesus had been raised to life!

How is true love exemplified in this story? Well, although Jesus was a completely innocent man (for he had done nothing but simply irritate the Pharisees, which is not a crime), he died a horrific death upon a cross, but He didn’t die in vain. Jesus died that death upon the cross for two reasons—one: to glorify God through His resurrection three days later, which He couldn’t do without having first died. And two: to bring life to every sinner (which is every human being) who will believe in His death and resurrection as well as commit their life to proclaiming the story and following the Father God. He did this out of self-sacrificial love for the entire world. There was nothing in it for Him; in fact, He had to endure many horrible things in order that we could have life and joy eternally. Jesus love was selfless, eternally focused, bringing happiness not to Him, but to the people whom He loved. His love endures all things, because He died once for all, and never has to die again. He loved us—you and me that much, but the question is, do we love Him back?

{Goodbyes}

Peter Pan once said, "Never say goodbye. Because goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting." But sometimes in life, goodbyes are necessary. For me, right now is one of those times.

I had to say my first goodbye today. Grace, who has been one of my best friends since birth, is leaving early Thursday morning for Asbury University; and her, and another one of our best friends, Ashlee, all had dinner together for one last hurrah before the first of us leaves. It doesn't really feel real yet, that I won't be talking to her nearly everyday, and that we won't see each other again until Thanksgiving break.

I suppose I'm realizing now, that I am growing up, and that Peter Pan can't possibly truly exist. Growing up is an inevitable fact of life, and everyone must go through it eventually. Something that I am so thankful for; something that makes growing up a little easier, and life a little more fun, is having friends with whom to share these events and this growing up.

God has been so good in blessing me with not one, but three of these incredible people I call best friends. There is something very comforting about having these people whom I know so well, and who often times, know me better than I know myself. They are people who have the best shoulders to cry on, if you feel like crying. They give the best advice when you ask for it, or even when you don't want to hear it. They let you know when you're starting to go the wrong way or do the wrong thing. They show you love when others you love don't seem to love you back. They have the best laughs, because, most of the time, they laugh with you.

Though frienships may change throughout the years, they are the relationships that endure change. No matter how far away, no matter how busy individuals are; no matter what you fight about or laugh about, friendships are the things that always provide you with good memories and laughter, or even comfort and security. Though I am eagerly looking forward to the opportunity of making new friends at college in just 11 short days, the friendships I have with these three girls now are some that I know will always be there for me, no matter where God leads us.

So although it may be goodbye for now, it will never be goodbye for good. Goobyes may mean going away, but for me, they will never mean forgetting.    



Friday Photos & Life Update

Well, I haven't done a post of my picnik edits lately, and I have done a bunch recently so at the end of this I'll put some on here. I feel so old to actually be able to say that I'm leaving for college in two weeks. COLLEGE. Man, I'm old. It's such a cliche, but it really does feel like yesterday that I was seven years old, and all of a sudden I am eighteen and off to college. Don't get me wrong, I really am so excited to see what all God has planned for me (and I know He has a lot planned for me, check out Jeremiah 29:11!) and it will be so rewarding and incredible just to be able to watch His will for my life start to unfold. I am also looking forward to making a lot of new friends. I adore my friends I have now, but I have been friends with the same girls for the past eighteen years, so it will be really new and interesting to be able to become close friends with a new group of people (while keeping the old, amazing ones, of course). One thing I am most excited about, though, is getting to dance with new girls, and learn from new teachers, and work with new choreographers. I feel like this will be a really fun step closer to my future as a dancer, and I cannot wait to get started with it! One thing I am a little nervous about is academics, and just adjusting to real school. I have been homeschooled since kindergarten, and so this will be a HUGE adjustment to go from only me at home, really teaching myself for the most part, to going to a campus with others students, with an actual teacher teaching me and assigning me homework that I have to get done by a certain date. It's all so different than what I have become used to over the years, but I have faith that after a while it will become the new "normal" for me. There's a little life update from me. I move into my dorm in exactly two weeks from tomorrow, which will be August 20th. I can't wait!

Here are the picnik photos I promised...
P.S. If you want a picture done, you can contact me via facebook or email { taylor_ellen13@hotmail.com } and send me a picture and words you want on it!

One of my favorite verses...and this picture is such a great reminder

for me that everything, especially my dancing, is to bring God glory,

not myself.

Frank Sinatra song + ballet = the perfect mix

I'm definitely feeling the truth of this statement right now in my life!



Your Will Be Done

You know the phrase, "When life gives you lemons..." The thing is, however, that it's not life that gives the lemons, but God, and God sometimes like to throw us a curve ball.

As humans, we like to be able to control the things around us (one reason why a lot of marriages fail, I believe, but that's another blog post for another time), but you see, God likes to have control even more than we do, but the thing is, that He is all powerful, so unlike when we are in control, when He controls things, it works. But we don't like to give Him control, and we don't like to be without a plan, feeling helpless. So what we do is we like to plan every little detail out, leaving no room for His will at all.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

He has a plan for you. No matter how old you are, no matter where you are in life, He has a perfect plan. He has every detail of your life planned out perfectly, it's when we take control ourselves that things start to go wrong. When we take control bad things happen, messes are made, people are broken. But there's something great...God likes to take our messes, our bad situations, and our brokenness and turn them into something beautiful. Yes, that's right, I said beautiful.

Take Mary for example. There she is, minding her own business when one day, out of the blue, an angel appears to her, telling her that she's with child, and that the child she's carrying is going to be the long awaited Savior and Messiah that her people have been expecting for hundreds of years. But that wasn't in her plans! Her plan was to marry Joseph, the carpenter, and have a few children down the road maybe once she got out of her teens, and live a nice life with him. But God threw her a curve ball...He gave her some lemons. She must have initially thought that her world was coming to an end. What were her parents going to say about this baby? Joseph would surely break off the engagement! But God had even that taken care of, and what beautiful things came out of her confusing, seemingly hopeless situation!

Think about Abraham. Here he is, over one hundred years old at this point, God had been faithful in providing him and Sarah, even in their old age, with the promised son, Isaac. Isaac was to be the beginning of generations of offspring for Abraham, and then, all of a sudden, God tells Abraham to sacrifice this promised son. Abraham must have been nearly out of his mind! I can imagine Him after God told him this, "Sacrifice?! You mean...KILL my son? The one YOU promised and provided for me? You have GOT to be kidding, God." But God was not kidding, He was dead serious (no pun intended...well, maybe a little was intended), and He wanted to see how Abraham would respond. God threw Abraham some lemons.

What about Ruth? Here she is, recently married with no children, and then all of a sudden, her husband, along with her brother-in-law and father-in-law are dead. The only family she has is her sister-in-law, Orpah, and her mother-in-law, Naomi. What on earth is she supposed to do? She has nowhere to go, no one to turn to. God tells her to remain with Naomi and He provided everything for the two women, and He had a plan all the way to the end, even in bringing Ruth to Boaz.

So really, it isn't about the lemons  or why they've been thrown. It's about what you do with them. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Making lemonade means to surrender yourself and your plans to the Lord and to learn to have complete and total faith in Him, the one who threw the lemons. No matter what things are happening in your life, know that God has a perfect plan for you and whatever the situation is. He can make something beautiful out of anything.

"Going a little farther, He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.' "
{Matthew 26:39}

{Prodigal} Word Wednesday

Luke 15:11-24 (ESV)


"And He said, 'There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me." And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

But when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.' " And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." And they began to celebrate.' "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNz5ejUEsKY&feature=autoplay&list=PL0731AEAA7945E0AC&index=13&playnext=6&shuffle=354213

A dream is a wish your heart makes

My mind has been constantly swirling with these thoughts for the past week. I've got to get them out.
-taye

I dream things that never were, and say "why not?"

Have you ever had a dream? Perhaps you have always longed to travel the world, or maybe you want to become a doctor. Or could it be that there is that one school you always wanted to attend, or is it that person you have always wanted to be with. For me, it is dance.

I began ballet when I was three years old, following in my big sister's footsteps, I suppose. Over the years I have added and dropped different styles- tap, Irish, modern, contemporary, jazz, pointe... the list continues. However, ballet has always had something so magical and captivating about it that constantly draws me in, causing me to love it the most out of all the styles I have tried. I have always loved ballet.

In eighth grade, I made the Senior Company at my dance studio, which came with a more demanding schedule, and a higher level of commitment. I suppose it was then that I decided that I wanted to continue to pursue dance after high school. I continued to grow closer to the Lord during high school, and I began praying about my future. . .was dance what He was calling me to do?

Turns out, it was. He has blessed me with the ability and desire to dance, and I yearn to praise His name, not my own, with that gift. But there are a number of options to consider when one chooses to pursue dance as a career choice. Was I going to audition for companies or trainee programs straight out of high school, or should I major in dance in college? After months of discussing with my parents and praying for direction and guidance, I chose to major in dance at Belhaven University where I will head off to this August.

This past week, we had a guest teacher come to our studio and teach ballet and partnering classes everyday for three hours. He was a difficult, but enjoyable and knowledgeable teacher, and I got so much out of every minute of every class. I am not sure whether it was the fact that I had been off of dance for about three weeks before that, or whether it was just having a different teaching style to learn from, but whatever it was, I fell in love with ballet.

I fell completely, head-over-heels in love with ballet. It was not that I never loved it for the past fifteen years I have been taking it, putting countless hours and classes and rehearsals and performing, spending a large amount of my parents' money on tuition and summer intensives and pointe shoes; I loved it then, but I guess I was only in a mere infatuation with it for the past fifteen years. It was only this past week that I fell in love with it, realizing the extent of the desire of my dream.

Have you ever questioned whether or not you made the right decision? Every single day this week, I have been tossing the idea around in my head of whether or not I should be going to college in August. I have been struggling and crying and praying and questioning, debating myself in my own confused thoughts. But it is not a question of what I want. It is a question of what GOD wants for my life; what HE has had planned out for me since before I was even born. What does HE want me to do? According to HIM, have I made the right decision?

I am still in a bit of a confused, questioning, debating state of mind, but I have comfort and confidence in the fact that, for at least this coming school year, I am supposed to be a dance major at Belhaven University. In the fall of 2012, it is completely up to Him how my dream will grow.

I asked God who I'm supposed to be...

This might possibly be my favorite song in this whole wide world

Word Wednesday

Hello there . . . today is Wednesday, and it is now exactly two weeks and one day until my eighteenth birthday, not that I'm counting or anything. Here's some straight Word for your Wednesday. I just finished up reading through 1 and 2 Peter, take this chapter as a challenge, a decision to purposefully give up and let go of your former way of living without Christ, and a choice to actively start living in order to bring glory to His name in everything you say and do (verses 13-19). Here's 1 Peter chapter 1 (ESV).
-taye

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for 'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.' "

No one had the strength...

This week has been a little bit crazy. Dance is pretty intense right now, working on all of our recital pieces that need to get done. School is ridiculous too. I'm ready to graduate already. I have a rough draft of a research paper due tomorrow morning, and I'm only half finished with it, but of course I choose to procrastinate by writing a blog post instead. However, tonight's post will be short because I do need to finish it, and I'd also like to get some sleep tonight.
-taye


No one had the strength

This semester, one of my best friends and I have been helping out at our church's middle school ministry on Sunday nights. We eat, fellowship, have choir, and read the Word. Lately we have been digging into the gospel of Mark, and tonight we discussed the first twenty verses of Mark 5...here are a few amazing things that I got out of it.

"They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before Him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.' For He was saying to him, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!' And Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' He replied, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, 'Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.' So He gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.


"The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged Him that he might be with Him. And He did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.' And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled."
Mark 5:1-20 ESV

After reading the passage tonight, one of the middle school girls pointed out that God showed mercy--even to the demons. He is so incredibly merciful, that demons, who to me seem to be like Satan's minions, received mercy from God.

Also, at the end of verse four, it says that "no one had the strength to subdue him." No human possessed the strength to subdue the demon-possessed man, and yet God stepped in and so easily released the man of the demons. Not only did He free the man, but He drove the demons- who asked permission- to the pigs, who then killed themselves. This is such a wonderful example of God's amazing strength; and how even when our weak strength as humans fails, God's strength is so much greater and stronger than us.

Also, after our youth pastor emphasized that the man was living among the tombs--where the dead are, I realized that, when we are in a place where we are spiritually dead, living among the dead, and no where near life, that He does not just wait for us to get our act together, after all, the dead cannot raise themselves back to life! No, instead, God comes to the place where we are dead and cast out our death from us, bringing us to life again.

Love So Incredible

Today is starting out so great! It's only 10am and I've already gotten a lot of school done...which is rare for me, haha. I have a lunch date with one of my best friends today, I can't wait for that, our fellowship is always so encouraging, and just what I need. Here are some thoughts that were on my mind last night, I thought I would share. Have a beautiful Tuesday!
-taye


Amazing Love, How Can It Be?

Around 11:30 last night, I was sitting on my bed having my quiet time when I started thinking about God's love. I cannot understand it. Why does God love me? How can God love me? I put Him through so much ridiculousness (is that even a word?) and at times just drag Him along in my life without ever giving Him the glory of which He is so worthy. Yet, He does love me. Me, the girl who is constantly running in the opposite direction of His love; me, the girl who is persistently looking elsewhere for satisfaction; me, the girl who cannot open herself up to anyone, not even the God who created me. But He loves me. He loves everyone. The people who get on my nerves and constantly try my patience, He loves them; the people who have used me and hurt me, He loves them; the people who have murdered, and lied, and cheated, and stolen, He loves them. The concept of the divinity of His love is so difficult to wrap my tiny mind around, but that does not lessen His love. Perhaps one of the most incredible verses in the Word about God's love is one with which every Christian is so familiar: John 3:16.
You know how it goes, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." The problem is that because this verse is so familiar, we take it for granted. Sure, we can recite it word-for-word, forward and backward, but do we ever take into account what it truly means? What it means for salvation, and what it means for us as the objects of the God of the Universe's affections?
God loved us to the extent that when we failed and sin entered our nature, He did not simply give up hope on us, or say "Oh well, I guess the whole human thing isn't going to work out anymore." No. Instead of just letting us go down a road of destruction after we broke His heart, He devised a plan to save us from the torment and death that we were heading toward. But not only did He save us from death, He went the extra mile to give us the opposite of death; He gave us life, eternal life. But not only eternal life, eternal life in heaven—in His presence.

How great is our God!

Peace and Frustration

This week has been extremely rough...and it's only Wednesday. I don't want to complain at all, that's not what this post is going to be about, but it's going to be about getting some things out of my heart and mind. I feel bad for those of you who actually read my posts, because most of the time, they're pretty personal, and I don't usually think about the fact that someone might actually read them.
-taye


May the God of peace be with you

I have been forgetting God so much this week. Praying for what I want, rather than what I need, and simply letting Him tag along for the ride of my life rather than placing Him at the front. Just for the record, trying to take hold of your own life and deal with situations on your own never works, so do not waste your time. The thing is that I know that, and yet I still try and take matters into my own hands rather than relying completely on Christ.
Sunday I was getting so overwhelmed with all the scholarship forms and essays I desperately needed to do. Monday was Valentine's Day, and well, that day always gets me in a frizzled mood, plus it was one of those days where everything seems to go wrong. Yesterday I was extremely unfocused during school, and as a result not much was accomplished, and at dance I became frustrated with myself for not picking up the counts and choreography as quickly as I usually do. Lastly, today I do not feel good; I have been feeling really dizzy since last night and have had a bad headache- I hope I'm not coming down with something.
All of that to say that I have been focusing completely on my circumstances and the temporary and not even realizing what I have been doing to God.

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
Colossians 3:2 (ESV)

I have not been obeying this scripture at all. My mind has been nowhere near heaven, but rather very focused on the earth, and it should not be. The earth is only my temporary home; I will be here for merely a blink of an eye, 3/4 of a second-no longer. I am here only to bring glory to God and simply accomplish His purpose for me, and then my time here will be finished, over, and done. Why then, do I so often get my mind fixed on the idea that I will be here forever and that my surroundings and circumstances matter much at all?

"...what is seen in temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

"But out citizenship is in heaven...."
Philippians 3:20 (NIV)

But today I will have peace because God forgives me when I forget Him, and He will never forsake me or leave me, though I leave Him and drag Him behind the rest of my life. Also, He gives me peace which goes beyond all else.

"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
Romans 8:6 (ESV)

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

"For He Himself is our peace..."
Ephesians 2:14 (ESV)