The book of Isaiah

This morning in my time with God I finished the book of Isaiah. I am unbelievably thankful that God led me to this book and gave me the grace to focus and work through the whole book. It was really powerful to be consistent and read through a chapter a day and take notes over it and stay in the area that God called me to and allow Him to bless it. It is so easy to get sick of reading something everyday or read random scriptures, which in no way is bad, but just to be submissive with what God called me to. Reading Isaiah I feel that I got a lot closer to Gods heart and to know how to serve Him and just how mighty and powerful He really is. It was awesome to see Gods faithfulness and the impact sin has and how evil our hearts are but when we cry out to God that He DOES listen and leads us to His holy and righteous ways. God had a wonderful plan to bring Jesus to this earth and literally make a new heaven and earth. Jesus did so much. We can be so much closer to God now because of the chains Jesus broke. Are we taking full advantage of that? God is always there for us. He will not ignore us. He is sovereign. I look forward to going back through Isaiah during my life and continue to be blessed by it. God really put so much truth and love into His word. He has healed our souls and led us away from temptation. There are so many wonderful and special verses in this book and they will continue to impact the way I live my life and the way I look at God. 

I have already started my day study Hebrews now and have loved realizing how Jesus was tempted and battled the same things we did and therefore can be closer to us and help us more. There really are so many stories in the bible that do relate to our lives today. I feel like God is now leading me to read and study Jeremiah in the morning and go through that book! I just want God to lead me and be able to impact me in what I study!    

Kids!

I love working with kids. They are such a blessing and God has given me a huge heart for them. I have so many kids in my life that no matter what I will never forget and really just bless my life so much. They might only be 5 years old but their love can have a huge impact and be pretty special. I love watching kids grow up and God really work on them and the kids letting God change their lives. He can have an impact at such a young age and it's so wonderful! I have several kids in my life that are like brothers and sisters. I just love them and would do anything for them. So what happens when we get older and it's so much harder to love people? People learn more and become different. Thinking of the innocence of a child it seems crazy the things people can become but it happens in this world. That is why I believe at such a young age it is vital to teach them about Christ. Everyone deserves to know the word of God. I strongly believe people should be told about God from the moment they are born and be able to know about Him. They younger they are when they accept Him the stronger their faith can be and hopefully less regrets. God is so good and has given us so many people we just need to love them all. Regardless of age all people are children of Christ and should be loved. 

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court. (Psalm 127:3-5 NIV). 

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6 NIV). 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Matthew 18:1-5 NIV). 

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4 NIV). 

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16 NIV). 

I praise God for all the kids in my life!!! 

Never ending

It's wonderful to think about nothing being able to bring God down. It seems kind of impossible though. Over and over again in Isaiah I see God being able to stand against anything and be the Supreme Ruler. No matter what we do God will still be the same. No matter where we go in life God will be in the same place. God loves us. His Word is always the same and never will become less meaning. Every time I read a scripture it becomes more amazing to me. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NIV). Jesus doesn't need to get better. He is already perfect and will always remain perfect. There is nothing about God that says in 12,347 days He will be less powerful or amazing. 

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ (Malachi 3:1-7 NIV). 

God planned things from the beginning of time and followed through. He IS faithful. He never changes His word or what He wants to do with this world. 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NIV). 

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV). 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17 NIV). 

Us as humans never ever stop changing. God never does change. He is a still and perfect image. Sometimes this can be hard and upsetting to understand. We keep changing and hopefully are changing into more like God. God has to help us stay in Him and be content and sometimes God keeps changing our lives and our direction!! He is wonderful and perfect! 

Being thirsty

But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14 NIV). God has the best water ever. I often pray that He would just be a living water in me. God is the only one who can satisfy our needs and if we are in Him we have everything we could ever need. If we had the option of drinking ice cold delicious water that was so pure and you could see straight through it or drinking warm moldy water with grass and mud and other particles in it, which would we choose? I think everyone can say the clean and cold water. Who would want something dirty and gross that could possibly kill you? Well that is the choice we have to make every day. And it should be an obvious one but to so many people it isn't. So many people choose the gross sinful choice. God is the only perfect option. Other things might seem okay or even great to us and very tempting, but what need will they fill? Not love, not joy, not contentment and not everlasting life. In Christ He cleans us. He has the most awesome and perfect and new water and it washes over all of our sins and death for us. 

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. (Isaiah 44:3, 4 NIV). 

Everyday our greatest joy and passion should be Christ. We should be striving and doing everything we can to be closer to Him and know His heart more but what is also very important is to give Him our hearts and not just go through the motions of trying to know Him. We can't have a real relationship if we aren't letting Him know us and know Him. There is not a daily amount if God to get. There is always more to get. He will never ever run out! He is so amazing and full of good. 

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37, 38 NIV). 

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17 NIV). 

It is so crazy to think of all the complaints we can have as humans when Jesus freely gives Himself to anyone and saves us from death and allows us to be with God. It's not saying that heaven is the better choice than hell. It's saying I love God so much and desire Him that I want to live for Him and in Him and be with Him when I die. Not just so that I don't go to hell but because I want to be with God and would hate to sin against Him and hurt Him anymore. Our greatest and deepest needs can only be filled by God. That should be our primary thirst in a day and let everything else follow. 

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— (Romans 5:12 NIV). 

I want to be striving toward God everyday and be literally thirsty for Him spiritually and physically! He is so amazing! 

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:1-7 NIV). 

God is ready for us. Are we ready to serve Him fully? 

Salvation

What a huge word salvation is. It is defined as the deliverance from sin and it's consequences believed by christians to be brought about in faith. Jesus came specifically to love as a human and to be tempted as we are and to overcome satan. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:17, 18 NIV). I am almost done with Isaiah and have absolutely loved it!! It is a really powerful and awesome book...I have now started Hebrews and this morning as I was reading salvation really spoke to me. It is so crazy to think about how God didn't have to save us or change or lives but He chose to die for us and save us. Adam and Eve sinned and we are sinful people the just punishment for sin is Hell. But through Jesus dying on the cross we are FREED! We are no longer slaves to our sin and the important part of salvation is repentance. We can't just say oh Jesus I believe in you but I still want my old life but at the end of this life I want to be with you so I will say I believe in you and go through the motions and go to church once a week but still have our old hearts. In salvation God gives us a whole new spirit-His. And that means we are a whole new person. A change in the course of our lives towards righteousness. It's like if you are really passionate about baking and you keep making better and better cookies and then one day just because you feel like you have found the perfect recipe and key to being famous but then you make an old just okay recipe. Why would you do that?? Don't you want the best option. The best option and course for our lives is Jesus Christ. He came down to this earth and humbled Himself and fought sin and got the victors crown. 

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ” (John 3:3 NIV). 

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NIV). 

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9, 10 NIV). 

God gave us this gift to cause a wide awakening in the world not to sit around and either keep sinning or just be lazy and think we are fine. God is the ultimate prize in this life! 

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3:20 NIV). 

We need to keep seeking and seeking God! This is never ending. There is no retirement to following Christ. And we should have a good heart and be excited about serving Christ and all He calls us to! This is the best life we could ask for! Jesus will provide all of our needs and ultimately save us! There is so much in the world save!! Save is to keep or rescuer from harm or danger. God is saving us from death. I can't wait to meet Him. God has redeemed us! 

For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:2-4 NIV).

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. (Hebrews 2:10 NIV). 

So awesome to think about how God has saved me and continues to save me!

Joy

Jesus

Others 

Yourself

=JOY!! 

Sometimes as christians or as people in general we can get so stuck in our circumstance and not realize the great gift we have. I am not saying that our problems are never problems or significant because we believe in Jesus because that is not true. The bible tells us we will face trials and persecution in life. Some Christians are facing death. I am saying when we put our faith in Jesus we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and should be renewed and born again. Adam and Eve were so close with God before they sinned. They were living in relationship with Him and could speak to Him and didn't feel sin. They didn't feel the human nature things we do today. Humans were then separated from God. But then because God loves us so much He made it possible for us to live with Him again. Jesus! Jesus died for us and is leading us and loving us. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2, 3 NIV). God even commands us to feel joy when we face trials. I would say especially when we overcome trials because our testing increases our faith! 

You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. (Isaiah 9:3 NIV). You can feel it when you are truly rejoicing in God and not trying to make yourself be happy or content. There is something that is changed in your heart. And then sometimes you can think oh now that this happened I don't have joy anymore. When I am in Gods word and crazy in love with Him I can just battle through things and not be discouraged by them and just keep going in Christ and still be happy! It's not so that others will look at me and say she is always so happy because I am not. People should not think salvation is always easy or perfect. It brings trials but what matters is that in those trials we shout to The Lord songs of praise! 

The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. (Proverbs 10:28 NIV). 

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8, 9 NIV). We shouldn't need God to bless us like crazy, even though He does, or make our lives perfect just to have joy in Him. We should have joy in Him just because He is a super awesome God no matter what our circumstances are!! 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV). 

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 NIV). 

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people. (Philemon 1:7 NIV). 

In that day you will say: “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” (Isaiah 12:1-6 NIV). 

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:1, 9 NIV). 

God will give us joy. We don't have to do a certain amount of service hours or marry someone to give us joy. In Him we can trust and obey and receive joy! Desiring and loving God will fill us with joy and ultimately give us the most joy!! God is a wonderful God and a light in our lives. He can literally turn our lives into light! He is so worthy!

Letting Go

It is so easy to hold on to our past and never really let go of our old lives, our sin, past memories, or past hurtings. When we are born again into a new person in Christ we are to let God take over every part of our lives, Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we don't have to worry about them anymore or feel burdened by them. God takes away our hurt and anxiety, when we have problems we are to take them to Him in prayer. It may not always seem that very easy but if we think about how much power God has and then He can raise someone from the dead I think He can handle our problems. No problem is too big or too small for God! Sometimes satan can be really sneaky and use memories to attack us and make us think of those things or fall back into sin or feel guilty when yes it was sin but God has forgiven us and given us grace. He moves on and keeps loving us and He wants us to move on also. Gods plan of redemption is not to constantly make us feel guilty or hurt for the nature of ourselves and the way we were born. 

The other part of this is that if we accept God we can NOT hold on to parts of our old lives. God calls us to live a different life and move on. We are born again, our old life is supposed to be dead. When God created Jesus He didn't let Him sin in even one area. Jesus was to live a perfect life. We can never do that but we need to constantly be striving towards that! Our perfect life is not some book or TV show or somebody else we know it is trying to be more and more like Jesus. I have been realizing so much more lately how similar the Word really is to our trials today and what we go through a lot of times it is a lot worse. 

God isn't hanging over our heads at any moment to be like I don't love you anymore I no longer choose you. No He is always there for us and is the best listener to exist. 

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13, 14 NIV). I love Philippians so much! I think it is such a powerful and God spoken book that is just really special. Paul clearly says here to forget what is in the past and keep going forward to our prize; eternity with God! This is the best gift we could ever ask for and God we deliver it! 

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. (Matthew 14:17 NIV). Jesus was not worried about where this food would go or what people would think of Him. He fully knew that God would prove faithful again. He always does! So why do we doubt Him? We have never experienced someone so perfect. 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34 NIV). 

This scripture really spoke to my heart this summer. I was actually just looking at my notes again over it. In there I repeatedly kept saying be my everything! He should fulfill our hearts so we have no worries! If we worry do we really have faith? This can be a challenging thing but in Christ we should not have to worry. God is in control of our lives and if we are submitting to Him then He will guide us and never fail. 

Sharing Christ everywhere!

Following God is not an optional thing that we do at certain times or certain places or in front of certain people. Following God is being passionate about Him and making Him known in EVERY step of our lives! Every move I make I make in Him! 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19, 20 NIV). As God commands us to make disciples of ALL the nations not just our homes, our city or our church but every single person on earth; He doesn't just leave us along to do it. He says He is with us the end of the ages! Wherever we will go He will be in us! I think it is so amazing when people bring the name of Jesus directly into their business and aren't afraid of what others might think. Today I was researching for one of my projects and there is a wedding planner in Des Moines who proudly professes the name of Jesus and people love her! So people might shy away from saying they are a strong professing christian just like some people are embarrassed to say their last name. Are we really following God if we don't trust Him enough to say we believe in Him. Do we really believe in Him if we go places and don't shine His light? Yes it is wonderful to just love people but at a certain point you have to start talking about Jesus! He can spread His name by Himself and His powers but He calls us to be His servants and do it for Him! I believe it is one of His true tests. Some people can just talk about Jesus and really not love Him but it's usually pretty clear. We are not called to sit in our beds and watch TV to just avoid temptation and avoid seeing people so we don't have to talk about God. Everything we do is to be done in Christ. Buying groceries, driving our cars, going to school, working and just always be serving God. We don't need to have a scheduled time each week to go do this or that. We need to be ready to speak about Christ to every person we see! 

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:26 NIV). 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13, 14 NIV). 

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:1, 2 NIV). 

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:10, 11 NIV). 

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NIV). 

We are working for The Lord not for man. We need to be praying for the people in this world that they would be saved. We need to pray for everyone to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we can only confess to God that we believe, do we really believe? We need to be telling everyone what we believe and what this great news is. Because this news will never fade away. I believe God will keep revealing more and more of His glory to us! Everything we do should be in God and should be able to be seen. 

Victors Crown

I have been loving the song Victors Crown by Darlene Zcheshech! It has really been speaking to my heart this last month and just can really touch you in a special way. It's so important to remember the power God has and we don't have. And with that power God fights for us! He is not against us! I just love all the words to this song! Listening to it now it just gets my heart going! It is so strong and true! By your grace I live and breathe to worship you! It just stirs my heart so much! It keeps saying you have overcome...what does that mean well He overcame death but He has just overcome everything possible! 

Every high thing must come down, every strong hold shall be broken. I just kept saying this is my head today! This song touches my heart so much! Music can really get me on fire for The Lord! Nothing is higher than God and it will be broken. We can not be strong without Him. No matter how strong we think we are we can NOT fight God or do anything without Him! He just wants to fill our hearts and I want to let His glory show! Every word in this song shows Gods true glory and how awesome He is! 

A victor is a person who defeats an enemy or opponent in a battle. God defeated satan. Satan thought he was stronger than God but God broke that and brought Him down! We are nothing without Him!! A crown is a thing usually decorated placed on the head symbolizing authority and at the top of something. That crown will never be taken from God. We can trust that God will always be at the top and He will continue to overcome! 

 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4 NIV). We can not have victory without God. Every victory we think we have is nothing without our God! 

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV). 

and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. (Matthew 27:29 NIV). They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. (Mark 15:17 NIV). 

You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:7-9 NIV). 

Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. (Revelation 12:3 NIV). 

Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. (Revelation 4:4 NIV). 

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8 NIV). 

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:4 NIV). 

God has the crown and that will never ever be taken from Him. He wears it in highest regard for our lives. He loves us. He will share His love and righteousness with us when we accept His undeniable glory and perfectness! He is everything to us. He will always remain high and higher every day. In my heart I need to keep Him in the highest regard and just be broken before Him and be humbled and know that I can never amount to enough but He loves and forgives me! 

For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? (1 Thessalonians 2:19 NIV). His crown should bring us joy and peace. I should be shouting from rooftops that God is way up there and has the deepest and most perfect heart and loves me! He has great plans for me; I just have to be brave enough and trust Him to let Him do those plans! Praise you Lord! 

Drawing our affections for Christ

God gives us blessings and gifts in our lives so we can be drawn closer to Him. Affection is a gentle feeling of fondness or liking for someone. God wants us to love Him and be crazy about Him. Today we can just end up going through the motions and not fully being in love with God and His heart! A person we love more than anyone needs to be God! I think about people I love a lot and what do I do to show that I love them. I write them letters, care about the things they do, hug them, talk to them, spending time with them, going to the things they do and just encouraging them and asking them questions. Sometimes we can get caught up thinking that it is hard to love God because, He is not actually here with us on earth. But that is where faith comes in. There are so many ways to really love God and have a personal relationship with Him. It is so important to make time for Him every day and not just on Sundays. Our lives need to revolve around loving God. There are so many ways to love Him including serving Him but just like people on earth we need to spend time getting to know them like reading the bible and talking to Him. 

He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Luke 10:27 NIV). 

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4 NIV). 

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, (Deuteronomy 10:12 NIV). 

He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Revelation 14:7 NIV). 

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:2-5 NIV). 

We can love God by the choices we make, the way we love others, our obedience to Him, and tuning our ears into Him. Loving God is so important and life changing! For me music and awesome christian books that are really from Gods heart can get me on fire for The Lord and more excited and just ready to know Him more! Sometimes those can be a distraction for people and take you away from God but for me that draws me more to Him. Reading the bible makes me closer to God and know more about Him. Sometimes getting to love certain people or do certain things to serve God just draws me closer to His heart because I feel I am really learning about Gods heart and how He created people! Hearing the testimonies of people can really hit my heart in a certain way and realize how much our sin hurts our God. I think for a lot of people hearing a message can really draw you closer to God because you are just learning more about God and you can hear some really powerful scripture and just be challenged in awesome new ways!! 

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. (Psalm 119:105, 106, 108 NIV). I just love Psalm 119! Loving God leaves to a life of righteousness. He will direct us to a path of Him and we will be more ready to spread His light when the time comes if we are loving Him. I love waking up and right away praying and digging into the Words He has breathed out for us and for our hearts and lives. Gods word has so much power for our lives. I love being so passionate about God and just ready to fight the world in Him! He is so powerful!! 

1st John 4

This chapter is really amazing to talk about love and just the true spirit of God in us. It is really crazy to think about God choosing us and freely giving Himself to us. I often think about Acts 2 and how crazy it is because before that God did not give the gift of His Holy Spirit and now today I feel like we so much take it for granted and don't even comprehend how amazing and special it is to have the all powerful Master and Creator loving and dwelling in us! God has compassion on us and like it 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. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). God has had plans for us and knew us before we were in the womb. He loves us more than we can ever love someone or even Him. It is literally impossible. Especially when we are slaves to sin we are so hardened to truly loving people and receiving the joy that comes from loving people. I love getting to love people and have them know I love them! But the fact that God wanted a way to save us and so He sent His one and only son to DIE for us was alone amazing but He didn't stop there. He then sent His spirit to us and leads us to God and to love Him more. Love is a hard word to define. I often say love is God for Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8 NIV). Well what does that mean? Well what is God? He is patient, helpful, faithful, forgiving, merciful, magnificent, powerful, everlasting, never ending, kind, compassionate, devoted, comforting, loyal, giving, understanding and perfect. Our love can never be perfect be we can definitely keep trying! 

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:20, 21 NIV). Loving others is a fundamental part of knowing and trusting and being saved by God. It is not an optional thing or dependent on your mood; besides loving God, His next command is to love others. And not just to pretend to love them but to love people as brothers and sisters. Hate and anger in our souls lead to hardening of our heart towards God. We can't have sore feelings about someone and keep going with life and not give it to God. Love is a special thing and is really wonderful when everyone is loving as God calls them to. 

The only reason,"we love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19 NIV). God gave His only son to die for all of our sins and open the gates to heaven! There is no greater act of love than that! God puts His love in us when we accept that that is true! Love can be a weird thing in this world and I am not saying that everyone should be saying I love you to each other or being romantic because that is the worlds twisted take on it, I am just saying we should act in love as God has for us. 1st John 4 is really wonderful and just from Gods heart! 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30, 31 NIV). 

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. (Luke 6:35 NIV). 

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2 NIV). 

And I had to put this in since it's about love:). 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 NIV). 

Appearances

It is hard to know sometime if you really truly know someone but most importantly know someone's heart. People can seem one way when you meet them and then totally change and have another person that they really are. Sometimes people may dress super nice and act like there life is all together when it really is not. Other times people can claim to be christians and honestly not know what it is like to truly love God. It can cause us heartache when we go back and forth not knowing if they are christians or not or if we should trust them. God tells us Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26, 27 NIV). 

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:1-3, 8 NIV). 

There are people that really don't like christians. We are still called to love everyone even if it means not trying to do anything with them but if we have a chance or run into them we still love them. The best way to know someone's heart is to worship them and pray with them. Just because they have scripture memorized or know the words to pray or can sing along does not mean they truly have accepted Jesus. There is a sense in which you can tell someone's passion when they speak and if it is really and they are really in love with God. But the exciting thing is we are not the judge of others! God is. We do not have to worry about where they will go, we should in that we should be a light and witness in their life. We can impact their lives but not make the final decision for them to follow Christ. That is between a person and God alone. 

It can cause a lot of stress to not really know someone's heart or understand them but from that we should pray for them and talk to them more about Jesus!  God will provide and be faithful. This does not mean to trust and love and do things with every person you ever meet but trust God enough to be in control of your life and other people's lives. One day every heart will know the true honor and glory of God. As followers of God it is important to not be putting on a face to act like we are perfect or have it all together because we really don't! We need to have a heart for God and to serve Him and we don't need to know everything or have the perfect answer always. We are a mess but God cleans us!! God will continue to work on us when we allow Him to and not try to act like we have it all together because eventually we will believe that we do have it all together. We can love God the most when we are humbled. 

Honesty

When I was younger I used to struggle a lot lying and it was so obvious I would like always end up looking at the ceiling. So many times it can be hard to be honest but it does in fact end up being worse if you lie for so many reasons. You just feel guilty about it to start with because God commands us “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16 NIV). God does not lie to us. It is amazing and vital to realize in the bible how faithful God is in keeping His promises! So everything we say we should be able to say to God or not be afraid that it will get back to the wrong person and the truth will come out. Another reason is just that our life becomes a lie and not of God we are spending so much time thinking about who we told what to and who knows what. I am not saying we have to tell everybody everything or even if they ask something that we have to tell them but just to in a Godly way find a way to answer it or change the subject. Now that might still be obvious but eventually our heart will become so hard to the fact that we are lying and we won't even realize it and our life will not really be serving God as we should. 

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV). God specifically says that he hates lying. God knows our hearts and He will expose our hearts and lives. There is so much more joy and peace in being honest and not walking on egg shells. 

An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. (Proverbs 12:17, 19, 22 NIV). Proverbs 12 is really great talking about lying. Think about all the people we witness to in a day...if we are lying to them or they find out we are lying that would just ruin our witness and they would become hardened to God and think He is a lie too. 

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17 NIV). This is what I was saying before that God will bring out the truth in His righteous ways. And it's not to say don't lie so that God will bless my life it is saying I love and respect God so much and want to honor Him and therefore love others so I will speak the truth and love. The way we speak and the things we say or don't say can really impact other people. 

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:9, 10 NIV). God doesn't lie and if we are truly saved and really believe in Him then we have His spirit inside of us and are created as a new person and a new heart that is loving. When we come to Christ our old self dies. It literally has to die it cannot just be lingering around the corner waiting to sneak back up on you. We have to keep growing stronger in mind, spirit and body in Him and ready to fight sin. 

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18, 19 NIV). What we say does come from the heart and our heart is just the truest thing we have. It will expose who we really are and if we have been changed. Out of the heart the mouth speaks and we need cleanse and heal our hearts so our tongues can give glory to God and sing praises to Him! God will work on our hearts if there is sin it and we need to let Him!!

The beauty of the earth

God creates everything himself. Sometimes we can get so caught up in either hating the world and not enjoying Gods natural beauty He put into it or too obsessed with the world and think it's perfect! Today for an Iowa winter it was so beautiful it was 52 degrees outside and just felt amazing and when you walked out there you could just feel God and His beauty and just how perfect He is! God created the heavens and the earth and He did it in His image. God doesn't go halfway and only do things to 50% of His power; He does 100% and that is who God is. If we love Him, He won't try to love us and bless us or try to save us. He does save us and does love us. He is so perfect and gives that to us, He isn't selfish and doesn't just try to keep it for Himself. He wants the whole world to know Him and see His glory. 

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31 NIV). 

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. (Psalm 33:5 NIV). 

“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. (Isaiah 65:17 NIV). 

The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name. (Psalm 89:11, 12 NIV). 

Psalms shows that God created them and they are His so if they His then they reflect His beauty and almighty power! We should not doubt all God is capable of when He literally made the earth and sent His son to save us. The question is not is God willing to give everything for us  the question is will we die to our old lives and continue to die to them to be closer to God and know His glory and beauty! 

When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. (Acts 4:24 NIV). 

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11 NIV). 

God didn't created us because He was bored, He created us because of His great love and grace and for us to fellowship with Him. Not to be apart from Him and wanting everything but Him. Everyday we need to make the choice of Him over another person or purchase or way to spend our time. Time with God is not a choice it is a vital thing. God can work in mysterious ways and we must be ready at any time to hear Him!  

Radical

I just got done reading Radical by David Platt. I really really enjoyed it. I am not opposed to reading christian books especially when they aren't legalistic or replacing reading the actual Word! It was a really great book that just challenges you and makes you want to follow God more and thrive for Him in any way possible and really by any means spread Gods light. Is it more important to send $3000 to Africa for food and help for them or to pay $3000 for a flight and go there and actually talk to the people about God and lead them to repentance and Christ and let God provide the other things. Because in reality He is the only thing we actually NEED!!!! Something I thought about throughout this book is what it means to be a christian. I think christian is an overused word and can be very hypocritical. Nonetheless I am still a christian but I prefer to say believer. One of my close friends when I told her that said well I prefer follower of Jesus Christ. I think sometimes when we think about christians we are always trying to be a certain way or find the next book that will lead us to a perfect life or find someone we look up to, to show us how to live or just that someone has the secret. Following Jesus there is no perfect way to dress, no perfect amount of money to donate, no perfect amount of service hours to do, no perfect size house or amount of possessions that is okay to have as a christian the only thing we can do is love God and live our life for Him. He truly has called each one of us to different things in life and how He wants people to see us. Some people may seem absolutely crazy and I am not saying to follow God you have to be crazy and out of control because you have to be able to give your heart to God and let Him control it. Others may seem like they just get to have the perfect life and get to have all of the riches of life and sometimes that is okay in God but Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23, 24 NIV). It can be just as much of a struggle for a rich person as a dirt poor person. A poor person literally has nothing else and knows they need God but a rich person thinks they can do it on their own and don't need Him. I am not saying either way is perfect and awesome. 

My main point is as followers of Jesus we have to stop comparing ourselves to other people christians and non-christians. Just because one way worked great for someone else does not mean it is the perfect way for us or what God has called us to. He may have blessed us with lots of money but that doesn't mean we go spend it on clothes, cars, expensive food or even a water park. Comparing ourselves to others is so pointless and fruitless. It can really cause deep damage to our heart; in worldly and Godly ways. If we want to look a certain way it may never be good enough for us. If we want to read our bible or memorize it as much as someone it can become a pride and knowledge problem. We do not have true understanding of God then. That is why our #1 relationship and most prioritized should be God. He is the first person I talk to in a day. I should be striving to be more like Him even though the truth is I will never be, but that doesn't mean I don't try. 

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NIV). 

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. (2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV). 

If we really love God and trust Him and have faith than we have to trust that He put His spirit in us and is guiding us to specifically how He wants our life to go. The only person we are trying to please is God. This does not mean we are not loving or being rude to others it means in pleasing and loving God, He WILL allow us to love others. 

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV). 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV). 

God cares about our hearts and our hearts are what control our actions when we love God. Loving God is talking to Him, praising Him, worshipping Him, reading His Word and just loving Him out. Through loving God He will teach us His righteous ways and show us how to serve Him. It will not always be one way in our lives. I can sometimes struggle with making sure everyone is okay and happy but I believe when I really truly have joy in Christ, He just provides and will show others His light through me and take away my worries. 

Another important point is that not to think we are better than others just because we don't do this or we do do that. God is focused on our hearts not what we think of others hearts. Like I said He may not have convicted them of certain things that He has us, they may not see His true glory yet and want to live as passionately. We need to stop judging others and let God be the supreme Judge He is. We should worry more about how can I love and know God more?!?! 

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37 NIV). 

 “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7 NIV). 

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister ? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. (Romans 14:1-10, 13 NIV). 

I ask that God would just help me live for Him alone! 

Isaiah

Isaiah books 42-53 talks a lot about a Servant and what that Servants job will be and who that Servant will be. Eventually in Isaiah 53 it is spoken that the Servant will die. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. (Isaiah 53:5-7 NIV). Now I am pretty sure that this is talking about Jesus and if I am not sure well who died for all of our sins and did it willingly and came to this sin sick world knowing He would die for our sins. Jesus lived a painful but perfect life. Whenever we go through trials and think there is nothing like this in the Word I can often find that there is something similar. 

Back to Isaiah though it is just such a remarkable book and I am going to be very sad when I am done going through it. But that does NOT mean I am done with Gods word. I was thinking going to another Old Testament book like Psalms or Jeremiah. In Isaiah there is so much depth and truth and just power that God used Isaiah to speak about. All scripture is God-breathed 2 Timothy 3:16. It is just amazing to see the sin of the world then and that is still here now and just how much grace and forgiveness God has and how people just continue to sin against Him. But ultimately how Isaiah talks about the coming of our Savior that we desperately need!!! God had a plan to save us and guess what? He still always does. We just have to love Him enough to trust Him and then obey Him. God gives us the greatest gift we have to be strong enough in faith to accept that gift. Isaiah has really encouraged my hunger for God and just taught me more about Gods great glory and how amazing He truly is! It is just really cool to observe the challenges of the people throughout time and how God was working in it the whole time and doing things to change their lives! God is changing our lives when we don't even realize it. I can look back over the last 2 months and realize just WOW how much God has done and how He has been working on my heart. When we truly quiet our lives and are ready for Him and submissive to what He desires, He will work in us! Sometimes being busy for me is good especially because it can distract me from sin but that is not actually changing my heart it is just avoiding working through the problems. And it usually results in me having less one on one time with God which I cherish and feel is very important. The last thing I want to do is run away from God. I just want to continue to quiet my life and heart and be focused on God and ask Him where and who He wants me to serve! He will lead me where I am supposed to go! 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV). 

Mountains

“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:23, 24 NIV). 

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. ” (Matthew 17:20 NIV). 

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2 NIV). 

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10 NIV). 

The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel. (Judges 5:5 NIV). 

I just wanted to throw some verses out there about mountains. It is crazy to think about how often mountains appear in Gods Word. A mountain is a huge peak or quantity of something that is inaccessible. God made the mountains. It is a natural thing just like sin is a natural thing. We slowly climb towards sin as we can also slowly climb a mountain towards sin or towards God. When we are climbing up we can be becoming closer and closer to God and seeking Him and desiring Him more or we can keep desiring worldly passions more and more and then as we desire God we can climb up our mountain towards God. God is at the top of the mountain and we can never get to Him until we reach Him and climb the trials and overcome them and reach Him at the end of our lives. God can literally move mountains; why would we doubt that He can move anything in the way in our lives. He wants to do everything He can to bring us closer to Him. There are many mountains in our lives that can deeply hurt us and that we have to work through and I believe have accountability with other people and be faithful to God! The greatest and only mountain we should be climbing is the Holy one of God. It's not easy to follow Jesus but faith in Him will get easier and easier! God is so good!! There is no mountain that God can Not move!! He is all powerful and has control of the living and the dead! Praise to You Lord for removing our mountains and drawing us to You!

Our Sovereign God

I have really dealt with a strong temptation and sin for a while now, as we all do.  It has been a hard constant pull and as much as I have felt freed from it, satan still had a pull on my heart at any moment when I was weak and he could make things very appealing. In Isaiah, he constantly talks about our sovereign Lord and mighty Lord. I just love the word sovereign! It is so powerful! There was a great song a wonderful person I know discovered this summer. It is call sovereign over us by Aaron Keyes. It is really powerful and encouraging! 

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. (Isaiah 50:4, 5 NIV). 

Sovereign means a supreme ruler with ultimate power. 

“Come near me and listen to this: “From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.” And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his Spirit. (Isaiah 48:16 NIV). I just love the way Isaiah reveals God and speaks of Him. He truly loved God. God has so much power and has given me so much grace in my life and every time I fall and He picks me back up it is just amazing to re-fall in love with God! I just gave my heart to Him again tonight reestablishing my commitment to Him and to His righteous ways and not ways against Him. I was just crying out to God for Him to save me and forgive me! He is so full of grace! I love these verses about freedom in Christ! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1 NIV). I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV). There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18, 19 NIV). God is so amazing!!!! He truly does have all the power and when you can feel satan attacking you the thing that really does feel the best and change your heart is to literally cry out to God! He has changed my life and continues to with anything that hurts me! He gives us freedom and allows us to do the tough things and not be hurt anymore. He protects us. He is stronger than us, in Him we don't need to be strong He makes us strong and loves us. God is my all in all! I never want to be without Him! He has done remarkable things in my life!! Oh I just love Him! He has really freed me! Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ! 

Purity

The definition of pure is not mixed. In our relationship with God purity is such a huge thing! It doesn't just relate to our sexual purity which is huge in being devoted to God and good; but it relates to all aspects of our life! Not being mixed with any worldly desires or passions or longings. Even just to watch TV not mixing our hearts and minds with that. God can bless us the most when we are fully devoted to Him and focused on Him and not allowing other ingredients in. What comes in will come out. If we listen to swear words they will come out. If we desire or talk about sexual things or even see relationships and love on TV it can produce and evoke those thoughts in us and give us those desires and temptations and those temptations get rooted in us. Those temptations can then become idols and then we make a worse image out of God and see Him in the wrong way and mix Him with other things. 

Here are some purity verses I like for all people! Some may seem like they are just for married people but in reality it is for all people to prepare for marriage or encourage others in marriage and just how you should live your life! 

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV). 

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13:4 NIV). 

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (Matthew 5:28, 29 NIV). 

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 NIV). 

And really I feel like you substitute any sin against God here too and it is not honorable! 

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. (Psalm 119:37 NIV). 

God wants our whole heart and we need to not be distracted or mixed! Lord lead me to just solely desire and love you and let running waters of You flow in me! 

Prayer

Prayer is something that for me I can easily slack off on. But why? I love talking to other people it is one of my favorite things. And God talks to me through His word and I think that I think oh God knows my heart I don't actually need to talk to Him, He already knows everything I am going to say. But the truth is God wants to talk to us!! We can be so humbled when we pray and literally get on our knees and cry out to Him! Sometimes I just go off on tangents and talk to Him about what I thought about the day and tell Him what I am thankful for! This really great speaker at camp 2 years ago Wes Davis had the acronym ACTS. I think it's pretty common but very important! A-adoration(worship) what do we love about God!! C-confession. T-thanksgiving! So many blessings! And S-supplication or requests. 

I love The Lord's Prayer. There is someone that I know that says a lot of times they go back to just praying that! “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’ (Matthew 6:9-13 NIV). Matthew 6 is great to talk about prayer. We shouldn't pray in front of others just so they can see us pray or so we can check it off our lists because that is not really connecting with God. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6 NIV). This is not to say that you always have to pray this way but just being in private with God and really focusing your full heart and self on Him and not being distracted is a pretty special thing!! If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV). This is so true. We can't just keep going like God knows we are sorry or we won't do it again because no! We need His help not to do it again! We can begin to forget how powerful sin really is! 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1 NIV). Do you ever really think about how great and perfect Gods heart is and how sinful and sad ours is especially without Him! His love is so perfect and does battle through any trial! If we aren't focusing on God or speaking to Him than we will start spending our time with something else even if it is of Him we still need to be with Him in order to serve and love Him! I try to start my mornings on my knees praying and then in His word but not to be legalistic about it just to get my day off to the start with Him before I do anything else! God has really blessed this time! 

Reality

I am a very realistic person. I try to be as positive as I can but I just work with reality and I observe things so frequently that I just see the reality of situations. I also am very fortunate in my life with all of the blessings that I have. Most everybody living in the United States is relatively blessed compared to other countries. And if we are not rich in actually possessions (which is not the best kind of richness) then we can find other sources to obtain that. Reading through the book Radical by David Platt it is incredibly sad to realize the reality that is today around the globe. Not only the conditions of people's lives and the 29,00 children that die every day but more importantly their hearts and where the end up. It is either one million or one billion people that have never even heard the name of Jesus! They need Jesus just as much as we do! This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24 NIV). We all desperately need Jesus and our longing to be with God filled. I can not wait for the day when I get to go around the world and love people in Gods name and teach them about Jesus and how great He really is! My passion is to work with kids and I love being with kids and you love them for a while and talk to them about God and then they really just light up and are excited about knowing and learning more about God! Children are just as important as anybody else to to teach the greatness of God!! He is really amazing!! I truly believe that God just has a perfect plan for everything and that in His time things will be done and accomplished and He will save His people and He can totally do it all by Himself but He wants out help. We are to be servants to Him not to whatever worldly things we desire. God has and is going to make a huge change! The first time Jesus came to save us and the 2nd time He will come to bring justice to the world. Just because somebody hasn't heard about Jesus that doesn't mean they automatically go to heaven but also I don't know all the rules for kids or anything it is all up to God but I know as humans we need Jesus and why would we keep people from knowing Him!! He is ever loving and never failing!!! 

Not giving up

There are so many things that I just feel like giving up on in life. Sometimes it is because I think oh this isn't good for me and so instead of dealing with the heart issue I just give it up or quit. God calls us to persevere no matter what the times are. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 NIV). Relationships is something to me that can be a sore point for me if I don't give it to God. I am someone that always wants everybody to be happy and make sure their needs are met. I can get so much stress and anxiety from people! That is crazy! God gave us people to have fellowship in Him and not be lonely. Not to have issues. I am not saying I am perfect I always pray that I can do a better job at loving people. I just know there are many trials in our lives that can really hurt and be not fun to go through but God can shine His light the most when we give those times to Him and say Lord I still rejoice in you and your unfailing love. Not just to go to Him to solve our problems or when we need Him but to earnestly seek Him when we feel like failures, not good at school, friendship problems, or anything else. When we are most humbled we can do Gods greatest work. I know I have messed up so many different things in my life and caused issues but God has given me the grace to fix them and He has put me on a path of His righteousness. I am not perfect but He is!! God can get through any tough situation or dilemma or problem! 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4 NIV). 

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. (1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV). 

God is so good and always has a warm loving fatherly heart to give us!!

Gods great beauty!

Reading through Isaiah it is amazing to realize how great and awesome God is! It is so horrible to think about how then His own people constantly chose idols over Him. But the sad reality is that we do the exact same thing today. Our idols are not the same thing like structures made out of wood or that we crafted ourselves and exalt ourselves. Our idols are things that we often do not admit to actually being idols or that we admit we are worshipping more than God. I often realize that I idolize school more than most things. It is not a bad thing but it can distract us from being in great awe of God. I love in Isaiah Isaiah 44:6 “This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. I just love in Isaiah how The Lord is referred to and how He receives His full credit and honor. But also in this verse how without Him you have nothing. There is no other God there are other gods that we make but they are nothing compared to our mighty and all powerful God. Our hearts are made to worship something. If we aren't whole-heartedly worshipping God than we will by nature worship and direct our attention to other things. God wants our whole and complete heart made in His image. We are sinful people and can so easily get distracted by other things that is why it is important, not to be legalistic, but that we are doing things to serve God but not with a heart to just do it so we can say it is done and that we are right with God but so that our focus is directed at Him and our hearts are full of Him and our mouths are singing songs of praise to Him!! Isaiah is a really powerful book of the bible but really awesome in talking about how there is no other God and just how we make idols and how we hurt God. I often think about what it will be like to see God and I know I will just fall in awe of His glory. But something else really cool to think about is what it would be like to hug Him! That would the most special and awesome hug from the best Father ever!! Isaiah 37-47 does a really awesome job talking about how great God is! Here are some of my favorite verses! 

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3 NIV). 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8 NIV). 

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him? (Isaiah 40:10, 13, 18 NIV). 

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:25, 28, 29, 31 NIV). 

Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord —with the first of them and with the last—I am he.” (Isaiah 41:4 NIV). 

See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion. (Isaiah 41:29 NIV). 

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. (Isaiah 42:8 NIV). 

But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame. (Isaiah 42:17 NIV). 

God is so good and faithful to me! I want to give glory to Him every day and show Him that I love Him!

People!

God created each and every one of us in His image! But by birth we are born into sin. The whole truth is we can never be perfect but because of Jesus we can become a little bit more like God each day and hopefully closer and more in love with Him! He taught us how to love people and even showed us bringing His son, Jesus, to earth! We can't love others perfectly though. By our sinful nature and just having different personalities we can not always please others or love people perfectly as Christ would. Gods love for us is so perfect we as humans can't even comprehend it and feel it all because we don't know love like this!! I am a quality time person. I love getting to see people and be with them and love them and talk to them! I just love doing all I can to love others by writing them notes, being with them, serving them any way possible, giving them presents, surprising them and most importantly talking to them about God!! I think it's huge just to show others that you care and love them as Christ would!! Loving other people gives me so much joy and just pure happiness and draws me to Christ!! There are days when it can feel exhausting and fruitless but it is so worth and sooooo good for our relationship with God! The universe does not revolve around us it is centered around God! We need to do everything we are capable of to center it around Him and serve Him!! God gave us the wonderful gift of others! Why would we do anything but love them? When we are just all loving in God it is so fun and awesome!! There is so much more power in being positive but also honest with our hearts than just keeping it in but also not being negative!! God is so good!! He can bless every single relationship we have so very much!! We also have so much power to act in our friendships to teach them about Christ and spread His awesome and true Word!!! God is amazing!!!!

Back to school!!

Today I went to back to school for the first time in 18 days! It is crazy how immediately you can get distracted by the world and taken it by it all and even begin to idolize school! It was the first day back! What?!?! Oh there is just so much to overcome in the world!! Things never go perfectly, relationships are never exactly what you would like them to be, and education is hard to achieve. I realized today that this could be one of my harder semesters in high school but it also may not be if I continue to feel led by God to challenge myself. I don't know exactly where my education and career will take me but I want to live it for God to decide and have it have the ability to make disciples of Him!! There is so much stress when you go out into the world. I wish I could just live in my own little bubble but that is nearly impossible. There is so many ways satan can tempt you just by even making idols out of school and your pride. But he can also use people as a weapon against you and tempt you in those ways. I can be tempted to want more with a guy or want a relationship when I know it doesn't honor God and not what He has called me to. Or I can be tempted to get frustrated with friends and think I am the only one trying and comparing myself to others and just not being content in my relationships. One thing I really deeply long for is a relationship centered on Christ where we can talk openly about Him and just love each other really submissively to Christ. At the end of a school day you can really feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders(especially when you have 3 textbooks in your backpack:(). I worry about my sister possibly not being able to play basketball again and just about making sure that everybody is happy. It can be a strength sometimes but really exhausting others. We can never love everybody perfectly but God loves us perfectly and we can try to love others as He has loved us!! It can be exhausting but I really believe as I submit myself to God and hear Him, He will guide me to His path of righteousness and to those He wants me to really love and focus on! There are so many challenges and they can really be hard on my heart but the best news each day is I don't have to pay for my sins Jesus did it for me on the cross!! He is the most amazing Heavenly Father!! 

Being content!

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13 NIV). 

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, (Philippians 2:14 NIV). 

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (Philippians 1:21-24 NIV). 

Paul is really wonderful especially in Philippians about describing contentment. He is in chains for the gospel and while many could be upset or frustrated but instead he is excited because he knows him being in chains is furthering the advance of the gospel! How many of us would be frustrated and annoyed and think God betrayed us? As Christians and humans we have many hard tasks assigned to us and for us to deal with. It can be very hard and NOT always fun! God does not want us to serve Him while we are upset or annoyed by the things He is calling us to do. If He calls us to great tasks is it fruitful or giving glory to Him if we complain and get sick of having to do things for Him that others don't have to? He believes in us and loves us and wants us to serve Him more! There are many people starving to death every day and suffering for the gospel and are content because they know what Jesus has done for them and is doing for them! They trust Him enough to not have be on a roller coaster and only being content under our own circumstances. When we try to have control and are only happy when things go the way we want, we will not be happy or content in Christ. We have to give Him the control and allow Him to guide our lives forever and always!! 

I have learned many times that I am not in control and when I try to be I am never satisfied or content and just have constant pain in my heart! I can not control others and how things go and therefore can't be happy. I can only be truly satisfied in Christ! It's miserable to try to have control and to constantly be upset when things do not go the way I want. I have learned to release that burden to God and have lower expectations of people and higher expectations of God. God has control of my life and will guide me in my paths and will not put me in a place that He can't handle! There is such more peace and joy that comes from being content in Christ and exactly where He has you and is taking you!! He WILL provide! 

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). God will always be with us. What else do we need? All we need is Him to survive and if He blesses us than that is His will! It is fruitless to want more or ask God for more when He has sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV). God will protect us! Let's just live with joy in Him every single day! 

My sister possibly just broke her foot today for the second time in the last year. She didn't freak out or throw a panic attack or even cry.  Even though it is her senior year and she is in season with basketball right now. That would suck. She just knows it is not worth getting upset about and will not get her anywhere. The one thing that will get us to heaven is to trust in Jesus and have so much joy in Him that we can love Him and others! Lord lead me in your paths and guide my heart to joy in You!!

Gods word!

There are days when I love walking into my room and seeing everything in its place and then my beautiful gift from God on my desk. It just makes me feel like God is in control and in the best book and Words ever created I can know God better! There are times when it becomes a burden to read His word and just a struggle to get it out. If I am feeling that way and I try to read it it just makes me feel worse. I need to be humbled and ready to exalt Him and excited to read more!! Even for me if I just pull up the bible app on my phone it is usually the lazy way out and not as fruitful as if I take out my bible and really dive in to know God! There are some really amazing verses and stories in there and the best part is that it comes from our Heavenly Father who loves us and wants to take us down a path of righteousness! Gods word has been around forever and is never ending. There are people in this world that could be killed if caught even holding a bible and today we can take it for granted being able to own a bible and read it any time we want! Those people would love to own a bible or read a bible and we can think of it as a burden. It's horrible to think of. I often pray that God would continue to give me more of a desire to read His Word and be hungry for it! The bible will never not teach you something about God!

For me sometimes I can put it off because I think I have school work I should be doing instead. Then what happens is I devote more of myself to school than I do to God and I become stressed and think why isn't God helping me with school more? Another problem can then be oh I will just read His word more so that I can say it's done and God is happy that I read it and then He will bless me. NO! I need to want to read it and be excited every chance I have to connect more with God! It can not be an item on my checklist that I think will make God bless me and lead to the path of righteousness. It can honestly be the opposite that will just lead to a path of destruction and hurt and separation from God. I pray for many more years of being able to read the Word and then share it with others who do not have the same opportunities. We are on a mission for Christ! 

Last night I was really amazed reading Isaiah 37 and how Hezekiah  turned to God in prayer when the Assyrians were tempting him not to trust the power of God! When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.” When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’ ” When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?” Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord : “ Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God. ” Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the Lord has spoken against him: “Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’ “Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up. “But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came. “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,” declares the Lord. “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. (Isaiah 37:1-38 NIV). 

I love Hezekiah's submission to God! God really will guide us in His paths if it is for His will!! I ask that You Lord would lead me to you and to be excited about reading your Word!