Restless Until You Remember

"I'm restless until I rest in You." Audrey Assad

I've been thinking a lot recently about what a wise old man at the nursing home said to me this week: "God never leaves or forsakes us, but how easily we forget it."

It is so true. I don't know about you, but I forget so easily some of the things the Lord speaks to me about. I forget some of His promises on my bad days. I forget that I am the daughter of the most high God. But, I wonder why? Why do we forget? Why is it that the first thing we think of in the morning is often a t-do list or a planned agenda of our day rather thing waking up to "His mercies that are new each morning" or "Do not be discouraged or afraid today". Or maybe you aren't task oriented like I am, maybe you are relationally oriented, and the first thing you think of in the morning is all of the people you need to get in touch with. My devotional this morning said "My children teethe on the truth that I am always with them, yet they stumble around in a stupor unaware of My loving presence all around them. How that grieves Me."
Do you wake up or go to bed in a stupor (apathy caused by stress or shock)? Do you feel dull at times?
Do you think it has something to do with knowing God's promises in your mind and knowing God's promises in your heart? The Word says to "Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of  life." (Prov. 4:23) How is your heart today?

Maybe the reason we so easily forget is that the promises, declarations, teachings, etc have not reached our heart. We haven't given them a chance to marinate, to stir, or to develop our hearts.

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does he prospers." Psalm 1:2-2

Trees planted by water are rich and fruitful.
Hearts that meditate on God's word are more than knowledgable, they are deeply rooted in the promises of God.
Knowledge can come and go. The byproduct that is produced in our hearts is there to stay.
Same goes with knowing and doing. I can know all I want about a specific topic, but unless I am acting based on my knowledge, that knowledge runs the risk of disappearing. I can know all I want about what it means to be compassionate, but unless it is acted out compassion won't mean a thing to me.
"He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:8

Are you forgetting some of the most important things in life that are from the Word of God? Have you forgotten what your First Love once spoke to you about?

John Eldredge seems to experience the same thing:
Forgetting is no small problem. Of all the enemies our hearts must face, this may be the worst because it is insidious. Forgetfulness does not come against us like an enemy in full battle formation, banners waving. Nor does it come temptingly, seductively, the lady in red. It works slowly, commonly, unnoticed. Such is the work of forgetfulness. It cuts us off from our life so slowly, we barely notice, until one day the blooms of our faith are suddenly gone.


I encourage you to forget not the promises of the Lord today and all He has done for us. May you bear fruit, grow in thankfullness, and may your heart dwell in the goodness of God as you remember and not forget.

Getting Beyond Your Daily Life and Into God’s Plan

Getting Beyond Your Daily Life and Into God’s Plan

Galaxies- Owl City

What an awesome song! Listen to the song and read the lyrics. I love how OC has a way of taking the ordinary things around them and putting them into songs that awaken their hearts!


Call back the cap-com,

Tick off the time-bomb,

Let felicity fly!

Armour the airlock,

Blanket the bedrock,

And kiss the planet goodbye!



Dear god I was terribly lost

When the galaxies crossed

And the sun went dark!

But dear God you're the only North star I would follow this far..



Fight back the flight deck

Bring on the breakneck

cue the solar eclipse

summit the sunset

Dubtail the dragnet

and blow your backbone to bits



Dear God I was terribly lost

when the galaxies crossed

and the sun went dark.

But dear god you're the only North star I would follow this far.



Oh telescope, keep an eye on my only hope

Lest I blink and be swept off the narrow road

Hercules you've got nothing to say to me cause you're not the guiding light that I need.



For He is the saving grace of the galaxies ! ( x2 )



Dear God I was terribly lost when the galaxies crossed and the sun went dark

But dear God you're the only North star I would follow this far

The Wedding Prayer

The Wedding Prayer

Create in us a love, O Lord.

An eternal love …

Your love.

A love that forgives

any failure,

spans

any distance,

withstands

any tempest.

Create in us a love, O Lord.

A new love.

A fresh love.

A love with the tenderness

of a lamb,

the grandeur

of a mountain,

the strength

of a lion.

And make us one. Intimately one.

As you made a hundred colors into one sunset,

A thousand cedars into one forest,

and countless stars into one galaxy …

make our two hearts as

one,

Father, forever …

that you may be praised, Father,

forever.

From Shaped by God (original title: On the Anvil)

Copyright (Tyndale House, 1985, 2002) Max Lucado

________________________________________

Alternative Paths- 30 Day Challenge

Alternative Paths by Jonathan Fields


When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

(Author: Jonathan Fields)

I've never been the type of person, to seek out the unknown. I do when I am told to or called to, but I often do not do that of my own choosing. I wonder what it would be like if I truly did explore my passions. Could it lead to my ultimate dream ending with a final destination of my passions being in line with God's passions? It often surprises me when I do something out of the blue. Jamaica, is a good example of this. It has surprised me both times that I have been to the most rural parts of Jamaica that I followed through with it despite my fears. But, it has also somehow surprised me that it is here where I know that my passions truly were in line with God's passions. My passions for traveling, meeting people, combating poverty, encouraging neighbors, and doing hard manual labor were all tied into this one trip.

For the future (5-20 years)my dream would be to be able to have accomplished these things:
- Get married; have a family- big or small
- Visit Sydney, Australia for longer than a week's vacation
- Learn from/intern at Hillsong Church
- Be a pastor of a church
- Get a doctorate in relational leadership

- Go to Princeton Seminary

- Be a part time missionary- that partners a foreign 3rd world church with an American church

- Visit a little girl named Wenddy in the Dominican Republic

If there are alternative paths that I am not seeing, my eyes will have to be opened. But, I look forward to what faith brings: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

New 30day Challenge

I started a few days late, but I think this is an awesome challenge. This challenge causes individuals to "look within" as Aristotle once said.

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. – Ralph Waldo Emerson




What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

5 years ago, I would have been a "tweenager." I would say to my 14 year old self that I love the passion and the fire that I have for Christ as I laid down my purposes, my plans, and my life. That passion radiated off of me onto other people. To the 24 year old, I would say, are you still living with that passion and fire for Christ, if so, what have you done to externalize that passion?