Their more then just cool stories....

As I lay outside listening to the birds sing, and my little brothers play in the pool, and soaking in the sun I cant help but think about God and His amazing, outrageous, never-ending love for us. I am constantly in awe of the God who gave up His ONLY son for us! We did not deserve it, nor did we show any signs of turning to God, BUT still He gave up His only son to be a ransom for many peoples sins.

Have you ever stopped to think about that, like really think about it? I mean honestly.... Think about the thing, here on earth, that you hold dearest to your heart, and think about how you would feel if you had to give that up. I know I would be devastated, think about how you would feel if God called you to give that up? Would you question Him? Would you do it? When I think about this I think about Abraham.,. and how this same all loving, all powerful, omnipresent God, told him to sacrifice his ONLY son, BUT you know, Abraham knew God's promise, and knew that God's word was reliable, and trustworthy. And God had told him that his descendent's that would be as numerous as the stars would come through his son Issac. And you know that? Relying on that promise had to be good enough for Abraham, he trusted His God at His word. Abraham did not argue with God, or make excuses, or try to talk God out of it, he just trusted, and did as God told him to do. And you know what is so amazing about this story to me? God came through for him. That is the highlight of the story for me. Is that God called him to do something that seemed OUTRAGEOUS, he followed Gods instructions, and GOD CAME THROUGH FOR HIM!

See now heres the best part about all of this.... let me let you in on a secret, WE SERVE THE SAME GOD ABRAHAM DID!

If He calls you to do something that seems crazy, or maybe even impossible.... thats probably because it is by human standards.... and if we just run hard after God, and trust Him at His word, and be faithful to Him, HE WILL COME THROUGH. Thats the cool thing about the God I serve, He has promised that He will NEVER leave me or forsake me, even when things may seem hopeless or I am walking through the desert, He will guide me, and if I loose all strength and hope, He will carry me if I need Him to!

The love that my God has for me is one I DO NOT DESERVE, one I CAN NEVER PAY FOR... But that is the love that has been bestowed upon me, an unconditional love. Even the love my parents have for me cant even come close to the amazing love God my Father has for me. At times I cant even comprehend it, and I feel so unworthy at times... because I do something that is not pleasing to God and then I have to run back to my God and tell him I am sorry, and repent of the sin I have committed again Him and Him alone... and you know what He does????? Something that NO HUMAN can do, He forgives and FORGETS my sin, He removes it from me as far as the east is from the west. It is an amazing God that I SERVE!

Truth.

Have you ever felt like you couldn't take another step? Been so defeated that you just couldn't go on? I have, and I can tell you right now that is not a fun feeling nor is it a feeling that God created us to feel. When we live lives that are fully surrendered to Christ He tells us that its okay if we cant take another step, we were not made to walk alone, we were made to rely on HIM and other believers who God places in our paths.

Though at times it is hard for a person like me to place all my trust and all my hope and all my strength in something I cant see, but I am slowly learning that is what I have to do. I am a very strong independent person, and I like to figure things out for myself, and learn from my own mistakes, you can tell me till you are blue in the face that i should not do something, but if I dont think that you are right I will do it just to see if you are right, and if you are I will get hurt. I have always been a strong independent person since I was little, and it is just becoming more and more prevalent in my life as I grow up. As I get older and start to make more and more of my own decisions.

But lately in my life, I have been getting very discouraged, and having to lean wholly on Christ for everything, making hard choices about my future and what I am going to do with my life, and it is hard. But a realization that i came to about a week ago was, God has promised me that he will NOT give me more then I can handle, and if it seems like He has and I cant take another step in any direction except backwards, God is right there with me, and He will carry me if I need him to. Where my human strength ends is where Gods divine strength begins. This is something I have to rediscover daily, and become keenly aware of, every morning.

Another thing I need to rediscover eveeryday is that there is NOTHING that i can do to make God love me less then He loved me yesterday, I am a child of the king and I need to always remember that. Esspecally on days that I feel I cant go on, on days I just want to give up all hope and lay down and just stop trying. That is when God comes in and whispers to me that, I am a child of His and He will help me through everything I am going through! If God brought me to it, He WILL HELP ME THROUGH IT! I know that to be true.