A Letter about love.

Dear ______,

Sooner rather than later you'll find that love is one of the most important things in this world. We love people, we love places, actions, food (definitely), stuff... 

but love is also this beautiful thing from Heaven.

And there's a difference.

The world's version of love isn't exactly real. (Because it's apart from God.)

It definitely feels real, that's for sure.

The butterflies? Real.

The acceptance? Real.

The security? Real.

And you know what? I'm not saying that any of this is bad either. 

I have this undying love for the ocean and the night sky (together or separate). It makes my breath catch just thinking about the salty, wild freedom the ocean possesses, while at the same time it provides a sort of serene therapy. And the never-ending vastness of the bajillion starts you can see from one little spot on earth will never cease to amaze me. It's practically impossible to pull away from either of these things.

I also have this weird fascination and love for people I don't know. There is something exciting about the mystery behind an unknown soul. 

I l o v e adventure.

I love each and every one of my friends, and my love for my family should go without saying. There is an endless list to the things that I love in this world, none of them 'bad'.

But they become very dangerous if they start to take the place of or don't include God.

If you've grown up in a Christian home, that may not be news to you. 

The trick is, don't let it become history. 

The key is to love God first, and love like God second. 

Then, when your 'friends' desert you, you won't feel the hurt the same way. I'm not saying it won't hurt, I'm saying it won't be as...lonely. 

And, whatever lack of understanding (if any ;P) between you and your parents won't be as...(if anything like mine) gory. hah.

And we can't forget that heartbreaking like-and-maybe-even-love you have for the precious soul inside that precious boy won't be as...well, heart wrenching. And hopeless.

You see, the point I'm trying to make is this:

That in God, everything is just that much better. Even the pain. And as I write this, I'm praying that you don't have to learn that the hard way-like I did. 

Don't forget, none of this may be news to you, just don't let it become history.

Love God first, love like God second.

I love you.

{Amber} 

He is Enough

remember

His Grace is enough.

His Joy is enough.

His Peace is enough.

His Justice is enough.

His Love is enough.

He is enough. 

And that is all. 

but just in case you need confirmation-

Psalm 16, 23, 89

Ephesians 6:10, 3:20

2 Cor. 3:5-6

Phil. 4:19-20

and so much more--it would be even better to search for yourself! know God and know that

He is Enough.

The Power of Words

i forget how powerful my words can be. there are endless verses about how powerful the tongues is. it can be used for praise: Psalm 35:28, 126:2, 66:17 etc. it speaks wisdom and truth, life and justice,

but at the same time,

it is used to cause pain, speak lies, and can just about be the worst member of our bodies-when we don't tame it. 

when i don't tame it. 

i'm probably just as guilty as the next person, maybe even more so, when it comes to hurting people with my big mouth. you see, laughing is my thing, whether it's me laughing, or me trying to get other people to laugh. even if i am making a fool of myself. now when i say 'making a fool of myself' i mean i'll make a really ugly face, talk in a ridiculous voice, or dance around doing the hokey pokey. thats all great, but when i get laughs at other people's expense--that's when i am truly making a fool of myself. because it's the fool that takes pride in bringing other people down to bring themselves up. 

even    if     it's   'a joke'.

even if it's something as minor as calling someone a weirdo, or a loser, or stupid.

even if it's something as semi-minor as messing around with someone calling them ugly, fat, anorexic, 

retarded.

there are things you can say that today's society accepts and even promotes because you're 'just messin around' trying to get a laugh.

then there are things you just can't say because they're downright rude.

but is there really a difference? 

either way it hurts, whether you care to admit it or not. 

don't stop thinking about these 'little joke' while watching this video. Congratulations by Eric Vaughn

it hurts to watch, but that's because i'm being convicted. but instead of pressing that stop button on the video, i'm pressing the stop button on my life. time to tame this tongue. will you join me? 

He is our Hope

-THIS IS OUR HOPE-

{and we know that all things work together 

for good to those who love God, to those who are the called 

according to His purpose}

so many words we take for granted in our English vocabulary. words like will and all and shall and in this case even know. solid words. there's probably an actual term for these words but i can't think of it... but the point i'm trying to make is that in this world we use these words flippantly and they don't always mean will they can mean maybe or hopefully or we'll see. But in the bible when these words are said, they are meant. so when God tells us that ALL things work together for GOOD this is His promise. And because we are those who love God, this is our hope. 

{for whom He foreknew,  He also predestined, 

to be conformed to the image of His Son, 

that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called, 

whom He called, He also justified; 

and whom He justified, these He also glorified.}

foreknew. predestined. called. justified. glorified. He knew us before we even existed. He chose us while He knew us--as sinners. we were predestined to be His before Christ even took our place on that tree and cleansed us of our sins before His sight. but it doesn't end there. we were then called. we were then justified. we were then glorified. this is my favorite part: the Creator of the universe, the King of Kings, Almighty God, the One we seek to glorify with every part of our beings, glorifies us. this seems a little weird to me. not right almost. blasphemy even! but that's what it says! we are so unworthy to even glorify Him, yet that is all He asks of us when He calls us, and then He justifies and glorifies us. we are foreknown, predestined, justified, and glorified. this is our hope. 

{what then shall we say to these things? 

if God is for us, who can be against us?  

He who did not spare His own Son, 

but delivered Him up for us all, 

how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  

who shall bring a charge against God's elect? 

it is God who justifies.  

who is he who condemns? 

It is Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, 

who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.}

this is the God we have. the God we know. this is the God who gave up His own and only Son for us. it is Christ who died. for us. so we can be His. we are His. since we know all these things, which are true always, who is there that is able to go against us, against God? who can condemn us, condemn God? no one. this is our hope.

{who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

shall tribulation, 

or distress, 

or persecution, 

or famine, 

or nakedness, 

or peril, 

or sword?

As it is written:

"For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."}

for His sake we are killed all day long. we go through tribulation. we go through distress. we go through persecution. famine. nakedness. peril. the sword. but none of this will not separate us from the love of Christ. this is our hope.

{yet in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through Him who loved us. 

for i am persuaded that neither

death

nor life

nor angels

nor principalities

nor powers,

nor things present

nor things to come,

nor height

nor depth,

nor any other created thing,

shall be able to separate us from the love of God

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.}

again. we list everything that can't and won't separate us from the love of God. even angels, powers, the future, the past, anything that was created has no power over God and His love for us. in these things we are more than CONQUERERS. this is our hope.

all things work out for the BEST for us who love Him. He foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified us. and no one and nothing can separate us from these truths--from these promises. from His love. from this hope. 

He is our Hope. 

He is Powerful

The best part about the Bible? You can read the same stuff over and over and over, and you can learn something completely new every time. Yesterday at church, we read from Acts 10:1-23a. Now, I know that I've read from this particular passage before, but for some reason I never quite understood it like this. Go ahead and take a quick look at the passage.
So basically, it's about these two completely different men: Cornelius and Peter. 
Cornelius is a Roman Centurion. Being these two things combined, he was probably pretty wealthy and pretty smart. Also, a centurion was a commander of the Roman army. 
Peter, on the other hand, was a poor fisherman turned follower of Jesus. He was also a Jew. 
Jews and Romans pretty much hated each other at this time. They weren't even allowed to talk to each other. 
The only thing these two men had in common was their fear of the Lord. 
But God was about to bring them together in Him. 
Then they both had visions from God. 
Cornelius' vision was God telling him to send messengers to go to Peter, asking him to go back to Cornelius.
Peter's vision was this:
'and [he] saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, "Rise Peter; kill and eat." 
But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For i have never eaten anything common or unclean." 
And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common."'
While Peter sat there wondering what it all meant, Cornelius' men appears on the scene. He invites them in so they can explain that their master wants him to return with them so Cornelius can hear the gospel. 
Now, I don't remember what I had thought the first time I read this passage, but I probably didn't think of it as much more than another conversion story, nothing out of the ordinary. But there's so much deeper stuff here! It mostly comes from Peter's end of the story. (vs. 11-16) 
My first thought? Way to go Peter, following the Law, you are so holy. Well apparently, he must have been thinking the same thing. Basically, what Peter is saying when he says that is, 'No Lord, I am too holy and have never and would never eat such things.' 
oooooh. 
Peter needs some humbling. And he gets it of course. 
God then tells him, 'It doesn't matter what you view to be unclean. I am GOD and I have made them pure. Do not call these things that I have made simple, common, unclean.'
BAM.
This happens three times. Maybe so it'll stick. (Reminds me of how he had also denied Jesus three times...)
But what does this mean? Well let's bring Cornelius onto the scene. Just when Jesus teaches Peter a lesson, He sends a Roman Centurion his way. Remember how I said Romans and Jews don't mix well? Romans are unclean. At least before Christ came to save Jews and Gentiles (basically everyone else) alike. And Peter obviously needed to be reminded of that before he was called to present the gospel to Cornelius. Peter needed to be reminded to not call common and unclean what He makes clean. God wasn't talking about food, He was talking about people. 
Amazing huh? 
Well that's not the only thing that struck me.
Another thing was that God chose Peter to do all this. To be humbled. And to be used. He wanted to use Peter. Imperfect Peter. His plan is perfect and right, even when He chooses us. 

Awesome. 
When we let Him use us, so much can happen.

He is Powerful. 

The Mystery of Words

So, poems are pretty great. I don't know what it is, or how to put it into words, but it's like, there is something...magical about them? No, sounds like i'm describing a unicorn... i like mysterious better. Or cryptic, curious, or even esoteric. I love the thesaurus .. but anyway, poems are just beast. So i would like to show you a few. These probably aren't your average poems, but they are worth watching over and over and over...and over.

The first one is maybe my top favorite: A Crucifixion Type Love by Brent Rice. I've watched this one hundreds of times. Literally. And the words really just amaze me every time. The first time i watched it my thoughts were,
'oh my gosh this is too cute. cute is not even the right word. this is beautiful. these would make the best vows. i want this, exactly this, someday. this is what i'm waiting for.' 
And then i watched it a second time.
And a third time.
And a fourth time.

Probably around the eighth time i began to notice how some things are how God showed/shows his love for us. Then, as i continued to watch it hit me and i noticed how EVERYTHING is how God's love is displayed. I got chills and was amazed how Brent Rice weaved everything together to show his love for his wife, and God's love for His wife. I still watch it every so often to remind me of these things, and i encourage you to watch it for yourself and watch it often. :)

My next favorite: No Excuse by David Bowden.

This one i had the opportunity to memorize and give to my own youth group recently. The one above is me (obviously :p) but here's the link to David Bowden's version on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKCMbbeMaxM But i love this one because it tells me and reminds me of everything i am to live for. Especially when life gets crazy and self-focused...

Ok you know what, all of these are my favorite so here's another one:

This one is called I Will Wait For You by Jannette...Ikz. She is phenomenal. A great reminder aimed at girls, but great for guys too! Another must see. Another example of how its hard to differentiate whether it's aimed at a certain person, or God. Really great.

One last one for my girls...just watch it. Hah. Janette tells us what it looks like to be the Proverbs 31 woman in today's world.

If you would like to look for many many many more great poems like these search for the YouTube channel P4CM (Poems 4 Christ Movement). That channel is stock full of 'em. http://www.youtube.com/user/p4cm

He is my Refuge, my Fortress.

"He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for His children it will be a refuge." Proverbs 14:26 

This is the verse that has inspired the name for my little blog here. I've been wanting to start one up again for a while now, especially with my mom's persistent 'encouragment', but I had to think of a name first! After about 502934198450 different tries where every name i wanted was taken, i received this verse in a text. I love when my friends send me bible verses. ^.^ So right when i was about to give up, i got this verse, tried a couple of things before this one worked! Obviously... :P

I love this verse because it tells me of one of His wonderful promises. When it says fear, our first thought may be of a sort of terror, but that's not the type of fear we're talking about in this verse. 
This fear is Reverence. 
                This fear is Awe. 
                             This fear is Obedience. 
                                                      This fear is Love. 
So He is promising that whoever fears Him in this way, WILL find refuge in the fortress He has in Himself. I love seeing that word in the bible. 
Will. 
See the thing is, when we hear 'Oh i will do this or that' from people around us, they don't always mean it. But God, He's God! When he says he WILL do something, 
He WILL do it!! 
So when He says that we WILL find refuge in Him, when we fear Him, He means it. 
Another thing that I love is that He calls us His children. Isn't that lovely? He doesn't just say His people.  He purposely, and affectionately calls us His children in this particular verse. Gah. Love it. ^.^   

So. Yeah. I want this blog to be mostly about the little things God reveals to me in my life and through His word, about Himself. He never  ceases to blow my mind and I always have the urge to shout from the rooftops what I learn from Him, and since i doubt my neighbors would appreciate that (especially if it's late at night) i figured a blog would be effective in that area. :) 
I hope God uses my little rambles for His glory!
And that you understand them. Hehe.

He is our Refuge and our Fortress.