Where are you God?

Have you ever found yourself searching for God? Maybe you felt like the shepherd or the wise men on the night Jesus was born – searching for the Savior, trying to do whatever you can to get there as fast as possible.

Or maybe you feel “underdressed” to set yourself at the foot of our Lord. The angel appeared to the shepherds who were dressed in rags, and probably haven’t bathed in weeks (or maybe even longer than that), telling them to go find baby Jesus. Even though they were “underdressed” to make the trip, they still went. If the shepherds went to see the Savior of the world dressed in rags and torn clothing, why can’t you go to the Lord with your worries, your doubts, your prayers? There is no reason that you can’t.

Hard times may come your way, or times when you just feel unfit to accept God’s goodness. It is easy to look at all the bad in the situation. But here’s the truth…

God is here. God is now, even amongst all the evil and distress in our world today. He is with you, now and forever. Look at the good, and you will see Him.

As you reflect on the passing of one year and the coming of the next, look at what He has already done, and have faith that He will do more in this next year. Happy New Year everyone, and God bless. 

The Greatest Gift

Here is just a little bit of a reminder of what the Christmas Season is all about. Although cheesy, the saying “Jesus is the reason for the season” is quite accurate. Let us remember this as we celebrate the joy of the Christmas season with our loved ones.

Thanks be to God for his gift that is too wonderful for words. – 2 Corinthians 9:15

When you are in the store shopping for the perfect gift for that special someone, you don’t just pick up a random item and exclaim “this will do.” Of course not! You search the store (or multiple stores) high and low for that perfect gift, that gift that will make their eyes widen and jaw drop. You go all out.

God does the same thing for us. He too goes all out. He didn’t take the easy way out and create the meadow with no flowers or mountains with no peaks. Instead, he made creation so spectacular and beautiful for you and I to enjoy, so that our eyes may widen and jaws may drop at the beauty of God’s glorious creation.

God also went all out on the greatest gift ever given – Jesus, Savior of the world. There is no greater gift than this; it is too wonderful for words. And He wants us to accept this gift with open arms, so that all may dwell in the splendor of Christ our Lord.

Thank you God for sending Jesus Christ into the world to save us. It is truly the best gift of all during this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas everyone, God bless. 

God’s Delicate Creation

We are all works of art. We are His masterpieces.

Today I was at the art museum. I really like the art museum. As I walked around and stared at the art, it reminded me of something: God’s creation.

Each work of art is carefully and delicately made; some with gold inscriptions and some with finely detailed carvings. The marble sculptures, ceramics and paintings made me wonder: how could any human hand make such a beautiful piece of art?

This reminded me of how God created us – so carefully and with such precision. He made us all unique and perfect. And He did this for all of creation. You think trying to fathom how one human being can carve a woman’s face out of marble is hard…try and fathom the fact that God created us and all of creation with far more detail than an artist’s hand…it is simply impossible to completely comprehend. God is incomprehensible, but that’s the beauty and wonder of our great God.

Marvelous Truths

Sometimes, you just have to marvel at God’s work and His Word. In it lie so many truths that can blow your mind. And yes, they are all truths. In fact in John 14:6, Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” Jesus is the truth, the truth we strive to follow.

There are so many truths tangled within the words of the Bible. Here are just five:

God created each and everyone one of us uniquely and in His own image.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

He put you and me on this Earth for a very special purpose. God has a special plan for all of us.

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

A big part of that purpose and plan is to love others.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34

Jesus died in our place so that we may have eternal life with God our Father.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. – John 3:16

But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

We can confess our sins and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.

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

We learn these truths and so many more by reading and reflecting on God’s Word. And I don’t think these truths are meant to be kept as secrets. God intended for us to share them with others around us. This is stated in one of my favorite verses found in the book of Matthew: 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 (Matthew 28:19).

God knows we will make a mess and screw up, not a single one of us is perfect. But I know for a fact that He wants us to go out, make disciples, and speak truths.

You make me brave, Lord. Send me out so that others may see you. Help me to demonstrate your truths through my words and actions. We love you and praise you, forever and ever, Amen.

Discover Your Passion

Lord, I need you. I need you. Help me to stay strong in you, to find peace and rest in your holiness, and to pursue you. Push me to the ends of this earth to do your will. Use me for your glory. Help me discover my passions and what you are putting on my heart for me to do. In your Son’s name, Amen.

Special shout-out to all my fellow college students who may have just finished their first semester of college like myself, way to go! God is truly great and I am so glad He has given us all these wonderful opportunities to glorify His name in college.

Here is a little bit of an update on me that I would like to focus on in this blog: I found a new passion of mine – writing. I can just about imagine some of your responses – “Well duh Sarah you like writing, you have a blog for crying out loud!” And yes, you are right, I knew I liked writing a lot, but a passion is something different. A passion is something that God has put on your heart as a way to glorify Him. A passion is something you want to pursue for the rest of your life.

So there you have it – I am going to use writing as a way to glorify God and I am going to do it for the rest of my life.  I mean, I guess I kind of knew that too, but there is something else I am realizing – Writing in this way could not only be a part of my personal life, but I could also use it in my occupation too. Again, some of you might be saying – “Yes Sarah, yes you could. That is kind of obvious.” But I am just starting to realize this passion now, and I am taking steps to live out this passion. I want to write, write and write more all about Him and for Him.

So that is a little update on me and my story, but let me ask you this: what is your passion? If you don’t know, that is totally fine too. You probably have one without even realizing it.

I also found this article about discovering your passion that I found very interesting. It talks about truly following God’s call and doing something in your life that maybe society tells us you are not “supposed” to do, but it is about chasing your wildest passions and pursuing God’s ultimate purpose for your life. It is about creating work that is “meaningful, purposeful and profitable.” Check it out!

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/career-money/where-god%E2%80%99s-purpose-and-your-passion-meet

This is My Wish

Have you heard the song My Wish by Rascal Flatts? One of my favorites I would have to say, and I know my mom would say the same.  :)

In case you haven’t heard it before or need a reminder, below are the lyrics of the main chorus from a sign posted to my wall in my room. I also included the music video because it is good to listen to the entire song as well.

This song is often played at graduation or times when you are sending off someone to a new experience. It’s played during those “life milestone” moments. During these times, your hope is for their life to be as great as their wildest dreams, and you pray that they would not stumble and fall over worries and doubts. Simply, you want the very best for the person.

I always thought of the song exactly like this, but when I recently heard it, I didn’t imagine my parents or loved ones telling me the words. I didn’t imagine myself reciting the words to my little sister. But this time, I imagined God singing the song to me. And this made me realize some things.

It reminded me that God has a very special plan for my life, He has it all planned out. And His plans are more than I can ever imagine; they are better than anyone else could ever think up. His plans aren’t for us to be troubled and sad, but like our loved ones here on earth, He wants the very best for us.

He wants us to never give up, to dream big, and to not become torn down by worries.

He does not want us to carry all of our burdens, but to lay them at His feet.

He wants us to know that He is that one person that will always love us and be by our side the whole way.

This also made me think about how if God wants the very best for our life, He is going to make things happen that don’t quite make sense to us at the beginning. These could include troubles or hard times that come up that you just can’t seem to understand why they had to happen. However, God put them there, so there has to be a reason for them, right? I think so.

It is very reassuring to think that God wants the very best for my life, just like my loved ones do. If we believe and trust in Him, our life will play out according to His plan.  I hope you can find reassurance in that as well, that you can feel comfort knowing that God has a very special plan for your life that is beyond your wildest dreams.