Hebrews 2:14-15

After all the amazing goodness that I have been learning through the Advent bible study by John Piper, I just had to share!
I always knew that Jesus died for us because He loved us and wanted to make a way for us to go to Heaven. He had to take our sins because He is Holy and therefore the only one fit to do it. But this morning I learned that He had to die and then come back to life in order to defeat the power of death, better know as Satan. By doing this, believers no longer are held in bondage to their sins. We no longer have a fear of Gods wrath and judgement! It is like we are exempt. It is sort of like standing before a judge and having them say not guilty even though we are, but the judge is our father so the same rules do not apply. Since believers have this relationship, we do not have to worry about our punishment (Romans 8:15,) and therefore do not have to worry about death! If you took a survey of 10 random people, I bet 9/10 would say they are afraid of dying. It can be a scary thing if you are not in Christ. You do not get to look forward to getting a new body, treasures, and endless joy.
This whole thing just shows how much He loves us. He created us. We turned to sin. He had to die to get us back. It blows my mind that the God of the universe would do that for us. I am so thankful for His endless mercy, grace, and love!

His unconditional love

Imagine creating something that was good. Imagine making something that reflected you as an artist and loving it so much that you would do anything to never depart from it. No matter what happened, or how much it hurt you, you would find a way to let your creation chose you because you wanted to be loved the way you knew was right.

Imagine having your creation hate you. Imagine them never acknowledging you and knowingly push you away for only seconds of what they thought was happiness. You still love them and always will because they are yours. You help them when you can, but you must let them learn most things for themselves since they do not listen to your warnings. You see them suffer and see them in anguish and you wish you could take the hurt from them and put it on yourself. The only way you know to do this is to put all these bad things on yourself. No matter what the costs, you will do this for your undeserving children because you love so perfectly that you can’t imagine not dying for them. You love them so much that you let them kill you so that they can at least have the choice of being with you for eternity. You never consider being separated from them because they are doomed without you. They need your love and you enjoy their praise.

After years and years of disobedience they finally decide to acknowledge you. They want to spend as much time with you as possible. How happy are you? How can you describe that feeling? But what about the child who never lets you in and you never see again. Do you just forget them? No, but there’s nothing you can do. It’s their choice.

Changing desires

  Today I wanted to reflect on how my desires have changed in the last two years. It is crazy to think about how far I have come in such a small amount of time. I remember moving in for the first time as a freshman. I cried because I hated college on the first day, but the next day I loved it! It is strange just how quickly our feelings can change.
  Recently I have been struggling with what I wanted to study in school, but now I have clarity on what I want to do. Back when I was a freshman one of the reasons that I wanted to major in biology was because I wanted to become wealthy. I was going to be some sort of doctor and it did not matter what kind. Part of that reasoning was also to help people, but more towards the monetary rewards. I felt like I would not be happy unless I was successful. That is after all what the world teaches us. Luckily during the summer after freshman year, my desires changed. I spent the whole summer with college students that gave up their summer to know Christ more. I studied the world, I evangelized, I prayed, and slowly my desires began to change. No longer did I care about how much money I made, or how I looked, or what people thought of me. I only care about bringing God glory and getting to know Him deeper. Even the tiniest desires of my heart have changed and it was all because of the Holy Spirit.

Tomorrow does hold the future

Wondering about the future is a natural part of life. I find myself over-whelmed at times because I want to accomplish big things. I once heard that if your dreams don't scare you, than they aren't big enough. That should be true. If what you want most in life is to be a doctor, that's scary because someone else's health is in your hands. If you want to be president, that would be scary to represent an entire country. The scariest thing I can think of is leaving the life you've known to be used by Christ in another country.

This dream reminds me of Peter. When Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men," Peter dropped his whole life to become a disciple (Matthew 4:19.) Without any hesitation, he followed the person that he knew was the savior. This is how the Christian life must be. Although it may not be to this extreme, it does require complete submission. 

I only pray that I can be used to impact the world for Christ. I hope that when called, I can have the same faith that Peter did. I never want to be afraid of anything. Instead I want to put all my trust in the only thing that I am sure of, and thats Jesus.

God

Who do you think about when you hear Gods name?
Most people think love, but to limit the creator of the universe to one characteristic would be unheard of. Not only is God so much more, but we can't even understand His ways.
I am going to try and describe the God of the world with my little tiny, limited brain.
God is:
Holy
Eternal
Infinite
love
Compassion
Mercy
Humble
Jealous for us
Just
All knowing
Omnipresent
Personal
Immortal
Good
All powerful
Creator
Fair
Forgiveness
Worthy
Glorious
Opposite of sin
Due all the glory, praise, and worship that we could ever give Him in every second for all of eternity
3 different beings at once, everywhere

He can't be contained in the world. He cant be explained by our vocab, or understood by our brains. I love in Revelation 4 when John describes Him in heaven. How every creature around Him cant even look at Him and all they can do is praise Him constantly. A God so powerful and Holy will receive glory, praise, and worship no matter what. Even if we don't praise Him, Luke 19:40 says that the rocks will!
I hate to see people who constantly look around them for their purpose. Whether it is the girl who is looking for the next guy to be important to, or the guy who is looking for the opportunity to prove how important he is, we are all searching for happiness. And while this earth can bring temporary semi-happiness, God freely gives us the chance to experience joy in Him everyday. We were created to be in relationship with Him and without this, life is mediocre.
When I think of Gods love for me, I don't deny that He is God. His love is so perfect that I am completely satisfied. The love between Him and His people is absolutely perfect. It works so well. We give Him glory and praise and He gives us mercy and love even though we don't deserve it. He loves us so much that He sent part of Himself in human form to die so that we may live life abundantly. When I think about the Son of God dying for me, things start getting real. No longer do I care about temporary pleasures. I wholeheartedly want to serve Him alone and bring Him glory. And that is when He can use our lives.

A new chapter

   Well it looks like time for another chapter of my life! Sophomore year is over and there are only bigger and better things ahead for me.
   It has been a great year! I have made memories I will never forget and strengthened friendships that will last a lifetime. Academically, this year was tough for me. I took chemistry the entire time and did not pass it. Otherwise it has been a joy. The most exciting thing was taking my last math class ever! I have longed for this day since I first took algebra in high school. Surprisingly I enjoyed calculus this semester, but I think that was because of my professor. He was so patient and kind. I will definitely miss his humor.
   With all the ups and downs, I can see how blessed I am. The privilege of going to such an amazing university, along with a great community of believers is so awesome. Community is important. Time and time again, I have felt loved and in need of their accountability. God truly shows us love through His people. It has also be SO cool to see how God has used my life. I ask Him to use me on my campus and I can definitely see Him working even when I am skeptical or discouraged. I can only thank Him for His provision. What a God we serve!

Trusting God in hard times

   So yesterday my Father had a heart attack while visiting the Grand Canyon. He had always wanted to see it so he decided to pack up the truck and go camping there. Unfortunately, I am stuck at school because of finals. Anyway, my dad is one tough guy. This was his fourth heart attack I believe, but I am so thankful for the medical care he has received over the last ten years. His father died of a heart attack when he was younger than my dad so I am very grateful to have him still around.
   At times like this, I naturally lean on God more. It has taught me to pray more because I don't like the feeling of coming to God when I need something. I know He doesn't judge me, but I don't want to be like that. Since I believe in the power of prayer, I need to use it more often. I particularly love the verse that says, "for the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." This just reminds me that although Gods will is going to happen, He still wants us to pray and rely on Him.
  I can't stop thinking about how horrible it would be if I didn't trust God at a time like this. I would be mad at the world and confused about the future. The scary thing is that I know that my father is likely to have more heart attacks, and along with his diabetes and heart disease, I am very scared of loosing him. My dad means the world to me and he is such a blessing. Yesterday he just kept telling me don't worry just trust God, we only want His will. Having someone with that kind of faith for a parent is something I thank God for daily. Along with his mothers influence, he is the reason I know Christ today and of course that means everything to me.
  Although this could be a horrible time in my life, it's not. I trust God and His plan. I want what He wants no matter the outcome.