Sunday, August 28, 2011

Forgiven (:

Yet another topic came to me this weekend to blog about. Forgiveness. That one word is a very strong word. It may not seem like it but it is a very important word in people's lives. It can change anything and everything by this one action. It can keep a marriage together. It can bond broken hearts. It can hold onto a friendship. Everyone wants to be forgiven when they do something wrong.
Unfortunately our flesh is not very good at forgiving. It is very hard to forgive someone that has hurt you. God wants us to forgive people though. God has the power to forgive and forget and it is hard enough for us to forgive people. Sadly, the flesh doesnt ever really forget even if they can forgive.

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

As much as I am saying to forgive others, it is just as important to forgive yourself. For me that is harder to do than forgiving others. God wants us to come to him with our mistakes and sins and ask for forgiveness. God knows what we have done and what we will do but he still wants us to realize what we have done wrong and come to him for forgiveness.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Lately, I have had a lot of struggles with forgiving myself for things I have done in the past. I wouldnt say I have done anything absolutely horrible but we have all made mistakes in our lives. The thing that is so hard to me is to forgive myself. God revealed to me this summer that I needed to ask for forgiveness for many things. I have dealt with these things and God has forgiven me. The thing is though, the devil keeps trying to remind me of it to try to allow me not to forgive myself.
Saturday my church went to en fuego, a christian concert, all day. I was expecting to go and see some bands and mainly see some friends that I hadnt seen in a little while. I was never expecting to get anything out of en fuego. It never seemed like it could speak to you. It was a whole bunch of bands that I knew them and their songs that they sung. It was a normal thing to sing the songs and not think about what you are singing. Saturday though God had put on my heart that I still hadnt forgiven myself. Little did I know that he was preparing me for the day ahead.
Sanctus Real was one of the bands at en fuego. I had never seen them in concert before saturday and they were awesome. The lead singer was the coolest ever. He interacted with the crowd so much and had an awesome testimony. I listened to them sing and really listened to the words of the songs. God was revealing more to me about forgiveness through the Sanctus Real Band. There was one particular song called Forgiven that stood out to me this past saturday and even brought me to tears. The lyrics are as follows:

Well the past is playing with my head
And failure knocks me down again
I’m reminded of the wrong
That I have said and done
And that devil just wont let me forget

In this life
I know what I’ve been
But here in your arms
I know what I am

I’m forgiven
I’m forgiven
And I don’t have to carry
The weight of who I’ve been
Cause I’m forgiven

My mistakes are running through my mind
And I’ll relive my days, in the middle of the night
When I struggle with my pain, wrestle with my pride
Sometimes I feel alone, and I cry

In this life
I know what I’ve been
But here in your arms
I know what I am

When I don't fit in and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere
When I don’t measure up to much in this life
Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ ‘cause



This song told me how that I am supposed to forgive myself because God forgave me. I dont have to carry the weight of who Ive been because I am forgiven. Those lyrics right there mean so much. When we give it all to God and ask for forgiveness, he forgives us. We do not have to carry weight of who we have been or we do not have to worry about the past. That is an amazing thing to think about. Also we dont have to worry about the mistakes we have made. It doesnt matter if we fit in because we are "in the arms of christ." How amazing is that? That is awesome for me to know that I can forgive myself because God already forgave me and tells me not to carry the weight of who I have been but be a treasure in the arms of christ!

Monday, August 22, 2011

The unimaginable works of the world.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2

          Do you ever sit there and really think about the creation? Do you ask yourself how one person could make all the wonderful things on Earth?

          Honestly, I wonder those things often. I know we are supposed to just trust God and have faith to understand all of the things but I cant help but have questions at times. I feel like I need to know all the answers. The truth is we dont need to know all the answers because God has everything under control.

            I went to Mt. Cheaha this weekend for something with school. It is the highest point in alabama. I pulled off to see the scenic overlook and took this picture. When I saw this I could not believe what I was seeing. It was so beautiful. I began to think of how amazing it is that God, the creator of everything, made this. He made every tree in the mountain and the grass and cut out the valleys just the way he wanted. It truly is unimaginable.

              I also cant help but think about him making us humans. Have you ever thought about how many different cultures or languages we have in the world? Or even just how many people? We are ALL different. Think about it. Even identical twins have some differences. We all have different personalities too. Think how amazing this is. We all need to stop and admire God at times.