Diligently consider this...

You most likely already know that I'm a big advocate for journaling. Not only does it keep our thoughts focused and help us process, but journals are SO good to read over on a regular basis. They are PROOF that our Abba Father is hearing and answering prayers, that Jesus is teaching you how to follow Him better, and that Holy Spirit is indeed transforming your life. I think that the neglect to read back over your journals or even just taking time to really reflect on what the Lord's been doing makes it so much harder to grow in your faith. It's a spiritual discipline that is an encouragement to us that God really does notice us. It's what we needs to persevere. :)

Another thing that journaling does is it teaches us to truly follow God's will for us in 1 Thes. 5:16-18.
Rejoice always. Pray continually. Be thankful in all circumstances. 
Everyone knows what holiday is next month. It's a great reason to re-focus your life on thankfulness in ALL circumstances. The Lord has been showing me lately how that is so totally connected to Paul's words in Phil. 4:11--"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance." We cannot be content without being thankful. The two go hand-in-hand.

Even though it's not November, I wanted to start recording my thankfulness early! Why not, right?? Plus I want to encourage anyone reading this to do the same! For extra motivation, check out Psalm 107. The verses in the photograph are from the very beginning and end of Psalm 107. Check out all the verses in between. They are specific reasons for the Israelites to be thankful for the Lord's constant goodness, His mercy, and His loving-kindness.

So not only does recording reasons to be thankful make us more thankful, it also teaches us to be content in every situation, AND like the verse says, it's what anyone who is wise does. Whoever is wise diligently considers what the Lord has done.
The Dictionary definition of diligent is Marked by persevering, painstaking effort. How diligent are you in considering what the Lord is doing in your life? Make November the month that you re-commit to that and you'll automatically reap a life of thankfulness & contentment! :)

Lessons from the Prairie...Part 2

This is another flower in the prairie. They're not near in abundance as the Maximillian sunflowers, and I don't remember their name, but they smell good. Like, really, really good.

In fact, I tried to pick one so I could have my apartment smelling all nice & fragrant, but there were a ridiculous amount of bees, wasps, and other insects all over it. Soooo obviously I didn't take it. But this clearly shows how good smelling these flowers are!

Editors note: You might notice in the picture that there aren't any bugs, but this was a week or two after and they no longer had a fragrance. Just sayin'...

Anyway, you may be aware that Iowa is quite breezy. And I'm sure that those of us who are aware have mixed feelings about that fact. BUT if it wasn't for the wind, I'd never be able to smell the wonderful fragrance of these flowers. I'm definitely not going to stick my nose by one that's covered in bees! So the winds do a splendid job of blowing the fragrance for me to enjoy. I suppose if these flowers had any mind of their own, they would prefer for the winds blowing on them to be nice and gentle and warm and refreshing all the time. But as for me--the one walking through the prairie--I'm okay with the big gushes of wind that blow the plant halfway over and are maybe even a bit cold. Whatever it takes for the full effect of the fragrance to reach my nostrils for me to enjoy!

And now cue in the actual "lesson from the prairie" If you've read some my previous posts, you'll recall that I've talked about us being each individual gardens for our Beloved to walk in and enjoy just like He did in the Garden of Eden. The bride in Song of Songs 4 says to her Bridegroom:

Awake, north wind,

    and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
    that its fragrance may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.

How much enjoyment is Jesus getting from your garden? That's what tasting choice fruits means. Have you ever realized that YOU are His inheritance? How much of His inheritance--your heart--is He receiving from you? Don't just scan over these sentences. Really think about it & ask Holy Spirit to reveal how much. How much do you want Him to have? Tell Him that, too. He knows already, but it's good to communicate.:)

I was reading a book today that just so happened to talk about Song of Songs 4, and I loved the way that the author put it:

    When we can ask for both winds--His dealings and His blessings--we are saying to Jesus, "If You love me so much, I know it's safe to be Yours. I deeply trust You. I'm not afraid of difficult circumstances. You do not give anything that takes away real life. You have guarded my every step." 
    We can trust our Beloved absolutely. Therefore, we are not afraid to pray this prayer: "I love You, Jesus. I want all my immaturity to be gone. I want my heart to be yoked with Your heart. Your inheritance in me is the most important thing in my life. Therefore, awake, O north wind!" 
    The bride says, "Make my garden breathe out fragrance...May my beloved come into His garden and eat its choice fruits." She wants her beloved to get His full inheritance from her life. 

I couldn't say it better myself, so I'll leave it with that. :) From this day on, I hope that every time you smell something that's so pleasing to you--whether it's flowers, a bonfire, vanilla lotion, or pork chops--that your thoughts become a prayer for Jesus to send north & south winds that blow the pleasing fragrance of your heart for Him to enjoy & receive His full inheritance in you.

Lessons from the Prairie...Part 1

This is Dordt's Prairie. I spend a great amount of my free time walking through here. I mean, how could I not?? Just look at it! I think it's quite possibly my favorite place in Sioux Center. Plus, I know that all these flowers and the nice warm weather will not last much longer, so I'm trying to take advantage of it as much as possible while I can.

While going on these many walks, I've thought of few analogies... If you've read other posts of mine, you'd know that I've been mentioning the garden-heart analogy quite a bit. :)

When I walk through the prairie and look around, the one word that comes to mind is JOY. Everywhere I look, there's bright yellow flowers. They're nothing fancy or spectacular individually, but when they're all combined together, they're so beautiful to me. And I think that yellow is the perfect color choice for them. They just wouldn't be the same if there were a bunch of pink, blue, white, or purple flowers. Yellow is perfect. (But I could be biased because it's my favorite color.)

So one of my prayers while I'm looking around, taking it all in, is that when God walks through the garden of my heart, that He finds great joy in what He sees. I want Him to come into His garden, look around everywhere, and be so full of delight. I ask Him to do whatever He needs to my heart in order for it to be the most enjoyable for Him.

Does anyone have a guess what Dordt does to sections of their prairie each year in order to encourage the "natural" cycle? They burn it. I'm not going go get into all the science behind it, but I do know that if they didn't burn it, the prairie would not look like it does right now. It needs to be burned in order to be more beautiful.

And isn't that so true of our hearts, too? God burns our hearts with His fire! If He didn't, our hearts wouldn't be as beautiful. So the question is--What do we want more--a beautiful heart or a more comfortable life without any painful burning? We all know what we're supposed to say, but what really is your deepest desire?

You can start by telling Jesus that you want your deepest desire to be for Him to delight in your heart. You can tell Him that you want to be willing to let Him do whatever it takes to make your heart the most beautiful for Him. You can ask Him to burn up everything in your heart that is not pleasing to Him--no matter how painful it is to you or how much it costs you. You can tell Him that you want to better recognize how extremely worth it He is!

I can tell you that He will be so delighted in your willing heart of submission and will gladly step in to work on your garden more! :)

Zeph. 3:17

The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

This is one of my all time favorite verses! Check it out in context here. Or in the AMP version here!

Take a moment and really think about this promise here. God takes great delight in YOU!He is rejoicing over YOU. He is singing over YOU. Do you really understand this?? We all "know" God loves us, but do you really, really believe this deep down in your heart? Do you believe this is specifically true about you or only others? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you deeper revelation of His heart for you. Ask Him for a glimpse of His smiling down at you and delighting in you! 

Ask Him to help you fully, truly believe this. Although...you'll actually never be able to fully comprehend His love because Ephesians 3:16-19 tells us this:

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Some of you may remember the songs from my CD this past spring. Well, I'm working on another one! Almost every song on there is written from God's perspective. Check these out and ask Jesus to help you believe that those words are being sung over you! :) 

I Knew What I Was Getting Into by Misty Edwards

Come to Me by Bethel

Love Song by Third Day

Draw Near to Me by Bethel

Beloved by Tenth Avenue North

More by Matthew West

Matthew 9:15

And Jesus said to them [John the Baptist's disciples], “Can the friends of the Bridegroom mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” 

Notice, Jesus doesn't say, "Then they might fast." He says they will. They being His disciples (aka-you & me). Jesus' disciples will fast. Jesus said it; it'll happen. But do you right now?? 

Remember this post? I don't know how many of you actually found time to listen to it. But maybe  you'll find time to read the notes HERE.

If you can't find time to read that, then at least read this...

We do not fast to motivate God to pay attention to us, but to receive the affection He already has for us—it is not to move His heart, but our own. Fasting lessens our spiritual dullness.

Jesus established the New Covenant by His death and resurrection, in which the Spirit comes and dwells in every believer. Then, fasting took on a whole new dimension, because the indwelling  Spirit revealed the depths of God to the disciples (1 Cor. 2:10; Heb. 10:19-22). 

A mourning heart is fiercely discontent and desperately hungry for God—this is the Bridegroom fast. We refuse to accept the current state of our spiritual barrenness and dullness.

The Bridegroom fast is primarily centered on desire—both understanding God's desire for us and awakening our desire for Him. When we fast, God changes our desires and increases our desire for Him. Once we taste the nearness of God’s presence, we cannot live without more of Him.

Fasting positions our hearts to be expanded; as we encounter Jesus as our Bridegroom God, our spiritual capacity to receive from Him increases. Fasting before our Bridegroom God is a catalyst to increase the depth and the measure to which we receive from the Lord. We receive greater measures of revelation at an accelerated pace, and with a deeper impact on our hearts. 

Seriously, how can you not want to at least try fasting now?? Don't fear it. Just ask God for grace to get you through one day of not eating physical food. He would love to help you grow deeper in your walk with Him. :) Here's some prayer-songs to listen to during breakfast, lunch, and supper. :)

Mourning for the Bridegroom

I Miss You

I Will Waste My Life + Do You Know the Way You Move Me?

Remember...basically every blogpost I write on here is just as much for me as it is for you. Whether you've never fasted before, have been fairly regularly for a little while, or have been for 20 years--we can always, always use some encouragement to fast. Satan hates spiritual disciplines. He hates what fasting does to our hearts. He will do everything in his power to convince us that we don't need to fast and that it's not for us. I can guarantee you that you will always be able to find an excuse not to do this. But Jesus told us that we will fast. So my final question for you is...Who would you rather listen to? :)

Sty

I have a sty. Do you know what those are? It's like a big ole zit on your eyelid. Except unlike zits, there's no pore that you can just pop it. They look like a zit, but they're worse. Mine's right under my left eye. If you read about it online, they'll tell you that they should go away in about 48 hours. Ha! Mine's going on over 4 weeks now.

Just look at that nasty thing! 

When I first got it, I worked really hard at getting it to go away. Nothing helped. So after about 2 weeks, I popped it on my own. Yes, I know they tell you not to, but I'm not dropping a bunch of money on a doctor's visit just to pop it! :) So it popped...but didn't completely go away. It got better, but it's definitely still there.

And so, over a month later...I was poking away at it with my usual tools this morning and I was thinking to myself. "This would be a great blogpost topic!" Are you curious why??--Read on! :)

This sty is a little annoyance in my life. A minor imperfection on my face. But yet, when I have time in the morning or night, I am very diligent and faithful in doing anything I can to go away. The main treatments include...laying on the couch with a warm washcloth over my eye. I think this is supposed to help with the swelling and just soften it up.

For a while that really did help, but after 10 days past the suggested time of disappearance, I decided more drastic measures were needed. Plan B: Have you ever poked your skin--especially sensitive skin by your eye with a safety pin? It's paaaainful. But I continue to do it because I want that thing gone and I will do whatever it takes! I've also spent plenty of time staring that thing down in the mirror--just examining it and trying to figure out how to make it go away.

Okay, okay--don't stop reading! I'm not just gonna keep going on about my sty. I want to make the connection now to sin in my life. What if I was as diligent about removing an actual imperfection from my life? What if I did whatever I could day in and day out to keep myself from going down the wrong path? Am I willing to go through pain--physical or emotional--to get rid of every bit of sin? Am I taking time to "soak my heart" with Jesus? Am I taking time to really examine myself and ask for the Holy Spirit's conviction? These are the questions that came to me while poking at and staring down my sty this morning. :)

Please don't misread me--I know that it is by God's grace that we are cleansed from sin and it's not on our own works. But Phil. 2:13 tells us that "God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him." He is the One who is making it even possible for us to have both the ability and the desire to remove sins from our life. But are we doing what the verse just before commands? "Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear." 

That's the tough part, huh? God is giving us the desire and power to please Him, but He expects us to do our part, too. He didn't make us into robots who have no choice but to do what He wants. He gave us choices. He wants us to choose to obey Him out of reverence and fear. Jesus also says "If you love me, you will obey my commands." He also wants us to choose to obey His commands, because we love Him.

I want to be someone who, the moment I am convicted of a minor annoyance or imperfection in my life, I immediately step up and do whatever is necessary to get rid of that from my life--no matter how painful. I don't want to be a woman of compromise--saying that I'll get around to that when I have more time or saying that it's not that big of a deal or even comparing myself to others and thinking "Well at least I don't do that!" I want to be someone who will spend hours in front of the "mirror"--examining myself and trying to figure out the root of the problem and how it will go away. I want to be someone who will sit quietly, soaking in Jesus' presence as He softens my heart and brings me to true repentance--a wholehearted choice to step off the wrong path and come back to the straight and narrow. The path of choosing to love Him.

My encouragement for you as you start this new week is that you take time to sit in front of the "mirror" and examine yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your "sty" and thank God for giving you the desire and power to do whatever it takes to remove these completely from your life. Ask Him to help you make a wholehearted choice to work hard at staying on the straight and narrow path of loving Him.

Hopelessly Weak

All through junior high and high school, if anyone ever asked me my favorite verse, it was always 1 Cor. 13. I think I liked it because I thought it had beautiful wording and it was just great verses to live by and to strive for. For high school graduation, my aunt wanted to cross-stitch my favorite verse on a book mark for me. Good thing she was creative enough to get the jist of that passage on a little bookmark. :)

And actually, that passage has quite a significant role in my personal testimony. I've been reading a book called The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee, and the chapter I just finished reminded me of that again. In the chapter, he talked about Romans 7 and how humans have this constant battle of doing what they don't want to do and not doing what we want to do. He talks about how this battle is important & essential because it breaks us down and shows us how weak we are to follow the Law. Every Christian needs this battle in order to finally let Jesus come in and do it for us.

This is exactly the case for me with 1 Cor. 13. Often times, when reading that Scripture, I would put my name in place of the word "love." Danae  is patient. Danae  is kind. Danae  is not easily angered. She keeps no record of wrongs...etc. For a while, I was reading that passage every day, and trying to focus on one section. I would think things like "Okay, today I'm going to be really patient. Today I'm not going to get easily angered..." But it seemed like the harder I tried to be patient, the more impatient I actually was. I was feeling just like Paul in Romans 7-- "Oh what a wretched woman I am!" It was so frustrating!

Watchman Nee writes in the book,
"The more we try to keep the Law, the more our weakness is manifest and the deeper we get into Romans 7, until it is clearly demonstrated to us that we are hopelessly weak. God knew it all along, but we did not. So God had to bring us through painful experiences to a recognition of the fact...This is why God gave us the Law."

This couldn't describe my personal experience any more accurately. I was trying sooo hard to be loving. The harder I tried, the worse I was at it. Finally, during spring semester of my freshman year, through a variety of experiences and conversations, it all clicked for me. You could say God graced me with a revelation! I finally realized that I wasn't the one who was supposed to be loving better. It's Christ living in me! I finally realized that the only way I'm ever going to be a better lover, is if I stop trying and surrender to Jesus doing it through me. I was clearly demonstrated to that I was hopelessly weak. God knew it all along, but I didn't. I thought I had to keep trying harder. If I really loved God, then I should be able to love others, right?? Not when I'm trying with my own flesh. I was brought through painful experiences, especially during my freshman year, that brought me to a recognition of that fact. I'm so thankful for them! I'm so totally amazed at how much Jesus transformed my life in such a relatively short amount of time all because of that humbling revelation.

I would still say that 1 Cor. 13 is one of my favorite Scriptures, but for a totally different reason. It's one of my favorites because Jesus used it mightily in my personal testimony. It's one of my favorites because it helped me see how hopelessly weak I am. It's one of my favorites because it is a great verse to live by, but not on my own strength. It's a passage that can only be followed when I'm fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit working through me.

I don't think it's any coincidence that 1 Cor. 13 was always my favorite passage. I think God's always given me that desire to really love well. Before my revelation, I always wanted to be good at loving...but I was pretty awful. Now, by God's grace alone I can humbly say that I love to love. I love to give words of affirmation, do acts of service, and just make people feel special!
During fall semester of my sophomore year, these are the words God gave me through someone:
"You have a lot of love to give and have it within you. You will receive more His love and you'll tell Him you love Him and He will just give you more and you’ll pour out more. It will be an endless cycle of love. God wants to pour His love over you so that you can give more and receive more and give more and on and on. You really have lots of love."

Praise Jesus with me for His testimony in my life! It's my prayer that you, too, have found yourself to be hopelessly weak and realize that only through complete surrender can Jesus' life be made manifest in your life.

"You Really Want to Do This!"

Ready for a challenge?
1. Go HERE
2. Right-click the player.
3. Select "Save video as"
4. Save it wherever you usually do on your computer.
5. Find it and put it on your mp3 player/iPod
6. Go on an hour long walk...(3-4 miles depending how fast you walk) and listen away.
Startiiiiing NOW! :)
Seriously though, you do really want to do this. Promise.

Home Sweet Apartment

I'm officially a Sioux Center resident again! Living back home for the past 5 1/2 months was such a blessing and exactly where I needed to be for the time, but I am a big girl and ready to get out on my own again. :)

Call me weird, but I think setting up my apartment is so much fun. Over the summer, I was making little things that I was excited to put in my apartment.

See Exhibit A:

Isn't it cute?? I printed it offline in black 'n' white and then colored it in with my color-choice. It doesn't match my cute little teapot so much, but at least it matches my bright yellow coffee pot! :)

So the main things in my apartment are set up, and now I'm finishing up the final touches. A few years ago I had read an autobiography by Mother Theresa. I loved so many of the things she had to say, that I wrote a bunch of them down in a separate notebook. I've now taken those quotes and put them in my apartment.

One of them is this:

I have this on my bathroom mirror. (Radiating--get it?!) Obviously, I've also included a verse that reminds me that Jesus is indeed completely in love with me, so I have no excuse not to radiate that love and pour it out on others. More of Him and less of me! 

Just a guess, but maybe some of you see that Song of Songs verse and immediately think that it's a book about husband & wife. I don't disagree with you--parts of the book certainly can be applied that way. But there are some kinda weird things in there that I find super hard to apply to just husband and wife love. Like how is it romantic that the husband leaves his wife two different times & she gets beat up because of it? Why would a husband do that? 

 BUT if God is love, then all types of love comes from & originates in Him, right? So all this love that the husband feels about his bride and vice versa can be applied to the relationship between the Bride, the Church, and Jesus, the Bridegroom, yes? I honestly don't know how you can read that book and not read it that way. :) Not trying to offend anyone, but it kinda bugs me when weddings will have "I have found the one whom my soul loves." My soul is spiritual, therefore, a human being can not fill my soul. But Jesus? Most definitely! I have found the one whom my soul loves, but it's never, ever going to be a human being. :) That's just my opinion. And then to explain the whole husband leaving His wife thing--how often do we have "spiritual highs" followed by a "spiritual low." I believe this is Jesus drawing Himself away from us to see if we will come search even deeper for Him or if we'll just back away. He pursues us, for sure, but He also longs to be pursued in return! He knows that's what we need in order to increase our faith and hope and love.

But then maybe some of you are thinking, "Well, then how in the world do you explain the parts where they're complimenting each other's physical features? Does Jesus really care about that stuff??" Well, I know He cares about everything about us, but I personally, don't think of it much that way. Instead, I look at the order that the body parts come in. In chapter 4, He starts with complimenting the bride's eyes, hair, teeth, etc...then ends with breasts. I know that Jesus longs for intimacy with us, and I know that intimacy only comes from vulnerability. Now what's a more vulnerable body part--your eyes or your breasts? Obvious answer, right? When we grow in intimacy with Jesus, we don't start right off with the most vulnerable parts of who we are. No, we slowly open up deeper parts of our hearts and invite Jesus in. It doesn't work any other way. So Jesus loves our eyes and hair--the less intimate parts of who we are, but He also loves our breasts--the very vulnerable parts of who we are that requires a whole lot of trust to open up about. By Jesus complimenting those "body parts", He's telling His Bride, that she can trust Him even more and give Him even deeper parts of who she is.

Likewise, Jesus longs to reveal more of Himself to us! When we open up to Him, He lets us know Him more, too. He's an endless treasure!! So in chapter 5, she starts off with complimenting His head and eyes and cheeks and moves on to His body and legs. Same deal--we start off in our relationship with Jesus knowing so little about His character, His desires, His personality, His purposes. And as we grow in our knowledge and love of Him, we discover more and more about Him and can't help but fall deeper in love! :) 

So then, when it gets to verses like 7:7-8 "Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. I said, 'I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of it's fruit..." It's not so weird to think of Jesus saying that to His Bride, because He's saying I LOVE everything about my Bride--the deepest, most vulnerable and intimates parts of her--I want all of Her. And that's a much greater feeling than any human being can ever give you, isn't it?? :) I hope so!

I should note that I haven't really done much actual studying on this. As in reading different interpretations and all that jazz. I just read one book called "Passion for Jesus" that first introduced me to this take on the book, but this whole body part equals vulnerability is really my own thoughts from personal study. Hopefully, Spirit-led thoughts, but still my own. I invite you to read through this book from start to finish on your own and decide for yourself what you think. Leave me a message telling me what you think! :)  

My prayer for you is that by reading that book, you realize that no matter what, the banner over you is always Jesus' love. May that knowledge always give you comfort & protect your heart so that you can focus on pouring that love on others. :) 

I Get God

I was introduced to a really beautiful worship artist this weekend. Check her out on Spotify!

I think if I were a worship artist, my style and lyrics would be a lot like hers. It's so peaceful and pretty. I just feel so at rest when I listen to it. :) And the lyrics are so full of beautiful truths! I hope you believe them when you read over & listen to them.

Check out her lyrics:

I Get God
What sacrifice compares with Christ?
What trial or pain overshadows my gain?
Tell me what tribulation, pressure or persecution
Rivals the glory of Christ dwelling in me.

I get God. I get God. I get God.
You're my joy. 
I get God. I get God. I get God.
You're my joy.

Lifting up eyes, looking towards the prize
Laying aside every weight, every sin,
I run with perseverance, considering the Man, Christ Jesus
Weariness loses its hopes, discourage now leaves my soul.

I get God. I get God. I get God.
You're my joy.

What are you momentary, light affliction compared to God?
He's my joy.
You're not worthy to be compared to God.
You're my joy. 

My Love, My Dove
You looked at Me, said yes, then went your way.
What you don't see is that I've never looked away.
With an ache in my heart, I live to intercede 
For the day that you're with Me is the day My joy is complete.

Could I forget the kindness of your youth?
My arms outstretched, I long to gather you.
With an ache in my heart, I live to intercede
For the day that you're with Me is the day My joy is complete.

My love, My dove, oh fair one.
My love, My dove, oh fair one.
It's you I love compared to naught
My love, My dove, oh fair one.

Until day briefs and shadows disappear
Lift up your voice, it's your song I want to hear.
For in Me you're the tree of my heart
And faithful I will be to complete everything that I start.