What is love?

Today is Valentine's Day.
To most people of today's modern culture, it's about their one true love.
However, there is a love that is far better than any love that I've ever seen.
It's called, "Agape Love".

Definition: Agape is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.This Greek word and variations of it are found throughout the New Testament.

Agape perfectly describes the kind of love Jesus Christ has for his Father and for his followers:
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. (John 14:21, NIV)

So, today on Valentine's Day, I not only think of Agape Love, but I think of the Love that God, our Father has. He had so much love for us that he was willing to die for us on the cross. Now that is LOVE!!!

So what is love?

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...
~1st Corinthians 13:4-8

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not What My Hands by Aaron Keyes

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.
These guilty hands are raised, filthy rags are all I bring
And I have come to hide beneath your wings
These holy hands are raised, Washed in the fountain of your grace
And now I wear your righteousness
Thy work alone oh Christ can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone, oh Lamb of God, can give me peace within
Thy Love to me, oh God, not mine oh Lord to Thee
Can rid me of this dark unrest and set my Spirit free
Thy grace alone oh God to me can pardon speak
Thy power alone oh Lamb of God can this sore bondage break
No other work save thine, no other blood will do
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through
I praise the God of grace; I trust his truth and might
He calls me his, I call him mine, My God, my Joy, my Light
My Lord has saved my life and freely pardon gives;
I love because he first loved me, I live because he lives.

Not What My Hands by Aaron Keyes on GodTube.com.

When Life Get's Busy

When Life Get's Busy...I seldom remember things.
I have so much on my mind, that my life just get's the better of me.
It brings me to the question...when life get's busy, do you still have time for God?
I don't mean just a quick prayer, but I mean do you really have time for God? Do you put him above your other priorities? Sadly, I don't all the time...

There have been times in my days, where I want to go do the next thing, and the next, and then eventually, my life starts to fall apart, because I haven't taken the time to be with God.
Now granted, not all of us have hours in a day to give to God...but that's not what God wants, even if it's just 5 minutes to read the bible, and 5 minutes to think, ponder, and pray...God loves it! Now think...that's only 10 minutes put aside per day to God...can't we do that? Some days, yes we can do more than just 10 minutes. However, God does NOT want a heart that says, "do I HAVE to?" Instead, he wants a heart that yearns for His words, and that says, "Yes! I am going to set aside an hour to day, so that I can be with you God."...see the difference.

So, my question to you is...is God your priority in life? When life get's busy, just slow down, and remember that God is a jealous God. He wants your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
The question is...when life get's busy, do you have time for God?

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
~Hebrews 4:16

A Snowy Day

This last weekend we got pounded with snow.
It brought me to the point of realizing that I can't always count on good things to happen all the time. I don't like the snow...it's too cold, and too windy.
This last week, a bunch of things that we were planning, were canceled because of the snow.
One of those mornings, my sister wanted to go sledding. So, I took my sister, my little 3 1/2 year old brother, and my 13 year old brother, and we went down to the park nearby and sledded.
My brother, Austin, forgot to mention to me that there was a bump in the middle of the sledding hill. So, down Austin and I went on the Toboggan, and THUMP, ouch! Yep, My body was aching, but hey, it was fun! My little brother, Elijah, was having a wonderful time going down on the sled "by himself", and my sister, Joy, was having a wonderful time with her siblings.

Today, we got about 2" inches of snow. Yep, you guessed it, another snow day! I'm still sore from the first snow day.

I thought about the question, "What if..." what if today was my last day on the earth? Would I be happy about the moments that I treasured with my siblings? Or would I wish that I would have spent more time with them?

There are so many of my friends at church who have a wonderful relationship with their siblings, and I knew that that's what I wanted to have. So, even though it may take some effort, MAKE TIME! Make time for them! Even if it means putting off a project that you really wanted to do, it will mean more than you know to them. Even if it's just reading a book to them, or having a tea party, or playing a game. Make time for your siblings, after all, who knows, maybe today is our last day with them. Treasure it, while you can!

When You are at your Wits End Part 2

The Lord's our rock, in Him we hide,
secure whatever ill betide
A shelter in the time of storm

The raging storms may round us beat
We'll never leave our safe retreat,
a shelter in the time of storm.

~Ira Sankey

This song brings me to the question...Who do you put your trust in? When times are tough, and it's hard to hold on, where do you go? Where do you hide?

The Storm:
"It causes us to catch our breath. It captures perfectly the power of nature in all its unleashed fury. As our eyes move across the canvas, we know what it means to be clinging to the deck of a ship that is caught in a terrible storm. We take the forces of nature for granted-until we become their helpless prey.
We know how the disciples felt, violently tossed in the nighttime waves and fearing death before Jesus came. We know how the passengers of the Titanic felt on a far calmer night-but one in Which the greatest ship ever built was no match for a stray block of ice. We're gazing at the portrait of a furious tempest."

(Excerpt from: When your world falls apart by David Jeremiah)

The question is...can we stand?
The answer is...no! We can't stand. Not alone! that's why God's there. He takes us by the hand, and he helps us along the way. He helps us through the raging seas, and torrents of water that come crashing down on us. God is right there with us at our Wit's End. He will guide us safely through.

Here is a video. It's called, "Hold On" by 33 Miles.

I hope you enjoy

Hold On on GodTube.

When You are at your Wits End Part 1

Have you ever had a time in your life when you were at your wits end?
I have.

"God certainly hates everything that causes us pain, whether it may be imprisonment or illness or a storm of some kind. But He knows that lesser pain is a necessary part of avoiding far deeper pain later. I hurts to pull out a thorn, but the pain of leaving it would cause the deeper agony of infection. God knows that He has to pull out a few thorns occasionally, and we'll cry out in pain and even anger at Him. But it's all for a purpose.
God knows, even if we don't, that we're not self-sufficient. He loves to bring us to our knees in fresh dependence on Him. If only peace-time prayers carried the intensity of storm-tossed prayers! If only we could seek Him with the passion that possesses us when we feel trapped and desperate. God hears those passionate prayers. And He provides the peace that can be found nowhere else...
'He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet' ~Psalm 107:29-30

To say that we began to praise God would be an understatement. When you come out of a storm in which all had seemed lost, and God does something magnificent, the worship is unforgettable! That's known as a happy ending. Do you still have doubts that your story will have one? Perhaps the storm is raging for you as you read these words. Perhaps you're lost in a wilderness of shattered hope, or shut away in a prison of debt. Perhaps you face a hospital ward of health concerns, or family problems are rocking your boat and you feel you'll be lost forever.
Wherever you are, whatever the crisis may be, there is an important principle at work. If you feel helpless, you've become eligible for the assistance of God. You need only cry out for His salvation. He will do the rest in His time, and He'll do it well.
When the storm is over, you'll be a new creature-wiser, stronger, and ready to serve Him. The sea will be calm, the breeze will be soft, and the silence will present itself as a sanctuary for you to exalt His name and sing His glorious praises. If He can control the storm, what other wonderful works might He bring to pass in your life?"

~Excerpt from "When your world falls apart" by David Jeremiah

Homemaker-In-Training

I found this on a blog that I follow, so I thought I'd share it.

The opportunities that we have as
homemakers-in-training are abounding everywhere we look.
Whether a daily task such as laundry folding, a
weekly culinary duty such as baking bread, a bi-weekly errand to the grocery
store or a seemingly "mundane" job (like scrubbing the household toilets), we
have every opportunity imaginable to exercise and practice skills while we are
yet "in training".
But there is more to being a homemaker, than the
jobs which we can do. Young Ladies, it has to do with our hearts. And it is our
choice. Will we perform our homemaker duties with joy and delight
in each task (which includes scrubbing the crummiest of toilets), or will we
choose to frown upon these daily opportunities? Will we choose a servants
heart or will we try to minimize the effect of being a
blessing?
We can make a whole house sparkle from top to
bottom but if our heart isn't full of love from Christ, then that perfect house
means nothing. We can make a delicious supper for our family, or run an errand
for Mom, but if our hearts are grumbling then our act that could have been a
blessing, means nothing.

We can garden, can, clean, sew, take care of
babies, run errands, meet every agricultural farm need, whip out loads of
laundry in lightning speed, and make a mean pot of soup BUT if our heart is not
thankful to the Lord for the blessing of being a homemaker in training, if we
are not grateful and full of joy at our Proverbs 31 calling, then what a waste
of the opportunity that the Lord gives us as women!
The choice is yours - do you find JOY in being a
homemaker?!!