Seeking the Lord

This post was inspired by my sweet roommate Sarah who has started this blogging adventure with me! I am so excited to have her as my blogging buddy! She is a great source of inspiration for me. Even as I write this my mind is flooded with reasons why I admire her and ways she has encouraged me. I admire her faithfulness and dedication to Jesus Christ. She is not easily shaken. Christ truly shines through her. She inspires me to always ask questions and search for answers to difficult or scripturally vague questions. I love discussions with her because her heart is focused on what will bring God the most glory. We seek God's glory together and it is so great to share such a Biblical kind of friendship with her.

Today she told me about her goal to put up new Bible verses, favorite texts, and inspiring quotes onto her blog daily. I thought that was a great idea so I decided to do something similar. Every Wednesday I will post a new Bible verse and write my thoughts on it. I started to do this in my personal devotion time a few months ago, but my persistence slowly faded. I am looking forward to starting this practice up again.

"Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually." -Psalm 105:4

I read this Psalm over Spring break while in Colorado. It was a great reminder to me about how necessary it is for me to be in God's Word and to truly seek him. Way too often I find myself relying only on myself and not seeking the Lord's strength. After reading this passage, I remembered that apart from Christ I am nothing and I am unable of doing anything truly good. But in him, I have access to never-ending strength and I am able to glorify God in marvelous ways that only God could orchestrate. To access this strength, I must seek his presence. And what a joy it is to find his presence in my life! I was remminded of a quote from Francis Chan that has stuck with me since I read his book Crazy Love a few years ago. He said,

"...we are on a never-ending downward escalator. In order to grow, we have to turn around and sprint up the escalator, putting up with perturbed looks from everyone else who is gradually moving downward. I believe that much of the American churchgoing population, while not specifically swimming downward, is slowly floating away from Christ. It isn't a conscience choice, but it is nonetheless happening because little in their lives propels them towards Christ."

I forget this so often. I think that I can rely on the spiritual growth I experienced last week, last month, or even last year to get me through my today. But because of my sinful heart, I cannot sit stagnant. I am always moving toward my old, selfish self. I need to constantly seek God to keep from falling away from him. My goal is more than just not losing already gained progress, but I want to know Jesus more fully because he is everything good and true. He is the only source of hope, fulfilling purpose, joy and unexplainable peace that surpasses all understanding. My heart desperately needs those things. But I settle for the temporary pleasures of this world while eternal pleasures wait for me around the corner. So my goal this week is to seek the Lord through daily devotions and prayer, and to dwell on his goodness. I pray my life looks like someone running up the downward escalator.

If you want to buy the book Crazy Love, click on the link! I highly suggest it, it's a great book!

List Lady

Here's a post to briefly explain what my blog might look like, assuming I ever make use of it. I hoped to put this information on a side bar, but I am technologically handicapped so it's going here.

I am a list girl. I make to do lists for school, chores, groceries, personal and spiritual goals, and anything else I can put in a list. I take every opportunity to make better lists; I have tried multiple to do list apps, and tried using separate journals for different types of lists. So of course, I thought a blog would be a great place for me to store all of my lists.

I anticipate this blog being used as a place to share my favorite things in life, my current happenings, old memories, notes of encouragement, random thoughts (expect lots of those), and my personal journalings on Scripture passages and also personal prayers, thoughts, questions, and praises. Journaling about Jesus is a big part of my life. If you don't currently journal about church services, prayers, and personal time with God, I encourage you to start and see how God uses that time to grow your knowledge of Him and also yourself.

{My sweet friend Janelle had the lovely idea of reading a chapter of Scripture a day then journaling about what stood out to her. I think that is a great way to grow in Christ! So I encourage you to steal her idea. But if that's more than you can currently manage, I am a huge fan of starting small and working up. Strive to always desire to work up!}

That is all for today. Have a stinkin' great Thursday friends!