First Fruits.

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."

Psalm 5:3

I've always liked the idea of giving the Lord the first fruits of my morning. I read verses like this one and feel so inspired to wake up and be refreshed by God. Instead though, I usually give the Lord the end of my day as I'm about to fall asleep and have a thousand thoughts buzzing around my head. On Sunday night I felt the Lord leading me to start my mornings out right, seeking Him!

It's been SO good! This week I have gotten up just a little bit earlier and had my devotional time before work and school and I've found that I have so much more focus in the morning! God blesses our obedience to Him, and He so desires to meet with us and fill us each morning!

God has definitely met with me through the week and has been teaching me a lot about pride. He's been showing me the different forms pride can take and also teaching me about prayer. I listened to a Matt Chandler message the other day and he was talking about how our prayers need to be "theocentric" or God centered. I've been thinking about that as I've read some of the prayers in the old testament. Prayers are so beautiful when they are centered around the glory of God! There are so many times in the Bible when it says the people humbled themselves, and then God responds.

Proverbs 3:34 says:

"He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble."

I can definitely see that confirmed throughout the Bible and in my own life. God has been showing me that pride is more than just conceit. Pride can be connected to fear as well. Julia said something that fits this perfectly at small group this week. She quoted C.S. Lewis: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." I'm totally convicted about that. I think about myself a lot!

Sometimes I press in for wisdom from God and start out with good intentions, only to realize that I'm asking Him so persistently for selfish reasons. Sometimes I want answers so that I can protect my pride, or feel secure. That's not very "theocentric". In fact, it's very selfish.

Thankfully God is gracious. That's the best part of this lesson, God "gives grace to the humble". As He continues to teach me humility, I grow closer to Him and learn more about how to walk with Him. It's definitely a process. I think there is also a lot of freedom with selflessness. I'm not there, but I'm looking forward to learning more about how to walk in the freedom of humility!

This kind of sounds like two blog topics but I think they are kind of interconnected. By giving God the first fruits of my day He has totally blessed my week and a big part of giving Him my mornings has been coming to Him in humility and really desiring to know Him more, and not being self centered about seeking Him. I think I'm going to try and keep up with my morning devotionals and make it a regular habit!

I just have one more verse to share with you all. Micah 6:8 is one that I just love:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

And of course I have to share a song with you all :)

I heard this one on the radio yesterday morning and was blessed by it!

Wake Up Call.

This morning the Lord woke me up at 3:30. At least I hope it was the Lord, because I certainly didn't want to be awake! I woke up with a verse ringing through my head:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

James 1:5

I think God put this verse on my heart because I went to bed last night feeling anxious. God woke me up because He wanted me to talk to Him about it and seek His counsel! I don't know that I was very obedient though, I said a quick prayer and rolled over and went back to sleep. Yesterday in church Pastor Rob talked about how God knows our thoughts and how that can lead to a lifestyle of communion with God. I feel like that's something God has definitely been growing in me, but sometimes I still fall short. Today I woke up and honestly had a pretty bad attitude which probably could have been avoided if I had responded to God by listening last night rather than ignoring His call!

Philippians 4:6 says:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

That verse reminds me what it should look like to live a lifestyle of communion with God. I need to be lifting my heart up to Him and waiting expectantly. God said that He would give me wisdom generously and without finding fault. That sounds like a pretty solid promise. I think one reason I didn't take the time to wait on God last night is because I doubted I would hear an answer. The end of that verse God put on my heart says:

"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

James 1:6-8

At the Shasta retreat last weekend my friend Anna and I had a pretty good conversation about worries, we were mulling over the question: "is it a sin to worry?" The conclusion we came to is yes. God tells us not to worry and to cast all our cares on Him! To be anxious about anything that you have put in God's hands is like doubting that God has it under control. It's wrong. The God I serve keeps all of His promises. He has infinite wisdom. And even when He knows I'm going to roll over and ignore Him, He still wakes me up... just to talk. :)

I have never considered myself to be a MercyMe fan... until now. I really like the new album. Here's one of my favorites:

The Weight of Glory.

Today I read The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis. It was so good! I thought I would recommend it to all of you to read! It was full of stuff I feel like God has been showing me lately but worded SO perfectly. C.S. Lewis is an amazing author!

In this essay Lewis talks about why it is okay for us as Christians to long for the reward of heaven. He says we all long for heaven and fill that place with other things, but they at best can only hint at what we really want, what will really satisfy us.

Here is a quote that I loved:

"These things- the beauty, the memory of our own past- are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."

He also explains what it means to have "glory" in heaven and the weight that carries even in our day to day life. It affects how we interact with others and encourages us to love our neighbor with a genuine Christlike love. Lewis says that "Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses." That is so powerful!

Anyway, I did a poor job summarizing this but I would encourage you to read it if you haven't! I definitely enjoyed it! :) I'm looking forward to reading his other chapters in the book!

Love Songs.

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17

Yesterday afternoon I was driving home from a retreat at Shasta Lake and my friend Julia said something that made me think. We were all singing random songs and she said "it's funny how many songs are about love. People are fascinated by it." It's something I had kind of been thinking about recently, and even started blogging about, but got side tracked and never did.

God designed us in such a way that we are drawn to the idea of romance. Practically every song on the radio sings it's praises. Our God is so creative, I wonder how he ever thought of the idea? 1 John 4:8 says that "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." I guess God didn't have to invent love because it was in his very nature. God is the original romantic! The Bible also tells us that we are created in the image of God so it makes sense that we are fascinated by love.

Ebo Elder, the speaker this weekend, talked about a "God shaped hole" that all human beings have and the mistake we all make trying to fill it with things that aren't God. I think love is something that easily and frequently becomes an idol to people, it definitely does for me. It was wonderful this weekend having God remind me, yet again, that his design for love is perfect.

I love how Zephaniah 3:17 says that God quiets us with his love. So true. It's really humbling to have God remind you that you don't know best. Yet he still loves. It absolutely amazes me that God, being the perfect picture of true love, would be so delighted in me! There is a worship song that I really love by Sarah Edwards that says that God is "ravished by my heart". God is ravished by me? That seems so unreal. He has written us the most beautiful love story and he sings over us the sweetest songs.

I could search the earth high and low for the sweetest love song and none could beat this:

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

1 John 4:10

God delights in me. He rejoices over me! He pursues us with the most passionate, jealous love. It is an incomparable perfect love! This weekend God humbled me once again and taught me to surrender to his perfect love and wisdom. I'd say that's a pretty wonderful weekend!

Here are some beautiful love songs for you all to enjoy! The first two are by one of my favorite love song singers, Jason Reeves. He sings adorable songs haha. The rest are worship songs that I absolutely love! A few love songs to our wonderful savior!