part two.

because God created us and created us perfectly, we are not meant to live in bondage.
we are not meant to live under or live in the darkness.

maybe you're at a point in your life where you feel like things need to change.
maybe you want to change some things.
you feel like there's a greater purpose for your life, and yet you don't see it.

the cool thing is that we have a choice.
we can either listen to the lies or we can search for that beautiful purpose.
we can dwell on our pain and struggles or we can reach out for help.

the first step in finding that purpose is to be completely honest with someone. share with them what's REALLY going on. share with them your doubts, fears, confusion, and brokenness. reach out for that help and your healing will begin.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says:
“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”

we need to be humbled before our God. when we take the time to humble ourselves before Him and cast all our anxieties on Him, He will pour out his blessings on us so that we may be healed and free from these chains that bind us.
if we can take these steps in being honest with someone we will start to see ourselves healing. slowly but surely. it's a process. in that process we don't have to be confined to the past.

maybe you already know that though.


we don't have to suffer from our struggles anymore...WHY??
because Jesus has paid it all.


all of our failures.


all our mistakes.


all of our pain.




but maybe we've forgotten that part.
maybe we forget too often.
maybe we just take this for granted.
maybe we take hope for granted.

but our hope is only found in one place. the cross.



our challenge to you today is to remember where you find your hope. hope is not found in a blog or in a sermon or in a friendship, but hope is found through what Jesus has done on the cross for us. our hope is found in God’s word. our hope is found through prayer. Jesus is our hope.

part one.

There are many things I don't understand. I don't understand dispensational theology. I don't understnad babies. I defintatly don't understand parents either. Maybe you are going through crap right now. And maybe you feel like nobody understands you. Maybe you feel alone right now, and that nobody understands anything about you. Yet deep down inside you know you are broken and that you need a change. Maybe you don't want to hold your brokeness inside any longer. Maybe you just need to be honest with yourself. Maybe you have questions...What does honesty look like? How can we take that brokeness and turn it into healing? In this mess of a person that you've become, how can you find peace?

I know someone who can help...

I know someone who understands.
He has taken all of your pain.
He's taken all of that confusion.
All of the doubt.
All of that shame.
He's taken all of that brokeness and nailed it to the CROSS...

If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ I can promise you that "He who began a good work in you will complete it."(Phil. 1:6)

God will never give up on you.
God will always be there.
God has a great plan for you.
God wants you to have life.

Don't give up.

Today is a NEW day.

You are not a screw up, or a mistake.
You are beautiful, and made perfect, exactly as God wanted.

... (to be continued)

small dipped cone.

Has your mind ever been wandering and you just think of how many people there really are in this world? In thinking about this, have you ever thought how limited your connections are, or how very few people you truly know... or how very few people truly know you?

Today I had this revelation sitting eating my lunch at the mall. I went to the mall by myself to return something and ended up hanging out there for a couple of hours. I was just wandering aimlessly, eventually I grabbed something the eat and sat down at a table with a book I had just bought at barnes and noble. At one point I looked up and realized just how many people were around me. There were about 40 people (parents and kids) in line for the merry-go-round, about 10 people in line at subway, about 10 people in line at A & W, not to mention all the people sitting around me at tables, the people climbing the stairs, taking the escalator, in the other lines, and shuffling in and out of all the stores in the mall. Everyone seems completely oblivious to everyone else there, with the exception of those that they were there with. Then I got to thinking, if there are this many people in one mall in Grandville, Michigan... how many people are there in malls across the county, or across the state, or across the US, or across the world. And that was just thinking of all the malls!! After I finished my lunch I sat there reading my book for a while longer and then decided I wanted some ice cream. So Dairy Queen it was. I was the 8th person in line at Dairy Queen where I waited while getting walked around, walked in front of, and in one case walked into by many people until it was finally my turn to order. So I told the girl my order. A small vanilla cone dipped in chocolate. I paid and stepped to the side so that the next person could order while the girl in the back made mine. As I was waiting I turned to think more about how many people there are in the world. I was kind of zoned out but after she called my order twice, I realized she was talking to me. "Small dipped cone" was how she addressed me. I was no longer Amanda. I was "small dipped cone."

How impersonal have we gotten?

Sometimes I feel like I am just a number in this world. One thing that scared me about going off to a big college was that I would be "just a number." Then I came to Grace where not only was I not "just a number" but I was recognized as a person with a story. I was not "small dipped cone" I was Amanda. So the two boys in front of me, were not just numbers 6 and 7 in a line for ice cream. I don't know their names, but God does. God knows every person who was in every line I saw today. God knows all the people who were going in and out of every store today. God knows the hearts of all of these people. God knows everything about them, right down to the number of hairs on their head. God wants a relationship with every one of them.

This week has been kind of rough for me. It has been great too though. I have transitioned into a new roommate, so it is going to take some getting used to as far as the way she likes things. I have been getting up earlier than I have for the past three months. I have been immersed in God's word twice daily among my other reading. I have lost a job. I have made some new friends. I have had some hard conversations. Joe and I had the opportunity to talk to some youth pastors about going to speak at their youth group which was both exciting and scary. But through it all I have realized that God knows my heart and he knows what is going on even when I don't. I need to trust more in him and beleive my lies even less.

At the job I just lost I was not Amanda. I was number 84065. That was my identity. I was just a number. But God has shown how much he truly loves us. He tells us that we are his children and that he cares for us. He knows everything about our lives and that is so spectacular.

Today I am not a number. You are not a number. I encourage you to get out and meet someone today, find out something new about an old friend, and just experience life as people meant to care for people. Let someone else know that they are not just a random number, let them know they are cared about and loved.

Be Blessed. Be Honest.
Amanda

Blessings Among Pain!!!

Have you ever thought, “God why does this continue to happen to me?” We go through the struggles of life and we give them to God.

We completely give them to God, but yet they seem to keep on coming back. They seem to not understand that God has taken care of them.

I know that I’ve found myself saying this to myself many times. I’ve been so confused so many times. I’m like “God! This is yours now. I’ve given this to you. Why does it keep on coming back bother me?”

I wonder if I’ve had the wrong perspective this whole time. I wonder if God kept those struggles in my life so that I can be more BLESSED?

Blessed.

That’s an interesting word to use when talking about problems in our lives, or struggles that we face everyday. But I believe that God wants us to view these problems as blessings.

Think about it.

Looking back at my own life I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for the hard times that God allowed me to go through. I probably wouldn’t be pursuing youth ministry. I then probably wouldn’t be at Grace Bible College. Which would mean I wouldn’t have grown in my faith as much as I have.

God had a plan when I was going through those seemingly impossible times in my life. When it was happening there’s no way I would have guessed I would be where I am today, but God knew, and I doubted His perfect plan for my life.

Another blessing that has come from my own struggles has been the opportunity I’ve had to be able to witness to others because of our common bond of brokenness. God blessed me with brokenness and struggles in my life so that I can better help others feel like that they are not alone. We all have had some sort of pain in our lives and there’s no better way to use that pain than to allow it to be used by God!

So I challenge you to find your struggles as blessings today. Think of them as opportunities to defeat satan by bringing God the glory.

Just Being Honest,
Joe

Brokeness and Sunsets!

Lately I’ve been talking with a friend who is going through some amazingly hard times in his life. His future has totally changed and he has lost a big part of his life. As I talk with him though there seems to have such a peace about what he’s going through. He even says to me that “If all of this wouldn’t have happened some of the greatest things in my life right now may have never happened.” He has had a great support group surrounding him and he has turned to God amidst all this adversity. He knows that all of this is happening for a reason and that even though it’s hard there has been some great beauty brought forth from it.

The way he is handling all of these oppressions reminds me of a sunset.

Even though the sun goes down and loses its heat, it brings beauty to the sky around it. It’s a much prettier sky when the sun is setting than when it is at its highest point. That seems to be the case for my friends as well. Even though this isn’t the highest point in his life and he isn’t feeling that “hot”, he is leading a much more beautiful life in Christ.

I hope that the pain you are experiencing in your life will become as beautiful as the setting suns sky. That you will see the positive things in your life each and every day. That you would turn to the Creator of your life for the answers that are missing in your life. That you would never give up on life. That you would allow the people in your life to help you get through whatever it is you are going through.

You are not alone!

Let your pain turn into a beauty that the world can’t ignore.

My Flag is turning WHITE

Lyrics to Surrender Saved My Life :
I have had enough,
buying ashes with my love
I don't need this
I'm pursuing counterfeit
I'm worth so much more
than this
I don't need it
I don't need it

My flag is turning white
I need Your hope tonight
For the first time
Surrender saved my life

When will all this end?
Must I open up again?
I don't need this
Healing hurts a little more, but I'll be stronger than before
Yeah, I need this,
I know I need this

Keep my eyes focused, You are the long run
There's no time for giving up
We'll make it
We'll make it

Surrender Saved My Life [This Beautiful Republic]

I just did one of the hardest things I may have ever had to do. I forgave someone who wronged me. It was eating me up inside. For a couple of years I have thought that I had fully forgiven this person, but when I took a step back I realized I was just saying that I forgave them, in a very weak attempt to make myself believe it, in hopes that some day it would become reality. Today is that day. But I couldnt just tell myself that I forgave this person. I had to tell the person. I had to write them a letter/message/note whatever you would like to call it, and I told them that although they hurt me, I was forgiving them. I couldn't let what this person had done have control over me any longer. I have found freedom through forgivin someone else. I know that this journey may still be rough, but with God as my strength I can make it. I waved my white flag high and proud today to surrender this situation to God.

Is there someone you need to forgive today?

Ephesians 4:32- Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.

be blessed. bless someone.
Amanda

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