The Christmas Story (as told by children)

Bringing the Word to Chad

Wow.  Just beautiful.  http://www.pioneers.org/multiply/chad.aspx

This morning I am thankful for organic (non-caffeinated) chai tea lattes and that Jesus loves me.  He really actually does, which is quite simply amazing considering who I am.  I NEED my Savior!  On a similar note, the love of God on display towards me from other believers has overwhelmed me recently.  It is stunning to see God's reflection in His precious creations.

And then there's Newton:  http://ashleyrosemckevitt.tumblr.com/image/38922307033

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 14:31

'One of the practical reasons for seeking the Lord is so that He will give us the right desires. Then we will want the right things. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4).'
Bill Gothard, Daily Success Emails

"It is God Who opens these doors, not us; and we are told in Revelation 3:8 that when God opens a door, no man can shut it. Over the years, I have asked God to open many different doors of opportunity, and I have seen Him do so in marvelous ways."

Bill Gothard, Daily Success Emails

Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All.

It's an Advent conspiracy.  Be loved by God today.  May His grace and mercy be on you and your family!
http://www.ijm.org/content/advent-conspiracy

Pray for the Persecuted Church (with Gospel for Asia)

http://www.gfa.org/pray/pray-for-the-persecuted-church/

"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is place in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into it's soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her..."

"Oh, Mothers of young children, I bow before you in reverence. Your work is most holy. You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls. The powers folded up in the little ones that you hushed to sleep in your bosoms last night, are powers that shall exist forever. You are preparing them for their immortal destiny and influence. Be faithful. Take up your sacred burden reverently. Be sure that your life is sweet and clean."

-JR Miller

::Christ's people feel compassion like Christ did, and they feel the strike to the stomach, they feel the pain in the deepest places and they hurt and they bend over and they reach down and they reach out and their lives become cruciformed, shaped into the cross of Christ::
-Ann Voskamp

Convergence Conference Update!

Praise the Lord!!  "Wildness broke out this weekend in Harrisburg at Convergence! 37 saved, and several healed on the streets! Blueprints for northeast universities dropped!! So stirred!"
-report from Convergence Conference and Circuit Riders

To God be the Glory, Great Things He Has Done!

"God wants to empower us. We aren't asking him for something he doesn't want to do." Chan #multiply2012

Psalm 72:12-14
For he will deliver the needy who cry
out,
the afflicted who have no one to
help.
He will take pity on the weak and the
needy
and save the needy from death.
He will rescue them from oppression
and violence,
for precious is their blood in his
sight.

"And oh, the mystery of the cross,
That God should suffer for the lost
So that the fool might shame the wise,
And all the glory might go to Christ!"
"The Perfect Wisdom Of Our God"
-Keith & Kristyn Getty

"Why Memorize Scripture?" by John Piper

YWAM HARRISBURG-Convergence 2012

This call to a cultural revival in America will be going on the same time as Nationals this year:  http://www.ywamharrisburg.org/convergence-2012/!!!  Oh, praise Him!  Father, work!  I honor all those laboring on behalf of this and all it represents!!  I honor you, Jesus!  I honor Your name, which is the name above all names!  He is the Lord of lords and King of kings!!!  So excited to hear of how the Word of the Lord will run swiftly and be glorified there and how the Lord moved there AND to SEE how he will also do this at the National Bible Bee!

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
¹As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. ² And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. ⁴ We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. ⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

Father, we ask you to catch and CONVERT Kony!  Change Him!  Give him a new life and show him who you are, that he may have eternal life and KNOW you!!!  We pray this in your name, Jesus!  In your name is the power to save!

Pray for:

-Obama to become a true follower of Christ
-revival in America
-Hollywood to turn back to the Lord
-America to return to the Lord
-boldness of American believers to testify about the Lord

Repentance: Let it Begin in Me

I repent of:
-the fear of man
-wasting time
-not concentrating well on my schoolwork in 10th grade
-not smiling at strangers
-lack of aim/aimlessness (1 Cor. 9:24-27) in many ways that is evident publicly as well as being in the deep recesses of my heart
-lack of excellence

I commit all of my life to the Lord.  I commit this blog to the Lord.  I purpose my heart and the usefulness of this blog for:
-evangelism and discipleship
-being set apart
-fullness for Christ, all for Christ, for the calling of people to live abundant lives in Christ

What the Lord's teaching me about money:  give generously, spend wisely (living simply, God providing for needs), and save to invest wisely in the first two.  Surrender everything we are and have to Him.  Seek first his kingdom and all the things our Heavenly Father knows we need will be added.  Live for Him.  Completely surrendered, completely fallen on our faces in humility before Him.

With all my heart, I love the Lord by repenting of the sins of this nation.  Lord, I repent by faith on behalf of this nation!  I commit this nation for your kingdom purposes.  I repent for the blood shed by this nation!  Forgive our sin completely!  Please, heal this land.  Heal the deepest parts of this nation, Lord.  We call upon you in the time of trouble.

Goodness, this is amazing!

"Honor isn’t passive, it’s active. We honor our wives by demonstrating our esteem and respect: complimenting them in public; affirming their gifts, abilities, and accomplishments; and declaring our appreciation for all they do. Honor not expressed is not honor." [Ricucci, Sacred Marriage]

The people unliked, the jobs despised…..these people, these jobs, if living to the Lord or being done to the Lord, are more precious to him than the most prestigious man’s selfish pride in a high position…why, of course!  Actually, He hates pride.  Father, come in our midst.  You are in our midst.  You've never left us nor forsaken us.

May God raise up holy visionaries.

Eyes on the Prize

I don't know you yet, but when you know Jesus, my heart has already rejoiced with joy inexpressible for this very fact.  I'm so excited to hear your voice tell me of how exciting the new Map you've found is, how glorious are its streets and buildings and people and purposes.  I'm excited to meet you.  I love you already and know that Jesus has anointed you to be called, chosen, and faithful.  I'm so excited to share stories together and to ask Jesus for more time together worshipping him around campfires.  I'm so glad that I can look forward to you like a mother awaits her child.  Guess what?  Being His child is so much fun!  It's literally the bomb.  It's the ultimate challenge with the best trainer.  I'm writing this so you can see this note one day, Lord-willing.  I'm so excited to see your new life.  It's going to be beautifully holy.
Yours because He's going to find you,
Ashley

I repent of my unbelief.  It has been rampant in my heart and soul, and it needs to leave and never come back.  My heart is full of belief, because my God is trustworthy.  I repent of dishonoring the Word of God in the way I have spoken against it to my own family.  I have dishonored the Word to my family, falsely saying it was a waste of my time in the past, all because of sinful anger.  I repent.  My mind is changed.  My heart is humbled and meek before Him.  My anger is unjustified.  My mind believes God.  My mind and heart believe the Word of God fully.  My heart and mouth honor the Word of God.  My heart loves God completely.  I am redeemed.
Ps. 37:8 KJV Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

Psalm 109:8  May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.

Join Bethel Church in Redding, CA, in prayer for these things during these last few days before the elections:
"1) The Raising up of Godly leadership in our Local and Federal Governments
2) Encounters and Visitations for both political candidates and parties
3) Revival Fire to spread across our Cities and Nations
4) The Raising up of the House of Prayer in California"

E. Paul Hovey says,
"Men do not reject the BIBLE because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts them."

"Don’t give me so much that I forget who gave it to me. Just give me enough so that I glory in Who gave it to me."
— Aeric Estep (http://hannahreneeward.tumblr.com/ via shelbybennett)

Even if I have NOTHING, I do not need to be afraid.  Even if all I have is taken from me, why would I be afraid?  God would not condemn me for that…of course not!  So why worry about ANYTHING?!  Only do His will and be satisfied.

To die living, not to live dying….that is the decision.

May the unbelievers see the truth.  May they see the reflection of the Son.

 

Christians should give their all to support missionaries because missionaries are dependent on believers to invest and partner with the amazing work they do.  Missionaries (many times, right?) minister to people who cannot give back to them, who are needy and broken.

Persistence

'"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to
pray, and not to faint." Luke 18:1

'The importance of the element of persistence cannot be exaggerated. You find it, not only in biblical teaching, but also in the lives of all the saints in the past. If we really want to be men and women of God, if we really want to know Him, walk with Him, and experience those boundless blessings which He offers us, then we must persist in asking for them day by day. We have to feel this hunger and thirst after righteousness, and then we shall be filled. And that doesn't mean that we are filled once and forever. We go on hungering and thirsting. Like the Apostle Paul, leaving the things which are behind, we "press toward the mark." "Not as though I had already attained," says Paul, "but I follow after."

'That is it! This persistence, this constant desire, asking seeking, and knocking. This, we must agree, is the point at which most of us fail. Let us hold onto that first principle. Let us examine ourselves in the light of this Scripture... persistence, continuance in well-doing, "always to pray and not to faint"-- that is the first thing. The realization of the need, the realization of the supply, and persistence in seeking after it.'

-- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"So I will go wherever He is calling me
I lose my life to find my life in Him
I give my all to gain the hope that never dies
I bow my heart, take up my cross, and follow Him"

It’s so empty to hold your heart within your chest when it is beating to be outpoured for the sake of Christ.  Why stop giving?  God can always provide.  Therefore, the more you keep giving, the more He can keep providing for that which is lost for his name’s sake.

"May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in." (create-shalom.tumblr.com)
May God break my heart so completely that whole cities fall in, and whole trailer parks, and whole people groups, and whole prison cells, and whole groups of the disobedient, because that is what is necessary for preparation for the Lord.

'The thing is, it’s what Phelps said: Stay in the pool.

'Michael Phelps said that the way he trained to be one of the greatest athletes of all time — was to stay in the pool longer than anyone else.

'To stay at it when everyone else got out. To stay focused when you’d love to be distracted. To do the next thing when it’s not the easiest thing. To not flip over to Facebook or turn on the TV or check Twitter or pop into email.

'The most successful are the ones most focused and the greats are greatly focused. There is never any fruit without focus."'
I hope and pray this is used in evangelism and discipleship also in the coming days!  The LORD is my strength and my song!  He has become my salvation!

{http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/09/how-to-cultivate-the-habit-of-focus-in-an-age-of-distraction/}

May This Be Our Desire As Young Women!

This is my desire completely as well, and I pray that the Lord continues to put this on the hearts of His daughters!
Directly from create-shalom.tumblr.com:
'I desire to always be…

• A woman who exudes a quiet dignity and gentle spirit
• A woman who draws attention to God and not myself
• A woman other women can look up to, but not idolize because I’m authentic and transparent about my struggles and victories
• A woman who ushers others into being captivated with Jesus as the lover of their soul
• A woman who brings honor and glory to my King with reverence, never losing my adoration or awe of His majesty
• A woman completely secure and satisfied in the love of my Heavenly Father
• A woman of modesty and mystery
• A woman of purity of heart and mind, protecting innocence without being ashamed of my commitment to set-apartness and holiness
• A woman with an undivided heart, doves eyes
• A woman of action and advocacy for worthy causes and needs
• A woman who can be a sister and a mother to many
• A woman who brings out the heroic masculinity and Christlike identity God has for the men in my generation
• A woman who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit and immediately obedient when I hear His voice, because I recognize and know it already
• A woman that is bold and direct enough to guide and guard men’s hearts away from myself and toward the true desire of their heart- Christ
• A woman who showcases Christ’s power and who brings the good news to a world in so desperate need of it
• A woman who is wise and understanding but willing to always humbly learn more
• A woman who relies on God for my all, living each day in increasing faith
• A woman who doesn’t need to be noticed or recognized, but only desires that God would be acknowledged, honored, glorified and praised

'“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)'

Does God’s Word still flow from me?

Statements of truth.

This carpet on which I’ve placed my feet a thousand times has become my Iona, the place from which missions flow.

Pray and obey.

Anxiety can be overcome.  Give your life so that you will gain it.  If you save your own life, you will lose it (Lk. 12).

God is raising up voices to call out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord!”  Will you be one of them?

Theme Verses for the 2012 National Bible Bee

There are certain passages that have stood out to me regarding this fall, and I was encouraged by another person to focus on specific passages as overarching goals regarding Nationals.  These are the passages and Word that He's put on my heart and the specific phrases the Lord has highlighted to my eyes:
1 Samuel 16:7   But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "run in such a way"
James 4:17 "and doesn't do it, sins"
Col. 3:22-24, esp. v. 23 "and not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor" "do your work heartily for the Lord, not for men" "whatever you do" "all your heart"
Matthew 25:21  “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

I believe 80 million will be saved in America.  I join with the faith of circuit riders.  Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

some more past things I'd written down.

"I don’t want to keep on living in this world.  (I long for His return!  I long for heaven!!  Oh, yes!!)  I was made for a better place, where the Lord’s glory and light fills everywhere.  Yet if God wants me to live long to be a testimony to his goodness, I can say with wholeheartedness that it’s coming from God, not me, because it’s still hard for me to keep on going one more day.  I SHALL see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  If he wants me here, and I have found no joy apart from his will, then let the Lord show me how he can allow me to live long in his will.  Pray for me, all you peoples, that I would not get discouraged."

'Woah!  I've been thinking a lot about this verse lately, and to hear it in this version was amazing!  "In the same way, anyone that holds on to life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal." John 12:25'

'Ezekiel 14:12-14  " The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord."  Wow.  I’ve said that to so much of God’s Word, and now again, my jaw actually dropped.'

“To pray often is almost to conquer.”-King Gustavus

let the word of truth leading to salvation run over to those never expected.

Immediate fruit may come, for God worketh marvellously, but whether it does or not, your plain duty is to sow. Reap you shall, but meanwhile you must be satisfied to go on sowing, sowing, sowing, even to the end. Reaping is your reward, but sowing is your work.
- Charles Spurgeon

"You will not gain holiness by standing still. Nobody ever grew holy without consenting, desiring, and agonizing to be holy. Sin will grow without sowing, but holiness needs cultivation. Follow it; it will not run after you. You must pursue it with determination, with eagerness, with perseverance, as a hunter pursues his prey."
- Charles Spurgeon

"Repentance is a sweet sorrow, so that the more of this sorrow, the more pleasure." -Jonathan Edwards

"It is better to aim at the impossible than to be content with the inferior." -Mabel Hale

"It may be a very bad thing that I needed God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I'm worth dying for."
-Lewis Smedes

"Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will."
-Jonathan Edwards

"Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in him?" -David Platt


"To be right with God has often meant to be in
trouble with men." ~A.W. Tozer

"Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it." -Erwin Lutzer

Pray

Every town; every city; every nation; every tongue…yes pray for these to be under the authority and passion and kingdom of God.

People don't know Jesus in Seoul.  Without Jesus they don't have life, and they despair (for without him what is life?)  Pray, please pray with compassion and fervency, that the spirit of death and suicide would end in Seoul Korea.  People are dying.  Bad news is theirs now.  But later, later what will it be when Jesus comes to Seoul Korea?  The death will stop.  The lives will be in Christ.  We must take up our crosses and pray for them to KNOW Jesus and to KNOW life!  Oh, that God would give us tears to pray for them, and that the Lord would be pleased with our intercession on their behalf, and oh, that it would bear much fruit and see the results, see even the harvest!  The harvest!!  Oh, the harvest!  Souls!

Pray for the Jews in Israel to see the Savior and run to His loving arms

Pray that God would open the eyes of Mormons and Muslims to the lies of the enemy, Satan, that they believe and that God then would clearly show them the truth that is in Jesus

Pray that Kony will be caught

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem

Pray for prayer-warriors who need God's strength and grace for the fruit ready to come forth

I'm burdened to pray especially for old people to live lives useful to the Lord, independentally yet dependant on Christ.  Will you pray with me?!

These words really touched my heart:

"Of eyes blurred over by the needs that are inside us.
O Father, come! Come, move in our hardness.

Break our hearts for those so much like us,

But bound in the loneliness of pain and the silence...."
 

"Make these tears to wash away guilt,

To expose us, restore us, until differently rebuilt.

Make us urgent to fulfill Your commandment

To be spent for the broken in our every moment.

You came not for the healthy, the look-goods, the masked

But for those hurting You washed and bled and asked

That we might carry on this task."

-from a poem by Lauren Reavely {lauren-reavely.tumblr.com}

There are many churches in debt today.  This is not okay.  Let's pray for no more debt.  Mountain of debt, you've got to move in Jesus's name.  #letnodebtremainoutstanding

I would greatly enjoy it if the Lord had bringing the gospel to Taiwan, Switzerland, Hawaii, the Hymelayans, Africa, the Netherlands, and India in my future.  I just really would like that.  I'd really, really, really like that.  #everyhomeforchrist

If you are reading this, you are called to dethrone darkness and enthrone Jesus.

"I took it for granted that there must be a few men left in the world who had that kind of strength. I assumed that those men would also be looking for women with principle. I did not want to be among the marked-down goods on the bargain table, cheap because they’d been pawed over. Crowds collect there. It is only the few who will pay full price. “You get what you pay for.” If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd."

— Elisabeth Elliot

Abandoning one’s life means, in part,  abandoning talking to people to gain approval (who would think of such a thing?! ;) no it’s really such a natural human tendency!)  But it is utterly sinful, utterly to be abhorred.  Hate that which is evil.  Cling to that which is good.

Pray for the Nations

I want to take a moment to recommend Prayercast.  The website is basically just http://prayercast.com/ and when you click on the button that says "countries," you'll find a long list of countries with videos for each country to lead you in prayer for them.  Pray in secret!  The Lord will reward you and the prayers of those Jesus has made righteous by His blood are powerful and effective!  Be filled with joy today!

Zephaniah 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."
Wow.  This is so breath-taking.

Prayer requests for the 2012 National Bible Bee:

1. Focus and concentration
2. Excellence
3. That I would display Christ to those around me as I prepare and compete
4. Needed rest
5. That I would not waste my time
6. All contestants would come in drenched with all the goodness of God's holy Word, living out God's will, walking like Jesus, bearing MUCH fruit, loving others and each other deeply, and having made THE most out of this opportunity
7. That I finish the Bible study of 2 Timothy and thoroughly am drenched in and study 1 Timothy (the Word dwelling in me richly)
8. For all the contestants to meditate on the Word, especially on the passages specifically being memorized
9. That I would run in such a way as to get the prize (big weakness in me!  I haven't been, which is why in number 19 below I ask that if it's God will for me to win that I would--ha outlandish as that sounds and as undeserving I would be and how much I'm just not the person who could do this!--because I want to be walking and running in such a manner!  I want and need to be running the race well!  I need to be RUNNING IN SUCH A WAY, whether with the National Bible Bee or life in general, AS TO WIN.  I encourage you to live your lives in such a way as to win as well!  But as for me, I cannot settle for running in any way other than running in such a way as to win--1 Cor. 9:24-27.  That doesn't mean I'll win the National Bible Bee by any means.  It only means I'm running in such a way as to win, and that if I am sinning by not allowing God to do this in my life then that is simply not okay!)
10. That I'd be walking in such a manner that my King will say well-done good and faithful servant!!!
11. Please pray for the provision of accountability partners, and for strength to set up study times that can be tested and for willingness in me to have others see if I'm doing what I should be
12. Please pray that during this time I would be able to realize my faults and confess sins
13. "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"
14. "Do not cause anyone to stumble"
15. That I'd focus on honoring others this fall and encouraging others and Bible Bee contestants and families
16. As I'm going through enormous feelings of wanting to be at college like everyone else and that Nationals is taking over my life, that God would give me strength to do my best and that through it God would teach me how to do something under all the pressure I've been under with excellence
17. I am NOTORIOUS for being last minute (literally and all-nighter last minute type).  Please pray for diligence from the beginning and perseverance at the end.
18. That knowing the good I am to do, I would do it.  What I know I must do, I am responsible to do before God.  I need to be able to have people ask me if I am (which has to do with what I just mentioned earlier with accountability partners) and to be able to say that I'm not.  Staying in that place of not doing what I should be is not okay.  At all.
19. That if it is the Lord's will for me to not place highly, that his will would be done then.  That I would win if this is the Lord's will, that I would not if that's not God's will, that I would place in whatever manner is pleasing to the Lord, simply that God would be pleased, that I'd be at peace with all others, that ultimately God's will be done.  If it is his will for me to win or whatever place I get, that I would be a willing and joyful participant in his will, not afraid of winning, not afraid of persecution for His name's sake, and full of joy, gladness, and thanksgiving if I do not place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, or any other placing.  (The reason I mention all this is because of my fear of ever winning-surprising as that may be that I've been so afraid-which is wrong, and because although the prospect of what I just mentioned above is so hilariously impossible I am still willing to consider accepting if God somehow has somewhere in his mind that He'd delight in me doing this...I only believe that in Christ all IS possible...not saying that I am anywhere near this...haha)  Can you tell I really would enjoy making it to semi's and finals this year?!  Let's glorify God in all we do!  There's so much JOY in it!
20. Please pray 1 Timothy chapter 6 over America in general and also all contestants (it's all about money!)
21. Just like #18, applying this to the National Bible Bee, which I DIDN'T want to do and a lot of it SEEMS like unnecessary work, but I'm purposing to do what I don't want to do in order to win.
22. That I'd really be filled with wisdom, knowledge, revelation, and knowledge of God's will as to why someone SHOULD win (again, if this were so in any possible/impossible way, I just want to be so positioned in God's perspective and the fear of the Lord, and this would be an impossible task only possible through the Lord's power and grace, if that is even remotely in His will)
23. That the unsurrendered parts of my heart in regard to the money would be fully surrendured to God.  God, give us repentance!  Oh, how ungodly we are!  How we need to repent of all our sins and live in His light and truth!
24. That God would give me the strength to do this IMPOSSIBLE task (I am totally incapable of doing it without Him), and again, that I would be walking out the will of God and bearing much fruit, long-suffering and joy-filled.
25. That I would not waste my time (again I say this!) in regard to Nationals
26. I have A LOT of problems going on in my life.  Please pray that they'd be figured out and that I'd show myself an approved workman, rightly dividing the word of truth!
27. SO...I do have the desire to even win...but am EXTREMELY far from this.  Please pray Ps. 37: 4-6 over me.
28. That the Lord would direct my focus where he wants it in all areas of my life.
29. I have a lot of verses to memorize.  Please pray the Lord's strength over me, that I might accomplish all that needs to be done for the glory of God.  One person I just spoke to has finished memorizing everything already (if you're reading this and it's you, you know who you are;)).  I have counted less than one-third of all the verses "done" so far.  Pray that I would take the time to memorize and meditate on them all and be able to get this all done, being pleasing to the Lord in every way.
30. Please also pray that as all those involved are memorizing that they would be forming habits useful for their lifetimes and would be well-balanced (i.e. just pleasing to the Lord and at peace with everyone around them) as they go about this giant task.
31. Please also pray that God's strength would be made perfect in my weaknesses!!
Thank-you so much in advance for any way the Lord leads you to take the time to pray over me, over this list, and over any other matters or concerns or insights the Lord brings to your attention in these matters.  You are loved!

Listening to Circuit Riders....If they kill me, I get to be with Jesus, face to face, where I want to be!  But if I'm here, I'm going to storm the gates of hell until I die (by the power of Jesus through me)!!

1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

15 Reasons To Keep Reaching Out {Even When You've Been Hurt}

by Ann Voskamp at http://aholyexperience.com/

1. Christ is the Body and He is Love and both can only exist in community

2. God’s people are given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5) and reconciliation begins first in our homes, down the street, in this pew, around the corner, in community — or we are ministers of misrepresentation.

3. It’s only when you reach out to community that your gifts can be used for the Kingdom.

4. Joining and participating in just one group or community this year cuts your odds of dying in half over the next year.

5. Community is only and always what people are: beautiful and broken and utterly redeemable.

6. There are no I-slands in the Kingdom, only His-lands, and the notion of lone rangers is purely bad fiction.

7. The wonder of this: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are the temple of the Holy Spirit? … God’s temple is sacred and you are that temple.” (1 Cor. 3) We are all the “living stones” of the temple of the Holy Spirit. But if one stone withdraws from the other stones?

The “you” in 1 Cor. 13 is plural. Y’all together are the temple of the Holy Spirit; we are a temple of the Holy Spirit together – in community. We need each other, all of us.

And believing is about belonging to a community. It’s when we are committed in community that we collectively live it before the world: God is among us.

8. 2000 years of Christianity is founded on the breathtaking living organism of community.

9. Community is healthy for us: “Those with strong social connections but poor health habits (eating, exercise, etc.) are just as healthy as those with good health habits but weak social connections.”

10. There are sisters in Christ who have died for gathering together with their sisters — how could I neglect so great a privilege?

11. “Dor” in Hebrew, it means generation. May we be the next generation to go next door — the generation who knows who lives next door, what they need next door, how they ache next door. The Next Christians need to be the generation of Next Door Christians.

12. The Christian life is the compassionate, crucified, cruciformed life. Not the comfortable life. Community is how God shapes His children into the image of Christ.

13. We love Him enough to meet Him where He is — “Where 2 or 3 are gathered there He is…”

14. Love is a tree, each person a branch. And a pile of cut off branches doesn’t make a tree. Love can only be comprehended in community.

15. Every chance I have to love imperfect people is another chance to perfect His love in me. . This is a way to soar.

If we don’t have what we should have, shouldn’t we get it (and I’m not talking about material possessions but what is everlasting)? #hungerandthirstforrighteousness

'It is possible to waste your life. Few things make me tremble more than the possibility of taking this onetime gift of life and wasting it. Every morning when I walked into the kitchen as a boy I saw hanging on the wall the plaque that now hangs in my living room: “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” And now I am almost 58, and the river of life is spilling over the falls of my days with tremendous speed. More and more I smell eternity. And oh, how I want to use my life well. It is so short and so fragile and so final. You get one chance to live your life. And then the judgment. I speak as a father who has children your age, and I am jealous with Jesus that they and you not waste your life.'  (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/35/1858_Dont_Waste_Your_Life/ Don't Waste Your Life," from December 29, 2003)

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” - Steve Jobs

 

The problems with this, though, are as God's people we are to be very fond of rules, God's rules, and we are not the ones who are to get the glory for world-changing, which God does through us.  We are not rebels.  Or trouble-makers.  Definitely read this quote with the discernment and real understanding God gives!  Our goodness is not the source of our goodness, either.  His goodness is the source of our goodness.  We are supposed to be self-controlled.  There is some good stuff here, though.  We are to change things by God's power and not fit into the mold of the world.

From a post off the Think Eternity blog that really touched me a while back:

"Still, there is a nagging sense, that there is no way we could ever keep up with all that needs to be done. Instead, we should seek to simply bless others using the spiritual gifts we are given by the Holy Spirit, and blow freely with the wind of Holy Spirit.

1. Bless others with our spiritual gift
Scripture shows in 1 Corinthians 12, that each of us is given at least one spiritual gift. It benefits all of us, when each of us discovers our gift and grows in our ability to use this gift to serve and help the rest. The purpose of our gifts are to serve one another. Peter says, "each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10, NIV).

2. Blow with the wind of the Holy Spirit
Scriptures says "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8, ESV). It is not up to us to decide when and where we will work best. Our duty is to remain dependent on the leading of the Lord, following Him with all our hearts and going where we sense He is placing us, with the incredible joy He gives."

Perseverance means not just in the BIG things that others may see but in the small things you know you must do before His coming....true joy is in doing the big and the little with perseverance (Heb. 10:36-39).  Let's obey Him.

He's Always Worthy

"If you only worship God in good circumstances, then the simple fact is this: you don’t worship God at all, you actually worship good circumstances."
via create-shalom.tumblr.com

and love most tenderly and devotedly.
That is the bliss beyond the power of words to express or imagination conceive. Every day as it shows more of the mind of your beloved, when you have such a treasure as mine, makes you only more proud, more happy, more humbly thankful to the Giver of all good for this

best of earthly gifts.

-Hudson Taylor

My soul, o my soul, find your satisfaction in God alone.  Do not be discontent.  Ever.

You want some grace to obey?  God’s got it for you!  All things are possible with God.

life is not about what you have.  it's about knowing Him.  (john piper)

Slothfulness is not laziness.  It is a lack of passion.

“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.”
—Jonathan Edwards

"Christian holiness is not (as some people often imagine) a matter of denying something good. It is about growing up and grasping something even better." -NT Wright

"We’re too young to realize certain things are impossible. Which is why we will do them anyway."

— William Pitt, Amazing Grace

Reasons to memorize the Bible

Why memorize the Word?  Why the National Bible Bee?  Some excellent reasons to memorize God's Word:

“To really know it. Books read once have a small impact. The more times you read it the more you know it. Committing to memory allows for the deepest knowledge.
To give it maximum opportunity to impact my life. ‘All Scripture is…profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.’
To be able to meditate upon it. ‘Blessed is the man who…mediates on His law day and night.’
To keep from sinning. ‘How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word.’
To help me in times of trouble.
To change me. ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.’
To interrupt wrong thinking.
To have it when I and if I don’t have a Bible.
To be ready and able to share it with others—children, non-Christians, people who are suffering.
To make me wise.
To be like the tortoise, run the race slow and steady, to win.
To increase my faith, because I become familiar with God’s promises and character.
To boost my spiritual walk with God. Memorizing helps me meditate and do it.
To increase my time with the Word. This way it’s with me all the time.
To cause me to really think about scripture, to slow me down.
To encourage me. ‘why so downcast, O my soul? put your hope in God!’
To fight temptation the way Jesus did.
To rehearse the gospel to myself.
To be obedient. ‘whatever is right…think about such things.’
To know the will of God.
To fuel my prayers, so that I can pray according to will of God.
To exercise my brain.”
- marcia reavely via lauren-reavely.tumblr.com/

I want to see the lame walk, the dead rise, the blind see, the lost saved, the saved revived, all of them trained, BUT more than any of this I want to KNOW Jesus and obey Him, that my joy may be full.  I want to practice and teach His commands (Matthew 5).  That is what He wants from me.

"Woe to you when all people speak well of you..."

 

-John 6:26

Davy Flowers-“I want to be called awesome the day I am like Paul (meaning… I am not satisfied with anything less than obeying Christ just like Paul).”  Radical obedience is the only way to flee from being trapped by approval of man.

Love is an action and activity.  It is not a feeling. –M. Scott Peck

This Is What I Am To Do

Be courageous.  Be loving.  Love enemies.  Follow the Holy Spirit.  Be holy.  Have a correct view of God.  Don't give up.  The Lord will reward you.  Honor authorities.  They may not be thinking the same things.  Honor the Lord.  Be kind and let people know what you're thinking.  Be humble.  Confess sin.  Walk in faith.  Be like Abraham and walk where God says.  Trust Him.  Listen to rebukes.  Grow closer to God.  Test every spirit.  Follow Jesus's every Word and be filled with joy because of it.  Love others.  Love them.  Love, love, and love some more.  If I am a believer, I am to actually BELIEVE God.  Oh, how I have not done this!  I repent of this.  I am to listen to the voice of the Lord and OBEY.  Repent.  The kingdom of heaven is near.

"It takes us long to learn that prayer is more important than organization, more powerful than armies, more influential than wealth and mightier than all learning." - Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer

Some little notes & such

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." -John Barrymore

 If I do not embrace an identity of being set apart by God, I am in a very bad situation sure to enter into sadness and sin.

The Nazarite call to God:  How far will you let me go?  How abandoned will you let me be?

Don’t pursue reputation, Ashley.  Pursue the heart of Jesus.

Am I hungry for Jesus?

Nothing is stable but God; He is the only reliable source.  Everything else can be destroyed.  He is more reliable than a nation, than a school, than a leader.  Learning to really believe that He is the one I am to put my trust in.  Don't I remember how I myself am unreliable apart from the grace of God and His strength?

How can I honor others in my life more?  How can I encourage them more?  How can I live in a way that is fitting in response to both my salvation and to the times I am living in and to what I need to be doing?

We love God best when we love each other well. –Stephen Curtis Chapman

 

"The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but God sees that they get there."

(John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence)

God created the world out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us. –Martin Luther…so I have chosen, long ago, to be nothing.

Shine.  Be bright.  Draw from the Well of eternal encouragement.  Sing.  Kiss your little sister.  Love.  Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.

I have to give my all.

If I were writing this story of my life, would I have included this chapter?

 How do I lose my life to find it…how do I do this right here, right now?

 Don’t define your life by what you do but in who you are.

God is the creator of integrity.  He is the one who delights in gentle and quiet spirits.  Is he not the one who appointed some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be teachers?  Does he not call?  Does he not judge?  He purifies the worst of sinners, he fills the lacking-of-faith with faith.  Does he not?  And he even warns us before-hand of false teachers and spirits.  How great is a God who warns us of danger?!

Psalm 30: 11-12

11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

I'm so glad that I am not the one who bases what truth is, but that HE is the one who is the basis of truth.  He IS truth!  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  He is gone, but His spirit is with us, and one of the fruits of that is patience.

“The Church is for the most part a worshipping institution used once or twice a week.  This makes the fellowship a momentary thing of an hour or two in seven days.  After those few hours, each goes back into his compartmentalized life.  The Indian mind—in fact, the human mind—wants something that will gather the whole of life into a central control and make it into a fellowship which will not be for an hour or two, but something continuous and all-embracing.” –E. Stanley Jones on a Christian movement in India

From desiringgod.org:  The highest of missionary motive is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather zeal — burning and passionate zeal — for the glory of Jesus Christ. . . . Only one imperialism is Christian . . . and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his empire.

John Stott, Romans: God's Good News for the World (Downers Grover, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 53.

“Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world.” -Nicholas Sparks

 

create-shalom.tumblr.com

The New Testament gives us a glimpse into the intimate relationship between the Father and the Son. Even after a full day of preaching, healing, casting out demons, dealing with hostile religious leaders, and hearing of the death of a loved one, Jesus couldn’t wait to head off by himself and spend the whole night talking with his Father (Matt. 14:23). He loved to be alone with his Dad.

― John Wimber via create-shalom.tumblr.com

Gratefulness

Today I'm GRATEFUL that I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  Today, I'm grateful for roses, for flowers, for trees outside, for focus, for encouragement, and for the new life I have in Christ.  I praise you, Lord, for this day!  You are so good, Father, and I proclaim your goodness and my gratefulness for that goodness again!!  As a side note, the Lord seems to be throwing a lot of quotes my way....haha:)  You are so glorious and holy, Lord!!  Lord, call us again, corporately as your body, to excellence!

"We have to be compassionate as our heavenly Father is compassionate. This means being courageously and radically different in the midst of society. It means going against the win-at-any-cost mentality....Competition has its place in society and even in sports. But its most noble, and perhaps only proper, role is to serve as a motivation for excellence." --Dr. Wess Stafford, "Too Small to Ignore"

Satan dreads nothing but prayer. . . . The Church that lost its Christ was full of good works. Activities are multiplied that meditation may be ousted, and organizations are increased that prayer may have no chance. Souls may be lost in good works, as surely as in evil ways. The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.

-Samuel Chadwic

A woman who has truly denied herself, taken up her cross, and become entirely consumed with Jesus Christ is not going to be an insecure young woman...Rather, she’s so enraptured with Jesus Christ that she’s completely lost sight of herself.

― Leslie Ludy

“In every generation, there are a few young women who discover their true Prince. Just like the princesses in my childhood fairly tales, once they meet this Prince and realize His incredible love for them, they willingly give up everything else to follow Him to the ends of the earth. They live lives with their Prince that are utterly different from the world around them. They are radiant. They are confident. They are fulfilled. They possess a truly authentic beauty that flows from within. They are world changers. They are set apart in complete and utter devotion to their Prince. And they stand out from among all other young women like lily among thorns.”
- Leslie Ludy, Authentic Beauty

 “Wimpy theology makes wimpy women. That’s my assumption that I bring to this evening. Wimpy theology simply does not give a woman a God that is big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to handle the realities of life in a way that magnifies the infinite worth of Jesus Christ.”

Wimpy theology is plagued by woman-centeredness and man-centeredness. Wimpy theology doesn’t have the granite foundation of God’s sovereignty or the solid steel structure of a great God-centered purpose for all things.” –desiringgod.com & John Piper

...isn't about how long it's been since you've seen them last,

or the amount of time since you last talked.

It's about that very moment when you're doing something

and you wish that they were right there beside you.

-Anonymous

Woman is not to find her fulfillment in doing her own thing, going her own way, even in having her own ministry; she is to find fulfillment by helping her husband to rule and to lead.

“Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live” (Mark 8:35 LB).

“The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater for us than the cost of

discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and

respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the infinite

treasure of knowing and experiencing him.”  David Platt, Radical

How can I claim to be lost when I have the directions/map right in front of me--the Bible!?

“Go, sell everything you

have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

"No matter how carefully you plan your goals, they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto."

-W. Clement Stone

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." -Mark Twain

Actually, an old person need not despair.  They have hope.  Just because a person seems to have lost life doesn’t mean anything.  An old person is just as dust as a young person.  Just because they’re old doesn’t mean they should give up, so pray on their behalf.  Is God not the strengthener of the weak to display his glory through them?

Powerful prayer springs from pure hearts and strong faith that comes by the teaching of God’s Word. –Bill Gothard

"I want a lifetime of holy moments. Every day I want to be in proximity to Jesus. I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with adventure, wonder, risk, and danger. I long for a life that is gloriously treacherous. I want to be with Jesus, not knowing whether to cry or to laugh." -Mike Yaconelli

The Grace of God...continued!

Here is the gospel!!!
http://www.ellerslie.com/The_Gospel.html

Jesus is coming!  People get ready!

John 1:23

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for:
memories
avocados
organic food
the Word of God
love
mercy
faith
God's abundant grace
peaches
mango
other countries that we have the opportunity to pray for
those on the other side of the world suffering for Christ
renewal
traveling
godly examples
sunlight
godly friendships
that God will NEVER leave or forsake us
that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose
that He has saved us
for gentle and quiet spirits seen in others
for music
the piano
healthiness
our leaders
for all those in authority
for even those who are rude, giving the opportunity to show the love of Christ!
for grace
grass
that God WILL cleanse my heart and make me clean
that His promises are true
that God....LOVES me
that I have the promise of eternal life
for his daily gifts and graces
for sisters
for brothers
Australia
Israel
China
Iceland
that in all those countries God wants to give each person life abundantly
for that parable that tells that who are we to not forgive?
for forgiveness that has washed over every sin of mine
that God wants to use me
that my strength has not been enough to do anything, nor will it ever be
for smoothies
for Starbucks
for beauty
for creation
the mountain tops declaring the glory of God
for hope
endurance
the prayers of others
for others displaying long-suffering and radical Christ-love
for that hug that lasted thirty or forty minutes...how long was that?
for the rebukes of the Word of God
for the direction of the Spirit
that I am His sheep
He is my Shepherd
that I'm washed, clean, made new
for George Winston's music
for my piano teacher who invested so much into me and is now with Jesus
for our president
that God will cause goodness to flow out of all politicians, by faith
that God helps those who take refuge in Him
that when I come to Him, He does not tell me I need to go away because of my sin
that the Lord has called me His child
for churches
for designs
for joy
songs of gladness
for many and various trials
for truth
victory in Jesus
for the truth that those who meditate on the Word day and night will be like a tree planted by streams of water, always bearing fruit in due season
that my salvation is not dependant on my goodness
that God will bring my distant family members to know Him completely, by faith
for learning
for aunts
for loveliness
for beaches
sand
repentance
the knowledge of the will of God
for colleges that strive after Jesus
that Jesus is zealous for His people
that God is not unjust
emails
skirts
landscape
autumn
Shelby Kennedy's example
pastors who love the Lord
excellence
maturity displayed in young people
that no one is to look down on me because I am young
that I am called to be an example
for hospitality
for simple acts of kindness
that God has disciplined me
for wisdom that does not come with any added finding of fault
the Holy Spirit's work
that as I come to the Lord, He will restore me to who I am to be
for beautiful children
for children who love Jesus
for the promise of long, abundant, God-glorifying life
for submission
obedience
Romans
the book of Isaiah
that Jesus came to save me....and I really needed that...really really needed that.
for mothers and fathers
for widows and orphans
for the Father to the fatherless
for purity
for contentment
long books
seashores
palm trees
beautiful pictures
conquering of evils
loving the world (John 3:16) but not loving the world (1 Timothy 2:15-17)
teachers
Bible studies
linen
closets
cleanliness
godliness
prayer groups
schedules
the Lord
His goodness
His awesome majesty
His power
His love
His mercy
His kindness
His amazingness
His shining glory no one but Jesus has seen
His people
history
examples of godly courtships
standing firm in the faith
1 Timothy
one day Jesus will return
the calling of holiness
that God is my one desire, to have all of Him and what that means in my life
Sovereign Grace Music
John Piper
dirty laundry to clean
Holy-Spirit leading and authority
historical fiction
intelligence
God's humility
God's servanthood
that I am welcome to sit before the Lord.  He has paid the way by His blood.
for trials and tribulations
for God's glory
patience
waiting
conforming to His image
dishes to wash
stories to tell
stars in the sky
adventures to do
people to love
cultures
fruit
vegetables
farmer's markets
callings
giftings
violins
wood floors
responsibility
entering God's rest
return of the prodigals, by faith
past teachers who you just KNOW have been praying for you by the way they speak to you
my Father's truth
missionaries to South Asia, to Lebanon, to Iraq, to Afghanistan
the protection of the Father from all evil
Good Earth tea
goals
grandpa
grandma
the poor
the needy
the outcast
sunrises
skinny trees in fields of wheat
throwing out trash
for clothes
for His provision
for using of time wisely
flowing rivers
cute, old-fashioned bikes
sandals
wonderful breakthroughs
testimonies
International Justice Mission
Live58.org
poems
hiking
inspiration
no debts to pay!
wisdom for choices
grey hair
the Grand Canyon
writing
PraiseFM
worship