God Remains the Same.

It’s hard to believe 2010 is coming to an end. This is the time of year where people reflect on what all has happened and start making resolutions for the New Year. It’s the time where people often figure out things they want to change to better their lives. While praying about what to share with you all this week the LORD has really put something on my heart that I’ve felt reminded of almost daily the last couple weeks that seems pretty simple really...THINGS CHANGE, BUT GOD REMAINS THE SAME.

Jobs change, our feelings change, relationships change, our diet changes, our weight changes, people pass away, people get married and have kids, where we live changes, the way we view the world changes, our hair changes, styles change, phones change, we lose our way, we grow spiritually...EVERYTHING changes, but do you know your LORD?

"The first of 6,823 usages occurs in Genesis 2:4 where Jehovah is compounded with Elohim...when we read the name Jehovah, or LORD in capital letters, in our Bible, we think in terms of being or existence and life, ...Jehovah is the self-existent One- "I AM WHO I AM." He is the eternal I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the same yesterday, today and forever. All of life is contained in Him.

Why do we look elsewhere? Why do we not rest in His unchangeableness? He has never failed. Would He begin with me or you? He cannot. He is Jehovah, the self-existent, covenant-keeping God." (Lord I Want to Know You, 55)

When I reflect on this past year at The Porch it’s been amazing to see God’s faithfulness in so many of our lives. We are not the same as we were a year ago, and I pray we continue to grow in the likeness of Christ Jesus. I pray that our eyes would be fixed on Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:18, Hebrews 12:2), that we would trust in our LORD who never leaves us nor forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31), who does not change (James 1:17), and always provides. I pray that you would know the Lord as your Jehovah-jireh, "the Lord will provide."

Thank you for letting me serve with you all this past year. It has truly brought me so much joy. As I think of 2011 I pray that our New Year’s resolutions wouldn’t be something that a month from now we forget or doesn’t really matter, but that we would commit to seek Christ, know Him, trust Him, and be more like Him. Forgiving others, glorifying Him in all we do, and living on mission for His eternal Kingdom. I pray we would hold loosely to the things of this world, and cling tightly to the cross.

As always...Praying for you all~

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

www.theporchdallas.com

No Greater Gift.

"O, COME LET US ADORE HIM. O, COME LET US ADORE HIM. CHRIST THE LORD."

"Sometimes we just roll past, thinking it's just a nativity. When you get the nativity you can't just walk past it, you have to stop." --JP It's not just a story, Christmas is real. It happened. It is history. We sing these lyrics, especially around Christmas...O come let us adore him. Are you adoring him with your life or walking by too busy/distracted with everything else?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the definition of "adore" as: to worship or honor as deity or as divine; to regard with loving admiration and devotion.

We also need to understand what the word deity means. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was God incarnate. Literally 'God in flesh', fully God and fully human, Savior and Messiah. "His nature is of deity and humanity. He didn't trade deity for humanity. He added on humanity to his deity." --JP

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)
JESUS CHRIST CAME TO SAVE YOU. Wow! That has to leave you in admiration.

God gave every sign and fulfilled every prophecy. Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Micah 3:1, Born of a virgin woman, will be male, and will come to crush Satan before 70AD. The nativity was real. It happened. It is history. No one can deny the life of Jesus.

"Christ Jesus...Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:6-11)

We wonder, how did they miss it?! How do we? Are you caught up in the shopping, cleaning, wrapping, planning, traveling...or are you caught up in what we celebrate this time of year? CHRIST JESUS. Our Savior. Our Messiah. He came and he will come again. Rejoice!

"All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him...Christ the Lord."

Praying you all have a wonderful Christmas full of love and admiration for Christ our King. Praying we would respond like Mary did when the angel Gabriel brought her the news of her pregnancy, "I am the Lord's servant." (Luke 1:38) There is no greater gift, nothing more beautiful, than Jesus. Let us share this good news with others, serve others over the holidays, and absolutely...REJOICE!

www.theporchdallas.com

Christmas happy...

My sister posted this the other day about her trip to Target with my three year old nephew Garrett. It's too cute not to share...

Christmas happy: We were at Target last night picking up some additional lights, when G looks over and says," OOOh, look at all the pinata sticks mommy!" I turn, confused,"They are cool, but no G, that's wrapping paper".

I think they've lived in South Texas too long haha!

Do You Believe That God Wants Best...

A dear friend reminded me this morning...Do you believe that God wants best for you? That he isn’t with holding anything from you that you need? You may be frustrated that you aren’t getting what you want in the moment, but do you trust him?

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end leads to death.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Psalm 84: 11-12 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

As we grow in the Lord our way of life will change. It has to change. Everything changes. Previously we’ve done things our way and love feeling as though we are in control. When we start to lose that control, and finally allow God to lead our lives and start to follow, it can be a tough transition. So much of our lives we’ve chased after what we want and done things our way, but where has that lead us? Hurt, heartbroken, empty, or maybe realizing there has got to be something more. So often we become dependent on ourselves and others that we aren’t dependent on Christ as Savior of our lives.
Do you believe that God wants best for you? That he isn’t with holding anything from you that you need? You may be frustrated that you aren’t getting what you want in the moment, but do you trust him? Are you taking time to truly know God?

2 Peter 1:2-11

2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Forgiven People are in Heaven.

JESUS TALKED MORE ABOUT HELL THAN EVERYONE ELSE IN THE SCRIPTURES COMBINED. HE SPOKE MORE ABOUT HELL THAN HEAVEN...think about that.

JP brought it last Tuesday. While writing The Porch News this week I become teary eyed thinking about how bad we miss it. By “it” I mean understanding what Jesus, our SAVIOR, did for each of us. We could never imagine how good our God is, and therefore can’t even begin to imagine how bad hell is.

“There is no pain in this world that compares to hell.” Hell is real, it is not a joke, and it is not a party. What breaks my heart is that we, ourselves, are what is going to keep us from eternity in heaven with our Father. “What prevents us from all the goodness God has for us? Ourselves.” (Matthew 10:39, John 3:30) Who should end up in hell? Everyone. We have all run from God. (Mark 10:18)

Romans 3:9-12 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all!... As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away..."

“Addictions to sex, porn, attention, spending, relationships…all those things are born out of an addiction to ourselves.”

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Think about some hard truth JP shared Tuesday:
*We are called to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39).

We often respond, “nah love me”.

*The opposite of loving God is not worshiping Satan, it is worshipping self.
*We love His stuff and so often just want to bargain with him to get what we want.

I pray so much that you all would experience what I have in the moment where I “got it”…I need JESUS, I need a SAVIOR! I finally understood that my way of life, no matter the temporary happiness, will ALWAYS lead to death (Proverbs 16:25), and keep me from this indescribable life I’ve now found with Christ.

“Good people and bad people end up in both heaven and hell. The difference is those who are forgiven are in heaven."

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. -2 Corinthians 7:10

Praying you all would experience His amazing grace~

www.theporchdallas.com

JESUS, WILL YOU WAIT UNTIL AFTER JANUARY 10th?

I woke up in the middle of the night Saturday with the thought:

WE FOCUS SO MUCH ON THE FUTURE, WE MISS THE PRESENT.

Lately I’ve been so excited about my future! I can’t begin to explain my excitement about going to the National Championship game in January, going to Haiti on mission in April, being on my boat again this summer, and where the Lord will have me in regards to serving, relationship, career, travel, etc.

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE, BUT WHAT ABOUT TODAY?!

The Lord has us here, in this moment, on this day for a very specific purpose. He has given us this day to possibly come into repentance with Him, serve Him, learn more about Him, and share His Good News with others. TODAY.

In life we get so excited about what is to come we are missing out on the joys of today! Let’s stop rushing today away. It’s like a wedding day. We plan for days, months, years for that big day. Then as soon as it’s over we think, “Wait I can’t even remember what the decorations looked like, who was there, what the food tasted like…and now… what do I start looking forward to now?”

CHERISH THE GIFT OF TODAY. The Lord is up to something so good, better than you can ever imagine. Even if life today doesn’t seem exciting, maybe it’s even a sad day for you (See Romans 8), TRUST HIM and SEEK HIM.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

To be honest, in a jokingly way, I prayed that the Lord would wait until after January 10th to return back for us because I would love to see Auburn in the big game. The truth is WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY it is going to be when Christ returns to bring us home. It will be greater than any future plan we have here on earth, greater than any football game, greater than any relationship, greater than any vacation…and that is the day I truly cannot wait for!

Revelation 21: 4-7
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

God doesn't make junk, YOU are God's masterpiece...

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk

So often in my life I've tried to control instead of trusting God. I've tried to bargin with Him. I've even questioned the way He made me and rarely feel like a masterpiece. I love how this video shows a sad, but true example of many of our relationships with our heavenly Father, mine included. It also shows more importantly the goodness, grace, and mercy of our Father.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10

All That Matters is...I am His.

WE SPEND OUR LIVES SEARCHING FOR A WELL TO CLINCH OUR THIRST, AND WE WILL NOT FIND IT APART FROM HIM.

I’ve been contemplating on what to share this week, and really feel a tug on my heart to be truly transparent. I loved when David talked about how we constantly look to the next best thing for temporary pleasure and happiness. Then “even when you get the exact thing you want, the excitement of it only last so long”. For young adults this often comes in the form of a relationship. While searching for the one thing that will satisfy we often end up “demanding more from that person, than they can give.”


After taking time away from dating I’ve finally felt my heart open to date again. I’ve also found the devil sneaking his way back into my life in the form of insecurity. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.


When relationships don’t work out I’ve started to question my worth, and how people view me. If only I was quieter, looked different, or haven’t gone through a divorce etc maybe things would work out differently. My dear friend Lulie would say, “That is a lie from the pit of hell.”


My worth and yours is found only in Christ Jesus. Like David said, the thing I need most is not a relationship, not more money, not a new car…It is a greater understanding, an intimate relationship, with my heavenly Father. I see clearly that I need more time with the Lord to continue working through these insecurities, and that no relationship, attention, or compliments from a man will ever satisfy. I could never put that expectation on a guy (career, money, etc) to satisfy only what can be found in the Lord. Those things have and will only leave me feeling that there has to be something more. Understanding who God is and growing my relationship with Him is the only thing that matters. I loved when Todd referenced Matt Chandler this Sunday when he said, “All that matters is…I am His.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” –John 6:35

What are you looking towards to find satisfaction? Where are you finding your worth?

The Greatness of Our God…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPxxzxBK_Eg

I encourage you all to read through Isaiah 55 & Psalm 23.

www.theporchdallas.com