Happy & Overwhelmed with Joy!

I'M IN CHRIST. CHRIST IS IN ME. WE’RE IN GOD. AND WE ARE SEALED BY THE SPIRIT.

I just have to say, I am overwhelmed with joy! You may be thinking what?! Did you start dating someone? Get a promotion? Win the lottery?! None of those things are why I am just dying to tell all of you I AM SO HAPPY!

You see this past weekend I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how far the Lord has brought me since I finally surrendered my life to Christ two years ago. The Lord has saved me from myself!

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14)

When I was trying to control my life things appeared great. I was young with a good job, and in a seemingly happy marriage. The truth is, although I had what the world said would complete and satisfy me, I was insecure, lonely, and in a broken marriage.

I totally understood what JP meant when he said, "We try to control others. You find someone you say you love, and then all you want to do is change them." Although I thought I loved my ex-husband I can see so clearly that I wanted him to be someone that he wasn’t and vice versa.

After the divorce I was hurting, but thought I could control and handle anything. I partied, dated, and spent more money than I had. Living it up, as the world would say. I thought I was in control, but to be honest my life was spinning out of control. I was exhausted from trying to control my life and hit rock bottom...completely broken. I realized I was never in control, needed to stop trying to control, and trust God who is always in control. (See Jeremiah 17:5-8)

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

When I finally could see past myself and realize this life isn’t about me, I FOUND LIFE. Abundant life in Christ! You see "my life is in a better place in his hands, than in my hands". I am now filled with love, joy, hope, and peace. Life is sweeter than ever! God’s got me!

I may not be dating anyone or married, I may not have my ideal job, but I have life in Christ! And have found more joy in knowing and serving Him than anything else this world has to offer! I pray so much that we will stop trying to control our lives, others, and even God...TRUST HIM...our control is only an illusion anyways.

www.theporchdallas.com

It's Valentines Day.

Valentine's Day aka Single Awareness Day or as I like to call it February 14th just like any other day of the year. To be honest the last couple years I've hated this day. I used to wonder what was so wrong with me? Why didn't I have a date, boyfriend, or a guy to send me flowers and chocolate (besides my dad)?

The truth is Valentine's Day isn't the only day that I've worried, was anxious, and feared being single. JP spoke last Tuesday on fear (anxiety/worry) and I loved when he said:

"Our idols make us anxious. Those things we've put our hope in."

For some of you the idol may be job or financial status, but for me there was much of my life my hope was in having a boyfriend/husband. My hope, my belief, was that if I just had a relationship life would be complete and everything would be ok.

While talking about that fear, JP said, "It distracts us so much to where we can't focus. We stress that we don't know what the answer is and ultimately it robs us of productivity."

It makes me cringe to think about the amount of time I've wasted worrying about if a guy was going to call, if he liked me, if he was going to ask me out. It's so true that fear can completely consume us, make us think illogically, and completely rob us of productivity. It allows the devil this huge foothold in our lives. We lose focus that GOD IS GOOD. SOVEREIGN. FAITHFUL. HE IS LOVE and so much more!

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" (Romans 8:15)

I love how far the Lord has brought me. I honestly could care less if I get flowers or have a date today. What I care about today is am I loving, serving, and obeying God? Or am I chasing mirages that look good and pleasing only to find out they will never satisfy what can only be satisfied by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

I love that God hasn't changed my circumstance of being single, but that he's changed me. This past year of being single I've gotten do more things than ever, and experience Christ in an even greater more intimate way than I ever imagined. This time hasn't been wasted. It has been incredibly fun and productive!

"Faith is not asking God for what you want and expecting Him to give it to you. Faith is trusting what you have is what God knows you need."

Whether we are in a relationship or not we are children of God. We are loved...

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

THAT IS LOVE.

Praying for you all~

Praying not that you would have a valentine, but that you would already know how greatly loved you are!

www.theporchdallas.com

What Does Your Life Say?

..."Look at me!" or "Look at my great God!"?...

Last week I wrote about taking our thoughts captive, and while praying about what to share this week it seemed only logical to go to the next step…our actions.

I loved during JP’s last message when he said, "How you act shows what you are under the influence of…the way we act is important because it points back to who are influencer is."

I always feel a big gut check when thinking about this:

Have my actions glorified God or myself?

For 25 years I’d say I lived trying to control, doing things my way, to make myself feel better or look better in the moment. My actions glorified how "strong" I was and had nothing to do with how great God is. There was a year of my life where I was under the influence of alcohol quite a bit. I used to like to say it gave me "liquid courage" to do and say things that I wanted to. The truth is, I used alcohol to numb how I was really feeling…lonely, broken, scared, hopeless, unlovable, and unforgiveable.

Todd touched on it Sunday when he said, "closed doors will never stop or hide the destruction going on in your life." I thank God so much for bringing me to my knees, and to a place of true authenticity where I didn’t have to hide my struggles behind closed doors. I could finally lay down everything at the foot of the cross. Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus I found healing, forgiveness, peace, and love.

It wasn't until I truly grasped the Gospel that I could understand Romans 7:15-25. I encourage you to spend some time with the Lord going through this passage. I’ve put some of the verse below:

"For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

It’s so easy to live in a way that our actions glorify ourselves. The whole "look at me" mentality, saying we don't care what others think of us, yet living in a way to get others attention and approval. I pray that our actions and words would glorify our SAVIOR instead of ourselves. That we would love and point to our CREATOR rather than his creations.

I was reminded recently that I shouldn’t fit in the scene I used to be a part of. Not because I am in any way judging, but because I am alive in Christ and live in the light. As believers we should stand out by our actions. People should want to know what/who we are being influenced by...Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Are you under the influence of self and this world, or under the influence of Christ? Are your actions pointing back to and glorifying God?

I loved after winning the Super Bowl Greg Jennings first response was, "Wow...To God be the glory."

www.theporchdallas.com