Failure?

Do you ever get those days when you feel like you are running on empty? Today has been one of those days for me. I caught myself thinking, "I feel like such a failure!" In my closed-minded way of thinking, I thought that I had let God down somehow.

But what, exactly, is failure? Failure, by one definition, is "the condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short"¹. Romans 3:23 immediately comes to mind: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

All of us fail; we all fall short! Somehow, it's so hard to remember that we do not have any righteousness of our own; rather, it is a gift and it comes only by faith. The same passage of scripture in Romans 3 fits so well:

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:22-24)

What we need to do is to trust God to help us through all our days. The next time we feel as if we have fallen short, we need to realize that true righteousness comes from God alone, and He alone can strengthen us and make us righteous.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:26)

¹ From The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2006

Little Foxes

Many things can get in between us and God. I don't think I even have to mention any of them because you know what they are, because you probably know what is pulling you away even now.

But, God doesn't want those things to hinder your relationship with Him. He loves you and wants to be with you! And you can't afford to be away from Him either. In Song of Solomon, the Lover (who represents God) says to his beloved (that's us): "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." (1:15) Although it was just something little and not necessarily bad, it was destroying the vineyards they had planted together.

Similarly, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we need to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." (Hebrews 12:1) We can't get rid of just some things that hinder us, or just some of our sin, thinking it's good enough. All of it has to be thrown away.

But it's hard. How are we supposed to recognize the hindrances, let alone throw them off? The next verse, Hebrews 12:2, unlocks the secret to doing this: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

That's it. All we have to do is turn our attention away from the little things that build up, the little foxes that destroy our vineyards, and toward Jesus!

Quiz

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long!

I've been a little uninspired lately, so I thought I'd post something fun. What you have to do is set your mp3 player/computer media player on shuffle (no skipping songs!) for twenty (or ten) songs. I'm not going to "tag" anybody, so you can do it if you want to. Here's mine!

1. Help Me Believe by Nichole Nordeman
2. Long and Lonely Road by Hawk Nelson
3. Superstar (Where You Are) by Lincoln Brewster
4. With the Angels by Michelle Tumes
5. Superstar by Barlowgirl
6. Be Near Me by Bethany Dillon
7. The Best Thing by Relient K
8. Christ of Hope by Michelle Tumes
9. Beauty From Pain by Superchic[k]
10. Who Needs Air by The Classic Crime
11. Let Go by Barlowgirl
12. Lose Control by Stellar Kart
13. Mercies New by Nichole Nordeman
14. Activate by Stellar Kart
15. Move On by Run Kid Run
16. Meant to Live by Switchfoot
17. Hey Now by Tobymac
18. I Need You to Love Me by Barlowgirl
19. I Believe [Trip Rock Mix] by Zoegirl
20. Symmetry by Falling Up

A very interesting mix... Now you try it!

Sorry, everyone, for the big space in between my .. two posts .. and this one. Seriously, I'm really falling behind at this!

Well, at least I've been writing all my thoughts down somewhere. I started journaling again a few weeks ago and I love it! I had one journal for two years, but I just wrote down what happened, in ridiculous detail. I would write all the exact events for two weeks, and then not journal for months! When I finally finished the whole journal this summer (something I've never done before!), I bought a new journal in the summer, and planned on starting it soon afterwards. Obviously, I didn't! It took me a long time to actually start the new one, and I'm glad I did.

Seriously, if you don't have a spiritual journal, I really encourage you to start one. It's been a blessing for me, personally, and I would love for you to experience that as well!

I'd love to hear from you guys! What do you like about journaling? If you keep a journal, what do you write about? Where do you write it? What's your system, and why does it work for you specifically?

All Things New

Spring is here, and it couldn't have come at a better time. And so, to mark this momentous occasion, I've spent the last few days lying out on the porch, being warmed by the hot sun while sipping ice-cold lemonade.

Springtime must be my favorite season. I just love the feeling of warmth after a long winter! (And by long, I mean long. Here, the winters last about 5 months.) During the cold winter months, it's easy to get discouraged. I often find myself longing for spring. I know that someday it will come, but it's so hard to wait!

Sometimes, life is just like winter. When a season of life is long and hard, it's hard to imagine the day when it will be over. But, thankfully, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, a spring at the end of every winter. I love what it says in Isaiah:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Isn't that an amazing promise? It's so wonderful to know that God is always doing something new in us. When we feel like we can't go on, He promises us: "I am making everything new!" (Rev. 21:5) If we genuinely long to be changed by Him, He will do amazing things in us.

So, that's what God's teaching me, friends. As long as I press on to know Him in a deeper way and seek to be filled with Him every day, He will keep nudging my heart towards Him. I think it's almost springtime in my heart...

Let's continue to press on towards the Goal!
Have a great day, everyone.

Kelsey

Learning to Stand up

I admit it, I'm scared. Scared of falling down. I tried to do everything on my own, but I just let myself down. I need to give Jesus control.

But, what if I fall apart? What if I go back to yesterday? ..And I shrink back with fear, holding onto what destroys me. I slip back into bad habits and I forget. I forget. I forget the Cross..

"NO! No longer!" I scream to my flesh. "I can't keep on doing this! I .. I can't do .. anything."

And in the realization that I can, in fact, do nothing, my Father grabs hold of my weakened soul. He takes me to Himself.

When we are weak, He is truly strong.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

If I truly remain in Him, I won't have to be afraid. I won't have to fear falling. I can stand up in my God .. and never fall.

In Watchman Nee's book, Sit, Walk, Stand, he says that "it is when we have reached the point where in all honesty we cry: 'I cannot speak,' that we discover God is speaking. When we come to the end of our works, his work begins. [...] God never asks us to do anything we can do. He asks us to live a life which we can never live and to do a work which we can never do. Yet, by his grace, we are living it and doing it. The life we live is the life of Christ lived in the power of God, and the work we do is the work of Christ carried on through us by his Spirit whom we obey. Self is the only obstruction to that life and to that work."

Father, through me, live a life which I could never live on my own. Teach me to surrender to you. Lead me, Jesus..

Feel the sunlight on my face

You have brought me through this place

Jesus, Jesus, you found me

Through the dark night, you led me

You set me free

-You Led Me by BarlowGirl

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." Ephesians 6:10