Fighting for our Hearts' desires

Sometimes it’s so easy to back down and hide away from all your troubles. We think that God wants us to just accept this fate and have faith that He will change things. And yes, He will overcome all our troubles, but I am starting to realise that there is more to it than just acceptance.  He seeks your heart and wants to give us all that we desire. So what if God doesn't just want us to be passive and to just try and cope with everything that is happening in our lives? Maybe He wants us to shout out and ask Him for advice. He wants us to pray to be recovered. Right NOW! Not to just wait and learn to cope with the misfortunes that come our way, but to first ask Him if we should FIGHT BACK and listen to His reply! God wants you to turn to him to find strength. 

I heard a sermon at church by Ps. Charles Niemand about King David in 1 Samuel 30.

David and his men arrived back to their camp site to find everything completely destroyed by the Amalekites. Not only did they burn down all their houses and steal all their possessions, but they took away their wives and children with them. The bible says that David and the men were so distraught that “they wept until they could weep no more.”  After this, the men started to become bitter and David saw that he would be in danger. But instead of accepting his fate and giving in to his grief, David found strength in the Lord his God. 

Then he asked God whether or not he should go after the band of raiders and whether he would catch them. And the Lord answered and told him YES he would catch them and that he would recover everything that was taken from him. So he went out and it was exactly as the Lord had said.

I feel that this message is so important in my life right now because for far too long I have been trying to cope with everything myself, and all that I have wanted from God was peace and understanding. I have been trying so hard to change myself to be better adapted to handle all these things but I still feel as if I keep coming short of that. And this then leads to me feeling inadequate and as if I am not good enough.

But I've finally realised that it is time to seek STRENGTH from the Lord, and to be RECOVERED! In this very moment I want to be different. And not on a physical level, but deep down in my spirit, I want to be renewed and I want to FIGHT for God’s will to be done, and to achieve all the desires that God has placed in my heart. 

God can only do so much for us. He gave us the the power of choice and the right to have our own opinions. So now we have to believe that with Him we are greater than without Him, and that He is equipping us to better handle the obstacles in our path, and to unite His nations for His glory. 

Praise be to God, forever and ever!

"Take Heart"

There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
He steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
He never fails.

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again

In death by love
The fallen world was overcome
He wears the scars of our freedom
In His Name
All our fears are swept away
He never fails.

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again

All our troubles
And all our tears,
God our hope
He has overcome!

All our failure
And all our fear,
God our love
He has overcome!

All our heartache
And all our pain,
God our healer
He has overcome!

All our burdens
And all our shame,
God our freedom
He has overcome!
All our troubles
And all our tears,
God our hope
He has overcome!

All our failures
And all our fear
God our love,
He has overcome!
God our justice
God our grace,
God our freedom
He has overcome!

God our refuge
God our strength,
God is with us
He has overcome!

- Hillsong United 

"The Anthem"

"He's calling,

Wake up child, it's your time to shine! 

You were born for such a time as this!"

- The Anthem, Jesus Culture

Your Crush

Dear KCT...

It’s like my heart has broken free,

From the chains that have been restraining it.

And once again it is filled with all the fuzziness I thought I had lost.

The briefest handshake was all it took to help me believe in the potential of love again.

I look forward to getting to know you better.

xxx

Rainbow ♥

Written by Alyssa Joy Bethke:

To Pursue or Not to Pursue a Guy You Like?

• February 7, 2013 
• Relationships, Uncategorized
• alyssajoy

“If you’re a girl who likes your guy friend, is it okay to pursue him and let him know you like him?”

The question shone on our computer from stage. The room was dark, with hot lights shining on Jeff and me. My hand grasped my bible a little closer to my chest.

Ah, yes.

Oh how I remember those days (they weren’t that long ago!) of liking a guy so much my body ached. But the hardest part was that they were clueless. Or maybe they weren’t clueless, but simply weren’t interested in me? How many times I was tempted to ask them to coffee and quietly explain how much I liked them. How many hours I spent trying to analyze him and our friendship. How many times I prayed about the situation, gave my heart and desires to the Lord, prayed for that guy, and hoped that he would see me, want me, come after me.

Yes, I remember those times vividly. What do you do when you like a guy and want it to be known…So desperately?

Thankfully Jeff started answering the question first as I gathered my thoughts and let the Lord calm my nerves.

“Let me first say this ladies: if you pursue the guy first, you’ll be doing that for the rest of your life if you do get married. The guy will play the lazy card, and gladly let you take the reigns—forever. And you’ll be miserable. You’ll have to initiate everything else from here on out. But let me add this: You shouldn’t pursue him, no. But you can get in his way. Get in his way so that he sees you and has to run you over. He has to face you and knows you’re there. What does that look like practically? Maybe it means being at his games, going to bible studies that he’s involved in, sitting next to him in class, etc.”

Wise man.

As I thought about what to add, the Lord reminded me of 1 Peter 3:4,

“but let your adornment be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”

A gentle and quiet spirit. That doesn’t mean that we have to be quiet little church mice! God loves exuberant, outgoing ladies just as much as the soft spoken ones! What it does mean is that we as women trust the Lord. It means that we so trust in, believe in, hide ourselves in Him that we don’t try to take matters into our own hands and take control. As women that’s really hard because one of the things we struggle with most is taking control. But we are commanded throughout scripture not to, and we don’t need to. We have Jesus as our advocate, the Father as our shield and the One we can hide in. He is trustworthy.

What it comes down to is this,

Do we really believe that He is in control? That He is able?

Do we really believe that if it’s God’s best, He can and will move in that guy’s heart to see us, and go after us?

Proverbs 21:1 tells us that the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord- that the Lord directs it wherever He chooses. If the king’s heart is in our Father’s hands, then most certainly that guy that we are crushing on is in His hands as well.

Ladies, God is able. God is in control.

Praise Jesus, then, that we can rest in Him. We can run to JESUS. We can tell him our deep desires, lay our hearts at His feet, and trust that He will work it out for His glory and our best.

Yes, put yourself in his way! Be available, be present. But check your heart. Do you believe in HIM? The One who knows every nook and cranny of your heart and is intricately and intimately working out His plan for you, dear one?

 ”Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will act.” || Psalm 37:5 ESV