God Provides

"Dont worry about anything; instead PRAY about EVERYTHING."

Philippians 4:6

It's amazing how God hears our prayers and then answers them in ways we cannot even imagine! After a rough semester last year, I was worried about coming back and with whom I would hang out with. The first couple weeks was filled with sitting in the room a lot just hanging out trying to find someone to hang out with. I was worried I would not have a solid group of friends to hang out with this year. God taught me to go outside of my comfort zone and to be intentional with people, but I was still worried that even after that I still would not have anyone.

I have Philippians for on my dry erase board in my room, and it is one of my favorite verses! God always pulls this verse out and reminds me of it at the perfect times. I began praying everyday that God would provide me some friends up here in Boone that I could hang out with and grow closer too, and that would also help me in my walk with Him. Well, God took that prayer request and provided me with more friends than I could handle. He has blessed me so much these past couple of weeks, and I am so grateful for the people He has put into my life!

This weekend has been one of the best weekend I have had up here in Boone. Hanging out with some awesome people Friday night. The Wonderful William Walter took Dusty, Maggie, and I to Chilis, and then we watched Captain America. The ending was pretty bad, but the movie in general was pretty good. Saturday, went to Trinity Baptist to do some painting and some other work. God has definitely blessed that Church. They are soooo nice and genuine. Pastor Nathan was so awesome, and the people that went to help out were pretty hilarious. I don't think I have laughed this much in a longgg time.

Saturday was the perfect day to go to the parkway! Dusty and I chased a deer; it was pretty epic. We made the deer run out in front of a car, which could have ended pretty badly, but it was still pretty awesome. My goal before graduation is to touch a deer. We watched the beautiful sunset. God's creation is beyond beautiful! Enjoyed listening to Patrick Austin's guitar playing, and enjoyed bonding with Sarah, Lindsay, Anna, Dusty, Caroline, and Meg. That night we went night hiking. It was pretty adventurous to say the least. The group left me for a little bit, so I got to see what Helen Keller felt like. I was trying to find my way in the dark, tripping over a couple rocks and sticks. Lucky my blanket saved me, and saved me from some rapist! (Caroline haha). We attempted to start a fire, but that was an Epic Fail! It turned out better though, we laid on a huge rock and looked at the stars and saw some shooting stars. Like I said, beautiful does not even come close to describing God's creation. The fellowship with some awesome friends was great. I got to get to know my friends a little better, and got to share some pretty scary and funny stories.

Today, I somehow slept through my alarm and missed church. Pretty disappointed in myself, but my quiet time made up for it! I really wanna try going homeless for a month. Sounds crazy, but lately all my devotions are about looking through the eyes of the less fortunate. I would love to see put myself in their position. I am applying to work with some organization that volunteers to help the homeless. I am pretty excited! This afternoon, I went and cooked with the Prayer Team for the BCM Thanksgiving feast tomorrow night. I absolutely LOVE those people. We had such an awesome time, and cooked some delicious foods. Learned a lot about each other, especially Stephanie! (She surprised me haha). After that we I went to the SRC to play some Volleyball. Looking forward to this game all day, and it was cancelled. The other team didn't have enough girls. #disappointed but we are going to the Championship tomorrow HOLLA!

So to say the least, God has blessed me with some awesome friends. I love seeing God's power. From last semester to now, God has filled me up with so much joy, and I cannot praise him enough for answering my prayers and providing for me. It has been a truly amazing semester so far, and I cannot wait to see what else God has planned for this school year!

Beautiful sunset at Price Lake

Love the 5th floor girls!

Painting at Trinity Baptist

Shannon's Birthday!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

"Come now, let us settle the matter," Says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18

I love snow! I guess it's a good thing I go to Appalachian then. After leaving my prayer team meeting at BCM house this morning, I walked out into the flurry that was covering campus. The first thing that came to my mind (after, "hey, it's snowing!) was Isaiah 1:18. My sins were once as red as crimson, but God made them as white as the snow falling on my face. It amazes me that even in times when we fall short (which I know I fall short of his glory a lot), he still loves me enough to forgive me of my sins.

As I sit in the lobby of my dorm staring out my window at the snow, I cannot help but to think of every snowflake as a sin that has been forgiven. Each one that falls from the sky represents a sin that God has forgiven and made white. No matter how much snow falls to the ground, they are all white. No matter how many sins we commit, God still loves us and is cleansing us of those sins. It is amazing how little things such as snow can symbolize such a huge topic such as God's love and forgiveness.

I was reading my devotional today, The Voice of the Martyrs: Extreme Devotion,  the story the author shared was of a little girl who was beaten because of her faith. The girl was given a white dress when she accepted Christ as her savior. This white dress symbolized God cleansing her heart and making her pure and as white as snow. As the little girl was lying on her death bed waiting her arrival of her new home, she asked for this dress, that was now covered in blood. This dress represents her new life in Christ. The blood that covered the dress was shed as the little girl's father beat her for her faith.   The little girl states, 

"Please, I want to show the dress to Jesus. He was willing to bleed for me. I just want Jesus to know that I was willing to bleed for him"

Sadly enough, the little girl died shortly after saying this. Once the girl accepted Christ as her savior and was made white as snow, she was willing to give up her life for Christ. She was willing to wear the white dress as just more than a dress, but as a symbol of her new life in Christ. Christ shed his blood on the cross to make us white as snow, and this little girl shed her blood to show Jesus how thankful she was for the love and forgiveness he gave her.

As I sit here wishing the snow would stick, I reflect on my life and the new life that Christ has given me. The joy he has filled me up with, and unconditional love he gives me. Am I willing to shed my blood to tell others about the blood shed to make me white as snow? Is the new and pure life that Christ has given me reflecting on my daily actions? As I close out this blog, I pray that you take the moment to reflect on the forgiveness God has poured out on you, and reflect on how he has made you white as snow.

"As the rain and the snow come down from Heaven, and do not return to it without water the earth and making it bud and flourish, that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

Flood of Freedom: Freedom of Evangelism

God took the second service in Flood of Freedom in a completely different direction! God showed that He was in total control yet again. 20 of us gathered in the gym of the Ruby C. Hunt YMCA and talked for nearly two hours about what it means to be a true follower of Christ, and what it means to be intentional with others in order to spread the love of God to others. It was an awesome night of fellowship, prayer, and reading scripture. God was moving among us that night, and God was glorified. Even though God took the service in a completely different direction, I know He still prepared the sermon. I figured, why not share it with everyone else besides my monkey Ty? So I pray that as you read this that God will speak to you and that he will open your eyes and hearts to His wonders. Note: Some parts relate to Not a Fan  by Kyle Idleman.

Read: Matthew 28:19-20; 19:16-22; Luke 9:57-62;

Acts 8:26-40; 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Pray that God will prepare your heart for what you are about 
to read, and that he will speak to you through this.

What is a disciple? The definition from both the dictionary and the one we can construct from scripture is “a follower of Jesus.” Note that it doesn’t say a “fan” of Jesus but a follower of Jesus. Well, what exactly is the difference? Think of the game follow the leader; I know it’s a preschool game, but think of the object of the game. You have the leader, and everyone else tries to copy and do exactly what the leader. While following the leader, it is ok to mess up. The leader doesn’t just kick us out of the game; we just try our best to do exactly what the leader is doing. That is a follower. Christ is our leader, and we are trying to be just like him. The word Christian means “little Christ.” We are trying to be just like Christ, and obeying everything that He does. Now, a fan of follow the leader likes the idea of the game, but might not necessarily play it. He might try to be the leader instead of being the follower. Think of a sporting event you have been to recently. There are many fans at the game. They might have signs, cowbells, painted faces, shirts, whatever else you name it. They cheer for the game, but they aren’t actually out there playing the game. You know what a fan looks like. Well Jesus also has fans. A fan might attend church on Sunday mornings, but by Saturday they are out partying and living their lives the way they want to. A fan might put Christian as their Facebook religion and having a Jesus fish on their car, but not really have a true relationship with Christ. When times are good, a fan puts a Facebook status up with a bible verse, but when times get bad they deny God and do things their own way (I am guilty of this myself). See what it means to be a fan of Christ? In Matthew 7:21 it says,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of God, but only he who does the will of my father who is in Heaven.”

So just because we claimed we are a Christian, does not mean we will enter the Kingdom of God. There is no such thing as a Luke warm Christian. In Revelation 3:16 it says,

“So, because you are a lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth”

Being just a fan of Jesus isn’t enough; we have to be a follower of Jesus, which is, by definition, a disciple of Jesus. Simply repeating a prayer after someone, raising your hands during worship, walking down in front of everyone doesn’t mean we will enter the gates of Heaven. We can’t just live for Christ on Sunday’s during church, but we have to live for Christ every day, all day, anywhere, and everywhere. We have to have a relationship with Christ, following Him in all that we do.

No one said as soon as you turn your life to Christ that your life will be perfect. Being a Christian is tough. Luke 9:23 says,”

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross DAILY to follow me!”

We are told we must give up everything in order to be a follower of Christ. You see in the first passage we read, Jesus told the man to sell EVERYTHING he had. In order to be a disciple, we must give up everything we have. We have to deny ourselves and take up our cross DAILY. Not just Sundays or Wednesday, but EVERYDAY. In the passage of Luke that we read, it says that we must leave everything. He tells one man that He might not have a home. He tells the other man that He can’t say bye to his family. In order to be a true follower of Christ, we must give up ourselves and live fully for Christ. There will be times when we feel like God is nowhere near us. We might feel alone, confused, rejected, hurt, or whatever emotion there is, but if we are true followers of Christ, we remain faithful to him even in the deepest times because He is always there. He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

One of the reasons that I started Flood of Freedom is because I was focused on the Persecuted Christian. God taught me through the Persecuted Christian what it really means to be a follower of Christ. They risk their lives to study the bible, to pray, and to tell others of their faith, while we have a church on every corner and we have so many other idols in our lives. They give up everything; they risk their lives, their family’s lives, and their homes to follow Christ. They drop everything to be a disciple of Christ. Are we doing that? Are we giving up our desires and plans to follow God’s plan? Are we going out and giving up everything to follow Christ? I know I haven't been doing that in my life. When Jesus calls Simon Peter and Andrew (2 of the disciples) to follow him, they dropped their fishing nets, which were pretty much their lives, to follow Him. In my bible it says they IMMEDIATELY dropped their nets and followed. That’s what we must do. When God calls our name, we must IMMEDIATELY drop what we are doing and follow. We must obey!

When God calls us out of our comfort zone, we must go. I hate public speaking with a passion. If you were at the last service or heard me talk about it, you saw or know how nervous and stressed out I got. I like playing the background, not having the spotlight, but God called me to lead this which required public speaking. The only answer I could give was yes. No I’m not an incredible speaker, and I don’t feel like I was prepared to speak, but GOD DOESN’T CALL THE PREPARED; HE PREPARES THE CALLED! If God calls you to do something; go! You don’t have to have a seminary degree. You don’t even have to be the greatest speaker. You don’t even really have to say anything. The bible tells us He will do the speaking!

When God tells us to go somewhere, the only answer is yes. If God tells us to go sit with someone at lunch that is alone we must go, and we all know the feeling when we feel like we should talk to them, but we just don’t want to. When we feel that call, we shouldn’t say to God, “What will my friends think?” “I can’t talk to him, he doesn’t look like me.” Or “No, God I just won’t go” That shouldn’t be our thoughts or response. We should say, “Here I am, send me! What incredible thing do you have planned for this?” Philip could have easily said, “No God I just don’t want to go talk to that guy. He is different from me. What will all my friends and the other disciples think of me?” He didn’t say that. If you notice it says he RAN to the eunuch. If God guides, God provides. If he is calling us to go somewhere, there is a reason behind it. We might not know what the reason may be at the time, but the only thing we can do is obey and go.

“Making disciples” might not be as easy as saying follow Christ, we must build that relationship with that person. By building a relationship, we will form trust and able to talk to them about what it means to be a follower. Building a relationship with someone we might not usually build a relationship will open doors for them to see how you are living for Christ and why you act the way you do. God will use that for his glory and lives will be changed! It is our job to plant the seed; it’s God’s job to make them Grow. We have to plant in order for something to grow! We are commanded to go out. Some say they haven’t “been called.” Well, everyone is called to make disciples. It is everyone's mission to go out and proclaim the glory of God. You don’t have to have a fancy degree or anything. God does the work. Simply smiley at someone, helping someone out, building a relationship with someone, there are so many kinds of ways to plant that seed. We can’t just speak the word; we have to also live it! We have to show them even through the rough time, our God is still there. Even when we feel rejected and hurt, He is still there. God will heal. We have to teach the world what it really means to be a follower. We have to show them what it means to pick up our cross daily. We have to go out. No matter if we are at our schools, homes, neighborhoods, work areas, state, nation, or a foreign nation. We must go out and take the name of God to all places! Everyone must hear the greatness of our God. So are you willing to give up everything in order to be a follower and to make his name known? Are you picking up your cross daily? Are we fans or followers?

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