Hopeful...

I have been thinking a lot about how easy it is to get depressed because of sin, and feel unable to move on or change. Especially going back into school (or into a work world, or any unfamiliar setting), it's easy to be afraid of the world--will they just pull me down? Look at all this sin; how could I ever get out of it?? I've really been convicted of this lately, and spoken to about it--GOD is able to give us all the power we need! But here are some verses:

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6)

God promises to be with us as long as we desire to serve Him--He is not going to let us go! But we must cling to Him! Press into spiritual discipleship, read His Word, memorize verses! He promises to protect us and be with us!!

"You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Revelation 2:3-5)

Ok this is more of a warning: Don't leave the revival in July and August! Persevere for the glory of Christ, and He will bless you! Don't forsake the love you have for Christ now. How easy it is to be dulled by the world!

I wanted to share these last two verses as encouragement:

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)

"And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34)

Christ knows what you are going through--He was tempted to feel depressed, to go against His Father's authority, to not want the will of the Father. Yet through it, He did the will of the Father. And think about this--sometimes I feel like God has forsaken me and then I realize my sin is inhibiting me from talking to and communing with Him. But Christ was on the cross, TRULY forsaken, like we could never know, for OUR sake. Living in a way that pleases Christ is glorifying to Him and so small compared to the great work He did for us on the cross!!


P.S. I was really convicted because I had a couple words of each of these verses in my head but didn't have them memorized and didn't know really where they were in the Bible...thank goodness for technology and biblegateway.com, but phew I really need to memorize!!

Love you all! Happy Monday!

My Heart is Deceitful

"The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it? "
(Jeremiah 17:9)


MY heart is deceitful. My heart deceives others, and my heart deceives my mind into thinking that I know best, that even sin is ok because it's with 'right motives', that it's not really sin.

Above all things--above the feelings of love, above the desire to serve God, above the right inclinations. More than anything, the heart is deceitful. What a scary thought!!

Beyond cure--our hearts are not going to change by any effort of our own. It is a daily effort to fight evil and a daily prayer that God will change our hearts. We have no idea the depths of the depravity of our own hearts!!

"Who can understand it?"--the moment we start thinking our hearts are not deceitful; the moment we start thinking we are strong enough to stand on our own in moments of weakness or temptation; the moment we think we are doing 'fine'...that is when our hearts are most deceitful. We can not truly understand or trust a person who is always lying, and similarly, we can not truly understand or trust our hearts! Instead, we must trust God!


I cannot trust what my heart convinces me that I want. I cannot rest in being 'fine' if that is what my heart tells me I am. My heart is deceitful. I can only trust God and obey Him. Trust and obey...