in him is the fullness of all things

"  Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues;   if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people, and these will get well.” Mark 16:17-18 This was the reality that the disciples walked in once they received the Holy Spirit. Actually, it wasn't just the disciples...the book of Acts records numerous believers who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, laid hands on and healed people. I used to think that this was something that was reserved for the "super spiritual" people but that couldn't be further from the truth! Every believer of Jesus Christ has access to the same power that raised Christ from the dead. We ALL have the ability to hear from God. He is all about advancing his Kingdom and pushing against the darkness with his light and he wants to partner with us! It's amazing. Tonight, a group of us fro...

God's ways are so marvelous and mysterious...try as we might, we just cannot figure him out. I know that I go through (embarrassingly many) seasons where I feel like I've figured him out and then God totally shatters whatever limitations that I placed on him. I love it when he does that.  So often I find myself believing the lie that God can only speak to me when I have been "really spiritual", whatever that even means. Well I was not feeling super spiritual when I returned from Chicago. I was so wrapped up in seeing my friends and family that I allowed it to pull my attention away from the Father. I found myself in this really weird place where, even though I was surrounded by earthly fellowship with his body, I was not fellowshipping with him directly. Does that make sense? Each day that passed without me praying or spending time in the word really took it's toll on me. I was asking God to zap me with some spiritual motivation and was frustrated when that w...

So I'm sitting here, trying to study infectious diseases, and my mind keeps on drifting to marriage. Successful marriages. Failed marriages. Marriage between Jesus and his bride. Marriage between me and ______(insert hunky, loving, man of God) If anyone knows me, they know that I don't try to make it any secret that I am excited to be married to the man that God has planned for me. The idea of picking one person to do life with as long as I walk this earth is so exciting. But it's also scary. I would be lying if I said that I didn't have the (small)  fear of having a failed marriage. I mean, just looking at the statistics and the prevalence of divorce, it's hard not to be a little scared...no one goes into marriage (hopefully) expecting  to get divorced...and yet more than 50% of marriages end that way.  I wonder if it is because people have unrealistic ideas of what marriage is going to be like, or the purpose for which God intended it. I think that apart ...

via Is it human nature to automatically expect the worst outcome? Or am I alone in this? I am not sure. But recently, I have been noticing my tendency to let my mind imagine the worst possible outcome and then plan for that. I think that on some level, this tendency has always been there, but it has definitely emerged in all it's glory (or not) since I have started pharmacy school. I do poorly on a test and I automatically begin to make plans for what will happen when (not if ) I fail the course. I haven't heard back from a friend after a few attempts to get in contact with them and I automatically think that maybe they are mad at me/don't want to be friends with me or that I have offended them in some way. Or I am afraid to ask someone a question because I just know  that they are going to answer the opposite of how I want them to answer...so I just don't ask the question. I used to think that it was proactive for me to hope for the best while expecting and ...

It's crazy how being in the presence of God changes everything. Worship has this unreal ability to shift our perspective. We go from setting our eyes on things that are fleeting--fear, hardship, stress, anxiety--to setting them on the One who never changes. All those things suddenly seem so small and insignificant in the light of who our God is. This has been a very trying last couple of months. While I was so blessed  with the opportunity to go back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have found that going home always seems to make returning here that much more difficult. This term has been INCREDIBLY difficult and I find myself questioning why I am here all the time . I know that is probably not the best thing but I think that most of it has to do with the fact that being here is keeping my from being at home with my friends and family. And also...there was a boy. And things didn't work out. And God has been gracious in allowing my heart to heal and by allowing me to ...

So this morning I was listening to a teaching on identity and was totally wrecked by this passage in Revelation 2:17 that reads:   “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives  it. ” Here are some of the truths that the Lord ministered to my heart as I read this passage. 1) The Lord gives us a new name , a secret name.   This signifies intimacy. You only have special names for those with whom you are very close to and care deeply for. The fact that God will give  me a new name etched in stone,  that is unique and different than the name that he gives to his other kids speaks volumes of the uniqueness of my relationship with him. 2) The white stone signifies justification .  Apparently in the days that John wrote this passage, stones wer...

The orphan clings to Your hand Singing the song of how he was found The widow rejoices For her oppressors are silenced now You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore When You could just be silent and leave us here to die Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side The runaway falls at Your feet You are what he has searched for The rich man is broken When he stands beneath a sky full of stars You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore When You could just be silent and leave us here to die Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore When You could just be silent and leave us here to die Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side Still, You sent Your Son for us You are on our side

Sometimes, I try and run away from God--not necessarily deliberately, but subconsciously, I guess. I get caught up in a cycle of sin and I think that God is too angry with me and that there is no way that I could possibly face him. Have you ever felt that way? Whenever I find myself in that place, the Lord seems to draw me back with this song. [Luke 15:11-32] In a whirlwind caught away Broken lips have carried you to a place Where you don't know just how you ever got this far away from here Thinking somehow you could cross the point of no return But my love will never end Whatever reason you've been running I just don't care anymore Already forgotten whatever happened with what went wrong I just want you to come home Incarcerated, borrowed shame Freedom was the promise they took away And now you're left with what you find so hard is forgiving yourself I see something far away Could this be the day to take you in these arms and wash all of the wasted days and year...

It was a beautiful let down When I crashed and burned When I found myself alone, unknown and hurt It was a beautiful let down The day I knew That all the riches this world had to offer me Would never do. In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubt I was trying so hard to fit in, fit in, Until I found out I don't belong here . (Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot) Sometimes, I am so easily distracted. Have you ever noticed that it's when you are doing something important, like homework, chores, QUIET TIME WITH THE LORD, that all of a sudden your mind gets filled with all these "super important" (not really, though) things that just skip a million levels on the priority ladder? Since when was checking the weather more important than seeking the face of God early in the morning? The answer is never; it's never more important. I just get distracted from what is important. This past weekend, I heard something incredibly profound. A pastor said that as we grow in fa...

everywhere and every way every moment of the day it is the right time for the Father above He is listening in love and He wants to answer us so let us pray hehe praise the Lord for 90's contemporary christian music. But seriously, prayer is probably one of the most important if not the most important aspect of one's walk with God. Charles Spurgeon even goes as far as to say this: " You are no Christian if you do not pray. A prayerless soul is a Christless soul." More quotes from him later. I have always desired intimacy with God. I wanted to know him better, to feel him closer, yet I was not willing to set aside time (legitimate time) to spend with him. It was a few minutes here, a couple seconds there. Nothing near what He deserves. Then, about 3 weeks ago, my pastor took a break from Proverbs and took a whole Sunday to exhort the church to pray. He talked about how corporate prayer leads to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then it just hit me: You ca...

So it's monday and everyone is back from Shasta. Even though I am a bit bummed that I wasn't able to go, I am SO EXCITED to hear about lives changed through Jesus Christ. It has been my prayer and the prayer of many that God would move just as strongly in the lives of those who could not be at Shasta as he did in the lives of those that went. Well, so far, God has been faithful to answer this prayer in my life over these past few days. One of the ways was through a teaching from Solid Rock , a Christian church in the Portland area. Several months ago, they did a series on Heaven, a series which I downloaded and listened to. I was listening to the last sermon in the series preached by Phil Comer on judgments and rewards. There was something that he referenced that particularly struck a chord in my heart (and was very convicting to be honest!) In Matthew 12:36, Jesus says that on judgment day people will be held responsible for every idle (careless) word that they have ever spoke...

{pc: google } I once heard it said that no one stands in front of the ocean and boasts about how much they can bench press. I think the point was that there is something about the vastness of the ocean that leaves us awestruck, almost to the point of speechlessness. This weekend I have the opportunity to take some time away from everything and go to the coast with just my small group girls and the Lord and spend time in prayer and worship in the presence of one of the most beautiful aspects of God's creation and I can't wait. For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes-his eternal power and divine nature-have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1.20 Whether it is rainy or sunny, warm or cold, take some time this weekend to truly relish the Creator and his creation. Blessings.

here is a thought: no one who is guilty celebrates justice. Isn't that right? Justice is never celebrated by the guilty. Rather, mercy is. Our merciful Father sent His only son to bear God's just wrath for a sinful race. Jesus was brutally murdered for us. But he didn't stay that way. He arose in victory that blessed Resurrection Sunday, defeating sin and death once and for all. Now, through faith in the risen Christ we can have eternal life. Now we have right standing before a righteous God. Now we can have peace with God forever. And you know what the best part is? HE IS COMING BACK AGAIN . Be blessed by this song.

hmm, well after an eternity of inactivity, I AM BACK! These past few weeks have been somewhat crazy, you know, with finals and studying for finals. oh the woes of being a college student. But, Alas! Spring is here and its sunny , which according to the weather forecast is not going to be the case starting tomorrow and lasting a long time. So, carpe diem, yes? I have been thinking a lot about heaven lately and just reflecting on how my view of heaven has changed so much over the last few years. I used to not be super excited about heaven simply because it sounded kind of boring. I mean, eternity is long time, right? I remember thinking about the return of Christ with the mindset of "it would be cool if Jesus came back BUT I want to get married first" or "I want to have kids first." I think that these thoughts stemmed from an ignorance or perhaps a lack of knowledge of what heaven would be like. Although it is impossible for one to fully describe what heaven is like w...

What do I mean by this. Well, a wise man (Solomon!)once said that "life and death lie in the power of the tongue" There is an incredible amount of power in your testimony. God has done such a unique work in your life but I don't believe that it's supposed to stop with you. One way that the enemy tries to isolate us is just by making us think that we are the only ones struggling with________ and that isolation can be instrumental in keeping us in that cycle of sin. I think that God brings us through certain things because he knows that by us sharing them it will be an encouragement and a blessing to somebody else and even give them the courage to share what they've been through or even ask for prayer for what they are struggling with. Sometime I will share my whole testimony but seeing as I'm supposed to be sleeping/or doing homework, I gotta make this short. My 2nd pastor(basically), Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX encourages the memb...

Aren't you glad that God doesn't love some future version of you? That He didn't choose you thinking "I'll pick her to be my child, clean her up so she doesn't sin as much, then I'll show her my unconditional love." Because that's probably what I would do if I were God. Or I would tell mankind "you're not good enough right now, but come see me in a few years when you have cleaned up your act a bit and then we'll talk." I think that some people have that mindset of God. I'll admit, I did for a really long time. I thought that I had to follow a checklist of things: don't cuss, don't drink, and don't have sex. Do all of these things and you can earn God's love! I was really religious. I thought that God was this giant policeman in the sky waiting for me to screw up so he could unleash his wrath on me. There is a huge difference between religion and Christianity. With religion, you must obey in order to gain Chris...

First of all, I thought that this was adorable: HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck. - Rick, age 10 Valentine's Day used to be my favorite holiday, not because of how romantic it was or because I had a special someone to share it with. No, Valentine's Day was my favorite holiday because in elementary school it was a day that meant I could enjoy copious amounts of candy, courtesy of my classmates.(You might wonder, what about Halloween? Well that was a holiday that we did not celebrate in our family and therefore I never got to reap the "benefits" of trick-or-treating.)You remember, everyone in the class bought those bulk cheesy one-line Valentine's cards for the entire class and attached some kind of sweet heart-shaped chocolate or something. My 2nd grade Valentine's day was particularly memorable because I had 40(yes, 40) kids in my class so that meant 40 different Valentine's! Anyways,...

So yesterday night, roughly half and hour before new years, I penned my new years resolutions. Here is what they were: +To be characterized by my love and therefore as a follower of Christ +To give with reckless abandon +To leave behind complacency +To fearlessly and unapologetically proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who the Lord has purposefully surrounded me with Now, these seemed like pretty good resolutions to me and I remember thinking "Yeah, these are good. But what are the chances that I will actually keep them?" After all, I'm pretty sure that last years resolutions didn't actually make it past the resolutions stage (In fact, to be completely honest, I dont even remember the resolutions that I made last year). But isn't that how it goes? We decide that this year we will excercise more, read a book every month, learn a new instrument, read our bibles everyday, etc...good resolutions. But not too far down the road, we tend to forget or neglect ...

I've been reading this book called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Lately, I've been really convicted about the way that the church is responding to the poverty and suffering of people in our backyard. But even more recently, I have been convinced that it is more important to strive to become the church that Jesus wants us to be instead of complain about what the church is doing wrong. Here is an excerpt from the book. I remember hearing about an old comic strip back in the days of St. Ed's. Two guys are talking to each other and one of them says he has a question for God. He wants to ask why God allows all of this poverty and war and suffering to exist in the world. And his friend says, "Well, why don't you ask?" The fellow shakes his head and says he is scared. When his friend asks why, he mutters,"I'm scared God will ask me the same question." Over and over, when I ask God why all of these injustices are allowed to exist in the...

Hello Everyone:) Do you ever have one of those days where you just want to sit next to a window with the view of campus on a sunny day and just reflect on all that the Lord has done for you? Well that should be everyday but alas, today is one of the only sunny days that we will have for a while so here I sit, soaking it in. Today was an early day for me: getting up at 6 am, leaving the house at 7 am, getting to morning devo at 7:15 and being thouroughly blessed through worship, getting in the Word, finally followed by a sweet time of prayer with dear friends. Now if that isn't a way to start out a morning, then I dont know what is! The Lord has been whispering so many nuggets of wisdom and truth into my heart today. The most pressing being that I need to have my joy rooted in Christ alone. Not only in His blessings, for there will come dry seasons when His blessings don't look the way I think that they should, and I need to be joyful even those times. When my joy is solely root...