I. LOVE. PAUL.

Home sweet home...yesterday I took a mini get away trip from the fast pace life in Dallas to the SUPER simple life in Arkansas. Usually on my trips home, I read..think..think and think some more. Today, I got my nails done with my mom and nanny..had lunch with the baby sister...and now am hanging out at my grandparents house. I decided to do a little reading out of the best book EVER...the word of God. As I was trying to figure out what I wanted to read, I decided to just read over some of my highlighted scripture.If you go through my bible..you will notice alot of highlighting throughout the new testament. As most of us know, Paul wrote the majority of the new testament. As Ive read over the years, He has captured my heart. There are 2 characters out of the Bible that I must meet when I get to Heaven (besides Jesus), one being David...and one being Paul. My my my goodness...when I read throughout, I am amazed at Pauls passion towards Christ and love for the people. In majority of his writings, he was in prison, wrapped in chains...yet while in chains, he wasnt necessarily concerned about himself,or how he could be free..he was more concerned for others and their freedom. We could all learn a huge lesson from Paul...Today in my blog, I just wanted to simply write out some scriptures that have influenced me to be steadfast and strong...helping me to press on towards the prize :) Life is a never ending learning process. Its hard...BUT we have to keep on keeping on! There is nothing more refreshing than reading the word of God. His word is truth...His word is life. Our emotions are fickle...our circumstances change..Dont submit to your emotions...but stand on the unchanging promises of Jesus Christ. He came, he died so that we could walk in the authority of Christ...forgetting what is behind...not worrying about tomorrow, but embracing today. So be encouraged my friends as you eat from the bread of life...

"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once i was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. BESIDES EVERYTHING ELSE, I FACE DAILY THE PRESSURE OF MY CONCERN FOR ALL THE CHURCHES. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?" **This scripture amazes me....its obvious that Paul is targeted by the enemy to be destroyed. If anyone has room to complain, its Paul...yet after everything, he says that he faces daily pressure of concern for all the churches...AMAZING**

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.."

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but NOT crushed; perplexed on every side, but NOT in despair; persecuted, but NOT abandoned, struck down, but NOT destroyed! we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed.."

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary trouble are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

"We put no stumbling block in anyones path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distressed; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yes possessing everything."

"In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Gods grace taht he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reched their fulfillment-- to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."

"Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that i will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which i am an ambassador in chains. Pray taht I may declare it fearlessly, as i should."

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. the Lord is enar. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content wahtever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. i have learned the secret of being conten in any and every situation, whether well fed of hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength."

"Since you died with Christ to the basic priciples of this world, why as though you still belonged to it, do not submit to its rules: do not handle! do not taste! do not touch! These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings."

"Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory."

"Therefore, as Gods chosen people. holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. FORGIVE AS THE LORD FORGAVE YOU. And over all these virtues put on LOVE, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the mos of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so tha you may know how to answer everyone."

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easilty entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART."

His word is life...

Enjoy..and allow the word of God to transform your heart and mind just as it has done for me..
His word is life...

Romans 6
"What shall we say,then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or dont you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with hm. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; DEATH NO LONGER HAS MASTERY OVER HIM. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather you offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall NOT be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Dont you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

On a positive note...thank you.

Laying here on my bed with a million thoughts running through this head of mine...One of them being..."I should blog." As most of you know, Im a pretty open book. I love expressing myself, whether it be a one on one conversation...or through a little blog. Due to the craziness of my schedule these days, I can never find any time to blog...and if I do, I dont feel like blogging...but tonight is different...its pretty necessary that I express myself. Even if noone reads, I need to vent :) If you have read any of my previous blogs, you see that I talk a lot about Jesus and spiritual things...well dont be surprised when this one pretty much mentions the very same thing as all the other ones. What can I say...? I love Jesus...and Im a spiritual individual. I live and breathe Jesus Christ..therefore I must talk about Him..things he has done..things he is doing. Over the past 5 months, wow, has my life changed. I have taken huge steps of faith..literally having to trust the hand of God to guide and sustain me. It has been absolutely amazing..yet challenging..draining...stretching...exciting..all at the same time. How about i just call it an emotional rollercoaster ride...in a good way (if thats possible). Recently, the enemy has really targeted my emotions...I always hate the process of fighting, separating my emotions from the truth (word of God). Ill be the first to admit that it is stinkin hard...BUT necessary. Do i always allow truth to win? Heck no! Alot of the time I allow my emotions to win...but then I get up and dust myself off again...and again. As I was laying here tonight...me, God, and the enemy were battling it out. I was talking to God..."Really God...why the heck do I feel this way...Im so sick of being up and down...all around...I feel like a failure for so many different reasons...blah blah blah..." Then to the enemy.." You are a liar...I am strong...I am not weak..I am fighter..and I will overcome by the power of Christ who lives within ME!" The conversation continued..until finally, I decided to settle for a quickfix...which for me is..just forcing myself to go to sleep..only to wake up to a new day. Yes, that works sometimes because Im just a retarded girl who is emotional because, well, us women are emotional...but tonight it was more than me being a silly girl. I needed to declare victory...and the way this was/is gonna happen is pretty simple... declaring the goodness of Jesus and all that He has done for me. So.. all that to say..my mindset completely changed from negative nancy to positive polly ;) I began to think of who I was...who I had surrounded my life with...where I was headed..and where I should be...then I began to think of who I am now...who I have surrounded my life with..where Im headed...and because of the GREATNESS and FAITHFULNESS of my precious Savior, I now LIVE again!!! So bare with me as I take a moment to thank my Heavenly Father for all the things he has given me and all the people he has strategically placed in my life for such a time as this...

"WOW...Lord... This isnt a prayer to ask you for anything...but this message is from the bottom of my heart to simply thank you for your goodness. When I truly sit back and dwell on all youve done...my heart begins to race..and I slowly but surely begin to feel that liberty that I once felt when you called me back home into your loving arms of security. Its so easy to get caught up in life and allow the focus to be on the things that will soon all pass away...so forgive me...I dont want this to be about me...but I want my eyes to focus with your eyes...and my heart to beat to the rhythm of your heart. Thank you for your amazing grace...oh how sweet the sound. :) Thank you for all creation...the stars that shine so bright...the ocean waves that clap to give you praise...for the blue sunny sky that always puts a pep in my step :)...Thank you for my family...I couldnt have asked for anyone more perfect...we're far from perfect...but the positives made me great...and the negatives made me greater. My family is my earthly rock... you knew exactly what I needed to make it through...so thank you, thank you, thank you for them. Thank you for amazing friends...that have walked with me through the darkest moments of my life...who have surrounded me and stood in the gap for me when I was too weak to fight on my own... Thank you for Trinity Church...who has slowly but surely become my other family...thank you for such incredible pastoral leadership that pushes me to not settle for anything less than MORE MORE MORE of YOU. Thank you for my best friend...the love of my life...who makes me better..who helps me to see you in completely new ways than I ever have..He loves me for me and simply makes me the happiest lady in the world. When i look at him, i see your grace...your faithfulness. Oh Father,your promises are true...You do...make all things new. Thank you for loving me Jesus....for your blood that was shed to wash away every stain...all filth...thank you for the nails that pierced your body, all to cancel MY sin and shame...thank you for the stripes that you took to heal my broken heart...the stripes that paved the way for the cancer free zone at Trinity Church...the stripes that heal and restore!! Thank you for your death...because now I live forever...and ever...and I will tell of your goodnesss...i will tell the world that YOU live...not just with my mouth..but with my life. I live to worship you... Thank you for listening...I know you hear me...I know you see me...I know that you already knew about this blog...and may this blog open the eyes of every person who reads it...to be reminded that although life is a rollercoaster ride...we CAN rest assure in the fact that YOU, Oh God, are the same yesterday, today, and forever...and this I know...and I thank you...I love you... "