I've Got a Gift For you!

I've been thinking about True Love A LOT lately since I've enrolled in online courses. Thinking about love between Christ and His bride soon led me to pondering about the love between a man and a woman. And I've been asking God questions about it and I'm learning it's a beautiful thing and precious in His eyes.

So many of us are sick of hearing that dread L-word because, let's be honest, Hollywood and society in general just abuse it. We love our books, our clothes, our dog and the way our green beans are cooked. When we compare the same feeling to a human being that we declare over our dinner food isn't really the same emotions at all!

The truth is, love is a very special, very sacred, very precious thing--ESPECIALLY the love between a man and a woman. It is one of the richest of emotions that should not be taken or treated lightly. Although I have not personally experienced it in the aspect of marriage and the precursor of courting, I feel the weight of its power even as I stand and observe it at a distance. So I find myself searching the scriptures and asking God what He says about it.

In my searching I found one of the most cliche verses and suddenly beheld it in a new light.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..." Without these, the writer continues, we have nothing--no love at all!

My final thoughts I want to leave with all of you before I get to my Valentines day gift for my readers is this:

No matter what age you are, or what place you are at in a relationship, if you think you have found The One, it is best to ask yourself this question: speaking in future terms, do I want to daily walk out all of these fruits of love and place myself on the alter of sacrifice for this person year after year, month after month, day after day, minute after minute EVEN IF THEY DON'T DO THE SAME FOR ME? It may take a long time to answer this question but if you find that you eventually can with the grace of Christ, I'm convinced your love together will be completely everlasting...like these couples. =)

WARNING: ALL of these videos produce many warm fuzzies in your heart that makes your hair follicles tingle and your lips say, "Aaawww!! How cute!!"








http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2009/October/Couple-Celebrates-80-Years-of-Marriage/

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2010/October/Couple-Married-Almost-70-Years-Met-in-Prison/

Happy Valentines Day to all of my friends and family, both taken and single. God has wonderful plans for you!
Sincerely,
~Rose

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Pardon My Sniffles: Personal Yupdate.

Hello beautiful people of the cyber world who poke around at my blog. I can't see you but hey, I acknowledge you and say thanks for reading my updates and stuff.

So it's that terrible time of year when the inside of your throat looks like a strawberry and you drink more herbal tea then the Boston Tea Party could ever throw overboard in 1773. Yes, I'm sick. I feel like someone took a balloon and inflated it inside of my head. Ugh! Pray for me. I'm achy and stuffy and this odd colored stuff comes up whenever I cough--not to gross you out or anything. =P

So as I sit here in the quarantine ward of my house sulking and coughing and sneezing and sniffling my way through this illness I decided to write a blog. I took a 21 day break from facebook so the people I'm connected with there might be interested in knowing what's going on with me as well. So here it goes...

I've already established I'm sick so I won't complain anymore about that.

For those of you who don't know, I officially quite my job on February 1st (the day I started feeling ill, mind you). And so begins again my life of immense faith in the Lord. I'm in desperate need of a car and I have some bills to pay but God promised me He was going to provide all of those things. Sometimes fear tries to pull me below waters but I can remember in years past God ALWAYS provided my financial needs--whether through a babysitting job or some miraculous way I always has my needs met.

I know a lot of people look at me awkwardly when I tell them this. "Why would she forsake steady income?" many say aloud and silently. "Surely God wouldn't call her to do such a thing." But the truth is He HAS and I can't do anything but obey him. Honestly His desires and outlook on success is different then ours; that's why I trust Him in this. The scripture that has helped me most in this is the one that says:

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I also thought I should tell you I registered to take four online courses at IHOPU to take the place of my time of working.

When I was seeking God about what to do concerning my job, He led me specifically to the chapter of Isaiah 55. Every word was like a piercing arrow of revelation and I knew that this was the season to equip myself in the ways of God.

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no
money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and
without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on
what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and
your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant
with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
See, I have made him a
witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of the peoples.
Surely
you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will
hasten to you,
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”
Seek the Lord while he may be
found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will
have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
“For my
thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares
the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways
higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain
and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without
watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so 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.
You will go out in
joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst
into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their
hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of
briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an
everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”

Perhaps the content of this scripture applies to something else but the amazing this about the Bible is that it's living and it's God's voice that speaks to you right when you need it no matter what place of life you're in.

The verse that grips my heart is where it says:

Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not
satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will
delight in the richest of fare.

To me, the richest of fare is learning about Jesus and knowing who He is. I feel all tingly even when I wrote that. I want to drink deeply from rivers flowing with the sustenance and knowledge of God. I told God it is my passion and desire to travel the world and do things for His glory before I get married. I want to fill my heart with all Knowledge of the Holy that I might be better equipped in the future to raise a family and run a household in the ways of righteousness. But how can I do that if my knowledge and experiences in God and the Word are somewhat shallow? Okay, VERY shallow. I need to take this season of my life to root and ground myself in the ways of God--I want to live beyond mere Christianity. I want to be counted among one of God's finest, fiery fragrant flowers. It aches me to even think about living a passive, under-aggressive life. My heart yearns to peer into the deeper things of God. And the honest truth is I wasn't able to do that working. I can work any time in the future. But now I feel God beckoning me to learn about him and experience coming up through all my wildernesses leaning on Him.

So yes, that is the in-depth reason I decided to terminate my employment. Not because I'm lazy, not because I feel no Christian should spend their life working and definately not because I have the demented belief that I'm this righteous person too above the working world. On the contrary I feel the call of God to enter this season of equipping and learning--entering a season filled with victories and mistakes. Trust and perseverance. I'm ready and willing! And I'm looking forward to it.

So I ordered my courses and books yesterday. I have six months to complete the classes:
The Excellencies of Christ - Allen Hood
The Eternal Glory of an Intercessor - Corey Russell
The Way of Intimacy - Matt & Dana Candler
Biblical Foundations of Eschatology - David Sliker

Luckily for me the first class they assigned is The Excellencies of Christ. I already own the Course Notes text book and I ordered my class book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper. You can read it for free online but I find I concentrate better with hard back copies so I bought it for about $3.00 at Amazon.

I'm a little nervous because in order for me to finish all four courses within six months, I have to double up my units. So by college standards, a class that would normally take 3 months to finish, I have to complete it in 1 1/2 months. Yikes! And I have an 1800 word final paper in my last unite on the Hypostatic Union (with scripture reference). It counts for a pretty big portion of my overall grade. I was pretty freaked out about all of it (I despise being pressed for time) but I trust God is going to help me. He said he would so I trust him.

I am really looking forward to my class on Eschatology! I've been having this hankering to study and learn about the end-times because I feel that we are living in them. I want to be prepared for whats ahead and have an understanding of what to expect.

As I look at the requirements for this college course, I really see God's hand working in this whole situation. I've been out of school since High School so this is really some major-needed preparation work for when I go to campus in the fall. I'm strengthening my brain muscles again and honestly it's refreshing! I'm scheduling my time with actual paper schedules so I FEEL more productive again. Not to mention every course requires 8 hours of prayer room time--whether at a local church or via free webstream at ihop.org. I'm really looking forward to strengthening my prayer life and setting a prayer foundation for the nation of Germany. It's my goal to step foot on her soils before 2014 and I want to establish a prayer life for her that I might be able to spiritually serve her as well as physically (however God sees fit).

Blash, blah, hah I'm almost finished updating. Hold back that yawn and don't click the little red X just yet.

An opportunity opened up for me at my church that I can work in sound production. Talk about a total God-thing! Yesterday was my first oppertunity to glance over the specs and get a small briefing on how the machinery works. I was slightly overwhelmed even looking at it but I'm not backing down. I know it's the hand of God working all things out for the good of those who love Him. So I'm very excited about this oppertunity. Even if I don't end up working with the sound systems in college I'll at least have gotten over being a chicken when it comes to trying new things.

Last but now least, my mom called my old ballet instructor yesterday and I found out he's teaching class on Mondays! I was so thrilled--he's by far the greatest teacher of all time and taught me so much. I'm hoping to start classes with him again very soon. Ballet has always been a hidden passion of mine so it's great to let it flourish a little again.

So those are my updates. Lengthy but important. Let me go find a tissue and guzzle down some more tea now. I bid my adue.

With all sincerity,

~Rose

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Everyone Needs a Hero As We Play the Background

So I'm going to just jump into this post rather than blah for six paragraphs about how behind I am in my posting.

Okay, so as many of my family and peers know, I am adamantly against rap music. Why? Well, since I've been working the ghetto (give or take) I see how the hip hop culture has so many people caught in its grasp. Hollywood has glamorized it but when you are surrounded around the real thing on all sides, you begin to realize just exactly what it is. It's dirty, selfish, full of sexual perversion, hatred...basically self-gratification of every thing that God calls sinful. That's why I hate rap music; always droppin the sixth-letter bomb every other word and singing about all things that will just be burned in the refining fire of the Holy Spirit.

Even "Christian" rappers made me frown. I'm sorry but Jesus is NOT funky--he's holy and worthy of all glory, power, honor and praise. So many of those rappers in Christian contemporary music glorify themselves in their music and never really talk about the glory and beauty of God.

So when a friend of mine handed me a copy of Lecrae's Rehab I was thinking to myself, "Uh, no. I'm not listening to that. I've heard Christian rappers before. Thank you but no thank you." I ended up accepting the CD anyway out of kindness. I ripped it to my mp3 player and casually scrolled through it. The second song I heard was called, "Background." Not only did it have that soft R&B feel to it, but the lyrics instantly grasped me. I couldn't turn it off for 48 hours (give or take).

The lyrics speak about learning to step back and let God be in control of everything, even when we are in the spotlight. It's so hip-hop counter-cultural while being in the culture--it's awesome! It brings to light that scripture, "Be in the world, but not of it."

I know I'm safest when I'm in your will and trust your word.
And I know I'm dangerous when I trust myself; my vision blurred.
And I ain't got no time to play life's foolish games.
Got plenty aims but do they really glorify your name?
And its a shame the way I want to do these things for
you, yet

Don't even cling to you. Take time to sit and gaze on you.
And its seems that you are patient in my ignorance.
If ignorance is bliss, its
cuz she never heard of this.

Then the same friend of mine dropped me off home from dance practice yesterday. On the 25 minute drive, she had on this cd by a rapper called Trip Lee. The song was called, Hero. Instantly I was attentive from the beginning lyrics of, "Look, creation is groanin'..." all the way to the end of the song. It talks about a Hero. He's Jesus, the only one who is able to save us, not anything else. That's my kind of music.

We need a hero to go in,
'Cause our solutions don't win
Education can't fix it,
More dough just leads to more sin
Medicine is temporary,
Government seems so thin
With all these weighty problems, that ain't shrinking
They just growing;
Who's adequate to save us?
How about He who knew no sin?

But the lines that really got to me is where it talked about how we are longing for the return of Christ. And there's a sincerity in that part of the song. It's not a, "Hey, I grew up in church so this is what I'm used to everybody sayin' so I'm going to say it too." No, instead it's real. It actually stirred up within me the groaning of the Holy Spirit that says, "Come, Lord Jesus. We LLLOOONNNGGGG for you to come back because things will NEVER be right until you return home." I literally got teary-eyed (I miss Jesus so much).

Like a G5, yeah you rushed to rescue me
Took the cross in exchange for a crown to save me
You began the work and I know you'll finish
And make all things right when you come back
Cause you're my hero

You already saved the day
Cause you're my hero,

And I know you're coming back for me

For the past year or two God has been teaching me that He is SSOOO jealous for his people but not only that, he's jealous for their talents especially The Arts. From writing and media, drawing and painting to music including rap/hip-hop. God is reclaiming and redeeming all that Satin has used for wickedness. It is so awesome to watch!

In the words of John Piper, the goal of the ministry is to aggressively
saturate music with the “Supremacy of God, the truth of Scripture, the glory of
Christ, the joy of the gospel, the insanity of sin, and the radical nature of
Christian living.” This is done carefully, so that in the pursuit of being
culturally relevant, the Gospel and the exclusivity of Christ is not lost.

~C-Lite (rapper featured on Lecrae's Background)

I am indeed still very, very, very cautious about what I let in through the gates of my ears. These are odd times we live in and I believe using discretion is important. "Don't be so open-minded that your brain falls out," Mike Bickle says. My eyes, ears and mouth are highly precious to me; they are the gateway to my spirit that leads to the dwelling place of God. Forever wisdom shall be my sword--caution my shield. Even if a singer or rapper is singing about God and I feel that little, "Hmmm, no-no" feeling in my spirit I'll turn it off. But I'm no longer 100% against Christian rap music. With a teehee I admit these two particular songs rox my soxs. Here are the videos with the lyrics for those interested.





Be blessed.
All Sincerity of heart,
~Rose

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The Sounds of Earth vs. Sounds of Heaven

Monday
1/10/2011

Okay so I mentioned some posts earlier that God has been dealing with me about the whole secular music industry (and even some Christian music). This was three years ago that God began to wrestle with me about it. Now, in 2011, to hear Seth Yates, Caleb Culver and Wes Hall say everything I've been feeling (and more) about this topic is spectacular! I encourage all of you to please listen to this. The whole thing. I know that the voice doesn't match up to the video but if you can cast that discomfort aside and listen to it, it might bring a whole new revelation to your heart. Please, as a Christian speaking to Christians I REALLY feel this is something that weighs heavy upon Jesus' heart.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOYkD_JVjMc


Be Blessed and challenged!
Rose

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