Speak Up,

After years of wishing I could work with my best friend, it’s finally happening! Praise the Lord for such an opportunity.

(Source: cinderela-ao-avesso)

You Are Not A Defective Person

thebridgechicago:

God did not have a lapse in concentration that lead to a mistake while making you. He wasn’t running low on an ingredient that you were supposed to have.

If God wanted to make a more extroverted you, a less emotional you, a you without whatever you think your deficiencies are, He could have. He made you because you are the perfect version of His divine vision for you.

You have some things you need to work on sure, but that work is an important part of His design as well.

God does not wish that you were a different version of yourself, neither should you.

"A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving…"

Albert Einstein

(Source: gerdaros, via zeropercenthipster)

No matter what I do in life, God will be glorified. Whether I go to church and worship with a genuine heart or I get smashed on the weekends and throw my life away—God will be glorified in the end. If I choose to submit to the Father who is above all and knows all by serving and obeying Him with every aspect of my life, He will be glorified in my worship. (Of course, my worship will never be sufficient for the glory He deserves.) But if I choose to murder and covet and steal, the Father will be glorified in His power and wrath, for the way He will deal with my sin—for the Most High is holy and pure.

This could lead me to say, “Who cares what I do then? God will glorify Himself; why must I submit to rules that keep me from doing what I feel like doing?” Yet I find it much wiser to follow the Creator in His created universe when He says, “This is not the better path, this is the only path to eternal life—to knowing Me” (John 17:3).

I don’t want to be an object of the Lord’s wrath. This means doing things I might not always choose on my own to do, obeying certain things I might not know why the Lord commands, but being an object of His mercy means laying down my pride, my own understanding, even my life. This I will gladly do for the God whom I serve, knowing that I will receive the Lord Himself as my reward. What more could I desire than Him alone? What else could satisfy my longing heart? Who else could love me more? Where else could I search for Truth?

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:5

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 1 John 2:3

(Source: ashhweee)

"True obedience means doing what God says, when He says it, how He says it should be done, until what He says is accomplished- regardless of whether you understand the reasons for it or not."

Charles Stanley

"I tell my piano the things I used to tell you."

Frédéric Chopin

(Source: decembrist, via restinjesus)

(via paisleyfacevintage)

For the past three months I’ve been dating a guy who has greatly encouraged me through example to really examine myself and all that I do. As he discusses his mistakes, achievements, goals, and future plans, I begin to look to myself—am I also trying to become better, or have I become complacent on a day-to-day basis? Am I also striving to be sanctified, or am I merely avoiding sin and ultimately being neutral? Am I diligently looking at my faults and seeking ways to improve them, or am I simply accepting the fact that “that’s the way I am”?

For years I’ve been developing into the young woman that I am now, and when I’m thirty I hope that I’ll be shaped into an even better one. But the only way I can expect to improve is to stop hoping people will accept the way I am—although many thankfully do—but rather, strive for righteousness and shed the habits of my old nature.

Though it could be tolerable for me to hide under a blanket when I’m frustrated or embarrassed, it simply is not good. So while I may apologize afterward for running away from my problems, it doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s a habit that must be broken. Instead, I must learn to face the issues at hand and deal with them.

Giving up in situations I deem hopeless and never trying again tends to be another fault. I become adamant in striking down people’s encouragement over certain situations, but this cannot go on forever. Regarding this, I ought to be hopeful, even when the situation grows dim. At times I even wonder why I wouldn’t want to hear encouragement when I’ve given up; I don’t know why I want to stay down.

There are plenty of other disciplines I’m learning and working on, and I’m sure there will be lots more revealed to me as my life unfolds. When these faults seem overwhelming to me, the one thing I ought never do is give up. Christ is sanctifying me and I know my faults are not greater than His power. Though it may be difficult, my old nature will not continue to have as great an influence on me as it has.

“And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again…Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” —2 Corinthians 5:15, 17-21

(Source: blackbearco)

inthefray611:

Few words will ever be as cutting to relativistic America:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’” John 14:6

Not “a way” or “a truth” or “a life”

Stop letting wishful ignorance sedate you into lies just because it’s common and accepted. None of this “Jesus + Universalist”, “all roads lead to Rome”, “three-blind-men-and-the-elephant” nonsense. Either you believe or you don’t. Choose.

Or if you don’t believe but you want to, then pray and I’m quite sure you will find that Jesus’ words were true.

(Source: d4r1o)

Applying for a job is easy. Actually getting hired is the part that requires patience and a positive, persevering attitude.