Break Free. Be.

“Why have You forsaken me?”

Imagine you’re watching Jesus hang from the cross. The only way He can breathe is by pushing Himself up using the nails in His wrists and ankles. 

As the day draws to an end, He musters what little strength He has left to pull Himself up again so that He can cry out: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” 

If we’re being honest with ourselves, we’ve all probably had moments where we’ve asked God, “Where are You in this? Why have You forsaken me?” 

How should we respond when we find ourselves in situations where we feel alone, anxious, or forsaken? 

The words Jesus spoke on the cross were actually taken from Psalm 22—a prophetic lament written by King David. In many ways, this Psalm is about Jesus, but it also provides us with three action steps we can follow when we feel alone: 

1. Be honest with God about how you’re feeling.

Relationships start with being real. So if you’re feeling forsaken by God, tell Him that. Ask God your questions, and prepare your heart to hear his answers. 

2. Give God glory anyway.

Our feelings don’t change the fact that God is worthy of being worshiped. In fact, it’s often through worship that we discover the cure for our worry. When we focus on who God is, our perspective eventually shifts—even if our situation doesn’t.

3. Remind God of his promises.

Throughout Psalm 22, David basically tells God, “I know who You are. And since You’re always true to character, deliver me like You’ve delivered Your people before me.” Reminding God of his promises is not only an act of faith, but it also helps us remember the faithfulness of God’s character. 

Ultimately, God’s faithfulness was personified when Jesus was crucified. Jesus willingly suffered alone on the cross so that we could experience eternal companionship with God. Jesus is the prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 22. And, because He endured separation from God, we never have to. 

Take a moment to reflect on Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for you. 

Pray: Jesus, thank You for rescuing me from eternal separation from You. It’s because You willingly endured separation from Your Father that I never have to. Today, help me to pause and reflect on the magnitude of Your sacrifice, and to give You the glory You rightly deserve. No matter what I’m feeling, You are always worthy of my worship. So today, I choose to worship You. In Jesus’ name, Amen

When I’m really into a novel, I’m seeing the world differently during that time— not just for the hour or so in the day when I get to read. I’m actually walking around in a haze, spellbound by the book and looking at everything through a different prism.

Colin Firth (via duttonbooks)

#perks of reading and creating mental pictures of e'erthaing read.

The Gospel

Every day, more and more, we see the signs of the times ticking by. Jesus Christ will be returning soon, and bringing Judgment with Him. If you are not a follower of Jesus yet, I beg you to consider (or to reconsider) the Gospel, that in Jesus you will find forgiveness of sins, everlasting life, and the right to be called Children of God.

It may be that, near as the return of Jesus is, you won’t live to see it. None of us are promised tomorrow; not a single hour of life is guaranteed to any of us. Some of you will live out your lives, barring Jesus’ return, and die many years from now. Some of you may not make it into tomorrow. Some people die suddenly, with no warning; this fact makes the need to be right with God all the more urgent.

If you haven’t heard the Gospel, or have heard it before and have forgotton, please allow me to share it with you:

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. After creating everything else, God finally made humankind. We are unique, the only beings in the Creation made in the Image of God, specifically to be in relationship with Him; to be His inheritance; a people called by His name, meant to share in reciprocal love with God of our own free choice.

After some time in Paradise, loving and being loved by God, our first parents fell into willful sin; that is to say, they willfully chose to do what they understood to be wrong.

God, being perfect in Justice and Righteousness, could not remain close to those first humans. He could not continue to bless them, commune with them as He had since the beginning. God, by His very nature, must judge and condemn evil. And so He judged our first parents and cast them out of the Paradise He’d made for them. He stripped them not only of their relationship with Him, but also of their immortality; He condemned them to death.

And yet, God is love; He loved humankind, and desired to save us from the fate our first parents brought down upon us (a fate that we deserve through our own willful sins). God, rather than destroying us completely, went to the very outermost edges of the possible to redeem us from our evil, to again make a way for us to be with Him and live forever.

God became a man; that man was Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life, without any sin at all (a feat none of us could accomplish), and at the appointed time, willingly offered Himself up as a sacrifice, taking upon Himself the guilt of all the sins of all humankind, from our first parents until now, and suffered a fitting punishment for that guilt.

After three days, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of God and ascended to Heaven. God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as a fitting payment, a propitiation for the sins of humankind, and has in His abundant grace and mercy allowed anyone and everyone to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life because of that sacrifice.

This is the scandal of God’s grace: no matter the sin, no matter how corrupt, how wicked, how evil a person has been, God stands ready to forgive them. God will relate to the most evil person who’s ever lived as if they have never sinned, on only one condition: faith.

To have faith in the Biblical sense means that we genuinely believe that the God of Israel exists, and that He cares enough to respond to anyone who seeks Him. And that we believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who and what the Bible says He is: the Son of God; God manifest in the flesh; perfect, and without sin; the Savior who, by His sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection, enables God to have mercy on all who trust in Him. Genuine faith leads to genuine repentance.

To repent means that we acknowledge our sins for what they are: willful acts of evil that deserve God’s justice. It means also to be willing to forsake those sins; every habit, every practice, every vice, every indulgence. We must at least be willing to turn away from our sins, and be willing to submit to God in obedience.

Anyone, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth will be saved. They will not come into judgment, but have, at the moment of faith, passed from death to life.

Please, I beg you, if you’re reading this and you do not believe, or you have not forsaken your sins, please, consider doing so now. Pray. Ask God to reveal Himself to you; He will answer, if you ask sincerely. In some way, and in His time, He will answer you. Don’t allow another day to pass by in your sins. Don’t risk your eternity. Don’t throw away the supreme gift of God’s grace.

Please, I beg you: repent and believe, and escape the coming Judgment.

 ﹟random get-to-know-me ask game  !! 

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

bamboo ⇢ do you change into a different outfit when you get home?

abelia ⇢ do you have a particular piece of jewelry you always wear or can’t part with?

daffodil ⇢ do you have siblings? if yes, in what ways do you think you’re similar to or different from them?

mahonia ⇢ what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

chia ⇢ what’s an inside joke you have with someone else?

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

edelweiss ⇢ how’d you think of your url/username? what’s it associated with to you?

camellia ⇢ what were you like when you were younger? do you think you’ve changed a lot?

jasmine ⇢ do you have a movie or book you loved but will never watch/read again?

ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

chamomile ⇢ what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts?

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

nutmeg ⇢ how’s your room/home decorated? do you have a specific theme or style going on?

papyrus ⇢ if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

“People think there should be this great rivalry between us, but there’s never been any competition. There’s a big age gap and we are two very different characters” - Solange 

Awwwwwwwwwww...#family #sista_sista #adorability #iLove my sisters to death!

Hi how was your day?

Was alright.. Thanks for asking.

Sigh.

Tell me about it.

my first & second half of 2019 felt like two different years

Awesome.

Notes from my message to my students tonight. The Gospel is a powerful thing.

Biblical Truth: Knowing the Good News of Christ

G.O.S.P.E.L.

Ephesians 2:1–10

G- God's Character v. 4

-Perfect

-Just

-Loving

O- Offensive Sin v. 1-3, 5

-Sin is problematic (Romans 6:23)

-Sin is Everyone's problem (Romans 3:23) It is not your job to complain about it, but to process it and move on

S- Sufficiency of God v. 5-6

-The Person of Christ: THE Son of God (John 3:16) THERE IS ONLY ONE

-The Work of Christ: Life, Death, Resurrection (Isaiah 53:6)

P- Personal Response in Faith v. 8-9

Is it terrifying that Demons might have more respect for your Savior than you do?

-Believe (Mark 1:15, Romans 1:16, 10:9-10)

-Repent (Acts 2:38, Romans 2:4, 1 Thessalonians 1:9)

E- Eternal Urgency v. 7

-Romans 2:4-11

If "Community of Christ = Heaven" & "Everything Else = Hell" Then "We tell the story with URGENCY"

L- Life Transformation v. 10

-A Changed Heart (2 Cor. 5:17)

-A Changed Mind (2 Peter 1:2-10)

-Changed Behavior (Galatians 5:22-25) You cannot understand the story of God unless you understand it enough that it CHANGES you.