Responsibility

So I realized two things
today and yesterday.
Yesterday I added this
really cool widgit where
you can see your live
traffic feed and the places
from across the world people
have stopped by.
It is so neat! :)
Today I realized that
my blog has hit
Ninety-One Followers!
I was super excited
as I thought about both
these things but then I
was overwhelmed.
Not with sadness.
Not with fear.
Not with the normal
things people are
overwhelmed with.
Nope.
Instead, I was overwhelmed
by the realization of
what a privilege it is
to be able to share what the
Lord has been doing in my
life with you all.
Then, I was overwhelmed
by the awesome responsibility
that the Lord has given me.
Some of you may be wondering
what the big deal is.
I mean, all I do is write little
posts and share little things
that have been going on
in my life.
To me this blog was (and still)
so much more than that.
This blog was a chance for me to
make a difference for my Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.
This blog is a chance for my
voice to be heard and the
name of my Savior to be
honored and glorified.
Someday I will be called
upon to give account for
what I write and share on here.
I realized that responsibility
in a way I had not ever before today.
What an AWESOME responsibility.
One that could make an eternal
difference in another's life.
I started thinking about
how important it is that
when people leave this blog
they don't leave having just
seen/read about/heard about
me.

NO!

Instead, that people will
leave this blog having
seen Jesus Christ!
Then as I was pondering that
I realized that each and
every single one of us
that name the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ
have a responsibility
as well.
Have you realized
that for some people
YOUR life could be the
only Bible they ever read?
Have you ever thought
what an awesome privilege
it is to be a follower of Christ?
So.
Here is where the
responsibility part comes in.
When people look at you
what do they see?
Or should I say
WHO do they see?
Do they see you
OR
do they see Jesus
Christ shining through you?
I have been thinking about
that a lot.
Today I have been thinking
a lot about it in terms of
this blog.
I do not want any of you
to just see me on here.
Instead, I want you to see my
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
whether you have been reading
for years or for just a few
minutes.
I want you to see HIM.
The same goes for life.
I love, love, LOVE this song
and, although I have shared
this part of it before I think it
bears some repeating.
This is my hearts cry tonight:
"Do they see Jesus In Me
Do they recognize Your face
Do I communicate Your love, and Your grace
Do I reflect who You are
In the way I choose to be
Do they see Jesus In Me"
("Do they see Jesus in Me?"
By Joy Williams)
Now let me ask some questions
that I have been asking myself:
Do they see Jesus in YOU?
When people look at us/talk
to us to they recognize HIM in us?
Do we communicate HIS love
and HIS grace to everyone
around us NO MATTER where we
are, what we are doing,
or who we are with?
Do we CHOOSE to reflect
Jesus Christ to those
around us or are we just content
to live a "convenient" christian
life that is "comfortable"
but lacks passion because
we refuse to surrender our
ALL TO HIM DAILY EVEN WHEN IT IS UNCOMFORTABLE FOR US?
Just some things that I have been thinking about...
Responsibility.
We are called to be a shining light for Christ.
Responsibility.
We are called to bring honor
and glory to HIM through
our actions,
our thoughts,
our time,
our blogs (for those bloggers out there),
OUR ALL.

Responsibility.

What are your thoughts?

Back to the Basics: Salvation

Last night at Bible study I decided to go back to the beginning. Back to where it all begins in our walks with Jesus Christ. Back to Salvation and what it really truly means to be "saved".

So often people today depend on their own "goodness" to get to Heaven. Even many so called "Christians" think that as long as they say and do the right things, go to church, and have Christian parents they will be able to some way get into Heaven just because they have done almost everything "right".

Not so.

Salvation is about trusting in Jesus Christ. In Him and Him alone. Believing in Jesus Christ and trusting in His ABSOLUTE perfection enough to be able to turn away from our sins in complete repentance and not only turn from our sins but follow Him wholeheartedly not only on Sundays but every single second of every single day for the rest of our lives.

So why trust Jesus?

This is what He has done FOR YOU:

"And you, being dead in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He has made alive together with Him,
having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of
requirements that was against us,
which was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of the way,
having nailed it to the cross."
(Colossians 2:13-14)

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God, DIED for you and for me! We deserve an eternity in hell and yet because He loved us He sacrificed His life as an atonement (substitute) for our sins. We didn't deserve it. We are all sinful human beings who deserve to spend an eternity in agony in hell.

You could argue: "Well, I am a good person." Are you really? The Bible says this:

"As it is written
'There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.'"
(Romans 3:10-12)



God is absolutely perfect. He demands perfection from each and every one of us. Have you ever told a lie? What does that make you? Well, a liar. Have you ever stolen something? What does that make you? Well a thief. We are accountable for every single idle word that we have spoken. That alone strikes fear in my heart. Have you ever dishonored your parents? Have you ever murdered someone? Jesus said that whoever is angry with his brother (or sister) in his heart without a cause is just as much in danger of the judgment (Matthew 5: 21-22).

God demands perfection.

None of us are perfect.

Even if we only sinned once
in our entire lives.

We would still not measure up
to God perfect standard.

So what did Jesus do?

The PERFECT Son of God came to earth
and voluntarily offered
Himself as our substitute!

He DIED so that we might LIVE!

How can we NOT trust Him and turn to Him in repentance from our sins?

Is it worth it to us to give up our sins what ARE pleasant for a time but have ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES?

I believe with all my heart that it IS WORTH IT! To be a CHILD OF THE KING...there is no greater HONOR!

Think about the lyrics to this song:

"Jesus is
The sweet, sweet love of my soul
Jesus is
The only thing making me whole
He's everything to me
All I desire to be
That's what Jesus is" (Jaci Velasquez)

Is Jesus the sweet sweet love of our souls? Is HE the ONLY thing making us whole? Is He EVERYTHING to us? Is He all we desire to be?

IS HE ENOUGH?

Is He worth it to you? Have you found your completion in HIM or are you still searching for it in other things (significant other, possessions, money, prestige)? Let me tell you from personal experience. Until you realize that Jesus Christ is the ONLY thing that will complete you-you will never find that completion you are so desperately longing/searching for. The thing is...it is YOUR choice "...Choose you this day whom you will serve..." (Joshua 24:15).

If you claim to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ then STAND UP and start to live it! Do you ever think what would happen to this world if we who call ourselves Christians began to LIVE each and every day in reckless abandonment and devotion for and to our God?

The things that our Lord endured FOR US on that cross and beyond imagination! And yet, HE DID IT. The almighty God DIED for you and I! He did not have to but out of His love for you and I He CHOSE to...That thought alone makes me want to live each and everyday in thankfulness for what He has done. To offer myself for His service as He offered His body as atonement for me...

Here is a quote that ,when I first read it, made me stop dead in my tracks. I actually have it hanging on my wall now. Take some time and ponder this last thought:

"Tell me in light of the cross, isn't it a scandal that you and I live today as we do?" - Alan Redpath. "

Christ died for us...the least we can do is live for Him! Something to think about...

That is part of what I shared during Bible study last night.

Afterwords, I found out that a little girl named Nora.

Went to my sister Jen.

Nora is actually on Jen's team at work.

She and her sister and Dad had come over last night for Bible study.

The girls sat in on our girls Bible study upstairs.

Nora asked Jen if she was saved.

Jen told her that yes she is.

Nora then said: "Well I am not."

Right then and there Jen was able to share the gospel with Nora.

Nora was broken about her sin.

She realized she was not good enough to get to heaven on her own.

She realized that she needed to believe in Jesus Christ.

She realized that she needed to repent of her sins.

And so she did.

Last night in a little country church in the middle of nowhere.

Nora gave her life to Jesus Christ and a new name was added to the Lamb's book of life! WOW! What an AWESOME GOD WE SERVE!!!!

The angels were rejoicing last night! :)

I am so in awe of my God! Truly, He is so worthy!

Is He worth your all?

Investing TIME

Lately the Lord has really been working on my heart.
You know those things call priorities?
Uh yeah.
Working on them!
One of the things that the Lord
has been really laying on my heart
is how important it is to DAILY spend
time in the Word and in prayer.
I have realized that if I am to get
to know someone then I need to spend
time with them.
That is how relationships are built.
Nothing is more important than
our RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ.
Sadly, often many people do not know
what a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus is
because
THEY DO NOT INVEST THEIR TIME
in getting to know Him.
So here is a question.
Is Jesus worth you investing time?
Time in the Word.
Time in prayer.
TIME WITH HIM.
I had to answer that question.
And my answer is this.
Yes.
Of course He is worth it!
He is worth my all!
I want to know Him on not only
a personal level but a deep, intimate
level.
I want all my thoughts to be CONSUMED
with my
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So what am I doing about it?
Well, start by making a consciousness
effort to spend more time with
Him each and everyday.
I have time to get on facebook.
I have time to blog.
I have time to talk to my boyfriend.
I have time to text my friends.
I THINK I CAN MAKE TIME TO SPEND
WITH MY LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!
After all, He chose to come
to earth and die on that cross FOR ME!
I think I can choose to spend time
with Him!
I have been thinking alot about eternity.
So often I think that we tend to get
caught up in the here and now
and forget that this life on earth
is like a blink of an eye compared to
eternity.
I want to start investing in my eternity.
I want to KNOW my Savior.
I want Him to be on my mind all the time.
I want people to see HIM when they look at
me. I want it to be obvious that
I am in love with my Savior!
I want Him to by my #1 priority.
I love this acronym:
J.O.Y.
Jesus first.
Others second.
Yourself last.
That is how I want to live my days.
When I die I want to leave a legacy.
I want that legacy to be Jesus Christ.
HE IS SO WORTHY!
Just something to thinking about :)

Just in Case

Dear Blog Readers,

Just in
case
You
had
begun
To think
that
I tend
to
be a
quiet,
serious,
reserved
person
I thought
I would
Put your
fears
to rest:

Here is the evidence that I AM NOT A NORMAL PERSON!







Real life glimpse! :)
So yeah I just felt like
being crazy in today's post.
Why?
Well, I guess
Just because I can! ;)
Oh and plus.
You guys really haven't had
the chance to see ME without
my glasses!
So there.
I posted those pictures
that I am sure could be used
for blackmail in the future (LOL)
JUST FOR YOU! Hmm...just a thought...but this post might have been
inspired by the fact that I HAVE BEEN WITHOUT CHOCOLATE FOR FIVE DAYS!!!
Not that I am bitter about that or anything.
My amazing friend Christy decided to do the month without sweets thing with me after we had a sleepover. I guess...I am just that...
inspiring? LOL :) Check out her amazing blog: A Life for Christ.
Well, that is my randomness for the day.
Love,
Katy

Ps: I am so thankful that the Lord gave us the ability to laugh and be weird at times. Life would be so sad if we were all serious ALL the time. I am so thankful
the Lord knows us so well and delights in His children in spite
of us! Have you thanked Him lately?

Modesty Check

Hey all!
So I was just over at Is This Modest which has some amazing resources for modesty that is not only modest but not frumpy. Anyway I was reading an article that included this open letter from a Christian guy to all Christian girls about modesty and I thought I should share it with all of you:

“Dear Girls,

There are two kinds of men: Godly men, and worldly men. What kind of man do you want? I’m betting most of you said “a Godly man.” Someday, you want to marry a man who loves God with every fiber of his being because he will be an excellent husband and father. He will honor and be true only to you. Most women want a Godly man or at least think they do. Well, I think I have found a way to tell you exactly what kind of guy you will get. I don’t even have to know you! All I have to do is look at you. The kind of guy you want or will get is advertised by the clothing you wear. I know what men want. Trust me, I am a guy. I know more guys than you do and I know them better. I know what we think, what we talk about, what we want, and what we look for, and it is different for each one of us depending on our relationship with God. I’m sure you already know this, but men were created differently than you. We have different desires and priorities. Our eyes and minds react very differently to some things than yours do. It isn’t disgusting, perverted, or wrong; it is wonderful and good! It is how God made us. It’s how we handle these differences that separate a Godly man from a worldly man.

A worldly man doesn’t control himself, rather, he looks at anything that attracts his attention or gets him excited. A worldly guy has no problem when girls wear clothes that show off skin, like boxers, high or low cut shirts, low rise jeans, and “cute” little swim-suits. He’s a fan of tight-fitting shirts and pants that show off your form, he thinks they’re fine! Worldly guy watches a lot of TV and R-rated movies, isn’t really offended by sexual content or nudity and secretly dabbles in pornography. He’s a “Christian” and makes up a significant portion of your church and youth group. He’s a really nice guy and sees you mainly for your body. If you were to marry worldly guy, he’d bring lots of baggage into the relationship, have intimacy problems, entertain thoughts of other women, and possibly cheat on you.

A Godly man is in control of his drives and desires. He constantly seeks God and reads his Bible. He “walks in the Spirit” and isn’t set off by everything he sees. When immodestly-dressed girls, magazine covers, or risqué advertisements come into view, Godly guy quickly “bounces his eyes” away from the image. He’s constantly guarding his thoughts and what he allows into his mind. He hates being around girls that disrespect him and his struggles by wearing inappropriate attire. Godly guy doesn’t watch much TV and is selective about the movies he sees. He views you as a person, knows you and respects you. He has your best interests in mind and guards against inappropriate thoughts of you. If you were to marry Godly guy, he would give you the emotional attention you need, he would ignore other women and remain faithful to you no matter what.

Unfortunately, there are more worldly men than Godly men. And to make matters worse, to the untrained eye, a worldly man can look a lot like a Godly man. So what can you do to only attract a Godly man? An important way of delineating between them lies in how you dress. As mentioned before, the clothes you wear advertise what kind of guy you are looking for. If you dress immodestly, you will attract worldly guys and scare away the Godly ones. It all comes down to the kind of man you want to spend your time around and eventually marry. You cannot afford to be complacent in this area of your life! You will pay the price someday.

This issue isn’t limited strictly to you and your future relationship. The way you dress directly affects other men and women and their relationships. You don’t see the struggles, the pain, the tears and the sin that you cause, but I can promise that you would be shocked if you did! Ask any Christian young man; we’ve all seen it. It’s kept hidden but it is definitely there. By dressing immodestly, you effectually spit on the struggles of our weaker ranks, appearing to care more about toying with us than helping us. You’ll never know how many broken relationships and lifestyles of sin you’ve contributed to simply by the way you dress. You want to marry a Godly man someday, well so do many other women. Don’t just help yourself and your future, help all women and their relationships by showing discretion in your dress.

Of course, I understand the desire to look stylish, attractive, and “cute.” It’s important to fit in and get attention. Trust me, it can be done modestly! I also understand that it is easier for some girls to find stylish and well-fitting clothes than it is for others. This is an area where guys really don’t understand what you are up against. But just remember, for every sacrifice you make to honor God with your image, Godly men are making sacrifices in their lives that are just as hard, if not harder! They will and do respect you so much for choosing to be modest! A real lady is conscientious of the image she presents, and real men want a real lady. And you can forget about any guys missing out on how attractive you are because you don’t wear revealing clothing. You could wear a circus tent and we would still know; it’s a gift we have.
And so the question still remains: What kind of man do you want? Answer me with your clothes.

Devin Swecker”

Little Tidbits

Tidbit #1:

As many of you know, last night was the first
ever girls Bible study at my house! I was so
thankful for how the first one turned out!
Right now we are focusing on what it is
to be a girl that lives a 110% Surrendered
life to Christ (go figure) and so last
night we started with...CHRIST.
These girls are AMAZING (and we didn't get
pictures of all the girls sadly but
here are some):






Margo. Christy. Cassie. Stephanie. Jacquie, Jen. Cindy. Allie. Makayla.

I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us! Please pray that He would continue to give me wisdom as I am leading the Bible study. Above all I only desire that HE would be honored and glorified and that the girls would be challenged and encouraged in their faith.

Tidbit #2:

I have decided to challenge myself to see if I can go one month without chocolate, candy or deserts of any kind. Not because I am dieting or think I am fat or any of those other "normal" reasons. Nope. I am doing it because I want to see if I have enough self control to do it.

*INSERT SOB HERE*

I seriously thought that it would not be a problem at all "because I really don't ever have a lot of opportunity to eat deserts/candy."

Yesterday was my first day.

In scrap booking club at work I had to say no to STAR BURSTS AND SKITTLES. That was rough but I worked through it.

Then I came home and was preparing for the Bible study and started craving some of those LIFESAVER MINT THINGS. When Jen informed me that they were indeed candy...well...it was rough but I worked through it.

There was ICE CREAM CAKE at Bible study last night. Oh those oreos and whipped topping looked amazing! But ,even though it was rough, I worked through it (plus it was Neapolitan ice cream which I don't really like anyway so what made it easier!).

THEN. The WORST thing EVER happened.
My loving sister Abby.
Brought in a
HUGE
HEAPING
MOUND
of...
CHOCOLATE.
She set it on my bed.
And ALL THE GIRLS EXCEPT ME
started to eat it.
THAT WAS TORMENT.
Ever been SURROUNDED
by EIGHT GIRLS
eating chocolate bars?
The smell.
The pain.
WOW.
IT WAS ROUGH!
BUT.
I DID IT!

Now...I am on the second day.
Sheesh.
I didn't expect it to be THIS hard!

Tidbit #3:
I was blog surfing today (I love Saturdays!)
and came across Her Price is Far Above Rubies.

One of Jessica's post included this video by Leslie Ludy
on TRUE BEAUTY. I was so challenged and encouraged after watching so I thought I would share it with you girls:



Isn't that amazing? What are your thoughts on it? I would love to hear them either by comments OR email! ;)

Tidbit #4:

I have really started to make more of an effort to get my life more in order when it comes to practical things like learning how to cook and clean, keeping my room clean, getting up earlier in the morning (HAH still working on that one I am NOT really a morning person), making a TO-DO list the night before each day, keeping on top of school and working towards achieving my goals.

Have I mentioned I am so thankful I serve a GRACIOUS Heavenly Father?

One of the little projects I love the most lately is a collage of quotes I have collected over the years and ended up putting on my wall.

 
 
 
Tidbit #5:

Oh the many faces of Abby! This was at a girl's night we had with one of our friends Jacquie and UNLIKE THE PICTURES SUGGEST I WAS NOT TORTURING HER!

It was such a fun night and actually was the first time I had ever had pictures taken WITHOUT MY GLASSES so ,besides the amusement I am sure you will get from Abby's facial expressions, you also get to see ME. The one WITHOUT glasses :)



Ok! That was a really long post filled with...
well...
tidbits.

I am off to eat some lunch and get caught up on some emails that are LONG overdue!

You know those times when?

Hey all!
So you know those times when you have this whispering of an idea?
I had one of those at the beginning of this week.
I was talking to Lauren and she had been
asking me about Bible study ideas for a study her
and some friends were planning on starting.
As I was talking to her I kept thinking how neat it
would be to be able to start a Bible study for girls
AND GUESS WHAT?
The next night I was approached to start a Bible study
for girls,
We have decided that I will be leading it on Frieday
nights as we already have so many people over
and normally a group of us girls
end up apart anyway.
I am super excited for this opportunity!
I am really praying that the Lord will be
honored and glorified in it!

So for all you GIRLS out there:

What kinds of things would YOU be interested
in studying at a Bible study?

What issues do YOU deal with day to day?

I might end up taking these devotionals and
transfering them into some blog posts...

We will see ;)