My God is Love

1 John 4:9 "That the Love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him"

Can you believe how much God loves us?! It's absolutely incredible. His love was (and still is) so deep for us that He sent His one and only Son to come and save us from the punishment we deserved. So loving; so caring.

It just gives me the shivers to think how eternal, sovereign, infinite, immutable, holy and gracious His love is. I'm so thankful for His forgiveness.

I'm very notorious for posting songs on my blog :) SO I'm doing one this post as well :D And that song would be "O the deep, deep love of Jesus"
As you read the words, think of how His love has impacted your life and what a tremendous difference it's made.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Vast, unmeasured and boundless free!

Rolling as a might ocean in its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me, is the current, of Thy love

Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious home above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus

Spread His praise from shore to shore!

How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!

Now He watches o'er His loved ones,

Died to call them all His own

How for them He intercedeth,

Watcheth o'er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus

Love of every love the best

'Tis an ocean full of blessing

'Tis a haven giving rest!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus

'Tis a heaven of heavens for me

And it lifts me up to glory,

For it lifts me up to Thee!

Bri

My God wants me to be thankful

Ephesians 5:20 "Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father"

Since this is Thanksgiving weekend, I thought talking about what characteristic God wants from us would be cool. And that would be thankfulness.

Tonight's church service my pastor also talked about the thankfulness of the heart. The passage that he taught on was Luke 17:11-19 about the 10 lepers that Jesus healed; 10 physically and 1 spiritually. That one leper that came back to thank Jesus for healing him. I'm sure the other 9 were thankful that they were cured from the disease, but this one leper made a huge difference. That really stuck out to me tonight.
So often I will ask God for something; I might be praying for it for 10 months or a year. And when I get what I wanted, I forget to thank God. My pastor said that if we ask God for something, no matter how long we ask for it, our thankfulness back to Him should be everlasting. I don't thank God as much as I ask for things from Him.
There's so many things I could thank Him for in a couple seconds; 1) I have hands that I can use so I can type my blog :), 2) I can wake up in the morning and get out of bed, 3) I have parents who are there for me to say 'good morning' to me. (and 'I love you', my favorite :)) 4) A fridge for Thanksgiving left-overs. I could go on and on.

In everything give thanks!

Bri

My God is light

John 8:12 "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.' "

God is the one that lights our paths and life. We would be so lost in worldly darkness if He didn't give us His word to light our ways. The Bible provides illumination to walk without stumbling. Just like it says in Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" He'll continue to lead us to the end.

Also, we don't need to be afraid of the darkness in the world. We can use the Bible to comfort us. Whenever I'm in a 'dark' situation I quote Bible verses to myself and feel God's presence light the way. Psalm 27:1 states: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?"

His light will lead us to redemption and out of condemnation.

Bri

My God is merciful

Titus 3:5 'He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit'

Did we deserve salvation? No. There was nothing we could've done that would make us perfect. We were condemned to death and be separated from God forever!

But God showed unconditional love for us and gave mercy. How often do we get wronged by someone and have anger instead of mercy? In Matthew 18:20-21 it says: "Then Peter came and said to Him, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven'

If God didn't show mercy, we would be on our way to the lake of fire. We take His mercy for granted and don't think what would happen if he didn't have compassion on us.

David thanks God for His wonderful mercy in Psalm 145:8 'The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.'

Our God is a God of mercy!

Remember Gods mercy this week!

Bri

What do I know about my God?

In Sunday School this past Summer my teacher was talking all about the different characteristics of God. There are so many of them!!! You could go on and on just by looking at verses in the Bible.

In Psalm 18:1-2 it says "I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my deliverer, My God, my rock in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" In that passage God was telling David HE is our strength, rock, deliverer, shield, horn, and stronghold. But what does that mean? It means God is our protection and is all we need in life's tough battles.

So, for the next couple of months every Sunday I will being doing a characteristic of God along with a verse. I don't know how long this will take but I think it will be really cool to see some (ok, probably A LOT lol) of our All-powerful God's characteristics!!

In Christ Alone,

Bri

Comforting Words

Psalm 18: 1-3

'I love You, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies'


These are some of my favorite life verses. They always bring me comfort when I'm distressed/worried, scared/afraid, depressed, lonely, doubtful, hurt etc. I even read them when I'm happy, excited, amazed, etc. b/c they bring not only comfort, but joy.

When I read them I see that God is actually saying these words to me!! When we pray, we are talking with God. The way God talks to us is through His word: The Bible. That's how He communicates with us. Those are His words put down on paper for us to read what He's saying to you and me.

When I got baptized in September '07, these were the verses I said after I gave my testimony. The reason I chose them is b/c they bring comfort and joy and they have helped me in my walk with God. These verses are like an everlasting and eternal stronghold that will never let me down.


God Bless,

Bri

Back to blogging!

And I'm back!!
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been quite busy. I was @ camp the 12th-18th and once I got back I had 2 days to get back on schedule till I had basketball camp for 3 days (from 8a.m.-4p.m.)
The bible camp I went to with my youth group (12th-18th) was in North Carolina called The WILDS. Our biblical theme was on Jonah which I learned a lot about. I never really paid a lot of attention to this story and all I would think is that is was about God giving second chances to Jonah and the Ninevites. That week I learned a bunch more! Every morning in chapel we would learn something about Jonah's Magnificent God. His magnificent presence, power, patience and persistence. I will share with you some of what I learned:

God's magnificent Presence: Jonah 1

Where do I start?! Well ... we all know that Jonah tried to hide from God. Did he succeed? NO! So, why did he? If you have an all powerful and mighty God the why would you want to run from Him? God is omnipresent and so it's absolutely impossible to escape from His presence.
How do we know God is always with us?
A. B/c of His all seeing eyes.
You can hide stuff from your parents, friends, family etc. But NOT GOD!
B. B/c of His unchanging faithfulness
C. B/c of His communication thru His Word. Sometimes we forget Gods word, so that's why He wrote it!
D. B/c of His INCREDIBLE creation!
There's not a square in. in this universe that doesn't show His creativity
E. B/c of His constant availability.
F. B/c of His fear in my heart
Do you fear God like you fear man? Be concerned what God thinks of you. Not your friends.
G. B/c of His power over creation
H. B/c of His conviction in my heart
I. B/c of His Desire to draw unbelievers to Himself

God does what is best for His glory and our good.
Remember you can't run from the presence of God ... and why would you want to?

God's Magnificent Power Jonah 2

God's Magnificent Power can be seen ...

A. in His creation and control of the great FISH
Jonah prayed to God in the fish. What is prayer? Praising and talking to GOD. If you love God you'll not only talk to Him, you'll talk about Him.

B. By the power of the sea.
He controlled the storm they were going thru.

C. In His control over Jonahs life
Jonah didn't forget God. Even when he was on the edge of running. Don't forget Him.

D. in His Salvation freely offered to all men!
Salvation is of the Lord. It isn't a choice between heaven and hell. It's between God and your sin. Repent, Believe and Christ Receive. Salvation is a heart issue and no one can do it for you. It's your choice.

God's Magnificent Patience (this one was my top favorite) Jonah 3

A patient God ...

A. Gives CLEAR warnings
So why is God so patient? He doesn't want any of us to perish to hell.

B. Loves and looks for a repentant heart

1. A repentant heart believes God
2. It is serious about brokenness
3. It allows God to break him
4. It is obvious by its humility
5. It intensely cries out to God
6. It willing turns from its evil

C. Holds back His anger against my sin
Know why God hates sin? B/c He loves you! Sin is the only thing that will separate you and Him forever and He doesn't want that!

Gods Anger:
1. While slow is easily aroused
2. Is to be dreaded
3. It's not to be provoked

D. Allows us to live another day!
Every day God lets us live is such an incredible blessing! Every breath we sometimes take for granted.

E. Promises forgiveness
You can't forgive yourself. Only GOD can!


God's Persistent Love Jonah 4

How do I know God's love for me never changes?

God's love never changes ...

A. When I'm Moody :)
Jonah was focused on himself. It was all me, me, me, me, me, me, ME!

B. Even when I disagree with Him
We're all disagreeable and argumentative.
Disagreeable:
Jonah disagreed with a gracious, merciful, patient, kind and forgiving God!
Why would we disagree with such a great God?!

C. When I'm incredibly selfish

D. When I'm angry with Him
Anger is anger no matter what 'degree' is the thermometer. It is always defensive and is right in its own eyes. You may be right but you were wrong in reacting. That is something I struggle greatly with. Anger is consumed with self and some people would rather die than be proved wrong. We learn to be right by being wrong!

E. Even why I'm constantly 'up-and-down'
This kinda goes with He loves me when I'm moody

F. Even when I'm defensive and stubbornly refuse to change
We get used to doing what we want to do. So we are saying 'no' to God

G. Even when I choose not to love others the same way God loves me. (another one I stuggle with)
That's being hateful! It's hard to love people who get under our skin. But then we need to think how God loves us and the person we find hard to love. Just think, we sometimes get so frustrated with one person and meanwhile God is loving over 2 billion people unconditionally in this world! WOW!!


Well, that is all of my 'Jonahs Magnificent God' notes I'll share with you. Once I get my Pictures on the computer I'll post those so you can see how much fun I had and how beautiful it is there.

God bless!

Bri