It is such a precious thing to love and be loved

Jesus looks at you and he sees something he wants- something he wanted so bad that he was willing to die for it. He yearns for your heart to be close to his, he longs to call you his. And even during the times that you overlook his pursuit of you, he does not overlook you. He knows you through and through. It is such a precious thing to love and be loved. HIS LOVE FOR YOU KNOWS NO BOUNDS.


Oh he knows that I can't wait til heaven...he knows my longing for him. The greatest treasure I have is that which I hold inside my heart. My greatest treasure is him. I want to learn every way to say I love you, and then repeat them over and over again. I am yours, oh yes, I am yours.

"She knew now that down in
the core of her own being she was
so shaped that nothing could
fit, fill, or satisfy
her heart but he himself.
"Nothing else really matters,"
she said to herself, "only to love him and
do what he tells me.
I don't know quite why it should be so,
but it is.
All the time it is suffering to love
and sorrow to love,
but it is lovely to love him in spite of this,
and if I should cease to do so,
I should cease to exist."


-Hinds Feet on High Places

Giver of Gifts

It's pretty much a no brainer that God is good. He is the Giver of life and the source of love and grace.
By absolutely nothing that I have done, the Lord has decided to make many of my dreams come true. He allows me to follow these dreams, which He has planted in me, because He loves using his kids to further his Kingdom.
Last year I had this longing for Richmond to be captivated by God's love and through a process of Him leading me after his heart, I am now a part of a community who sets out to love others to Christ. He has given me teens and broken women to love on, and it does such wonderful things to my heart to be able to serve him this way.
Also, very recently, the Lord revealed to me the next piece of his plan. After many months of patiently (more or less) waiting for God to guide and direct, He has lead me to YWAM- Youth with a Mission. I spoke with Jesus, asking him that whatever it is He would have me do, that He would just open the door. So He did. Now I am preparing to invest 9 months in the Discipleship training school. I am beyond thrilled that He would call me to do that.
So friends if you would join me in prayer I would be sooo grateful. I've already been experiencing some resistance, so let's fight back in victory :)
Love you all!

Creativity

I can't help but be amazed when I look at God's creative ability....I realize it will take all of eternity to fathom the extent of his power and awesomeness, and I look forward to spending that eternity knowing him more and more.

So he is the author of existence and I get to privilage of being a part of that... how cool!! And the fact that He knows my every need and longs for me to depend on him for everything, is there any greater love? He is love, and He is everything I could ever want.

However, it took me so long to realize this....Three years ago I started to really look at my life; what I had done and the person who I had turned into- and I realized I was at a place that I had never wanted to end up. I also realized that God loved me and if I was desperately willing to surrender to him then maybe, just maybe there was hope. I wasn't looking for a miracle, just a reason to believe. So I invited Jesus into my heart and since then everything has changed. I am able to receive his love and his plans for my life, which are so much better than anything I could ever dream of and through that I am able to love and embrace others. I am no longer constrained to the world, but I live in the freedom of who I was created to be.

God is so good, so very very good.

Love Poem

Oh my first love,
what I wouldn't do for you.
My every thought is consumed by you.
To reach out and touch your face,
let us go to our special place.
You are my first love,
my heart's desire,
this passion within me is like a raging fire.
Nothing will ever take your place.
Wherever you are is where I want to be forever
You mean everything to me
There's nothing I wouldn't give,
I don't even consider it a sacrifice,
because I love you so.
I'd go crazy without you
I'll fight for you, I'll die for you.
No, there's nothing I wouldn't give.
You will always be my first love.

Jesus, King of the Universe

Here's the simple truth of the matter, Jesus is Lord and King of the Universe.

Now what we do with that information is up to us.... we can choose not to believe it, we can believe it, or we can accept it as true and completely surrender our lives to it.

Don't just cut and copy, let the Holy Spirit write this into your heart. Salvation is simple and hard.
Jesus says to leave everything behind and come, follow him.

Remember the popular catchphrase, "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" Well, we're all fallen.... and we can't get up on our own. Jesus died a brutal death on the cross and took the blame for every sin in the world. And what's more is he conquered death. That's right, he came back to life. He lived and breathed and walked again. Hundreds saw him after his crucifiction- you really think that many people could have the same hallucination?

Don't you get it.... Jesus and God were sitting up in heaven plotting and planning how they were going to save humanity from the grips of death as soon as we committed the first sin. It's the master plan, in the name of LOVE. This is God's story and we're living in it.

He loves you, he loves everything about you and he made you on purpose and for purpose. He is captivated by you. He wants to know you and love you, and he want's you to know and love him too.

God really does care about you, so where do you wanna be when it's all said and done?

Redeemed

It's been a bit of a rough time here lately. The Lord has been so good to me, even if i don't always realize it or acknowledgde it.
Psalm 130 says it best:
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
O Lord, hear my voice, Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, O Lord, kept a record of sina, O Lord who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
O [Amanda], put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is unfailing love and with him is FULL REDEMPTION. He himself will redeem [me] from all my sin.

He gave me the huge gift of revealing my sin and as hard as it was to see it exposed, it was so good because i know i have full forgiveness and that he is working good in my life through it. i try to humbly receive his rebuke, because I know he loves me and only wants to see me walking in his love and grace.

This little trial time in my life has been marked by the song Inside Out...

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out

i love the Lord more than i ever have, though i still have a long way to go. i absolutely cherish the clarity he gives. i love him even more because he has shown me what it means to live life abundantly.... so that is what i will cling to, Him and Him alone.