I am reading through John, and it is blowing me away. There is so much in there that is just AWESOME!! In John 1, it tells of how disciples began to follow Jesus. As I read over the way in which the first few disciples began to follow Him, the process of how they began following Him really stuck out to me. The disciples didn’t earn or do anything specific or “great” in order to follow Jesus. They were ordinary men, living their lives. Jesus showed himself to them or they were told about him, and they decided to follow. They didn’t have to take a class, clean up their lives, or audition. They saw Him, they followed. One of them, Nathanael- even questioned Him to His face! Did Jesus become enraged and turn His back to Nathanael? No! He proved Himself to Him in a way that Nathanael could understand.

““How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

   Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” John 1:48-49

Often times we are afraid to admit our doubt about the Lord or His plan…somehow we think we can even hide it from Him if we don’t say it out loud! But He already knows, and He isn’t mad. We are human, and He knows that! He longs to show himself to us! All we have to do is ask! We don’t have to clean up our lives or pass any “good person” test in order to follow the Lord. It all begins with one step in the right direction, and it continues step by step. He came to save, because we can’t save ourselves! Let’s allow Him to save us every day and stop letting the world trick us into thinking we have to earn Him before we can trust Him!

I think that a lot of the time when we say we “cant” hear God it’s because we try so hard to justify, understand, or validate his commands, answers, and words by our own understanding. I know this is certainly true for me! Many times I am confused or “stuck” on an issue or situation, and instead of surrendering more of it to the Lord I analyze it more myself- which only creates more stress and confusion. There are things we CANNOT understand.  We were not made to! He is so much smarter than we are, His wisdom is a mystery. But look at what kind of mystery- one that He destined for our glory before time even began!! When were walking with the Lord, there are going to be answers and commands that we DO NOT understand, and some that we do not necessarily agree with (which comes from lack of understanding on our part), but that doesn’t matter! This isn’t insulting or “insensitive” to us, it’s relieving and a blessing! At the end of the day, the way we feel about the Lord’s plan doesn’t change the fact that it is the BEST and perfect plan. Just because we don’t understand something the Lord is saying/has said, doesnt mean we shouldnt embrace it as the truest value we know. It is!  Regardless of the circumstance, the timing, the factors- He knows best. There is no surprising Him- nothing is going to happen tomorrow that causes Him to say “oops, I didn’t see that one coming!”.  There are plans that will not make sense to us, and paths that we cannot see the end results of. The purpose behind those things is not to make us overwhelmed and drive us to depend more on ourselves, it’s the opposite! It should drive us to COMPLETE dependence on Him- the only one who knows and understands it all. THAT is why we have an ALL KNOWING ever-present 10000% knowledgeable God! If we understood everything, we wouldn’t need Him. Weve got to stop questioning, stop arguing, stop analyzing what He says. What He says doesn’t need to be altered to fit our comfort zones or our ideas. Let’s stop translating it into our terms and just go with His. He will not steer us wrong! All we need to do is obey, leave the results to Him! When we subtract our understanding and our own perceived consequences from the process of obedience, it becomes a much simpler thing to do!

“Now all has been heard; 
   here is the conclusion of the matter: 
Fear God and keep his commandments, 
   for this is the duty of all mankind.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah”                  Acts 5:41-42

Wow, talk about AWESOME!! I desire that spirit SO badly, we all should! We should never back down from an opportunity to live like our Lord or to show people His love and power! Even in the face of laughter and criticism. His light shines brightest in the darkest places! People’s opinions are NOT going to last- but eternal salvation will! As believers in a world temporarily ruled by darkness, persecution in various forms shouldn’t be a big surprise- “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). We may lose things, make sacrifices, or have to leave behind things of this earth in order to follow our God, but it is SO worth it! :

“anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first” Matthew 19:29-30

As if giving His life on a cross isn’t reason enough! Let’s keep living for our LORD instead of our World! Let’s pray for a heart that rejoices to be counted worthy of suffering worldly disgrace for our Dad, our provider and complete fulfillment! The eternal battle is already won, we have nothing to fear on this earth! We can’t lose, because HE has already won :)

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

]]> http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/we-cant-lose-because-he-has-already-won/feed/ 0 rmgarvin http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/looking-straight-ahead/ http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/looking-straight-ahead/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:24:01 +0000 Rebecca Garvin http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/?p=407 ]]> “Let your eyes look straight ahead; 
   fix your gaze directly before you.” Proverbs 4:25

I was on the treadmill yesterday, and the Lord taught me something amazing. I have a bad habit of looking at the clock when I workout- Im sure many of you can relate! It never fails to discourage me when I constantly check how much time has passed or how many calories I’ve burned, etc. Usually I will set a goal for myself, such as run for x minutes without stopping. As I run, I find myself constantly looking at the time and thinking “how much time left?” usually followed by thoughts like “I have only been running this long?!”. If I dont look t the clock or the calories and keep my eyes focused on the “road”, wall, etc. then the response I have when I check is more along the lines of “wow, I have already come this far!”. I also noticed that I have a habit of determining my exercise “limits”, such as “I can only physically make it 2 miles”- and these limits effect my ability to run only if I set them. The second I look and see that I have traveled “2″ miles, I suddenly become too tired to run anymore- even though physically I am able to run further. The Lord pointed out to me yesterday how much I do this in my every day life! When we focus on our boundaries or limitations- that exist only in our human minds I might add- we take our eyes off the Lord and become burdened and exhausted UNECESSARILY!!! Life with the Lord means no chains, no boundaries, no human limits. When we live in that truth and begin to see our lives from that perspective, how MUCH He’s done instead of how far “we” have to go, it changes everything! Let’s start seeing those “calories” of life as awesome accomplishments and use them as encouragement to fuel further strides rather than always discouraging ourselves! If we keep our eyes focused on Him, our strength and our provider, we won’t be so burdened and exhausted and realize how humanly “unlikely” it is to travel this journey we call life with the perseverance He provides us with! It is UNREAL how secure and steady and POSSIBLE life with Him can be, and it does exceed human realities- that’s beautiful! We can start to enjoy the run instead of seeing it as an endless chore :)

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” Hebrews 12:1-2

This verse spoke SO much truth to me!

1. First, Loving God means keeping His commands. Usually I think of keeping God’s commands as something I am supposed to do or something I want to do, but not as something that defines my love for Him. And what is the greatest commandment? Jesus tells us Himself in Matthew 22: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (vs. 36-39). So the greatest commandment is loving God, love for God is defined as keeping his commands, and keeping His commands means loving Him with all our hearts souls and minds and loving others as ourselves. Sounds like a whole lot of love to me! Loving others- and truly loving them like Jesus loves me, is something I have been so convicted of lately. I have seen firsthand how much Jesus shines through people who have loved ME unconditionally, and I want so badly to do that for others! God did not send His son to die for us because we loved Him first, or because we deserved it, which are two huge conditions we put on loving others in society today.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God… Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:7-12

If we are not loving, we do not know God! GOD IS LOVE. He is so much love. If God is love, then by loving others, we SHOW THEM GOD. What can be more motivating than that to love? If we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. The Bible tells us that over and over again! Ah That is SO AWESOME!

“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” 1 John 4:19-21

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18

IN THIS WORLD WE ARE LIKE JESUS. Are we hearing that? Are we REALLY hearing that?! And are we living that?? We are supposed to be Jesus to this world! I know I say that all the time…but personally I cant hear it enough! It has hit me over and over again lately! That is what we should be striving to do!!! There is no fear in love, God is not out to punish us. Perfect love drives out fear, and God’s love for us is so perfect. How are we supposed to love? “”Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” 1 John 3:18. Gosh so good…it’s so easy for me to tell x amount of people that I love them. And that is certainly encouraging and nice, but showing people love with actions and in truth is SO much deeper!!

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” Colossians 4:5-6

Let’s live this out! Let’s show the world the LOVE that our Dad pours out on us every day!

Acts 2:38-39 says: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you WILL receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children.. and for ALL whom the Lord our God will call”

THANK YOU JESUS! Gosh how awesome! This verse doesn’t say SOME of us will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, it says all of us and more importantly it says we WILL.

Acts 1:8 says ”But you WILL receive power WHEN the Holy Spirit comes on you”

Again, not IF  or you MIGHT, YOU WILL! The Holy Spirit is God’s voice, it is the same Holy Spirit that speaks in the Bible over and over…the same Holy spirit that raised Jesus from the dead…WE ARE GIVEN THAT GIFT!!! It’s just up to us whether or not we tap into it or not. Many people have told me that they have trouble recognizing that voice, and that is so normal at first- we all do! Think of your best friend or a sibling…why do they know you so well? Why do they recognize you? Why can they understand what you are saying even when you dont say it correctly? BECAUSE they have spent so much TIME with you and they have put so much into getting to know you. It is the same for us being able to recognize the Holy Spirit and the Lord speaking to us! The more we read the Bible and spend one on one time with Him, the better we get to know Him and the more we recognize Him! He desires to speak to us so badly- He wants that intimate constant communication! But it is up to us to open that gift and to use it and to allow that relationship to prosper like He wants it to. How hard would it be to really get to know someone if there was a tall thick brick wall in between the two of you? You wouldnt be able to hear them very well and you wouldnt know what they looked like…etc. We have got to get RID of the walls we are putting between God and ourselves…they are only there if we let them be! They can be torn down TODAY. Whatever it is…surrendering an area of sin…taking action where you know it is needed…or just intentionally spending time with him…DO IT! It is so worth it and you WILL hear Him so much more clearly. It’s a process that I continue to go through every day, but a beautiful one and one that results in clear REAL communication between us and our Father in Heaven! Who doesnt want to be in constant communication with our Dad who holds ultimate success and happiness in His hands?

THANK you Lord that you give us the gift of your Holy Spirit…Thank you that you WANT to communicate with us. Help us to decipher and get RID of any area in our lives that is hindering us from hearing you loud and clear!

Such a beautiful verse!! But how can we find comfort in this verse if we do not believe the first part..God is for us? That can be such a hard concept to grasp! Sometimes I find myself viewing God, like I have said before, as an authority figure who punishes me or takes away His goodness as a result of my mistakes. But that is so not true! That’s not who He is! Psalm 103 says:

“He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset, 
      he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him”

He is our DAD and He is FOR us! He is not working against us, even though we deserve it- He is on our team! Our sins are GONE because they were nailed to Him on a cross- God does not even remember them ““Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17).

“he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, 
   and by his wounds we are healed” Isaiah 53:5

If we have accepted Him as Lord there are no conditions on His love! But how do we know He is truly for us and wants nothing but the best for us?

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Romans 8:32-35

How can someone who did all of this without us even slightly deserving it not be on our team?? He gave everything in order that we might have eternal life with Him. He didn’t have to do that, he wanted to because we are HIS and He is FOR US. If God was against us, we would not be here today. He is FOR us even when we are not for ourselves. That means that even when we think we know what is best, He knows better. We have got to rest in that awesome truth, no matter what is going on, no matter what is happening in our lives- God is FOR us regardless of what is happening to us or who is against us. Nothing can beat Him. Nothing! He has already secured the victory!! Satan has already lost- remembering that gives me so much peace. We do not know what victory looks like in every individual situation, because victory for the Lord is not always what we perceive as human victory- but we can rest assured that Victory IS OURS through Him already and that will never go away!! That does not mean we will never have anything bad happen, “”The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19)- but it does mean that we will never LOSE if we are with Him. Whenever we are feeling beat down, He is not :) and it is He who fights our battles for us, if we only let Him!

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” Exodus 14:14

Be still and rest in that today!! Whatever battle you are fighting, whoever you are up against, remember that the creator of the universe is FOR YOU- He is on your team. Not because of anything you have done or have not done, not because you deserve it, but because WE ARE HIS. Let’s be still and let Him fight for us, because He WILL! It’s a promise!

Gosh this verse is SO GOOD. We should be living our lives this way! ALWAYS prepared to give an answer to people who want to know why we have the hope that we have! This just fires me up so much…especially beginning a new year. 2011 is GONE- let’s stop dwelling in the past and live NOW for our Savior because yesterday is not coming back but today is HERE! Something that I have really been convicted of is living above reproach so often I fall into the mindset that as long as I know my heart is in the right place, that’s all that matters. While we aren’t supposed to live worrying about what others are saying about us- we ARE called to live above reproach so that people have no reason to dismiss the JESUS in us! We are called to be “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’” because ”Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky” (Philippians 2:15). When people see us living above reproach, they will wonder- and when they wonder, they will ask- when they ask, lets be prepared to tell them of the love of our Dad!

“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him” 2 Peter 3:14

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession…In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus…I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Timothy 6:11-15

At the end of the day we should be able to say what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:10- “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed”

As we enter into this new year, it is SO important to remember what our main goal in life is supposed to be- the REASON we are here and our JOB as Christians- “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” Mark 16:15. HE CHOSE US!!!!!!

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” Ephesians 1:4

THAT IS SO FREAKING AWESOME AND SUCH A PRIVILEGE! He chose US BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD! Oh my GOSH if that doesnt ignite a FIRE inside of you I dont know what will! That is not to be taken lightly! Let’s rise up! I want to challenge everyone who reads this with something: Wherever you are living your day to day life right now, whether it be in school, in a job, etc. there are circles of people you come in contact with on a regular basis. I want to challenge you to choose one person out of each of those “circles” to pray for, intentionally- every day. In addition to praying for them, make it your goal to SHOW them Jesus. For me, these “circles” are my classes. I am choosing on person out of each of my classes (some I know, some I dont know) to pray for intentionally and to show them the love of my God. This can be by loving them, by serving them, by talking to them, by simply smiling at them, who knows what doors God will open for you to pour out His light!

“We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You
We live for You
God, we live for You

We run with passion for Your name, we run
Freedom, You’ve broken every chain, we run
Our God will not be moved
Our God will never be shaken
We run to You, we run”

Chosen Generation by Chris Tomlin

Our christian walks are often so similar to this scenario We have the outfits, the verses, the new Bible, and many of us are very faithful in one or more areas of our lives! But what about that part that’s not 100% dedicated to life with Christ? Those areas not only slow us down, but they hinder us in our overall cause/goal! We cannot fully walk in our Lord’s plan for us and His best if we are not doing everything we can and surrendering every aspect of our lives to Him! I have been so convicted of this lately because it is so easy for me to focus on merely one part of my walk and be content with how “well” I am doing in that area. It might seem that I’m looking at the cup “half-empty”, but that is not it at all! If the cup is “half-full”, that means there is still a whole entire half to fill- and when we’re talking about our God’s AWESOMEness…that’s a LOT of room for great things!! And He promises to give us more than that! If we truly desire to live in the fullness and happiness of Our Dad in Heaven we have to put everything into it! Sure, we can “walk with Him” and just be “okay”…but who wants to settle for that when there is so much more?! I heard a speaker once say “Imagine getting to Heaven and talking to God. What if he said ‘You tapped into some of my promise land, but I had so much more to give you!’”. The thought of that makes me cringe, He has SO MUCH for us if we only trust Him! He has proven over and over again that He can be trusted! We have got to let go of our small minds and step into His truth!

” What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James 2:14-19

]]> http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/100/feed/ 0 rmgarvin http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/i-will-worship-you-for-who-you-are/ http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/i-will-worship-you-for-who-you-are/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:29:37 +0000 Rebecca Garvin http://rmgarvin.wordpress.com/?p=377 ]]> “Standing here in Your presence
Thinking of the good things you have done
Waiting here patiently
Just to hear Your still small voice again
Holy, righteous,
Faithful till the end
Savior, Healer,
Redeemer and Friend
I will worship You for who You are“

Hillsong United (For who you are)

I really enjoy using running or working out as an opportunity to spend quality time with God. For me, it’s a chance to escape life’s stressors for a minute and just be alone with Him. Lately, I have been trying to work on thanking/worshiping Him instead of just asking for things and complaining. The other day, I was trying to think of all the things I was thankful for when this song (above) came on my iPod. I suddenly became overwhelmed with how THANKFUL I am and should be just for WHO He is!!! How often do we just worship God for who He is in our lives? He is SUCH an AMAZING Dad to us! Even in hard times-we have so much to be thankful for! He is everything to us! When I really start thinking about it, it blows my mind…He is worthy of SO MUCH PRAISE just for being the Dad He is!

“For who is God besides the LORD? 
   And who is the Rock except our God? 
It is God who arms me with strength 
   and keeps my way secure“ 2 Samuel 22:32-33

“For this God is our God for ever and ever; 
   he will be our guide even to the end” Psalm 48:14

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, 
   who daily bears our burdens. 
Our God is a God who saves; 
   from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death” Psalm 68:19-20

I took some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs “Forever Reign” by Hillsong United, and matched them with verses below. It portrays exactly who our Dad is and why we should praise Him for who He is! Ah gosh He is SO AWESOMEEE!!!!

You are good, when there’s nothing good in me.

“If you return to the LORD…the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him” 2 Chronicles 30:9

“My flesh and my heart may fail, 
   but God is the strength of my heart 
   and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

You are love, on display for all to see.

“God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” 1 John 4:16

You are light, when the darkness closes in.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” 2 Corinthians 4:6

You are hope, You have covered all my sin.

“as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103:12

You are peace, when my fear is crippling.

“The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal men do to me?” Psalm 118:6

“You will keep in perfect peace 
   those whose minds are steadfast, 
   because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3

“So do not fear, for I am with you; 
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God. 
I will strengthen you and help you; 
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

You are true, even in my wandering.

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, 
   each of us has turned to our own way; 
and the LORD has laid on him 
   the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6

You are joy, You’re the reason that I sing.

“for you have been my help, 
   and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” Psalm 63:7

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; 
   let them ever sing for joy. 
Spread your protection over them, 
   that those who love your name may rejoice in you” Psalm 5:11-12

You are life, in You death has lost its sting.

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55

You are more, than my words will ever say.

“Now to him who is able to do far more than all that we ask or think” Ephesians 3:20

You are Lord, all creation will proclaim.

‘’As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, 
‘every knee will bow before me; 
   every tongue will acknowledge God.” Romans 14:11

You are here, in Your presence I’m made whole.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6

“Am I a God at hand’, declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away?’ Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? …Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:23-24

He is SO FAITHFUL- He loves us so much! He is always there! He never lets go of us! What an awesome truth :) Let’s worship Him for the Awesome Father He is!

“And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name” 1 Chronicles 29:13