6/16/11 - A life of legacy and no fear

Started off with a letter from my beautiful Prince in “His Princess Bride”. It was about how He wants to lead me. He wants to take every step with me, and guide me towards a life of legacy. A “life of legacy”…that sounds like all I could ask for…. Before I started reading that, I had just listened to “Set the World on Fire” by Britt Nicole, my perfect prayer. That’s exactly what I want to do. I want to get the world on fire for God! I want to be the one He uses to do that! I want Him to take my dreams and give them wings (and I think He’s already starting to give them flight, with my audition for worship at LCU going so well!)! I want to feed the hungry! I want to travel the world and leave one of His footprints in every place I serve! I want to tell the broken there is healing and hope and mercy in God!  I know I’m small and weak, but I know that God is big enough and strong enough to take me incredible places. I know that with Him there is absolutely nothing I can’t do! This is the life of legacy I desire, and I know that if I let God lead me, I will make the mark I’m hoping for.

Then in my PURE devotional, I read about fear. I just have to thank God so much for always telling me exactly what I need to hear. Rebecca talked about having so much fear and instead of “thriving” in life, she was simply “surviving”…how she would just try to overcome one challenge after another...she would just try not to fail. She said that: “It has taken quite some time for me to wake up to the reality that this is not the mindset God intends for me. He doesn’t want me to just survive. He wants me to live with a passion for Him and for others.”

Wow…I kind of had a break down yesterday…(and I sadly forgot to take time out of my busy day to give God my time of worship and devotion, so technically I would’ve had this devotion yesterday when it was still so fresh and exactly pertaining to what I was feeling…) I was stressed about finding a job. My dad is majorly pressuring me into getting a job and working as much as I possibly can in order to earn money towards college. He helped me fill out applications and he pretty much made me put down that I’d be willing to work during Christmas week and Thanksgiving week….I’m still kind of upset about that…maybe very upset…though I never expressed that to him…I really really DON’T want to work during that time since it’ll be my only time off from school until my spring break…and I’d like to spend that time with my family!! Hopefully, if they do hire me, I won’t  have to work much at that time…

Kim Walker, On His Mind, and Seeking/Honoring God - 6/14/11

Here's my first blog about what God has been teaching me. I wrote this a few days ago. Hope you like it and you get something out of it.

Well I watched this video, this testimony from Kim Walker who I learned is a worship leader working with Jesus Culture. It was phenomenal. I’m not completely sure what all went down, but she gave a really amazing picture of Jesus, and His love for me. She talked about asking Jesus how much He loved her and how He stretched out His arms and they just kept stretching and stretching, never ending. Then later she asked Him what He was thinking when He created her. Then she saw God take out a chunk of His heart and then it turned into clay. God formed the clay into a mini version of her and put her into a treasure/jewelry box. It was like those that you open and the ballerina spins. But when God opened it, it was her dancing and singing, just worshiping Him. Well God was just amazed!! He was soo enthused by it! So excited to see her worshiping Him. He was like clapping and shouting…screaming for her. He would close it and then open it again and be just as excited as the first time. Then He took her in His hand and brought her closer and closer to His chest until He finally put her back in the place where He took the chunk out of His heart…the place where she fit perfectly.

It was just really incredible to think about how much God truly loves me. How His love is never ending, and how much He thoroughly just enjoys me. How He is just soo incredibly happy to see me praising and enjoying Him. How He holds a special place for me in His heart. It was just…amazing!

Where am I at?

So a lot has happened in my life since I've last updated this blog. I thought maybe I should fill you in so you won't be super lost when I mention things in my new posts.
So, this past year was my senior year in high school. I was super super involved, and I actually totally overwhelmed myself. I was Student Council president, NHS president, I did drama and praise band, tutoring, piano lessons, things at church, I lead devotions (about every other week), and I was also trying to get things settled for college in the fall. But I got through it with God's help. It's so sad for me to be leaving my school, but I'm so excited about college!! :)
I'm headed to a small Christian university. My dad's alma mater. He always had dreams of me going there, and I also decided it was the best place for me. I couldn't see myself going anywhere else right now. :) Everyone there is just so incredibly nice and encouraging. And most importantly, it's so Christ-focused!! I know that I'm going to grow so much spiritually. And I'm majoring in music ministry. :) For a point in my life I was really doubtful of whether that's where God wanted me to be, but He made it so clear to me. I was just so thankful for Him removing the doubt.
I just registered and it looks like once again I'm going to be very busy. I don't think I can commit myself to any more than I'm already planning to. God is definitely going to have to help me or else I might start to drown in all of my work.
I am just ecstatic to see what God has in store for my future.
I think that's most of it anyway. :)
I'll probably post later to kind of start the series of my journaling posts...the personal ones of what God is doing in my life. :)
~Amy

Becoming the Teen God Expects You to Be

It is a difficult task for teenagers today to listen intently for the will of God in their lives while they are surrounded by a sea of sad expectations from the world, but it is absolutely essential in becoming a vessel that God can use. If one is not careful, he will easily fall into the trap of basing his life around the assumptions of the majority rather than what God would expect from him. One might even fall short of accomplishing all that he is capable of. Sometimes an idea is so constantly thrown at a person that he starts to believe it and accept it as his own standard. Here’s an example of how an idea can bloom into a barrier. In Asia, elephant owners are able to contain their elephants in a certain area simply by tying them up with a small piece of rope.[1] How does this work? Couldn’t the towering elephant easily break free? The elephant could, but does not. Here’s how it works: When the elephant is still very small, it is chained to a tree by a large, heavy chain. The elephant may try and try to break free, but its efforts are no use. No matter how hard it pulls, it can’t move from its spot. After days of exhorting all of its strength into working to snapping the chain, it finally gives up and accepts the fact that it will not be able to leave the tree. Soon after, the owner switches out the chain for a piece of rope. Again, the elephant tries to leave, but at the slightest feeling of resistance it gives up. It could easily break loose, but because it has accepted the idea that if there is something around its leg, it won’t be able to move.[2] It is the same with teenagers. If you accept ideas from the world as your standards, you are likely to follow through to them, and you are likely to fall short of rising to your full potential. [3]

Why do we strive to be loved?

Why do we strive to be loved by other people? Why do we feel like if someone else does something, then it's okay for us to do it, to even out the playing field? Why do we strive to make things fair when we know that life isn't always going to be? Why do we worry about what other people think more than what God thinks of us? Why can't we do what's right no matter what everyone else is doing? Even if things don't turn out fairly, isn't the satisfaction of knowing you're doing what Jesus would do better than knowing that you were just as low as the other people? Why isn't God's love enough for us, and we feel like we need to feel loved by other people? Why aren't we satisfied with God's love when it's the greatest love of all? He sent His PERFECT son to die for people like us, who disregard His ultimate act of love! Why can't we realize that He's on our side and that when we stand up for what we believe in no one can stand against us because we have the Creator of the ENTIRE UNIVERSE with us?

Esther

I had to write a paper about a faithful follower in the Bible for Literature last year. I love Esther's story and I think she's a great example to all of us on how to be faithful to God.

Esther is a very inspiring character from the Bible because she trusted God to help her through all of the hardships she faced. She understood God's will and followed through in doing it, even though it was hard.

When the king was looking for a new queen, Esther was taken from her home and had to be kept at the palace for a long time to be brought before the king. After the king picked her, she and her people were put in danger by an evil man named Haman. When her cousin Mordecai begged her to ask the king to spare them, she decided to do it because she realized that that was the reason God had put her in that position. After doing the dangerous task of going before the king, he granted her request, and her people were spared.

Ester was faced with many challenged but she stayed true to God through it all. She showed great courage by doing something life-threatening for the sake of her people. She proved that you need to trust that God will get you through hard things, and that if you do God's will you'll never come out empty handed.

Now I want to know..who's your favorite Bible character and why? Esther is one of my favorites, as well as David, because he was THE musician of the Bible. He had such a heart of worship!

~Amy

Use What's in Your Hands.

Well it seems like this has been coming up a lot in my life lately. I feel like God is really wanting me to work in this area. I've recently started reading PURE by Rebecca St. James and it has been amazing and today's devo was about asking God to do new things in your life so that you can further His kingdom. And also today, I watched a sermon from Hillsong church called Use What's in Your Hands, which was about noticing God's calling and how you can use that to fulfill His purpose.

Well in the sermon Brian Houston said that what's in your hands in your calling, what is familiar to you, what you're doing now. What's in your heart is your purpose, your dream. We end up not being happy with ourselves because we want to fulfill God's purpose for us, but we just don't see it happening because of where we're at right now.

We need to use what's in our hands in order to fulfill our purpose. We need to take where we're at now, and use the opportunities that God has placed in our lives. God doesn't just put us in circumstances for no reason. He wants us to use the situations that we are in now, so that He can use it to open doors for us so that we can fulfill that purpose, that desire that God has given us.

Maybe you're thinking, what opportunities has God placed in my life? I don't see any opportunities that I can use to bring others to Christ. Well then all you need to do is ask Him. Ask Him to show you the opportunities He has given you. Or maybe you're thinking, I'm doing all I can, but it just doesn't seem to be working. Then ask God to give you new opportunities to give back and show others His amazing love.