Do you feel far from God? Like any relationship, our relationship with God requires work. In order to feel close to God, we have to know God. In order to know God, we must spend time with him. (Would you like to know God personally?)
Think about a car. Eventually, a car runs out of gas and needs to be refueled. Our spiritual lives are just like cars. If we don’t refuel our hearts, we will be empty tanks unable to function.
I’ll never forget how I felt the first time I looked into the mirror after being date raped. I stood there naked, alone and ashamed. I began to question God and his love for me.
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There is beauty in rebellion. When I first started living my life for God, I felt the weight of shame from my past of rebellion. I hated myself and the sins of my past. It took a few years for me to begin to break free from this shame and begin to experience the beauty of rebellion. I’m praying that you will experience the beauty of rebellion and the freedom that comes through Christ. xoxo Joy (more…)
The concept of knowing God can feel so abstract that it seems impossible to ever understand. Growing up, I went to church every week, but I had no idea that God wanted to know me. I had no idea that God wanted a personal relationship with me. I was missing out on the heart of Christianity. And because I was missing out on knowing God, I turned to other people and things to fill my emptiness. I was told religion would satisfy me, so I tried to be perfect. I thought being a Christian was about going to church and being a morally good person. As long as I was acting morally better than other people, I believed my Christian life was on track.
Lies. I believed so many lies because I never had the truth fully explained. Growing up not fully understanding the Gospel caused many problems in my heart.
As I strived for perfection, I failed over and over again. This view of “Christianity” was all wrong. Sadly, I think a lot of people have this view – that they have to be perfect and “good” people. Personally, I hate the phrase “good” Christian girl. (Read why). We are not good. I had to come to that realization in order to surrender my life to Jesus. (To read my full story, click here).
Lacking the truth – I had no idea that being a Christian was about realizing how broken and sinful we are, so that we realize how desperately we need Jesus. God had to break me in order for me to see my sinfulness. He had to bring me to my end, show me that I will never be satisfied in this world, and break my heart – for me to turn to him. As painful as those moments were, I can now say they were worth everything, because now I know and believe that Jesus is the only answer. A guy will not complete me. A perfect body will not give me hope. And a friend’s approval will not make me feel good enough.
Only through Jesus and the Cross will we ever find completion, lasting hope, never ending satisfaction, and eternal life. (more…)
Do you want to be closer to God? Do you want to experience the glory of his goodness and presence? It is possible to be close to God on an intimate and personal level. God created us so we can be in a relationship with him.
To discover how to come near to God, we will look at a passage from James and then break apart the passage into 5 key parts. (more…)
I used to believe I was a “good” Christian girl. Now every time I hear this phrase, I cringe. Growing up, I believed that being a Christian meant being good, moral, and perfect, so I tried to be a “good” person. I failed, a lot.
It was not until college, that I learned that being a Christian has nothing to do with being good enough. Being a Christian is realizing that nothing we could do would ever be enough to cover our sins, and that is why we need Jesus.
I’ll never forget the day my high school boyfriend told me I was a “bad” Christian. I thought I was a “good” Christian girl for many reasons, but in regards to our relationship I thought I was “good” because we had never had sex. We were on our way to school and had been fighting the whole drive there. I told him that God had convicted me, and that I wanted to stop pushing physical boundaries. My boyfriend did not like or understand this idea. He wasn’t a Christian, and didn’t understand my conviction. I don’t blame him, because I did a bad job of living my life for Jesus. His response, “But we already have done these things, how can we just stop?”
Through out our relationship, I openly called myself a Christian, yet I wasn’t walking with God. I considered myself a “good” Christian girl because we weren’t technically having sex, but we were doing everything else. I was believing and living a lie and this would finally be brought to light.
We got out of the car. He slammed the door. I slammed the door. And as we walked up that hill to go to homeroom, he looked at me and said, “You’re a bad Christian.” (more…)
Jesus came to heal the sick and the broken. He came to save the sinner. In one of my classes, this thought came to mind as I heard sad story after sad story from my classmates. (Jesus, will my classmates ever know you?) This does not mean that he supports their actions, but his love for them will never change. Why is this? Because Jesus came to save the broken.
Jesus came to save my classmates, but they lack the realization that they need him. Maybe they think their lives are fine without him. Maybe they think they’re spiritually healthy.
While on earth, Jesus spent most of his time with the lost and broken. In Matthew 9:12-13 (NIV) Jesus states, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Healthy people don’t understand that they are sick, sinful, and in need of a savior. But the sick, they line up outside of the doctor’s office hoping for something to heal the pain. Do you realize that you are sick and in need of a savior? Maybe you are immune to the hurting in your heart. Maybe like my classmates, you think these feelings are a normal part of life. Or maybe you actually think you are healthy. (more…)
You know those nights where you feel so unloved and alone? When you wish you could have someone to hold you and tell you they love you? The love we experience on earth will never compare to God’s love for us. Our hearts have been made to cry out for a love that can only come from our creator.
A guy may seem like the best fix, but only God’s love is a lasting solution. This truth is written all over the Bible.
Did you know that the Bible is God’s love letter to us? Isaiah 43 is a great example of a love letter from God. When I study scripture, I like to read it and then write it out in my own words. This helps me better understand what I have read. For this particular chapter, I read the passage as if God hand wrote me a love letter in beautiful calligraphy. I wrote it in my journal in the exact same way. You can do the same thing. (more…)
I walk out of class in a daze. So much sadness. So much pain. Jesus, will these people ever come to know you? Will they ever experience your life change? When will they experience your healing, forgiveness, redemption, grace and love?
This is my last semester of undergrad at the University of South Florida. I’m taking a class called Storytelling, and each week we share personal stories from our lives. During class last week, students shared one sad story after the next. Topics included: abortion, death, getting kicked out of the church, loss of friends, moving, getting arrested, abuse, and more. I was left questioning, God, when will you change their hearts?
In class, I looked around at my classmates and thought how beautiful each person was because God created them in his image. God, shouldn’t that mean you care about them? Yet, they don’t know you at all. Do they want to know you? Do they even have the information that you exist to be able to make this decision?
So many thoughts. So many questions.
Then, I think about how God saved me. What makes me different? Why did God choose me? I’m just like them. I have similar stories of pain and brokenness. I have screwed up just like them. What makes me different than them? (more…)
Pain is running rampant on college campuses across the globe. Still in college, I have seen and experienced the pain. Some women lack an understanding that they have a God in heaven who loves them and created them with a plan and a purpose. Not knowing about God, they turn to the things the world tells them will provide pleasure and satisfaction. For a college freshman, those things include: boys, sex, drinks, a perfect body, and cool friends.
Maybe you live in a bubble and don’t realize this is happening on our college campuses. Please, open your eyes and realize that pain is spreading like a disease. Women are hurting themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and Jesus is the only one who can provide healing.
I’m sorry for the language, but I want you to read the honesty and pain in her words. This is a poem written by a freshman who is living in the pain:
