Live

"Nothing brings more glory to Christ than when the church LIVES!" -Paul White

So why do we preach more on dying than living?
These days, if a pastor preaches life people get uncomfortable!
Is Jesus alive?
Did he come to give us life?
Then we should live!!

Israel had dead religion with God under the law so God sent his son to fulfill that law because He wanted real relationships with anybody who would want Him! He yearns to give life to our dry bones!

Everywhere Jesus went He brought life to the circumstance!

Unfortunately too many of us get so caught up on dying everyday, dying to our flesh, looking forward to dying so we can be with the Lord in heaven.
We do die to our flesh and we repent from our sins when we turn to Jesus but after we do that God sees us as righteous forevermore!
We spend more time putting ourselves down instead of letting God build us up and transform us into the image of His Son!
 Jesus didn't mope around and neither should we.
When we focus on our sin we are not bringing glory to God, we are not representing Him on this earth, we are glorifying ourselves.
I hear of so many churches that focus on sin and dying and repenting and so often the people of that congregation live with guilt and condemnation because they are focused on the fact that they are just "no good" and "such a wretched sinner" when all they are doing is disqualifying the work of the cross!
Of course you're not good!
That's why Jesus came!
He is good and He has called you righteous! So get a move on! Start praising God for what He did for you! Then forget about your sin because God's forgotten about it! It's as far removed as the east is from the west! Jesus isn't going to come back and die again for your future sins, they're already covered!
Satan wants you to keep your mind on your sin so you never feel good enough to do what God has called you to do.  He wants to keep you down and God wants you to walk in the freedom He purchased for you.
So church, let's live! Let's show this dying world what life is all about!


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


For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Romans 5:17

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.^[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirementof the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Romans 8:1-5

Her Story is HIStory- Now Available!!

Wow, it's been a long time since I blogged!  I am excited to let you know that I just published my first book on Amazon Kindle! It's called, Her Story is HIStory and it's only $.99 if you want to get a copy and hear about how God transformed my life!  Here is a sneak peak at one of the poems I include in the book, it was written when I was 21 years old.

His Mess

You’ve caused my blood to run dry in my veins

my liver is corroded

and my heart a shredded masterpiece

my lungs are filled with hatred

and my stomach can’t break down the resentment

You’ve caused my skin to go bone-dry

and your lies have penetrated deep into my bones

I’m an obvious mess

unappealing to anyone’s eye

except for one

A redeemer who spoke this world into place

and sent His son for my salvation

He looks at me with love in His stare

and with one touch restores me to heavenly beauty

Now your tricks can’t fool me

or empty promises hold my attention

I’m no longer your mess

I’m His.

My book is unique in that I include real journal entries and poems amidst the narrative of my life-long testimony.  God is so good and my next book is going to be all about His goodness!  Thanks for following me and hearing me out! If you'd like your own copy of my book visit  this link!

Coming Your Way

Everyday you have choices.  Each minute there is a choice to be made.
Do I get up now or lay here 5 more minutes?
Do I put on liquid or pencil liner?
Do I wear hoop earrings or studs?
Do I say hi when I pass my neighbor or look down?
Do I talk about how much I don't want to be at work right now or do I thank God that I have a job?
Do I do a little extra to help out someone else or do I do just enough to say I did my job?

Choices.

God has given them to us.
He doesn't make them for us, He expects us to choose.
The more we know God and are pursuing Him the more we will choose what He would have chosen.
The more we know how Jesus lived the more we'll do what he would do.

Choose to search Him out.
He's waiting for YOU.
He's as close as He'll ever be, its up to us to reach out, or look up or tune our ear to Him.

Do you want to live an abundant life now?
It's your choice.
Jesus said he came so we could have it.
It's baffling how many people don't choose it though.

The devil wants to keep us distracted so we don't take the time to see all that God really has for us.
Stay focused.
Choose to deny your flesh and live by the spirit.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
 John 10:10


Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25


The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15

Make Me Your Radio...

First of all, I must admit I stole this idea from a friend, but she's not going to blog it so I thought I would!

Picture for a second that Adam Levine is God (that won't be hard for some) and he's singing this to you:

"My heart's a stereo, it beats for you so listen close, hear my thoughts in every note."

God is always speaking to us, wanting to share with us, His heart that beats for us!

"Make me your radio, and turn me up when you feel low, this melody was meant for you, so sing along to my stereo."

God is saying "Tune in to ME!! You feel low?  Listen closely to ME!!! Sing MY words and I will lift you up!"

Most of the time our dial isn't tuned in to God's channel.
Our signals are picking up the words and melodies of other people or other philosophies and we're left empty or confused.
Once we tune in to what God is saying and start singing along, our lives will turn around, our burdens will be lifted, and our joy will return.
He's saying, "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME??"
But so often we're tuned out.

Listen to the rest of the song and apply the words as if God was singing them to you (give or take some)!
Be encouraged and tune your life channel into His heart station!!

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  1 John 3:1

Closer

Steffany Frizzell @ Bethel


PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS SONG!!!:)

Close your eyes and snuggle up in God's lap. Express your love and receive His love!!


His love is so sweet.
I want to go deeper and deeper.
I want to know Him better and better.
His love draws me in, keeps me, and yet the deeper I go, the more I realize I've barely scratched the surface!
It's simple but complex.
It's free but the most valuable thing in the world.
Without the love of God nothing would exist.
Isn't it nice to know that YOU are His main priority.
He wants YOU to know how much He loves you.
He's told us about it, demonstrated it towards us and is always reminding us through His creation how much he loves us!
He made us to love us and live with us.
Why don't we get to know Him?
Why do we play church on Sunday but refuse to sit with Him at home and talk with Him?
How has the church become so numb?
So often we confess Jesus is Lord with our mouth but our hearts aren't in it.
I could say I'm married to Josiah but I could live and act so dissatisfied that people would feel sorry for me.
I think that's how the world sees the church a lot of the time.
Rarely do they witness passionate Christians who are genuinely IN LOVE with their God.
Rarely do they witness it because sadly, a lot of Christians don't take the time to fall in love with God and truly get to know Him.
I am just beginning!
I lived as a confessing Christian for 18 years but my heart wasn't in it.
Not until I met people who were so obviously in love with their God did I realize what I was missing.
I want to quit laying on the beach and talking about the ocean of love God has for us, and actually jump in!!
Our love is our greatest witness.
Let's go deeper into His heart and really get to know Him!

Furious Love

Furious:

adj. 1. Full of or characterized by extreme anger; raging. 2. Suggestive of extreme anger in action or appearance; fierce. See Synonyms at angry. 3. Full of activity; energetic or rapid: the furious pace of the trading floor. I have come to love this song but while thinking about it I was trying to understand why we say God's love is furious, it sounds like He's pretty ticked off or something. Description 3 in the definition makes perfect sense to me, His love is always moving and being demonstrated toward us, His love is full of energy, never lackadaisical.  That makes sense! In my search to better understand why we say God's love is "furious" I found a great sermon here and encourage everyone to check it out!  I see his love being angry against sin and evil that is in the world and His love will stop at nothing; He will forever be wooing us and inviting us in to experience it.  In almost every sermon I've been hearing lately, and the talk amongst the church, the focus is returning to God's love.  Without deeper revelation on this subject we are at a standstill.  When the church doesn't understand the Bridegroom and His Father's love for her she is incapable of demonstrating His glory in her life, in her relationships and throughout her circumstances.  She is too easily offended and timid among her peers because she doesn't really understand, know and believe how much she is loved. My mom said something great this morning which we have all heard but it sunk in deep today, God isn't just loving, His person IS love.  He can't be anything else.  He demonstrates it beautifully through His son, Jesus.  Jesus made time for all, healed all, sacrificed himself for all to show us how much the Father loves us, his little children! His love is awakening us, it has reawakened me and when I start to think about it I realize I could think about it for eternity and still would never fully know it!  But the challenge is, and the greatest reward is, to meditate on it, to press in to the heart of God and ask Him to show us more and more of how He loves us and then abide in that love and breathe and move in that ocean of love.   1 John 4:16-19 Amplified Bible (AMP) 16And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.     17In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.     18There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love [a]turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear [b]brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].     19We love Him, because He first loved us. *Want to meditate even more on God's love right now? Watch this video to the end and be saturated in His love:)

Lovesick

This should be the theme song for my entire blog!!

I want to share a story, it's personal but I only have 7 followers so.... :)

First of all, God is soo good!

His promises, laws and principles are all true I am beginning to discover first hand!

I'll start back in January, Josiah and I participated in the Daniel Fast and quite literally the last day of the fast during a prayer/worship night at my church God spoke a few things very clearly to me.  One of them was that I was going to get pregnant in March.

I was excited! And I was going to make sure it happened! So, without further detail, Josiah and I did our part.

We began thanking God for our baby and constantly spoke that I was pregnant throughout the last 2 weeks of the month.

Alas, the end of March and no period, the stick read "pregnant"!

I almost couldn't believe it, as strange as that may sound...
I began speaking to my baby, calling him Isaiah because Josiah and I have always wanted our first born boy to be named, Isaiah.
As soon as I began talking to him God stopped me and said, "This is not Isaiah, this is Samson."

"Samson?!!!" I replied. I never liked the story of Samson that much and I did not want to call my child, Sam.
"God, are you sure this is Samson?"
"Yes."
"O.k."
I could picture this little fertilized egg wrestling in my womb trying hard to latch on for life, I knew he was strong.

I told Josiah and he was surprised but accepted it.  We began calling him, Samson.
Two days later as we are on the phone to tell his parents our news,  I felt a rush of blood and knew that Samson had entered heaven.

I cried but I was not devastated, the Holy Spirit comforted me and soon almost a relief came and I was more than content not being with child.

Two days after that, while sitting at my computer, God spoke again, "McKenna, think about the story of Samson."
So I did.
I realized that Samson's greatest victory was in his death!
He killed more of the enemy (Philistines) upon his death than he had his whole life.

God told me that Samson was tearing down the strongholds in my mind I had developed about miscarriage.  It had been in my family and I had a deep fear of suffering one.
I am absolutely sure that I will never suffer another miscarriage.  As Samson sacrificed himself, he tore down my uterus "wall" and defeated the enemy that had burrowed in my mind. The bond was broken and I felt absolute freedom!

I praised God that it was never His will for Samson to die, if God killed babies then it would be ok for us to kill babies in the womb, but God knew what was going to happen and turned it around for my victory and my liberty.  He never let me call it Isaiah and get attached because that baby wasn't our Isaiah.  He held my heart and emotions in His hands and was with me throughout the whole experience.

He's been showing me how you truly have what you say! Not just with this but with many experiences this past year.  I've learned that when I am believing for something and I speak it with faith and it turns out to not be God's best for me, He gently leads me out and on to the next thing.

There is nothing like a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, only He can satisfy!!