The Gratification of Servitude

Today is a pretty epic day. And I'm going to inform you as to why it is so epic. 

So, many of you know I've been singing pretty much my whole life. And many of you also know (and if you don't, this here will inform you) that my freshman year, I joined, yet another choir, at my church called Puresound. And for the past 4 years, I have put practically my heart and soul into it because I just love it so much. And, although I was never into "bad" things, Puresound pretty much saved my life. I'd always known who Jesus was up until that point, but I'd never accepted Him or had any kind of relationship with Him. So, like I said, Puresound literally saved my life.

It was a sad day when I walked into the choir room my senior year for the last Puresound rehearsal of the year. I was not ready for it to come to an end, even though I knew I had to move on. 

BUT (on to the epic part) the benefits of graduating is that now I get to be a leader in Puresound. So, I am proud to say that I am one of the 2011-2012 Puresound Interns! YAY!

Nothing super deep or philosophical tonight guys. I just wanted to share my excitement in becoming an intern for something I'm truly passionate about. 

And with that, I leave you with this passage:

"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But do not use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." -Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

Hope you all have a blessed week!

In His name,

xoxo

<3

Linds

Casting Stones

So, it's almost 2am. And I can't sleep because God has put this on my heart and I feel the need to share it with you guys. Kay? Kay, here we go:

I really don't like it, and I dislike it so passionately that I could almost hate it, when someone judges me without getting to know me first. Or when they judge me simply based on my appearance. Let's face it; we all do it. It's only the human in us. I do it. But I really try my best not to. And believe me, it's not easy. But the way I see it, not a single one of us in this world is perfect. Not one. Except Jesus. Jesus was the only man to ever walk the earth without sin. So, if not a single one of us is perfect, what gives us the right to judge others? I mean really? In my humble opinion, God is the only One who has the right to judge anyone-seeing how He created us.

I know how you feel. Trust me. Judging other people is always easier than judging our own character and our own mistakes. During His sermon on the mount, Jesus warns us to not judge.
"Why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help get ride of that speck in your eye' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friends eye." (Matthew 7:3-5, NLT)

I think we should all try to live the way Jesus did in John chapter 8 when He meets the woman who was caught in the act of adultery.
Verse 5(NLT) reads: "The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?"
In this verse, they (the Pharisees) were trying to trick Jesus into saying something they would later be able to use against Him. But later, in verse 7(NLT): "They kept demanding an answer, so He stood up again and said, 'Alright, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!'" (Just a side note here: by refusing to condemn the woman, Jesus was not saying that adultery was acceptable. Just thought I'd clear that up. lol)

But I really love this passage: who are we to judge others for the things they do if we, ourselves, are not perfect either? Don't be so quick to cast the stone without looking at yourself first. The day that you are without sin is the day you have the right to judge others.


Ok, let's recap here: Basically, what I'm saying, and more importantly, what God is saying, is don't be so quick to judge someone. You don't always know their situations or their life. And even if you do, you're not perfect, either. You have no right to judge what someone else does. I know it's not easy, I'm just as human as you are. But really try your best to get to know someone and not judge them.

Just tryin' to keep it real, guys. hahaha
Have a good weekend!

in His name,

xoxo
<3
Linds

Let's not get ahead of ourselves

Oh, hey.
Haha it's been a pretty long while since I've written anything, and lately, I've had a lot on my heart, so bear (is that even the right term?) with me.

So, today, I was lying on my couch, pretty grumpy because that's what I've been doing most of the time over the summer. I mean, the beginning of the summer was pretty epic, and then things started to slow down, which I hate. Very very much so. And so, in my grumpy state I grabbed my phone (the fabulous iPhone 4, for all the apple kiddos out there <3), got on my Twitter account and began posting how LAME of a summer I was having. And then it struck me: I went on my profile and began reading other posts from the previous week or so, and I've been complaining...a LOT. I looked at my profile and actually said out loud "Man, this kid sounds like a spoiled brat to me." and then felt utterly ashamed when I remembered it was MY profile.  Now who's the spoiled brat? Oh, yea. Me /:

I sat there, completely dumbfounded at my selfishness. There are people who would KILL to trade lives with me and I'm just sitting here, complaining away about every little thing. Needless to say, I felt pretty terrible. And this terrible feeling lingered for the rest of the day. Until later, I was texting a dear friend of mine explaining to her how I wasn't feeling myself and that I felt terrible about my attitude. And then, having no where else to turn, and where I should've gone in the first place, I grabbed my Bible and flipped it to the back to see what the Word had to say about negative attitudes.

It was then that I was guided to Numbers Chapter 13, verse 25 through Chapter 14, verse 38. And I sat here and read the magnificent Word of God, and I felt even worse! I, me, little creature who should keep her mouth shut sometimes, was questioning the many blessings bestowed upon me by God the Creator, the One who created every little thing on the Earth, the One who could take every blessing I'd ever been given and take them all away without breaking a sweat! I mean, how can you NOT feel horrible after that?!

So, I did what any good Christian girl SHOULD do: I prayed. And let me tell you, prayer is one of those things that's so powerful and amazing and so life-changing. It's so hard to describe the utter joy I get in talking to God. It's just an amazing feeling. And my eyes have been opened. I know that, because I am only a mere human, I am going to mess up again and question the blessings God has given me, but I know how to control it better. And hopefully, with this newly found self-control (well, kind of. lol) I won't dare to question God. Ever.

Couple of things:

1. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER (I don't think I can stress this enough) doubt God. And I know we will sometimes, because we're human. I do now and then. Then I realize what an idiot I am and that I really need to keep my mouth shut.  But try your very very very best not to. God is the Creator of everything. I think He knows what He's doing.

2.  I'm going to try to post something every week. Can't promise this is gonna be a legit thing, but I'm gonna try. Sometimes it'll be twice a week, or not at all or what have you. But, I will try and I will also try to add the Word to it. Kay?

Like I said, bear (if that's the right term) with me here. It's been a while.

Hope you have an amazing and blessed weekend. I know I will (:

xoxo
<3
Linds