Cleanin' it Up

I had not actually noticed how dirty my Jeep was until I started cleaning it out.  The dashboard had a reasonable amount of dust on it and there was old coffee stains splattered around.  It was all leftovers of what I had not finished or even bothered to take care of when I knew that the coffee had split and when I knew that there was dust building up on the dash.  As I was scrubbing and dusting and vacuuming my Jeep I stopped for a second and realized that if I would had just took care of the mess right when it happened, right when I recognized it then it probably would not had taken me so long to do or so hard to get rid of.  This reminded me a lot like my spiritual life.  When I recognize that there is a certain sin my life I should be more than ready to confess it before God and ask Him to change that area in my life because I have all of the supplies I would ever need. I have the Lord's guidance and His Word, I have friends and family who can help guide me in the way and I have the Spirit living inside of me! But yet I wait until that sin is so bad that I cannot even bare it but my last resort is to give it up to God; because I know He alone is "the founder and perfecter of our faith" Hebrews 12:2.

I don't always notice that my life is dirty..until I clean it out and see how clean it can be.

In Romans 12:12 it says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Everyday we should be willing and desiring to clean out our lives so we can better serve God in our thoughts and our actions.  I would encourage anyone to take some time and spend it with the Lord, asking Him to renew your mind, asking Him to clean the dust and dirty stains on you because we know that "The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works."  Psalm 145:13 And He is the only One able to set your life right, He is the only One who will finish the work He starts.  And the amazing thing is He desires to help us and lead us in the way of righteousness.  He covets over us! What a neat picture?
The Lord our God, the One who made us and sent His Son to die for us, wants to take part in renewing us each and every day.  


Let the Lord renew you today!

A Proclamation of His Love

My day started at 6:00am to the sound of my roommates alarm going off, quickly after that was turned off I started my morning and headed downstairs for some breakfast and what I thought would be some peaceful quiet time without distractions.  The coffee was brewing and I was just about to enjoy my bowl of cereal when two of the Robey boys stormed downstairs and pretty soon the morning I had imagined for myself has quickly changed.  After Gabe and I had finished eating our cereal I was still determined to read something in the book of Psalms so I got comfortable on the couch and began in Psalm 127.  Just when I had read to Psalm 127:2 Gabriel decided to crawl on top of me and snuggle in close with his green fuzzy blanket and my heart immediately melted with love and thankfulness.  I still tried to read, which was pretty challenging when you have the cutest 7-year old boy close by, and I sure am glad that I did because Psalm 127:3 was definitely proclaimed to me this morning and any other time that I get to spend with the Robey boys, my nieces and nephews and even complete strangers children that I see at the park.
Psalm 127:3-- "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord."
What an awesome fact from our Lord and what an amazing thing to be able to experience pretty much everyday of my life if I allow it.
Needless to say I am so thankful and appreciative for what the Lord shows us and generously gives us through children.  I would not trade my time I had with Gabe this morning for my idea of a peaceful morning for anything. 

Enjoy one of God's many blessings, Children.

The Potter and the Clay

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:  “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.  But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me.  He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Have you ever wondered why you are in that certain spot in your life?  Why the Lord would have you there and what exactly He plans on accomplishing with you and the others around you?  In my life specifically that is definitely something that I wonder but along with that I also know that the Lord has me where I am for a reason and with that I am hopeful and prayerful that I can be moved and taken to the "potters house" and that I wont be hesitant to move but have that sense of willingness just as Jeremiah did. 
The Lord specifically tells him to go to the potter's house because obviously Jeremiah wasn't going to see what the Lord needed him to see where he was.  Then it says, " ...the word of the Lord came to me."  Just by Jeremiahs willingness to move and go where the Lord would have him, he heard what God needed him to hear.  There was no verse that tells us that Jeremiah was reluctant but it clearly says, "So I went down to the potter’s house."  How often do you feel God calling you to a certain place but yet do not go?  Can you even imagine all the wonderful things that we could be witnessing if we would just step out of our comfort zone and rely on the Lord to do work in our lives? 
It is my prayer to be better listener, to respond, and to go to the "potters house" and see what the Lord needs me to see in order to be a better witness and encouragement to others as well as grow in faith and in love. I desire to see God in my life, moving and pursuing me.  I desire to see what all He can do through myself and others just by one simple step.  I desire to be the clay formed solely by the Lord and all His goodness. 

What is your desire?
Kelsey

Put on love...

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  
But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."-- Colossians 3:12-15

There are no words I could say that amount to the joy that these three verses give me. My prayer is that the peace of God will rule in my heart, that I will put on love, and be thankful in all circumstances. 


Discover the joy for yourself, read God's Promise to you!
Kelsey

Molded by God Alone

Is it just me or does our society seem favorable to mold their lives around many different things.  We are willing to change anything about ourselves in the matter of minutes.  We really are so moldable. 

The one thing I want to make sure of is not that I am being molded by the society that I live in but that I am being molded by only God's hand to do His will in my life.  Everything else can fade away..matter of fact it will!

"The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
   Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   but the word of our God endures forever."- Isaiah 40:7,8

Eventually everything else will fall away.  Think about that... What will you have when everything else is stripped away?  You may have every exspensive brand of designer shoes, coats, cars, etc.  But if you do not have the Word of the Lord etched in your heart.. what do you have?  If all of your prized possessions here on Earth were to be removed would you have a dweling place suitable for someone much greater than yourself?
The reason why it is so important to be moldable for God is because through that molding process He can do so much with us.  He can take us places we never thought, like in my case Juarez, Mexico, simply because you are allowing Him to "do work!" in your life!  It is important that we see the areas in our life that need to be shaped better and allow His hand to mold us into what He has called us to be.  It is important that we allow God to mold us by His word, love, grace, mercy, forgiveness because through that we are made new and able to see the Works of the Lord through our life. 

Lord, it is my prayer that I can become moldable and willing to change or shift according to Your Word, because it is Life or Death that I am dealing with here and You are the only One that I want leading me to the way everlasting.  Show me where I need to be worked on, and mold me into the child I was called to be.

Are you moldable to God's Perfect & Pleasing Will?
Kelsey

God, I'm finally getting serious...

Juarez, Mexico
March 4th- 13th

The week that Christ literally took a hold of my heart and ran with it.  (I will continue to thank Him for it though)  Riding in a 15 passenger van with 14 other people may not sound appealing, and especially not a 36 hour ride all the way to Mexico.  But to me it was just what I needed and more.  When we finally made it to Juarez after a long haul on Monday we settled in as much as you can possibly settle on cement and headed to our work site that we would soon call our home for the next four days.  We were introduced the family and then quickly started leveling the ground.  Until that is we got hit with a major wind storm which staled us for the first day.  Because the wind was so powerful we were not able to lay down the cement the first day like planned.  But God knew what He was doing and bright and early (6:30 am) we were at the site and ready to get that ground ready for some cement!  When the fourth day rolled along and the final product was there right before our eyes, a beautiful casa built by God's people, for God's glory to be shared with the neighborhood of Juarez. 
Sleepless nights, concrete floor, cold nights, no "real" shower for a week, this all doesn't really seem like an average college students dream spring break but the cool thing is that I am not some average college student, no one who went is.  We all have so much to offer and within those few days me and God started getting more serious with our relationship which is exactly what I needed at the time.  We were all able to connect with the families even with the language barrier and we were able to build up our fellowship as a whole also.  A week is a long enough time for Christ to change some ones life and He proved it to me.  He filled me with this joy that I literally cannot describe.  Even though I didn't get a real shower for a week I could feel the God cleansing me from the inside out the whole week. 
My prayer is to continue this intimate relationship that God and I have truly started.  I pray that I will allow Him to use me in ways I would never of imagined- like going to Mexico.  I pray that my heart will continue to ache for Juarez and the families we affected and that Casas por Cristo will continue to reach to Mexico.  I pray that my eyes continue to be opened by God's love and mercy. Thank you Lord for Your beauty.  I love you.

Get serious with God, you wont regret it,
Kelsey

Parable of the Sower

The Parable of the Sower has been brought to my attention again.  My friend Kassie mentioned it to me which in return made me dig deeper into it.  This parable truly is "legit".  I mean it is just so true and powerful.  It is in Mark Chapter 4 and it goes through verse 20.  Here Jesus is teaching but because the crowd became so large, He had to get into a boat so that there was enough room for everyone.  His story begins with, “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
Shortly after Jesus was done the disciples still did not fully understand it so Jesus explained it to them.  And He does such a great job explaining it, of course He does because He is Jesus, but I just love the way He explains it again. 
"The farmer sows the word.  Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.  Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;  but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.  Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown."
For me personally I believe that at first the word was not sown on the good soil, because when I first thought I had given my heart to the Lord, I really did not.  I mean I knew I had thing called salvation and forgiveness, but I did not know what to do with it or how to produce anything from it.  It was until I truly became serious about my relationship with God that I planted the word and the Truth that I had received into good soil and it has been until then that I have truly been able to produce crops.  It is not always easy at times, but God never promised it would be easy, but it is manageable with Him on our side.  Thank you Lord for the chance to plant Your word and Your Truth in good soil. 

Is it time for you to do some replanting?

Become a Farmer, & Sow the Word in Good Soil,
Kelsey