LoVe

I have been reading in Set-Apart Femininity by THE Leslie Ludy and just found this paragraph that I had an asteric * by. "As women, the desire to be beautiful is innate. We long to be seen as attractive, appealing, and desirable. We dream of capturing the heart of a noble prince with our stunning beauty, like the princesses in our childhood fairy tales. But our longing to be loved and wooed by a heroic groom didn't orginate with Cinderella- it's actually a Biblical concept. The entire Bible is a beautiful love story between Christ and His bride- drawing us, wooing us, and loving us the way we have always dreamed. Song of Solomon, for example, is just one of the many beautiful portrayals of our heavenly Bridegroom tenderly pursuing His bride. Jesus is the only one who can truly satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts. And yet, most of us turn to everything but Him in a desperate attempt to find the approval we crave..." So we cannot deny the fact that we were created to be loved and to love like this. Which sent me to Song of Solomon to find a portrayal of the only satisfying love- that Divine Love of Christ and His bride, us. "I am my lover's, and he claims me as his own. Come, my love..." (SoS) and “Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me,and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel,for I am God and not a mere mortal." (Hosea)
Here's to LoVe. Let His surround you this Christmas season. Think of His supernatural love you for you, it can only be divine. I cannot offer you anything near as breathtaking. And most of all, let it stir you. Change you. Pray that His love will Capture your Heart.
I pray for you... that your heart will experience His romance in a new way. That you can grasp his promise, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love."
Soli Deo Gloria!
Courtney

Storms n Waves

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell an incredible story. Found in chapters 8, 4, and 8 respectively, they tell of the time the disciples were out on the sea and Jesus slept soundly as the storm threatened to take their lives. We discussed these chapters in Bible study today and found it interesting that Jesus did not only rebuke the storm, but the waves also. We can very readily identify the storms in our lives. But what are the waves? The waves are simply symptoms of the storm. If Jesus would have simply commanded the storm to quit, the waves would still have had to die down, but it would have taken them a while. But no, He goes straight to the problem and fixes it, along with all of its consequences. Then He challenges them for having no faith in them.
How often am I begging God to simply mask my symptoms instead of actually dealing with my root problem? If I get fired from my job, it'd be good to pray for a new one. But I suggest that I should pray more about the reason I was fired and strive to fix that. If you got fired for cussing at your boss, getting a new job isn't going to fix that habit and chances are, you'll do it again. Fix the problems NOT the symptoms... antibiotics NOT tylenol!
so the question i leave. FIRST- Jesus calmed the storm and waves and IMMEDIATELY said, "where is your faith?" So. The question. Where is my faith? and how does it increase? how do I react in faith instead of in the flesh as the disciples did? What would I have done if acting in faith? Not anything at all? Should I still have woke Jesus up? and the granddad of em all.... self examination! How often am I going to the Lord instead of relying on myself and my own strength? 0-100%....

Much ado over nothing

For many months this poor soul has contemplated a blog... and finally, I must confess, I caved. Why is so important? ah, I do not know. Maybe some day I will understand. But I did it. And now, someday in the future, I may write down on here what I think, feel, do, believe, and dream of. But that's when I have time to write, NOT when I have papers and two tests due tomorrow. For now, I am simply content to have satisfied the blogger's craving in me.

Soli Deo Gloria~Courtney