Draw Near

I'm back!

I know, I know! I said I was going to do 365 days worth of posts... But of course life got super crazy. But the Lord blessed me with a day off today, so I writing to you, my friends. As cheesy as it may sound, I hope this post finds you happy and well. :) Seriously!
Oh! You should probably thank my sweet friend Alyssa, for this post because in all honesty it is her pretty self that encouraged me to write again. You can follow her, here. :)

Now for today's post. LET'S ROLL.

Jesus is more than good. He is more than I could ever tell you about. He is all that matters.

He. Is. It.

This post is specifically for those people that are in a rut with their relationship with Jesus. Y'all, I know that can be the worst feeling, EVER. But there is hope, He is good. He desires you with all that He is. His love never changes. His love does not rely on who we are or what we have done, His faithful love is perfect because of who He is, and what He has done. He is LOVE.

Those truth's are what I have been learning to believe and learning to trust. I will never be good enough or do enough. I will always fail. But He never does and He won't. God has literally been stripping me of ALL that I am. He is taking the good and the bad.

My challenge to you is this: Stop, just stop. Stop trying so hard. Stop trying to fix it all. Stop trying to be good enough and REST. Rest in who Jesus is, in what He did for you. If you're thinking but how? How do I rest? I will tell you.

You can't rest in Jesus and who He is, if you don't know Him. If you are not taking the time to be with Him. To know that He is love. So rest, in the Word of God. Search. Read. Soak. REST. Listen to music that praises Him for all that He is. Then let the Word and let the truths that people sing about overtake you. Lay down all your mistakes, knowing that Jesus died for exactly those. And rest in Him. The Word will change and transform you. I promise that when you spend time in the Word, you will be a different person. When you take the focus of yourself and focus on Christ, you will live differently. It will be an abundant life in Christ.

Start here, listen to this song.

Fave lyrics are:

Breathe in me Your life

'Til Your love overtakes me.

Open up my eyes

Let me see you more clearly

Falling on my knees

'Til I love like You love me

I love You.

Sing this over yourself.

Some verses :)

Draw me after You and let us run together. Song of Solomon 1:4

..Fear not: For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. Isaiah 43:1

If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36

And you shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord, do I seek." Psalm 27:8

Seek Him and who He is with all you are, and rest.

Love you guys.

Question: What is the best way you connect with Jesus? Don't be scurred. Leave a comment and lets talk it out. :)

Music Monday.

"Your love for music will be an important part of your life." My fortune cookie. :)

If you know me at all, you know that I am a HUGE fan of music. HUGE.
So, every Monday, will be Music Monday.
Get. Excited.

This particular Monday is featuring KB! You can check him out here.

I actually just got a hold of his cd today. It is raw and full of talent. He lays out the truth and brings it hard. Check out a "Don't Waste Your Life" remix here. He brings it, and it. Is. Good.

click here to see the vid. :)

Okay, I know I've not given you much detail, but hopefully enough to wet your appetite. Check this guy out. His music is worth it because he praises the One who is Worthy. (and he is just bombdig.) Derrr.

Love y'all.

-His Beloved.

HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter, my friends!

In a friend, David's words: JESUS. Ain't. Dead!
WORD!

I have had a new aspect on Easter this year: God forsook His son, for me!
Wait, what? Hold up! This is a whole new take on Easter. A lightbulb that has finally turned on!

These next 365 days are going to be based on my love story with my Savior. And this truth that I have learned, that has finally clicked, is crucial. Not only did my God forsake His perfect son for me, but Jesus died willingly and took His Father's wrath for me. Woaaa.

Y'all! Do you see that love story? Do you see how much God desires us? He wanted a relationship with me so badly that he sacrificed His son for me. Jesus loved me so dearly that He died so I could know His Father. So I could know Him.

You see, because of my flesh, my very DNA I deserve death. The moment I was born, I was a sinner. I am imperfect. Just being human keeps me away from God, hence the need for a sacrifice. A need for a Savior. Jesus is it.

He lived a perfect life. In His perfection He was deemed a worthy sacrifice for all of our sins. That sin came with a price. When Jesus died on the cross, He took all of my sin upon himself. He became my sin. He paid my price.

But here is the beauty of it all.. Not only did Jesus take my sin upon himself and die. But He rose again victoriously. He conquered death. Jesus took all of my sin threw it into hell and left it there. Jesus literally stole me away from the devils grasp on my life. He is my Savior. I am alive. I know Him personally. I know His father personally. My Jesus ain't dead. He is alive and pursuing my life daily.

My Jesus is a champion, never to be defeated.

You wanna know Him? Do you need to be saved from the devils grasp on your life? Please ask questions! Please let me know how I can pray for you.
Reader, I love you dearly. :)

-His Beloved.

I woke up with this song in my head, and I wanted to share: click here :)

365 days.

Ingrid Michaelson music streaming from the speakers.
Cuddled up in bed, lap top sitting, well.. on my lap.
Looking out the window of my bedroom.
Ready, to write to you, to tell you something.

Today is the first day of many where I will tell you something. I will be telling you many different somethings with no specific theme. This blog will just be filled with my heart.

You will be hearing a lot about music, and my favorite songs. Which ones speak to my heart, change my life and songs that I love to dance too. You will be hearing about adventures that I go on. You will find out some of my dreams, fears, and interests. You will be reading about love, oh love. The part of my heart that I am most excited about.. is tell you what Jesus is writing on my heart. I can promise you those are going to be the days worth reading. The part of my heart worth hearing about.

My desire is that through these next days, Jesus will be fleshed out through each of these aspects of my life. That you will see/hear/read about Jesus daily. Because the fact is, no music is worth listening too, no adventure worth going on, no dream worth having, no love worth experiencing, is worthy, unless Jesus is the center.

There is no blog worth reading unless it points you toward the only thing worthwhile. Jesus.

So, the point of this post is to prepare you. You, my friends, are going to be able to read 365 days worth of music, adventures, fears, dreams and interests that the Lord has graced me with. I believe that all of these things are a part of our (mine and His) beautiful journey. You see, my
Jesus pursues me daily, through each of these facets of life. My goal is to write out our love story for the next 365 days. My goal is that you will see our love and He will be lifted higher in your life because of it. That you will begin seek out your own love story with the Creator. He is there, ready to take you out. Sweep you off of your feet.

So Yes I am in love, I am in love with Jesus Christ. Hallelujah, I am in love.

Let's journey together.

- His Beloved.

Fear not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
For your maker, is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Isreal. Isaiah 54:5

Little List.

Ohhhh man. My heart is so full at the moment. I have been itching to blog for awhile now but knew I would sit at the computer and not know how to put into words how good my God is.

I've decided to make a list and explain as I go. Hope this goes as smoothly as prayed for. :)

Just roll with me.

List:

1. I am incredibly thankful to be in Stillwater this semester.

-There has been a lot of uncertainty on whether or not this is where I should be. Last semester I had such a desire to be home in Tulsa. There is just so much comfort in being home. I was longing for that comfort last semester. So I began to seek out the option of taking classes at OSU Tulsa and seeing if I could finish out my degree there. Through the whole process, my biggest desire was just to be where God wanted me. So, I simply asked him to make it clear. I talked to my advisor and it became very clear that I was going to be in Stillwater rather than Tulsa. As much as I wanted to be home, I had to trust the Lord. He has proven Himself faithful. Duh.

2. I would be lying if I said that there weren't days that I still longed to be in Tulsa.

-There is so much that draws me to Tulsa. My family being a huge part of that. I am now an aunt of 3 of the cutest kids, EVER. I don't want to miss out on them growing up. My home church is another big one. I have no doubt in my mind that God is doing HUGE things there. He is raising up a people who are ONLY about His glory. My heart longs to be a part of that, to see and help cultivate that. I want to see Jesus be made famous in the lives of the people that I have grown up with, the people that I love so much. I have friends old and new that I miss daily. The Lord has allowed me to make connections with people that have blown my mind. Specifically the college group at FBCBA. They are an incredible, Jesus loving group of people who have stolen my heart.

So yes, there are still days that I long to be in Tulsa.

3. My God is sovereign.

-Regardless of the fact that my heart longs for good things in Tulsa. God is jealous for me. I really feel like He has brought me out into the desert to be with just Him. Oh so many song lyrics come to mind that could explain this perfectly. But this is the song that best describes what God is doing in my life.

He will allure her.

He will pursue her.

Call her out to wilderness with flowers in his hands.

She is responding, beat up and hurting, deserving death.

But offerings of life are found instead.

She will sing, she will sing, Oh to You.

As You lead her away to valleys alone.

Oh to acres of hope.

((Acres of Hope by Shane and Shane))

4. I am really bad about busying myself with things OF the Lord rather than just being with Jesus.

- If I were home, I would of been comfortable. I would of been distracted. And again, He is jealous for me. For my heart, my time, ALL of me. He wants to transform me. Make me more like Him. He wants me to fall madly in love with Him. And y'all.... He is sweeping me off of my feet. I am falling for Him. I am giving him ALL of me. Not just my serving and the pretty side of me. But the bad and the ugly. He is asking me for my pride and my selfishness. He is transforming me because of His grace.

5. That is why I am crazy thankful to be in Stillwater.

- I am not comfortable. I feel like I am constantly on my toes. I see myself longing for and desiring worldly things and I stop and run back to Jesus. He is alluring me to Him. Pursuing me. I am thankful because living in Stillwater is my desert. It is my acre of Hope. All I have is Jesus. Praise God. All I have is Jesus.

6. I am going to end this list with some Lecrae lyrics. It is exactly how I feel. I hope you feel the same.

If this life has anything to gain at all

I count it lost if I can't hear You, feel You, 'cause I need You

Cant walk this earth alone

I recognize I am not my own, so before I fall

I need to hear You, feel You, as I live to to make my boast in You alone.

Glory was solely meant for You.

((Boasting by Lecrae))

I can't do it my own power y'all. It has got to be all Jesus. I am thankful to be with just Him. I can't do this life without the Spirit moving me. I can't only bring Him glory, when my life is all about me. So He is preparing me. Breaking me. Praise God.

I am so thankful for the desert.

"She is responding, beat up and hurting, deserving death.

But offerings of life are found instead.

She will sing, She will sing, Oh to You.

As You lead her away to valleys alone.

Oh to acres of hope."

Better.

Merry Christmas!

I sincerely hope that your holiday was filled with joy and that Jesus captured your heart once again. I pray that you were blessed by time spent with the family.

Happy Birthday Jesus... As corny as that is, I am SUPER thankful that You humbled yourself to love on a wretch like me.

I am going to post the lyrics to a song that has literally been on repeat for the past 3 weeks.. maybe longer. The Lord has definitely used it to comfort me and put my perspective back where it needs to be. The song is called Better and it is by Jess Ray and the Rag Tag Army. My good friend from kamp, Gordon showed it to me and I cannot be more thankful.

Okay, for those of you that don't know.. I am a music freak. I love it. Music is always on in my car or at the apartment. I thoroughly enjoy all types of music. Anything from Lecrae to Shane and Shane can capture my attention. Yes, I love the fact that Lecrae's beats make me wanna do my own little jig, or that Shane and Shane can harmonize like no bodies business.. It is always the lyrics that capture my heart. I am, will always be, a lyrics girl. Even if the song is awful but the lyrics are on point.. I will love it, listen to it, and probably make you listen as well. Music is good but the lyrics are what grabs my attention, and keeps me listening. My favorite is when the lyrics push me over to Christ and when I fall even more in love with Him by the transparency of that artist. That is why I used Shane and Shane and Lecrae for examples. Shane and Shane literally sing scripture. LOVE THAT. And Lecrae's lyrics kick my butt! Sidenote- If you're not a fan of Christian rap, jump on board. It is a sermon in a song. Warning: Your face might get rocked and your pride will definitely get checked. Bombdig.

Anyways...

All that said and with no further rambling from yours truly. Here are the lyrics. Read carefully and let the words penetrate your soul. :).

Better than morning, when color fills the windows
Better than evenings, dark enough to see a star show
Better than singing, loud enough to hear my voice go
Better than listening to the finest sounds I've ever known
Better than money, to bury all my fears
Better than beauty, to make them stop and stare
Better than knowing that they genuinely care
Better than feeling safe and secure here
All You want is Yours, and all You hate, it's gone
'Cause all I need is You, it's You, it's You
'Cause You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
Better than winning the award that I fought years for
Better than victory in this world's coldest and longest war
Better than finding someone who fits right into me
Better than watching all my dreams in front of me
All You want is Yours, and all You hate, it's gone
'Cause all I need is You, it's You, it's You
'Cause You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
Better than waking
Better than breathing
Better than living
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better
You are better

That is A LOT of "You are betters." But how true is that? He is better.

Confession: I looked for a music video or something to put on here, but no luck. So now that you have read these lyrics, and are probably thinking..."Wow, Mon, seriously???" You must go to your iTunes and just buy the song. TRUST me. It is WORTH it. I wouldn't of blogged about it other wise.

A new year is approaching, let's look at it with the right perspective.. He is better than anything this world can offer.

Much love my friends.

To my ladies.

Welcome to this crazy world, Joli Klara-Kate.

You are precious and beautiful.

Praying for you always.

Love these girls so much and our chats.

Thank you for always making Proverbs 27:17 true in my life.

Blessed beyond belief to call you friends.

Tayler Dawn Frrrrrrrreeesting.

Love laughing with you. Love that we get each others crazy thoughts. Especially love our transparency. In honesty there is healing. Thanks for walking that journey with me and Jesus.

Can't. Wait. To see God's purpose shape your life. Love you to the moon and back. Lots of leg kicks and fist pumps for you.

Mika.

God continually uses our friendship to make me more like Him. I am unbelievably thankful for that. Even though it hurts sometimes, I am glad we can always be honest. Your passion for ministry inspires me. Thank you for always guarding my heart especially when I fail to do that for myself. Our friendship is truly a God-send. Laughing with you is on my top ten favorites list. Love you a flippin' ton.

Twinner.

Gooooooooooooooood night. SO thankful that Jesus saw it fit for us to become friends sophomore year. (even though..you thought i was a brat..) We have been through it all and we still have so much more life to conquer together. From KAA to lazy Saturdays, we understand each others hearts so well. PTL. Love you more than life, sister. Can't wait to be your MOH. :))

Too blessed to have each of you. Love you all.