so much more

I am almost all moved into my dorm room! In between various events, fairs, and staying up way too late, I'm not getting much sleep. Maybe I'll catch up on the weekends. I've made a lot of new friends.

Some friends and I were in the car today when I had a thought. There a lot of Rachels here at college, and I thought of Rachel in the Bible. We don't hear much about her spiritual life. It reminded me of that verse in the Bible that says that too many things happened to document (if someone knows where this verse is, please let me know). We probably haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg as far as reading about the miracles Jesus performed.

Edit: Elizabeth Moore of Study.Quiet provided the Bible verse (thanks!) reference.

"Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."John 21:25

Anyway, that's my thought for the day. Other than that, ice cream socials are fun...although more fun when you aren't shivering in your sweatshirt.

Off to College!

Well, it's my last night in my own bed for a long while. I'm off to a small Christian college in the Northwest. This will be my junior year, so college isn't entirely new to me, but the dorm experience will be!

I expect to be very busy while I'm getting settled in and until I get used to taking 17 credits.

Until then, may the grace of God be with you all.

another one of those

Just when you thought another diet couldn't exist...

Stephen Lanzalotta creates the "Da Vinci Diet" and writes The Diet Code: Revolutionary Weight-Loss Secrets from Da Vinci and The Golden Ratio. Click to read the complete article.

God is working on me

Sometimes I don't feel like God hears my prayers. Sometimes I think God is angry with me and won't answer my prayers. But this week God has certainly heard me. I was thankful and happy for His help in time of need-a practical matter, I lost something, and now it is found.

I also requested that the Holy Spirit would remind me when I committed particular sins. But I forgot that God's answer might not be quite what I had in mind.

Ask and you shall receive.

It hurts. But I know God loves me. My Father chastens the ones He loves.

living water

I'm back! I spent the last week camping with my family, and we were able to see a variety of God's creation, including a black bear!

We camped at two different locations, and both times were able to be close to a water feature. We actually spent two nights next to this waterfall.



All that water reminded me of when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman.

John 4:10, 13-14

"Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.' "

"Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Heart: Part II

Heart: Part II continued from Heart: Part I

The Heart Must Be Conformed to God
The Bible says that our hearts are desperately wicked and for that reason, we must ask God to help us mold them into hearts that follow Him. In seeking to become like God, one must study and understand the heart of God. What do we know about God? He hates sin. This type of examination is painful. Our hearts do not naturally desire God and His precepts. We need to seek conformity with God, not to this world. Psalm 84:5 says, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.”

The Heart Must be Protected
We hear about guarding our hearts, protecting our purity, putting on the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:12-13 writes,

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

We protect our hearts that they may remain sensitive to the evils of sin, and not callused.

Imagine the heart is like a castle. Although the king of the castle may have lands and people that lie outside its boundaries, the castle is the main fortress. If those castle walls are strong, well maintained, and well guarded, then the enemy will be hard put to enter. However, if the walls have been broken down, the gate breached, and the guard sleeps, then it will be easy to conquer that castle. So it is with your heart. What things have crept into your life that compromise the “security” of your heart?

In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, the senior devil, Screwtape, advises his nephew that the best way to bring a man down is not to confront him directly, but wear him down. Screwtape writes,

“We know that we have introduced a change of direction in his course which is already carrying him out of his orbit around the Enemy; but he must be made to imagine that all the choices which have effected this change of course are trivial and revocable.”

Luke 11:21 says, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.”

The Result of Heart Work
Jeremiah 24:7 says, “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”

If we live in accordance with God’s word, loving Him with all our heart and soul and mind, then we will be able to say, “Lord, you have my whole heart.”