The NT Challenge and Beyond

As much as I would love to spend time blogging this week, I don't think it's going to happen. It's finals week, so I will be spending nearly all my time studying and packing to move back home for the summer. I hope to start blogging more this summer, but we will have to see! To any college students, good luck with finals, and finish strong! To any graduating seniors, may God bless you as you enter the next chapter of your life! Until next time!

Tonight I just wanted to share a quick bit of encouragement. I know for several students, myself included, finals week is coming fast! Classes are wrapping up, and there are tests, papers, and projects due in the next week. I don't know about you, but it's a little stressful! Add packing up to move out to the mix, and it becomes a nightmare to think about! EEK! But something I was reminded of today is that I need to keep my focus on God, because He will get me through! Isaiah 40:29 says, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Great encouragement, right? I thought it was a good reminder as I finish writing a final paper! I was reading 'Jesus Calling' today, and the little devotional once again fit exactly what I was going through today. It says: "Make Me your focal point as you move through this day. Just as a spinning ballerina must keep returning her eyes to a given point to maintain her balance, so you must keep retu...

This post is going to be pretty difficult to write, because it hits on something I've been struggling with for several years. It's hard because it is something I continue to struggle with. It's hard because it's something that is more personal than generic. It's hard because I don't like admitting I've been wrong. But I think it is something I need to write, because I think it is something that everyone deals with in one way or another. For several years (probably almost 6 or 7), I had my future all planned out. I knew where I was going to college, what I would be studying, where I would work after finishing college, when and where I would marry my crush, where we would live, what the house would look like, how many kids I would have, what their names (first and middle) would be, everything! It was like the ultimate MASH game in my imagination. I had it all written in journals, scribbled on scraps of notebook paper, diagrams of the house drawn out; anythin...

Again, here's another snapshot of my writings from last summer when I began the New Testament Challenge. Today as I read Matthew 9, there was no specific verse or verses I wanted to focus on. Rather I noticed a theme in the middle section. From verses 1-8 and 18-34, there is a theme of healing. Jesus performed miracles that healed people around him (healing the paralytic, raising a girl to life, casting out demons, etc.). Now I'm not taking way from the amazing power of God in these verses, it's just not what I want to focus on today. I want to focus on the fact that Jesus heals and restores life. These stories in and of themselves are pretty cool! I mean come on! When's the last time you saw someone raised from the dead? But did you know that God still does that. It isn't a physical resurrection, but a spiritual one. Think about it: before we knew Christ, the Bible says we were dead in our sins and trespasses. But God raised us to life and opened our eyes so tha...

So recently I was reading through and old journal and found my "paper blog" that I was working on while at youth camp last year. I was trying to keep up with the New Testament Challenge reading plan, so I wrote out what I would have typed into this notebook. I'd like to finally post it here. This post was written about Matthew 8. Here ya go! :) Before you make a decision, you usually weigh the pros and cons. You make a decision on previous experiences or present responsibilities. But how many times do we choose to give up everything to follow Christ's leading? It's what Jesus tells us to do, but we don't do it. Why? Because we count the cost, we consider the sacrifice required. We give up because it gets too hard, it requires more from us than we want to give. Look at Matthew 8:18-22. Two men came to Jesus and said they would follow Him. Jesus knew the heart of the first man and saw his intentions: he wanted something comfortable for himself. Jesus' r...

I remember when I was in Middle School, I had one of my friends over to spend the night. This friend and I had grown up together, and we still have a close friendship even today. I remember one night in particular that she came over, and we were just hanging out and talking about anything and everything. Somehow, the topic turned to something that I was not allowed to do or watch. Even if I was allowed to do or watch whatever it was, I had no desire to do so anyway. I told this friend that I wasn't allowed to watch the movie, or do whatever it was; she accused me of being a goody-two-shoes and asked if I always had to do "what my mommy told me to". To be honest, I was embarrassed, ashamed that my friends might see me as thinking of myself better than them. I didn't know how to reply, so I just brushed off the comment and changed the subject. We moved on quickly, but I never forgot that conversation. I wonder about how I could have confronted the accusation. Why didn...

I don't know about you, but I have trouble being still. There's just too much to do! I don't have time to sit... or do I? So often, I come up with excuses why I don't take time to sit in the quiet and spend time with God. "I have to get ready for class", or "I have too much homework due tomorrow", or "I haven't spent any time with my friends today, so I'll do it later", or "I finally have a few minutes free, and I want to check Facebook, Twitter, or my email". Anyone else notice a pattern here? Each excuse starts with the pronoun "I". On the surface, these are all good things. Time with friends and furthering education aren't bad things at all. However, don't you think God, the Creator of the universe, the Sustainer of life, deserves more attention? After all, if He didn't give us breath, we wouldn't be able to spend time with our friends or get an education! So why don't we give God the time ...

Well hi there! It's been over five months since I've posted, but I have something I would like to share with you guys today (today, tonight, this morning? I don't know any more! My mind's not completely functioning after midnight at this point!) My post today comes from the first chapter of Lisa Harper's book, "Stumbling Into Grace" (thank you Miss Jennifer M. for the book!) She starts her first chapter with a quote from D. A. Carson, which says, "Why is God doing this? Though it is blasphemous to think it, our whole being cries out that this is unfair of him, that our grief and pain are disproportionate to our sin, that we have been abandoned." Do you ever feel that way? I know I do, and I recently had that feeling (will share more on that story in a minute).  Lisa shares her own personal examples of being scared in this introduction. But after describing some scenarios in her life where she's felt anxious or scared, she includes a sma...