Forrest, I just wanted to tell you I love you...

My fam loves to quote movies.  Someone will randomly throw out a line of a movie in regular conversation & get everyone else to guess what movie it is from.  We love that game.  (It ranks right up there with guess that song.)  On my way home from church tonight this line kept creeping into my mind.  I was praying about some things on my heart & this is the line that I heard:  "Forrest, I just wanted to tell you I love you..."

Um, ok, thanks God.  I know you love me.  But then I heard, have you told others how much you love them.  Well, I show them I love them.  No, He said, that's not what I'm talking about, have you said it with your mouth.  Have you uttered the words I love you?  But they already know, I told God.  He told me to say it again.  Thank you God for the reminder, just as I want it said to me, I must say it to others...so here goes.  :)

To my family, I love you.  I love the way you make me laugh.  I love the what I see God calling you to be.  You are inspiring to me.  I'm so blessed that God put you in my life.  You are treasures and am so blessed to be part of our family, but I refuse to wear orange, it is not in my color wheel....  Movie, anyone?  Love you guys!

HK leaders & SideKicks, I love you.  Your dedication & faithful service to Jesus to impact the next generation is amazing.  You show the living Christ to kids and are willing to be His hands and feet.  I love serving with y'all & I love sharing my life with you.  HKSK, y'all rock!  To be your age & already feel God's call on your life, wow how incredible that you are willing to answer the call!  My prayer is that you follow Him always.

All my EL classmates...y'all are a bunch of crazy Jesus freaks & I love you!!!  Being with you on Thursday nights makes my week complete.  God is so good & knew I needed you. 

Amy J & Dillian J, thank you for looking into my heart & speaking truth into it no matter what I want to hear.  (and for making me cry on more than one occasion.)  I love for you pushing me out of my comfort zone & making me stretch in my service to Jesus.

To all my VH friends, I love you.  You have stood by me in good times & bad.  Through the years we have shared many things, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

I know I'm leaving out people, so if I am, know I love you.  I'm sure I'll dream about everyone I've left out...I'm a little weird like that.  :) 

Have you told others that you love them?  Don't wait to tell them.  It will make them feel good, and make you feel the peace of God in your heart. 

In Him,
~ashley

Moved

There are two things I know:  I serve a great God & today I was able to serve Him with a group of wonderful people. 

It is two days after so many tornadoes ripped through our state.  As of right now there are 318 who are dead, and countless others who are missing.  It is going to take years for some areas to recover.  What is amazing is seeing one of the things the body of Christ does best.  Minutes after the storms hit the planning began, then the calls went out of how each of us could help, and then the body of Christ answered & it will keep on coming until there is no one left to help.  The body is like that.  Are you hungry, we'll feed you; homeless, we'll house you; injured, we'll get you help; we'll do all of this, but most important, we'll point you to Jesus.  Hopefully, you'll see Him in us.  We are His hands, feet, and heart.


There are times for me that a song will define a time or a feeling.  There are several songs right now that do this.  Music moves me.  I always focus on the words, because lots of times when I'm singing, my words will become my prayer.  The song 'No Matter What' is one of those songs.  Through all that has happened this week I am reminded of Job 1:20b. When Job learned that all 10 of his children had died at almost the same time he said: 

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

Before anything happens in our lives, the Lord knows about it, and He might allow it to happen.  Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen His people?  Because He cares about our holiness a lot more than our happiness.  He knows that even through the hard times we will find peace when we turn to Him during the hard times.

 

 

Lord Jesus, we praise you for who you are.  I praise you because of the love you showed us by taking on the sins of the world.  No one else is worthy, only you.  Lord we ask for mercy on our neighbors.  Guide us to serve them as You would.  Let our actions bring glory to you and may all that we do bring honor to your name.  Help us to not be afraid to share you; the bread of life and living water as we see to their physical needs.  Let us not grow weary Lord.  Give us your love for our neighbors.  We love you Father God, and want to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  In His mighty name, ~Amen.

If you haven't had a chance to help the storm victims, call a local church and see what they are doing, and how you can help.  We have lots of great churches in Birmingham who are coordinating workers to help in the hard hit areas.  I promise that as you give your time to help others, you will be blessed.

Praying for our state!
In Him,
~ashley

Remembering

Today is Good Friday.

This is the day that everything changed.

When my children were young we loved to watch VeggieTales.  One of our favorites was An Easter Carol.  Hope's Song is a beautiful way to explain what Easter is.  In the end of the song Hope sings:  "He died for us to give us life & to give us hope he rose." 

But, for Jesus, there was also fear; I can't imagine the fear He had.  Being fully God & fully man He knew what was about to happen; the pain, the heartbreak, the knowing that God the father had to turn His back and allow it to happen.  The weight of every sin, and the blackness of it all was placed on Him.  Jesus knew, and the fully human side of Him made an appearance in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I appreciate Him showing this side.  But what I also see is His submission to God the Father's will.  Jesus knew we needed a way out, and His blood provided it. 

Even though God had to look away while Jesus was on the cross, He knew what Jesus was going through.  In the movie The Passion of the Christ, they show that God was still there by a teardrop falling from heaven.  The link is graphic, so make sure if you are young your parents are ok with you watching this clip.  A teardrop from heaven is not in the bible, but it is a reminder that God's heart was broken.  In the next scene you see the earthquake and the veil tearing in the Holy of Holies.  The veil was a barrier between man and the presence of God.  Only the high priest, once a year was allowed in the place where God dwelt, and it was to atone for the sins of the Jewish nation.  The veil tore to tell us that we all have access to God through the sacrifice and blood of Jesus.  No better gift has ever been given!  He died for us to give us life, and to give us hope, He rose.

We need the life His death gives us, and we need the hope His resurrection brings.   Can you imagine the sadness His disciples and followers were feeling Saturday?   They did not realize what was about to take place on Sunday.  Are we like that?  Are we Saturday people?  Are we wondering what is to become of us?  Are we hiding our faith?

Good news!  Jesus is Risen!  There is hope in His resurrection.  A hope that we are not left alone to fend for ourselves.  We have a purpose while we are here, and we have a hope that this is not all there is.  We are destined to better and greater things.  We have the assurance of spending eternity with Jesus. 

Jesus, how wonderful you are.  Thank you for accepting my sin, and taking the punishment that was meant for me.  Thank you for giving me a new life through the sacrifice of your blood.  I believe you are the only son of God the Father, and that you came to take away the sins of the world.  I commit myself to you, and will serve you all the days of my life.  Forgive me when I sin, and help me through each day.  I love you Jesus.  In your name I pray, ~Amen

Have a wonderfully blessed Easter!  The grave is empty, He is risen!  Hallelujah!!!
~ashley

Finding Peace in the Storm

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 

I wish bad things never happened.  I wish, I wish, I wish.  Unfortunately, wishin' ain't gettin'.  The only thing we're promised is that Christ has overcome the world & He will love us through good times and bad. 

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 

"In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:3-5

I found out this week there is a child in one of my children's classes whose mother is very sick and could possibly die.  Sadly, he is not the first child to have a parent die, and he won't be the last.  My brother was his age when our father passed away, and I remember the feelings we all had during that time.

You may not have something like this going on in your life, but we all have difficult times in our lives.  Who do you turn to when tough times hit?  The only One who can give you peace in the middle of life's storms is Christ.  God asks so little of us.  He wants us:  our love, devotion, our very selves.  But what does that look like?  It is knowing that everything you do, you do for Him.  It's knowing that nothing can separate you from His love.  It's giving Him the best you have in everything.  Christ went through it all so you wouldn't be alone.

Christ is the peace in our storms.  Lay your burdens at his feet and rest.

Lord Jesus, right now I am troubled.  You know my heart and how I feel.  My heart is burdened.  Forgive me for trying to fix it all on my own.  Forgive me for my selfishness.  You know me.  I know you went through it all so you would understand how I felt.  Thank you Jesus for doing that for me.  You are my refuge when life is coming at me.  You are my strength when I am weak.  You lead me and I will follow you.  Give me your peace while I am going through this trial, and show me what you want me to learn.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

In Him,
~ashley

Listening to the Music

First, I want to put a few disclaimers in before this week's devotion.
1.  I wish I could say I have the entire bible memorized, but I don't.  I love reading & studying the bible, and I know where a lot of scriptures are, but I also use a wonderful website called Biblegateway.com.  You have the bible at the tips of your fingers!  On the left side of the blog you will see a link.  Very cool site!
2.  When I get excited about things I will talk and talk and talk, or in this case write, and write, and write.  If I get long winded, please excuse me.  It's just that I'm passionate about things.  I'm working on being shorter and to the point.
3.  The bible is God's love letter to us.  To not read/study/cherish it is to tell God is love letter is not worth our time.  Like any person who sends a letter, He wants you to be excited to read it, and reread it often.  He wants it to be yellowed with constant use.

Whew, I feel better having said those few things...now, onto the devotion.  :)

I love music.  All different types too.  You know when you hear a song that you love it just makes you feel like you can fly.  I like to turn my speakers up loud & sing.  (I have to turn them up loud because I am going to have to wait until I get to heaven to get my perfected singing voice.)

For as much as I love music, I dislike commercials.  Especially on the radio.  A lot of times when a commercial comes on I will start to press the seek button on my radio.  (This mostly happens in the car, of which I spend a lot of time. :/)

A few weeks ago when I was flipping I came to a radio station & the song Grenade was playing & it says:

Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash.  

Tossed in the trash, yes you did. 

To give me all your love is all I'd ever ask.  

Cause, what you don't understand... is I'd catch a grenade for 'ya.  

Throw my hand on a blade for 'ya.  

Jump in front of a train for 'ya.  You know I'd do anything for 'ya.  

I would go through all this pain, take a bullet straight through my brain. 

Yes, I would die for you baby, but you won't do the same."  

For some reason, as I was listening to this song, I thought of Jesus.

I know that it may seem weird that Jesus would come to mind, but He did.  I started thinking of all the things He has done for me; what He went through for me, so I could talk to Him and He can be my best friend.  I know we talk about it, but have you ever really stopped and thought about what He went through?  The emotional and physical pain.  It's sobering.  All he has ever asked for is our love. He put aside all the glory of heaven, was born as a human baby, lived a complete human life, was beaten, bruised, and hung on a cross just so I won't be separated from Him. (Philippians 2:5:11)  And all he wants is my love?  WOW!  I know I'm getting the good part of this, but how many times have I taken the love He has offered and thrown it back in His face?  Every time I sin that is what I do...but, He is so wonderful!  Christ came and He forgives because He wants us all to be saved.  (John 3:16-17)  His love always brings me back. (Romans 2:4b; 2 Cor. 7:10)

Christ's love is the music of our spirit.  He wants you to turn Him up LOUD & SING with everything you have.  Christ wants you to love; hang-out with; talk to; worship; praise; and need Him.  He wants to be everything to you.  When you allow Him to be your everything, and you are listening to His song over your life, you will find there is no sweeter sound.


Tell someone about Jesus!  Tell them that if God had a refrigerator, their picture would be on it.  (That always makes me smile.)  Tell them that He already did everything for them, and all we need to do is ask Him to come into our lives and live in our hearts.  He wants all we are.  Listen for Christ's song over you this week.  Write down all the ways He has blessed you.  And don't forget to tell Him thank you for all He has done, is doing, and will do for you!


In Him,
~Ashley

Speaking and Beliving

Did you know that for every negative comment you say about someone (or yourself) it takes 10 positive ones to counteract it?  That's psychology 101, but more importantly it's bible 101 as well.  I do want to clarify a little between hurtful speech and constructive criticism.  Constructive criticism has your best interest at heart, and is done in a spirit of love.  (Hebrews 12:5-6; )  Hurtful speech is done to intentionally hurt you (Psalm 52:2; Proverbs 6:16-19; James 3:6) 

Why do we listen to the bad?  Why do we let the hurtful things play over and over in our minds.  We listen to the lies that are whispered in our ears telling us what we know isn't true.  Why is it so easy to hear and listen to the bad, but harder to believe the truth?  I wish I knew the answer.  I wish I could say I never believe the lies, but there are times I do.  But, I also know there's a way to combat the lies.  God's truths.  Who does He say I am?  What does He want me to believe? 

Before you say:  "I know it's in the bible, but where?"; "I know it's God's truth, but I've never seen it."; "I'm not a bible scholar, so how am I supposed to find these bible verses."; "I am a bad person, and I know God could never love me."  Never fear!  God always provides a way out and the words He wants you to know.  I did a bible study called LIFE about 5 years ago.  (Living In Freedom Everyday)  My leader gave us all a sheet that changed my life.  I had never seen a list like this one.  It listed what I wouldn't speak over myself and then it had a list of what I would, and it had the bible verses to back it up.  Click HERE to go to the list so you can read it and print it out.

First apply the list to yourself.  Know these verses are about you and how God sees you through Christ.  Then I want you to read it about others, because it explains who they are too.  The bible says in Deut 30:19-20: "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life..."  I think that is such a great life verse. 

When someone says something intentionally hurtful to you, call it what it is:  a lie.  A lie is like a weed.  It wants to grow where it's unwanted and kill what is beautiful.  Ask God to remove the lie from your heart and mind so that you will only dwell on His truths, and if there is anything you need to ask forgiveness for that He will show you what it is.  As we read God's word His truth is shown and it's good for everything our lives.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

I love this list.  The list is the essence of the Lord.  He is love.  (1 John 4:8)  I have a copy of the list in my bible; I have it saved on my computer; and now, I will have it saved here.  Speak and believe these words that God has said about you.  I dare you to do as it says in Deuteronomy: choose life, choose blessings, choose for the Lord to be your life.  Oh yeah, and pass it on to someone else.  Good stuff is always better when it's shared.

In Him,
~Ashley

Being a Cheerful Giver

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  2 Corinthians 9:7

When we think of giving we often think of money, but that is not the only thing we can give.  God wants us to willingly serve others with our spiritual gifts.  This week I’m focusing on the first step, because it is a process.  We first accept the gift that Jesus gave us when he died on the cross.  Along with that gift comes God’s mercy and grace.  Mercy is what God gives us when we sin and ask for forgiveness.  We don’t deserve it, but God grants it to us because of Jesus’ sacrifice.  Jesus took all our sins, past, present, and future and nailed them on the cross. (Colossians 2:14)  Grace is defined in the 1828 Webster’s dictionary as:  “favorable influence of God; divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin.”  Grace is given to us when we accept Christ:  it is His influence on us that makes us want to live our lives for Him.  God’s love, mercy, and grace can change a person. 

You are a difference maker.  You get to show God’s love, mercy, and grace.  Did you know there are people around you who have never heard of Jesus?  You may be the only Jesus they see.  What a great opportunity to let them look and think they are seeing you when really they get to see a glimpse of Jesus in you.  All you have to do is love.  

I dare you to show the love of Christ to someone.  Tell them about His amazing love, mercy, and grace.  If you take me up on the dare, let me know.  I would love to hear from you. 

In Him,

~Ashley