with One.

ahh—the barbacoa!

today at work, i had to rummage through soup-ey, greasy, chunks of barbacoa (a meat!) to break it apart so it’d cook faster and be easier to hand out!

now it’s so like soup-ey, the LARGE sized gloves that were available were slipping off my hands. SO i went to go search for the SMALL sized gloves! i finally found them and as i slipped on a PERFECT fit pair, slipped another pair into my pocket just in case!

throughout the next several minutes, i had to use up the second pair. SO thankful i was that the extra pair was there with me! but then randomly another employee turns to me and asks me to bring the extra chicken out of the warmer and onto the serving table. i looked at her and at my hands COVERED in barbacoa grease and slightly asked that she could do it. AFTER ALL, if i take this pair of SMALL gloves off, i’d have to go off and find another!! but she INSISTED. so with greasey gloves, i pull out the chicken and ask that she put it on the serving table. then she points to my gloves and simply says, “just take those off and you can do it.” 

my first reaction was literally “-_-” slightly peeved that she didn’t REALIZE that i had to SEARCH for those gloves! that she didn’t realize that i actually HAD to break apart that barbacoa! that she didn’t realize ANY OF THOSE THINGS. then it hit me! she probably felt similarly! busy with a line of customers and seeing me singing in the corner breaking apart pieces of barbacoa, her “-_-” might have been why i WASN’T willing to help. after all, i was ONLY doing the barbacoa!

well afterwards, she actually thanked me for helping her.
and my heart strings were pulled. 
not because i had been especially willing to help her or that i even got to doing so, BUT because our hearts were able to meet today! in a similar peeved moment, in an unspoken frustration with each other, BUT in the end? with a thankfulness that OVERRIDES all of that, that the GOAL of what needed to be done today was achieved! 

perspective!

:)
Jesus is going to fulfill EVERY SINGLE promise. regardless of my UNwillingness, regardless OF my willingness, regardless of my CIRCUMSTANCES (size of glove), regardless of my surroundings (even people!), regardless of the task (greasey barbacoa), regardless of what He ASKS, HE WILL bring it to fulfillment.

but how SWEET He is in letting us ENJOY EVERY SINGLE SECOND of it.

THAT is our Father, our God. personal and still divine!!

Know that the Lord HIMSELF is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Psalm 100:3 

let worship exceed that of fleshly comfort DAILY, for it is not our flesh that will last til eternity but Jesus in our hearts

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, SO THAT the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. so death works in us, but life in you. but having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “i BELIEVED, therefore i spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, SO THAT the grace which is spreading to more and more people MAY CAUSE the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

THEREFORE we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For MOMENTARY, light affliction is producING for us an ETERNAL weight of glory FAR beyond ALL comparison, while we look not at the things which are SEEN, but at the things which are not seen; fr the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are ETERNAL.

2 corinthians 4:7-18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dca0P7w9ZQ

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? BUT if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts know what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom HE predestined, HE also called; and these whom HE called, HE also justified; and these whom HE justified, HE also glorified. what then shall we say to these things? IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? He who did not spare His OWN Son (Jesus), but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also WITH Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? Go dis the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes. rather who was raised (from the dead), who is at the right hand of God, who ALSO intercedes for us. 

WHO will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” BUT in all these things we OVERWHELMINGLY conquer through HIM who loved us. for i am convinced that neither death, not life, nor angels not principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is IN Christ Jesus our Lord.

romans 8:24-39

JESUS, turn our eyes to you, turn our GAZE to be SOLELY fixed on You. for in THIS, worship is inevitable. let us NOT be deceived into thinking our flesh is WORTH turning away from YOU. You know our hearts, You dwell IN us so we BEG of You to continue to show us who WE are as YOUR children and create in us a GREATER faith that trusts in You though we may not see. that KNOWS Your name, though we may have stumbled. that HOLDS FAST to You and Your promise, though the world say we are foolish. that is HUNGRY for You ALONE, though our flesh may cry out. that REJOICES in Your joy of salvation, though circumstances would say we can not. also, STRIP away the things that keep us FROM You, even if that BE physically serving You. would we be AVAILABLE for You, ALL of You and ALL You have FOR us and Your desires FOR us to MOLD us and love THROUGH us. let us NOT put our agendas before You and know that to be confused is to THEN be still BEFORE You and TRUST in You as You continue to lead and love. Father! and Jesus, create in us a TEACHABLE heart that believes YOU. ARE. SOVEREIGN. that You EXIST and Yours is PERFECTION. let our hearts be TEACHABLE in response and let NOT pride take hold of us, but lead us ALWAYS to YOU who are GREATER than we, GREATER than satan and GREATER than circumstance. STILL, Father, let us BELIEVE we ARE to come to You IN Your grace that You give ABUNDANTLY. and let that be NORMAL. 

Jesus, be our LORD. and let not this WORLD manipulate Your truth FOR us, IN us, TO us, but let us see CLEARLY as we are YOURS. 

Jesus, YOU are our identity alone, and YOU are SO BEAUTIFUL.

SO worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17af0XmPFo

Truth!

Thus says the Lord, “cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. for he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. blessed it he man who trusts IN the Lord and whose trust IS the Lord. for he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; BUT its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

Jeremiah 17:5-8

my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength (rock) of my heart and my portion forever. for behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. 

But as for me, the NEARNESS of God is my good; i have made the Lord God my refuge, (SO) that i may tell of all Your works.

Psalm 73:26-28

for the sake of the truth which abides in us and WILL be with us FOREVER

2 John 1:2

Jesus. :)

the VALUE of knowing Jesus

Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. to write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although i myself might have confidence even in the flesh. if anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, i far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of israel, of the tribe of benjamin, a hebrew of hebrews; as to the law of a pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 

BUT whatever things were gain to me, those things i have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. more than that, i count all things to be loss in view of the SURPASSING value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom i have suffered the loss of ALL things, and count them but rubbish SO THAT i may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that i may know HIm and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that i may attain to the resurrectin from the dead. 

not that i have already obtained it or have already become perfect, BUT i press on SO THAT i may lay hold of that for which also i was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. brethren, i do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing i do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, i press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. for many walk of whom i often told you, and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

For OUR citizenship is in heaven, from which also we EAGERLY wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Philippians 3

i KNOW You’re worth it.

i BELIEVE You’re worth it.

help me to beLIeVE, LIVE such truth.

i’m not here on this earth for comfort.

i’m not here to SIMPLY wait idly for eternity, let NOT this time be wasted away in complaints, selfish isolation, and in laziness.

BUT let it this time be ABOUT You, FROM You, FOR You, WITH You, IN You.

BECAUSE You are worth it.

For One.

But in my weakness, ALL i see is Your glory God!

ALL i see is YOUR hand reaching out, YOUR words speaking out, YOUR love hugging and being shared.

Father, help me be satisfied. MOST satisfied with Your glory alone and let there be JOY as YOU become my ONLY reality. Not that You would simply DWELL in me for You have already several years, but that it would be RICHLY so in relation, in faith, and in Your love.

Only.

Tell A Person

(Everyone stands in a circle facing outwards with their eyes closed)
(4 people are brought to the center of the circle, able to open their eyes)

announcer: Now, the 4 people in the center are going to tap the people in the circle with their eyes closed according to these phrases.

announcer: tap someone that made you laugh

(the 4 in the center tap those that have made them laugh)

announcer: tap someone that changed your mind about something

(the 4 do so)

announcer: tap someone that has encouraged you

announcer: tap someone that you witnessed grow

announcer: tap someone that you would like to see grow more

announcer: tap someone that you want to be more like

announcer: tap someone that you want to keep in touch with even after they graduate/you graduate

announcer: tap someone you want to get to know more

announcer: tap someone you are SOOOO thankful you’ve met

announcer: tap someone that you’d die for, lay your life down for

(Then Jesus shared His heart)

Jesus: YOU, you have made me laugh. I ENJOY the times we spend together.

Jesus: YOU, I have shared INTIMATE things with you and because of our relationship, you’re transformed, you choose differently, you live differently, you LOVE differently.

Jesus: YOU, you have encouraged me. I dwell in you and YOU live with eternal promises, continue to LIVE.

Jesus: YOU, I have witnessed you grow and My heart fills with joy.

Jesus: YOU, I would LOVE to see you grow MORE. You’ll know when life is getting BETTER and BETTER, because it will be from knowing Me MORE and MORE.

Jesus: YOU, I dwell in you. I am perfect even when you stumble, My grace is SUFFICIENT and I AM molding you to be made COMPLETE in My joy.

Jesus: YOU, I want to keep in touch with you, even after you pass that test. Even after you get find that man, even after you graduate school, even after you get married, even after you “live,” I want to keep in touch with you.

Jesus: YOU, I want our relationship to grow STILL. 

Jesus: YOU, I am SOOOOO thankful that you’re known by Me, that this WAS My plan and that it IS sweet.

Jesus: YOU, I would die for you, lay my life down for you. In fact, I DID. I did die for you, and lay all of myself down for you. That you would be ABLE to see the GLORY of God, and LIVE for such greater than what anything else can offer.

Tell 
A
Person

:)

Jesus is real.