Tuned to His Frequency

Last semester I had the chance to be a part of a drama production at Golden State Baptist College. It was an absolutely incredible experience and I loved it. Part of my job in the evening performance was to be the backstage manager of sorts. I had a headset and walkie talkie set. I was in communication with the sound booth, and the lighting crew the entire time. Yes, I talked to the actors backstage, and did other things. But I was still wearing the headset and I could talk to them and hear everything they were saying.

It reminded me of how prayer should be in our lives. Prayer isn't necessarily always talking to God. Sometimes it is just being there to listen. To keep tabs on His thoughts, even if when we aren't specifically focused on Him.

I wasn't with the other crew members. I couldn't see them, and I wasn't in the same place. But I could always hear them, no matter what I was doing. I was constantly in touch with what they needed from me, and what was going on where they were. And my radio was always tuned to their frequency.

We may not be able to pray 24/7, but that does not mean that we can't always hear God. When we are truly surrendered and right with Him, He sends us "messages" throughout the day to help us and guide our steps.

Prayer is so much more than just praying. It is living with the knowledge that God is always there, and listening for Him all the time. Like a radio, it's always being tuned to His frequency.

Make today count!
Always,
Amanda

Giving God Your Idols

Giving up the very thing that means the most to us. Laying all our dreams and desires down at the feet of our precious Savior. How noble it seems, and how far we think we have gone to honor Him!

But are we laying a precious treasure at His feet?

Or an idol?

Idols are anything in our lives that we love more than God. Our initial reaction to a statement like that is repulsion. Of course we would never love anything more than God!! Right?

But sometimes idols hide well. Sometimes they really are gifts from God that the devil has used to sidetrack us. Our idols might be a person, a job, a habit, or even our dreams for the future. But whatever they are, they keep us from loving our King first and keeping Him on the throne of our hearts. Idol worship in the Bible was often symbolized as spiritual adultery. Leaving our first love for something or someone else.

Of course, we would never call it an idol. It isn't that we worship that dream or the person or situation. But we just can't imagine our lives without it. We will do anything for God........ As long as that one thing is still in our lives.

Idols are hard to identify sometimes but they are even harder to get rid of. We think that by telling God that He can do whatever He wants in our life, even taking that one thing from us, that we are offering our best to God.

But God wants nothing to do with our idols. Instead of a sweet sacrifice of love, we are offering Him our own rejection of His person! What a terrible thought! We are telling God that because we hold this thing to be more important than Him, we will give it to Him to show our love. How confusing!

It's like slapping someone in the face and then telling them it was a gift because of how much you love them.

God does not appreciate us giving Him our idols. In fact, He hates them. They take many different shapes and sizes but they are all the same. They steal our heart, our time, our energy and our dreams away from our Heavenly King. They turn our focus away from His dear face.

In order to love Him first, we must tear down the idols of our hearts, and turn our eyes back to our loving Savior. Just like in Judges, the very godly kings took down the high places and cut down the groves, so we must completely cleanse our lives of everything that reminds us of that idol. God can only pour Himself into an empty vessel, He only wants to use a clean one.

I want to encourage you to search your heart and ask God to show you any idols that you may have. Be sincere, and honest before the Lord. Be 100% willing to turn away from anything that is stealing your heart. Put no qualifications on God's will for you. Love Him first and give Him everything, and He will shine His miraculous power through your life.

Make today count!
Always,
Amanda

Just a good quote!

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.

3 easy ways to get patience in 5 minutes! Guaranteed!

Ever heard that slogan before? Maybe not with the word "patience" but with something? There are ads all over the place online and in magazines telling you that you can gain what you want in just a few easy steps or a few easy minutes. And half the time they try to convince you that no effort is required in achieving your goals.

But that's the world's system. God works in an entirely different way. He allows us to go through long trials and struggles to teach us patience. We are so used to the quick and easy methods of getting what we want in life, that we hate waiting for the Lord. But there is no easy or quick way to learn patience. It is a very long, sometimes very difficult process that God uses to conform us into His image.

But it is very much worth it. No matter what goes on in our lives, God is using it to build patience in us. Take your trials to the Lord and leave your burdens at the Cross. He wants you to trust Him in this difficult situation, and He will use it to build you up and draw you closer to Him.

Remember that no matter what you're going through, there is no need to fear, when God is on your side. Let Him build your patience.

Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

God has a plan

I wanted to share a little bit of my heart with you today. God has been teaching me a lot these days about trusting Him and leaning on Him for strength every day.

Everyone has difficult things that they go through. God gives all of us different challenges that He uses to grow us emotionally, spiritually, and personally. He prepares these trials perfectly for us and guides us through them. If we trust Him and run to Him when our hearts are overwhelmed, He will carry us through them.

What an incredible thought! He prepares a really hard circumstance for us to go through, and then when we are struggling, He carries us through it! "Truly he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." He has felt our pain and knows exactly what we need, when we need it.

Even knowing all that, sometimes life is just hard..... We don't understand what good could possibly come from this situation but He knows. Perhaps someday He will share it with and maybe not. I think we get the idea sometimes that if we just wait long enough, we'll understand, but ya know what? That's not always true. Somethings we will never understand and only God will ever know the reason why.

"There's always a light at the end of the tunnel....." That's what people say. But is that always true? I really don't know.

This one thing I do know though. God has a plan. He has a reason and He will get the glory in your tribulation and trials if you turn to Him with your shattered dreams and throw your broken heart at His feet. He is waiting to take your burden from you and carry it Himself.

So if He is waiting for us to cast our cares upon Him, why do we so often insist on carrying them ourselves? Why do we assume that we can do a better job and act like nothing is wrong?

Psalm 62:8 gives a beautiful invitation to those who are hurting:

"Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us."

Pour your heart out to God and lay your burdens at His feet. Because God always has a plan.

Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

Prayer

I am feeling kind of overwhelmed these days.

It seems like every time I turn around, there is a message, a class, a devotional, a special verse, a challenge or SOMETHING that is talking about prayer.

I've always heard that when you truly start to have a prayer life, it will revolutionize the way you see your walk with God and how you live from day to day. Of course, I believed what they said. These are great men and women of God! But very similar to my ideas of God as a young child, belief does not mean reality. And this was more of an abstract idea than a real truth. 

But after countless heartaches, trials, bad days and tripping on the stairs, I've learned something.

Sometimes you have to DO to understand.

Now, I fully understand that for most people this is not a stunningly new concept. Of course you have to do something to really understand it, right? I mean, doesn't everyone know that? That's what hands-on learning is all geared towards!

But that's not really what I mean. 

Take prayer for instance. You can hear every great message in the world about prayer and you can believe what everyone has said, and yes, even desire it for yourself. But until you actually DO what you've made a decision to do, you'll never really understand. 

Prayer really changes things! I have seen so many random blessings and amazing answers to prayer in my daily walk with God. It was truly incredible to see some of the things that God has taught me, and it humbles and thrills me at the same time. On the one hand I can hardly believe that God would be so good and gracious to me when I've neglected my daily walk with Him so many times. Makes me feel so small.......but on the flip side of the same coin, I almost stop breathing with joy when He shows me things in the Bible so clearly. He is always answering my questions exactly as I ask them.

The other day, I was really struggling with a burden the Lord had laid on my heart. I don't think I could even go back and tell you exactly where all the verses were that He used, but I fired all my questions at Him, and He answered them exactly every time through His Word! Don't tell me that the Bible isn't alive and tremendously powerful today because I know that it is!

This has been one of the most revolutionary times in my life as I learn more and more about Who my Saviour really is and how much deeper I can go and still not find the depths of His love and greatness. He is truly awesome and there really are no words that adequately describe His love for me.

I'm truly overwhelmed.

Make today count!
Always,

~ Amanda ♥

*cringe*

*peeks around the corner to see if anyone is watching her*

*gulps*

*steps out from the long-time shadows*

Voila! I am back! Lol, I'm sure you are wondering where in the world I went. And I'm not going to give you the same old excuse that every college student keeps under their hat about being insanely busy. Sure, its true, but who really wants to here that AGAIN!?!?! So yah, let's just say I have a life and this hasn't been a huge part of it lately.

So what to actually tell you.... There really isn't a whole lot of news that is well..... newsy! I'm not in a relationship, and NO I don't want to be, and NO there is not anyone that I'm interested in. So there, now that we've got everyone's biggest question answered we can move on to more important things.

Like........... umm.......... yah............ well...................

Wow. My life is so busy and yet its boring? Certainly not. God is working in amazing ways on this campus, and this is certainly (and more certainly than ever) where God wants me. Its so amazing every day in chapel because I've never been so convicted by every single message that I hear. In the past, not every message I heard would move me, and in my heart I kind of made fun of those who went forward or applied every message to their life. But I know now how wrong I was to think that way. Every time the Lord speaks through any of the godly men who speak here, it is exactly what He knows I need to work on, and it is something He has specially prepared for me to hear.

Isn't it amazing how God can speak to everyone at the same time, and yet it is exactly what each one needs to hear? Isn't He an Amazing God we serve?

And He is soooooooooooooooooo good to me and in reality, to everyone and in everything. He is in control of every part of our lives, and it is our mistakes or unhappiness with His plan that cause problems in our lives. One thing that He has really been convicting my heart about lately is the fact that I need to be thankful in all things.

Thanksgiving was not too long ago, and I had a really nice time with my family. It was fun and a huge blessing just to spend time and gain wisdom from my uncle and aunt. But it taught me something more. God places things in our lives that we see as bad things, or as trials, as something going wrong. However, He has prepared each one specially for us, and knows that that trial will bring us to Himself. When we come to the end of ourselves, we find Him waiting with open arms and willing to help us whenever we ask.

And He is always there. He never forsakes us.... Isn't that incredible? We can know that no matter what we are going through, and no matter what He has brought in our lives, we are being better prepared for Heaven someday, and to serve Him here on this earth now.

God is so good, and a close walk with Him is truly the sweetest thing on earth. A Christian's heart should and will suffer when he loses fellowship with His Savior. Our God is everything we need, and oh, how much we forget that, and how often we try to do things our way.

So yes, my life has been busy, but through it all, my God is there, and He is taking me through whatever He has for me. I am content to walk with Him, and truly, more than content, because for me it is a privilege to serve the King who loves me and gave His Son for me.

I hope that through the busyness of the Christmas season, you still walk in step with your Lord. He takes the time to love you and guide your life, but any relationship will die if it is only one-sided.

Give God the glory and thanks for everything in your life, even what may seem like bad things. And always, live life on purpose. It isn't an accident that we are here. :)

Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

Thirsty, but for what?

There was a message in chapel the other day about being thirsty, and how God will satisfy that thirst when we are hungering for Him.

But we have to actually be thirsty for the right thing. Just desiring anything, or following our own will and desires above what God's will for us actually not going to help us out any in the long run. We have to correctly desire what He wants for our lives, and want His best before He can fulfill our desires. If we are truly inside of His will and living in step with Him each day, our desires will match up with what He knows is best for us.

I want God's will for my life to be first and foremost and in the front of my mind all of the time. I want to love Him totally, and I want Him to have all of my heart.

Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

Understanding the will of the Lord

The Lord has been working on me the last few days about His will for my life and my desire to understand everything that He wants for me right now. And you know, it isn't always His will for us to understand it all in the beginning. Sometimes we just have to trust Him and step out in faith, believing we'll understand later on.

I think of the people in the Bible that didn't understand how the Lord was leading them a certain direction or why. But every time He had a plan and a reason for it, and every time, it was His perfect will, if they were just willing to follow it completely and trust in Him.

Makes me think....... Am I following God's will for my life right now? Am I living in step with Him every day, and living as I know that He wants me too? Is He the real and true King of my life? Am I living FOR Him every day?

Kind of bleeds over into other areas of our lives too. I think a lot of girls that make the decision to save themselves completely for "the one" and not just physically but in mind and spirit and emotionally too, are really actually missing the real will of God for their lives. I have chosen that, but the Lord has spoken to me the last couple days and made me rethink who I'm really saving it all for. Shouldn't I be saving myself for the King of my life, even if I never do get married? He will always be with me, and even though I don't always understand His will, He always has a perfect plan that He will lead me in, if I just trust and follow Him.

So how's God's will for your life? Is He the Lord of your life? The message tonight in the service was about serving the Lord with our whole heart. Does He have all of your life? Are you doing what's right, not just because it is right, but because you love Him wholly?

The Lord is doing a great work in my heart and life in this place, and I am so thankful that He has brought me here. I can honestly say, there is no joy like that which comes in wholly following the Lord!

Make today count, and give the Lord everything!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

A mission field for me?

Been kind of thinking lately about college.... shocking, I know, since I'm leaving in 8 days to go there ☺. But seriously. Its a big step in my life and sometimes I wonder if I'm ready for it. 

I have surrendered my life to the Lord to go wherever He wants me. Sometimes I feel that He has called me to the mission field, and truly, if He saw fit to send me there, that is one of the highest honors and privileges I can think of. To serve my King somewhere I've never been before, and to be a testimony for Him everywhere I go, even simply by the way I live, is the desire of my heart.

You know what? He has sent me to a mission field! Its somewhere that I've not lived before. Its a new life and a new set of people that I've never reached out to. I will be a living testimony of Him just by being there and definitely by how I carry myself and how I act and treat others. 

This mission field isn't another country. I'm not learning a new language, and I will still have the same "comforts of home" so to speak. But I am leaving my family, my home, my church, my friends and all that is familiar to me. I'm stepping out into a new life that is completely different. A different "family", different friends, a different atmosphere, and many new responsibilities. Its a test of who I really am. And sometimes I wonder if I'm ready for it.

The only thing that will be constant and always the same? My God. And knowing that, I'm literally smiling at the thought ☺. He will always be there for me, and no matter where I go, He will bring the right people along to be there for me, to guide me, and if He knows better than that, He will always be there for me Himself! What an awesome, amazing thought! The God of the universe, that controls everything we know, and so much more that we don't, will always be there for me!!!!!!  He cares enough about me to take time to mold my life and shape me into the person He wants me to be. 

But it also comes with a responsibility. He's taking the time for me, but am I taking the time for Him? Am I letting Him mold my life and shape me? Am I giving Him everything and surrendering to Him day by day? I fall so short of where I should be in my walk with the Lord. So far from what I want to be, and the closeness that I long and yearn for. Its been a huge challenge to me whenever I start thinking about a "special someone" or my "somedays" to turn my thoughts instead on the One that can fill my life right now. He is the only One that can make me truly content and happy, and if I'm not satisfied with Him now, I won't ever be satisfied, no matter what relationship or situation I am in.

So I'm heading to my mission field, and as I think about it, my God has truly given me the desire of my heart. He's made me a missionary for Him. I will give all I have to what He has called me to, knowing that I will be happy there because that is where He has placed me. 

Make today count! It's all you're guaranteed.

Always,

~ Amanda ♥

Weeds

I was weeding the garden today and thinking about how much gardening is like our spiritual life with Christ.

Especially in regards to the weeds. Weeds are a nuisance in a garden and can easily be compared to sins in our lives.


- Weeds in a garden zap the life out of the plants around them. They not only block them from the sun, they take the moisture and goodness intended for the plant and use it for themselves. Just like sins in our lives. They zap the life out of our walk with Christ. They take our time, and use our life and energy for things that are worthless and useless, and then we don't have the time to serve God.


- Weeds also stunt the potential life of the plant. If the plant is deprived of sunlight and nutrients, it takes away what the plant could have been someday. Even if the weeds are taken away, it still is never going to be what it could of been. When our walk with the Lord is deprived, we lose step with God and backslide. The Christian walk never stands still. Its like paddling a canoe up a river. If you stop paddling, you don't just sit there, you go backwards. You have to keep paddling just to stay in place, and paddle even harder to actually go anywhere. If we stop growing, we backslide. Its one or the other. And every time we backslide, we lose ground. Once we lose it, we can never fully regain the ground we've lost. We can never be where we would once have been.


- When the ground around a plant is saturated with water, its not only good for the plant, it also makes the weeds easy to pull up. When we are saturated with the Word of God in our lives, not only is it good for our growth, it makes the weeds and sins in our life easier to get rid of. Things that God wishes us to remove from our lives seem much less important and easy to get rid of when we are close in step with Him.


Don't let the weeds of sin choke your spiritual potential!! Be everything that God wants you to be, today! 


Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥

Achieve the impossible!

My brother and I were having a discussion about someone we know that seems to be able to accomplish whatever he wants to. He makes up his mind to do something, and he has the drive, the determination, and the work ethic to see it through. It seems there's no limits!! It would be amazing to see such a person on fire for the Lord. Imagine what he could accomplish!


We also talked about the other end of the spectrum. There's people like our friend who can, as I put it "achieve the impossible." They can do anything they put their mind to! But there's others that have to have reachable goals or they get frustrated and discouraged. I am definitely a person like that. If I set a goal too high, it just depresses me and I quit before I ever get close to reaching it. I know that's a character flaw that I need to work on.


I wonder, what kind of person are you? I don't believe that either one is necessarily right or wrong, although I definitely believe the "achieve the impossible" type is much better and more desirable. Are you setting small goals that let you see your progress, or are you reaching for the sky, and determined to succeed?


This applies to our walk with the Lord as well. With His help, we can achieve the impossible, since we know that without Him we are helpless. And in this area of life, I believe that there is only one right attitude. We should always be striving to set not just our affections, but our goals on higher things. Literally, reach for the stars! Set high goals of where you want to be in your Christian walk, and live up to them! Ask God to help you when you struggle and to give you the drive and the determination to reach your goals, even if they seem impossible. He can help you know where your goals are low, and give you the strength to reach your high ones. Don't let yourself be content with just being an average Christian. God didn't call us to be average, He called us to be lights in this world.


Don't think that because I'm writing this that I have it all figured out. The Lord often uses my own blog posts to convict my heart because He knows that I need this as much as anyone. I have so much farther to go before I will ever really know my God. He is so much more than I can fathom!!


I've discovered that there are two kinds of people in this life. Those who set low, reachable goals, and those who can achieve the impossible. Which kind are you?


Make today count!
Always,
~ Amanda ♥