10 valid needs of people: comfort

God is a god of comfort. He comforts us in our suffering, pain, sorrow, etc. Because He comforts us, we are equipped to bring comfort to those around us who live in desolation.

Psalm 119:50 states, My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

Wow! What an amazing verse. The promise of God preserves our lives when we are faced with suffering.

Additionally, Psalm 119:76 says, May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.

The unfailing love of God is our comfort.

Because of the comfort God brings to us, we in turn can seek to comfort others.

10 valid needs of people: attention

people need attention. period. when you show an interest in their likes, etc. , you are showing them the love of God.

when i see everyone as an individual instead of generalizing them as the same, i am taking a step toward giving them attention.

attention involves being a good listener, helping a friend out, etc. When one shows attention, that is a sign of unity among the family of believers.

10 valid needs of people: acceptance

Romans 15:7 states, "Therefore accept one another just as Christ Jesus accepted you."

What does it look like to accept people? I want to accept people for who they are, not what they are. This is a daily challenge. Sometimes I silently judge people based on appearance, education, etc. Then God speaks to me, "Why are you judging them? I made them in my image." I hear Him clearly then I realize who am I to judge others.

I'm not perfect and judging others prematurely isn't accepting them or showing God's love.

I want to accept people just as God accepts me right where I am, and not where I should be or what I could become.

holy jealousy

"He is jealous for me

love like a hurricane..."

God is jealous for His people. There is an overwhelming desire in me to learn everything I can about God: His character. One life is not enough to truly know Him. The more I know, the more He comes to me, the more I am drawn to Him with a holy love.

I can't ignore it. He is jealous for me. That's why I want to live only for Him.

He deserves my unrelenting devotion. The question remains will I give up everything to follow Him, whose name is jealous? (Exodus 34:14)

judgment has no place

I've experienced judgment among Christians more than I have among non Christians. That hurts me more than anything.

Until I'm perfect- like God- then I can start judging others. I'm not there- so judgment has no place in my life. I need to worry about my own life first- before I go around condemning people for what they do.

My opinion is that judgment has no place among the church- the community of believers.

Matthew 7:1 says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." This verse is saying if I judge others, I will also be judged. Why do I judge others? To make me feel superior? Whatever the reason, I am called to love others with the love of God in me. Judgment divides what is meant to be unified. I experienced judgment from those who were close to me and I felt demeaned. Then I thought about how non Christians must feel when they're judged by "Christians".

I can't judge others because I'm flawed just like the rest of the world. Judgment has no place in my life because I'm created to love others with the love of God in me.

His Love is Relentless

God relentlessly pursues His people and never lets them go. Despite this truth, I loosen my grip of God the moment I can't see where I'm headed. I like control and to know where I'm going.

I wander aimlessly asking "God where are you?" Despite asking this question I know in the core of who I am I know God is in me: His spirit lives in me. Therefore I can never escape God or His love. Because of His love, he relentlessly pursues me even when I get caught up in things of this life.

He desires intimacy from me daily: that is one thing I can always pray for that is within what He desires for me. I can never be too intimate with Him. More than anything in this life, I should crave deep intimacy with God.

Through intimacy my soul is satisfied and God is glorified. And that brings me an inner joy. He relentlessly pursues me: I just respond to His call.

Faith + Hope + Love

Faith

Hope

Love
These are foundational in my relationship with God. Faith is the base, hope builds itself: it looks to the future. Love is in us and radiates through us.

Hebrews 11:6 speaks of faith: And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Faith is essential for me because, without it, I cannot please God.

I Peter 1:13 states: Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be self controlled, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

To hope for something is looking to the future, having an assurance things will change. This is also a call for me to set my hope on the grace of God.

Finally, I Corinthians 13:13 says, And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Love is greater than faith and hope. Love binds the other two together.
Working in unity, they form the base of my Christian life.

Focus: Habits [Part 4]

This is the last in the series "Focus." Habits make me think of spiritual disciplines I exhibit in my life. Simplistically, habits are things that I do on a regular basis.

What sort of spiritual "habits" do I illustrate in my life?

Well, first, I keep prayer journals kind of obsessively. Through journaling, I can get out whatever I am feeling out on paper rather than just praying openly-when I write to God I feel I am expressing a deeper part of me than I can see on the surface.

For example, over the last few months, I can see that God unlocked a passion for Him I never knew existed. Also, habits seek to ask the question "What do I do that enables me to live the life I am called to live?"

There is no simple answer to that question. I try to live in humility, peace, and love. That is the foundation, after God of course.

I just think how I need to be continually developing different spiritual "habits" that will cause me to become who God wants me to be.

Without Him, nothing will happen.

All for His glory + Always <3

~Susie

Perfectly Blind

At the beginning of my Junior year at IWU it seems as though I continued to fall spiritually. Things are going great then I trip up and fall and then work  to get back to the strength I was.

Through struggles, hardships, and temptations, I have learned that just because I am a Christian doesn't mean I am immune to what lies outside of the IWU "bubble" where I used to have a perspective that everything is "bad" and sinful. I know that is no longer true.

Also I used to be blind to the world around me. I used to view it as a perfect world where everyone is good and no harm or pain could come to me in the same way as a non Christian.

I was perfectly blind.

Because of a recent situation, I see the world from the outside. I know the pain, hurt,  and ,temptation, of those who don't share the same faith I do. I want to reach out to them in their pain and love them for who they are, not how I think they should be.

I believe that is God's love showing through:

God loves humanity for who we are and not how we should be.

If He did, humanity would lose before they even had a chance.

I am definitely humanized.

That also humbles beyond anything I have experienced.

Every day offers new experiences for me to love people who may not be like me. And that is a beautiful thing.

Always <3

All for HIS glory

Forgiven + Humanized

I love attending a Christian university like IWU. I really do.

But sometimes I feel as though there are some students who are waiting for others to make a wrong and/or bad decision just so they can pass judgment.

Yes, I made a bad decision. I confess I got caught up in a moment.

That doesn't change anything about the love God has for me.

I know despite what I did, God still loves me and will redeem the situation.

Through this situation, I am already learning that I am forgiven. It goes a step further. I am humanized. I know I'm not perfect.

That's why I have Jesus. He can transform my imperfections and weaknesses that will bring me closer to Him.

I'm also humbled. No longer can I walk around thinking, "I'm better than you because I didn't make that decision."

I treasure the thought that I'm humanized. I can relate to so many people now.

All for HIS glory

Always <3

Love Came Down

Today I celebrate my Savior's birth. I admit it's easy to get caught up in all the commercialism and materialism of the holiday season.

But this year my thoughts circle around how I remember how God came down to our world many years ago in the form of a baby. He walked among us so we could have life.

Love came down.

That statement humbles me beyond anything. The God of the universe, who created sky, oceans, stars, came down to our dark world so we would be made right with him.

A perfect example of how love came down in the form of human flesh.

This gets me thinking about the love of God which surpasses all my knowledge.

No matter what I do or what I'm learning in my relationship with God, it always comes back to love.

Love is the most precious gift the world has known.

Love changes everything.

Love came down to us. Will we open our eyes to see how love is everywhere around us?

All for His glory + always <3

From the Grave to Grace

The moment I came into the world, I began to die.

Before I depress you, let me explain.

I was dying not in a physcial sense, rather a spiritual death. I was outside of grace, subject to death, apart from Him who could bring into His abundant life.

Everyone was (and is) meant to live in His life. I recognize there are many cultures and many different religions. I seek to understand those religions that are different from mine.

This breaks my heart that atheism and other religions exist in the world. But they do. What can I do?

I simply live life in the light of God.I don't want to single out any religion because I don't want anyone to single me out because I am a Christian.

I have a testimony to share; nothing and no one can take that away.

People in the world have the freedom to believe in whatever they want.

Love is what motivated Jesus to die in humanity's place. It wasn't religion. The love of God can't be denied. The simple fact is everyone desires to be loved. And because of His great love for me, I went from the grave to life inside His grace.

All for His glory + Always <3

What Can I Say? What Can I Do? [But offer this heart completely to you]

I love God. I love His people.

No doubt that is good.

I'm missing something.

GOD loves ME!!!

I'm not going to lie: I get caught up in the mentality that I need to love God and love others that I forget one crucial aspect to that equation.

Before I even knew Jesus, before I knew God, He loved me.

I need to meditate on that.

The creator of all the world loves me.

His love overwhelms me, breaks me, humbles me.

It is the perfect gift I can never return. His love completes me.

As this popular worship song goes (by Hillsong United): What can I say? What can I do? but offer this heart completely to You. (excerpted from The Stand)

That describes the love of God.

What can I do?

What can I say?

I could say many words as an effort to express the love He has for me.

Except there aren't enough words to say it, to paint an adequate picture of what the love of God does in me. His love will always be enough. I find satisfaction in Him.

His love is beyond measure. When everyone else walks out, God is still there.

I'll leave you with that.

All for HIS glory + Always <3

Love is Stronger

God brought me out of complacency. Completely. Now I can fully move forward with Him. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing standing in the way of me, surrendering to God.

Last night I was doing my devotions and I came across a passage in 2 John that says to walk in obedience and walk in love.

That clicked with me. God and His love is stronger. I also thought about it from a new perspective. God's love is stronger than everything I go through. And He can do amazing things in my life if I am simply willing.

So back to last night.

I thought "God loves me too much to leave me in this satisfied state." Immediately after I wrote that in my journal, my reaction is "It can't be that simple."

But what if it was?

The reality is that it is THAT simple.

Right now I am rejoicing in God and what He has done in me. I have reached a new level. Now I will only grow closer to Him.

My soul is free.

All for HIS glory + always <3

The Way it was Meant to Be

This summer is coming to a rapid end....

Sad. :-(

I leave to go back to IWU a week from this Saturday (September 3rd).

But I have had a lot of time to read, journal, and grow spiritually.

Most importantly, I had time to reflect on how much growth has taken place during this past year. Last year, at this time, I was struggling with sexual temptation that  turned into a vicious cycle that I couldn't break free from if it wasn't for God's help.

For several months, I was a slave to what I wanted, I didn't see that my actions were harming my relationship with God.

My sin was breaking God's heart and I was in a bad place.

I was trapped.

A year later, now, I am in an amazing place in my relationship with God. I have seen healing. Praise God!!!

Also, I am learning about God's love, sin, and how I am meant to live in harmony with God. There's a Hebrew word Karem meaning "healing", "remaking", "returning something to its intended purpose." (A Christianity Worth Believing p. 159). I have seen firsthand what being healed and remade truly means for the Christian. I have been "returned to my intended purpose" which is to love out loud.

Love is the way God chose for us.

How could we possibly go any other way?

Because when we love, we see humanity being healed, remade, and returning to what it was intentionally for.

All for His glory + Always <3

Love First

God is love.

If I want to change the world I must love first.

What does it mean to love?

I mean, truly love?

For the last few years, God has been teaching me about what it means in my life to love in the way He does. I also know there are many religions out there:

~Atheism

~Hinduism

~Buddhism, etc.

Why would anyone want to follow just one religion [Christianity] that focuses on just one God?

Because being a Christian means love rests at the center. For me, Christianity always comes back to the concept of love.

In the end, love wins everyone.

Why?

We all desire to be loved.

I think about that and it breaks me that an infinite God chooses to love unconditionally. I can never get away from the thought of love: of the love of God. When I begin to drift from the focus of love-I lose focus on what God is about.

When it comes to love, it is unifying across all peoples. Love isn't about me, it's all  about who God is, and I can't even begin to separate it from everything He is. I am in Him. God gives me the ability to love as He does.

I know this is a longer post than usual but I feel led to share this:

If I am truly a follower of Jesus, I will just love freely- i won't prejudge people on outside appearances. I will just love them for who they are- as a person- kind of what God does to all who know Him.

So if I want to change the world around me, I must love first.

All for His glory + Always love

Community

One.

One People.

One Passion.

One call.

One love.

That's what we are called to as members of the Christian faith.

I want to be less "religious" and more "spiritual."

What is with the word religion that leads to conservative and closed minds versus spirituality that leads to liberality and open minds?

I wish there was an easy answer to that question but there's not :-(

All I can do is love others in a way that changes their world. Isn't that what God does with us every day we screw up?

I go to Indiana Wesleyan University where I notice the majority of students are very conservative.

Not that being conservative bothers me.

There is a time and a place to be conservative and also a time and a place to be liberal.

Back to the love of God and spirituality.

God changes our world beyond everything we know.

Love leads to liberty.

Passion for community.

My prayer is when I return to IWU in a week, I would seek to love others beyond what they know so that it changes their world.

peace-

Christmas Break is finally here! :-)

I made it through another semester. I survived two of my more difficult classes: Research Methods and Communication Theory.

I enjoy school but I'm glad Christmas break is here.

After a hard semester, I need Christmas break to refocus my life on God and growing in Him.

I know I have made some unhealthy decisions regarding relationships; I know God loves me unconditionally.

 I have 3 weeks to just do my devotions hardcore and really seek God out.

I need Him to satisfy me and sometimes I seek it in the wrong places.

So, goodbye for now.

It's time to go journal :-)

peace,

Thanksgiving

Well, my semester at IWU is coming to a rapid close. I have less than a month until finals :) Then I'll be home.

Next week is Thanksgiving.

this year is different because things in my family aren't so good. Despite this, I have so much to be thankful for.

*I am thankful that I am able to get an education

*I am thankful for health

* I am thankful that I can wake up every morning

*I an thankful for God's love that won't ever change or fade...

Think about it for a minute.

What do you have to be thankful for this year?

peace-

The First Post :-)

I finally decided to blog as a testimony to what God is doing in my life.

So here goes...

 Last night, God revealed  to me where I am in my faith journey. God spoke a simple concept; and that was rivers.

Why rivers?

When I think of rivers, or streams, or creeks, the first thing to come to mind is the way water flows. This is obviously an elementary concept, but then I began to think rivers also have a lot to do with the love of God. Just like rivers flow constantly, so it is with His love.

His love flows through his people, it doesn't stop. Just like a river has a source, so do I. My source for everything comes from God.

I began thinking of the way rivers change landscapes over a period of time, the change doesn't come overnight rather it's gradual. God changes my heart over periods of time, I go through seasons.

Seasons are a part of nature. They are also often (sadly) overlooked in my faith journey.

When I stop and ask myself, 'where am I in my spiritual journey?' I may be more likely to think of seasons...and then rivers...:-)

Peace-