Organic Love

One Sunday at church, we had jut finished a great service. After service the anointing of God fell upon worship. Looking back on it I can truly say it was beautiful, but at the time I didn't think so. I wasn't in the "mood". I was exhausted and hungry, although the message was great, I was ready to go home. After a few minutes of complaining in my head, I noticed a girl slightly older than me walk up to the alter. She barely made it there when she broke down, tears streaming down her face and her hands lifted high. At that moment I felt so ashamed that I had been so self centered that I wanted church to end because I was tired, that I didn't even think about the people around me. It didn't even cross my mind that someone is broken and needing a touch from God. I almost broke down, repenting of my own self conceit. Instantly my attitude changed. Instead of being about me, it became about people. I began to pray for everyone in the building, that God would speak to them and touch their lives. Once I stopped focusing on me, I felt God's presence. It is so sad how often we do this and don't even realize it. It kills me to think of how many lives God could have touched with a simple gesture, conversation, or prayer if I was willing to get the mirror out of my face long enough to notice and do something. I pray for an organic love; a love for others like Christ's love for us.

"This is how we know what love is; Jesus christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." --1John 3:16

Delayed post

Its been far too long since I've written in the blog and I have honestly missed it. God has been doing some great things and really opening the doors of opportunity! I cannot wait to share all of the news, once it becomes more finalized. I can share that I finally got a job! Its bittersweet, but I can already tell that God is using it as learning experience. Keep me in your prayers as the next few weeks are going to hectic and exciting.

Desires of your heart

Today I was doing some serious room cleaning & organizing. I was up to my knees in things to give away, when I found one of my new years goal lists from way back in '07. I don't think I've looked at the list since I wrote it, but I unfolded the crinkled paper and started to read. I was amazed at how many of the things on the list I could cross off! Out of a long list of about 40 goals, I had accomplish or am doing about 30. I found myself in a whole new understanding of how much God cares and wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Ps. 37:40 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. He never ceases to amaze me with his love and grace. He gave me every opportunity and gift to accomplish what my heart desired. There are so many goals (on & off that list) I would have never been able to achieve in my own strength, but He made them possible.

Meiko

If you couldn't tell by my last few blogs. I've had trusting in God on my mind a lot. I don't think I can say this enough, God can do some amazingly sick stuff, if you stop being the obnoxious backseat driver and wait on his time and guidance. For about 3 years now, my heart has wanted a small puppy. If you know my dad, you know that dream was a dream that would never be possible. He refused to even consider letting a dog live in the house. I prayed for a puppy everytime I remembered to. Anywho, about 3 weeks ago I was sitting down talking with my dad when out of the blue he says, "Jolene..If you really want a small dog and it wont cost too much. I'll let you get one" My mom & I just looked at each other in shock. Was this the same man that used to say he would never again allow another dog to live in this house?? Too nervous that he would change his mind if he thought about it, I didn't dare ask what made him change his mind abruptly. I anxiously began the search for the right dog, I knew just what I wanted. After seeing a few dogs that just didn't feel quite right, my friend recommended that I try Kijiji.com. In one of the ads I found him, an absolutely handsome 9 week Lhasa Apso puppy. I immediately sent a message showing strong interest in coming to see him. Next morning I received my reply, "Hello Jolene, thanks for your response. Within the first five min. I did get a request to meet Max. She's schedule to come and see him this afternoon. If she does not show I promise I will email you." My heart sank, I had looked for other Lhasa Apsos, but there were none even close to us and not nearly as cute. I told my mom about the situation and we prayed that if God wanted this dog to join our family that he would make a way and have the lady cancel her visit. Next day came and we still hadn't heard back from her, so we assumed it wasn't meant to be & that the lady had taken him. We were mistaken. The day after, I checked my e-mail and the owner sent us an e-mail stating that because of a family emergency that the lady interested in Mas would not be taking him and that if we were still interested to give her a call. My mom & I were once again, in amazement! We quickly called my dad & told him what happened. Soon after we agreed to go see the puppy the next day. To make the story kind of shorter. We immediately fell in love with him. His previous owners were so nice and really cared for him. Everything just moved along so smoothly, there wasn't a doubt in our minds that we should wait to see what other puppies become available. He was the one for us.

Meiko (we renamed him) is now a constant reminder that God cares soo much about our dreams and lives. He even cares about the things that we would consider the not so important dreams. Meiko is a blessing and a lesson bundled up into one fluffy, adorable package.If God cares enough to put all these peices together so I could have my dream come true, how much more is he watching out for our futures! Haven't we learned that it is when WE get impatient and start doing exactly what we feel like doing that we get in to huge messes that we regret.

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." --Psalms 46:10

To risk sounding like an advertisement, recently while bouncing around from band myspace to band myspace I came across this talented new artist, Sarah Reeves. I can't express how much her lyrics have spoken to me. Give her a listen! I'd love to hear your thoughts after.

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Sweet, sweet sound is one of my favorite songs, but I'll let the lyrics speak for themselves.

I am an instrument of the living God
My life a melody to His name
More than the songs I sing
Worship is everything
I live to glorify my King

Hear the song of my life
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
I raise this anthem high
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound

Through all the mire and clay
You're washing me with grace
You carry me, oh Lord, through it all
So I will testify even in the fire
I live to praise my Savior

Hear the song of my life
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
I raise this anthem high
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound

Let everything that has breath
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
And all creation will sing Hallelujah

Hear the song of my life
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
I raise this anthem high
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
A sweet, sweet sound
A sweet, sweet sound

Don't worry about it

A good friend of mine has this ridiculously annoying saying that he uses anytime he doesn't want to answer a question, "Don't worry about it". As irrelevant as that saying is, it got me thinking...Why do we worry so much? Whether its do I have plans for this weekend, what should I wear or even who am I going to marry, there is no doubt that if there is a choice that needs to be made (no matter how far in the future it is), we are worrying about it. This little thought carried me to the book of Matthew.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. --Matthew 6:25-36 NIV


We get so caught up in worrying that we forget that we aren't in control of things, God is. Now I am not saying that this gives us the justification to be lazy, after all the birds still have to get their food and build their nests , but God is always gonna provide for his creations. We all know Geese fly south in the winter, but who told them that they wouldn't be able to survive northern winters? Who gave them the ability to know which direction is south? Who told them which foods were good and which were bad? Yup you guessed it, No one! God created each species of birds with everything they needed to know to survive. Oh! You want to hear the best part? God did the same for you! He packed you with the gifts and talents and learning abilities to understand, learn, & succeed in everything He has for you! And He even throws in a lifetime guarantee that He will always be there to take care of you, if you'd just stop trying to do everything your way and just be who HE called you to be.
Letting go of my agenda, is possibly the hardest thing God could have me to do (well, that and stop eating junk food). I am one of those people that always need to have a 5 year plan, I think about my future all the time. Ever since I was 8 years old I had a plan (no matter how often it changed), until recently; coming into my senior year of High School, I realized the direction I was going in, wasn't what I wanted at all. As much as I enjoyed Graphic Design, I couldn't do it til I retired. I spent weeks stressing out about what course of action I was gonna take, I'd be up for hours trying to figure out something to do! Then Matthew 6:25-36 hit me like a 10 ton elephant, I had been stressing needlessly! I had wasted all this time freaking out about MY future, that I forgot that MY life is HIS story. He will lead me and present opportunities, if I trust in him and dare I say it, don't worry about it. He has given us everything we need to succeed, if only we could learn to trust in him and focus on one day at a time.

Are you satisfied?

"The critical question for our generation & for every generation is this: if you could have heaven with no sickness and with all the friends you ever had on earth and all the food you ever liked and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed and all the natural beauties you ever saw and all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters could you be satisfied in heaven if Christ was not there? "--Jon Piper

Really think about it. If you really looked into your heart, what would your answer be? Honestly, a lot of times my answer would have been, yes and it kills me to know that. I don't want to be satisfied with anything, except God. I want my life to be His story, I don't want to know that if I could have heaven without Christ, that I would take it. I want to love him so much that he comes before everything in my life. I want an honest and real relationship with the one that loved me so much that he lived a perfect and blameless life and then died a death that I deserved.

In Matthew 22 an expert in the law asked Jesus, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment.

When you truly love God, you can't help but talk about him. You can't help but obey his commandments. You can't help but spend time with him. You can't help, but love what he loves.


If you could have a heaven with no sickness or death, with no pain or suffering, with all the friends you ever had and all the food you could ever eat, with every fun activity you ever enjoyed and with everyone in complete peace with one another. Would you be satisfied without Christ?

Amazed-Quick thought

God never ceases to amaze me with all the extraodinary things he does in my life. He will never close a door without opening another, you might just need to wander a little bit before you find it.

Its been a while

Hi! I deeply apologize for the lack of posts in the last month. Believe me, I have not forgotten the blog! God has been doing some amazing things! On April 16th-18th, my church hosted its 3rd youth conference, called Awakening Conference. I had the unbelievable opportunity to be an intern for the event. The conference was anointed! The fellowship, worship, and speakers really blessed, motivated, and encouraged me in so many ways. But the greatest part of Awakening, was that God gave me a role to play and that He used me to help touch the hearts of this regions youth! I look back in amazement. God could have picked anyone, someone that was even better equipped, but he didn't. He chose ME! Looking through the Bible, it is so obvious that God doesn't always choose, the best applicant for the job. So many times in the Bible he chose the "unimportant" and "weak". David was the youngest in his family, he couldn't even fight in the battle, he had to stay home and care for the sheep! But David knew he had God's anointing and that God had called him to do more than be a shepherd boy. David was willing to stand in the authority that he had been given. David defeating Goliath was only the beginning. He moved on to be the King and fight many battles with victory! When David was sent that day to check on his brothers, I really doubt he was expecting to defeat a unbeatable enemy, but God knew what He was doing. If you are willing to be used, God will use you no matter what. God has called us to be more, do more. Are we willing to answer Him?

In God we trust

Recently, with the economical crisis and all of Wall St. in chaos, I have been spending some time reflecting on offering and tithe. It doesn't take a genius to realize that money has become the focal point of America. What happened to the in God we trust attitude that used to be the fondation of America? We got into this economical situation, because we put all of our faith in man made money, rather than trusting in the creator of everything! When I was thinking about all of this, I realized that when we are giving offering, we are looking straight to God and saying with all the debt, bankruptcies, and lay offs I am going to trust in you to provide for me and my family. I will not stay up and worry, I can rest and know that you have everything under control.

Let Love Sleep

Think of your favorite classic love story.

Beauty & the Beast? Where love changes the beast into a handsome prince and him & belle live happily ever after in a redecorated castle?

Pride & Prejudice? Where pride blinds Elizabeth bennett from mr. Darcy's love, but in time he sweeps her off her feet.

Cinderella? Where Cinderella is tormented by her ugly step sisters, but with the help of her fairy godmother and a few nice mice she catches the eye and heart of Prince Charming.

Princess Bride? Where Westley devotes his life to Buttercup and sacrifices everything to find her and be with her.

How many of you dreamed of a romance like one of those?
I still am. Who wouldn't want their true love to do anything (even crazy things) to show their love and protect them? But you know what I find even more beautiful than that? All these stories have two other things in common. They are each others first love. They never mention either person having past relationships. And the other thing is that neither person was looking for love when they found each other. Isn't that the most romantic thing about the stories? The princess and the prince were fully pure in their relationships. They had never loved another, let alone dated or kissed another. Isn't it interesting that neither person was looking for a relationship? They were living their own lives and trusted that the right person would come into their lives when it was the right time.
Purity has ground rules, but besides those rules, there is a lot for the individual to decide. This is my opinion on purity and these are the standards at which I hold my purity. I see purity and love as an apple. Have you ever been apple picking and you find a rich red apple without a single bruise, scratch, or marking? You protect that apple like it is a jewel. You can almost taste the over flowing flavors of the apple. As much as you want to take a big bite out of it right away, you wait til you get home. Once you get home, you wash the apple and at the right time you take a big juicy bite. It is the most delicious apple you have ever tasted, it is filled with flavor. That is just how your love and purity should be. You have the most beautiful apple, not a single bruise, scar, or plemish marking it. The apple is pure. You need to protect love because it is a jewel. Song of Songs 3:5 says, "Do not awake love until it so desires" Its not just talking about not kissing or having sex. It is talking about not falling in love until God shows you the one he has for you. When you awaken love before its time or you start to move into a relationship with someone that God does not have for you, you are not trusting God with your life and your relationships. You are taking it into your own hands. In this day and age love is taken very lightly, people fall in and out of love every other week. And they sacrifice a lot for it. They give their hearts to people, expecting them to magically heal it. And once they realize that that person can't heal their heart, they walk away and find someone knew. They always end up emotionally broken and exhausted. When you start to like a person, you are awakening love, you are no longer seeing them as a brother or sister. Timothy 5:1-2 " Treat younger men as brothers". You would never flirt with your brother! Guard your heart from falling into cheap love that you will regret. At the right time, God will show you the person he has hand picked for you. Would you rather have a 1 year warranty used car after 1 year warranty used car or wait for God to give you a custom built, one of a kind, lamborghini with a lifetime warranty? Live your life and accomplish some of the amazing things God has for you to do while you are single. Focus on him.
Read the story of Ruth, she looses her husband and is in a foreign land with her sister in law, Orpah & mother in law, Naomi. Ruth and Orpah have two choices, they could go back home and find themselves new husbands or they can stay and take care of their elderly mother in law who is also a widow. Orpah chooses to leave, but Ruth demands to stay with Naomi. Ruth learns to provide for Naomi, by going to a wealthy man's field and collecting the left over grains the harvesters leave behind. Ruth was focused and determined. The owner of the field was named Boaz. He took notice of her, he made sure that none of his servants touched her or rebuked her. He was protecting Ruth. In time, they fell in love with each other and he did everything he could to get her hand in marriage. Whats interesting is that Ruth nor Boaz were desperately looking for a relationship to jump into. They both were doing their own work and once God led them into each other's lives then they began to persue one another in God's timing. Let Love Sleep.

It is NOT about us

A while ago, I was asked to lead a small scripture verse discussion. I skipped from scripture to scripture trying to find the one that God had for me to share. Surprisingly enough, it was my mom who was the one to suggest the verse. It was perfect for what I was feeling the need to speak about. It was 1 Corinthians 10:31. Since you probably do not have a Bible in reaching distance, here is the scripture verse in the NIV.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."--1 Cor. 10:31
In this verse Paul is talking about, even the seemingly "little" things we do, let everything honor God and bring Him glory. Every aspect of our lives should be for the glory of God. Whether it is relationships, school, responspibilities, or anything. It is not about us. It is about God.

Whom Shall I send?

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" --Isa. 6:1-7

God not only forgave Isaiah for being a man of unclean lips, but he also cleansed his lips! Isaiah knew that he was a sinful man and did not deserve or even survive standing in the presence of the pure and holy God. When you first became saved you came to the realization that you were a sinner who did not deserve to be forgiven and cleansed from your sin by God! Jesus Christ took your sin and died a sinful man even though he lived a sinless life. Even after being saved by God's grace we still at times sin! How annoyed do you get when someone does something against you, says they are sorry and then the next day does the exact same thing only to once again ask for forgiveness! At some point you don't want to forgive them anymore! I had a friend that would constantly forget that she made plans to hang out with me. We planned to have a sleep over on a friday night about 3 days in advance. When friday night came around I called and asked her what time she was going to come over. Come to find out she had forgotten our plans entirely and was already at her other friend's house for a sleep over! You're probably thinking, "she didn't want to hang out with me so she just said she forgot" but the thing was she was the one that asked me if I wanted to have the sleep over! This happened about three more consecutive times at that point I was fed up and I really did not want to forgive her anymore! That happened only a few times, can you even imagine how many times we sin against God and then ask for forgiveness?? Unlike humans, God forgives us if we wholeheartedly repent! That is the amazing thing about grace! God's grace is constantly saving you! Take a look at Isa. 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" After we became saved we can't just sit in God's grace! We have to go and do all the things God has for us! God wants to send you and use you! Coming into God's grace is only step 1. Doing what God has called you to do is step 2. God has given each and everyone one of us a divine calling. Ask God to show you the calling he has for your life and he will. But you also have to prepare. There were two farmers that were suffering from a huge drout. The 2 farmers both believed in God and prayed that God would send rain, but only 1 of the farmers went out and prepared his fields for rain. When the rain did come which of the farmer's fields thrived? God will use you. There is no doubt about that. The question is are you willing to prepare your fields? Are you willing to shut off your bedroom door, computer, and cell phone and spend time with God, seeking God's will? Are you willing to remove temptations from your life? You may want to change the world and God may have that in store for you, but if you give into temptations you give up a little bit of your destiny. What is really important to you? It was Isaiah's choice to say "Here am I. Send me!" God has an amazing destiny lined up for you.Do whatever it takes to keep your destiny. Be the one that God sends.

Cutting the Knife

Recently, I had to seperate myself from one of my closest friends. We have known each other for forever. We used to live right next to each other and we shared our deep thoughts and secrets with each other.It was really painful for me to seperate myself but I knew that I had to let go, he was not the best friend I once knew and could trust. As I went through this time, I did a lot of thinking, writing, and reading. Multiple times I wanted to call my old friend and talk to him, but I knew I shouldn't. At moments I felt alone and it reminded me of the struggles we go through when trying to stop sinning. We know that cutting off our sin would be the best thing for us, but we allow ourselves to fall into temptation. It is a hard and long cycle of repenting and sinning that some people just give up and live in their sin. In 2 kings 17:13 the Lord warns Israel and Judah to turn from their evil ways. We are warned to run from sin, or to avoid situations that you know will tempt you to sin. Sin will cut you sooner or later. You cannot listen to people swear if you are struggling with swearing. Sometimes you have to cut off the sin that is cutting you. God doesn't command for us to turn from sin because he doesn't want us to have any fun, he knows sin will hurt you and he warns you to save you from the pain. When your mom tells you to study for school, so you can graduate on time and get into a college, she’s not trying to suck the fun out of your youth, she wants you to be successful in the future. But it is still up to you to study and work hard in order for you to be successful. You can have the fun now, but it wont be fun when you have to have summer school or stay back a year. This is how God is with sin. He wants you to be closer to him and he wants you to be happy, but if you decide to do whatever you want your sin will come in between you and God and even though its fun for the time being, it wont be fun later on. Sin is an emotion hang over. You drink way too much and then you have to deal with the hang over afterwards. But next weekend you do the same thing and when the hang over comes around you regret drinking as much as you did. Your human self wants the pleasure of sin while your spirit telling you to lean on God. Cut the knife, before it cuts you any deeper. Lean on God and ask him to help you.

Jesus is in your boat

A while ago, I had been dealing with so much more than I thought I could handle. It was so easy to just look at the mess and ask God where he was in the midst of all of the chaos. One night I began to read Mark 4 and the story of Jesus and his disciples on the boat. Verses 35-40 really stood out to me.

"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:35-40

Sometimes you will feel like God has fallen asleep on you and you are left alone in the storm, like you have to handle the situation in your own strength. But in reality Jesus was in control the entire time. God was not up in heaven saying, "Oh no! where did that storm come from? Jeez I hope my son can handle it! I didn't see that storm coming!" He knew that the storm would hit and that the men would be scared. In verse 39-40 do you see how calm Jesus is? He gets up and tells the storm to stop and then says, "Why are you so afraid?". He allowed it to happen so the men would learn to have faith and trust in him. If the boat sank Jesus would have been swimming to shore with the other men. Jesus was with them every step of the way.
Jesus is in your boat (life). Even at times it seems like you've been calling out and he’s just fallen asleep. He is still there and if you trust and cling on to him, he will rescue you. One weekend I was having trouble sleeping, I was exhausted, but my busy schedule left me no time for even a power nap. Monday came along and I had to be up at 8:30am to go to work. I could barely keep my eyes open. I got home at 11:30am and realized I had no time to sleep because I had to get ready to go to my college color and design class. I begged my mom to let me sleep in, but as usual she refused. No more than 10 minutes later, my professor calls and cancels class! I was as ecstatic as a sleep deprived girl could be. I went right back to bed and slept till I had to get ready for my other class at 3pm. I wholeheartedly believe God had my professor cancel class just for me. My professor never gave a reason for cancelling class and the weather that day was great. God was in my boat. He knew how tired I was and he cared so much about me that he actually cancelled class for me! My God is a loving God. He let me know that he wasn't asleep in my life and that he was paying attention to every pain and every happiness I faced.

The Blog

Hey. My name is Jolene and I am a normal teenager, who is striving to love God and love others. I am new to the blog world, so it will probably take me some time to get used to it. The reason I decided to create this blog, is to tell others about God's love for them. My blog will more than likely be filled with my thoughts about various subjects and things.