The Word and His Pen

 Isaiah 43:1-2 "But now thus says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." God gave me a picture. Imagine lying on your back on an inflatable going down a lazy river. It is a beautiful sunny day, with clear skies, a cool breeze, and the birds singing. You're smiling up at God, thinking how beautiful life is. God asks, "Do you trust Me?" Of course! The sun is shining radiantly, the birds are singing, there is a cool relaxing breeze waltzing through the space, and you are on a soothing, relaxing ride around steady reliable loops. You consider proving your trust in God by taking a nap. The atmosphere is so relaxing, and this ride is so steady. You don't re...

I felt led to post about this.  The flesh nature is aggressive. We want to do what we want with little to no interference. We want to be in charge of our own lives, and not have to submit to any higher authority. Especially not authority that operates far beyond what we can see or understand.  This is going to be a brutally honest blog post, but God is telling me that it needs to be shared.  Today I was getting lunch out. I had hastily whipped together a sandwich and some little snacky things before I ran out the door this morning. This thought came into my mind out of the blue. Fast lunch. I paused. I did not want to fast lunch. I was a little hungry and hankering the taste of the mayonnaise and cheese on my sandwich. I wrestled back and forth. The enemy added confusion and accusatory voices in my mind until it felt like a storm. I didn't know what to do, and my mood darkened within minutes. Deep down I knew what to do, but I didn't want to do it.  I wish I could sa...

 It has been way too long since I have done a blog post. I sincerely apologize and will make a couple posts about what all has happened in between times soon. However, I left off in the middle of a series that I need to finish! Fighting the battle from victory.  This concept applies to so much more than just identity. Praise God it applies to all of Christian life.  1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." As Christians, every single area of our lives has been changed and transformed by the power and love of God. We can, perhaps emphasis on 'can', live differently because of the truth that we build our lives on.  Matthew 6:31-32 "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs."   Unbelievers do not live in this assurance. They cannot f...

 I feel God pressing on my heart to write this post.  Love, I believe is a mistranslated and misunderstood word in a majority of today's world. This leads to the question, if there is a truly loving God, or if God really loves us why would He allow certain things to happen? When perhaps we should question our knowledge of the situation and our definition of the word love. One argument against Christianity is that if God is a truly loving God, He would not have allowed His Son to die, especially not to be crucified. True love looks past the pain of the moment, the temporary situation, to the ultimate result.  Another example of that would be a toddler wants to watch whatever show she wants to watch on tv. Would loving her just let her watch whatever she wants to? Then after she has watched whatever she desires, she may wake up screaming and crying from nightmares she had during her nap. She may be unhappy when peramiters are given to what she watches, but love doesn't want...

 Why is it important that we know who we are? Why does it matter? Why is there a fight with identity? I think nearly everyone has experienced identity struggles at one point or another. Or everyday. It's a huge thing. Insecurity and confusion can plague all ages. Though I think it's effects are most seen in teenagers. We are not children yet not adults. Insecurity and confusion run rampant in these years. The results are suicide, hurting self or others, running away, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and much more. So much pain.  Currently, in America, we are living in the age where it is said, pushed rather, that everyone should just do what feels right to them. How frightening. Flesh running rampant. I could easily go on with this subject for a long time, but the current spiritual state of certain countries is not the main focus of this blog post. It is only a piece. Because it does tie into the identity battle.  However if the current (albeit unmoral) philosophy i...

I’m going to be working on a series about identity, its importance and the challenges of finding who you are.  Who are you?  Is it a simple question? Maybe. But here’s the facts. Most people today are extremely confused about who they are. When you know who you are, and you are confident and secure in your identity it affects how you live.  What do you root your identity in? Who do you say you are? Let’s work through the layers with a worldview perspective. Who am I? Say someone walks up to me and says, who are you? The conversation may go something like this.  Friend: Who are you? Me: My name is Grace Miller.  Friend: That’s your name. Are you merely a name? Who are you? (This is when people may start listing credentials and qualifications.) Me: No… I’m a high school student…  Friend: That’s something you do. Who are you? Me: I am the eldest child to my parents and a oldest sister to my sister. I’m one of the youngest grandchildren to both sets of my grand...

 Moving to America naturally has brought along a lot of culture shock.  Culture shock is very hard to deal with. As I grew up we only visited America every couple years, just for a few months, then we would go back home. So, American culture is largely foreign to me. Moving to a foreign culture that is so vastly different than the one I grew up in is very hard! There are so many frustrating days and instances that make me just want to go home where things were easier. Where things made sense. There are days of struggling, frustration, crying, and wanting to go home. There are learning days where different things are explain to the point where they finally click in my brain a little bit more. And then there are days where I have to make choices about which cultural mindset I want to work in, often I choose a mix. Because both cultures and countries have their flaws, which is the perk of mixing cultures, you can pick the best of both worlds.  Anyway, one big layer of cultur...