The Daily Blinding

Our lives, as characterized by living in a world surrounded by sin, deceit and pride is essentially a deep dark pit. For those who have seen Sponge Bob Square Pants, there is an episode where Mr. Crabs builds a well in order to make money, for greed but thats beside the point, the point is that he sends Sponge Bob down to the bottom to collect money as people throw it in. Now think about the darkness, the loneliness and the emptiness at the bottom of that well. Completely surrounded and fully engulfed in that darkness, and in that place often we are worked on, our hearts are transformed. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into spacious place; He rescued me because he delighted in me (Psalm 18:16-19)." Now I am a big imagery guy if you cannot tell and what I think of when I imagine our God rescuing us is the same as being slingshot out of darkness and into that blinding glorious light. How warm, how inviting that feels to know that we are no longer in the place of disaster, submerged in deep waters. The hardest part is knowing where to go and what to do first, how to better seek after Him, we are blinded by the light which we slowly accustom our eyes too. This can also be somewhat of a terrifying idea though because we are never supposed to grow to comfortable in our faith, we are always supposed to seek a deeper relationship with Him who is the creator of all, our Father. I suppose that this is why he makes life such an adventure though, so that we may not only have to come to Him once, but daily because we are not perfect people in the slightest. Every day we need to accustom ourselves to the light that is the truth of our God.

Bought with the Precious Blood of Christ

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again.

And as He stand in VICTORY,
sin's curse has lost it's grip on me!
For I am His and He is mine,
bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in Life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,
could ever pluck me from His hand,
'Til He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I stand


These lyrics speak to me the most about being redeemed. To be redeemed means to be bought back or to be recovered. I'll only ever want to buy back or recover something if I really think it's worth the investment or if I desire it. Through His grace, God calls us worthy and beloved. He says we are worth the investment of His one and only Son. Through His death and resurrection, and in our new found redemption, as Romans 8 said, we are no longer obligated to act in our sinful nature- no guilt in life, no fear in death. THIS IS THE POWER OF CHRIST IN US!
It's everlasting, always faithful and strong!

I will stand, I will stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground, all other ground,
is sinking sand, is sinking sand.
So I stand!

Click Here to Redeem

The word "redeemed" always makes me think of a gift; more specifically, a gift card...probably to iTunes. Most importantly, though, it emphasizes a purchase, not made by you yourself, but one made on your behalf that you get to freely enjoy. Now, I'm not saying that grace is a gift card, but I am saying that because of God's great love, we get to freely enjoy his purchase of us, in blood, back from the hands of death.
But it is not enough to say that we are saved from death. Rather, we were saved for life! Life to the full (John 10:10); to be inhabited, to not be our own.
I was wandering through Jeremiah, praying for God to bless this new journey I am on. I believe that in Jeremiah 29:11, God is addressing plans for our souls far more than he is concerned about being a script writer; and in facing my future, I find comfort in the fact that grace means I can never screw up God's plan - He is true to his word even when I am not to mine. His grace and goodness is more than enough to accomplish his will in the times when I have Stockholm syndrome, when I fall back into the way that I behaved when I was a slave to sin, before my redemption.
Somedays I treat redemption like a gift card: something that happened once, benefitted me, and, yeah, maybe I listen to the songs I got every once in a while, but it is not something that's on the forefront of my mind. Instead, what I should do and what I desire to do is to face each tomorrow remembering the rest of the passage of in Jeremiah about God's plan for me (context! gotta love it)
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declared the LORD, 'And I will bring you back from captivity!' " Jeremiah 29:12-14a
I AM A CAPTIVE SET FREE.

This song has been on my mind in relation to this week's statement. It's called "Exodus" by Bethany Dillon. And maybe some of you know it, but I'd encourage you to listen to it. Hear the struggle, the hope, and the joy of being freed from captivity.

http://www.myspace.com/bethanydillonmusic/music/songs/exodus-faithful-5741066

Imagine literally being a hostage in a distant land where your language is not spoken. You are cut-off from hope and helpless.
But there is someone who rescues you. Sets you free. You did not initiate your own salvation; rather it is by grace you have been saved.
This is not some one-time event that you will forget. It is a single life-altering action that will inform your every decision from now on.
This is not something you just keep to yourself. You share it with everyone, that they too may find themselves joyful in redemption.
You had a near-death experience. Live everyday as a step further from those chains, only by the power of your redeemer; and as a step closer to the cross.
Saved from death to die to self so we might be saved for life in Christ, who himself is life.

A Father's Love

God's love is strong. Those four words can speak volumes if you let them. A father's love is also strong. A father's love is strong in a way that ushers in discipline and care. The love that a father shows his child is always backed with care and the undying revelation that it is unconditional. There is absolutely nothing that can come between or belittle the love a father has towards his children.

The simple fact and words that God declares us as His children, is awesome. That same unconditional love, is right there. That same love that is strong, is right there. That SAME love that disciplines us, is there. I find that the kind of things that usually get through to me the most are instances of tough love. It appears that "tough love" seems to get down to the core of things, no sugar coating (TOUGHNESS), and gets to the point. A lot of things get in the way, but tough love pushes right through those things to get to the inner self and tell the inner self what's up. I guess what I'm trying to get at with the whole tough love thing is that, God shows us tough love sometimes, but the key to tough love is that it is always backed by the caring aspect of love too. Because the second word of the phrase "tough love" is, LOVE. And we all know that there is pretty much nothing better than the Father's love.

Being a child of God is AMAZING. And I am always super thankful and feel so blessed whenever I stop for a second and think about how lucky I am, because the creator of the universe created, AND still loves me, forever and ever. Do you know how many Lego creations I used to make as a kid? I'm an only child, so it was a lot. And I definitely did not love every single creation I made. So the fact that God keep creating and loving is such a warming feeling.

I miss y'all a lot!!!! I wish I could be in California to hang out with y'all.

Heavenly Father

I don't even know where to start... This I am statement hits me hard and was slapping me all up and down the lake this summer... I got up to Shasta for my session and really began to miss my dad more than usual. It was as if the being surrounded by the trees and clear waters took me back to when I was little and we would camp in Sequoia. But every time I would get to that point up at Shasta God would remind of this I am statement. It was as if He intentionally brought me up to Shasta to show me that He is my Father and I am his son. Its taken almost two months to even begin unpacking what that really means and how to live in that. But I can tell you that our Heavenly Father is good and full of Love! He desires to be our dads and teach us how to be men and women.

How sick and gnarly (and all those other words that would apply) is that God, The creator of the universe calls us his sons and daughters!?!?!?!

my daddy's love

When I was little I would always try to convince my dad that I loved him more than he loved me. But he told me that I would never fully grasp how much more he loved me until I had children of my own. Now that I'm older I understand that there is a love that a parent has for their child that is so much more than a kid can understand. And this love is so much greater and so much harder to grasp with our heavenly father.

Its crazy how the God of the universe not only calls us His children and that we get to call Him daddy, but He loves each of us so much more than we can even understand. Now as I am growing in my faith, I am seeing how great that love is for His children, but I'm pretty sure I will never be able to completely grasp how much our daddy loves us no matter what we do. I'm just glad that my daddy and His love will never go away!

I love and miss you all so much! This blog is so encouraging and I cannot wait to read more!

Waaaaiiit A Second

First of all, let me say I have not had Internet for a week, and I was SO excited yesterday when the Comcast guy left my home to jump on here and read this blog. It's such a blessing to continue hearing how God is moving in everyone's lives!!

During my Monday quiet time, I read over the Romans passage and then coincidentally (NOOOTT), a passage in Hebrews that I read that morning talked about being a son (daughter) of God. I thought this week God would continue to reveal to me how loved I am as His daughter and just the...sweetness of that. But God decided to remind me of the harder part of being a daughter of Christ.

"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Hebrews 12: 4-6

Waaaaiiitt a second, but didn't you say you're my daddy? And he says yes, I did. And that is exactly why I want to discipline you, to REBUKE you...because that IS love.

"For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the FATHER OF OUR SPIRITS and live!" Hebrews 12:7-9

Oh man, I could quote this whole thing. The Father of our Spirits, and it's my soul that He's caring about. It goes on to say this discipline is painful but that it "produces a harvest of righteousness and peace." That's what my daddy wants for me. Righteousness and peace. And so post-houseboating He is continuing to rebuke me, to show me my faults, to change me. To encourage me to resist my sin to the point of SHEDDING BLOOD. He pleads with me to keep my eyes on my Father so He can produce such an amazing harvest in my soul. So I guess I lied...partly. God did reveal the harder part of being a daughter but perhaps the sweetest part. That He intends such good for me and knows exactly how to bring me to the sweetness of His Kingdom. Sounds like a pretty good dad to me.

me? child of God?

for me when i am reading about how our Lord is our daddy i instantly question why?
i think of all the times i fall short, i mess up, i utterly disobey or deny his presence and i
think after all those times, after all those things, he still calls me his child. [major question mark on that one] i think of how disappointed my earthly father could be when i do these things and then on a grander [much much grander] scale of how God feels. it blows my mind that after all of my downfalls Christ still calls me his child, his daughter. i am nun-chucked at the fact that his mercy and grace extends beyond all possible failures and imperfections and that he loves me regardless. its so beautiful! and more than i could ever ask for, but theres God for ya, always blowing our minds with his abundant love.

i am a child of God.
i am a son of God.
[despite all my sins and convictions he still calls me his son, or daughter in this case]

john 1:12 says:
"yet to all who receive Him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God."

galatians 3:26:
"so in Christ Jesus you are all children of God, through faith."

1 John 3:1
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."


all we have to do is believe in his name and he bestows this title of child upon us.
how gracious is he! he lavishes his love upon us. that is the ultimate father right there.
one that loves unconditionally, one that calls us sons and daughters though we are underserving, one whose grace and mercy extends through any downfall, and one who cherishes his precious creation.

amen to that.

That's My Boy

A journey through the I AM statements:

So I don't know if you guys have ever heard the song "Cats in the Cradle," but it's honestly the saddest song I have ever heard. What always gets me about it, though, isn't exactly the story of it. There's a line at the end of it where the singer calls his son "my boy," and it's then that the eyes get watery and the chills migrate to everywhere on my body. Something about that phrase just melts my heart. Especially when it's used by my dad in a letter he hid under my pillow in my dorm. But when a father calls his son "my boy," I can't help but think that that is one of the most intimate, albeit short, expressions of fatherly love that there is.

Fatherly love had a huge impact on my life this summer, and it still does today. In week 6, Josiah gave a message about the prodigal son, and that story became the body of my own story. When I was working through my testimony, I made this page in my journal that still fills my heart to look at. Essentially it's the words "THAT'S MY BOY" scrawled across a page and all around those three big words are written this:

"That's my son, whom I love and who has returned home. He was lost and is found; he was dead and is alive. I don't care about your sins, I don't care about your rationalizations or excuses, all that matters to me is that you're home safe and sound. You are forgiven, and your guilt is forgotten. I don't care what you've done; come and dwell in my house and live the life that I have prepared for you. You are my son, my boy; I made you and I bought you with my own disgrace and the blood of my son so that you could return home to me safely and live in my arms. Your sins are paid for; from the grave I have risen victoriously for you. I am patient, I am kind, I always protect, I always persevere, I never fail. I am love. Through my grace you are saved; the disgrace of the cross and the blood of my son are your forgiveness, your salvation, your redemption. You're my son. My boy. And I love you."

God used my story to show me just how much He loved me, and to show me that He accepted me and welcomed me as His son. Hold in your head the image of the father tearfully embracing his son, weeping because he has returned and pulling him closer, holding him tighter at every opportunity. The father whispers through the tears, "My boy's come home; I love you." Now imagine that that's you. You're the child. You are His beloved, and He will never, ever let you go.

Clinging to my Daddy.

God spoke to me a lot this summer about being his child. My weeks on the lake were characterized by me realizing the absolute truth in the statement "I am a child of God." And then running into his open arms, feeling the embrace, and resting in his fatherly love. After giving my driver message during week 8 on this exact passage, I felt like I had a good grasp of me being his daughter and the need for me to cling to my daddy. But God totally numb-chucked me again while I was a barney on the Delta for the last week of camp.

My week on the Delta was the toughest week I've ever had on the water. Through a host of different situations I felt alone, unsupported and without purpose. I struggled a lot with finding a sense of why I was there. Prior to the week starting, I was reminded to not cling to a role, but cling to a person. And I understood that, I'd been hearing it all summer...and I wasn't a driver anymore, I couldn't cling to the position I had been in all summer. I thought, "I got it, don't cling to a role." In my head I had it down. Throughout the week, I realized (with the help of some other staff) that I wasn't clinging to a role...but I also wasn't clinging to my daddy. I was clinging to my driver team, I was clinging to the place of Shasta, and I was clinging to the experiences I had throughout the summer.

By the end of the week, I was broken in a million pieces, but I was in my daddy's arms. I had no where else to go, no one else to run to, nothing else to cling to. I ran back to my daddy and I clung to him with all I had.

Yeah, God called me to the Delta...but ultimately he called me back to himself, to his loving embrace. And I had no idea how far away I was.

Being at home, this has continued to challenge me. The challenge of looking nowhere but Him for that fatherly love, the challenge of not clinging to what happened this summer or what is to come in SLO. I know that I need to cling to my daddy and rest in his arms. And honestly, there's no where else I'd rather be.

Crowned with Love and Power (ROMANS 8:11-17)

I AM A CHILD OF GOD! YAHWEH IS MY FATHER. HE IS MY ABBA! The King of the Universe loves me so much that He adopted me into His family and crowned me with Love and the Power of the Holy Spirit.
All other creation was spoken into existence, but from the very beginning, we were made different. The Lord God took up a heap of dust from the ground and formed us gently in His hand- not one muscle, bone or ligament was over looked- everything was intricately woven together. Once the frame was set, He could have stopped there and called His work good like everything else, but He kept going. He filled us with the Breathe of Life, and He called us His masterpiece. We are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and from our very conception, He has fathered us and protected us as His own. Even while we were unaware, He loved us and called out to us. As Christ, he lived, bled, and died to buy us back from our sin nature. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, now lives in you! By the same power of that same spirit, we were adopted and no longer obligated to do what our sinful nature urges us to do. HIS SPIRIT IS GREATER AND STRONGER THAN SIN NATURE! He has already overcome the world with His Power and Love.
"Child of God" is a title of endearment, identity and authority we have been crowned with by grace. Because of it, we should not live like cowering, fearful slaves anymore- You should behave instead like God's very own children- Bold, Fearless, Confident, Humble and Beloved! You have been crowned as a prince or princess with Love and Power.

"And since we are his children, we will share his treasures... But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering." Romans 8:17

"In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have already overcome the world." John 16:33

This I AM Statement, totally took me for a loop. When I unpacked it with a friend last week, I felt so nun-chucked. I took it as a challenge to always remember to live boldly- seeking my validation in Him alone, which is definitely something I struggle with and is my biggest prayer request. This was the perfect first statement to start with and I can't wait to see what else He has in store for us in this devo :)
I love you and miss you all. God bless you and keep you!!!

Daddy.

So I don't know about you guys but this summer God nunchucked me with Romans 8.

So the fact that its the first "I am" statement is priceless...

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry 'Abba, Father.'"

Romans 8:15-16

AHH!!!

First off He has blessed us with the "Spirit of sonship" we no longer have to be fearful. He is there protecting us just like my earthly father would do for me but to the 100000000th power. He is always with us, loving us, encouraging us, and calling us sons and daughters of his kingdom!!

Second..."Abba"

this word gives me chills every time I think of it. This word means simply "daddy" it is so unbelievably intimate...and we get to call the CREATOR of the ENTIRE universe...daddy. Our daddy is with us always. He is protecting us wherever we go. He is walking next to me when I'm walking to class. He is always there.

Daddy.

We are children of God.

We are children of the creator of the universe.

We are children of the King of Kings.

We are prince and princesses in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Ummm yes.

That is awesome.

God is great.

Add Two to the Family Tree

“The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:16)

When you were born, you were held in your mother’s arms, and soon after you were passed into your father’s caring nurturing and ever-faithful arms. Now think about that Father who is holding you not as your heavenly father, but your heavenly Father (granted this may be a little hard to picture His face). Your brother, Christ, is standing next to Him, looking over you with caring eyes and you know in that moment that these people/person will lay down their life for you. What an intimate relationship you begin to cultivate. Personally, I like to think that Jesus is walking next to me wherever I go, sitting in the car next to me as I drive, and yes if the car is full, then that means He is on the hood. For a long time I had this image of a God who was far away, because He is whole separate from us except through Jesus. Lately I have come to the knowledge that he is indeed more intimate and close than I had imagined, instead of being just a puppeteer, he is a teacher, one who ever loving lets you choose how you want to do something, and then shows you the proper way if your way does not coincide with his. He does not grow angry; instead he must have a sense of humor, for his irony is ever present.  He is your father, your brother, and in a way he is you as the Holy Spirit works within you. How’s that for intimate? 

I AM statements.

Okay so if you somehow lost the I AM statement sheet here they are =]

1. A child of God (Romands 8:16)

2. Redeemed from the hand of the enemy (Psalms 107:2)

3. Forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14)

4. Saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8)

5. Justified (Romans 5:1)

6. Sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11)

7. A new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17)

8. Partaker of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)

9. Redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13)

10. Delivered from the powers of darkness (Colossians 1:13)

11. Led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14)

12. A son of God (Romans 8:14)

13. Kept in safety wherever I go (Psalm 91:11)

14. Getting all my needs met by Jesus (Philippians 14:19)

15. Casting all my cares on Jesus (1 Peter 5:7)

16. Strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Eph 6:10)

17. Doing all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)

18. An heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus (Romans 8:17)

19. Heir to the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:13-14)

20. Observing and doing the Lord's commandments (Deut 28:12)

21. Blessed coming in and blessed going out (Deut 28:6)

22. An heir of eternal life ( 1 John 5:11-12)

23.Blessed with all spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3)

24. Healed by His stipes (1 Peter 2:24)

25. Exercising my authority over the enemy (Luke 10:19)

26. Above only and not beneath (Deut 28:13)

27. More than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)

28. Establishing God's World here on earth (Matt 16:19)

29. An overcomer bu the blood of the Lamb and the Word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11)

30. Daily overcoming the devil (1 John 4:4)

31. Not moved by what I see (2 Corinthians 4:18)

32. Walking by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)

33. casting down vain imaginations (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

34. Bringing every thought into captivity (2 Corinthians 10:5)

35. Being trasformed by renewing my mind (Romans 12:1-2)

36. A laborer together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9)

37. The righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)

38. A imitator of Jesus (Eph 5:1)

39. The light of the world (Matt 5:14)

40. Blessings the Lord at all times and continually praising the Lord with my mouth (Psalm 34:1)

41. Crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)

42. Free (Galatians 5:1)

43. Created for good works (Ephesians 2:10)

God said "I AM that I AM" (exodus 3:14)

Jesus said, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6)

TOMORROW! SO STOKED!

OK so here is the sitch...(kim possible anyone?)

We are going to start this amazing journey tomorrow!!

So all I ask of you is to post when you feel like God moves you to. We will do one "I Am" Statement a week, read the verse that goes a long with the statement and maybe the chapter or whatever you feel you need. Then see how God reveals this truth to you throughout the week, finally tell us about it!! I am so excited to go through this with you guys, to continue to grow in fellowship and love! AHHHHH IM SO EXCITED!

okay so

remember.

YOU are a CHILD of GOD.

Lets start this craziness!

-Micaela

This is EPIC

Soon we begin!