FAITH and LOVE

So its been awhile since I wrote a blog, and recently thought I should write one.

This semester has been a long, tough, and very rewarding semester. God has taught me so much through this time. I am finally understanding what it means to lean onto to God for strength, to find nurishment in His Word, to find joy in serving Him no matter how I feel. The Lord is constant, His love is constant, He is faithful, He is a great provider, He will never leave us or forsake us. These are some of the things that I have been learning this semester. I have experienced so much and words can't express how truly grateful I am to know that I have a SAVIOR that Loves me! A God that LOVES me and that Holds me in His hand!! How Great is that?? I have experienced some times where I have been really discouraged, on the verge of being burnt out because I can't see the impact I want to make in peoples lives, then I get encouraged that its not about me and what I do, but its about what the Lord is doing. I am beginning to see the impact I have made and the impact people have made in my life this year. I am so thankful that I can have so many great friends, and family to pick me up when I'm down.

The 2 biggest things the Lord has been teaching me recently is that everything relies on FAITH and most importantly LOVE. If we didn't have love then we would have no hope because Christ would have never came to die for our sins without Love for us. The love that Christ gives us can never be taken away, we can never be separated from His Love. (Romans 8:31-39). God showed us His love when Christ came and Christ told us that we are to love. Jesus said "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35 We are to love one another and that is what God has given me a heart for, to love people no matter if they love me. Having this heart has helped me understand why Christ came to die, that it wasn't just for me but it was for all mankind, so that we can have hope. If we are not loving others then how can we say we love God, and love Jesus? Loving people goes beyond just saying it, its an action-its telling people about the Gospel, to be edifying to one another, to not gossip, to not be prideful in our love, to not boast in our love, because our love is no where near the love it took to Redeem us!
Faith-believing in something we can't see or touch physically--without faith then we can't truly love God, we can't truly love people. We have to have strong belief that what God said in His Word is the TRUTH! and nothing else is truer then His Word because He reveals Himself through His Word. Don't believe me, I suggust that you read it, read the Gospels and you will know the Word is true, because Christ is the Word! Faith is more than just believing that Christ died for you, but Faith that He wants to transform us, to walk with us daily as we seek Him in His word. Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ." If we have faith in Gods Word then He will show Himself daily, and we will learn to trust Him daily and really know what He wants us to do! I was reading in Joshua today, where the Lord encouraged Joshua to live by faith, to be strong, to be courageous because the Lord is with Him. God used Joshua to lead the Israelites into the promise land and it took faith through the tough times before they reached the promise land to help Joshua to become the leader that the Israelites needed. That has been something that's been on my mind all semester. When we have faith in that God will use us and that He will build us up into the men and women of God we need to be, He will do that. He is true to His Word, He never fails. So don't think your not a strong Christian if you don't have the feelings, just know that it is all about FAITH in His Word and that He is there for you!

Anyone can know Christ, and can be used by God to big things, to do the small things as well, but two things have to be in place: You have to LOVE and You have to have FAITH!