His Letter of Recommendation

"You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Cor. 3:2-3). 

He wants YOU to be His letter of recommendation!

Typically, when turning in a college application or a job application, they prefer -- or in many cases, require -- a letter of recommendation. As 2 Cor. 3:2-3 says, you and I are continually writing something. Is it something God would want? Would someone look at your letter of recommendation and scoff at it? "Seriously? This girl can't even spell 'totally' but instead has to say 'totes'. Honestly, the word 'totally' is completely unnecessary altogether; it is so unprofessional." If you want a GOOD letter of recommendation, you put in the time and effort to make a good letter; that's just to make your letter acceptable. If you want a GREAT letter, you have to give your time and effort daily. Put yourself aside, leaving all your hate and selfish ambitions aside and say, "Lord, I want YOU to live through me."

When you think about God wanting YOU and ME to be His letter of recommendation, it's a little crazy. The God of the universe who created the stars and the universe wants ME to write a letter of recommendation for HIM?! Yeah, right. I can "totes" do that and not make a complete fool out of both of us ... I think it's just the coolest thing that He wants us to recommend Him to others. Of course I want to recommend Him ... Or do I? If I think He's worth it, I will recommend Him to everyone! However, I don't, and I can't say I even have a legit excuse in the slightest for that except laziness, lack of passion, or "too busy." I can't believe I can actually use those as excuses. I must look so smite-able to God. Haha.

Anyways ............. The reason I bring this up is because of V-day. I have a post in the past about it. Yes, I have a (wonderful) boyfriend now, but I honestly believe it's because I waited and it was worth it! While it's awesome having a significant other, it doesn't mean the world is ending because you don't have someone to smooch on the day filled with flowers and chocolates and sappiness (oh my!). ;) Make your life be one full of love and a letter of recommendation WORTH reading and super exciting!

God is Love

God is more than love; He is our judge, creator, father, etc. His being is rooted in love and forgiveness and sovereignty in carrying that out to its fullest extent. Just read the book of 1 John for more on this, especially chapter 4! In fact, you should just do it now. :)

With this in mind, clearly, He has our best interest at heart. So to say "woe is me" is truly an insult to Him. Besides, why should one feel lonely with God by them? I would challenge you to really examine your relationship with Christ. If you feel lonely, even the best man in the world won't help you fill the "God void." So fill that spot in your heart with the love only God can give and the rest will follow. By that, I mean life goes on. Life is not all flowers and happiness and love and unicorns and the perfect guy/gal. "The rest will follow" = life goes on and it gets much easier to suck it up once you put your heart in the right place. I don't mean to get all preachy -- except, I do -- and I'm talking from experience. So as Nike says, "JUST DO IT."

Fellows & Girlies: Enough with this low self consciousness!
"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God" (1 Cor. 4:1-5).

Too many people -- girls and guys! -- don't have the confidence they should have. If you have Jesus, confidence should just exude. Not the cocky type of confidence, but the quiet, peaceful, triumphant in Christ type of confidence. So many men have issues when they get older from not being able to express themselves because society teaches them to bottle their emotion up (I'm learning this in sociology class -- yay Las Po edumacation!). Girls, on the other hand, think they are too "ugly" to date and that's why they don't have a date. I attribute these issues to not fully allowing Christ to love through them, but too often Christian girls/guys have these issues as well. The 1 Cor. passage just above this clearly says to let God be the judge -- not other people or even yourself! God brings to light the things now hidden in darkness, such as the future. Our job is to simply be regarded as servants of Christ by, surprisingly, being servants of Christ (shocking, I know). I am NOT discounting that it is wrong to feel self conscious, embarrassed, or secretive to maintain your dignity. Keep your integrity (for Christ's sake -- He did die for you after all). But YOUR dignity? No, get rid of yourself! Who cares if you show emotion, don't have a model body, aren't Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. Use what you have and don't have for His glory!

For example, I'm 19, almost 20 in March. I didn't have my first "real" boyfriend until I was 18. Call me crazy, but I know I've been blessed because of it. I'm very thankful to have waited. I also avoided a whole lot of heartbreak due to teenage hormones and society's pressure to have a lover. Jesus was, is, and always will be my first and foremost lover. When your significant other's first love is Jesus as well, it really is more God glorifying. You'll both know when the time is right because it'll be in His timing.

You've Got the Powerrrrrrrr!

"For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power" (1 Cor. 4:20). If you believe in  Christ and that He died on a cross for you and rose again, well, you're in luck; you've got the power -- so use it! God will never give you more than you and Him can't take on together. In fact, the phrase "God will never give you more than you can take" often gets thrown around. Usually we apply this in response to troubles and trials in life. However, in light of Valentine's day, I think it allows us to realize He never gives us more than we can take beneficially either. For example, if it makes me too prideful to have a boyfriend and a great family and a roof over my head and a bed and an education (and so on), then why would He ever choose to give me more than I can take? He doesn't want me to become too independent of Him, even if He chooses to give (or not give) such amount of blessings. He will never give us more than we can handle!

In essence, Valentine's day serves as a great reminder to love on others like Christ. (After all, to quote Les Mis, "to love another person is to see the face of God." Yes, I like that movie.) Not only that, but keeping in mind to let God be our confidence and power. We would literally astound ourselves if we just listened to Him and gave even a sliver of our selfish selves to Him. So, single or not, our purpose in life doesn't change. Keep the faith and let the author of love write His love letter to you for all to see and spread that love! Don't be selfish; He wants the world to know His passionate, eternal love. "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart ..." I don't have a love like that. Today, I went to a movie with a friend I said I'd see previously with a different friend. I am painfully human. Life comes down to giving your all to Him in complete surrender. He can do more than we possibly imagine. Being sad about single life is silly; there's so much you can only do while you're single so take advantage of that time. You'll only have it for so long. 

Just my two cents (but it feels more like my 99 cents lol). I talk too much! See my previous v-day post here: http://beccawoll.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day-musings.html [Valentine's Day Musings]
An oldie but a goodie. Not that I'm biased or anything. :p

It's Okay to Cry.

Hey my friends! Apparently I haven't posted since March, which I know is terrible, but it's better than when I was expecting (last year, for example haha). For those of you who don't know, I go to a community college. My English teacher likes to challenge our beliefs -- and I always plan on returning that favor in my papers! Anyways, here is just a little something I came across and absolutely love. So I hope you guys enjoy this! (P.S. I'll try to write more honest, but let's be honest: I'M A PROCRASTINATOR. In fact, I'm procrastinating right now. But seriously I will try harder ...)

"I want to close on this and ask you this really just very simply. Have you ever just really cried out to Christ? You know you don’t have to hang back. He says, ‘Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace’. You’re not going to be turned away when you cry out to him. When you cry out you’ll find mercy for your sins, for your misery and you will find grace to help in time of need. I can guarantee you, by all the power of the testimony of the Spirit in his word, that when you cry out to Christ, he will hear you. Though all earthly friends disown and forsake you he will not. Though everything is stripped away from you he will not be taken
away. He will not take himself away and there will come a time, perhaps sooner, perhaps later, when we will have no earthly strength left, where all our bank accounts and anything else will mean nothing. Within an inch of our life we’ll be drawing our last breath. At that point, I suggest that the Priesthood of Christ will mean more to us than we could ever imagine. The great Shepherd-King knows his sheep and he calls us by name even through the valley of the darkness, to bring us to his Father’s kingdom." -- Rev. Dr. Noel Due, Baptist Pastor. [Due, Noel. “Christ Ascended for Us – ‘Jesus Ascended High Priest.’” Evangel Vol. 25 Issue 2 (Summer 2007): 58. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.]

Love you all! Remember, it's OKAY to cry. Xoxo. 

What is Reality? Are you desperate for grace? Plus, Gungor concert :}

Ahhhhhhh where to start?! I've been learning a lot lately. The more you know, the more ignorant you begin to feel. Sorry for not writing since forever! :/ I have a lot to talk about, so I'm just going to jump in. I have much to write about, I just can't give my 20 page thoughts into one post! Nobody has that time!! Haha.

Well, first off, I saw Gungor in concert March 11th in Rocklin. THEY WERE AWESOME!!!!!! (Not to make you jealous or anything ........... Hahahaha.) Anyway, so Gungor had a speaker talk between their songs, and three things stood out to me.
1) Scars. The fact that Jesus let Himself be scarred to take away ours. Wow, have you ever thought of that?
2) Body. Michael Gungor actually said this part. He was saying how we, as the church, are the body and Christ is the head. We are the bride, He is the groom. So often, we ask, "Where are you, God?" when in reality, we should be asking, "Where are WE?"
3) Reality. This last one I want to spend a little more time on. The woman who gave about 5 minutes worth of encouraging word said that we often think of ourselves as what's real. Whereas God is some ghostly, far off, distant "thing" that somehow works in our lives. But she made us take a new perspective. What if God was reality? What if we are what's distant and ghostly? (Hence Gungor's "Ghosts Upon the Earth" album title.) This concept made me think ... Dictionary.com defines reality a few ways, one including, "something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive." If you believe in God, isn't He the one thing that stands? Isn't He what's lasting? Isn't He what's consistent and never changes? Think Inception. What's real lasts. What isn't real constantly changes. God is EVERlasting.

For King and Country has a song called "Busted Heart." I remember how the lyrics, "desperate for grace" stood out to me once. I thought, "Yes, we're all desperate for grace." Sometimes, when you hear something so often, you sort of become immune to it. Often, we become too content where we are and forget we are in need of grace. But for whatever reason, it really stood out to me: We're ALL desperate for grace. Why do we forget that? Not only that, but we never stop being desperate for grace! Eph. 4:26 calls us to "be angry." Not for the sake of being angry, but that we'd be passionate about what God is passionate for. I need Christ to rescue me from drowning in contentedness and set me on fire so I'd burn and be moved!

We break God's heart all the time. We push Him away. We chase after other things. We get tired of trying with God. We give up. We get lazy. We get too busy to even call on Him for a short bit. Even when we aren't busy, we go sit on a couch and watch TV instead of even letting God hear about our day. Think about the most awful significant other you could ever have: THAT'S YOU. That's me. That's every single person to walk this planet -- except Jesus. We cheat on God ALL the time, yet He CHOOSES us; loves us; pursues us.

You know, I want to stop feeling immune to the things that matter. I want to be a better me for Christ. Break my heart until it moves my hands and feet. I want to be Your hands and feet; I can't do that unless I'm attached to You! I want to think like Christ did while suffering for me and stop living for my selfish passions and start living for God's will (1 Peter 4:1-2). Let me delight in You and let me receive Your desires (Psalm 37:4). Encourage and strengthen me to renounce my worldly passions and show perfect courtesy to everyone, all the time, whether they see or not (Titus 2:11, 3:2-3)! Teach me to hate hating and love loving.

"Broke Your heart a thousand times, but You've never left my side. You have always been here for me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44DPMA5HnY).

Pennies

I normally don't like these stories, but I liked this one and thought it was post worthy. Enjoy! :)

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about ...

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.
As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer.. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see.. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? "Look at it," he said. "Read what it says." She read the words: "United States of America ..." He shook his head, "No, not that; read further."
"One cent?"
"No, keep reading."
"In God we Trust?"
"Yes!"
"And ...?"
He explained, "And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him. Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as my response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!"
When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.
It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And God is patient ...

Have a lovely, penny-filled day!

A Forever Friend

Well ... I'm back? Haha. Sorry for dropping off the face of the blogging world for a while. I've been busy, but more so lazy when it comes to blogging. So I'm sorry for those who have wondered what happened to me and my life and my blogging and my rhinoceros which I do not own. Anyways, here's a story that I hope causes you to think twice about your life and how you're living it.
Imagine you have a train coming towards you. Normally, that's no big deal, right? Right. Trains come rushing toward you at high speeds all the time. The catch is, you're tied up in ropes on the train track so there's nothing you can do about it. As the train lights shine blindingly into your eyes, it's as if they see right through you and all you've done, and flashes of your life pass you by like an old movie film. In moments, you'll be dead, but you feel like time has suddenly stopped so you can watch your life. Suddenly, the most awful things you've ever said that you'd purposely blocked from your memory come swarming back to haunt you. The happiest moments that you never thought you could relive again seem almost reachable. But your wrong trumps the good, and all the hurtful words, ignorant actions, and evil thoughts stab you with a pain that makes you wish you'd literally been stabbed instead. You wish you'd been more thankful, giving, gracious, loving ... So you squeeze your eyes as tight as you can hoping everything will just go away. And then, you hear the train blare it's horn, and boom. Death was quicker than you thought. Only, nothing feels like it's changed. In fact, the impossible happened: You were saved. A man risks his life and swoops you up out of nowhere. The train zooms by and you can feel the blast of air coming beside the train. You barely made it. You're afraid to open your eyes. Was this real? The fear grips you that you might be in heaven -- or worse, hell -- but you hope it's heaven. Then you hear a deep, reassuring voice, "Are you alright?" and you'd never heard words sweeter than honey come from someone's mouth. In your shock and gratefulness and fear, you mumble words that you don't even understand yourself. So he squeezes your hand lightly, scoops your hurting body up, and carries you to the nearest hospital to fix you up. All the while, holding you tight, never letting go, never slipping, never stumbling, despite the pouring down rain. And then, as you recover, you always have a new, fresh bed of flowers by your bed by this mysterious, life changing and life saving man.

Sounds lovely, doesn't it? The women scream "Ahh, my hero," and the men groan wondering why they paid $10 for a movie like every other chick flick. The women have unrealistic expectations and the guy has to meet these impossible expectations. Nobody wins. But you know what? He exists. Jesus is His name and people call him Emmanuel. He's the one guy who walked this planet who DID do exactly what everyone wants: A Savior. If someone saved our life, like in the story above, you could never thank him enough. You'd do anything you could to help him out to return the greatest favor of saving your life. Well, if Jesus is that guy, why don't we give him credit where it's due? Or better yet, how can we go a single day without recognizing, "Wow, I'm alive because of Christ." How do we go a week without remembering He saved my life! And your life. He does this heroic act by saving our lives again and again by dying on the cross for us. And ever sin is like a nail pierced to His heart. Troops die for us everyday, and we give them our reverence. Shouldn't we do the same for Christ? We persecute Jesus in our actions, our words, and even our very thoughts every hour because we're sinners. Yet, He never leaves. He is a forever, faithful friend.

Find Him more important than the things you find important. And most importantly, how can we just stand and watch loved ones get hit by a train? Food for thought ... (I'm guilty of it too.)

An Inside Out Hero

Haha. Well ... So much for writing more often. Sorry ... Again! I am so far from perfect!! Alright, I think I'm going to hit the highlights of life this summer of 2011. They're not exactly highlights in my life per say, but it's a Jesus highlight. Sometimes the worst times are the best "Jesus" times (if that makes sense).

Inside Out
A lot of you have probably heard the song from the Inside Out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPrK3FP9Yrs). One time, while I was driving somewhere recently (listening to Christian music) and this line from that song stood out to me: "Your will above all else, my purpose remains. The art of losing myself in bringing You praise." And I guess you could call it an ephiphany, because it just hit me. I understood. Our one purpose in life is to glorify Him, correct? And if God is faithful to the end -- just like He says -- then He will make sure that we glorify Him, even through our faults. All He wants is for us to live and love for Him, through Him! And if we love with Christ's love, that "surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19). So if God's love surpasses all knowledge, then if we learn to love and live like Jesus, then our lives are automatically wise. As Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." :) So don't break down or worry about life because we have a King within us (Micah 4:9). If we hope for what we can't see, we just have to wait patiently (Romans 8:25).

Superhero
So I was thinking ... If Christ is our Hero, a Savior to the world, doesn't that make us superhuman to some extent since He lives in us? And if our God is for us, who could ever stop us? He has the power to do abundantly more than we could even imagine (Eph. 3:20). With Him, all things are possible. Speaking of heroes ... One time I heard a story of a girl who flipped 3 1/2 times in her car and walked away perfectly fine. We are just like her. Every single day of our lives, He sustains our every breath. Every day, God gives us another chance. Every day, He forgives You. And every day ............. He SAVES us. We are meant to be here. God hasn't called us home yet -- He hasn't called you home yet. Are you doing what He wants? He is the only thing worth living and dying for!

Oh, and honestly, this isn't even the half of what I've learned this summer! But one thing that stood out to me when I was praying once was, "I'll start doing things for you if you start doing things for Me." It really could not be more clear that I needed to do my part before I asked him all I wanted like a kid on Santa's lap. Obviously, He's done more for me than I could ever ask for. It's about time I start giving back ...

Lord, help me to be a joyful and refreshing person to be around (Romans 15:32). Let me be an Inside Out Superhero as cheesy as that is. As my fellow Jesus follower once said [the bass player of MercyMe], "good writers write about what consumes them." I know I'm not the best writer, but help me to glorify You in all that I do. Your glory goes beyond all fame. The cry of my heart is to bring You praise from the inside out. Lord, my soul cries out, "Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness" (Psalm 115:1). Love You Jesusssss :)

He is Greater

Heyyyyy so it's been a while since I've written. Sorry. Again. Haha. I said I was going to write more often because I discovered people actually read this (why didn't you tell me earlier?! ;) so anyway I apologize for not keeping up with this! Anyway, this post is about a God who is greater than everything. Let me repeat that: Greater than EVERYTHING. Have you ever really sat down and let that sink in?

Age
God is greater than your age. Have you ever felt called to do something, but felt as if you were too young to accomplish the task? Well, so have a lot of people in the past, such as Jeremiah. He tells the Lord, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth" (Jer. 1:6). How many times have I told Him that and how many times as He responded, "Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you” (Jer. 1:7-8). If He calls you to do something, you better do it! And I don't mean on your own time, for only God knows how long our days on earth are anyway. Do what you can while you're here and God will use you to glorify Himself, faults and all. In another instance, maybe it's not your own lack of confidence, but others' lack of confidence for you. 1 Timothy 4:12 says not to let that get to you: "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12). We need to be living, breathing examples of the living, breathing word of God. Make sense? If you are a youth -- or have been a youth -- you'll realize just how difficult it is to be an example of Christ in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. In today's society, you see a lack of all these things. That's why we have to show we are different (in a good way!) in the way we present ourselves (to Christians and non-Christians alike).

Storm
Have you ever told God, "I really don't think I can handle this" or tell Him that He's really given you more than you can handle? Instead of telling God how big your storm is, tell your storm how big God is! He is greater than whatever you're facing currently. Everyone has a storm in their lives. Big and small; minuscule or furious. Today I read Psalm 93:3-5, which for whatever reason made me think it'd be a great basis for a song! Haha. Yeah, I'm cool. Anyway, it says, "The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea. Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever" (Psalm 93:3-5). God is greater than the noise, the height, and the power of whatever you're facing. If God is for you, what could ever be against you?

Yourself
I think I'm doing this for myself more than anyone else. I take the blame easily -- maybe too easily? -- and sometimes I take it harder than I should. I just have to realize that He is GREATER. In Genesis 1:6, God says He made the "greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night." Have you ever thought about how God is the greater light of us and we are the lesser light? No matter how bad we are, God shines brighter than us or our problems.

God, thank you for being greater than my own heart and knowing everything (1 John 3:20). Help me to become more like you and gain the abundance of peace you have for me, which lasts until the moon is no more (Psalm 72:7). You have done sooo much for me. "I sing with joy because of what you have done" and let it be so for the rest of my life, even if I'm not as consistent as I should be in thanking You (Psalm 92:4). Let me "become complete" with You (2 Cor. 13:11). Much love to you Padre <3 I'm working on it ...