food for thought

1. i LOVE september. it is my favorite month and b/c of it I want to name a daughter "Autumn". it's 68 degrees outside and rainy :) and with the windows and doors open sitting here in a sweat shirt and jeans I could not be happier!

2. i think about and pray about more love. more love in this city. in the church. in families. in marriages. in this nation.
"Greater things have yet to come. Greater things are still to be done In this city."

3. jesus ties forgiveness to love: "therefore i tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she has loved much. But he who has forgiven little loves little." luke 7:47
--God, let us not divorce love and forgiveness.

4. when i think about how frustrating people can be sometimes or how quickly i am to assume the worst in people, i am stilled by this question: would Jesus look me in the face and say "were you justified?" or would He take my hand and ask, "did you love much?"
--forgiveness is more about me/you than it is about the other person anyway. if we haven't figured that out yet, we should give it a try. it is incredibly freeing and that's what God desires most for us: freedom.

5. think about dancing with your favorite dance partner. how easy it is. how you both know your favorite moves, and how your bodies move together. while recently at a wedding i stopped immediately when hit by the question in my spirit: "if you were dancing with Jesus, would you let Him lead?" would i? do i?

6. recently during a prayer meeting with a favorite mentor, she compared praying to talking things out as newlyweds. just as the Bible describes the relationship of us, the church, the Bride of Christ to Jesus, the Bridegroom, the Head of the Family. It made so much sense that, just as newlyweds throw new ideas at each other and discuss things back and forth, pleading openly without shame or regret but mere love, we throw our hopes and dreams and requests up to God. Just as newlyweds don't know how the debate will end up--who's reasoning will find favor over the other's--nor do we know until time reveals how God responded to our prayers. And finally, as matters of the family are decided once and for all by the husband, the Head of the household, so matters are sorted out and covered by God's sovereignty--He has the last word and we respect it because He is for us and not against us, with plans for our future and peace.

::For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come to Me and pray to Me and I will listen to you:: jeremiah 29:11-12

God is so freaking good. and i want MORE LOVE, more POWER, more of YOU in my LIFE.