give "it" up.

Good morning all! Here I sit with a wonderful cup of cinnamon vienna coffee, been up since 5, and had quite the productive morning so far, despite the serious lack of sleep last night. It's going to be a coffee all day sort of day....Generations of Virtue, I'm truly beginning to understand the love of coffee that you beautiful girls have:-) By the way, for those of you who have never heard of GOV, check them out at http://www.generationsofvirtue.org/  FYI: They have a beautiful jewelry collection among all the amazing things that they do. Seriously, you need to get familiar with this incredible ministry!

So, back to this morning. I'm pondering many things as I sit at my little english desk. I'm thinking about a conversation I had with a friend last night about the love of my God. I'm thinking about how much I am truly, totally, and irrevocably in love with Jesus Christ and how I can't wait to physically see Him face to face....forever! But, I love and cherish this life so very much, that I'm really beginning to understand that each day can be like this, I don't have to wait for Heaven to have that indescribable joy and happiness that comes with living a life according to His will.

A very dear friend of mine has this beautiful quote as one of her favorites in Set Apart Girl magazine:

"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...? You'd be bored to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now! " 

— Keith Green

This powerful quote really hit me this morning. Not that there's anything wrong with reading or watching edifying novels and movies, or anything else that is up to the standards of Heaven, but it's our heart attitude about such things that makes such a drastic difference.  (And by this I do not mean that buying into our culture and all that comes with it is perfectly fine. Every book, every movie, every song, every conversation should be harnessed by the spirit of God. If there is any question about it being up to standard, just don't watch it.) If I was asked to give all this up tomorrow, would I happily do it just to have more time with Him? If the first thought I have is, "Well, I just couldn't live without such and such....and isn't it a little extreme to take it that far anyway?" then I need to re-evaluate  just what is making me cling to whatever I'm holding so tight. For He is the only one worthy of my whole heart, He is the only one that I should cling to with every fiber of my being, and He's the one I should be willing to give up anything for. There should be no thing in this world that holds such a sway over me to make me question if giving it up for Him is worth it.

Worth it?! Let me tell you, I have learned the hard way that nothing is worth making less of my relationship with Jesus. Yet, as I was saying to my friend last night, He will not be worth it to you if you have not truly seen His face, if you have not truly experienced His love, because once you have, it utterly transforms you and the thought of going back to a time without Him is unbearable. Once you've experienced this, each day is just one day closer to seeing Him, and that is worth it all! What a life it is!

So, with all this running through my head this morning, I opened my Bible and this is the first verse that my eyes landed on:

"Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you."    -Zechariah 9:12

Yes, I was a prisoner who now has the Hope of all glory and I would leave all that this world offers and return to His stronghold. For as long as I'm safe in the stronghold of all He is, He will restore more than I ever dreamed to give up here, and not just restore, but double it with something so wonderful, I cannot even fathom all that it is. What a God we serve! My hope for you reading this, is that today you will return to the stronghold afresh. Rediscover Him and gaze into His beautiful face to see all that He would willingly give you, just because He loves you so, very, much.

May your day be full to overflowing with His beautiful love, laughter, and chocolate;-)