Facts vs. Favor

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬
You know, the facts may tell you that you’ll never pass your classes, but one touch of gods favor can help you accomplish that.
The facts may say, “you can accomplish your dreams, it’s been too long, you’re too far behind.” But one touch of gods favor will put you ahead 50 miles down the road.

The facts may tell you that you’ll never get well, you’ll always have that addiction, you’ll always be depressed. But one touch of gods favor can set you free.
Just one touch of favor can override the facts.
Because 3 words for whatever you’re facing… GREATER. IS. HE.

“But from the beginning of creation, 
God made them male and female.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother 
and hold fast to his wife, 
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.” 
- Mark 10:6-12

My happiness.

5 Ways To Fight Temptation

1. Recognize your tendency towards sin.
“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”
James 1:14 explains that we are tempted when we become enticed to our own natural desires. The first step towards avoiding temptation is recognizing your human tendency to be tempted by our own fleshly desires. Temptation is a given, so don’t be surprised by it. Rather, expect to be tempted. Be prepared for it!

2. Run away from the temptation.
I love the new living translation of 1 Corinthians 10:13.
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
When you’re faced with temptation, look for that way out that God has promised and then run as fast as you can!

3. Resist with the word of truth.
Hebrews 4:12 says,
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
Though it can be helpful to read gods word when you’re tempted, sometimes that’s not practical. Even better is to practice reading the word daily, so that eventually you have so much of it inside you.

4. Refocus with praise.
How often have you been tempted to sin when your heart and mind were fully concentrated on worship to the lord? Praising God takes the focus off of you and puts it on God. You may not be strong enough to resist temptation on your own, but as you focus on God he will inhabit your praise. He will give you the strength you need to resist and to walk away from temptation.

5. Repent quickly when you fail.
In several places, the bible tells us the best way to resist temptation is to flee from it. Yet we all fail from time to time. Notice I didn’t say “repent quickly IF you fail.” Having a more realistic view – knowing that at times you fail – should help you repent quickly when you do. It’s not the end of the world when you fail. But it is very dangerous to persist in your sin.
“These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” James 1:15

God bless,
Megs.

One of the things I tend to over look a lot is my ability to dance. Dance is one of those things that I really cherish. It’s one of the things I like to keep secret about myself. It’s my form of expressing my feelings. It’s a way to let go and dig deep into your feelings. It’s one of my passions.
Lately I’ve been so caught up on my upcoming events that I have been forgetting about it. As I was reading my packet of my jobs to do in Africa, it said “Megan, teach kids a dance for worship.” And I was like, “oh yeah, I dance.”
Dance is a very expressive art.
I’m pretty introverted and shy, but dance is kind of my way to step out of that shyness and really shine. I can’t talk in front of people very well, but if you put me on a stage to dance in front of hundreds of people, no problem.
I tend to overlook this talent I have a lot. So one of my resolutions for 2015 is to really dig deeper into that talent and make it grow.

Are you living Christlike?

When we do sin, God has given us the opportunity to repent. And a lot of people misunderstand the term “repent”
Repentance is not just simply apologizing for the sin you have done, but it also means to change, to turn away from.
Yes, we are saved no matter what if we have already received him as our savior… But, we still should try our hardest to live a pure lifestyle. Pure from sin.

We should strive every single day to be walking demonstrations of who Jesus is.
We’re humans, it’s natural for us to mess up… And anyone can mess up, but heres the test… Do we keep committing sins and brush it off? Or do we run to Jesus and lay it at the cross?

But I think as long as our heart is in the right place, and we keep trying to perfect ourselves, that eventually were going to become more and more God like. And as you keep making those changes, you become stronger every day. I think it’s kind of like working out, you have to exercise it every second of the day. You have to become a bodybuilder in His kingdom.

It takes a strong heart to come to the realization… That if I mess up, it’s okay because I know I am already forgiven. It’s okay because Gods grace is so sufficient! Grace. I freaking love that.
I love the comfort of knowing that He loves me so much, that when I mess up and fall down, he’s there to pick me back up and tell me to try again.
That feels so good!

Faith = Miracles

Today was an incredible day.
We had a meeting about our missions trip today, and recieved all the information that we needed to know, as well as our new backpacks and travel chargers. I have 4 good friends who I’m close with that are also going on this mission with me. Amanda, Rachel, Shelby, and Ashley.
When we recieved our packets with out rooming buddies, I saw that Amanda was roomed with Rachel, and Ashley was roomed with Shelby. I was a little upset because I felt totally left out for a second. (I know, super petty.) but then I realized I was roomed with Leanna Brewer. My pastors wife. The FOUNDER of SPARK (of who I don’t know very well). And I quickly had a revelation that this was a god thing!!! Like, I’m roomed with Leanna for a reason. I’m not entirely sure what that reason is… But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that during my time of fasting, and praying about a job opportunity with spark, that I’m roomed with the freaking FOUNDER OF SPARK! WHAT IN THE WORLD. This could be opening a door for me! I’m also excited to get to know her! She’s such a woman of God and I’m incredibly blessed to be able to spend one on one time with her!!
So aside from that, I have recently been stressing about not having the money to get my immunizations for Uganda. Well, after the meeting, Darrell pulled me aside and handed me a check for $100.00 that a man by the name of Glenn Tidwell (someone who is also going to Uganda with us) I was in complete shock! What a move of God!
Today was another step in my faith and walk with God. I feel as though when things like this happen, complete miracles, it’s in our human nature to just submit ourselves to the lord more and more. We ask, and he gives. We cry out, and he answers. We believe, and he provides!

Love, Walmart, & The Many Blessings of God.

I was sitting in my room talking to my best friend about how much it sucks when you have a best friend of the opposite sex, and as soon as they get into a relationship with someone, they just drop you.
But then God gave me this incredible revelation, and I’m going to do my best to be able to express this through words.
When God created Adam, he created him as Male and Female. (I know that’s super weird to think about but just hang with me.) Adam, before Eve, had both male and female qualities. He was masculine and feminine. He had all the traits that women and men were designed to have, but in one body and soul. Then God decides that it would be better to give Adam a partner. Therefor he FASHIONED Eve from Adam. He took out all the feminine qualities such as compassion, emotion, ect. from Adam and gave that to Eve. Now we have male and female. Adam and Eve were created for each other. They perfectly balanced each other out. What one was lacking, the other had.
God has created us the same way. There is someone in this world that is perfectly balanced for you and I. Our Adam or Eve. But while Adam was pursing Eve, he didn’t have a best friend of the opposite sex that he went to. No, he went to Eve. Eve was his best friend and his love. Because if he were to go to another person of the opposite sex to express his everyday concerns and feelings, he would be taking away from Eve. He would be pouring out to another woman and Eve wouldn’t be getting that side of Adam.
I honestly don’t think God has called us to have a significant other, and a best friend of the opposite sex. It will always fail. We were not created to be able to give two people that kind of attention.
I can’t give my whole self to my husband if I was also giving myself to another man who I called my best friend. It’s just not physically or mentally possible.

Life is weird like that. But I love that. And that’s not me being selfish, that’s me loving the idea that God thinks I’m special enough to receive someone’s WHOLE attention. I may not have found that yet, but I feel like I’m getting pretty darn close.

Last night was a really good night in case you were wondering. Some church friends and I decided to go into Walmart and just walk around and ask people if it was okay to pray for them. Even though it may have PHYSICALLY seemed like a fail, it wasnt SPIRITUALLY. We may have been rejected many times, but at least those people saw that there were young adults in this world that cared enough to go out and pray for random strangers in Walmart. And I know that that planted a seed somewhere.
Afterwards, some friends and I came back to my house and sat in my room until 7am taking about God and reading the bible.

I think that God is really cool to give us the privilege to be able to just sit around and do that. We are blessed to live somewhere where we can do this freely.

I’m going to challenge you. Go out into the world this week, and do something out of your comfort zone. Walk up to a stranger and pray for them. You never know what kind of impact that could make on their lives.
Be a light in this dark world. Be a world changer.
God bless.
Megs.

Twenty-fifteen

I hope I meet adventurous, loving souls.
I hope my creativity flourishes and I revel in the moments I live in.
I hope I pursue my dreams fiercely and fearlessly.
I hope if given the chance, I fall in love. Hard.
I hope the light inside of me grows.

A Simple Challenge For The Year.

Refusing to gossip is a beautiful decision to make. It not only creates richer friendships but, more importantly, it makes our relationship with the Lord more authentic and believable. We honor God when we honor each other.