He is, I am not...

 I am the Lord. 
I am faithful. I am the Holy One of Israel. 
I have chosen you.
When it is time to show you my favor, I will answer your prayers.
When it is time to save you, I will help you.
I will keep you safe.
I will not forget you.
I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Those who put their hope in me will not be ashamed.
I am the one who saves you.
I am the Lord. 
I set you free.
I am the Mighty One.
I am THE LORD.


[from Isaiah 49]


He is the I am. I am not. 
It's about what he's done, not about what I do. 
Praise him, that it's not about me. I am not. He is. I can not. He can. He is THE LORD. The mighty warrior who saves and persistently passionately pursues me. 

Lantern Festival - Thailand

I was just perusing Pinterest, wasting time and came across this picture. This is a Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/364508027/

 It reminds me of this scene from the recent Disney movie, Tangled. Of course, I being the Disney princess loving girl that I am, loved it and definitely recommend it. I remember thinking how magically beautiful this scene was in the movie but I didn't realize there was actually a real live floating lantern festival!

http://www.chicagoparent.com/community/convonista/2010/november/mandy-moore-lets-her-hair-down-in-disney's-tangled 

So it's been decided, I'm going! One more thing to add to my bucket list.

http://keeplifefresh.blogspot.com/2011/07/floating-lanterns-and-fascinations.html

I the Lord go before you!

Be strong and courageous; don't be terrified or afraid. For it is the LORD (the promise maker and the promise keeper) [my] God who goes with [me]; He will not leave [me] or forsake [me]...The LORD (the promise maker and the promise keeper) is the One who will go before [me]. He will be with[me]; He will not leave [me] or forsake [me]. Do not be afraid or discouraged. 

Deuteronomy 31:6-8

The Lord gave me these verses tonight just when I needed them. His attentiveness astounds me! I was thinking about all the school work I've got over the next couple of days and over into the next few weeks. Not only school, but next week I have to have a test done to make sure my insides are ok. Long story short, I've had some side affects as a result of some medicine I'm taking for my dermatologist and I have to have this procedure done to make sure everything is all right inside. It's not a big deal really and the procedure itself will only take about 20 minutes. I'm not really worried about the procedure or even the results. I'm just a little nervous cause I've never had to do anything like this before by myself. I'm gonna sound like a big baby, but I wish my mama could be here to go with me. But as I was thinking about all this, my heavenly Father quickly reminded me. "Melissa, I not only am with you, but I go before you. I knew this was coming, in the midst of a crazy school week. I won't leave you and won't let you be forsaken. Don't be afraid."

He is faithful and oh so good!

P.S. The whole thing that led me to find those verses was a song called Be Strong Be Courageous. Here's a link to the wonderful band Tim & Kate who sings this song. I couldn't find a youtube link of the song, but go here and download their whole EP it for free. It's well worth it! 

Like a Lion

"Oh, yes! Tell us about Aslan!" said several voices at once; for once again that strange feeling-like the first signs of spring, like good news, had come over them. 

"Who is Aslan?" asked Susan. "Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver. "Why don't you know? He's the King. He's the Lord of the whole wood..."

"Is - is he a man?" asked Lucy. "Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion." 

"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." 

"That you will dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

                                                                                                       - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 

                                                                                                                                               by C.S. Lewis

Romans One

I've started going through Romans with my sister and our best friend. This week we read Romans one, and let me tell you the more I read over it, the more I find. It's like drinking from a fire hydrant, which in this case is good. But since there is just so much to take in I wanted to get all my jumbled up thoughts down and out of my mind, so I thought this might be a good place to do so...

Romans One.

"For although [we] knew God, [we] neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but in [our] thinking became futile and [our] foolish hearts were darkened." - Romans 1:21

What struck me about this verse was just that if I don't consciously turn our thoughts to the Lord by glorifying and thanking him just for who he is and what he has done my thinking will become futile and my heart will become foolish and unresponsive to the Spirit's leading in my life. This is something that I have witnessed in my life recently. If I let my mind become so overwhelmed with worry and stress about how I'm gonna get all my school work done or what someone thinks of me or what the future holds and I don't take those thoughts captive or turn those thoughts to God in prayer I will loose sight of the glorious God who has set me free and given me abundant life through Jesus Christ!

"Although [we] claimed to be wise, [we] became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles." - Romans 1:22-23

These verses directly follow the one above. As a continuation I see this as a mindset that has changed. It's when I don't glorify the Lord and give thanks to him for all he has done that my heart becomes foolish and I begin to think that I can do it all on my own; That I've got this life thing figured out and I know what's best for me. It's my mindset that has changed. When I don't start my day giving glory and thanks to my God, my focus has immediately shifted and I have exchanged the "glory of the immortal God" for my own glory. My focus has turned off of the mighty God of the universe, who was and is and is to come, who is Yaweh, the covenant maker and the covenant keeper, who is the lover and protector of my soul, who is my Savior, and who knew me, chose me and numbered my days before time began. Why in the world would I want to exchange the glory of this GREAT and MIGHTY GOD for something that is merely human!? 

It is because I am human. It is a result of my natural human, sinful, depraved nature. But praise be to God that he has set me free and given me victory over this sinful nature by his son Jesus Christ. He has given me victory, but it is my choice to actively walk in this victory daily. 

"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen." - Romans 1:25

As a continuation of my thoughts above. I must actively seek truth about God. This verse stuck out to me immediately because recently I went through the book "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Lee DeMoss (I highly recommend it!!). Our whole life, the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we interpret circumstances and events, the way we do relationships, the way we view ourselves is all rooted in what we believe about God. This book was so helpful in pin pointing lies that have subtly crept into my life that I have accepted as truth without even realizing it. In pin pointing them I have then been able to counter them with truth from the word of God!

"Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they no only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." - Romans 1: 32 

This last verse was a reminder to me that the wages of sin is death. As a human, left up to my own devices I deserve death. Sometimes I know what's right and what God has called me to but I choose what gratifies my flesh. And for that I deserve death and eternal separation from this glorious, holy God. But again I will say, Praise be to the LORD! Who out of his great mercy sent his son Jesus to die the death I deserved so that I could receive grace from God!

Again this whole chapter was just overwhelming. Paul sets up the background for the story of salvation, that he will go on to expound on in the rest of his letter to the Romans. He presents humanity in our disgusting, wicked sinful nature. We are a people undeserving, but because of his unfathomable love Jesus took our place on the cross so that we could live with him forever!

Wow, I feel like I just wrote a book. But this helped get all my jumbled thoughts out coherently (hopefully) and work through the truth that the Lord is teaching me!

Penguins and Friends and Wicked! OH MY!

I had been looking forward to last weekend since mid-May when my friend and now roommate, Lauren asked me to go see Wicked with her in Atlanta. After two crazy weeks jam packed with school stuff, I was in desperate need of a get away!

Saturday morning began before the sun came up...yes, can you believe it. I was up before the sun! I wouldn't have been if were not for Lauren calling me 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave...but that's besides the point. We made it to Atlanta by 10:30, just in time for Lauren to be at her cousin's bridal shower. So after I dropped her off, I made my way to Emory to meet up with Hye Zhin and Nathan for the afternoon. 

Just a side note, the weather in Atlanta was beautiful. It was the PERFECT Fall weather and I think I've decided living there would not be half bad. Mostly just because I'd get to have more of a Fall/Winter there then I do here. 

Anyhoo, we ate lunch then headed to the Aquarium. It was so neat to wander through the exhibits! My favorites were the otters, the penguins and the balugas. We also went to the dolphin show, which was...well cheesy. Don't get me wrong the dolphins were incredible to watch, but the host of the show was know as the "Star Spinner"... need I say more? And to top off the cheese factor he was wearing a lighted cape (as in a cape with christmas tree lights in it) and he sang. Yes. It's true. So just a forewarning, the dolphins performance was awesome but the premise of the show... not so much.  

After a fabulous Korean dinner, that Hye Zhin cooked, it was time for me to head back. I spent the night with Lauren at her grandmother's house and had a lovely time getting to know her family just a little bit. 

Sunday was the day we had been waiting for! We went to see Wicked!!! After church Lauren and I hurried downtown, grabbed a quick lunch at the Varsity then headed to find parking close by the Fox Theater. We got there just in time for the show to start and made our way to our 6th row seats! The show was AMAZING! From the costumes to the acting to the singing to the music, it was all EXCELLENT! 

After the show we headed home and back to reality. But it was a stress, school free weekend and I got to spend it with three of my favorite people! It was just what I needed and just when I needed it! :) God provides in it all!