The Account of YOUR Life...

What am I doing with what I have?!  When I give an account of my life on judgement day to the Lord, I will not compare my story to anyone else. In the end, all that will matter is how I lived my own life.  Comparing our lives to other people is a waist of time!! In deciding where you will spend eternity, it will not matter how other people treated you, it will depend on how you treat other people!  It will not matter how much money you make, it will matter how you give back.  How you give back to God's Kingdom.  How have you blessed other people with the blessings God has graced you with in your life?

What a thought!!

Think about the people that are heroes.  The people that inspire us.  They are the people that help in others time of need.  The people that come to mind are the women and men in uniform.  They sacrifice, they lead, they save.  They fight for justice and freedom... so we don't have to be in danger.  They physically leave their family and loved ones to serve our country.  They leave their families to ensure that the greater good can rest easily.  While we sleep, they are vigilant.  They keep watch, and often times put themselves in EXTREME danger.  Most people don't think twice about how safe and fortunate we are to live in a society that respects every walk of life and our freedoms. 
 
Jesus is the ULTIMATE hero, and He inspires me!!

I really don't care what people say about religion and politics in our country.  The Lord is part of us and our Nation.   "IN GOD WE TRUST," American Money!!  We shouldn't have to hide or feel sorry for having a relationship with our Savior.  God is alive and well!  God commands us to love one another.  "So now I am giving you a new commandment:  Love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other," John 13:34 NIV.  Christians and other religions that know God and accept His love, realize when you show love, you model God.  We shouldn't have to hide our love for one another, just like we shouldn't have to hide our love for the Lord. 

The difference between Christianity and other religions is the realization that Jesus came as God in human form and He so loved the world that He died the most humiliating and excruciating death on a cross so we will ALWAYS be forgiven.  If this wasn't the case we would still be making animal sacrifices trying to make atonement for our sins.  Now, it is so easy to be forgiven just by letting Jesus into our hearts.  All we have to do is pray to God admitting that we are sinners.  Realizing we can NEVER be good enough or do enough to live a blameless life.  Then we ask for forgiveness of the sins in our life.  We ask God to live in our hearts.  Then we accept his grace that we don't have to be perfect and we never will be.  We can be forgiven because Jesus already paid the price with His blood for our sins.  Jesus died so we could have a relationship with God. 

So, on judgement day this is how my conversation with God will go:

"I know you are Lord. I know that you died for me. You died so I could be forgiven.  I am forgiven and I accepted your grace.  You showed me grace so I showed others grace.  You love me, so I loved others.  By this love, they knew I am yours." 

Then I will ask him, "Pretty please, can I share eternity with you?!"
 
Then He will reply, "Yes, you are MINE!!"

Humility, Truth, and Grace

One of the things I love most in people is a humble spirit.  There is nothing that can replace someone who is not proud or boastful.  This is actually one of the main reasons I feel in love with my husband.  He is the most humble person I know.  He is the type of person that has a lot of things to boast about and many accomplishments, but he is not the one who will tell you about them.  He works so hard.  Not to show off but for his personal drive.  He has worked so hard and after 3 years of working full time and taking MBA evening classes, he is about to graduate!  I am the one who has to brag on him! 

I feel it is the type of thing that it is better for people to bring up your accomplishments and be humble. Rather than trying to show off!  I admire this quality in people a lot.  It is so cool to know someone and like them and then have no idea what they do.  To like them for who they are and not what they do.  I always would prefer for someone to like me for the real me.  I never pretend to be someone I'm not.  I have a personal motto that, "I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

Obviously I would prefer to be liked.   "Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." 1 Corinthians 9:19  I try to love like Jesus loves, to be his disciple.  I want to love one another as Jesus loves us.  "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!" John 13:35 NIV

Andy Stanley brought up a great point the other day during part of his series "Christian," there is a tension when we want to love like Jesus.  We are often tempted to resolve the tension.  Don't walk away from the truth that we are sinners and accepting the grace to be loved by Jesus.  He brings up the story in the Bible where Jesus tells a crowd that whom ever has never sinned they can throw the first stone.  We have to live a life full of truth and grace. Jesus came to seek and save, he came for sinners.

The truth is we are sinners, and the grace is Jesus couldn't love us less!!  We must love others this way!

You can hear more messages from Andy Stanley by clicking here.

My Legacy

I have had a lot on my heart lately about my dreams, the things I want to do, and transferring them into actions.  I realized recently I am ready!!!  I have been wanting to pursue my calling to write my story for a while.  I actually started my blog to prepare myself for this journey, essentially the next chapter in my life.  I am coming up on the 2 year anniversary of FunLovingJen.com and I feel equipped to take the next step.  Now, I am turning the page... 

The reason I am writing about this today is I want to hold myself accountable.  When you say things out loud and honestly submit your prayers to God, I really feel like He knows you are serious and you completely trust him.  God, "this is me submitting my life and the grace you have given me be brave and take the next step toward my dream and calling of becoming a real author."  I write, obviously with my blog, but I have always felt that there is an accomplishment associated with a hard bound book!

I have been praying about this endeavor and God whispered in my ear, "One step at a time, patience and determination lead to success, and hard work will pay off." Then I felt very inspired when he revealed to me, "a three hundred page book is 30 parts of 10 pages."  This is sounds absolutely nuts but this was a revolutionary mindset to me.  I think about 10 pages, and I think about one chapter or story of my life.  I could write one chapter of 10 pages and if I think about 30 different stories of my life I could accomplish this easily.  It was a comforting feeling.  This is why I feel God's presence in this path he is leading me down.

It was so daunting to think about writing 300 pages.  I now I am just thinking about it in sections.  My life has prepared me for this.  My courses in high school and my courses in college especially have been so helpful in developing my writing.  It is funny when I heard God's whisper, "Imagine how many pages of 10 I have already written!!" Just in FunLovingJen.com alone I have written 86 blogs posts!! I could probably compile a book just on my posts alone that I have already written. What a cool thought!!! 

But the blog is not my dream.  My dream is to be a published author.  My blog has been a means to an end... 

People talk about wanting to make a difference in this world.  My story is the type of story that will encourage people to overcome and thrive no matter what you go through in your life.  I know everyone has struggles and adversity.  Not everyone is comfortable or willing to share these intimate details.  Through the Lord I know this is one of the things I must do. 

This will be my legacy!

So grateful... I'm scared

I know I need to trust the Lord. I need to embrace the fact that whatever the circumstance, whatever the situation, every day, every year, for a lifetime because God loves you and Jesus wants to be your friend forever.  Our church, is part of the Northpoint ministries , teaches this and our mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

I know he is my friend and he loves me forever.  I know this, I always have and always will.

But then the small voice in my ear, that evil voice whispers to me.  It doesn't seem loud but it is there...

"You're life is too good.  Bad things are about to happen."

So then I pray, "God you are so good.  I love you.  I am so grateful.  Everything I have is from you.  Everything that is good in my life, great in my life, every thing... I know it is a blessing from you AND I don't and never will take any of it for granted!!"

Gosh, it feels really good to write this down.  I confess to you that I know that voice is not mine and not Gods... It is empowering.  God never wants or wishes bad things on anyone.  If anything God knows a true believer will trust him and be grateful for the blessings in our life, no matter had small.

I feel so blessed: physically, emotionally, and personally.

Physically:  I am fit, I work out, I have lost 6 pounds.  I have recovered from a broken collar bone, too many sprained ankles, and breaking my nose... twice.

Emotionally: I am truly happy.  I love my job. I have healthy relationships in my life.  I have people that love me.  I feel satisfied with everything in my life.  I don't want for anything.

Personally:  I have the most amazing husband.  He is not perfect.  But he is definitely perfect for me!!!  I love waking up every day.  I know I can overcome any obstacle. I have been through a lot of things.  My life may not be the way I would have thought it would be... It is better.  My life is way better than anything I could have ever dreamed. I prayed for things and God answered the prayers he did because he knew how things would turn out.  He is always with me.  It is a very comfortable feeling.  A loving feeling knowing my Abba knows and has planned my life so that I may honor Him and give back to Him, living my life as a testimony of His will and grace.

So because of this I wake up everyday grateful.  I look at my husband, I am grateful. I look at my things, and know they are just things.  I love my family and friends, you guessed it... so grateful!!

So when I hear that voice whispering that bad things will happen, I'm going to say out loud... "God is with me, with Him I am safe and what ever comes along I will handle it and adapt." Because in all honestly I know from my life especially, His plan is the BEST plan!!