When God Changes the Heart

I have to be honest. For the longest time I hated to travel, making missions my worst nightmare. Kind of ironic for the way I grew up, right? My dream and goal in life was to live in one place for the rest of my life and never leave. It wasn’t until I held a small Ethiopian child that had never known what it was like to be loved, that I realized God made me to love. My biggest joy in life is simply, to love people.

 Before I came to Piedmont, actually like a month before, I was dead set on never being a missionary. Ever. But God really spoke to my heart. When I was holding that child in Africa, I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. The fact that it was 90 degrees outside and I was covered in mosquito bites, all of the sudden, didn’t even matter. Literally the entire trip I felt like God kept speaking to me through the song “God of this City” by Chris Tomlin.

“You're the God of this City

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the Light in this darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless

You are

There is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this City

Greater thing have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this City”

It’s interesting how easily God can change your heart, especially when your focus changes from what you want, to what God wants. For so long I just wanted to be comfortable. I didn’t want to be the new girl, or the American, and I didn’t understand why God kept moving me around and never letting me settle. It took me a long time to realize that God didn’t make us to be comfortable. As Christians we are meant to go outside our comfort zones and reach people who need Jesus. Being at Piedmont has made me miss the mission field so much.  

Being at one place and not being able to leave is now a huge stretch for me. It’s not something I’m accostomed to.  But once again, God didn’t make us to be comfortable. I guess I always dreamed of staying in one place because it was something I didn’t have. I think it’s just our human nature that causes us to desire a different life then the one God gave us.  We think that if our lives were a different way, it would turn out exactly how we want it. That’s not how God works, though.  He made us grow up a certain way in order to do the job he has for us, and what we went through growing up is going to work for Gods glory if we are following Him. This blog post isn’t very long, but when people post really long blogs, Ill be honest I only read like the first paragraph... But this is something that has been on my heart lately.  I am so excited to see what God’s plan is for me, whether it’s missions or an adventure of the unknown. God has called His children to have unwavering faith and trust that He knows what He is doing.

Until Next time..

~Tory

Love is...

Have you ever wondered if the person you like, or are dating is really the one you are supposed to be with? I know so many people who get into relationships, just for the sake of being in a relationship. But, that’s not how relationships should be. A lot of people are settling. Settling for less than what God has for them. It breaks my heart to hear my friends say they are with someone because “they give me attention” or “I don’t think anyone else will love me”. They are giving up hope for the man or woman God has for them. They are settling for what’s convenient and easy, someone that they can have right now. Because we are human, we want to be able to control our destiny. We would rather be in a relationship with someone we shouldn’t be with, than have faith that God has someone else out there for us.  I’m not going to lie, it’s so hard to just have faith that God knows what He is doing.  But, He does! Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you.”  I am not, in anyway, an expert on relationships, but God is. I decided to spend some time today really studying what the Bible says about relationships. While your reading this blog post, keep in mind the person you are with, or the person your interested in. Match them, and the relationship, up to what God says. If your relationship, or the person you like, is missing a lot of the qualities, you may want to reevaluate whether that is the person God wants you to be with.  Of course, no one is perfect, so that doesn’t mean if the person misses like three qualities you have banish them from your heart. No no, you wont find a perfect person, but if they are missing most of the qualities, thennnn you may want to reevaluate.

Okay, so Love! What is love? Isn’t the point of a relationship, to fall in love? well…Its like..99% love, the other 1% is whether the person surprises you with a grande iced caramel macchiato….Right? Yeah I’m pretty sure that’s right.. anyway, what is love? Here are some things that God tells us is love in the Bible. Love is…

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

• ·     patient- (it isn’t rushed, love is a natural thing that develops on its own.)
• ·     kind (see how the person you like treats other people)
• ·     doesn’t envy or boast (meaning- they are content with what they have, not always desiring what other people have, and don’t think they are the most amazing person on this planet. You don’t want someone that’s going to put themselves above all else.)
• ·     Not arrogant or rude (you don’t want someone that’s going to be rude to you in a relationship. It goes back to “love is kind”. If the person is always rude to you, are they showing love?)
• ·     It doesn’t insist on its own way (which means not letting you have any input, pretty much saying “We’re going to do what I want to do.”
• ·     Not irritable or resentful ( when someone gets annoyed really easily, its almost like you have to walk on egg shells around them. That’s not fair to you in a relationship. You should be able to be yourself, and the person should love you for that.)
• ·     Does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. (this pretty much means, for example: if you were to lie to someone, your special someone should be encouraging you to make it right and tell the truth, not rejoicing at the fact that you lied.)
• ·     Love bears all things (through thick and thin)
• ·     Believes all things (believes in the relationship, and trusts the other person, because when you love someone you won't lie to them. You can’t build a relationship on lies.)
• ·     Hopes all things. (They should have a desire for a future with you, if they can’t see a future with you, why are you together? )
• ·     Endures all things (Ah, I love this one. It means that no matter what struggles you go through, the person you are supposed to be with will be with you through it all. Because love endures all things. And the person you are supposed to be with will know that your worth it.)

2 Timothy 2:22

• ·     They should pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

2 Corinthians 6:14

• ·     “do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (Okay, I know that it may have upset a few people that I put that in here. But it’s in the Bible, and nothing in the Bible is false. If you think about it, it really makes sense, though. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit inside of us, telling us what is right and wrong. An unbeliever doesn’t have that conviction that we do. Something that to us feels wrong, might feel completely right to them. Also, they won't be able to truly relate to what we are going through. As Christians, we struggle to always do the right thing, and be a person that God is proud of. Unbelievers aren’t living by our rule book (the Bible), they are living by the rules of the world. Hence the “unequally yoked” part.  You should be with someone that running for God as fast as, or faster than you are. That should attract you to them.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

• ·     “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (be with a person who lifts you up when you fall, not someone that will leave you on the ground. )

Okay, I guess I’ll stop here so I don’t make this a million years long, but I could honestly go on for a while. I just want to leave off with this. Don’t settle because you are scared that God isn’t going to come through for you. He ALWAYS comes through. That is the point of faith. We don’t know the future, and we don’t know who we are going to end up with, but God knows. If we are supposed to be with someone, God has that person specially made for us. The most amazing person, hand crafted by God to perfectly fit with us, Like a puzzle piece. We just have to trust Him, and remember that He always knows what He’s doing. Well I guess i'll get off my soap box now. *drops mic* 

Until next time <3

~Tory

The Proof of a Just and Loving God.

Do you ever wonder if God really is a just and loving God? And, like many, you want proof? There are SO many Biblical facts to prove that our God is a just and loving God.  I'll start with Isaiah 61:8, “For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them”. God very clearly calls Himself just. The Bible is all truth, there are no lies in the Bible, and therefore, it must be true! One of the many occasions where He proves His justness is in Genesis. He told Adam and Eve that they could eat from all the trees in the garden except one. If they ate from that one, they would surly die. Adam and Eve were tricked, by a serpent, into thinking they would be like God if they ate from the forbidden tree. Unfortunately they both fell into temptation and God had to punish them. He banished them from the garden and they eventually died like God said they would. Their sin brought death into the world. God doesn’t want to punish His children, but He is a just God. He always does what is right, even if it is punishing the children that He loves.

God’s love for us is written everywhere in the Bible! He loves us so much that he sent His only son to die for us on the cross! Can you imagine that love?  A love so deep that He would take His son from heaven and put him on earth to be torture, ridiculed, and murdered in order for us to be able to have fellowship with Him? I can only imagine how it pained God to see His son suffer. There are so many verses proving just how loving our God truly is!

·      Job 5:11: "He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety."

·      Isaiah 41:10: "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

·      Philippians 4:6: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God."

·      John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

·      Psalm 86:15 - But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Until the next time God lays something on my heart!

~Tory.