Blessing God ~ Busy Bee

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

Sometimes I go about my day busy at all the tasks at hand, wondering how I will ever get through them all. If you take a look at the bee in the below photo he is busy at his task. It seems as though he is looking down and never gets a chance to look up from his work. Sound familiar? Martha had the same issue and Jesus was actually in her house! Wow! Talk about life perspective. I want to be Mary and choose the good portion, and look to Jesus. Pastor Todd Smith of Crossroads Community Church preached a great sermon where he asked everyone to have a garage sale on all their life’s stuff and get back to simplicity. He detailed how hard it is to make things simple and how easy it is to complicate things. I encourage you to listen to his sermon called “Follow Me: The Commission” if you get a chance.

“The Busy Bee”

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” ”
– Luke 10:38-42

Photography by Jen O’Sullivan

Blessing God Series
Rain from the Lord
Grass in the Field
Parable of the Pearl
Rocks Cry Out
Flourish
Joy in the Thorns
Perfection
Fruit
Everything
Integrity
Hiding Place
Wonderfully Made

Quote of the Day ~ C.S. Lewis on Jesus

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Blessing God ~ Wonderfully Made

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

You moms out there know the weight of this verse. Anyone who has gone through a full pregnancy understands the miracle of life. How awe-inspiring is our God!

“Wonderfully Made”

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

– Psalm 139:13-16, ESV

Photography by Jen O’Sullivan

Blessing God Series
Rain from the Lord
Grass in the Field
Parable of the Pearl
Rocks Cry Out
Flourish
Joy in the Thorns
Perfection
Fruit
Everything
Integrity
Hiding Place

Quote of the Day ~ David Platt on Self

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

“We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”
― David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Blessing God ~ Hiding Place

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

When dark times are upon us and there is too great a sadness to even wake up in the morning, we find ourselves curled up and trying desperately to block out anything in this world that could molest us further. The outward reflection of our inward turmoil is simply to curl up in the fetal position and shut it all out. God wants you to curl up in Him. He desires that He become your hiding place. That you let go of yourself and allow God to preserve you. If you let Him, he will surround you with more than abundant protection and deliverance. Open up and flourish!

“Hiding Place”

You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
– Psalm 32:7

Photography by Jen O’Sullivan

Blessing God Series
Rain from the Lord
Grass in the Field
Parable of the Pearl
Rocks Cry Out
Flourish
Joy in the Thorns
Perfection
Fruit
Everything
Integrity

Quote of the Day ~ Francis Chan on God’s Call

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

“It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn’t call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfort and superficial peace.”
― Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Blessing God ~ Integrity

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

Integrity is the foundation of a strong person. As in most plants the base is larger than the top, or in trees the roots grow out in the same pattern as the top to give it integrity, or strength. I try, every day, to instill integrity into my own child. Those who lack wisdom, lack integrity. Children are mostly lacking in wisdom, so it is our job to guide them along. Often I feel like the blind leading the blind. My own integrity is often lacking. I catch myself all the time. It pains me when I tell a white lie or gossip or lose my temper. Our old nature is always just at the surface. It reminds me to not just live by the Spirit but to also walk by the Spirit. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:25
The ease by which you are able to do things that are wrong will be a strong indicator of how your walk with God is doing. Audit yourself daily and commit yourself to starting your day in the Spirit through prayer and reading of God’s Word. You will see a marked change in your own integrity throughout your day.

“Integrity”

Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!
– Job 31:6

Photography by Jen O’Sullivan

Blessing God Series
Rain from the Lord
Grass in the Field
Parable of the Pearl
Rocks Cry Out
Flourish
Joy in the Thorns
Perfection
Fruit
Everything

Quote of the Day ~ Francis Chan on Humanity

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

“The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”
― Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Friday Fruit Audit ~ The Spirit

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

Do you walk by the Spirit?

The idea is that the more time you spend with God the closer you will become to him and the more you will want to spend time with him. Imagine getting to a place where you no longer need to “carve out” time in your life for God but where you need to carve out time in your walk with God for your life. The Lord promises that if you hunger and thirst to do his will, obey his commands, and follow after him you will be satisfied. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” -Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

In fact, you will be more than satisfied. Take a look at what Peter has to say:

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” -1 Peter 1:8 (ESV)

In Peter’s day his readers understood the word “agapo” or “love” to mean continually loving God and as a regular daily activity. The word “pisteuo” or “believe” means to rest your confidence in or to trust in or depend on. The joy of this verse implies joy for the present. The word for rejoice was not commonly used by secular Greek writers of Peter’s day as it meant a deep spiritual joy. As we continually spend time daily with Jesus through faith we rejoice and have joy that is unutterable and exalted. They understood this as wanting more and more of Jesus and that joy was something only believers could experience. Have you experienced this?

Even though I have not seen him, I am active in my love and faith by daily worshiping him through prayer and bible reading. Because of this communion with him I have even deeper joy that is filled with the glory of heaven. By adjusting your life to focus more on God you will inevitably begin to mirror the below verses written by Paul to the Galatians.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” – Galatians 5:16-26 (ESV)

My prayer: Father, what a gift you have given me in your Word. Help me to desire it more and more each day. Oh Jesus, I long to see your face. Father, I cannot wait to look upon your face shining like the sun. Holy Spirit, what an honor to know your person living in me. God, my God, I have faith and trust in you; to know that my belief in you brings me heavenly joy is so exciting! To think that perhaps my faith actually rests in you and that you are joyful for it is overwhelming. Thank you for loving me with a love I don’t even have words for.

Blessing God ~ Everything

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

This world was made for us. Everything in it, we are to enjoy. The sad reality is that we have brought decay and death upon ourselves. God longs for us to be right with Him again. Give your life over to him and He will give everything to you once again. He made a promise so don’t turn your back on Him because you are stubborn or worse, arrogant in thinking your way is better. Many people’s foolishness and arrogance will cause them the greatest loss they will ever know.

“Everything”