I'm Blessy Jahne and I'm on a journey.24 y/o. CHRIST FOLLOWER. Advocate. Worship Minister. Bibliophile. Vintage Lover. Thrift Shopper. Stellar Tatter.
BC, Canada
I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
In person, I would have to say that I’m not really good with words. I find it hard to gather the thoughts that are floating in my head to make a cohesively structured explanation for what I am feeling. So, whenever I am being asked about something that I’m not comfortable discussing, I keep silent. And if forced to speak, I end up being frustrated and words come out wrong.
My future is not something that I am eager to discuss personally. It is a topic that I feel I should avoid for I have nothing to offer that might amuse a highly driven, goal-oriented person.
I have just been informed of my relatives’ asking of my whatabouts. Naturally, a young woman of early twenties, ripe in age, stellar in health would be expected to be chasing after the wind of success with her sail standing high above the hull, swiftly being hurried to the destination. My cousins seem to be doing well in their journeys.
“And what about you?”
And what about me? Well, I had a boat, you see. No, I had a ship. I had a ship as huge as the S.S. Titanic - it was the “unsinkable ship of dreams”. I had my eyes set on America; I had much fervor in my beginnings and I was determined to set foot on good soil.
But fast forward a few years, I was asked to do the most incredibly astonishing move I have ever done, amidst the incredulous look of my passengers, I was asked to walk on water. Walk on water! Ridiculous, shan’t you say? So, I left the ship and followed Him who commanded me to stride the surfaces of the deep.
However, amidst my walk, my distracted eyes wander from the storms, to the land, to the impossibility of that which I had considered everything a loss for. And my ship, my ship that I had left stranded! I was torn into different directions, found myself clinging for what I believed to be much more reasonable and sane. I felt the rush of the cold water from my ankles to my knees, then my waist, and finally my neck. I swam for my dear life and rushed towards my ship - my comfort, my security. I dread the “peril” that His command had brought upon me. I held between my hands, once again, the wheel of my life, my ship, and recommenced my journey to my New York City.
But akin to its allusion, it was bound to sink. A ship cannot be hit by an iceberg and expect to sail peacefully with such a scathe. I need not detail the tragic end of my voyage, but I must say that presently, this is my state - I am in the water with no ship nor raft to hold me. Praise my Savior for He is ever faithful and forgiving; and I was given another chance to, yes, walk on the water with Him.
This is where I am right now, I am on the water. I cast my eyes upon no sight of land as of late. All the assurance that I am to keep is that I am secured in the presence of my Lord and that I am never out of His sight.
Oh, what am I to say to you, boats of desire? You might never understand why I am walking on water. But this is where I am safest. But how am I to explain? I hold not my life nor my place of going.
Excerpt from Stand for Life: Gaining God’s Heart for the Unborn by Leslie Ludy
CHOOSE LIFE:
If you find yourself unexpectedly pregnant, don’t allow panic or confusion to blur the issue of life. No matter how desperate the crisis, God has a solution. He cares about the life growing inside of you, more than you can possibly imagine. And He cares about you, more than you can possibly imagine. The culture we live in is deceptive and cunning. Pro-choice organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, are not the wise, caring counsellors they claim to be. They do not have your best interests at heart - and they certainly do not have God’s interests at heart. They are not there to provide good, solid wisdom and a clear understanding of your options; they exist only to take your money and ruin your life.
If you have any uncertainty about choosing life when faced with a crisis pregnancy, I strongly exhort you to surround yourself with loving, supportive Christians who stand for life. Visit your local crisis pregnancy center, or visit http://optionline.org to speak with an online counsellor via phone or live chat. They will provide you with hope, encouragement, and options that honor the Author of life. And remember, God can take whatever the enemy means for evil in your life and turn it into something beautiful. All you must do is lay your life in His hands.
Note: For an inspiring example of how God turned a crisis pregnancy into a testimony of His faithfulness, read Bex’s story in our Sisters of the Common Life section.
[HeartCry Missionary Society]
Christian answers to life’s greatest questions (compared to post-modern, atheistic world view or other religious views).
[HeartCry Missionary Society]
Great preaching touching on post-modern society, religion, and beliefs.
There are two reasons why our lives as Christians seem to be “in a mess” at times - either God is allowing trials to come into our lives in order to test, strengthen, and cultivate our faith; or we are just not in tuned with Him and this “mess” is a result of our own disobedience to or ignorance of His will.
Are there instances in the Bible that show of God allowing certain hardships to come to the lives of His elect? Yes. We can definitely see this in the lives of Joseph (Jacob’s son) [Genesis 37-50] and Job [whole book of Job].
However, despite the sufferings, these two have remained steadfast in their faith in God and, in return, they have been blessed beyond their understanding. Joseph became the person in charge of Egypt, second in power to the Pharaoh (Gen. 41:41-44), and Job was blessed by God with “twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).
Then there are times when our own sufferings are caused by our own folly and disobedience. This could be caused by our ignorance of what it really means to live a life wholly devoted to Christ. Crusades, conferences, and Christian camps are good and you will be able to truly experience the work of the Holy Spirit, especially if the preachers/speakers are filled with His power and truth. However, that’s the thing - it’s an experience. We all have our own experiences of God’s mighty move in our lives, our own testimonies. However, if these experiences do not compel us to dive deeper into God’s Word and understand, first and foremost, the Gospel of Christ, then the fire that we’ve received will die down. We’d experience spiritual dryness and eventually, if not lifted up to God in prayer, we’d drift away from the faith because we just feel so far away from Him.
Where are you now in your spiritual walk? Are you someone who is walking steadily with Christ but you feel as if there are just instances when life seems rough, yet your faith in God is strong (like Joseph and Job)? Or are you someone who has walked a compromised life, not really sure about your faith, and life seemed to be a mess and a tangle of confusion?
The fact that you’ve acknowledged that there’s something within you that says you haven’t truly surrendered your whole life to God means that you are aware that there’s something wrong, not just the outwardly (“messed up” life), but inwardly. When it comes to surrendering our lives to God, it’s either all or nothing. If you haven’t surrendered everything, you haven’t surrendered anything. You can assess yourself based on the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:1-15). Are you the one who has “no root”? That when testing comes, you fall away? Usually, the reason for the questioning of faith is lack of knowledge of the truth - the “root”. How often do you read your Bible? How much do you know of the Gospel? Do you fully understand its meaning and its power? Do you know the whole meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection? How often do you pray? Do you know His promises and do you completely rely on Him? It is very important that your faith has a foundation. If you do not understand who you are putting your faith into, your belief is bound to be compromised. Faith is not about seeing (experiences), although experiences strengthen your faith, but it is about being sure of what you hope for even if you don’t see it (Hebrews 11:1). Not that you mindlessly agree to believing Jesus is Lord, but you have foundation for this belief because of the Scriptures. I would suggest that you get into the Word right away. If you don’t understand the most important thing, the Gospel of Christ, the very core of your salvation, then you need to start knowing what you have claimed to believe. Start by sincerely praying to God and letting Him know of your desire to intimately know Him. Keep these verses in your heart and believe them - “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13); “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). Read and meditate on the entire New Testament, starting with the Book of John. If there was one thing that had truly helped me start my journey with Him, it’s prayer and fasting. I did a 3-day internet fast and 1-week “(If I go online) Christian site browsing only” fast. I was left with a huge amount of time to just read His Word and also read some Christian books/sources that helped me with my current situation. Struggle with your body if you have to; always declare that joy and pleasures can only be found in Christ alone.
Are you the one who gets choked by “life’s worries, riches and pleasures”? I would assume that those who are in this category has the desire to deepen their understanding of God; however, they just get so distracted by the world that they fail to mature spiritually. Lukewarm Christians - they will get spat out of God’s mouth (Rev. 3:16). Sometimes, these people have the knowledge through hearing and hearing of God’s Word, but they lack obedience. But the Bible says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) If this is you, then maybe you are letting yourself get distracted by worldly things - pop culture, technology, ungodly desire for wealth, carnal pleasures, ungodly friends and environment, idols and obsessions, etc. You should start by prayerfully asking God to let you see these things that have taken a hold of you and kept you from fully knowing Him and, in turn, surrendering your life to Him. Once these things have been revealed, you have to let go of them. Hard? Usually, yes. Impossible? No. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. If your one desire right now is to completely know Him and be intimately connected to Him, all these things will prove to be pale in comparison to the knowledge of Him. Meditate on Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7-11. “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” (v.8a). Don’t feel as if you are being stripped off of what makes you “happy”, because these worldly things are just temporary pleasures. They will never fill this “God-shaped void” in our lives. Make Christ the priority of your life; let thoughts of Him consume you that there would be no more room for other distractions. Even if you are outside - in school, at work, or wherever - let your mind only be filled with truth. And you will know what truth is if you always read and meditate on the Scriptures. If ever you are to come to a point where you have to choose, choose what glorifies/pleases God.
Either way, saturate yourself with the Word of God. There is no other way to grow than to spend time with Him. You will not grow just by praying a two second prayer to God, uttering the words “Help me!” but you do not do your part. Now, having an intimate relationship God doesn’t automatically mean your life will not have struggles. It could be that because of your obedience, there will be major changes in your life; it could be that there would be none (outwardly), but there will always be a change of heart. You may still not understand the reason why your life is a mess, but if you have an intimate relationship with God, you would have a strong faith through knowledge of the fact that His plans are always for our own good (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28). He will not bring us destruction and harm. If you treasure His Word in your heart, you will not be swayed by anything.
“My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2)
God bless you! I’m glad that you’ve made an inquiry. It’s the start of something great in your life. :)
(via nameyourjoy)
- You will have opposition.
- You will have great trials.
- You will be accused of having a bad spirit.
- You will need great meekness and great decision of character to endure the shock of a world arrayed against you.
- You will be misunderstood.
- You will be misrepresented.
- You will be subject to the loss of many friends.
- You will inherit peace of mind.
- You will be full of joy.
- You will share in the glory of being the representative of the true God.
- You will be able to say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ”.
- You will be able to say from your own consciousness, as John says, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ”.
- You will be happy in the highest degree of which you are capable in this life
And I want nothing else.
by Oswald Chambers
“While you have the light, believe in the light…” (John 12:36)
We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately - do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it” - just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once - go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
