i am not alone.

http://www.inkygirl.com/
just proves that there are more people in the world like me.

Set the World On Fire

I heard this song on Revolve Tour. Thanks Britt Nicole for writing it.

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it's burning bright for You
It's everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?

I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough to

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do

I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father's hands

I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough to

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do

My hands, my feet
My everything
My life, my love
Lord, use me

I wanna set the world on fire
Wanna set the world on fire, yeah

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do no

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
'Cause Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do

I'm gonna set the world on fire
Set the world on fire

finally caught within the orbit.

man. nothing like a good weekend of fellowship to put everything back into perspective.

I'm not going to lie, I had my reservations about what I had gotten myself into. Even my last post I was knee deep in anxieties over the overwhelming number of obstacles that seemed to keep knocking at my door but...if there was anything I learned from this weekend it's that the fear of failure and the tendencies of doubt, busyness, and loneliness are mere excuses for a lack of trust and faith.

There are times when some of the situations I get myself into make me question EVERYTHING. But then God hits me with chances of pure and unsolicited opportunities through His pure and unsolicited grace.

And through the entire thing He shows me just how big His plan is and how I'm a part of it. A big part of it.

Revolve Tour was something I had my heart set on since last year when I attended women of faith. I had this vision of CFBC girls going on being impacted by the simple stories of simple sinners just like us and God gave me the chance to make it happen. Granted the age difference in a lot of who attended was a bit off but...it happened and it was beautiful.

And at the same time God shed light on a bigger dream that I have for myself; one I think He has been revealing to me little by little ever since Women of Faith last year.

I have this yearning to share the Gospel on as big scale as He will allow and that includes one day being a part of a ministry like Revolve and Women of Faith.

See, now I've got this new dream. With this new desire for all of the people in my life and it's said best by Paul in my favorite book of the bible:

Philippians 1:8-10
⁸God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,

And it's not just my desire for others but the desire for myself. To seek Him and know Him more. To use my talents and my ambitions for the glory of God in a scale bigger than myself. Because I've got all of this energy that is being spread out thinly across the board for this world and regardless of the intentions they are worldly. And unworthy.

But I want that to change.

I. Want to change.

So that is my prayer. That my love for God grows just as the desire to love Him and know Him more grows. One thing I'm gladly taking away from this weekend is something that Austin said.

"doing things bigger than yourself is not based on your ABILITY, but your AVAILABILITY."

Lord I'm leaving myself open to you. Keep me in Your pull and You at the center of my orbit.

James 1:5-6

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

I don't know where to go sometimes
from where it is I am.
I can't seem to find my way
Or understand the bigger plan.

I keep telling myself this is right
But in honesty it isn't my call
And it isn't until later I realize
I've set myself up for a fall.

I just want to know what to do. And I want to know where to go from here and if I'm doing the right thing. All my best laid plans seem to crumble and I start to doubt if I've been listening at all.

Toby Mac feat. Kirk Franklin - Lose My Soul

(feat. Kirk Franklin, Mandisa)

Man I wanna tell ya'll something, Man.
Man I'm not gonna let these material thing's, get in my way, ya'll.
I'm trying to get somewhere.
I'm trying to get somewhere,
Thats real and pure and true and eternal.

Father God, I am clay in your hands,
Help me to stay that way through all life's demands,
'Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me,
And every little thing I make up my mind to be,
Like I'm gonna be a daddy whose in the mix,
And I'm gonna be a husband who stays legit,
And I pray that I'm an artist who rises above,
The road that is wide and filled with self love,
Everything that I see draws me,
Though it's only in You that I can truly see that its a feast for the eyes- a low blow to purpose.
And I'm a little kid at a three ring circus.

I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.
I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.

(Mr. Franklin, Step up to the mic sir)

The paparazzi flashes, and that they think that it's you,
But they don't know that who you are is not what you do,
True, we get it twisted when we peak at the charts,
Yo before we part from the start,
Where's your heart?
You a pimp, hustler?
Tell me what's your title,
America has no more stars, now we call them idols,
You sit idle, While we teach prosperity,
The first thing to prosper should be inside of me.
We're free...
Not because of 22's on the range,
But Christ came in range, we said yes now we changed,
Not the same, even though I made a fall,
Since I got that call, no more Saul, now I'm Paul.
(YEP!)

I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.
I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.
Don't wanna walk away,
Don't wanna walk away

How do I sense the tide that's rising?
De-sensitizing me from living in light of eternity,
How do I sense the tide that's rising?
It's hypnotizing me from living in light of eternity,
How do I sense the tide that's rising?
De-sensitizing me from living in light of eternity.

(Lord what we gon do,We're relying on you,
all eyes are on you Lord,
all eyes are on you, all eyes are on you Jesus.)

I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.
(Don't let me lose my soul, my soul.)
I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
(This is my honesty, Father, won't you cover me.)
I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
(Don't wanna walk away, and all those people say)
I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
(Don't wanna lose, I don't wanna lose my soul.)

Lord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,
That fight for our love, and our passion,
As our eyes are open wide and on you.
Grant us the privilege of your world view,
And may your kingdom be, what wakes us up, and lays us down.

(Hallelujah, Don't wanna lose our soul,
No, Don't wanna lose my soul.)

Hey excuse me,
I'm looking or the after party,
Toby,
Haha, yeah, last door on the left, you'll hear it.
Thanks,
No problem.

Don't let me lose my soul, I never wanna walk away,
I don't wanna lose my soul,
No, no, no.
Don't let me, don't let me, lose my soul,
I don't wanna walk away,
Don't let me walk away,
Na na na na no,
Don't let me lose, my soul,
I'm never gonna walk away.

Seven Excuses of A Christian

In my opinion: The Top Seven Excuses a Christian uses that keeps them at distance from God.

1) "I'm busy" or "I was busy."

It is so easy to tell ourselves that we are too busy to get into the Word, too busy to pray, even too busy to go to Chruch. We live in a society where we find ourselves so engrossed in the world that it is really easy to just say, "Oh sorry, I'm busy." How can you say that to God? How can you say to Him that you are too busy to spend time with Him? How? When He, the ultimate Father, Creator of the World who has billions and billions of other Children to tend to, can always find the time for you? How can you be busy?

Isaiah 32:6
'For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water'

It's not a matter of what your earthly responisibilities are. It's a matter of priority and MAKING time for Him, because he ALWAYS makes time for you.

2) "I will later"

A close second to simply saying you're too busy to spend time with God is saying that you will do it later, because in all honesty later will always be later. My dad always says, don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today and that's prevalent for everyone, Christian or not. The reality is though that procrastination is a curse in this life and the majority of humanity like to push things off from time to time. But the one place you don't want to procrastinate especially, is when it comes to your relationship with Christ.

Ecclesiastes 5:4
'When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools' fulfill your vow'

If you keep saying, "I will" keep saying, "I will tomorrow, I will next week, I will when I can." You're really just hurting yourself. When you say you will "later" you are stating that there are things that are more important and that you have time to do it all but what makes us think that our relationship with Christ is one of those things to do in our spare time? What makes us think we have time to spare? God never stated in Revelation an exact time and date for when he was coming back and that's what scary. What if, you keep saying, "Tomorrow, I will tomorrow," and Tomorrow doesn't come? ::shivers:: That is the the most frightening thing in the world to me, and yet, people make the excuse every day without even thinking about it.

3) "I know."

My dad said something intersting to me once, he said, "There is a different between knowing and doing." [This was in the context of cleaning my room] and I really started to think about it when I was meditating on this post. There are so many people in this world that know; that think that's all they need. They know the scripture, they know the rules, they know how they are supposed to act, but they don't do anything about it. They don't live it. Jesus talks about people like that in the Bible. The Pharisees:

Matthew 23:1-3
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach."

They were kept at distance from God and all of Matthew 23 is a testament to just how far they were. So just the same, when we think that we know everything we are distant as well. And it really shows how disrespectful and sinful we are. I mean, if you know, then show it. Live it. Be it. If you know that your relationship with God is important then you should know the consequences of not acting upon it. And If you have the know how, prove it.

4) "I did!"

When you do something, a task that you are so focused on and dedicated to, you do it with all of your heart. But a boring task, a task that doesn't interest you at all, you usually do it half-way. You do it without heart and when asked if it's finished you say, "I did it." But did you really? Yeah, physically, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you weren't there. And that's how sometimes going to Church becomes a chore. Even Bible Study, or when it comes to reading your Bible, you can do it with the attitude that you don't want to be there, and then claim you did it, but God knows your heart, and he knows that you didn't do it at all.

2 Chronicles 19:9
'He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD.'

What kind of service is that? Would you give a good tip to a waiter who was rude to you? Or would you pay full price at the carwash if only half of your car was washed? I don't think so. You wouldn't find that acceptable when it is done against you, so why find it acceptable when you're the one doing?

5) "I don't have to."

I've heard people say, "I went to church last week so I don't have to go to church this week." Or "I read my Bible yesterday, I don't need to read it today." It's all been said and it's all an excuse. You can't barter your Christian duties and you can't compromise with Faith. You do things like going to church and reading your Bible because you love Christ, you love God, and you do such things to strenghthen your relationship with Him. You don't do them because it's part of the routine, or at least you shouldn't, and you can't trade as if they were work hours or candy. No matter what you say, it's not a matter of you "don't have to" but more so, "Do you want to?"

Psalm 40:8
'I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.'

6) "I had to do something else"

"I had to go out with my friends" "I had to do my homework" "I had to miss Bible Study because...da da da da da" This is all I have to say, "Yeah....right." [Sadly the problem with some written word is that you risk losing sarcasm, so just so you know that was sarcastic] You ultimately make the choice of what is your priority. This goes with number one, but an excuse on it's own as well that many people use. How horrible would that be if God used that excuse on us? "I would have been there to forgive your sins but I had to TiVo something." Haha, how crazy would that be? Thank God that we're the humans and he's not right? The bottom line is you make the choices and you ultimately have to live with the consequences of those choices. Come judgement day, when you see God what are you going to say? "Sorry Lord that I didn't take the time to know you. I had to do something else." How well do you think that will go over?

Matthew 6:33
'But seek FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.'

And finally: 7) I'm Good

This is a huge misconception. Some people can really think that they are okay in where they stand in their relationship with Christ, but not know how broken that relationship is. People who profess to be a Christian, who profess to be alright, but, really, are blinded by the world in everything else, are the ones who are at most risk. Many think like I did once: I grew up in a Christian home, with a Christian family, and I grew up really believing that because of who I was, because of what my name was and who's blood flowed through me, I didn't have to work as hard to have a relationship with Christ. I was on a pedastal higher above than everyone else, and there are others who are like how I was. Many really think that because of what they grew up learning and who they grew up as makes them immune to the sins of a Christian who has lived in the world longer. There is no difference. We are all born in sin, and we all learn the same fundamentals. No matter when we learned them or how old, or how fluent we are, it's not even really what we do with that knowledge and how we live, or how our Faith grows that defines if we have the right to say, "I'm good." or not. Because the truth is, we will never be good enough.

Thankfully, it's not up to us, and the real truth is: we don't have to be. Jesus is more than enough.

Ephesians 2:8
'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.'

Don't make excuses. Live for Christ fully dedicated and do it with Heart.
Grow In Christ

love it!

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That you would take my pain away

You would take my pain away
I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crooked lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breakingI never leave your hands
When you walked upon the earth
You healed the broken, lost and hurt
I know you hate to see me cry
One day you will set all things right
Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world

Are holding me

They hold me still

PRAISE GOD FOR SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. =D