I Glimpse into Heaven

So last night when I was at the Coldplay concert in Raliegh, the Lord gave me a taste of what Heaven will be like. I stood there, in awe of how beautiful the music was, and the amazing sound of the instruments overwhelmed me. There was so much life, and energy, and joy in the music that I thought, "Holy cow if I feel this happy right now, in this moment, how happy will I feel when I am in Heaven rejoicing with the Lord?!?! It will be a thousand times better then this!!!"...which pretty is unreal because I was feeling quite happy.

I must give a shout out to Coldplay for giving the most incredible concert performance I have ever seen in my life. They do an awesome show, and if you ever get a chance to go see them, do it! It is well worth your money. And maybe the Lord will bless you the way he did Brittany and I and provide you with 20 dollar tickets off of craigslist.

I am thankful for how the Lord really does work all things out for His glory, and for our good, if we allow Him to do so. Yesterday I was sick as a dog, and had a terrible stomach bug. I had not been feeling well all week, and then yesterday it slammed me. Because I was feeling so terrible last night, it meant missing out on my bi-weekly routine of bingo and watching Wipeout (the glorious game show that I would totally go on if I had the opportunity). While this bummed me out a little bit, the idea of relaxing at home for the evening didn't sound too bad either. As I was spending time with the Lord last night, I began beging downloaded with all of this revelation about how I have been living my life recently. The truth is, I haven't been living in abundance of joy and peace. I have been believing lies that cause me to doubt the truth about the things the Lord is calling me into, and the plans that he has for me. Immediately when I do this, I allow worry and fear to take root in my life, and those are major walls that block the ability for joy and peace to fill my life. Stopping and recognizing the place where I had been several weeks ago, and seeing where I was last night, there was a pretty significant change. What happened to the girl that was so confident in the direction and purpose that the Lord is calling her to, and who was this weak, defeated, distraught girl instead? Slowly without even realizing it, over the past few weeks small thoughts and fears have crept back into mind, and rather then recognizing them as lies, and immediately choosing not to believe them, I have let them stir, and simmer in my thought life. As they simmer, I began to no longer recognize them as a lie, and they just become a truth that I believe in my life because I become accustomed to thinking and feeling wrong thoughts. This is were renewing my mind becomes real. This is the place where I have to take every thought captive because if I don't it can ultimately effect the very destiny that God has for my life. For example, if I am called to teach and to help lead people to a greater understanding of things, yet I believe the lie that I am not very intelligent, do you think I will fullfill my destiny? No way. This is not the struggle that has been going on in my mind, it is something much deeper and personal then that, but it is something that I continually have to fight off, and battle against with truth. I wish that I could sit her and say, oh I am such a mature Christian, (whatever that is) , blah blah blah I immediately recognize lies and cast them off ya da ya da....but then I would be lying to myself and you. This is the process of walking with the Lord, or growing deeper into the heart of God. The closer I get to the Lord, the easier it is to recognize lies, and to understand truth. This is why I must be intimate relationship with the person of Jesus Christ, and in continual conversation and dialouge with my creator. Because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, and as Paul writes in Romans, all the fullness has been given to me already through the blood that spilt on the cross... I therefore am able to not only able to recognize and understand the truth about God, but I am able to cling to the rich promises that I have in Christ, and have hope. If I look to anything else in the world for joy or happiness, I will be left so empty. Understanding the Lord's heart for His people, His intense love for you, and His absolute delight in your life is part of understanding truth. Any thought, or any belief that contradicts the truth revealed in the word about God's love for you is a lie. The cool conclusion of my breakthrough time with the Lord yesterday was that I was able to recognize the lies that I had been believing, cut them off and repent for believing them, and then become completely refreshed and renewed back to the place that I was a few weeks ago immediately. My spirit is full of so much joy because I have chosen to cast off the lies, and recieve truth. AND THE TRUTH IS SOOO GOOD! It makes you want to run around screamming, and jump up and down. I used to thin kthat peope who acted this way about God were just wierd, but now I get it, and I am one of those people (Praise Jesus!). And whenever you read the word with a true persepctive, that isn't distorted by a lie that you are believing, it will transform the way that you read the Bible. When I read tbe Bible with a defeatist attitude, I am going to view the word of God as condemnation and wrath, which is not the Lord's heart at all. But if I read the word as the Beloved of Christ, understanding that I am so precious to the Lord that He would do anything He can to bring me back into relationship with Him, even send His very Son, part of Himself to die for me, then I will overwhelmed by the immense love of God that is poured out in Word. The Lord is redemptive, and I thank you Jesus for renewing my heart, and reminding me of your love for me. Now I can live this day in victory and freedom.

Oh and thankyou Jesus for providing Coldplay tickets tonight!

The departure for Redding is coming soon! I am going to leave a week from tomorrow. Can you believe it, I am moving across the country in a week??? It's time, and I am very excited