Hello (: My name is Lana. Christian. College student. Tumblr is my number one source for procrastinating. I love being inspired by all the adorable images out there. And I hope my posts will bring you inspiration in your lives as well. I also love chatting with people so feel free to leave me a message Thanks and enjoy. ^-^
A lot of people will probably get angry at me for this, depending on their beliefs. And I’m not trying to start any kind of debate here, hence I’m leaving out my personal belief on this. But if you understand what this means, then God bless you! I want to give you guys something to think about.
For a while I was a bit… I don’t even know the right words for it. I don’t want to say “confused” because that’s not what I was. I guess I was struggling to understand the truth. Last week I saw a post made about this made by someone I follow. I was curious what others thought about the common controversial topic, are we saved by faith alone or by our works? Some people wrote that you are only saved by faith and faith only. Some wrote that your deeds don’t matter at all. Some wrote that you need both faith and deeds. As you can see, situations like these make it easy for a Christian to wobble and become uncertain in his or her faith. But that’s all part of growing and becoming a stronger Christian!
I believe that what is written in the Bible is truth. I believe there are no contradictions in the Bible. I know that a lot of people will look at the two pieces of scripture above and say it’s a clear contradiction. It’s not.
I guess the more important question that we need to ask ourselves, that I never even bothered to consider until now, is: What is faith? And I’m not talking about Webster’s Dictionary definition of faith. I’m talking about Biblical, spiritual faith in God. What’s the difference between you confessing that you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and died for your sins and you being saved, versus the demons who believe in God—and shudder?
As 1 John 3:18 says, “let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”.
I am my own rock, and Jesus is my anchor.
Something I realized in the car today while driving home. I am my own rock. No one can be my rock. No one. I’ve leaned on people before, put my entire trust and reliance into them, and entitled them as my rock. But what did I get out of it? A whole lot of disappointment, that’s what.
I know that no matter who the person is they will never truly be there for me all the way. We are born alone, we go through life alone, and we die alone. I can share my life with someone else. But although our lives are intertwined they will forever be separate lives that are never quite connected as one. […]
The Lord gives and He takes
Something I read today really touched my heart.
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised.” - Job 1:21
The Lord gave; may the name of the Lord be praised. The Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
As Christians, we’ve grown accustomed to giving thanks when something good happens in our lives—a prayer gets answers, we wake up able to live another day, there’s food on our table, we are blessed. We praise God because we are happy that He has given us necessities and privileges in life. But what about when something bad happens? A death, a car accident, hurt, betrayal, divorce, a natural disaster that destroys an entire city, war, a famine. What then? Oftentimes we neglect to praise God in times of hardships, and more often than not, we put the blame on, and even hate, God for putting us through such trials. People, even those who don’t even believe in Him, accuse God of all the negative aspects of life and make Him out to be unjust. Why are millions of people starving? Why do innocent children die of disease? Why did my child get hit by a drunk driver? Why did my marriage end in a divorce? Why did God send that tornado which destroyed thousands of homes and killed a dozen people? Oftentimes we get so hung up on the “Lord takes away” part that we forget that the Lord gives. HE GIVES! He has given you everything you have—He has given you, and anyone else who came through their mother’s womb, the breath of life. He has given the opportunity for eternal life. And that alone should be enough to give Him praise and glory. When the Lord gives, give him praise—and when the Lord takes away, give him praise.
(Source: inspiredbythisfeeling)
Do you really love Him?
“She has done a beautiful thing to me.” [Mark 14:6]
“If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things—things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Then there are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “…but perfect love casts out fear…” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.”
—Oswald Chambers || My Utmost for His Highest
(Source: meggielynne)
