Covenant Exchange

  I've been quite frustrated the last couple of weeks with the phrase "covenant exchange" or just the plain word "covenant". I have heard it, read it, mulled over it, and still had no earthly clue what these people were talking about! (Anybody else with me?) I mean, I knew what a covenant was, but I didn't know how that applied to my relationship with Christ until, quite literally, five minutes ago. (Thank you Leslie Ludy!) Here it is:

Covenant Exchange: Saying to God, "Everything in my life, all that I am is yours, and everything that you purchased on the cross is now mine."

   How awesome and powerful is this? I mean think about what Christ purchased on the Cross. He purchased eternal life, power over death, adoption into God's family, plus all the things that go along with being children of God, such as His strength, and power, and life in ourselves! All these things in exchange for our measly selves. ( Do I sound like a TV commercial yet?) I mean, why is this not standard stuff in Christianity today? We spend so much time trying to fix the symptoms, that we never get to the disease. We belabor the issues of insecurity, and self esteem, and recurring sin, but we miss the fact that the answers can all be found at the cross, in a covenant exchange with our Lord and Savior. How awesome is that? 

Every Day Glory

                                               "It is one thing to go through a crisis grandly, 
                                       but another thing to go through every day glorifying God
                                                   when there is no witness, no limelight,
                                                no one paying the remotest attention to us."
                                                                          -Oswald Chambers-

"When God Writes Your Love Story" a book review

by Allie Loyd

                This book  was lent to me by a good friend (I’ll call her Lindsey). I must admit, I’m terrible at reading...well, finishing non-fiction books (especially the devotion kind). But after an awkward meeting with Lindsey during which I had to admit I hadn’t even started the stack of books she had given me, I finally buckled down and started reading...only to stop three chapters later due to certain issues of the heart.

                See, despite the book’s *ahem* misleading title, it is not purely about waiting for God’s perfect timing and finding your perfect match. This book is about oh so much more. 
                It teaches the importance of your relationship with Christ, of serving and loving others more than yourself, of living truly a set-apart life for God. Once you have the foundation, you can have a truly fulfilling single-season and God-written romance. 
                But the Ludy’s don’t stop there. 
                They tell of their own experience through the world’s messed up dating system and how they each came to hold their views of dating and marriage. They encourage and exhort those who seem ‘stuck’ in the season of singleness and offer practical advice on how to make the most of these years in ‘the wilderness’. And to those who feel like they have tainted their purity and ruined their chances at a God-written love story, they offer the blood of Christ.
                   If this had been just another book on Christian marriage and dating, it would have hardly made a difference in me. It speaks some harsh truths, but those always turn out to be the ones worth listening to. 

What you do for God.

"The more you do for you, the less you do for God."

- Bro. Bobby

"Its (not that) Complicated" a book review

The cute cover caught my eye; the convicting words caught my heart. 


   The book, "It's (not that) Complicated" by sisters, Anna Sophia and Elisabeth Botkin, is marketed as a guy-girl relationship book, which it is, but the well thought-out and Biblically sound principles that they bring to the table, go far beyond this single area of relationships.
   It's most basic premise is a call to love our brothers-in-Christ more than we love ourselves, but I found myself being convicted more over the way I loved, (or, more accurately, did not love) my family members, close friends, and even God.
    In short, this book broke me. It broke my pride, my self-conceit, and my hypocrisy. It held a mirror to my face, and bid me see what manner of person I truly am, and not what manner of person I think I am. Hard on the flesh? Definitely. But oh how glorious for my soul!
   I would encourage anyone struggling in their relationship with God, friends, family, or even guys, (since, that is, in fact the main theme of the book) to get their hands on a copy of this book and then buckle up, because you will never be the same. 


*You can purchase the book, by clicking on the link above, which will take you to the Vision Forum website. 


** The Botkin sisters, have written one other book, and have many audio resources, but I'm not sure that I would not recommend them. Most of what they write and say, seems quite biblically sound, but there are some things, that I'm not sure I can completely endorse. So, if you are inclined to study more of their works, please use discretion.

Abide in Me

God has been revealing many great Truths to me over these last several weeks, and as much as I long to share them, I feel like I need to hold them to myself a little longer, until my grasp on them is better. So, it may be pretty quiet around here for awhile. I do still want to get posts up, so I may be leaving you in the hands of much older and wiser people for a while, and today I want to share with you an excerpt from an incredible book by two of my heroes, Eric and Leslie Ludy. Enjoy!
  " In John 15, Jesus gave His disciples what may be the most profound and beautiful command in the entire Bible... He summed up the essence, the granderur, the mystery, and the marvel of life in but a few life-altering words. He said to them, 'Abide in Me.'
   What did He mean by that?
   He meant, 'Find the meaning of life in Me. Find your value and confidence in Me. Find your purpose and direction in Me. Find the source for all spiritual achievement in Me. Find the strength to live each moment in Me. Find the wisdom to navigate the many turns for life in Me... Find the most satisfying life for all of eternity in Me.'
   To abide in Christ means to allow His Life to possess us at all times and in every situation life brings. To abide means saying to God with the inhaling of every breath, 'Not my will, but Yours be done.'...
   God created us to abide in Him. It's that basic. Abiding in Him is our life's purpose. Abiding in Him is what we were created for. Abiding in Him is why we are here."
                                            -Eric and Leslie Ludy in "When God Writes Your Life Story"

Hello Again!!!

Hello everybody! I'm sorry for the unannounced and unexpected hiatus, June was just a super busy month. But now I'm back and I've got alot of things to share with you all! First, me and my mom started a business, Made Wright At Home, and we are really excited about that. Next, I've gotten on Pinterest and created some boards with really great resources, that I would love for you to check out! And finally, God has just been teaching me alot this month. He has been breaking and humbling me, and I can't wait to see how He is going to bring me out in the end. I will hopefully be sharing with you some things He has shown me, and your prayers would be appreciated!