I miss being stupid and goofy...

I was looking through my pictures from the Nehemiah Project, and this realization hit me. I love to goof around and be stupid, but lately, I havent had much of a chance.  The great thing about the Nehemiah Project, was that everyone was goofy.  We had so much fun together, and I miss that!

(I'm chasing a duck if you cant tell!)

So heres to acting like a huge dork with your best friends! I love you guys, and thanks for all the hilarious-ness!

Redemption...

What is that?

If you're anything like me, you dont know what half of the big words Christian talk about really mean.  Hee hee, and may even question if they know what they're talking about.  So I encourage you to check out this website: www.gotquestions.org .  It has a pretty good archive of really interesting and thought provoking questions, and I spend a lot of my time here at work, just reading through them.  I read this one this morning about redemption that was well...lets face it, pretty awesome! Here is a little sum up for you:

First off, what is redemption?

The word redeem means "to buy out." The term was used specifically in reference to the purchase of a slave's freedom. So if we are redeemed, like the Bible says we are (Romans 3:23-24), then our prior condition was one of slavery. God purchased our freedom, and we are no longer in bondage to sin or Old Testament law (thank God for that!  ).

An important related word to redeem is ransom. Jesus paid the price from our release from sin (slavery). His death was in exchange for our life. In fact, scripture is very clear that redemption is ONLY offered through his blood (Colossians 1:14), meaning ONLY his death could cover the cost of our slavery.

Secondly, what are the benefits of redemption?

To be redeemed (or bought out by Jesus) means that we get some benefits.  These benefits include: eternal life (Revelation 5:9-10), forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), righteousness (Romans 5:17), freedom from the law's curse (Galatians 3:13), adoption into God's family (Galatians 4:5), deliverance from sin's bondage (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 1:14-18), peace with God (Colossians 1:18-20), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). To be redeemed then, means to be forgiven, holy, justified, blessed, free, adopted, and reconciled!

Who is the Redeemer?

Jesus Christ.  As mentioned above, He died to pay the price for us. He "bought" us, so that we could be free and have a relationship with His Father. Its kinda like a slave auction in the Old South.  Slave masters would choose which slaves they wanted and would then pay for them, and take them home to their plantation.

SO...Jesus decided he wanted all of humanity, so he paid for all of us.  however the cost was much more than money, he paid with His life, in order to "buy us." And now that we've been bought, we get a whole bunch of benfits in addition to freedom!

So the streets of heaven will be filled with former captives who, through no merit of their own, find themselves forgiven and free.  The slaves to sin will become saints! No wonder they sing a new song - a song of praise to the Redeemer (Jesus) who was slain! (Revelation 5:9).

Sorry that was long....but its just SO good!! Thank you Jesus for buying me!!

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.  A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." (Proverbs 11:24-25)

This verse is really convicting to me.  And I have been thinking about this a lot.  When I look at my life, am I the woman who gives freely or do I withhold unduly? I dont interpret this verse as saying, "give and be generous with your money!" but rather, give your love, time, ideas/thoughts, and energy to others. 

I love v. 25, "he who refreshes others." Do I refresh other people? At the end of Spring Quarter I was taking ALL THE TIME!! I was only asking others to refresh me, and spent little or no time actually refreshing them (or even thinking about them in general).  God has really shown me that this summer, he has said, "Abby...what are you doing? Why are you withholding unduly from your friends, family, and even Me? Refresh others as I am doing to you now!" God refreshes me each and every morning...look at songs lyrics below (Morning by morning, new mercies I see!)

Greed is a sign of emptiness.  And people can often overlook their own greediness by thinking this only applies to money. But greed in this case is a self-centered life...the self is forever taking, grasping after whatever is beneficial to 'me.' "If you find yourself grasping after things in life, worried that you wont get what you want, what you need, or what you deserve, you have put your trust in the wrong place." Greed will use you up without giving anything in return. 

But God's love offers us a fuller, more satisfying life.  Those secure in God's love approach life with a different attitude.

This is getting long, and I hope it makes sense to you...because it did to me, but sometimes I am not the best at putting my thoughts into words! Hee hee, have a fabulous Tuesday everyone!!

Hahaha, so I've been thinking about Libby a lot lately.  And I hate it cause I keep thinking of all these funny things she does to make me laugh...and yes they make me laugh when I am with her, but they also make me laugh when I think about it...so I am here at work trying to not to look like an idiot while thinking about Libby humming Usher. hee hee! CLASSIC!!

I MISS YOU LIBBY!!  In the club with my homies...