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maggie4chr1st
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Name: Maggie
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: Houston
Birthday: 8/30/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: Everything involving God: Praying, reading my Bible, fellowship, witnessing, church, worship, reading about Him, & discussing Him. He is my all.
Expertise: Galatians 6:14: " May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
Everything I am/do is b/c of & through the Lord. He is my strength!
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  Maggie4Chr1st
Member Since:
1/11/2005
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| A Whole Semester of Learning Okay. So I've been gone for a while. But since my paper journal is gone now, I have no journal to write my thoughts in as of yet. So here goes. This semester, God has shown me SO MUCH about myself that needs changed & that He has changed. For one, I pay too much attention to what people think of me. I cannot base myself on other's expectations & opinions, no one but God's. If I do this, then I will always fall short of grace & love & forgiveness, b/c no human can provide 100% forgiveness & love. Only God, who's Son Jesus died mercifully for our sins & who's blood was shed on that fateful day for our pardoning, can forgive us with pure intentions & a pure heart. Everyone falls short of God's glory. My worries about others opinions of me have become a sort of ... idol. God has been showing me this in just this week alone. My desire to please man above God has become a tiring game, somewhat. Funny... how every time we mess up in some way, we come running back to Jesus, the only being that can truly forgive us, love us, provide grace & mercy, & accept us 100%. We need Jesus, people. Another thing that God has been showing me is His grace. I used to live by the law. When people said "Saved by grace," I thought I knew what it meant. But realizing my faults this semester has allowed me to take a closer look at the idea, definition, & true meaning of grace. I cannot be perfect...ever. No matter HOW HARD I try, I will always fall short of perfection. BUT... I have a Lord who covers me in His blood when I repent of the things that I have done wrong. I have a Lord unlike any other god or definition of the one TRUE God in this world! The God of Christianity, the TRUE GOD, is a God who forgives & loves beyond any human comprehension or good doing. Good works WILL NOT SAVE US, people. We can never be 100% good. What saves us is a Lord who is in love with His children, every day, despite their shortcomings. Checking your intentions & your heart is not always fun, but it is something that needs to be done 24/7 in the life of a Christian. We are called to be different, so how can we be different if we are giving into the corrupt definitions & lifestyles of this world, even if it is unknowingly? We need to constantly check our heart, & make sure it is on the same track as the Lord Jesus Christ's. We were made in His image, after all! It is time that we start acting like it. So that's the end of my semester.... ending this semester with a full recognition of my need for Jesus, & my need for the grace He gives freely. I hope that this helps you. Have a great summer, ya'll! I will try & update more often,... I'll TRY. Haha. :) In 5 days, I will be going to Japan on a mission trip with my group in Chi Alpha. Please pray for me & my team, guys! Pray for favor, pray against the spirit of depression & suicide (which runs rampant in Japan!), pray for protection, & pray for divine appointments & for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thanks ya'll. :) God is good! "Freely grace has been given to you, so freely give grace to others." ~ Unknown "Here I am, take me as an offering. Every heartbeat, living for You. Worthy is the Lord." ~ Alabaster Jar by Christ for the Nations Institute To the Korean students who are leaving tomorrow - Saturday, I love you. I dedicate these pictures to you. I will forever miss you, my friends. God is with you always, & so am I. 
me & Shin Young from Korea, last International Student Friendship Ministries meeting, May 4th 2007 
"Peter," Mina, & me at a football game, Fall semester 2006 
Si Joon & I at the last ISFM meeting, May 4th, 2007 
me, my mom, my pastor & his wife, & 2 people from church with some of the internationals & another SHSU student at my house, April 2007 
Mina, me & "Peter" ~ International Office Programs Volunteer Recognition banquet, May 2007 I'll miss you, my friends, always. | | |
| Good devo, so trueThis is just reallly good! I receive these in email from Proverbs 31 Ministries of KSBJ! We all need to hear this sometimes ... sometimes we do forget who we are, as weird as that sounds! So ... Enjoy! I hope it blesses you! :)
January
19, 2007
“Know Whose You Are”
by Melanie Chitwood
1 John 3:1, See how great a love
the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and
such we are.” (NAS)
Devotion:
One day at church
when a man asked my five-year-old son his name, Zachary responded,
“Zachary Patrick Chitwood, son of Scott Joseph Chitwood.” I’m
not sure what that little five year old was thinking or why he responded that
way. I had certainly never heard this answer before, but I sure liked it!
Zachary knew who he was. He knew who he belonged to!
How would you
answer if someone asked you who you are? My first response would be that I am
Melanie Chitwood: a wife, a mother, a daughter, a writer, a speaker, a teacher,
a friend, and a child of God.
Yes, like Zachary,
I know Who I belong to. I know I’m a child of God. When I was sixteen
years old at a Young Life camp in North Carolina , I sat on a rock, gazed up at the stars in
the night sky, and prayed a prayer that changed my life. Lord, I know that You love me and want me to be in a
relationship with You. Thank You that You died on a cross to pay the penalty
for my sins. Thank You that I am forgiven. I want You to be my Savior and Lord.
I want to live for You. From that day forward, I was a child of
God.
The truth is
sometimes I forget who I belong to. I forget that God alone gives me my
identity. If I dig a little deeper and answer with complete honesty the
question of who I am, my answer includes these responses: I am someone who
struggles with losing the same ten pounds; sometimes I respond in fear rather
than faith; I can be selfish and not want to serve others; I’ve made
mistakes in the past and can carry them around like a ball and chain.
The truth is that
sometimes I let my past, my feelings, and others’ disapproval of me
define me; rather than letting God and His Word define me. However, the
closer I grow to the Lord, the more I understand that those other definitions
are lies, not the truth. God’s enemy, Satan, is a liar who wants to keep
me from walking in the truth. The truth of who I am is found in God’s
Word. I know who I am when I know Whose I am.
Let these
statements remind you of who you are and Whose you are:
Nothing can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8: 35
– 39).
You are God’s work of art, His masterpiece (Ephesians
2:10).
God does not condemn you (Romans 8: 1,2).
God loves you so much that the price He paid to have a
relationship with you was His own life (1 Corinthians 6: 20).
Jesus is your Daddy (Romans 8:15).
God’s love
for you is everlasting and unfailing. He wants you to have a relationship with
Him where you grow closer to Him and look more like Him as you abide in His
truth. Rest in the truth that His steadfast love never fails.
Dear Father, I am so thankful that
I am Your child and that You love me. I am thankful that Your love never
changes and that nothing will take Your love away from me. Open my eyes to any
lies I’m believing about myself and my life. Help me to believe only You
– not Satan, not my feelings, not what anyone else says. In Jesus’
Name, Amen | | |
| The Korean InvasionSo ... I've been so blessed this week so far! 34 Korean students (not all pictured here) came in Friday from Soonchunghun (I think that is right?) University in South Korea. They are so much fun! So joyous, so carefree & easy-going. But I want them to be able to use this energy for God, you know?
On Monday, about 15 students came in from Kyung gi University in S. Korea, as well! It's been so awesome! Today, we got to go shopping in Conroe & it was so good. We ate Chinese food. Just hanging out with the students is showing Christ to them, through my actions I am able to show them love.
We have the students from Soonchunghun for about 3 wks is all, but I know that God can do amazing things through all of the Christians on this campus, to change these students' lives!
I know this b/c I have seen what He has done this past year in the internationals lives around me, particularly - my friend Orange from China.
Anyway, I have been mostly driving students around, which has been tiring & I should be in bed right now haha! But ... it's been so rewarding. To see the look on their faces, the questions that are so easily read in their eyes, as to why we are doing what we are doing for them ...... it's so rewarding. I just thank God that He has let us, & let me, be apart of this great hunger for love that internationals have. Hopefully, this hunger for love will spawn for the rest of their time here, into a hunger for Jesus. But I need ya'll's prayers ... well, God needs ya'll's prayers in this matter. So PLEASE be praying as much as you can!
Anyway, enjoy my pics! Have a great day tomorrow & may God bless you. Ephesians says to 'bear one another's burdens," so please leave requests for prayers & please be praying for the Korean internationals! Thanks.    | | |
| Blessed by God & through GodSo I know I have not posted in nearly a MONTH now! I am so sorry for this. Things have been crazy hectic, but also crazy good. For Christmas, I went home & though it was tiring, it was also good because I got to be a witness to the people that I call my family but normally don't see much. God blessed me with a job that I didn't even expect to have, I just randomly walked into the store & I was hired on the spot! For 2 wks, I got to work for Waldenbooks, & at the end, my boss told me that she was so honored to have me work for her & that I was a blessing sent from Heaven ... word for word! So ... God used me there b/c most of my co-workers were not "active" Christians! Also, I have lost all but one of my small group girls now I think, but ... I thank God for it. In the gospels, Jesus talks about a tree & its fruit. I would rather have a tree with one good apple than a tree with 49 bad apples & 1 apple. The 49 could easily contaminate the 1, & then no good fruit would come from this tree. In other words, I would rather have 1 really hungry, faithful girl who wants the Lord, than to have 8 who don't, b/c that won't glorify God like the 1 girl can. & even if I do not lead a small group ... I am blessed to have internationals in my life! God has brought about 20 new Korean students this semester, & it is amazing already! After 3 days of being with them, 2 girls want to join my small group & come to Chi Alpha tomorrow! At SALT, God freed me from so many things that I never knew that I had deep within my heart & my soul! I gave them up to Him at the altar. Many others felt the same way. God kept speaking "release" & "receive" to us all weekend long! Also, I got to meet many of my bro's & sis's in Christ. Anyway, as you can see, GOD HAS BLESSED ME SO MUCH, & I am continuing to grow in things. I am so ....... so undeserving of His grace & love, yet ... He loves me. Broken & all, He honors me with blessings that I didn't even ask for but am so grateful to accept! If ya'll need prayer for anything, please let me know. I am here. Have a great day, & walk in God's grace not the law! Amen. "Worthy is the Lamb" by Hillsong Thank you for the cross, Lord!
Thank you for the price You paid.
Bearing all my sin and shame
In love You came,
And gave amazing grace. Thank you for this love, Lord!
Thank you for the nail pierced hands!
Washed me in Your cleansing flow,
Now all I know... Your forgiveness and embrace!
Worthy is the Lamb,
Seated on the throne,
Crown You now with many crowns,
You reign victorious!
High and lifted up,
Jesus Son of God,
The Darling of Heaven crucified,
Worthy is the Lamb!
Worthy is the Lamb! Without God I can't but without me God won't. -St. Augustine | | |
| This SemesterSo ... this semester has been tiring. As of right now, I am sick & have been for two days but it seems like a week. My small group has steadily dwindled down to two or three girls (although they are hungry, faithful girls, which is what we as leaders should be looking for in the Christian faith, not the numbers! amen!). My classes have been super hard, & I have been so tired from observations. Worry has been all over my heart about passing the THEA (Texas Higher Education Assessment) Math portion, so that I can go on from Reading Block next semester to Methods. Also, I have been stressed about getting into Reading Block b/c of my missing Math THEA component which is needed to be in the Education Prep Program.
However ... this semester has had many blessings, as well. For one, both of my parents now serve & love the Lord! This is something that I have been praying about & waiting for for about 2 1/2 years now, since I have become a Christian. Also, just a week ago, an old small group girl emailed me to tell me that she loves me, & asked for forgiveness for hurting me in any way... this is big b/c I have been praying about it all semester long! About a week 1/2 ago, I was praying & the Lord really lead me to pray for my brother Mike ... whom I just found out about nearly 4 years ago. So I did, & then Mike ended up contacting me on Myspace, which he hasn't done in about a year 1/2!!! Also, I got into Reading Block, & it's here in Huntsville, so I won't have to go very far for it ... this is a rare coincidence! THIS IS THE FINAL PIECE OF BLESSING that I must share w/ you: I have taken the Math THEA 8 or 9 times ... spent about $500 dollars on it in 4 years ... & now ... I HAVE PASSED IT! I made a 263 on the test, & all I needed to pass was a 230!! Now ... I can truly say this is by God's wisdom alone, b/c I told Him that if I passed the test, it would be all to His glory ... so I claim my passing in His glory. He is worthy of all of the praise.
So ... as you can see, there have been many downs this semester, but there have also been many ups in my life. We must all go through valleys, & we must all go up mountains ... we all have different seasons in our lifetimes. In order to grow in our walk with God, we HAVE TO go through those valleys, though. & if we remain faithful to Him during those low times, He will bless us abundantly later on - amen! B/c of the lows, I have learned what it is to be clinging to the Lord. Through my struggles, I have learned about things that I need to rid of in my heart & my life, like anger & selfishness & impatience. & the whole time, God has stood by my side, never leaving. My faith has become completely restored in Him alone ... & this is how it should be.
Anyway, I hope that I encouraged ya'll with this. Have a great Christmas break, & I will see most of you when we get back! I love you all ... thank you, my faithful Brothers & Sisters who commit themselves to the cause of Jesus Christ ... I know that He is way more appreciative than I could ever be. May God bless you.
*James 1:12 ~ "
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." | | |
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