1) His personality:
—a) Completely selfless and totally forgiving time after time after time. Even when I deliberately rebel and then come crawling back asking for forgiveness I definitely don’t deserve, He never fails to welcome me back. Sometimes He even teaches me something new in the process.
—b) So thoughtful! I cannot count the number of times He has sent me a reminder of His love for me when I needed it the most. Whether in the form of a person coming my way with the perfect words to say, or my personal favorite recurring gift: butterflies, in every season… even in Boston in December. God gives the best, most thoughtful gifts!
2) He’s so handsome! I see Him in everything! The mountains He has created are sturdier than the strongest human on earth, and I see His beauty reflected in every tree or flower or blade of grass. Cloud watching for me is gazing at God’s smile for hours and one could only WISH their eyes were as crystal blue or as murky green as His beautiful waters (oceans, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, everything).
3) We get to make music together! I sing, and He sings back with the beautiful countermelodies of birds. I hum and He hums back with the buzz of a bee or dragonfly. His music can be heard in the strumming legs of crickets and in the tinkling of water rushing up onto the ice-filled shores of the Charles River. We duet at night when the cicadas crescendo and I harmonize with their cries. When it storms, He shows me His own scatted creation song, and I can only attempt to follow along with His thunderous belting.
4) He listens, and interrupts only when He knows it will do me great good.
5) His Word is so pleasing, perfect, and holy, and I would literally be NOWHERE if it had not been shown to me.
6) He saved my life.
My new dagger <3 (Come at me, Satan)
Flyleaf (via theendwilljustify)
Hold on to the world we all remember fighting for; the world we all remember dying for.
It is extremely challenging for me to walk in a healthy manner in this aspect.
For years and years I have feared the presence of pride in my life, especially in my music. My immediate response to singing is utter joy, especially when I get to sing for my God, but as soon as I come out of my musical communion with Him, I feel afraid of what might come next. I freeze up when people thank me for singing because I am afraid of taking credit for what I know I did not create in myself. I try my hardest to repeat the truth of the matter—that God blessed me, that He molded me, and that He has been the inspiration all along. That when He formed me in my mother’s womb, He took extra time crafting my larynx; that I literally did nothing at all. I am afraid of saying anything else, because I am afraid that my heart will become selfish and prideful otherwise; that I will brag and boast and compare myself to others with His musical gift.
On the other hand, making my face downcast after every performance brings no glory to God, either. Sometimes my closest family and friends are pushed aside as I run to the nearest corner to keep Pride far away. How will anyone know that He was the one behind it all if I run away too fast to tell them?
Lately, I have been really trying to do this shindig the way God would want me to. All throughout His Word there are commands to praise Him with song, and accounts of heroes falling to the floor in worship after a great accomplishment. All throughout the Bible there are also commands to tell the world of everything God has done. Furthermore, the Bible explicitly says that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted (as in, numerous times, verbatim).
I guess what it all comes down to (once again, no surprise) is that I just need to be still. I need to stop relying on my own knowledge, and just let God do His job.
So be it.
-A. W. Tozer (via Ryan Brewer)
needed this today!
(Source: whiteflagxp, via m-usings)
(Source: sheisaloverofchrist, via theincurableidealist)
