I'm Back!

Or at least I hope. I haven't written in months, which is sad because my goal really was to read the Bible very often and post about all I was reading. Life is different...so very different. If you know me at all, which I'm assuming you do, if you are reading my blog you know that life has changed dramatically for me since March. I found out I was going to have a baby then, which wasn't easy to say the least, but God brought me through it. He made it apparent that I have amazing people by my side and has shown me how great His love really is. It's a struggle at times...the reality of it, but one thing that isn't a struggle is His love. It's always there...strong and true. You do not have to struggle for it...You just have to go to Him and there you will find His love.
After finding out I was pregnant, I got engaged....then two weeks ago (today!) I got married. And my husband is such a blessing to me. He shows me God's love in ways He doesn't even know. He is truly a gift from God.

Now, moving onto God's word...the reason I even began this blog. In Exodus 14 there is a verse that sticks out to me...one that I have gone to time and time again when in desperate need of help, of knowing things will be okay. Let me explain a bit first.

In this chapter the Israelites are in the desert, having been brought out of egypt. They look at this as a bad thing because well, the desert is hot and they will surely die! They believe it would have been better if Moses would have left them in Egypt to serve the Egyptians rather than bring them to this hot hot hot place. But Moses has other words for them. He says to them, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

This verse sticks out to me because so often we think our pain and suffering... our times of trouble will never come to an end. No, it may not always happen in the blink of an eye or even over the course of a year, but if we stand firm IN Him we will see that things do change. God fights for us...everyday He does...I believe especially through times on intense battle (which may be on the outside of us or even on the inside) and eventually He will win. He always does. He promises to take care of us and if we wait...we see that He does. He is a God of kept promises.

And we see this in chapter 14 when He promises that the Israelites will never see the Egyptians again. He made it so over night a cloud brought darkness to one side and light to another....and then He had Moses stretch his hand over the sea. During this time the LORD drove the sea back with strong winds and turned it into dry land. The waters divided and the Israelites went through the sea and dry ground, while when the Egyptians tried to go through they were swept into the sea. You see, God made it so the Egyptians couldn't go after the Israelites anymore! I believe that's what He does when we are going through a difficult time... He lets us walk through on dry land, when we seem to have been tossed around by the sea...and our problems, our sorrows, heartaches....whatever they maybe. He sweeps them away in the sea and we may never see those same sorrows again. He is a God of sweet deliverance!

One more thought:

I've been thinking a lot about love (and how could I not with every word from the Bible.... love pretty much sums it up) and how its a choice. Some people believe its a feeling and I am not saying it isn't....but more than that love is a choice. How do we know this though? We know this because God CHOSE to love us. He didn't have to...but He wanted to. He CHOSE to love us and He CHOSE to have His son die for us to show us that love. If we don't believe that love is a choice...we can believe it for that reason alone. God CHOSE to love...therefore, we can CHOOSE to love.