1. We lose heart when we make the weight of our sin greater than the glory of Christ’s righteousness.
2. We lose heart when we turn away from the Lord in fear, shame, selfishness, or laziness.
3. We lose heart when we stop beholding his glory.
4. We lose heart when we harden our hearts to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
5. We lose heart when we forget whom power comes from.
6. We lose heart when we are afflicted and believe our affliction will crush us.
7. We lose heart when we are unwilling to carry in our bodies the sufferings of Jesus, only desiring ease and comfort.
8. We lose heart when we stop believing and speaking in faith.
9. We lose heart when we resist grace and start grumbling.

Turning to the Lord in times of trial is evidence that you have not lost heart completely. Turning to Jesus and beholding his glory removes the veil of darkness. We are being transformed over the course of our lifetimes through the trials, toils and snares. The glory of God has shone in our hearts through Christ so we do not lose heart.

 “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:16–17

The way I want to constantly edify you: you have been uniquely wired and uniquely gifted by God. You’ve been drawn to certain hobbies, drawn to certain habits, placed in certain neighborhoods and given certain positions so that you might reflect the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ in powerful ways to the world around you.
So that, my hope is: you wouldn’t be so bored in life but rather would enjoy the life you’ve been given as you see the eternal weight of it.

And so when you love creation rather than the Creator, you’re trying to get from creation what creation cannot give you, and so you’re going to hit a ceiling and grow frustrated in that ceiling and be forced to medicate. Some of us are going to medicate with drugs and alcohols. Some of us are going to medicate with sex. Some of us are going to medicate with lust. Most of us are going to medicate with trinkets and toys. There is an emotive response to new trinkets, new toys, new clothes, and my guess is new lovers. There’s an excitement, an energy, a joy, but if we can be straight, that emotive response fades and leaves us right where we are before the new trinket, before the new toy, before the new job, before the new clothes, before the new lover. And we’re now forced to go find another one, and maybe it needs to be bigger; maybe it needs to be more perverse; maybe it needs to be in order to get that same high. And so we end up living extremely foolish lives.

surrender

http://www.thevillagechurch.net/article-stories/justin-beatty/

“What I really realized was that it was the first time I had truly surrendered everything. There was no Jesus I give you all but…,” he said. “It was everything.”

BETTER THAN I DESERVE

i need to trust God more. this right now, is not really going according to plan, or what i had in mind but this is God's plan.

why is life sometimes so uuuggghhh

http://pacificcrossroads.org/blog/ten-maxims-toward-contentment/

When we confess those sins, we receive forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Because of that, you, if you are a Christian, have freedom from the fear, shame, and condemnation of sin. Your sins and the sins done against you do not define you. Your identity is as a redeemed, reconciled, justified, cleansed son or daughter of our loving Father. You can be bold in confessing and confronting real sin because the grace God gives is real.

return to your first love.

the joy of your heart.

Jesus Christ.

surrender. and commit all your ways to him.

1 peter 3:4

Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

A true beauty clings to God’s promises for her life and believes them as the most important thing about her.

peace. i pray for peace.

mercies in disguise

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy