Cup of Thoughts

Resurrection Day is here! I cannot believe that Spring has already come. Every year, I like to read one of the 4 Gospel's views on the crucifixion around Easter. This year I started reading from Matthew. During my Bible reading, I felt led to share this with you all. Here is what I got out of Jesus's parable in Matthew 21:33-44 . Characters (perceived by me): The Landowner is God. The servants are the previous prophets in the Old Testament. The Son of the Landowner is Jesus. The vinepressers are us. Parable summary: The landowner plants a vineyard puts up a hedge, builds a winepress, and creates a tower for it. After he leases the vineyard to some vinepressers, he sends his servants to receive the fruit of the harvest. The vinepressers kill all the servants that are sent. The landowner sends more servants and the vinepressers commit murder again. Then the landowner decides to send his son, thinking that the vinepressers won't kill him out of respect. Yet,...

What does aroma mean in the Bible? When the Jewish people wanted to be forgiven of their sins they would purchase a spotlessly clean animal and take it to a high priest for a sacrifice. ( "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.." ) During the sacrificial ceremony on the altar in the holy of holies, there was a separate  offering of burnt incense  in front of the curtain. The aroma was a mixture of oils and spices that was pleasing to the Lord. This altar is a representation of Christ.  As Jesus was our intercessor, he preceded the sacrifice for our sins. He became not only our sweet-smelling sacrifice, He was our precious lamb that was slain. "Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us." Romans 8:34b Why are there two forms of sacrifice then?   "...The altar is especially holy to the Lord.”   The incense had to be by the exact recipe God ha...

I'm all for spring cleaning. In fact, I'm a clean freak. I don't just clean in the springtime. I clean all year round. I'm the type of person that will re-arrange my closet every couple of months and re-fold all of my closet drawers so that they look nice. Yes, I totally do that. And the thing is, I don't really do it for anyone else besides myself. The only one who sees my closet is my sister, who still shares a room with me. I've always been that way. As I was cleaning this afternoon, a thought came into my head. You know those thoughts that make you startle, like, 'where did that come from?' I know you've had one of those before. "What about cleaning your soul?" I stopped my dusting and came to realize that is one thing I almost always neglect to pick up. Have you ever wondered that? How do you clean your soul? Redemption by the blood of Christ will certainly clean your soul;  'whiter than snow' as the Bible says. Bu...

I wanted to try something new for this post. I've been really interested in fashion lately as well as posting more reviews on certain products. So for this post, I would like to introduce an outfit + some book reviews (maybe a few makeup products too!) The outfit These boots were a gift from my sweet aunt. I have no idea where they came from, so I had to find a relatively similar pair in my lookbook catalog. I love them because they're so cozy and warm. You can barely tell you're walking with heels because they're so comfortable.  Here is my cheesy face trying to not act like I'm taking a selfie when in reality I totally am.  The Makeup I hope you enjoyed my little lookbook and seeing my favorite products to use! Now on to the books! If you like superheroes and action-packed adventure stories, Renegades , is perfect for you! Or maybe you're thinking a beautiful fairytale retelling is up your alley. You ...

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 Do you ever feel like your on pause? Like there's something happening all around you but you can't see it? Recently a friend mentioned something that stuck with me. She made the reference to Peter denying Jesus. Even though Jesus' disciple sinned against Him three different times during the crucifiction, what happened to Peter 50 days later? Did Peter stay hidden and scared for his life? Was he trampled on by the enemy? Or did he become stronger and braver as a voice for the Lord? (see here the day of Pentecost) “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5:14 I think we as believers forget after we get stuck in a rut, that we can come out of it much stronger than before. I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to being caught up in the moton of things. But God reminded me this week that we don't have to be that way. Foc...

Ever since I read the Christy Miller series as a young girl, I started writing letters to my future husband. The main protagonist in the book does the same after she becomes a believer in Jesus, realizing that marriage is a picture of our relationship with God.  Don't worry, this isn't a letter to him, although it could be. I won't even allow my sister to read the things that I have written for his eyes only. This will only be my open list of attributes that I look for in the one who I will marry one day.  The things he strives for. Jesus  First off, he needs to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. Without knowing Jesus, I don't see how our relationship would even work out. Since we both wouldn't strive for the same things. I pray that we both are growing spiritually during this time of waiting. "-grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him...

Have you ever felt jealous of another person? Maybe they had better clothes than you, or they could afford certain things you couldn't. What about wishing bad on another person because of that reason?  You were created to be just who you are. Why try to disrupt that originality by trying to mimic others?  Never degrade yourself because you are different from others. You have been made perfect through Jesus.  He has sealed us and filled us with a Spirit of love and hope ( II Corinthians 1:22 ) if you are a child of the King.   Child of the King? What does that mean? "But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear-" I read that scripture verse before a certain encounter at work. A certain individual was in th...

Family devotionals have always been very trivial with my family. We either don't get enough time to do it, or events take place and we simply forget to do it. But most cases we end up just making excuses. After coming back from our mission trip we realized how important those devotionals were with our group. They were empowering and motivating. Each day it became one of the things I looked forward to doing.  When we came back home we knew that we wanted to include my dad in the devotionals, who wasn't able to join us on the mission trip. We've picked through some really good devotionals, but books never seem to be finished with us, so my dad found a video devotional series by Mark Hall  that we are almost finished with. Every night he reads a scripture in the devotionals and goes over it with funny analogies and stories that tie everything in together.  After a few nights passed things started to happen.  First epidemic, my mom was saving a bunch of edited ...

Last year, my youth group and I traveled to North Eastern Indiana to help out with other churches partnered with our church's association. While we were on the mission trip our comfort zones became almost non-existent. This year, however, we were a little familiar with our surroundings, but there were still scenarios that were unexpected, and a bit surprising.  Heading north, our group had no clear  mission work  schedule, we were literally going up to help out wherever was needed. That's no easy thing to do, at least for me it isn't. I like things planned out, listed and crossed to the 't'. Which made me step back and realize that is one of my faults. I like to be in charge of everything around me. I like to be the boss sometimes, or all the time... However, in God's word, it tells us to be quite the opposite.  "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."  ( James 4:10 ) There are multiple ver...

I've always been fascinated with colors and trends so this new topic on my blog will be based on seasons. To add on to this idea, I will link nail polishes that I believe match up to the following palette.  I have researched various fashion databases and here are the colors for Summer '17. PANTONE 17-1462 Flame A red-based orange, Flame, is gregarious and fun loving. Flamboyant and vivacious, this wonderfully theatrical shade adds fiery heat to the spring 2017 palette. My Polish pick: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Tribal Sun .620 PANTONE 14-4620 Island Paradise Island Paradise is a refreshing aqua that calls to mind a change of scenery. A cool blue green shade that speaks to our dream of the great escape, Island Paradise is emblematic of tropical settings and our desire to unwind. My Polish  pick: OPI Infinite Shine To Infinity and Blue-Yond PANTONE 13-1404 Pale Dogwood Continuing the tranquil mood, Pale Dogwood is a qu...