Cup of Thoughts

How great is the love of the Father  that we're called the children of God Abram, a man whose years almost exceeded a century's, was surprised by the presence of God. Abram being in the presence of a Holy God fell facedown as God spoke to him. God made a covenant with him 5 chapters before this point. The covenant He speaks now is entirely different though. This covenant was so certain, God changed Abram's name to Abraham and his wife's name Sarai to Sarah. So that it would be an everlasting reminder of the promise. 'Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. ' Genesis 17:5-6  Abram means "exalted father." Abraham means "father of many." 'God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. I will bless her; indeed, I will gi...

Oftentimes we look for beauty in all the wrong places. What defines beauty? This might become a deep topic but bear with me. I googled ' beautiful people ' because I was simply curious about what the world defines as beautiful. Here is a collage I made with the images I found. I'm sure you may have found beauty in the pictures above. And yes, they are all beautiful. But what makes them all beautiful? Is it their eyes? The way they are staring into the camera lens? The way they are photographed? Is it merely their looks? Recently, I've been chasing after beauty like it's a cure for the way I look. Beauty is not a cure. We all want to be  that girl . The girl who doesn't have to wear makeup to look beautiful. The girl who laughs as if there is no worry in the world. We want to be the girl who has a witty sense of humor to impress other people. We want to be as skinny as the girl beside us. We want to have a better physic. We want to be in a r...

In honors of Father's Day, I'd like to share with you the letter that I have gathered up using scripture from your Heavenly Father. My Beloved Child, I know everything about you. When you were still in your mother's womb, I knew exactly who you would be before you were born (Psalm 139:13). Before your parents even chose a name for you, I had already called you Mine (Isaiah 43:1). And now, every day I am right there with you, walking ahead of you and protecting you. You are never out of my sight. I even know what you say before you even speak it (Psalm 139:3-10). You have stolen my heart (Song of Solomon 4:9), and I have created so much just for you; relationships, food, mountains, oceans, sunsets, animals, trees, flowers, (Genesis 1:28-29). When you asked for my forgiveness through Christ, I forgave you once and for eternity. I will never hold anything against you (Psalm 32:1-2). Even now, there is nothing that could ever make me stop loving yo...

Several people have asked me how I use my washi tape to study and mark in my Bible. So I feel led to blog about just that! I use washi tape to make my own tabs. Tear or cut a piece that's at least 3 inches long and fold it, leaving some of the adhesive sides. What if you need to remove the tape? Will it tear the pages? I worried about the same thing, but I have moved several tabs. By pulling gently I haven't torn any pages. However, to ensure the quality of your Bible pages just in case, you can stick the tape to a surface a few times to remove some of the adhesive. Organize your tabs. Each color or pattern will mean a specific subject or topic. For example, my shiny rose gold tabs mean there are verses talking about salvation. My succulent tabs show that those verses are for Christian maturity and growth. The plain pink ones in the middle are topics I choose. As you can see some of them are ' beauty ,' ' strength ,' ' humbleness ,...

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...

"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him."  I John 5:1 I was listening to that new song, " So Will I " on my way home from work last night and I used the space inside of my little car as a sanctuary. The words flooding out of my speakers stirred my heart. You spoke to the dark And fleshed out the wonder of light I had one of those nights. The nights where everything needs to be done and you really don't want to pick up someone else's slack and do it yourself. When everything you touch seems to turn into a safety hazard. When you can't count back change correctly because you're too focused on the inside worries of the mind. When you walk into a guy trying to clean the bathrooms. Yeah, I understand. I've been there. When you feel exhausted and torn. Alone and overwhelmed. Times like these make the verse in II Corinthians 12:10 so much sense...

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...

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...

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." ( Matthew 28:6 ) I know that Easter has come and gone, and the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ has already been shared on Sunday morning, but it's not just a story to be told once every Spring. The story of God's Son should be talked about and shared every day!  "-Talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."  ( Deuteronomy 6:7-9 ) This was God talking to the Israelites when they just escaped captivity in Egypt. They were new to this relationship with God and faltered many times by the wiles of the enemy. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, as a guide to living righteously, He wanted to make it ...

The new Disney remake of the classic tale, Beauty & the Beast, has caused the cinemas all across the world to be full of viewers. The box office results have surpassed the record boards. People blindly willing to support a cause that has accumulated into something much grander than it ought to. The depressing news of one of the identities in the film is portrayed to be homosexual. That, and the fact that the corporation which created the film, is proudly flaunting the gay-theme into children's faces, are major factors in my disagreement. This is a tough subject. However, it is a crucial discussion that needs to be made. There are no gray areas to choose from here. Either you believe it's wrong or you believe it's right. By the holy, inspired written word of God, it says that same-sex marriage is wrong. I think I'll choose to go by God's standards, rather than the world's. I did not, nor will I go see the newest film adaption of Bea...