Silent Praises

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
{Psalm 19:1-4a}

I was reading through this the other day, and I realized something. Numerous times the Bible mentions creation praising the Creator. Even the heavens and sky as mentioned above! I've known this for a long time, but something I didn't really catch was the fact that David specifically mentions in those verses that these creations have no speech, no sound. They can not verbally praise their Master, yet their voices still travel throughout the entire universe. Why would David write that? We all know that the stars can't talk. No one has ever heard a cloud say "Thank you, Lord!" So what's the purpose in stating the obvious?

His reason is this: We as humans are the only ones gifted with speech. God created us specially for speaking, and we have the privilege to verbally praise his name. This blew my tiny little mind. What a gift! What an incredible opportunity! To be the ONLY creation that can form words and ideas from our lips.

But do we use this for praising our Master? Or do we take this extraordinary gift for granted? Do we glorify God with our lips? Or do we use our words to build ourselves up?

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness." -James 3:9

We have no excuse. The sky can praise the Lord, and it can't even talk. We can talk, but do we praise the Lord?

How will I use this gift?
How will you?

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples." -Psalm 96:1-3

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands." -Psalm 63:3-4

"May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." -Psalm 19:14


xo

Winter Promises

"As the rain and snow 

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and 

bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I

sent it."

{Isaiah 55:10-11}

It was snowing big fluffy flakes this morning when I awoke. I have always loved snow, but for some reason it made me especially joyful this morning. Then I thought of this passage of scripture. Oh what comfort!! What peace it brings to my feeble little heart to know that ALL the things that leave the Lords mouth will not return to him without victoriously achieving its purpose! We serve such a thoughtful, intentional God!

I am so very thankful for his promises that rain down on us beautifully like the snow.

xo 

70 x 7

Forgive: 

transitive verb

1

a :  to give up resentment of or claim to requital for<forgive an insult>

b :  to grant relief from payment of <forgive a debt>

2

:  to cease to feel resentment against (an offender) : pardon <forgive one's enemies>

Wow.

I can honestly say that I've never read the actual definition of 'forgive'. To all of those people that I've "forgiven", I've never once thought "I am no longer holding a grudge." If I were more honest, I would really be saying "I'm a Christian and this is what Christians are supposed to do." And because of that I feel so selfish.

When Christ says "forgive others as I have forgiven you," he uses the word  in the most literal way. He wipes away all resentment and forgets about it. 

The slate is clean. We're given a new beginning. A second chance. 

Is that what we do to the people that hurt us? I know I certainly don't. Most of the time it's a quick "I forgive you" proceeded by my venting to another friend the next day about how I had been hurt. 

The truth is, that is so wrong. It's sick. When I forgive someone, it needs to be from the heart. 

A clean slate. A new beginning. A second chance. 

And to anyone who I have verbally "forgiven" and still feels resentment from me, I want to honestly, wholeheartedly apologize to you and forgive you. I want to forgive you the way my Lord Jesus has forgiven me. 

Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. -Matthew 18:21, 22

xo

Monday Morning Lessons from Jesus

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with on another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

- Romans 12:9-18


This is another thing that God has been trying to teach me. Even on yucky Monday mornings love is possible.

Love is messy.
Love isn't always fun.
Do it anyway.

Lets make an effort to sincerely love without boundaries, just like Christ loves us.


xo

Find Joy

Yesterday kinda sucked.


It was just one of those days where everything seemed to pile up. If you were around me, I sincerely apologize for my crabby attitude.

Anyway, I feel like lately God has been trying (emphasis on trying) to teach me to be joyful. I recently started a Book of Joy, daily writing down a short entry about one thing that brought me joy that day.

Yesterday it was especially hard to find something happy. But I found it anyway. It's so important to remember that just because you're having a bad day doesn't necessarily mean you have a bad life. Bad days come, but God still provides little escapes. This Book of Joy has been such a blessing in helping me remember to thank my Father for the joys he gives me.

I encourage you to record the things that make you happy.
Talk about them.
Focus on your joys instead of your complaints.

{Psalm 47:1}

Changes

Ever since I started this blog, my title has been "Beauty Unfading." The first post was written around the same idea: society and its whacked up view of beauty versus the Bible's view. But recently I've been thinking about how it doesn't really fit with the theme of my blog. "Beauty Unfading" really sounds girly if you think about it. And while I'm most definitely a girl, not all my posts are directed towards girls only. I made this blog with the intentions of simply sharing my life, my experiences, things I enjoy, things God is teaching me, and so on and so forth. So I decided to change the name to "Just Jessie", because that's what this is! Just the same messed-up-undeserving-yet-forgiven me.

I pray that God uses this little vessel to shine His radiant light.

Note: I kept the same URL for two reasons: 1-though I changed my title, I think "unfading beautiful" still fits, and 2-it wont be hard to find as opposed to some crazy new URL that no one can remember. You're welcome! ;)

Blessings!
xo

This Is Love

Some choose flowers,

Some a song to sing.

Others, a romantic note,

Or a promise with a ring.

But One chose thorns,

One chose nails,

One chose gashes

From a cat-o-nine-tails.

Dear ignorant heart,

Won't you ever see?

This is how my Savior

Chose to love me.

And this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. -1 John 4:10

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

-Romans 5:8