Change

Change of scenery
Change of pace
Change is right in front of me
It's all the same now
Nothing different than how it was
But change is right in front of me

Change is good for the soul
We need it so we don't get mundane
WE need it to kick start our thoughts
Kick start our prayers
Kick start our lives

Change requires us to see where we are
Requires us to pay attention
So that we become familiar

God-ordained change excites the soul
Prepares the path
Prepares for what's to come

Change can be unexpected
Or come right on time
We need change

Change brings growth
Growth brings maturity
Maturity makes us whole and complete in time
We need change
We don't need to always be the same

Our souls need change
We all need change

Pleading

David went through several different emotions even in just the first seven Psalms. He went from rejoicing, to praying, to fear, to grief, to sadness, to rejoicing and all of it he took to God. ALL of it he took to God. He did not completely try to handle his enemies on his own. He asked over and over - pleaded for God's help.

It's very evident that David relied on God a lot and God called him a man after His own heart - that's the kind of heart I should have if God was so pleased with David. And David wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and asked forgiveness and was restored. God used him in a great way - but he wasn't perfect.

I see a lot of myself in the emotions of David. I only pray that God is pleased with how I handle it and that I would strive to please God and plead for His help in what life brings.

The Word

April 16, 2008

I don't always realize how badly I need the word of God until I go without it for a while. I've been craving it lately and I could feel it quenching my soul when I finally got it. That's more proof to me that all of this is real. My soul longs for truth and it feels the effects when it's not getting it. I can tell when I haven't been realing liek I usually do - I just thirst for it. It's a great thing. 1 Peter was rocking my world today.

God

God is a God that is faithful. God is a God that answers prayers. God is a God that is true to His word. God is a God who listens to us when we call out to him. He has not hidden Himself from us but shows Himself when we seek Him. He told us if we seek Him we will find Him when we seek Him with all out hearts. He's a mystery but He reveals His mystery in pieces. We must be patient and wait for Him to reveal them - but He does. Little by little as we look for Him, He's there. He never leaves or forsakes us.

Sometimes He's silent, sometimes He's loud. Sometimes He works in big ways and sometimes it's the little things. Big or small it all has meaning and it all has purpose in His plan for His creation.

Perfect Strength

God's strength is perfect in our weakness.

That statement didn't make much sense to me until I actually experienced what that means. The flesh is weak and can't do things on it's own. The flesh fails and chases after things that don't have meaning but God's strength is perfect. It knows exactly what we need and how to provide that.

Worship

I'm discovering and rediscovering a passion all over again at the same time. The cool thing is I get to use it for God's glory. I pray I remember that while I'm doing it and do it to the best of my ability.

How cool to be doing something I enjoy unto God! Worship is so neat that way! It's not just singing three Chris Tomlin songs with our hands in the air once or twice a week - it's everything. This is something God has been teaching me over the last year: worship is everything I do because everything I do comes from God. I worship by giving it back to Him with honor.

I worship by taking care of the body He's given me. I worship by loving and respecting the people He's put into my life. I worship by being honest with daily decisions. It's all an act of worship because it all comes from Him. When I remember that, things start to go different on a daily basis.

Acres of Hope

Sometimes I find a song that perfectly describes either something that's happened to me or what I'm going through at the moment. This is one of those songs that sums up where I was when Christ found me and where He has brought me since then.

He will allure her
He will pursue her
And call her out
To wilderness with flowers in His hand
She is responding
Beat up and hurting
Deserving death
But offerings of life are found instead

She will singShe will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

Here in the valley
Walk close beside me
Don’t look back
For love is growing vineyards up ahead
You have called me master
And though you’re in the dark here
Call me friend
And call me lover and marry me for good

She will sing
She will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

How the story ends is
Love and tenderness in Him
Not safe, but worth it
So the valley’s up ahead
Or the ones we live
We’ll sing together
We’ll sing together
We will sing
We will sing
Oh, to You
We will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead us away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

-Shane & Shane

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD,’you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'" Hosea 2:14-16

The Gift and The Giver

Salvation is the ultimate gift set in front of us. Christ did every bit of work and all we did was send Him to the cross. But He thought of us while He was on that cross - and all He had for us was love. Not bitterness, not regret - just love.

Then God presented this amazing gift of life in front of me and I finally accepted it. I didn't want to throw it away anymore. I didn't want to look at it and turn away - I wanted to embrace it. I wanted everything that came with it.

I want to live like I'm grateful for this gift. I want to take this gift and honor The Giver. I don't want to take it for granted or not appreciate it. I want to continue to live in the glory of it and go where The Gift and The Giver lead.

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God." 1 Corinthians 2:12

Buy 963 Coffee - Send us on St. Thomas Missions - Change the World

In an effort to raise money for the mission trip to St. Thomas this summer, Cornerstone has partnered with 963 Coffee. This is a mission organization that is trying to change the way farmers are compensated for their beans. The bags are $10 and come in a variety of flavors.

To support our team that is going on this trip to St. Thomas we ask that you follow this link and purchase products!
http://www.963coffee.com/c-1-963-coffee.aspx?affiliateID=10211

If you don't drink coffee but you would like to support myself or our group as a whole you can send a check to:
Cornerstone Baptist Church
St. Thomas Missions
2930 Master's Way
Darlington, SC 29532

In the note of the check put "St. Thomas Missions" and my name (Megan Turbeville) if you would like to support me specifically. If you would like your support to go to the whole group simply put "St. Thomas Missions" in the note of the check.Any amount will help and will be greatly appreciated!







While St. Thomas is a beautiful island in the US Virgin Islands it is also a place with great spiritual need. We will be partnering with church plants on the island to assist them in various projects and spread the gospel of Christ.

Prayer support is also very important so whether you're able to give or not we would appreciate your prayers - not only for the week that we are there but also that God would work before and after leave!

John 10:10

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

I've felt a little disconnected lately, a little overwhelmed - a lot undeserving. God lifts me out of these ruts that I get into. Every time I ask Him to, He does it. I don't know why. I get myself into them but He chooses to get me out. He's the only one who can get me out. I certainly cannot get myself out - I don't have the strength. No one on earth can get me out - they don't know what's going on.

What great love! To still love me even though I've been selfish and distant. To still choose to bless me even when I'm not immediately grateful. God has so much patience with me. I'm so glad, too. I need it!I need Him to have patience because I'm not perfect and I mess up a lot.

Sometimes I think I'm too hard on myself and put too much pressure on myself. I think I feel guilty about things that I shouldn't. That's where the Enemy works the best. To make me feel less than I should. To make me think that I can never do anything right. He subtly gets in my head and plants these nagging thoughts that don't hold water. Thankfully God is bigger than that and His truth is louder. His truth is so much brighter and always there.

John 10:10 is so true. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy but Christ came to give life and give it abundantly. When I start to lean on my own understanding of things I mess up, it's inevitable. It gives the thief an in and He's around only to take things from me - to take life with nothing in return. But when I depend on God for guidance and understanding He gives me life and truth and understanding - abundant life! It's only through that that anything in my life will flourish.

Thank you...

...for making me feel special.

Love146

No matter how much I hear and read about this issue I still can't get over the fact that it actually exists. It's such a putrid evil that literally makes my stomach sick.

Little girls in desolate situations are kidnapped almost daily and sold as prostitutes in the foreign sex trade business. These girls aren't given a choice, they aren't given a voice and they aren't given a childhood. They live in rooms that almost aren't even suitable for a dog and are violated sometimes multiple times a day.

The result of the fall can be so ugly but God loves these girls and even the ones that do this to them. I read a story recently about a brothel that is now being turned into a Christian community center in Cambodia. A firm example that God will have the victory and He turns things that were intended for evil into things that will bring Him glory.

I don't know fully know how God can use me in this situation but I know He's called me to love and to reach out to the poor and needy (1 Corinthians 13:13, Proverbs 31:20), the rest will fall in place.

For more information http://www.love146.org/

It doesn't really have a title

It takes some time to realize what God is doing sometimes.

He's surrounding me. He's holding me. He's protecting me. He's providing for me. He being God. He's loving me. He's forgiving me.

I wonder why I don't feel need or despair - because He's there. He's all around me and I can feel Him.

Feel Him working. Feel His just being. Feel His beauty. Feel His grace. Feel His mercy. Feel His forgiveness.

When He said I shall not want - that's why. This is why. This very moment is why. Because He is all I need. He is all there is. He is all there will ever be. Everything additional that I might have is a result of His goodness and kindness.

Apart from Him I have nothing but with Him I have everything I need.

I'm still working to get my heart and mind around that.

Dance

How fitting that just days ago this same subject came up in a conversation and tonight I read about the very same thing in a passage in 2 Samuel 6:12-23.

I knew that David danced on several occasions, I'm sure even more than were recorded. David was a passionate man that had no problem showing his excitement and affection for God in front of people. In 2 Samuel 6:12-23, David dances for the LORD after the Ark of the Covenant is brought to the city of David. He is criticized by a woman, Michal, who said he made a fool of himself. David then tells her that he dance for the LORD and therefore is not considered a fool in His eyes. In fact, to the very people she said he was made a fool in front of, he will be honored. All that mattered to Him was showing His excitement and affection to God.

God wants us to get excited for Him. He wants us to show our affection for Him in public. He doesn't want it to be a completely private relationship. People will think we're over doing it or shouldn't be doing it at all, but to God we are doing the very thing that pleases Him.

David was a man after God's own heart and he danced for God and God was pleased.

He just...IS.

I seem to be filled and overflowing with praise on the inside. It's taking over and it's an incredible place to be! Lately I've felt a lot of guilt, a lot of unworthiness and a lot of confusion. One of those times where you're just blah on the inside. It's doesn't make sense and I don't know why it happens, but I've felt a breakthrough.

Nothing really significant has cause it 0 just happened. Nothing significant needs to happen to produce praise to God. He is God - period. I praise Him because of who He is. He is the Creator, the Protector, the Provider. He is pove, patience, kindness. He is justice and mercy. He became Flesh and that Flesh is my Salvation - that Flesh can be your Salvation, too, if you so choose.

God doesn't have to, or need to do anything for my praise - He just Is, and that's enough!

I am not but He IS - and I know Him.

"Cause you had a bad day..."

It's only 9:40 AM but it's already been one of those days. A day where NOTHING goes the way you want it to and you just want to blame everyone and everything else for your problems. I think it actually started last night and just hasn't ended yet.

I'm not usually a person of bad temper or anger, but frustration with multiple things has built up and is now showing itself. It's ugly. These are the times that I have to remind myself that God is bigger than anything that frustrates me and it all pales in comparison to what I have in Him.

Yea, easy to say but in the heat of the moment not so easy to put into practice.

Sinful nature is sneaky. I'm on a mountaintop on minute and the next I'm down in a pit with the dogs, acting just like them. Funny how that happens. Funny how it shows me over and over just how much I have to depend on Him and I can't be good on my own accord. I can't go through the day without His help to push past frustration and honor Him with my words and actions.

On days like this I'm even more thankful for the forgiveness offered through Christ for my selfishness, bad attitude and every other sin I commit.

I think my day is getting better already...

...

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be." - Thomas a Kempis

I needed to read that today...thought I would share.

I want...

I want...

...to be challenged and stimulated
...everyday to be different
...to phileo and strive to agape one man for the rest of my life, and love others as myself the way Christ did
...to see God move in a huge way
...to be able to keep my room clean longer than a week :)
...to travel to foreign countries and experience other cultures
...to be 50 and still as spontaneous as I was in college
...God to use me

I want my life to count for God's glory and not be hindered by fear or apprehension.

You Are...

God, there is no life greater! I want the world to know that but they don't see You like I see you. They don't know You like that. They see a tainted version of You. One that isn't You at all. They see what man has made you out to be, and that isn't You at all.

You are the God of love. Love comes down to us, takes on flesh, endures persecution, dies a painful death and raises again - all to take on what He did not do, what we did to You. Love pursues those that run and doesn't give up. Love is patient when we rebel and works to change our hearts. You are love and there is nothing we can do about it.

You are the God of beauty. Beauty looks to the heart and comes from the heart. Beauty is colors that can't be made by human hands. Beauty is nature that is beyond comprehension. Beauty is Christ pursuing His bride.

You are the God of salvation. Salvation meets us where we are and pulls us out of our pits. Salvation prevents us from a doomed eternity. Salvation gives us a second chance to be a new creation and forget what is in the past.

Salvation allows us to love. Beauty allows us to love. You allow us to love because You love us enough to find and rescue our souls.

Inspired by Psalm 146