Endurance

Endurance

waiting for a promise

out of breath

unbearable pain

costly sacrifice

patience

discipline

obedience

stormy roads

tired feet

weary soul

exhaustion

God's goodness

His faithfulness

and loving kindness

grace

growing

taking back ground

warriors

eyes fixed

more than conquerors

pushing through

release

let go

surrender

"We do strongly and earnestly desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity all the way through in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and developement of your hope until the end, in order that you may not grow disinterested and become spiritual sluggards, but imitators, behaving as do those who through faith (by their leaning of the entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) and by practice of patient endurance and waiting are now inheriting the promises."

Hebrews 6:11,12

"For the king understand about these things well enough, and therfore to him I speak with bold frankness and confidence. I am convinced that not one of these things has escaped his notice, for all this did not take place in a corner, in secret."

Acts 26:26

"Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners, that we may recieve mercy for our failures and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it)."

Hebrews 4:16

"The Lord is my Strength and my impenetrable Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. The Lord is their unyielding Strength, and He is the Stronghold of salvation to me, His anointed."

Psalm 28:7,8

"For we are Gods own handiwork, His workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew that we may do those good works which God predestined, planned beforehand for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live."

Ephesians 2:10

"Therefore then, since we are surroinded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the Truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance, unnecessary weight, and that sin which so readily, deftly, and cleverely clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistance the appointed course of the race that is set before us, looking away from all that will distract, to Jesus, Who is the Leader and Source of our faith and is also its Finisher, bringing it to maturity and perfection, He, for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:1,2

It's easy to get discouraged when my eyes drift away from my Saviors eyes.

I cannot afford to do that.

I hope these scriptures encouraged you like they have me.

Still working it out,

Elyxis

Worship.

So much is left out when one uses the word worship. When just said, the mighty depths and unsearchable grounds happened upon during worship are almost forgotten about. The unending waters of God's love have slowly carved a canyon in my heart where worship is something that I long for and need and rely on. It has this special place in my heart. I think it's that way because it's the place where I feel heaven come to earth. Like Moses and the Lord. God spoke to Moses as one does with a friend. I want my life to be so immersed in Jesus, that He can't help but come down and be with me. He truly is the love of my life. It's the place where the things of the world fall away, far from me, and the only thing that matters is the Lord. I have found myself constantly in worship this whole week, which I believe has truly transformed me from who I was, even last week. I have found myself in a place where the Spirit takes me from where I am. I literally feel like I am leaving the room where I am sitting. I have felt a growing hole in my heart, where an earthly father should be. Believe me, I have gotten so much prayer for this problem, but never before I have felt the Presence of my true Father like I have this week. It's one thing to know in my mind that God is a Father, but a completely different thing when I know that I know that God is my Father. He is more completely and wholly there for me, more than any other person can ever be for me. It's difficult for me to describe to you exactly how I feel. It's the deepest love I have ever known. His presence transcends everything I have ever experienced or known. I can feel my spirit dancing with His. He is so near.

"Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him who rides through the deserts -His name is the Lord- be in high spirits and glory before Him." psalm68:4

"They should seek God in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each of us..." acts17:27

"Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our Salvation! Selah! God is to us a God of deliverances and salvation; and to God the Lord belongs escape from death, setting us free." psalm68:19,20

"O God, awe-inspiring, profoundly impressive, and terrible are You out of your holy places; the God of Israel Himself gives strength and fullness of might to His people. Blessed be God!" psalm68:35

"Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Blessed, happy, fortunate, to be envied is the man who fears, revears and worships the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His spiritual offering shall be mightly upon the earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed." psalm112:1,2

"Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God" Lev.20:7

"And you shall be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have seperated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine." Lev.20:26

"But you shall not offer anything which has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you." Lev.22:20

"But you were purchased with the precious blood of Christ, the Messiah, like that of a sacrificial lamb without blemish or spot." 1peter1:19

"So shall you heartily accept my commandments and conform you life and conduct to them. I am the Lord. Neither shall you profane my holy Name, applying it to an idol, or treating it with irreverance or contempt or as a byword; but I will be hallowed among the Israelites. I am the Lord, Who consecrates and makes you holy, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord." Lev.22:31,32

"And now brethren, I commit you to God, I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care. And I commend you to the Word of His grace, to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor. It is able to build you up and to give you your rightful inheritance among all God's set-apart ones, those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul." acts20:32

God, I feel, has been calling me to a higher standard of holiness or set-apart-ness, if you wish. I have felt like I have been living a holy life, but God has called me to give more. Honestly I don't know exactly what it looks like, but I know I have more to give to God.

Paralyzed by the Love of Christ,

Elyxis

Once Upon a Sunny Day...

Today Mykala and I went to Drake Park!

We had tons of fun :)

Mykala is now in a band, called Standing by a Fence...
Smiling and walking, one type of multi-tasking I can do :)

Trees.

Oh, you know, just me...

I love sunshine!!!

Yay!

Mykala :)

This is a duck, I named her hannah-fofanna

So beautiful!

Mykala again...

A cool artistic kind of shot...

- Fun and fancy free -

It's my model face, yeaaah :)

The cutest picture ever !

It was kinda bright, not that I'm complaining, I love it!

More ducks

Who knew my sister was part monkey, she climbed a tree...

Black and whites rock.

Another cute picture of Mykala

:)

:) again...

And this was yesterday down town, it was really pretty and rainy :)

So, Im really glad that it was sunny and some what warm today! It makes me really excited for spring!

Loving Life,

Elyxis

Just a Quick Thought.

Jesus gave me His heart on the cross... WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!?!?!?! I look back over my life and see the many times that I have taken His heart and just broken it. I have given Him every reason to abandon me, yet He remains faithful. Tonight I saw Jesus' grace in a whole new light. "Grace" is something that I have become almost used to and for the lack of a better word, immune to... not that the grace of God is in any way insufficient, but it has just become a common and under appreciated thing in my life. I knew it has been there, but I have just forgotten the power of it. God's grace is sort of like a trail in our lives, like a journey. It's commonly mistaken as something that's unattainable or mysterious or simply impossible. The truth is that God most definitely works everything out for the good of those who love Him. Each and every day, we encounter many different circumstances, problems, people, and challenges. Going mostly unnoticed, the grace of our Savior is all over everything. His grace is like a journey, in that it takes time and practice to learn how to except His workings in our lives. We have to remember that even in the seemingly bad situations, He is working it together for His good. The grace of God is mysterious because it is different for every person. God meets us where we are individually.
I can't even quite say what I want to about this subject because every time I try to put it into words, I am overwhelmed by the eternal and divine plan of God. Gosh! I guess all that's left now is to give Him my heart, again. It's a continual process, I have found. My heart is easily swayed if I don't surrender it over to Him.
So here's to you Jesus,
With love,
Elyxis

It's the Super Bowllll Jesus!

Here are a few pictures from this last weekend!

Here's my crazy best friend, she escaped from the psych ward - don't tell anyone though :)

Here's my sister, also crazy...
Jay was rockin' the 3D glasses too!
(And Andrea looking really scary)

No comment needed...

The cuddle couch :)

And on saturday we went to Ashley Brown's surprise baby shower... it was great to see her!

That's all :)

Elyxis