Deferred Gratification

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." Philippians 2:13

This has been sticking out to me the entire day. I don't know why exactly. I feel like it's reassuring that God has everything in control. He's the one  "who works in YOU to will and to ACT in order to fulfill HIS good purpose." It's more fun when read like that, right?

Lately, I've been thinking a whole lot about deferred gratification.  Now, people might ask what that means. It doesn't matter (well, it does a little) what It means to me, but what does that phrase mean to you? Defer means to put off, right? And Gratification is "pleasure, especially when gained from the

satisfaction of a desire." (I had to look that one up to get it exactly right). Basically, it means to put

off this pleasure of our personal desires. If you've seen the Harry Potter movies, the mirror of Erised shows anyone who looks into it their greatest desire. Our biggest desire as Christians should be to live

a life that's pleasing to Our Lord and Savior.

Now, I'm not saying that we're all so good at that, but I pair the word "desire" with "sexual desires". Aye, now we've got something to talk about, right? It's so so so easy to fall into this temptation as a hormone-driven teenager. Constantly I have to remind myself of deferred gratification. The more I wait on the temptations, the more I'm going to be able to give to my future Husband. Make sense? Sort of?

Basically, I want to give every single part of myself to my future husband because God has already

picked him out. The more I give myself away to temporary people, the less I have to give the (already

God-Chosen) man. We have to guard ourselves from the people who only want us for our bodies, and

not as people to strengthen our faith. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but if you're not

happy or praising Jesus in everything that you do- maybe evaluate your life and sort out your priorities.

Personally, I've done a crummy job at putting Jesus first in my life. I think it's time to spend less time on

Twitter and more time in my Bible. Anyways, as random and sporadic as that was, I hope it made you

think at least a little bit. Have a great week:)

Emma Jane

1 Kings 3

I know, my title completely tells you what this is going to be about (sarcasm intended). But in Sunday school, we were reading 1 Kings 3:5-14. Well, we read some more, but these verses really got me thinking. Solomon was a great king over all of Israel. He could of abused his power. He could've been a ruthless king, but he was forever faithful to his Lord and Savior. 1 Kings 3:5 says "At Gibeon the Lord appeared to solomon during the night in a dream, and God said. "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."  Now, If someone told me this, the first thing popping into my mind is maybe a private jet. Like whatever I want? Maybe a boyfriend, lots of money, and a nice big mansion to top it all off. Materialistic things. Like loads of ice cream. Solomon could've easily asked for wealth, women, or great power. Do you know what he asked for instead? Wisdom. He asked for wisdom. "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" 1 Kings 3:9. Do you know what I love most? First of all, he addresses the people as "Yours". He's talking to The Lord here. Like "These people aren't mine, they're YOURS."  He's so humble, and on top of all of this, he asks for wisdom. He wants to rule God's people full of Wisdom. Solomon know's that God's in control. 

I think we can all learn from Solomon.  We focus all of our energy on materialistic things. People come in and out of our lives. That super cool brand new phone will one day break. Everything is going to stop one day.  Do you know who's going to be there when it does? Our Lord and Savior. 

Also, with the control thing. Solomon trusted in God. I know from experience that sometimes it's really really hard. Romans 8:27 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." 

Solomon, he was called. And The Lord granted him with much more than wisdom. But I mean, he trusted in The Lord wholeheartedly. And boy, do I wish I could be like Solomon. Don't we all though? What's really stopping any of us from putting all of our faith into Christ? Why do we focus on earthy possessions instead of God? Why have we started worshipping people and objects? Why is it so hard to trust God with our lives completely? 

I cannot answer these questions. But we're in a world full of sinners. I'm one included. This probably didn't make any sense, but let's try to follow Solomon's example. 

Well, until next time, 

stay lovely.

Emma Jane 

Screwing Up

Honestly, I've been screwing up a lot lately. I mean, hard-core screwing up. My life's a roller coaster right now, because I'm realizing that decisions we make affect other people. I mean we can't all be perfect all the time because that would be impossible. I don't think we can even get close to perfection. The only perfect one is Jesus Christ. Honestly, we should talk about him more often. He's so forgiving. We have a very forgiving God. Did you know that? 2 Corinthians 2:10 says "Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven- if there was anything to forgive- I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your your sake..." That's pretty powerful stuff. We gotta learn how to forgive others because God already has been forgiving us since the day we were born. "Bear with each other and forgive one another if  any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13.

The Bible says one thing, but our brains say another. You feel me? Like i've screwed up so badly, and I feel so unworthy of forgiveness to be honest. It truly is amazing how God's love, power, and might all work. He can cause you do do amazing things (like forgiving someone). I've probably said the word "forgive" or a form of that word so many times in this little blog post, but I don't care really. So what? I repeat things. God's love and mercy should be repeated. We should scream it and proclaim it to the heavens how forgiving He is.

If I ever learned one thing, It's that God can forgive us even when we can't even forgive ourselves. Psalm 130:4 says "But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you." Now, that just speaks to me tonight. I just thank God for His amazing grace and love. With HIM lays forgiveness so that we can SERVE him gladly. In the song "Seek Ye First" the third verse goes:

"Man shall not live by bread alone,
But by every word
That proceeds out from the mouth of God.

Hallelu, Hallelujah!"

And we seriously couldn't do anything without God. Without God, there wouldn't be any true love. Without true love, forgiveness wouldn't exist. We can't live "by bread alone". It doesn't work like that. We're in need of God's amazing grace. I think it's spectacular that he loves us even when we aren't able to love ourselves. 

I hope you have a good week :)

Until next time, 

Emma Jane

Difficulty

So, today has got me thinking. Difficult things are always going to happen to us. I feel as though bad things are more frequent as we get older because God made it this way. It's so hard to trust his plan because we have one of our own. We think so often that we can run this marathon of life and go in a straight line for several years. Well, let me tell you what, my line has so many curves as if it's a rollercoaster. We have this dream picture in our head where everything works out just as we plan it, right? If everything works out like my dreams, I'll be a famous author living in Paris, married to a wonderful husband. Somehow, you and I both know that's probably not going to happen. I'm not sure if you're on much social media, but there's this quote floating around and it says "Let go and let God." Honestly, I really love it. It doesn't mean to sit on our bums and let him control every aspect of our lives, but we do need to relinquish our control while serving him at the same time. Everything we do should be to love and praise him, even when he turns our life into a 180 spin on a rollercoaster. Let me tell you something. That's a really really hard thing to do. It's so hard to praise God when you feel like the world is crushing down on you. When you feel alone, unworthy of love, and unloved. It's so easy to ask "Why me? Why do I even feel this way?" Well, only God can answer that question. I do believe that everything in our life happens for a reason. We might lose people who we love, we might gain some who can't love us. I also firmly believe that doors have to close, because God knows exactly how to open up that small window. If we cling so strongly to that door (Like on Monsters Inc.), then what do we have to gain? What do we have to lose knowing God's in control of our lives? We should be celebrating because of his glorious plan. On Sunday we looked at Isaiah 40:30-31. It says "Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Well, I love you guys.

Until next time,

Emma Jane.

I'm a hypocrite

Hi, so yes, it's me again. Today has been pretty normal, thanks for asking. I just wanted to say, that I'm a total hypocrite. In my last blog post I gave you plenty of useful tips to stay healthy for the holidays. I, personally did not follow then whatsoever. Therefore, use all of those pretty great tips to slim down after the holidays. Ive lost a few pounds this week, so yay! If you're in the struggle bus with your weight, don't give up! If you're struggling with anything actually, don't give up. It's going to be a long long road, but God's got your back. I know everyone has their own personal battles going on every single day. I know that the road gets super tough. I know this. Seriously, y'all. Don't lose hope because you have an all-powerful, living hope in Jesus. He died for you to take away your sins and then he rose again. That's pretty incredible. If Jesus like gave up on us, what would that look like? We wouldn't be in a happy place right now, that's for sure. But guys, I know it's hard to want to live or do anything when you're in a dark place but Jesus really does love you. He brings peace and clarity into our lives and even though it's hard to see sometimes, he's always there-shining.

I don't really have much to say today but Jesus loves you wholeheartedly.

Emma Jane

Thanksgiving

What's thanksgiving without a blogpost? Boring, right? Well, in all honesty, this year's been pretty tough. I'm thankful for so much because a year ago, I don't think I could've imagined living in this town. I'm uber thankful for my family because even though the chaotic move, they stayed pretty strong. My family knows how to make me laugh like an idiot and smile like I have forever to be happy. I couldn't be more grateful, seriously. I'm also super thankful for my friends in this town and in the previous one. They seriously are the best. I'm verrrryyyy grateful for the Stuart family. They took care of me for 6 weeks while my family was living in my new town while I remained in the old. They are the sweetest people and they took me in willingly. That was a super stressful time in my life and they were just fantastic. I'm super grateful to live in a country where I can worship my God freely. I'm also beyond grateful for our forgiving God. I know that I screw up a whole lot, I mean a lot. God loves us unconditionally even when we really don't deserve it. We don't deserve any of this, I mean he sent his son to die on a cross for us. Y'all, we are sinners and he loves us so much. I'm just really blessed. When times get tough, we have loving people in our life and an amazing God. It's truly amazing how things work out in the end because God sends so many people into our lives who love us. Just remember that you're loved by the people around you and by our God. Happy Thanksgiving!

Emma Jane

Health Tips for the Holidays

So, as you probably would've guessed, the holidays are just around the corner! To people like me, that's pretty terrifying because all I see are the many calories floating around everything, shrinking my clothes. If you're a health nut like me, I say we try to make ourselves accountable for what we eat. My only solution to this health-bombing holiday season is to really record everything you eat. I use the app "My Plate" to record nearly everything I do. If you're too lazy or don't have a smartphone, go to the store right now. I'm not joking. Buy yourself a spiral notebook and on the very front cover, label it "FOOD I'M EATING" or something along those lines. Keep that notebook with you at all times and write down everything that you put into your body. I found out that our bodies work like a well-oiled machine. Whatever we put into our bodies determines how we perform with them. Make sense? If I eat 3 slices of apple pie, my near softball game probably won't be played as well as if I had eaten carrots and hummus. (This is hypothetical because I don't play sports) You see what I mean, right? Also, to stay fit during this holiday season, HIT THE GYM UP. If you're not part of a gym, youtube workout videos work wonders as well. I prefer the yoga ones. Always hit up Jillian Michaels. If you find yourself at walmart because you need the notebook, go into that little section of the store nobody likes-the workout gear section. Jillian has plenty of DVDs to choose from. I like the 30 Day Shred one, but that's just me. Also, to stay fit during this calorie-infused month, plan ahead. Plan your meals way ahead of time and already have what you're going to eat written down somewhere (preferably the notebook or app) create a menu for the day filled with high-protein, low-carb food. Trust me, if the food you want to eat isn't on your personal daily menu, don't eat it. For extra motivation, type up your menu for the day along with the calorie count on each food item. Then, print several copies of that menu and put it all over your house. Especially on the fridge. As humans, we're impulse eaters and we like to grab things from the fridge and not think about them again. THIS IS NOT GOOD. Impulse eating is a cause of weight gain. Speaking of, holiday movies are all the buzz right now, am I correct? When you're watching tv, it's almost an instinct to want to be eating as well. Ask yourself this question: are you hungry or bored? Try chewing gum while watching tv (pick that up at the store when you're there as well) Also, to make this calorie counting (or food tracking) thing fun, write stuff down in fun colors. Grab different colored markers, pens, crayons, or colored pencils and create a fun menu to look at. You could even make veggies one color, fruits another, proteins one, and so on. That way, you can see what types of food you're constantly eating. Remember, everything is good in moderation. If you find your menu full of pink (lets pretend pink stands for carbs/ bread/ sugary stuff) then CHANGE it. Maybe try adding in some greens or blues or reds or yellows. You feel me? Make your menu look like a rainbow, not a black and white movie. Speaking of rainbows, eat colorful foods. Specifically, brighten your plate up with fruits and vegetables. While you're at the store anyway, check out that produce man! Usually the store Aldi has really great prices on produce, and Walmart will price match. This way, your body and budget stay clean for the holidays. If you tend to go to holiday parties, offer to bring a dish full of health benefits. Place it on the snack table, get a few treats, and then get AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE from that little table. People can consume up to 1000 calories by mindlessly grabbing food off of that devil table. Find old friends to catch up with, play on your phone, read a book. I don't care, but stay away from the food. Make only ONE plate. Snacks aren't meant for second helpings.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Have a happy healthy holiday! :)

Emma Jane