Love- A Christian Essential

I’ve just recently started studying 1 John in my devotional time and found that this book has many thoughts on love. Love is emphasized over and over again as an essential to identifying those who know Christ. I counted six times that the author stated that whoever says he loves God must also love his brother. We serve the God of love! How then can love be absent if He is in our hearts? I have seen it too many times. (Even my own life, I confess) A Christian girl will be telling me how much she loves God. Then, not five minutes later, she’ll tell me conspiratorially how she just hates so and so (who happens to be a fellow sister in Christ). Has anyone ever said that to you? Or perhaps you are guilty of saying the same thing yourself? I am reminded of the verse from 1 John 4:20b~ “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” Talk about convicting! “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1John 4:10) The fact is, ladies, we can’t make ourselves out to be Christians and not have love. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Also, a few verses later the text states that whoever says they love God and yet hates their brother is a lair. They are deceived. They don’t know whom they serve. Reading these chapters in 1 John made me come to realize that the real problem why we have a problem with loving others is because we have lost touch with our Savior and forgotten who he is and what he’s done. Loving comes naturally when you are intimate with the God of love. You cannot claim to know God and then not love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! If you really know Christ then you know his love. When someone has personally experienced how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and really knows this love which surpasses knowledge they cannot help but be affected by it! The love that overflows in our hearts because of Christ dwelling there will overflow as a love for others. My encouragement to all of you is to draw near to God and experience his love. Know who it is you follow. Follow His example! If you know Christ, you can know how to love others! Follow in His footsteps…Love is so essential to being a Christian!

.:.:Bug:.:.

The Martyr

Ok, Bubbles, here’s that long-awaited poem you wanted me to post!



The Martyr

By Becca



Slowly he stands,

In front of the crowds.

Standing silent before

The taunting mobs.



His crime no one knows,

His punishment is burning.

The people will not settle for less.



An epic of faithfulness,

A legacy of grace.

Footprints on hearts,

One finishing the race.



So onward he moves,

To the pile of sticks.

The doorway to heavenly freedom.

A gateway to the King he adores,

The One he is dying for.



One last look

At the loud, angry crowds,

Then upward pierces his gaze

And raises the praises of the Lord.



Burning with fire,

The dross melted out.

In its place a fine jewel,

No grief left, nor doubt.



blessings,

~becca~

Wow, this is long overdue! ;)

Okay...quotes, quotes and more quotes...love is coming! :)

"Give up yourself, and you will find your real self, lose your life, and you will save it. Submit to death, death to your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of the whole body in the end. Submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for youself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, lonliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in."


It's all for Him,
<>Byrde<>


...inspired by bug...

Thursday 7

Well, some random things about me:

1. I was born in Massachusetts
2. I played soccer for five years
3. I always wear eyeliner
4. I hate swimming with fish in the water
5. I want to learn how to surf
6. I've been to Europe
7. I was caught in an avalanche once.

Living for Him,

<>Byrde<>

Thursday 7

1) I’ve played the piano for over 10 years
2) I absolutely L.O.V.E. singing…I almost shrivel up and die when I have a cold. :)
3) I took voice lessons for a year
4) my favorite thing to sing right now is Phantom of the Opera (boy, does that stretch one’s vocal chords!)
5) I listen to music all the time…everything from Kutless, to Jeremy Camp, to Rascal Flatts, to Josh Bates, to the Afters :)
6) I wish I could play the guitar, bass, and bagpipes. lol. ok ok, I’m odd, I’ll admit.
7) I love to sing the songs As the Deer and Only Hope


-:-:-Becca-:-:-

7 things about myself pertaining to music

I can’t tolerate jazz-ugh- but, I adore country!
When I’m trying to study I always listen to instrumental music- but no classical for me!!
I listen to the radio almost 24/7. My favorites are: Klove, The Wolf, Air1, KUPL, and The Fish
Concerts are the BEST! There’s nothing like actually feeling your favorite music! :)
I just learned Kutless falls into the “hard metal” category, but I like them anyways. :P
My favorite Christian singers are: Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Casting Crowns, and I’m drawing a total black about the others ------
I’ve only been to two concerts in my lifetime: John Tesh, and Jeremy Camp/Afters/Bethany Dillon

^:^BUG^:^

Fruits of the Spirit: Love

“Love is the more excellent way. However, in talking about the word love, I think we’d better define it, since our world doesn’t have the foggiest idea what it means. The word in the Greek is agape, which is the most grandiose concept of love. Agape is the highest level of love—the love that is associated with God. Agape is the term used in 1Corinthians 13. So, the question is, what does it mean? Well, first let me tell you what it doesn’t mean. Agape is not romantic or sexual love, emotional love, ecumenical love, or charity. So, what in the world is it? What is love? 1 John 4:9-11 says ‘In this way manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.’ In other words, God’s love is demonstrated in an act of self sacrifice—and so is ours. Now, when we talk about love, that’s what we’re talking about. It is an act of self-sacrifice. It is humility. It is meeting needs and doing what God wants us to do. There’s no self-seeking, pride, selfishness, self-glory, or vanity in love.” (excerpt from Perfect Love by John MacArthur)

Our sinful nature, our desire to be self seeking and prideful, have been put to death(Gal 5:24). In its’ place comes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. When we display these fruits in our lives, it proves to the world that we indeed have been regenerated.

The greatest of all the fruits is love. Of all the fruits of the Spirit, the Bible spends the most time commanding us to love. We are to love our enemies, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our mother and father, and we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
“And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave you.” (1 John 3:23-24).

We can’t bring about love on our own. “Love comes from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8) Also, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16b)

Love really encompasses all of the fruits of the Spirit. Because there is love there is joy. And peace. And patience. And kindness. And goodness. Do you see why love is so important? Not only does God command us to love one another, but these other vital fruits won’t be displayed in our lives unless we have it! Let me explain further. Imagine yourself just getting out of bed and making your way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. And your sister (or brother) is in there already and you know that they take forever to get ready in the mornings. (trust me, this scene happens a lot at our house!). Instead of banging on the door and demanding that they hurry up, in LOVE you remain patient. You LOVE them, so you are patient. You see? I’m sure you can come up with instances in your own life where you displayed love for another by being kind, peaceful or gentle!

In addition, love is not merely words. We can easily say we love a person, but what really counts is our love acted out. The simple deeds we do for people, the patient way we act, the grace we give when wronged.

Love does not come easily. Our sinful nature is battling against the Spirit inside us to do those things which are contrary to God. We must prayerfully go before God each and every day and ask for His strength to show a self-sacrificing love to everyone we come in contact with!



Love in Him,
~Becca~

Kick off!!

Well, here's the kick off for our new series on...*drum roll* The Fruits of the Spirit! I think...actually I know that we are all really excited about starting and tomorrow you will get to hear from Becca about LOVE. Yeh babee...your favorite! lol, the popular most mis-used word! So, get ready for some good discussion and great posts!

For Greater Loss,
<>Byrde<>

My quiet time

Alrighty, well today, my Bible reading was in Hebrews. (I hope to finsih the New Testament this summer) So, I was reading a few chapters (8-11) and, it was a wee bit obvious to me a point that God was trying to get across to me. It was that Chirst Jesus came ONCE to die for ALL sins until the end of time. Isn't that amazing. Like when you think of the sacrifice that was commited over 2000 years ago, that is STILL "working" today...still taking place. When you REALLY think about it it's like...breathtaking. It's crazy to think that when God sent His only son to go save the world. It was the WORLD, not just the world at that time. For the rest of time. What a POWERFUL gift that was...everlasting! Here are the verses that showed up:

• Hebrews 9:25-26 ~ "Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place ever year with the blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. "
• Hebrews 10:10 ~ "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all."

Take a moment to think about how life changing that is...Praise be to the only perfect one!

<>Byrde<>

Seven Things about Me

Every Thursday, Bug, Bryde, and I are going to post 7 things about ourselves so you can get to know us better! Some may be slightly random and impersonal, but that's ok, right? :)
Another thing. I know this isn't Thursday, but seeing as tomorrow is our last day here at Black Butte Ranch, and i will be slightly busy having way too much fun, I'm gonna post 7 things about myself today. :) SO, 7 things about myself on the subject of food (cuz i thought i should have a theme...and i like food) lol.

#1-I luv pizza. like LUV pizza. more specifically garlic chicken pizza. cold, out of the fridge. warm is awesome too, but cold is...heavenly :)
#2-I don't like tomatoes. tomatoes in stuff is ok, but not by themselves
#3-I don't like potatoes. bleck :P
#4-I love olives (only black ones). and they can't be sliced. dunno why, but sliced olives are soo gross.
#5-I luv melted vanilla ice cream. yummmmy.
#6-Rice is one of my staple foods
#7-I luv raisin bagels with a slice of pepper jack cheese. just ask byrde. :)

Anybody have the same likes/dislikes as me? (just curious) ;)

Well, our vacation is almost over. Today was kinda a last big "bash". We hung out at the pool all day and yes, we got burned. oopsy. :P We were there for like 5 hours sunning and swimming and eating and playing cards. great fun!

foreverHis,
~becca~

Animal post!!!!! yay

ok, i know that our posts haven't been very...deep lately, so I don't feel bad posting about this! :) I had a funny animal story to share with you and it concerns my favorite little animal: CHIPMUNKS!! lol.
The other day, when we were at Scout Lake, I was over-run by those little creatures. I was sitting in a chair reading my book while my family swam. This chipmunk came up to me and started walking over my feet and climbing up the back of my chair! I actually fed a few of them right out of my hand. :) soooo cute. then this one little guy crawled into our empty bag of chips and got stuck. He completely panicked, so i had to go and dump the bag upside down. It didn't scare him too bad though, because soon he was back eating out of my hand. Well, that was for you animal lovers out there! lol.

foreverHis,
~Becca~

Braces...AH!!!!!!

Oh great, yep, you guessed it! Today, I go to OHSU to get my braces, or atleast all that boring stuff that comes before braces, like x-rays, and molds, and that sort of disgusting thing! I'm not very excited as you can tell. *pauses to go devour chips, bubble gum, and taffy* Well, who died from swallowing that nasty mold stuff? Well, I'm afraid to say that...I don't do well with things in my mouth, I ALWAYS gag. You know those pictures they have to take at the dentist office? Where they stick those little tab thingies in your mouth, well, I ALWAYS gag, the lady takes the picture as QUICK as she can and rushes back to take it out before I barf. *sigh* It should be no less then an adventure today! Adieu, and pray for good providence! ;)

His Always,
<>Byrde<>

Anita Falls

Wow yesterday I went on the best hike EVER! It was great. wow. It's called Anita Falls, just past Multnoma Falls. :) You park and then walk down to the creek, where you climb over a bunch of logs and rocks. You keep hiking (altogether it is a VERY short hike), through thigh deep water at some points until you get to the falls, it is beauitful. So, when you get to the falls, there is this tiny tiny lake thingy at the bottom of it. So, us brave teens decided to brave the fish, and FREEZING water and take a swim, only a few of us (Tim, Jake, Me, and Amber) were actually "man" enough to swim all the way under the falls, it was quite cold and the current and temperature made it hard to breath and swim. My word. It was the best hike I've ever been on. Although, Jake does make things a whole lot funner! :D lol. It was great, we found out Hiroko doesn't like amphibians or fish and may scream when provoked by Tim, and it's hard to swim in ice cold water with socks and shoes on. We also found that silt and seaweed in a lake may provoke screaming from swimming girls, and Jake was quite surprised when i wasn't shocked that he threw a frog on my head. One other thing...most girls would prefer their boyfriend to carry them over ankle deep water then walk through it themselves. So, altogether it was a GREAT hike, and lots of fun and laughs. I would HIGHLY recommend it!


His Always,
<>byrde<>

Happy Anniversary!

Hey all! I would like to take up several inches of space on this blog to wish my parents happy anniversary!! They have been married 22 years now! That seems like foreve! They are great parents and just plain fun to be with. We are so lucky that God has given them to us! Luv you mom and dad! Love- AC, Becca, Bug & Rachie

more summer fun

ok ok, at the urging of bubbles, i will postpostpost! :)
Today has been relaxing yet exhausting if you know what i mean. funny how the sun zaps you of energy, no? Well, we went to Scout Lake, which is a man-made lake not too far from Black Butte. It has TONS of huge logs in the water that have been there for forever so it's always fun diving and jumping off of them. Actually, to tell you the truth, I didn't do much swimming this time. i know...terrible me! :) I was caught up in reading a most interesting book called "Captivating" by Eldredge (sp). I highly recommend the book! It's a great book for Christian women.
After staying at the lake for a few hours, we went and played tennis. Ok, confession time...i do not like tennis. not even a little bit! Maybe it's because i've never really learned how to, or maybe it's because every time i hit the ball it goes sailing out of the court. *hmmmmmm*
Tonight my mom and dad are going to the Lodge for dinner, to celebrate thier anniversary. We girls get to stay home and watch movies!!! YAY! :)

foreverHis,
~Becca~

Having fun in the sun! :)

Howdy!
My family is having a marvelous time here at Black Butte Ranch! I didn't know we'd have Internet access, so it was a nice suprise, for sure! :) We've visited the pool lots and biked everywhere. The biking trails here are so beautiful!
The house we are staying in is very nice. It has 3 bedrooms, two with queen size beds and the other with 2 bunk beds (so both my little sister and I get top bunks...no fighting involved. lol). Don't ask me how, but Bug ended up with a room all to herself and a queen sized bed. :)
This evening our family biked to the Lodge and played beach volleyball and baseball. It was pretty funny, seeing as we never really play volleyball. :) and baseball was...interesting. I hit my cheeck bone with the bat and got a nice bruise. (don't even ask how that happened :P) By the time we were done, it was dark, which made for a FUN bike ride back to our house. Think swerving around corners at top speed and bats dodging at head. :) Next time i think we will take a flashlight.
So, besides that, we've just been relaxing. My dad has been catching up on his Seminary studies and the rest of us have had good times in the Word too.
You can pray that the weather stays nice down here. We are supposed to get thunder showers tomorrow, which would be rather disapointing. :( we'll make the best of it though....maybe blog the whole day! :)
Until next time then...
foreverHis,
~Becca~

When Darkness Comes

Since Becca would never post this herself, I guess I'll have to do it for her. :)

When Darkness Comes
By Rebecca G.


When darkness comes
And you feel sad,
I’ll reach up to the heavens.
In my hands I’ll grasp a star,
And send it to you
My love,
I’ll send you a shining star.

When I am lonely
And feel afraid,
Fetch for me a shining star
My love,
Fetch for me a star.

From the blackest of black nights,
When the shining stars
Are the only light,
Fetch for me a star
My love,
Fetch for me a star.



I love it!

<>Byrde<>

me and my pooch

Hey all!
Here's a picture of me and my ever loyal friend! :) Introducing, Callie (she's a 3 year young mutt). There is quite an amazing story about how I found her, but sadly I haven't the time to tell the whole thing! Maybe some other time. :)

blessings,

~Becca~

Beach Day

Hey all! Becca and I just got back from a day at the beach with friends. There's nothing like relaxing on a sunny beach with a good friend. (and camera...) I thought I'd share some of my pics with you. My whole family is made up of photography buffs, so I try my best to fit in... Lots of room for improvement!! lol. As you can probably tell...:) (btw, the gorgeous girl is our friend Paj) Enjoy...

Paj and my lil' sis

















What's the beach without a picture of your feet? :)















Paj and I...




















My favorite picture of Paj...

Me....The beach does not do wonders for my hair!!

God bless!

<-Bug->

Quote of the day

"Isn't it funny how I can be worried more about what other people think about me than what God thinks of me?!"

<>Byrde<>

As we ride off into the sunset...

Hey all! Here's some headline news: Becca and I (Bug) are going on a long vacation. Actually, it's not too long, but we're not sure when we'll be getting back. (And no, we are not going to Paris...) I do know that we will be gone for over a week. We will leave this Friday and (possibly) return the 14th, but as I said before...we have NO idea. We would appreciate your prayers for safety and a fun time as we relax with family. Now here comes the good part... *drumroll*...Byrde will be blessing the blog with topics of the most intriguing nature until our return!!!! Byrde has yet to decide which topic she wants to discuss while we are away, so now would be the time to completely overwhelm her with emails filled with topic suggestions....I know she will appreciate the ideas... :P Toodles!

God bless!

<-Bug->