When I first decided to set up this blog, the very first thing that I wanted to do was have a place where I could go and be reminded of the way God loves me.  Its easy to remember that God has made every provision for me, but it’s not always easy for it to penetrate the heart.  We have no problem saying, “yeah, yeah, yeah…I know he loves me”, but then why are we still enslaved by the perspectives of this world?  God MUST penetrate the heart!  It’s not enough for me to soak in His love either.  I want it breathing out of me.  So why isn’t it?

In the book, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller explained perfectly how we need to have a sort of shift in paradigm.  Instead of going around and blaming the world for its ugliness, we need to play a larger role.

“I spend 95 percent of my time thinking about myself anyway. I don’t have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad, I only have to look at myself. I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change, true life-giving, God-honoring change wound have to start with the individual. I was the very problem I had been protesting. I wanted to make a sign that read “I AM THE PROBLEM.”

As americans we seem to make everything about “us”.  If something doesn’t go our way than our lives get thrown so out of wack.  Why?  Because this is the true battle for middle earth!  We need to see the perspective from someone bigger than us!  We need to be dying to ourselves daily!  But how do we get there?  My hope is that this blog can help me get there.  I hope that this will encourage me die to myself when I need it, and then empower me to think about others’ needs more than my own.  I need clarity and the appropriate perspective as I look inward, so that I can have a positive influence as I move outward into this world.

Therefore, I hope that each of the following pages serves as inspiration and motivation to answer these questions of the heart;

Looking Inward

Can you endure the sacrifices Christ has made for you?

Moving Outward

Can you endure what Christ has called you to do?

It’s not enough for me to simply answer “yes”.  Saying “yes” is the easy part, but living it is something completely different.  If you can answer an affirmative “yes” to both of these questions, than Christ asks us next;

“Will you show me?”

May the following pages under inspiration and motivation inspire us all to answer this question with a resounding and joy filled “YES”!