Today is the Day

God's word tells us that today is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2) Today is the day to make the choice of living your life for God. Stop putting it off till later. Stop making this decision the last thing on your list. This is your salvation. Salvation is a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, and risk. What is the harm and risk? Choosing to live your life on your terms and doing life all by yourself...without God. (aka a Godless life.)

I have been studying the book of Revelation recently and have been learning all about what the world will be like without God. Many are familiar with this time called the Tribulation. This will be a period of seven years that God will poor out His wrath on the earth before Jesus Christ returns. But God won't only be pooring out His wrath, but also His grace, because that is who God is. In spite of every evil thing that happens on this earth God continues to poor out His grace. He gives and will give endless opportunities for His creation to turn to Him. Many will turn to Him, but many will not. And this is why we have salvation. To turn to God and be saved from the Hell where the people who turn away from God will live for eternity.

This is some heavy stuff. And it is usually not among the topics of normal/casual conversation. But in absolute truth there will be a time of separation. People will be separated into two groups: those that turn to God and those that do not.

One of the hardest things that I run into is people who are indifferent to Jesus Christ. I must give grace though. I am not better that anyone else. I am not cooler or any more valuable. I have only accepted a gift that was given to me. It is a gift that is often hard to bear. And I say this because the Christian life is in no way easy. It is amazing, and rewarding, and most days I am asking God, "how is it that You chose me to be your beloved?" But it comes back to God's grace. He LOVES all of His children. He desires none to perish. (2Peter 3:9)

Some may wonder, what is God waiting for? Why doesn't Jesus come back now, and will He? Well, I believe since He doesn't want to see His children choose anything other than Him, He is waiting for more to be saved. There will be people who will refuse God's gift of salvation, or safety, but He wants more rather than less, to be a part of His eternal kingdom.

There are days like today that I feel that I am not doing enough. I feel that I should be changing the world in some way and making more out of my life here on earth. But it's not up to me to change the world. The betterment of the world is not resting on my shoulders.

I can do something. I can share my testimony of what God is doing in my life in hope that maybe my experiences will speak to someone else. I can show the love of Christ in loving others. There are lots of things "I" can do. Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit living and working in me. If I could do these things all on my own, heck, there would be no need for a savior. There would be no purpose in Jesus Christ dieing on the cross and raising from the dead. But there was and is a purpose in His death and resurrection. And that purpose is to give me and you life abundantly. An oversufficient life that is consumed with Christ's love. When we come to the cross, meaning when we look at what Christ did for the whole world, it is impossible to be indifferent, unless you have a hard heart. Knowing Jesus has changed my life and I dare you to let Him change yours. You will never be the same.

May you bask in the knowledge and wisdom that the God of the universe desires a personal relationship with you. And this begins by coming to the cross and being changed forever.

Dream On

This morning's sermon at church was about overcoming discouragement. I love it when the message seems like it is for me. As soon as Pastor David opened with the focus of today's message I felt such relief. I went to church feeling completely defeated. I felt physically weak and spiritually malnourished. I was empty. I didn't even want to go to church because I knew I would have to smile and be around people when I only felt like isolating myself and dealing with my misery on my own.

It's exhausting sharing with people. For me it seems so hard to share my heart because I have such a big problem with words. Sometimes when I speak it feels like I am just vomiting up my words. My words are ugly, they don't connect, they don't make sense, and people don't understand. I feel like Moses a lot.

Luckily this morning I didn't have to share with anyone because I ran out the door after church. This is not a good example to follow...I am sorry God.

Pastor David led the church through these verses this morning.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

It is encouraging to know that He will never leave me. Because of His presence in my life, I have the strength to live. Before I really welcomed God into my life, I wanted nothing more then to no longer feel the pain and hurt that life was giving me. There were a few times that I just wanted to die because I was so unbearably sad. I remember being so despaired at one point that I physically felt dizzy and sick. It was terrible. But thank God life took a turn! I slowly began to hear truth. I hooked up with some great friends and started going to a Bible church where I got fed of spiritual food. Food that only Jesus can give. He gave me life, a reason to live. It was through His presence and the amazing people that surrounded me that I began to see light in my life. My burden of depression slowly began to lift off my back.

Jesus overcame the world. To overcome means to conquer, to defeat, to prevail, to win. There are so many things in my life that give me trouble. Life brings things that just seem too big to handle. It's like an elephant is at my front door and I am expected to take care of it in my 580 sq ft apartment. Ha! But take heart, Jesus says. For He is bigger than this world. He has defeated this world. There is nothing in my life that He cannot handle, even a huge elephant in my small apartment.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

When I wanted to die, back before I knew the love of Jesus, I relied on myself for everything. I was living life the way I knew how. The voice in my head said, "Be the best you can be, do your best to push through, get through the day." The voice also said, "You're ugly, you're fat, you will never have a good relationship with a boy, you will never find peace, you will always be unhappy." Ugh! How discouraging! No wonder I wanted to die! I was listening to the lying voice in my head that obviously was not from God. God does not speak this way. God is of love and these remarks do not reflect love. When I rely on myself I am relying on a sandcastle to be my place of refuge. I am chasing after the wind. I am focused on something that will only pass away with time. I need to rely on something that is eternal. This is why Paul tells us to rely on God. On Christ the solid rock I stand. I have noticed that when I rely on Christ to get me through my struggles, the struggles become praiseworthy because I know God has a plan to show His strength in my weakness. The loss of a job becomes an opportunity to serve God. An argument with my husband becomes an opportunity to know him in a deeper way.

As soon as I walked into church this morning I felt completely renewed simply because I heard truth in the worship. God's truth is a cure for every sickness. I was feeling sick with emptiness and God filled me up with His truth, and reminded me of the peace I have in my relationship with Him. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. Amen.

Holy Yoga

I am a Holy Yoga instructor. What an awesome ministry God has given me. I feel so blessed to have been directed to Holy Yoga, the blessing is overwhelming. I am in awe of what God is doing through this ministry and how He is growing me into His servant.

I came to Holy Yoga as a Christian in search of other Christians who practiced yoga. Upon receiving my first yoga certification, my intention was to be in great shape and reap the physical benefits of yoga. I had the postures down and felt that I could rock out on my yoga mat. I could show off my down-dog and people could see that my bound-side-angle was practiced and strong. I did my yoga routine with confidence and ease. But I hit a wall. I was doing yoga because it felt good, but I knew that there was more to yoga than just the postures. I knew there was more to yoga than doing 100 sun salutaions and spending 10 minutes in corpse pose to relax. Any serious yoga practitioner will tell you that there is more to yoga than the physical high. I knew that the "more" was beyond physical. I knew that it involved a spiritual realm that I didn't really know a whole lot about. And as a Christian I knew that getting involved with a spiritual realm that wasn't focussed on Jesus was no realm that I wanted to be a part of.

So I searched. I found Holy Yoga's website online and jumped right in. After participating in the teacher training program I received my second yoga certification. Praise God! A yoga practice that glorifies Him!

But.....it wasn't that easy. I didn't just step into my ministry with ease. It wasn't as simple as "happily ever after."

I had resistance. Someone who is close to me resisted my involvment with yoga and didn't see how an eastern-rooted practice could bring God glory. So I needed to develop a clear reason and intention as to why I practice yoga and why Holy Yoga glorifies God.

God did not want me to walk into this ministry blind. He did not want me to enter the mission field without any armor to protect me. No, He desires none to perish.

Through much heartache, stress, question and doubt about why I practice yoga and why Holy Yoga is God-glorifying, with the help of my resisting friend, we concluded that whatever I do needs to be filtered through God's Word. Are my actions aligned with God's will for my life? Am I loving God with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength? Is Christ the focus? Is He the reason?

Using the Bible as a filter, God will direct my path. God has armored me with His Word. His Word is the sword that I fight with. It is the tool that protects my heart, mind and body from sin.

A few weeks ago when I would tell people that I am a yoga instructor, that statement had much doubt and fear behind it. I would say, "I am a yoga instructor," and think, please don't judge me, my practice is Christ-centered, it is possible to do yoga as a Christian, but I kind of don't know why.

Fear. That's all it is. Fear is what I hide behind.

God has something bigger planned. He doesn't desire to work through my fear. He can't work through my fear. But He can work through my faith in Him. He has given me faith as a spiritual gift and He plans to use it through Holy Yoga. It has been through faith that I have stepped into teaching Holy Yoga. It is through faith that I have contacted local yoga studios to see if they would be interested in having Holy Yoga at their studios. It is through faith that I know God wants to speak to the people who will be at my yoga instructor audition in a couple of weeks.

God is moving through Holy Yoga to places so many Christians are afraid of- yoga communities. But He can't do His work through our fear. That's Satan's job, and he is great at it.

We can't lose if we are armored with the love of Christ.

So Holy Yoga, my mission field. Thank you Lord for this amazing resposibility of sharing your Son with the yoga community.

Come away with me my love

I was in my yoga practice the other day and I had a vision. It was the most beautiful vision and it brought me to tears. The vision was this:

I was running in a vast green field towards a big, majestic tree. I was so happy, like beyond happy...joyful. The air was warm and the sun was beaming. I was wearing a white, flower-printed sun dress that was slightly poofy (girls like a little poof in their dresses). My hair was long, resting on my arms like a light jacket. When I reached the tree, Jesus was waiting for me. When I arrived, He was smiling and so was I. We both sat down under the tree and just talked. We laughed and enjoyed being in each other's presence.

And that was the end of the vision. When I think about the vision now I get so excited to be face to face with Jesus someday. When this life passes away, and all that is left is eternity with the Father, it will be simply joyful.

This isn't to say that we cannot experience joyfulness now. Joy isn't only experienced in Heaven. Eternity starts now, today, this second. God is preparing our hearts now, for what He has for us in eternity. This is so important because I know for myself that I can dwell on Heaven and how beautiful it will be, and forget about what God has for me now. I get so wrapped up in the future that I forget to acknowledge the present and what a gift it is to be alive today. I am alive in Christ, and the Bible says Christ is in me. I don't have to wait until Heaven to know Jesus and to talk to Him. His Holy Spirit is available and waiting for me right now, and He is waiting for you and me to share our life with Him. The Bible says He will never leave us.

One song keeps popping into my head and when I hear it I just sigh and think, oh how awesome it is to just be in the presence of God. To be so comforted by knowing He loves me and wants the best for me. While reading the lyrics, be bathed in the fact that we serve a personal, compassionate, and loving God. He LOVES us.

You're My Beloved
You're My Bride
To sing over you is My delight
Come away with Me My love

You're Beautiful to Me
So beautiful to Me

Under My mercy
Come and wait
Till we are standing face to face
I see no stain on you
My child

You're Beautiful to Me
So Beautiful to Me

I sing over you My song of peace
Cast all your care down at My feet
Come and find your rest in Me

I'll breathe My life inside of you
I'll bear you up on eagle's wings
And hide you in the shadow of My strength
I'll take you to My quiet waters
I'll restore your soul
Come rest in Me and be made whole

You're My beloved
You're My Bride
To sing over you is my delight
Come away with me my love

My vision of me and Jesus under the tree helps me to see where God wants me to be: in His presence, joyfully.

The 1st Entry

Hello! Welcome to Be Rooted! This blog was created to share my walk with Christ with my friends and family. I hope to write about all the beautiful and challenging things that God brings into my life in His grace. I hope to share with you an open heart that is willing to be molded and shaped by the Master potter. Enjoy and be blessed!