Dear readers,
I am so excited to announce that this blog has moved to my own domain – www.jennifershopeblog.com!
Head on over now for a new post and instructions on how to resubscribe to this site! (Existing subscribers, you will have to resubscribe to the new site!)
Thank you!
Jen
In a few days some changes are coming around here.
And I’m really excited!
I hope you’ll stay tuned!
Jen
I’m going to slip away for a little while.
I’m not done writing; I’m not done blogging. But it’s time to de-clutter my world of distractions for the time being. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in social media, and it’s not just Facebook anymore. It’s Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, WordPress, Blogger, Google+, YouTube… you name it.
Don’t get me wrong, this blog is a huge blessing to me and has been imperative to my spiritual growth because it allows me not only to pen my lessons and look back on them later, but also to joyfully obey 2 Corinthians 1. But sometimes it consumes too much of my time and becomes a distraction.
I will be back – I will complete the Wait for Me series! I have no idea how long I’ll be – it could be a few days or a few months. (In the mean time, please pick the book up for yourself!)
All I know is that it’s time to press pause, to be still, to listen and to obey.
Jen
In preparation for tomorrow, please check out these lyrics from Rebecca St. James’ decade-old but still beautiful song, “Wait for Me.”
Darling, did you know that I
I dream about you?
Waiting for the look in your eyes,
When we meet for the first time
And darling, did you know that I,
I pray about you?
Praying that you will hold on,
And keep your loving eyes only for me
‘Cause I am waiting for, praying for you darling
Wait for me too
Wait for me as I wait for you
‘Cause I am waiting for, praying for you darling
Wait for me too
Wait for me as I wait for you
Darling wait
Darling did you know
I dream about life together
Knowing it will be forever
I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine
And darling when I say,
“Til death do us part”
I mean it with all of my heart
Now and always faithful to you
Now I know you may have made mistakes
But there’s forgiveness, and a second chance
So wait for me, darling wait for me
Wait for me
Darling wait for me
Where are you today?
Where is your security, your happiness, your hope?
Where does it lie? On what does it depend?
Are you fully, 100 percent, with all your heart, surrendered to God, trusting him and his ready to accept his will for your life, whatever it may mean? Or are you, as For King and Country puts it, “Pushing on a pull door”?
Check out this song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44fYPcZUuHM
Jen
You open our blind eyes, open our blind eyes
Heal all our sickness, you alone
You opened my blind eyes, gave me a new life
Oh yeah, our savior’s here
My favorite lines. From my favorite Kari worship song.
Has anyone had this experience? HE opened your blind eyes and gave you a new life? Rescued you from a path that was quickly headed for a downward spiral? Saved you?
“God rescued me; He is faithful.” That’s my story.
What’s YOUR story? I want to hear from my readers…
Ready, set, GO! 🙂
Jen
I’ve mentioned this multiple times before, but I believe that music is so powerful. It has the ability to alter our moods and even change our perspectives, for good or for bad. (That’s why I blog about it so much!)
For my own life, the most impactful album of all time has been Kari Jobe’s Where I Find You. I can’t even begin to describe how God has used her music to transform my mind. Most of all, it’s encouraged me to worship God when life takes a downward spiral. And to worship when my flesh doesn’t feel like worshipping at all. (So. Go. Buy. It. NOW!)
Anyway, today I heard another great song, which I have been familiar with for probably a year now, but one that I hadn’t heard in a long time. It was one that I needed to hear. It’s called “You Are More” by Tenth Avenue North. Here are a few of my favorite lines:
But don’t you know who you are,
What has been done for you?
Yeah, don’t you know who you are?
You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.
Need I say more?
Jen
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10
Not one of us is innocent. We all are sinners. And, we must confess our sins to God. Repent. Then, we are cleansed and we find freedom.
Jen
The other day I shared the first 11 verses of James because 1) I love those verses and 2) I had them memorized and wanted to test myself to see if I could write them.
Then one of my readers shared with me a verse from 1 Peter that I had heard before, but never read so carefully in my life. The only thought I can verbalize from reading these verses is “AMEN.”
Please take a moment to read and cherish:
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9
Jen
My name is Jennifer Hope. I'm a follower of Christ. I want you to know that my God is faithful. This is my story--the story of a 21-year-old who was rescued from her brokenness by Jesus.
Jennifer's Hope 