Under Grace

My heart is breaking a little …

beargen:

scripturesketches:

Ashley and I just found out:

It costs more than USD $1,800 for a Canadian fiance to get a visa for American permanent residency.

And it takes about 8 months of waiting for the visa to process.

(And it’s about the same if you get married first.)

I was having a good night until this showed up on my dash. I know the feeling :/

:(

You are wrong about habitual sin

unkaglen:

Let’s talk about habitual sin, shall we? Oh my, how much doubt has come into the world through habitual sin? How can I be saved if I go on sinning? We ask again and again… as if our behavior had anything at all whatsoever to do with our salvation. 

Let me give you a simple test to help you understand habitual sin. Rate yourself on how well the following statements describe your state of mind:

1. I feel ashamed of myself for all the sin I do. I feel like it says something about what kind of Christian I am, and when I think of my habitual sin, I get this sinking feeling in my gut.
2. I feel so much guilt about what I do. It’s like something I can’t get away from, I’m marked by it, and I can’t feel good about myself until I put all this behind me.
3. I feel afraid. I know I deserve to be punished, and I’m sure God must be angry with me about this sin, and it’s like I can’t face Him with what I’ve done.

Now, rate these next three statements the same way, how well do these statements describe you?

1. I’m getting good wisdom on my habitual sin. I’m learning why I do it, when I’m more vulnerable, what my triggers are, and how to pray and work through all of it to eventually get better. I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m excited by my early progress. Also, I’ve come to realize this bad habit is just the fruit of a deeper, more basic struggle I need to address.
2. I’m developing a better strategy on how to deal with this habitual sin. I’ve got accountability, emotional backup, and alternatives in place for when I know I’m in the danger zone. I still make mistakes, but each time I do, I get smarter, and my strategy gets better.
3. I’m finally getting a sense of humility about myself. I’ve stopped “shoulding myself” (I should be able to do this, I should have already stopped doing that). I recognize my default setting is to make mistakes, and in getting closer to my victory, I’m overcoming my nature (with super-natural power). I can finally be excited about my growth, now that I have a realistic expectation of myself.

If you have a habitual sin in your life, chances are you score very high on the first three statements, and very low on the second three. So your problem is no longer the bad habit itself, your problem has become: shame, guilt, and fear. Using wisdom, strategy, and humility, it’s almost impossible not to gain some ground on this bad habit.

Forget about will power, forget about mourning your sins, and kill your already wounded ego. Emotions like fear, shame, and guilt will cloud the wisdom you need to overcome this thing. Beating up on yourself will only weaken you, and make you more vulnerable to going back into old patterns. It’s time to quit playing emotional games. It’s a time to get smart and take this thing down, one brick at a time, if need be.

(via beargen)

      4For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, 5tasted God’s good work and the powers of the coming age, 6and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are re-crucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt….

      9Even though we are speaking this way, dear friends, in your case we are confident of the better things connected with salvation. 10For God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you showed for His name when you served the saints—and you continue to serve them. 11Now we want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, 12so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.
      13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself:
                    14   I will indeed bless you,
                           and I will greatly multiply you. 
       15And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. 16For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. 17Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, 18so that through two unchangeable things, in with it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might hae strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He gas become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6: 4-6, 9-20

This is some good stuff right here. Seriously think about this. Really think about it. CRAZY!

blue-ridge-mountains:

Never Think || Robert Pattinson 

(Source: lecresta, via hopefisch)