valentine's day

you guys look so nice!!!! i wish that we had kacey and evan in both of these pictures, though!

and karina and chase are missing, also!! ;)

as promised...

so john 4:23-24:

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

If this is a description of how true worshipers will worship, because this is who God is seeking out, and Jesus is actually using a "must" here, the question is:

What does it mean to worship Him in spirit and in truth?

the time has come

HELLO! i am going to follow anne and kacey's lead and say my name: "i'm missy." ;) i'm a poster on this blog... a YOUNG adult, a lover of Jesus, and i get to hang out with youth a lot! :)

so i've been wanting to write a post for a long time now, but i just haven't known how to write what's been on my heart...but there is one thing that is just kind of burned in me and keeps coming up over and over and over again...

and it's this:

i am HIS. i am his possession. i belong to Jesus. i am not my own, but He OWNS me.

to some that might be a disturbing thought, but i think it's awesome!! why does he own me? because he BOUGHT me! he paid for me with precious blood!

and i guess i am just rejoicing in that. God has claimed me as His very own!! the One who has made the heavens and the earth...well, He says of me, "that one is MINE." and why? because He's madly in love with me!!

does this affect me? absolutely. it affects everything that comes out of my mouth, everything i do with my body, what i let come in through my eyes and my ears, where i take my heart to find love and fulfillment...it affects everything that i say yes to, and everything that i say no to.

i have been set free from the power of sin, that i might belong to Another (romans 7:4). and i DO belong to another. and i am madly in love with this One.

so where does that leave us--those who belong to Jesus (romans 8:9-10)? well, i think we need to stop making excuses for our sinful desires and our battle against our flesh, and call it for what it is. i want to listen for and respond to the voice of GOD--of the One who owns me. God has a plan and a purpose for my life, and i've about had it with letting this world rip me off.

Church, i think it's time we own up to the fact that we're owned! are you with me!?