Chasing After the Wind

"I have seen all the things that

 are done under the sun;

 all of them are meaningless,

 a chasing after the wind."

Ecclesiastes 1: 14

Do you ever feel like you are chasing after the wind??? Boy, I have and especially here lately. I'll spare you all the details, but I have just felt………dry, dissatisfied, drained, and down right discouraged--just to name a few. I don't know about you but, it's like I chase after all of these things and once I get what I am after, it doesn't really satisfy me and I start chasing after the next thing that I think will. Isn't it crazy how FAST we humans can become so unsatisfied??? 

 I haven't been in The Word much here lately and I have never read or studied the book of Ecclesiastes extensively, but I woke up this morning wanting to read this book. Thank you, Spirit, because this scripture was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Even Solomon knew that all of his wisdom, wealth, and power were meaningless without God and would never make him happy apart from God. This was a good reminder for me. The world we live in is an illusion. It promotes that the more you have the happier you will be. Do not be tricked. It is okay to have things, but it is not okay to think those possessions will satisfy your soul. Only Jesus can do that. :)

So let's stop chasing after the wind and find our true happiness in Jesus. 

Stay Salty,

Annie

Psalm 51:10

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Psalm 51:10

Stay Salty,

Annie

How Can It Be?

"You plead my cause

You right my wrongs

You break my chains

You overcome

You gave Your life

To give me mine

You say that I am free

How can it be."

Lauren Daigle-How Can It Be

Y'all, this song. is. amazing. Thankful for Jesus' love and grace he pours out to me daily. How can it be that someone loves me that much? I hope you find encouragement from this song as much as I do! :)

Click the link and have a listen. Prepare to have it on repeat. 

http://youtu.be/Wt5X91ciE6Y

Stay Salty,

Annie

Early Morning Poetry

Good Morning! It has been a while since I have posted in my blog. I hope you are doing well and are enjoying this beautiful weather. I know I am. 

There have been a lot of things happening lately in my life. Good and bad things. When I say bad, really I mean, things that aren't going my way. You see, I think I have everything under control and tend to forget, quite often, that I do not control anything. Then, sure enough, God humbles me and so I find myself right back at the feet of Jesus pouring my heart and soul to him. 

With that being said, I have picked up writing here and there. I write in a journal. Sometimes it's prayers. Sometimes it's just what has been going on in my life. Sometimes it's prayer request. Sometimes it's praises. And sometimes, its poetry. Very rare is it poetry. I tend to write poetry when I am sad or have faced a life lesson. It helps redirect my focus on the One I am supposed to be focused on. So here is the latest poetry entry! Hope you enjoy!

"You know my deepest sorrows and my heart's desires.

Help me trust your resounding power.

You alone control my life and will. 

When my plan doesn't work, I will love you still.

I know life is one big trial and test, 

but knowing you gives me rest.

Help me not to fix my eyes on the loss.

Instead, help me lay it all at the cross."

Stay Salty,

Annie

Why Do Bad Things Have to Happen?

I find myself asking this same question when I talk to God sometimes. PROBLEM: Bad things happen because their is sin in the world. Solution? JESUS. This is not the way God intended for us to live. Sin entered into the world and that is why we have national disasters, diseases, addictions, and death. That is why Jesus went to the cross. He took our sins upon him, died, and rose again so that we could live eternally with him. One day we (Christians) will be with Jesus in heaven and He will make all NEW things and we will live how God intended us to in the first place. God is sovereign and his ways are ALWAYS best. 
No matter what your situation looks like, God's way is PERFECT. God is good all the time and all the time God is good. Learning that God is sovereign and good has really been where I struggle in my faith sometimes. I have been praying and asking God to heal a really close family member and it seems like the situation has honestly gotten worse. Today, as I was talking to my little sister, I realized, God is good and we had a good discussion about God and his sovereignty. Knowing that and confessing that released a lot of my anxiety. No matter how bad the situation, God has it under control and it is all happening so that his name will be lifted up and glorified. 
If you are reading this, I would like for you to take a minute and say a prayer for my family. The situation we are currently facing has been an ongoing battle for the past 8+ years and has reached a breaking point. I can honestly tell you that this has made my relationship with Jesus so much closer. He has heard me cry and cry asking him to help heal this family member with an addiction countless times. My family is strong and I am so thankful for them. Mostly, I am thankful for a God who hears my cries and has promised me that this current place is NOTHING compared to the place he is preparing for me. 


Until next time….

Stay Salty,

Annie

Faith That Moves Mountains

Have you ever wondered how some people have so much faith?? I have been blessed with an amazing family that believes in and loves Jesus. Many of my family members have an unbelievable amount of faith. I have faith but most of the time it is as small as a mustard seed. 

I serve a God that flooded the world and showed grace to Noah's family, a God who parted the Red Sea so that his chosen people could be freed from slavery, a God who knocked down Jericho by having Joshua and his army MARCH around the city, and a God who allowed his son to die for my sins and RAISE him back up so that I could have a relationship with him FOREVER. If my God can do that, why on EARTH do I sometimes struggle with faith??? 

The thing about faith is you have to be confident and know that Jesus is who God says he is. The Messiah. In Hebrews 11, it talks about faith in action. Here is a verse that stuck out to me as I was reading (Hebrews 11:6) :

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

This verse makes me want to please him. Faith is ongoing. You never get it and then stop needing it. I don't know about you, but I want a faith that moves mountains!

Until next time….

Stay Salty

Annie

People Pleaser

Hello again! I have been MIA for the last few months. Nothing too interesting has happened these past few months, but something BIG is fixing to happen in 2 weeks. What?? I will have completed my FIRST year of teaching on May 23. The countdown has begun. 

Let me just tell you what the Lord has been doing in my life lately. 

I joined First Baptist Tupelo last summer after searching for a church for several months. I knew several people that were members there and got involved in a singles Sunday school class. These people have become lifelong friends and I am so thankful for them. 

I had the opportunity to lead a DNOW small group with my good friend, Laura, back earlier in the year. We lead the 10th and 11th grade girls. After spending 2 days and 1 night with them, I felt like I had known them forever. The Lord began pricking my heart after that weekend. I knew I needed to get involved with youth, and the Lord had opened that door for me. 

First Baptist just recently added a third service. Several months leading up to the new service, each Sunday, in the bulletin, were opportunities to sign up to help teach Sunday school. I signed up to help co-teach with the 10th and 11th grade girls. Right now, I just sit and listen and help with discussion. I have already learned so much and can't wait to continue pouring into the girls that I have met. This morning, one of the teachers gave the girls an opportunity to share about what God has taught them this year since the school year is coming to an end (9 days…who's counting?) . Honestly, I hadn't really thought about what God had taught me this year up until that very moment. As you know, this was my first year of teaching, and looking back at those first few months, I am embarrassed by the way I acted. I couldn't see it then, but God had me right where he wanted me. Things are ALWAYS better in hindsight ;). If you know me, you know that I am a people pleaser. What God taught me this year is that I don't need to seek to please people. What I do need, however; is to seek and please HIM. One of my cousins gave me the reference Colossians 3:23 to read and it says:

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."

Some days are harder than others, but this verse has been a wonderful reminder of who I am really supposed to please. I am so thankful that God taught me this valuable lesson. I am completely in LOVE with every single one of my first grade (fixing to be second grade) babies. I know that he has placed each and every single child in my classroom for a reason. For that, I am grateful.

So here is my question. Who are you seeking to please? People or your Heavenly Father?

Stay Salty,

Annie

Good

I hope everyone had a wonderful week! I also hope that you found the verse encouraging. I am going to be honest. I didn't do such a good job of learning the last part of Ephesians 6:12. So this week, I am going to do a better job of learning that part of the scripture. 

What I want to talk about tonight and what I have been thinking a lot about lately is "being good". God has blessed me with an amazing Sunday School class. I have made some everlasting friendships this past year and am so thankful that God placed each person in my life. If you are reading this, thank you for encouraging me, caring for me, and building me to become more like Christ each day. We meet every Thursday night for Bible study. Currently, we are reading "The Good and Beautiful God" by James Bryant Smith. His entire book compares false narratives that we have about God to the true narratives that Jesus has about God. I am being completely honest when I say that this book gave me an entire different look on Jesus and who God is. Ultimately, we grow to know and love God through his word, but this book really helped me with misconceptions (false narratives) that I had and helped me fall in love with the God that Jesus knows. In one of the chapters, James Bryant Smith hit on the topic of how we live in a "performance based world". The false narrative in this particular chapter was about how, as humans, we are accustomed to viewing life this way and that if we do "good" we get rewarded. If we make good grades, we get rewarded. If we clean our room, we get rewarded. If we perform well at work, we get a promotion. Jesus' narrative was that we do not have to work hard or do "good" with God. We have to accept his free gift of salvation. The reward we get is to know God deeper and form an intimate relationship with him. Now that's a good reward. 

I am also currently reading a book titled, "Anything" by Jennie Allen. It is my first time reading one of her books and I can already tell that I am going to enjoy her. The entire book is about how we place everything above God. I haven't really gotten too far into the book, but she is talking about how she and her husband were tired of "going through the motions" and so they told God they would do anything to serve him. Hince, how the title of the book came to be. She also hit on the "performance based" society we live in. As I was reading, I kept thinking about how we think we are "good". We try to be "good". We go to church, we make good grades, we say thank you, yes ma'am, and no sir, we pray before we eat and before we go to sleep. All these things that we think make us "good".  It dawned on me that really, I am not "good" at all. None of us are. We are actually born with evil hearts. What makes us "good" is Jesus Christ. I think of the song Forever Reign by Hillsong UNITED. The beginning of the song goes like this:

You are good, You are good, when there's nothing good in me.

Forever Reign-Hillsong

Jesus makes us good. We do nothing good on our on. I am so thankful that I have a Savior that makes me good. Apart from him I can do nothing-John 15:5.

My prayer this week for each of you is that you feel loved by Jesus. I also pray that you put on the full armor of God this week to fight off satan's schemes. 

Stay Salty,

Annie

Armor Continued

Good afternoon! I hope you enjoyed this beautiful Sunday afternoon outside! It was such a pretty day! Thankful that God allowed us to remember what warm weather was like! I got to spend it with some of my peeps and we had a good time. We played, rather attempted, to play volleyball. After that, a few of us attempted disc golf--epic fail. It was fun though. I don't think the trees whose bark I chipped off would agree though! ;)  Needless to say, it was a good time with some pretty awesome people. 

I hope you were able to learn the first part of Ephesians 6:10,11. I also hope that this week when the devil put bad images in your mind that you clung to this verse. Be strong in the Lord and his MIGHTY power. I don't know about you but my flesh sure battled with me this week. Here are a few things my flesh desired this week: a nice new house, new bedding, new clothes, a house at the beach, a long trip to the beach, and the list goes on and on. None of these things will make me happy or satisfy me. The devil and his schemes…He's good at what he does. When I caught myself desiring these things, I would repeat the verse for the week. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take a stand against the devil's schemes. See, I wasn't being thankful for what I did have. I have a nice house, bedding, clothes, a house on the beach--just kidding about that one, and many more materials. That is something the devil is good at too. Make us want more when we already have enough. Like I said, he's good at what he does and that is why Paul instructs us to put on the armor of God so that we will be ready when he strikes. 

For this next week, we will be learning verse 12. Hopefully by the end of the week, you will be able to recite both parts of Ephesians 6:10-12. It will be another verse hidden in your heart! Here is the part you and I will be learning:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12

Until next time,

Stay Salty,

Annie

Armor

Have you ever wondered why you doubt and question God? I know I wonder all the time. Let's get this straight. God does not plant doubt, satan does. Satan is the master of deceiving and planting doubt and question. Here lately, I have been doubting and questioning. It's in these times where I call upon Jesus's name and a peace transcends all understanding. During Sunday night service our pastor referenced the scripture Ephesians 6:11. In this scripture, Paul is telling us to put on the full armor of God to help fight against satan's schemes. Let me tell you, satan is good at scheming. He is in the world because in 1 John 4:4 it tells us that the one in us (Holy Spirit) is greater than the one who is in the world. I find that so comforting because, if you haven't noticed, our world is pretty dark right now and only getting darker. It's our duty as Christians to be the salt in the world. We need to preserve what's good in the world. We do that by hiding the word of God in our hearts and putting on the armor to get us ready for the fight.

Remember the challenge I presented to you last week? I hope you enjoyed the scripture reference Galatians 4:7. I also hope that you took the time to really reflect on what those words truly mean. If you have admitted to God that you are a sinner and you need Jesus as your Savior, you are no longer a slave to sin! Jesus bore your sins on the cross!!!! You, my friend, are an heir! Is that not awesome? Me or you or anyone did NOTHING to deserve such a position. It is because God loves us and Jesus knew that we needed him. Man, that's some good stuff and good loving! I hope you feel loved after reflecting and memorizing that scripture last week. 

Sooo are you ready for the next verse to place in your heart? This has become one of my favorite verses. I haven't memorized it yet either but here lately have read it several times. (When I post a verse, I am memorizing it also)--just to let you know! ;) Here is the entire verse but I am going to break it down so that you can take the time to reflect on each word.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:10-12

The part that I have highlighted is the part that you and myself are going to be memorizing this week. If you want to memorize the whole thing, please feel free to. I just like to break it down so that I can focus on what the verse is saying. Here is the part of the verse that I am going to memorize this week:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Ephesians 6:10-11

Stay Salty,

Annie

Challenge

Lately, I have been trying to memorize scripture. I do not know enough scripture and that is something I want to challenge myself to be better at this year. It really is good to have scripture embedded into your heart. It helps you in so many different aspects of life. I have been blessed with godly family members. There is one that I always go to when I am down and out. Even though she lives in a different state and has to take care of a family, she ALWAYS has good advice to give. It is godly, straight from the Bible, advice. She advised me to pray scripture and when she prays for me over the phone she prays scripture. Not all the time, but most of the time. 
At first, I would try to memorize 3 or 4 scriptures a week. Obviously, that is a lot and I noticed that I wasn't' really applying what I was memorizing to my life. Like a test in high school or college, I would learn the material for the test and as soon as I answered the last question the information was gone never to be used again. I noticed that I was just memorizing and I wasn't enjoying what the verses meant. To fix that problem, I challenged myself to learn a new verse each week. Just one verse so I could really take in what the verse was saying and apply it to my life. 
I am challenging you too. Try to set a goal for yourself to memorize a verse each week. Really sit back and during your quiet time reflect on what that verse means to you. You might be asking yourself where you are supposed to start. Well, to help you out, I am going to post the verse that I am memorizing for the week. If you want, feel free to memorize the same verse as me. If not, you can choose one when you are reading during your quiet time. If there is a verse that really speaks to you, memorize that one. Try to memorize the reference so when the opportunity arrises--and it will--you can encourage someone by saying the verse or telling them where to find it in the Bible. You will be surprised at how many opportunities the Lord allows you to use his word to help encourage, motivate, and love his people with the verses you memorize. 
Scripture for the week:

"So you are no longer a slave, but God's child, and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."

Galatians 4:7

Stay Salty,

Annie

True Love

As you know, Valentine's Day is coming up. I was reading the other night and came across this quote. It was one of those quotes, where after you read it, you do a fist pump into the air. It is so true of our God and so good that I had to share it with you. Here goes:

"The ultimate love you will ever experience will be between yourself and the One who created you and loves you most."

Michelle McKinney Hammond

I forget how much I am loved at times. Then, I am reminded that I have been bought with a price. If you are single and spending another Valentine's Day alone, remember that you are not alone. Jesus is with you and loves you. Those who aren't single and are currently dating someone or married, don't ever put your man above God. Like my girl Michelle said, the ultimate love you will EVER experience will be between you and your maker. No man will ever fill that spot that God intends for Jesus to fill. When you expect your man to meet the kind of love only Jesus can give you, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Humans always fail. God's love always prevails. 

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Psalms 4:23

Stay Salty,

Annie

God's Word

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever!"

Isaiah 40:8

Stay Salty,

Annie

Doors

For some odd reason, doors have really been on my mind. I am a sucker for antique furniture and these doors are gorgeous. Thanks, Google! ;) 

I have had many doors open and close in my life. The doors I am speaking of are the ones that God has allowed to open and close. I don't know about you, but I struggle with figuring out which door he is closing and which door he is opening.  I think of the story in Genesis 19. When God spared Abraham's nephew life from His wrath on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God opened the door for Lot and his family to leave the city before he destroyed it, but it was very hard for Lot to leave the door in which God was closing, closed. Before he was literally dragged out by the angels (Genesis 19:16), Lot hesitated because he didn't want to leave behind the life he and his family established there. How many times have I hesitated before I finally let the door close? When Lot and his family finally leave, the angels instructed them not to look back. Well, Lot's wife just couldn't obey God's command to not look back at the city and she turned into a pillar of salt. She didn't obey. God is a fair and just God, but he does punish sin. Obviously, if you look back at your past, you will not turn into a pillar of salt, but this is a good reminder for us to trust that when God closes a door in our lives, he opens another one. We just have to be ready to walk through it when he reveals to us which doors are opening and which ones are closing.  

I really struggle with letting doors shut lately. My "type A" personality likes to take over and think that I have control on which ones should be opened and which ones should be closed. I pray daily and ask God to help me leave the doors he shuts closed, and to give me the courage and strength to walk through the ones he opens. Thankful that God knows exactly what he is doing when he does open and close doors in my life. :)

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

Alexander Graham Bell

Stay Salty,

Annie

Seasons

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I love how creative God is. While I love all of the seasons, my absolute favorite season is fall. I love the changing color of the leaves on the trees. Especially the really, really, bright red and green ones. It is just another sign of how in control God is. It's his world and creation. 

I have really been thinking about seasons lately. Not the typical 4 seasons though. The seasons I am talking about are the ones we experience in our daily life. Singleness, births, deaths, hurt, anger, sadness, bitterness, peace, marriage, family, and many others that we face during time here on earth. The other night at Bible study a good friend mentioned seasons and how God uses those seasons to mature us in our walk. Although we can't see it at the time, God's timing is perfect. When you face those dark seasons, try to face them without complaining. Philippians 2:13 says, …"for it is God who works in you to will and act in order to fulfill his good purpose." That season you are facing, whether good or bad, has a purpose. There have been seasons I have been through that I wish I would have handled differently. Now, looking back, I can see the lesson that God was trying to teach me in and through those seasons. 

One of my favorite verses is, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances (seasons); for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." When you face any season, the good, the bad, or the ugly, try to remember this verse and give thanks in the season. We aren't instructed to give thanks of our circumstances, but we are instructed to give thanks in our circumstances. 

"Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again."
Sarah Ban Breathnach

Stay Salty,

Annie

Land of Milk and Honey

So you know how in the last blog I talked about how intimate and powerful our God is? Today our preacher at First Baptist Church Tupelo hit a little on that subject. He just said that two people could read the same verse and it mean something completely different to them and how our God is a personal God.

            This morning, Chad, referenced the book of Numbers chapters 13 and 14 during his sermon. His particular sermon was how The Lord told Moses to send some men to explore the land of Canaan that he was going to give to the Israelites. When majority of the men returned back to Moses to give him a report on what they found, they gave Moses these account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak (vicious giants of that particular time) there.”-Numbers 13:27 The Israelites of this particular group referred to themselves as grasshoppers (Numbers 13:33). Chad’s sermon was about facing giants. Chad said that the Israelites minimized God and maximized the giants. How guilty am I of that? That hit home hard.

            As the story goes on, the Israelites eventually begin to panic and say, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”-Numbers 14: 2-3. Eventually, because the Israelites didn’t obey God, they never got to see the promised Canaan. Read Numbers 14: 33-35.     You see, by Chad reading this, his particular focus was on “giants” or problems. After I read Numbers 14:2-3, I related it to my personal life. Even though God had just delivered the Israelites from bondage under Pharaoh, they still wanted to go back to that dreadful place. They didn’t trust God to keep his word and because of that, they didn’t get to experience the blessing he had prepared for them. How many times have I been guilty of “going back to the past” and wishing that I could go back???? After God had delivered me from my bondage. I don’t know about you but I want to experience milk and honey and the blessings God has prepared for me in the future. Not looking back but looking forward because I know what he has waiting for me is far more beautiful than I could ever imagine or dream of.

            What are you looking back at? What is keeping you from forgetting the bondage God delivered you from and blinding your vision so that you can’t see the blessings he has prepared for you?

Stay Salty,

Annie

Store Up Treasures In Heaven

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin's do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6: 19-21

In this particular verse, Jesus is warning us about the love of money.
I think it is amazing how every verse in the Bible is so powerful, yet so intimate at the same time. Let me explain. Depending on who is reading the verse and what circumstances or "life situations" they are dealing with, is how they perceive the verse and how they use it to cope with the circumstance or the situation. Meaning, that another person and I can read this exact verse but it speak to us in a completely different way depending on the circumstance or situation. That is awesome. That is how intimate and amazing our God is.
The reason for this post is because I learned a very valuable lesson yesterday. I have really been asking the Lord to reveal himself to me in everyday life because sometimes life gets in the way and fogs what our true purpose is on this earth. To reflect the image of God and to make disciples. That can be a future post. Back to what I was saying…Thursday night as I lay in bed reflecting on the day, I started thinking about all things God has blessed me with. A family, home, friends, clothes, and the list goes on. I started thinking in particularly about the materialistic things I own. Which in reality, I do not own at all. All that I have is his. I am just a borrower of it all. I asked The Lord not to let me get attached to the material things that I had in my possession.
 Those of you that know me, know that I recently had the privilege of buying my first car!!  To say it was an upgrade would be a complete understatement---no offense, PEARL. I purchased a 2014 Nissan Altima in September and she has been my baby ever since. To give you an idea of how much I love my new car, I would ask people to wipe off the bottoms of their shoes before getting in, I wouldn't let anyone hold a drink unless it was in the cup holder, I would go and have it washed once every two weeks---you get the idea. Ridiculous. But I couldn't help it. When you spend the money on something super nice, you want to take care of it. So the next day, Friday, I have a few errands to run. About 1:30 p.m., the unthinkable happened. I had a wreck. In my brand-new car. Amazingly, I know it was from God, a calmness and peace came over me. Myself and the other driver involved are both okay and were pretty shaken up. The wreck was not my fault and was a complete freak accident. In that moment, I realized 1.) how fast a wreck can happen 2.) how precious life is 3.) how it was just a car(material) that can be fixed.
Don't get me wrong, I am completely bummed about my car being messed up but at the same time, it is a material. It is not important when it comes to the bigger picture. The bigger picture being that nothing..car, phone, fame, wealth, house, position, etc. can satisfy my soul or anyones soul the way that Jesus Christ can. He is the only one that can make you truly satisfied.
I am not saying not to enjoy the materials you have been blessed with. What I am saying is, do not place them above God and do not strive to have material things because you think that it will make you happier. The richest person on the planet can probably tell you that. Whether he or she wants to admit it or not. If they do not know Christ, they are not fully satisfied.

Until next time.

Stay Salty,

Annie

Add Some Flavor to Your Life

Well, this is my third attempt to be a "blogger" so maybe the saying, "third times a charm" will come of some use. Here's hoping.  At first, I would try to blog about myself and what I was doing, until I realized that my life is really not that interesting to blog about. Normally, people who blog are newly weds, designers, people with babies, etc..etc. People with things to actually blog about. Then I started thinking and maybe I am not interesting enough but the One who created me is. I wanted a way to express my love for God and his son, Jesus Christ. I wanted to let other people know how good and faithful the Jesus I serve is. I wanted to glorify Him. 
You are probably asking yourself what the title of my blog signifies. So I will tell you how the title came to be. A few weeks ago, I came across the verse that now represents what this blog about, being salty. Luke 14: 34-35 Jesus is talking about salt. Webster describes salt as a substance used for seasoning food and preserving meat . In my Bible the commentary says this of being "salty". Salt can lose its flavor. When it gets wet and then dries, nothing is left but a tasteless residue. Many Christians tend to blend in the rest of the world and avoid the cost of standing up for Christ. But Jesus says if Christians lose their distinctive saltiness, they become worthless. Just as salt flavors and preserves food, we are to preserve the good in the world, help keep it from spoiling, and bring new flavor to life. It goes on to say, Being "salty" is not easy, but if a Christian fails in this function, he or she fails represent Christ in the world- Tyndall Live Application Study Bible. 
The word salt really stuck with me for some reason. The Lord just laid that word on my heart and I began to think about what I could possibly do with the word….salt. I began racking my brain of things that it could be and finally just kind of pushed it to the back of my brain. Then, one day out of the blue, I thought if I could use the word salt as an acronym I could do something with it. Again, my brain started spinning buttttt nothing. It wasn't until one random day when I wasn't thinking about it, I began thinking of words that could make up the acronym "salt". I quickly got my iPhone and went to the notes section and began typing away at the words that The Lord was laying on my mind and heart. Finally, I chose:

 Surrendering to 
 A
 Life
 Transformed

That is where the "salt" part came. The words also have significance also. In Romans 12:2, Paul states, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---his good, pleasing and perfect will."
You see, when you allow Jesus to be the Savior of your life, you surrender to your old self. We sacrifice our old self and let the new (only made new by Jesus) take over. My Bible commentary says this: " Only when the Holy Spirit renews, reeducates, and redirects our minds are we truly transformed." It says it clearly in Romans 8:5. " Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life."

I am living evidence of being transformed and continuing to be transformed daily . Trust me, it's a work in progress. Am I perfect? No. Not at all. I mess up all of the time, but God shows and continues to show me Grace each day. I hope that by reading this blog that you feel encouraged, loved by the one who created and formed you (Psalm 139:13), and determined to add flavor to the world! ;)

As they say, "The rest is history." I decided that I would start a blog about the Lord and just talk about and share things He does and continues to do in my life. 

Stay Salty,

Annie