God's Purpose - WORTH READING!

 God's purpose for creation was to have a relationship with us!! God desires an intimate relationship with us and this just is so so cool to me! This encourages me so much to just know that the Lord wants a deeper relationship with me, a girl who totally messes up all the time! So with this said, I have experienced a time where I just felt God in me and knew that he was trying to have a deeper relationship with me! Okay so one day, I came home from a hard day at school and just broke down in tears when I got into my room. I was just so upset with my life. It didn’t make since to me why all these hard trials were happening in my life. I felt like I had no one and that none of my friends really loved me or cared about me. I was just going through a rough time, I was fighting with my family and this was at the time when I was being persecuted for my faith, my grandma had just died, and I was about to have surgery. I just fell to my knees and gave it all to God. The pain I felt I can’t even describe. I felt so empty, yet so filled with the Lord. I basically said to God that I have nothing, but I don’t want anything. All I want is you God. Most people would look back at this time of total desperation as the worst part of their life. I look back at it and it was the best time of my life. Nothing was in the way of me and my God. I was so hurt and broken, yet the Lord was going to take good care of me. It felt so amazing to have no distractions and to have nothing but the Lord. I think that part of this journey for me was God’s way in teaching me the meaning of total reliance in Him. I feel so blessed that the Lord brought me to this feeling of brokenness. I think it’s an honor to suffer. That sounds weird, but it means the Lord is reaching out to me personally. He’s wanting me to draw closer to Him therefore he is willing to see me in pain in order for me to experience the greater intimacy He has planned for me. When I chose to glorify God in the midst of my persecutions, perseverance was created. Perseverance than produces character, and charter produces hope. Hope in the life we will have in Heaven. It is that hope that keeps me going when things get tough. Persecution never stops, but then again, neither does hope. So this “breaking point” for me was such a blessing! While these trials were happening I had no idea what was happening, but when I took a step back I could see everything God was doing in my life. I think this goes a long really well with talking about God's purpose, and this totally encourages me!

Its so easy to see Satan in the world today! The world we live in is sooo sinful! Mr. Rodden talked a tiny bit today about how one of the things that is making the world so sinful is sex. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, "for this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality." Why is it that sex looks so appealing? Why does it seem so harmless? And for that matter, why do you think God speaks so directly about it? Sex in our world is so casual, so easy, and so not a big deal. Well, I hate to be the bearer of a news flash, but sex is a huge deal! I am going to be sort of bold and blunt about this topic because I am just so tired of our world that is yelling lied and I am done with quiet whispers of truth. Your sexual purity is much more than whether or not you have done it. It means your body, mind, and soul are pure before a most Holy God. It means that you are the boy or girl who has boundaries that makes the world call you weird. It means that for most of high school you might not have a boyfriend or girlfriend because all the boys/girls at your school know they won't get anything from you. Your sanctification means that you know the holiness that is in you from being a Christ follower and wouldn't dare to rub God's holiness and purity in the ground. It means that in the depths of your heart you know that the words "IT'S WORTH IT" really are true because you trust the God who made you that He wants the best for you even in sex. It means that you know the best for you, and your sex life means that it is only with one man/woman and one man/woman only. I know you might be thinking "Courtney, it is soo hard." I have to be honest with you this concept has never ever been hard for me (believe me I have many other concepts that are hard for me!), but for some of my friends it has been a major struggle and just hearing what they have to say I have learned and now understand so much. Through friends I know that in the middle of high school that pressure takes over. I know that you may feel stupid that you are the only one of your friends who's still a virgin. I know boys may make fun of you because you're the "goodie-good" who said no to their homecoming or prom date. And I'm guessing the thought; "Is it even worth it?" has crossed your mind. Oh, sweet friend, it is! Do you believe that God is faithful? Then waiting for your perfect pure wedding is WORTH it. Do you believe that God wants to bless you? Then waiting to give all of yourself to a man/woman you would lay down your life for is WORTH it. Do you believe God's perfect will for your life? Then waiting for your prince charming or perfect wife is WORTH it. For some reading this, your purity has not been questioned and you have never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Great! For others, you have dated some but never crossed that line of commitment of purity to the Lord. Great! And still for some, you might be reading this and know in your heart you have messed up in this area of your heart. Great! God is big enough for anything. He desires to extend the same exact love to all three groups of you all. Purity can start today, right now, with you finally handing God your heart and your body. Remember: It's so WORTH it!!

Knowing that God's purpose is relationship, redemption, and reconciliation really opens up my eyes. It shows me that if GODS purpose is relationships then MY purpose needs to be relationships. I want to follow after God and try my best to live a godly life, so I want to follow after Him! This encourages me so so much to go out and create relationships with people! One of my favorite things in life is making new friends! I love getting to know people and just being there as an ear to listen and a friend to lean on!! I absolutely adore giving my friends advice, while getting advice from my mentors (Proverbs 13:10). Knowing that God's purpose is a relationship with his people encourages me to continue making relationships with people on earth, but more importantly to continue growing in my relationship with the Lord! Growth isn't always easy, but it's always good! :) So I'm just really excited to continue attempting to live a godly life and loving others and God!!

I absolutely LOVE this video!!! I hope you do too!