I've been meaning to write about a really amazing thing that happened to me this summer for a while now. I'm finally getting around to writing about it even though it's been a few months now!
For those of you who know me, you know one of the most important things to me is my safety. I am kind of a safety freak in fact. I grew up with a very protective dad and brother who always looked out for me (and still do). Well, this summer I did not have my dad or my brother with me.
I was living in my house in Fort Worth while taking summer school, and I was living in my four bedroom house alone for two months. Although I tried to act tough, I did get scared often at night. I would hear a crack in the wood floors or the cat who lives on my back porch (who was sure to be a serial killer) and become a little bit frightened.
Whenever I was trying to go to sleep and was scared, I would pray for protection from God. I specifically would pray that He would watch over my house, that He would remove any evil, and that He would allow no intruders to enter my house. Whenever I would start praying, the coolest thing happened!
I could hear these birds start chirping outside my window. They were the sweetest sounding birds with little high pitched chirps. Now, this is unusual because they would literally only start chirping when I would start praying. No joke. Also, birds don't typically chirp at late at night, or at 12 or 1 in the morning. At least I have never heard any birds chirping once the sun sets.
I would then fall asleep to the chirping...every night. I don't believe this was a coincidence. I don't really believe in chance or coincidence in general. God has always kind of spoken to me in signs; they're always really personal things that other people wouldn't understand or notice. Also, I pay a lot of attention to detail, so He usually speaks to me in the little details of my life. I've been left speechless several times by signs like this in my life.
I know the birds were a sign to me from God that He was protecting me and a reminder that I did not need to fear. He did in fact protect me and answered my prayers. He also protected me constantly throughout the summer in many other ways than that situation. Looking back, I was really clinging onto Him, so weary and broken, but He always lifted me up and carried me through. Once again, God is faithful.
Well, I hope this can bring you some encouragement, or maybe even prove to you that God shows us His faithfulness in ways that we wouldn't necessarily expect.
I'd like to leave you with this verse from Psalms, the book that really got me through the trials of the summer:
"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." -Psalm 32:7
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Live for TODAY
Below is the last sermon written by a pastor named Kyle Lake. He was a pastor for University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, and he wrote the sermon before he tragically died in 2005 during a baptism celebration. He never got to preach this sermon, but his wife found it in his journal. Here it is:
"Live. And live well. BREATHE. Breathe in and breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD...and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done- a paper well-written, a project
thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all...because
soon he'll be wiping his own.
If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well. At the table
with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time,
then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground,
cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of life. Because it is most definitely a gift."
Wow. It is definitely no accident God gave Kyle that wisdom right before he passed away.
This sermon really made me think about the fact that we are only given one life here on this earth. Every single day, every single moment is a gift from God. He does not guarantee tomorrow or even our next breath. With that said, let's make the most of today. Let's soak in every little blessing that surrounds us. Let's move on from the past that weighs us down and turn over our futures to the God who will provide. Most importantly friends, let's live for TODAY!!
"Live. And live well. BREATHE. Breathe in and breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD...and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done- a paper well-written, a project
thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all...because
soon he'll be wiping his own.
If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well. At the table
with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time,
then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground,
cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of life. Because it is most definitely a gift."
Wow. It is definitely no accident God gave Kyle that wisdom right before he passed away.
This sermon really made me think about the fact that we are only given one life here on this earth. Every single day, every single moment is a gift from God. He does not guarantee tomorrow or even our next breath. With that said, let's make the most of today. Let's soak in every little blessing that surrounds us. Let's move on from the past that weighs us down and turn over our futures to the God who will provide. Most importantly friends, let's live for TODAY!!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Giving it all away...
What if we we were to give everything, our whole lives up to God?
Our every possession.
Our every desire.
Our every wish.
Our every thought.
Recently God has just been bringing me to my knees in humbleness because he has been taking away things, and I haven't understood why. Then, the other night in my quiet time I read this verse:
"The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths." -Psalm 135:6
And with that He stopped me dead in my tracks.
The main word that's been circling around in my mind lately is "why?" Why does God take away things we care about? Then, it all made sense. He does whatever please HIM, not whatever pleases me. This life is not about Rebecca Marie Starkey. I don't live my life because I want to be glorified and the world to revolve around me. I live to glorify Him who created me, who saved me, and who lives within me. That last sentence is something I know, something I say. It's so easy to say that's why I'm here, but do I act like it? Do I live it out?
When I reflect on my life in the recent past, the answer is no. Sometimes I get so caught up in what I want and what I think is right, that I lose focus. I forget why I'm here.
God commands us to give OUR WHOLE LIVES over to Him. We don't get to pick and choose what we give up. Christ gave it all for us. He gave His life...his LIFE so that I might live. So that I can spend forever in Heaven with Him. So that I can live for Him on this Earth.
Coincidentally (sarcasm) that same night it was my turn to also read Colossians 3:2-5 in my quiet time which says:
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature..."
If we keep perspective here in this world by focusing on Christ, it will be a joy to give up our lives to Him. If we really understand the true sacrifice He made for us, we will not want to live for ourselves and earthly things anymore. What really stood out to me was that is says Christ is our life. He is our life. Simple (and complex) as that! He is everything to us and every moment of our lives should reflect Him.
Also that night (I was laughing at how well God made all of this fit together) I was reading a devotional that said:
"His goal is not to make you happy. His goal is to make you His."
Well, by this point I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me to give it up. It's hard. I am not here to say that just because we know we are supposed to give our desires to God that it is quick and easy. It's not. It's painful. We often do it through gritted teeth and tears. But oh how marvelous it is when you have finally given up those areas to God. It's seriously like a physical weight has been lifted off your chest. Our needs, our wants, our desires are all safe in His hands.
He has a perfect plan for our lives. We only get to see little patches of our lives, but He sees every moment and beyond. He knows exactly what the future has in store. Since we can be secure in that, we can give up the present to Him, letting go of our distractions and turning our gaze back to Him!
With all of this said, I do not think that having blessings and happiness is a bad thing! If God is giving you blessings and providing for you, enjoy them because that's exactly what He's intended. However, if He's calling you turn things in your life over to Him, do it. That's where I am now. I knew that He wanted me to give up areas of my life to Him, and I'm here to tell you that it feels great having done so! It's still hard. It's still a daily struggle to fight off those distractions, but the Holy Spirit is definitely guiding me through. I realize that going through trials has only made my faith stronger and my dependence on Him so vital.
Well, know you know a tiny bit of my heart. I hope this writing of how God's been working in my life can encourage someone!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Why a Tattoo?!
Alright, so I just got my first and only tattoo this afternoon. I have been considering getting a tattoo for about the past four years (since my junior year of high school). I have wrestled with the idea as a Christian as to whether or not I should get one and whether or not it is sinful. Many people have told me reasons why I should not get a tattoo because of Biblical reasons. The two main points I've heard are the Leviticus argument and the 1 Corinthians argument.
In case you are not familiar with these, here they are:
"You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD." -Leviticus 19:28
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20
These two verses are God-breathed. They are not to be taken lightly or ignored. However, after wrestling over them for quite some time, I did not feel as if me getting a tattoo was sinful. Part of this realization for me came from reading Galatians and Romans. Both of these books have immense words of explaining the fact that we no longer live under the law of the Old Testament. We no longer have to obey all of the laws perfectly in order to have right fellowship with God. One of my favorite verses in Galatians is:
"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." -Galatians 3:23-26
We are no longer under Levitical Law. Obeying the law is no longer what saves us, it is faith in Christ. I am not saying that we should blatantly disobey the law of the Old Testament to disobey God or purposely sin; however I do not believe we as Christians have to obey all of the laws in Leviticus. For example, the verse before Leviticus 19:28, verse 27 says, "You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard." I know Christian men today trim and shave their beards, so that is a law not followed today. I am not a Theologian who has deeply studied Leviticus and the Old Testament, but I do know God provided a lot of the laws in order to set apart His people from the pagans. Tattoos in the time that Leviticus was written, were a sign of paganism. Because obviously God's people were to be separated from the pagans, He ordered them not to get tattoos, which would lump them in with pagans, or identify them as a pagan. However, my reasoning for getting a tattoo is not to be a pagan. In my opinion, getting a tattoo for any other reason besides glorifying God is wrong. Which brings me to the verse in 1 Corinthians.
Many people say that getting a tattoo is not treating your body as the temple that it is. However, in my opinion, it is possible to get a tattoo in order to glorify God. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, "So glorify God with your body." My entire reasoning for getting the tattoo I did was to glorify God. Here is the story behind it:
Four years ago in my junior year of high school, I was at the lowest point in my life. I was a lost sheep that had turned away from God subconsciously thinking I could handle life on my own. However, one night, literally the lowest point ever in my life, God completely redeemed me from a sinful situation I was in. The Holy Spirit intervened in such a powerful way that I could feel Him there with me. I stayed up almost that entire night crying and praying that God would redeem my life and bring me back to Him. I surrendered everything to Him and finally realized what trusting Him meant. Ever since then, God has been completely redeeming my life in ways that leave me speechless. I wanted to get my tattoo, the word and the location (the word redeemed on my wrist) because it is symbolic of that night. I wanted a daily reminder of God's faithfulness to me and how He saved me from a life that was leading me so far away from Him.
I have purposely left the details of this part of my testimony out of this blog because I think it is an impersonal place to share it. However, if you want to know I would be more than happy to talk with you and tell you! It is the part of my testimony I have been afraid to tell people, and only very few people have heard it. I want that to change! Maybe it is wrong of me to not want to write the details here, I don't know. I just like personal (face-to-face) communication for sharing my testimony.
My hope is that God will use this tattoo to His glory. There is no possible way I could explain it by means of lifting myself up or glorying myself. Obviously, my intentions cannot be one hundred percent pure. I like the tattoo and like the look of it, that is the selfish part of it, and I am praying against those selfish motives and praying that God would use this to further His kingdom. What I mean by that is I really hope the tattoo will bring up many opportunities for me to share my testimony and the Gospel. I also know that having a tattoo will allow me to relate to other people who have tattoos that think Christians will judge them because of it. I am thankful for those new opportunities!
Christians bring up very valid points of why we shouldn't get tattoos and bring up solid Scripture. However, I think we have to dig deep into God's Word to find the true meaning and context, pray about it, and examine our own hearts and motives. After doing this over the past few years, I personally think getting a tattoo is okay as long as the purpose is to glorify God and not ourselves by the reasons I have previously explained. If you have read this entire thing, thank you! I know it was pretty long :) Until the next blog, God bless you friends!
In case you are not familiar with these, here they are:
"You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD." -Leviticus 19:28
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20
These two verses are God-breathed. They are not to be taken lightly or ignored. However, after wrestling over them for quite some time, I did not feel as if me getting a tattoo was sinful. Part of this realization for me came from reading Galatians and Romans. Both of these books have immense words of explaining the fact that we no longer live under the law of the Old Testament. We no longer have to obey all of the laws perfectly in order to have right fellowship with God. One of my favorite verses in Galatians is:
"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." -Galatians 3:23-26
We are no longer under Levitical Law. Obeying the law is no longer what saves us, it is faith in Christ. I am not saying that we should blatantly disobey the law of the Old Testament to disobey God or purposely sin; however I do not believe we as Christians have to obey all of the laws in Leviticus. For example, the verse before Leviticus 19:28, verse 27 says, "You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard." I know Christian men today trim and shave their beards, so that is a law not followed today. I am not a Theologian who has deeply studied Leviticus and the Old Testament, but I do know God provided a lot of the laws in order to set apart His people from the pagans. Tattoos in the time that Leviticus was written, were a sign of paganism. Because obviously God's people were to be separated from the pagans, He ordered them not to get tattoos, which would lump them in with pagans, or identify them as a pagan. However, my reasoning for getting a tattoo is not to be a pagan. In my opinion, getting a tattoo for any other reason besides glorifying God is wrong. Which brings me to the verse in 1 Corinthians.
Many people say that getting a tattoo is not treating your body as the temple that it is. However, in my opinion, it is possible to get a tattoo in order to glorify God. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, "So glorify God with your body." My entire reasoning for getting the tattoo I did was to glorify God. Here is the story behind it:
Four years ago in my junior year of high school, I was at the lowest point in my life. I was a lost sheep that had turned away from God subconsciously thinking I could handle life on my own. However, one night, literally the lowest point ever in my life, God completely redeemed me from a sinful situation I was in. The Holy Spirit intervened in such a powerful way that I could feel Him there with me. I stayed up almost that entire night crying and praying that God would redeem my life and bring me back to Him. I surrendered everything to Him and finally realized what trusting Him meant. Ever since then, God has been completely redeeming my life in ways that leave me speechless. I wanted to get my tattoo, the word and the location (the word redeemed on my wrist) because it is symbolic of that night. I wanted a daily reminder of God's faithfulness to me and how He saved me from a life that was leading me so far away from Him.
 |
| Here's a pic so you know what I'm talking about! |
I have purposely left the details of this part of my testimony out of this blog because I think it is an impersonal place to share it. However, if you want to know I would be more than happy to talk with you and tell you! It is the part of my testimony I have been afraid to tell people, and only very few people have heard it. I want that to change! Maybe it is wrong of me to not want to write the details here, I don't know. I just like personal (face-to-face) communication for sharing my testimony.
My hope is that God will use this tattoo to His glory. There is no possible way I could explain it by means of lifting myself up or glorying myself. Obviously, my intentions cannot be one hundred percent pure. I like the tattoo and like the look of it, that is the selfish part of it, and I am praying against those selfish motives and praying that God would use this to further His kingdom. What I mean by that is I really hope the tattoo will bring up many opportunities for me to share my testimony and the Gospel. I also know that having a tattoo will allow me to relate to other people who have tattoos that think Christians will judge them because of it. I am thankful for those new opportunities!
Christians bring up very valid points of why we shouldn't get tattoos and bring up solid Scripture. However, I think we have to dig deep into God's Word to find the true meaning and context, pray about it, and examine our own hearts and motives. After doing this over the past few years, I personally think getting a tattoo is okay as long as the purpose is to glorify God and not ourselves by the reasons I have previously explained. If you have read this entire thing, thank you! I know it was pretty long :) Until the next blog, God bless you friends!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Hello Friends!
So...I don't have any super deep thoughts for my first blog. However, I do want to share with you who I am and what my blog is going to be about.
For starters, my name is Rebecca Starkey. I am a student at Texas Christian University (go frogs!) and am currently studying to become a Middle School English teacher. Things I love: Most importantly Jesus Christ who saved my life and redeemed me from my sinful heart. I don't mean for that to sound cliche...it's just the truth. I look at my life just a few years ago and where God has brought me now, and there is no denying His power. Secondly, I love my family. They are the people who love me no matter what kind of mistakes I make or stupid things I say. Thirdly, I love my friends because they are absolutely wonderful and definite blessings from God.
If you get to know me, you will see I have TONS of random thoughts. One day I figured I could maybe write them down to get them out of my mind. After all, I don't think God gives me thoughts to keep inside! That's where the blog comes in...I've always said my mind is like an Etch-A-Sketch. It's full of crazy tangled up thoughts and I wish sometimes I could shake my head around and they would magically disappear (get the simile?). However, instead of wanting my thoughts gone, I will now be writing them in this blog for the crazy and lovely people who want to read them. My hope is God will use me and the thoughts He's given me to help others. :) This blog is not about me and I am not seeking any type of praise from anyone. I love to write, so even if nobody reads this, I will still be having fun!
For starters, my name is Rebecca Starkey. I am a student at Texas Christian University (go frogs!) and am currently studying to become a Middle School English teacher. Things I love: Most importantly Jesus Christ who saved my life and redeemed me from my sinful heart. I don't mean for that to sound cliche...it's just the truth. I look at my life just a few years ago and where God has brought me now, and there is no denying His power. Secondly, I love my family. They are the people who love me no matter what kind of mistakes I make or stupid things I say. Thirdly, I love my friends because they are absolutely wonderful and definite blessings from God.
If you get to know me, you will see I have TONS of random thoughts. One day I figured I could maybe write them down to get them out of my mind. After all, I don't think God gives me thoughts to keep inside! That's where the blog comes in...I've always said my mind is like an Etch-A-Sketch. It's full of crazy tangled up thoughts and I wish sometimes I could shake my head around and they would magically disappear (get the simile?). However, instead of wanting my thoughts gone, I will now be writing them in this blog for the crazy and lovely people who want to read them. My hope is God will use me and the thoughts He's given me to help others. :) This blog is not about me and I am not seeking any type of praise from anyone. I love to write, so even if nobody reads this, I will still be having fun!
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