Kingdom of God=Happiness

I'm definitely going to miss this man come March...

             So God is pretty cool. I'm up at the farm this weekend with my awesome in-laws, and great husband and I'm just amazed at the people that God brings into our lives to change us and mold us in one way or another.  The past two weeks I've been digging into parts of the Bible that seem more fairy tale than real. I don't want to explain it all right now, but I will eventually as I'm still connecting the dots to everything but I'm just flabbergasted at how real and magical God is. 
          As Jeremy prepares to leave for BASIC on March 20th, I'm forced to come to a crossroads: mope, or strive towards God and his plan for my life.  As I gear up towards the latter I'm finding a craving for God and his joy that I didn't know I could have.  It's crazy cool.  I discovered this week something that will forever change my life:
Romans 14:17 For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This might be heaven...

           So often, I have found myself at odds with parts in the Bible that say if you lie, or cheat or (fill in sin here) you will NOT inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, I lived in fear that my actions would cross out Jesus' death on the cross for me. I try to live a life that honors God, but you know what? I fail. I fail an awful lot.

  It's not me being humble, it's me just telling the truth; but the fact of the matter is that the Kingdom of Heaven/God is not actually a place, (although Heaven itself is) but the KINGDOM of God is a state of blessing.  It is what happens when you walk with God; you will find an immense joy, and peace, and happiness.

But the Kingdom of God is JOY

 Yeah, you'll still struggle and all that jazz, but you know when you've been spending your quiet time, and reading your Bible and writing in your journal (I love to journal, it's nice to look back over my walk with God and see my ups and downs and discoveries), and you just feel so happy it feels like your smile could peel off?  
THIS is what that verse is talking about, your sin does NOT cancel out Jesus' payment, but when you walk with God and follow his path then you have an extra measure of happiness; like edible glitter on a cupcake.  It just makes everything a little bit better. 

Glitter on Cupcakes?  Yes God
would say these cupcakes are
bringing massive amounts of joy.

Today the sermon was about hearing God's voice from the Word. 

 How often do we (especially I) pray, and expect God to come down or have a hand appear and say or write: "Aj, go to Florida and spend a month there". No, doesn't happen, well, then again it did in the Bible (Check out Daniel 5...kind of creepy).  

Um...which one God?...

But so often in today's culture we expect God to manifest, this happens in big churches, and in our own lives, that if we don't see a sign or loud voice then God isn't leading us.  The truth is, that if we would just dig into the Word, usually God will press the answer on our hearts, and we'll know what to do.  How can we pretend to have a conversation with God, and know his heart, if we don't read his game plan, and his story?
Luke 11:2 And he said to them, When you say your prayers, say, Father, may your name be kept holy and your kingdom come
Let's pray that when we walk with God we receive his blessing and that he is honored. Lord knows, we (I) need all the help we (I) can get!
I have this problem; of reading the Bible for a bit, and then not, and then digging in and then not.

A love story from God to us, how cool.

  But I challenge you this week, anybody who is reading this, dig in, find something new, and see what God speaks to you, you never know.  God might just show you a fairy tale, where the prince who rescues us is truly a white knight; here to save our hearts.


Love,
Am


PS.  Bought a dozen scratch cupcakes to share this weekend...only five were ate...guess who is in Scratch Cupcake heaven!!?? (This girl)