Late Night Talks {Guest Post by R.B. Denney}

Hey all! Sorry for no posts in so long. It's been a crazy couple of months. Today, however, we have a special treat! R.B. Denney from Writing is Home to Me and Foundations 274 has granted us with a guest posting!

Thank you so much, Rachel Beth, for agreeing to guest post! I know how late I am in getting this out, but the message is still, and always, relevant.
Here it is!

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Yep, summer has definitely given its grand entrance and is now enjoying its dominion over our lives. That sounded rather harsh--but for me, especially when it comes to doing my devotions, I struggle with summer.

I love the bright, warm days with friends, iced Americanos, and sandal tan-lines, but on a personal level, I struggle most with God during the summer.

And ever so much have I been wrestling lately.

During the summer months I take anywhere from one to four weeks off (from my regular life) to work at Cocolalla Lake Bible Camp. This place is my second home, I connect so much with God when I'm there. It's a lot of hard work, but I love it--and I love the people. I am always so refreshed when I'm there, I feel so alive and so in God's will. Those are all good feelings, but then when I'm on my own again at home, I topple.

Okay, so it's not that bad--I still do my devotions pretty regularly and I live for the Lord, but it's so much harder when I'm not constantly surrounded by my much adored Christian friends.

I have entitled this post "Late Night Talks" because at the moment it's a little after midnight and I'm just now getting my quality time in with God. Don't get me wrong, I talk with God throughout my day, but there is something special about purposefully setting aside time to just be with God.

It's important for every Christian to be spending time with just God and themselves, be it in prayer or in reading His Word, we all need to be growing in God on a personal level.

So, how do we fit God into our busy summer schedules?

First off, I would give you one of my favorite quotes.
"You have plenty of time for whatever it is you choose to make time for."

The idea is not to guilt you into spending time with God, but much rather to remind you that you have the power to make what you love most a priority in your life.

I know, reading through books like Deuteronomy, Judges, and so on are not always super "exciting", for lack of a better word. But God does everything with a purpose, so ask yourself this, "What can I see of God's character by reading this?"

To close, remember this: there will always be busy seasons in life, but God is always available. Seek Him. Love Him. Trust Him.

Psalm 33:4 "For the Word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all He does."

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Hello! I'm Rachel Beth, so I'm typically pretty bad at introductions and/or telling about myself, but here it goes. My heart belongs in the woods, I would be lost without my towering trees and endless mountains. Black coffee is where it's at. I've always adored the art of writing since I was young and about four years ago I seriously took it upon myself to tell the stories that are in my thoughts with the words from my heart.

Am I doing pretty good so far? Hope so. Continuing on--I want to explore, and by exploring I don't mean just being there, I mean meeting the people, getting to know where there is, wherever there may be. I want my life to honor my Savior and it is my prayer that His story would come through all of my stories.

I simply adore my folk music. I have no idea what I would do without music. I play guitar and a bit of piano. I grew up in a family of music and it has always been such a way into people's hearts, it mak
es me smile when someone tells me about a song that pulled at their heart.

Oh yes, and I read. A lot. I enjoy all kinds of genres, but I really enjoy reading things that have been around for a long time. I enjoy trying to figure out why it is that particular books have lasted so long, hearing what they have to say.

Hope to get to know other young writers out there, and to encourage you all.

~Rachel Beth

Proverbs 3:5-6 {Think it Through Thursday I}

Happy Thursday all!

I'm starting this new thing called 'Think it Through Thursday'. Where I'm planning to go with this is on (hopefully) every other Thursday, I'll select a piece of scripture (usually a few verses) and pull it apart. This means definitions, cross-references, thoughts on it, etc. I'm really looking forward to trying this out! May God use it how He wills.

I've recently graduated from high school. Many times graduating entails receiving cards from people.
And some of those cards I received had "Proverbs 3:5-6" written in them. So, obviously my curiosity was piqued. I read Proverbs 3:5-6 and thought about what each part means. As far as I can see there's five distinct parts of the two verses.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

1. 'Trust in the Lord'
Basically we need to trust Him. This goes hand in hand with Loving Him and Fearing Him. It's a respect, it's knowing He has our best interests in mind and that His will is perfect. |Isaiah 30:15|

2. 'With all your heart'
We need to give Him everything. Don't hold back. It's so easy to hold a part of yourself back and not even realize it or know what you're holding back. We need to surrender and let Him move through us and in us. Let Him have your heart and mold it and fill it with His love. |Ezekiel 36:26-27|

3. 'Lean not on your own understanding'
We don't know everything. I don't know everything. You don't know everything. We think we know all the sides of something, what we should do, what God wants, but sometimes we just have no clue. Our understanding is different from God's He is omniscient. He knows all. He is the Creator. Frankly, my understanding is so little, I'd much rather have God's understanding. |Romans 12:2 ; Isaiah 55:8-9|

4. 'In all your ways acknowledge Him'
We didn't get to this point in our walk with God all by ourselves. We aren't better than anybody else in this world. He has given us the free but oh so costly gift of salvation. Give glory to God for everything He does and as done. Give thanks! Give Him praise. Talk to Him throughout the day, see where He wants to take you. Continually seek Him. |Hosea 10:12|

5. 'He will make your paths straight'
Or 'He will direct your paths'. God rewards. He's our Father and He loves us dearly. If we hold on to Him, give Him our heart, trust Him, ask for His guidance, He will definitely direct us. It's so hard to figure out what to do sometimes, making decisions is not my strong suit. But if we lean on God and truly seek Him, He will show us the way. His way. |Isaiah 30:21|


God Bless the rest of your week!

#MCM {Jeremiah the Prophet}

Okay, so this crazy, absurd idea for weekly blog posts just kinda came and hit me in the mind earlier today. I was like: "WOAH." Any guesses? Social media posts. I promise it isn't what it sounds like.

In social media there's this thing called "Man Crush Monday". And I thought to myself. What could I take from that? How can I turn this around a little bit? 

Man Crush Monday on No Longer Stone is going to be a quick overview of totally incredible heroes of the Bible! This is gon be fun, y'all. 

Lately during my quiet time with God, I've been reading in the book of Jeremiah. And can I just say: Wow. This prophet is definitely a favorite of mine. 

Why? You might ask. I shall be glad to enlighten you!

1. Jeremiah was called by God at a young age. 

Okay, all y'all teenagers and young adults who be thinking you can't do anything/nobody will take you seriously: The Bible is chock-full of young people being used by God. It seems to me that He loves using us as a vessel of His Truth. 

Even Jeremiah had his doubts about being tremendously used for God's Kingdom: "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.' 'Ah, Sovereign Lord,' I said, 'I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.'  But the Sovereign Lord said to me, 'Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the Lord." Jeremiah 1:4-8

He was set apart by God! He was chosen and called as a young man! How incredibly cool is that? So I don't know about you, but I can relate with that so much! The fact that God can use us youngsters to reach people and do amazing things for His Kingdom...it just astounds me. 

God will call us if only we are available to Him. Jeremiah realized that. He'd been seeking God since he was little, I'm sure, and God recognized Jeremiah's willingness and open heart. 

2. Jeremiah was definitely human--he had his doubts even after being so surely called by God.

Refer back to those verses I quoted. Here's my paraphrase: "Like, what?? God, I'm just a kid!!!" 

He thought he was too young! Throughout the book of Jeremiah there's these times of him just talking to God. Whether he's spouting his feelings and anger or his doubts and complaints...it's in there. 

But here's the thing...God silenced Jeremiah's doubts by showing him continual kindness and reminding him of who He is. He put a passion in Jeremiah's heart and He began to use him in amazing ways.

DUDE, yes please--I want this in my life too!

Refer to chapter 12 and 20:7- to read some of Jeremiah's complaints and doubts.

So, this prophet is already sounding pretty hardcore, aye? Hold on to your seats because things are about to escalate big time!

 3. Jeremiah suffered greatly throughout his years, but he still trusted in God.

- He was beaten multiple times for speaking Truth. (Chapter 20:1-6)

- By the way, he was threatened with death. (Chapter 26) Uh, not fun!

- He was jailed and held captive many times! (Chapters 37 and 40) 

- He was thrown into a cistern. What. Even. (Chapter 38) I don't even know. Man that's rough!!

- He constantly had to deal with stupid-heads. I'm not even joking. (Chapters 37, 42, and 43) These people drive me crazy. When I first read through Jeremiah maybe sometime last year, I actually wrote beside these passages: "Stupid people". Because it's so true. 

4. Jeremiah had a sense of humor. 

Okay, this one's pretty short, but I absolutely love it. He was a funny dude! Kind of sarcastic, I think. At least there's one passage that makes me think so. He was dealing with a false prophet named Hananiah. 

This dude was prophesying peace for Jerusalem when obviously God was saying destruction and captivity would come to the people: "...the prophet Hananiah said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: 'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: 'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,' declares the Lord, 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"

That's what Hananiah had to say. Good sounding things, right? 

"Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. He said, 'Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord's house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.'" Jeremiah 28:1-9

I don't know why, but I just find this whole conversation hilarious. Obviously Jeremiah sincerely wants to have the peace and the articles of the Lord's house come back, but I believe he also knows what God has really said about everything. Later, God tells Jeremiah that Hananiah is false and that Hananiah will die soon. And that comes true. 

5. Jeremiah remained open to God. 

Through the disgusting and horrible times, he kept chugging on after God. He went through so many rough waters, but he understood God cared about him and would always listen and be right there (that's why he felt he was able to freely complain to God...he had such a deep relationship with His Father, and also a great fear).

He persevered amid all the stuff happening around and to him. He kept on keeping on and continually allowed God to use and mold him. He never gave up.

And that, my friends, is why this dude, *ahem* prophet, is incredibly cool and my first #mcm post.

Life {On Trials I}

"...there was given me a thorn in my flesh...to torment me. I pleaded with the Lord to take it from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Life is hard. We go through so much. There's happy times, there's sad times. We're excited, then we're depressed. We're lonely, we're hurt, we're bitter because of what's happened to us. There's tribulations, heartbreak, suffering, and trials of so many types. How do we continue living in the Fullness God has ordained for us...when we're drowning in these trials?

Let's look at Paul for a moment. If you go to the second part of 2 Corinthians 11, he lists everything hard he's suffered for the sake of Jesus. It's a painful list. Shipwrecks, beatings, insults--Paul went through it all. He had a crazy ride.

Okay, okay. It's weird to try and imagine somebody who's gone through so much pain but still chugging on, loving God with all their heart. Do you know anybody like that?

As humans, it's so natural for us to want to give up.

But...after you've tasted the pure sweetness of the Love of God...how could you give up?

Everything God allows for us to go through...crafts us further and further into who we're supposed to be. For God to use us effectively, we have to allow Him to change us. Sometimes change comes through trials.

Emotional...
Physical...
Financial...
Spiritual...
Mental...

There are many kinds of trials.

We are used to instant gratification. When everything's good, we're good. When something goes wrong, we tend to forget the whole long ride of GOOD that we've had. All we can see is the darkness in front of us. It makes us want to run away--to turn back and put as much space between us and the suffering that we can. It's uncomfortable. We want to be safe and sure of our life. If God won't fix our problem right away, there's no use following Him for the rest of our life.

But the thing is...if you'd gone a little further...you would've seen the dazzling Light on the path. It was just a little further.

If you'd gone a little further...you would've seen the Light was there the whole time. There were only clouds blocking it.

Storms blow away. They don't stay forever. Darkness seems to drag on, but it's only a moment in time.

If we press on to the end and realize the Light's always been right here, we're able to rejoice!
We can look back at the storm and see the people behind us--those who are struggling through the same blinding darkness. And we can encourage them. We can spur them along towards the Light we know is waiting just up ahead. We can remind them of the Goodness of God and the Love He has for them.

Or we can keep on going our merry way, forgetting what God just brought us through.

That's when others perish.

If God puts something hard in our life, there's a reason.

There's always a reason.

And it's usually so we're able to minister to others. Paul used his weaknesses and trials to be a light. He could relate to others, encourage them, minister to them, love them--because he knew what it was like to suffer.

It's our choice how we use our trials. But I pray we use them for God's Glory.

Live in the Fullness of God! When there's darkness, don't forget the Light.

I know this verse is prophecy about Jesus, but I believe it can be great Hope for us as well:
"After the suffering of His soul, He will see the Light and be satisfied." Isaiah 53:11

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the Light of the Lord." Isaiah 2:5

The Beginning {A Testimony in Progress}

Wow, okay. God has done so much in my life already. And that's crazy amazing. He's so Awesome!

I know sometimes reading other people's testimonies can be boring and seem like a waste of time. But testimonies can change lives. They can connect people. They can bring people to God's Love and Identity.

And, seeing as it's my first post here at No Longer Stone, it kind of seems fitting to give my Testimony in Progress (TiP). (My life isn't over yet! Our whole life is a testimony)

So I've grown up in a Christian home. My dad is a Chaplain in the Army, so I've been under the label: PK my whole life (Pastor's kid!). There's so many expectations of PK's. Some are good, some are bad. We're expected to be perfect. Everybody knows who we are...and we're (like it or not) a representation of our parents. And then you hear about the rebellious PK's who go against everything they ever grew up learning.

I'm going to tell you that I'm neither. I've never been perfect. But I've also never been extraordinarily rebellious.