The following notes are from my pastor's sermon at church; they encouraged me so much, and I pray they are a blessing to you as well!

I cannot think of anything more damaging to the inward and outward beauty of a girl, than bitterness. It is a seed, that once planted, begins to choke out the grace and sweetness of a young maiden and is terribly hard to get rid of. The plant grows rapidly, and sends out new shoots that produce more seeds and can easily spread to others. Let me tell you about some ways this seed is planted, how it spreads, and what you must do to get rid of it.

The past two years for my family have stretched us to lengths I didn’t think possible. Or normal. But because of this stretching, I have seen seasons of distant relationships and thick bonding moments. All good things, as I’m always reminded in Romans 8:28, but we are still a remarkably busy family. And our individual selves are even busier.

​Well, my sisters are busy; I’m just along for the ride, right? ‘Cause, as usual, I just have school.

​Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
 
Worship is not just something you do at church when you sing songs and pray. No, worship is the way you should lead every day of your lives. Your life should worship God daily in every act you perform. Your life should be an act of worship. When you live a life sacrificed to God, every act needs to come into obedience to God’s Word. Your thoughts, what you look at, read, where you go, who you are friends with, the words you speak, your dress, how you spend your time, your money, what you eat and drink, how much self-control you have, and finally, love. It all turns out as an act of worship. Others can see by your life and character Whom you serve.

During the summer months I really enjoy hiking.  I particularly enjoy hikes that lead uphill and into the mountains because the view at the top is so beautiful and rewarding.  Living in Alaska, there are plenty of such hiking trails. In addition to the majestic views from high mountainsides, I also enjoy seeing all the wildflowers.  Although there are many varieties of wildflowers to be seen on almost any hike, there is one flower that I have admired hike after hike for a few years.  It is called the windflower. 

​The windflower itself is rather plain.  It grows just a few inches tall and has five simple, round, pure white petals.  I have taken notice of this flower not so much for its appearance, but for where it grows, as it seems to grow in the most unlikely of places.  I see this flower growing well above tree line fully exposed to the driving winds and sometimes harsh weather conditions we experience even during the summer.  Besides this, it grows in some of the rockiest soil, oftentimes having less than half an inch of soil to grow in atop massive boulders.  And yet these small windflowers bravely put forth their blossoms adding delicate beauty to the rugged mountain terrain.  

Last time, we unpacked the glorious promise of Jeremiah 31:14, realizing that God wants to satiate our souls with living water and soak our lives in His all-sufficient presence.  This is a wonderful truth to apply to our lives; but most of us fall short of living it as we should.  We know that our Lord is all we truly need—that He alone can bring lasting satisfaction—but we focus our energies on earthly things as if they will fulfill and complete us.  We convince ourselves that “if only” we could have this thing or reach that place or become this different person, we would finally be happy; and instead, we wind up empty and miserable.  Our gracious Heavenly Father wants much more for us than this!  He wants us to know true satisfaction, to walk through each day with joy, and to showcase His glory before an empty, miserable world.  His vision for His children is not merely to survive the daily grind, but to thrive in the midst of its challenges.  Here is a description of the life He wants for us.  The last verse is one you will recognize.  “. . . [A]nd they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord . . . [T]heir life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. . . . I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.  I will [satiate] the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord” (Jer. 31:12-14 ESV – emphasis added; same for the following verses).

We finished last time with the reminder that believers are “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), separated unto God for holy purposes.  A wonderful promise comes with this separation.  God spoke it to the tribe of Levi in Leviticus 18:2: “Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.”  God Himself wants to be our inheritance, our portion!  No thing(s) He could ever give us would be equal to the gift of Himself.  He said this to Abraham in Genesis 15:1b: “. . .  Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”  In Him alone is all we really need and more than we could ever want.  No one else in all the universe has the ability to satisfy us fully; but our all-sufficient God can and will.  Here is His promise to us: “And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness [abundance], and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD” (Jer. 31:14).  Let's explore a little bit of what this promise means.

God's family is diverse yet unified.  He draws people with different gifts and experiences and melds them into one body, the head of which is Christ (Eph. 5:23).  Members of the body may have unique functions (1 Cor. 12), but all of us share the same calling—the same identity and purpose in Christ. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).