Falling in Love
Hi, y’all! I am so glad to have the opportunity to guest blog for Righteously Southern. To tell you a little about myself, I grew up in a home where both of my parents exemplified Christian character. My dad was a missionary at one time and then became a pastor in Gulfport, Mississippi. My parents continually showed their love to each other and to their children (which I am one of four).
Although I grew up in a Christian home with a wonderful love-filled environment, I lacked having a personal, consistent walk with Christ. I had seen the Lord answer prayers in my family, but I did not pray consistently enough to see God working every day in my life.
I would like to share a few things that I have learned and that have helped me to grow in my relationship with the Lord. Let us pretend that at the mall in your town some big-named Hollywood stars will be arriving this week. The announcement is aired on the local news station, “Justin Beiber, Ian Somerhalder, and Zac Efron will be arriving this week and would love to sit and chat with any of the girls that would be available on that day!” Now, I am married so that opportunity would not be as exciting to me as it would probably be to the teen girls who I taught this lesson to previously. But, I can imagine if you live in a smaller town many girls would be super excited about the chance of being able to meet these Hollywood stars. I would dare say, the date would be marked on these girl’s calendars, outfits would be picked out, and conversations would be thought about in advance.
I also think about my own relationship with my husband. When we were dating, I would be so excited and nervous about any upcoming date. Dan and I dated long-distance and were only able to see each other every three months or so.
One time Dan came to visit me while I was at college and had driven all night to arrive there on college campus. I was so nervous about how I looked and nothing was coming out right! I winded up changing over and over again, and was over an hour late for our date! Dorothy actually very kindly kept Dan company while he was waiting on me. LOL
When I struggled with learning how to read my Bible every day, I felt like I could not be consistent. Preparing for this lesson, I wondered what hindered my very readily available relationship with the Lord for so long.
Many times, we go to our Bible and we see white and black. We see a big book with “thou shalt’s” and “thou shalt not’s.” God intended for our relationship to be so much more. If we have to be honest, many times we do not become so excited about our time with him like we would be preparing for a hot date or another important meeting with someone prominent.
I read Ephesians 1 and this chapter came to life. I want to share with you the amazing gifts that He has blessed us with from Ephesians 1: 1-14 to help you see all that Christ has in store for you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
So, close your eyes for a minute and imagine yourself in space before time was created. You really have no face or features; your soul is there and you know God is there, but you are really unaware of anything else at this time. You are in like a fuzzy bubble. God looks at you, his precious creation and says, “I desire to give you all of my greatest blessings; you are my prized possession! I have chosen you before I even created the world. There is no spot in you, my daughter. I love you, and love everything about you, my love. Your destiny is to be adopted into my family. (By the way, this is the destiny that the Lord chooses for all of us, to come to the knowledge of Him.) I am going to send Jesus, my perfect Son to Earth so that I can make you to be accepted in your body of flesh. When I look at your soul, there is no wrong you have done. When your carnal flesh does get the better of you sometime, my Son’s blood is powerful enough to redeem you and give you forgiveness of sins so that we never have to be separated. Something else, I may add, again, when you make the wrong earthly choices I have a treasure box here that you can open. In this treasure box are my coins of the riches of my grace. You can take as many as you would like to help you while you are living on Earth.
Also, while you are living on Earth, I am going to give you a never-ending store of wisdom, prudence, and a knowledge of my will for you so that you can enjoy your life on Earth, but also so that my knowledge can help you store up wealth for when you come to live with me for eternity. I will also help you labor in the stewardship of the purpose that I have created specifically for you. Also, I am going to give you an inheritance to everything that belongs to me. Daughter, everything I have, you will receive ownership to. I want you to shine, because, Daughter, when you shine, you make me shine to the ones who may not know me or have not heard of me.
So, listen, when you are born into the world, and you decide to trust in me for your salvation for eternity, I will seal you, and come to live on the inside of you so that you can always remember that you are mine and that you are bought with my blood and have an inheritance of all that is mine.
Now, do not forget my lovely daughter, these gifts I am giving you is only the down payment of the inheritance that I am preparing for you to have one day as we spend eternity together. Never forget my love for you. Love, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit!”
How precious is this thought! God loves us and desires for us to be in sweet communion with Him. The only thing, many times, that is standing in our way of having a sweet relationship with our Heavenly Father is our lack of faith. Romans 8:38-39 says,
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I hope this thought will help you to remember that you are loved! I hope you will fall in love with our Saviour, for He gave everything for you.
Love,
Jackie
Although I grew up in a Christian home with a wonderful love-filled environment, I lacked having a personal, consistent walk with Christ. I had seen the Lord answer prayers in my family, but I did not pray consistently enough to see God working every day in my life.
I would like to share a few things that I have learned and that have helped me to grow in my relationship with the Lord. Let us pretend that at the mall in your town some big-named Hollywood stars will be arriving this week. The announcement is aired on the local news station, “Justin Beiber, Ian Somerhalder, and Zac Efron will be arriving this week and would love to sit and chat with any of the girls that would be available on that day!” Now, I am married so that opportunity would not be as exciting to me as it would probably be to the teen girls who I taught this lesson to previously. But, I can imagine if you live in a smaller town many girls would be super excited about the chance of being able to meet these Hollywood stars. I would dare say, the date would be marked on these girl’s calendars, outfits would be picked out, and conversations would be thought about in advance.
I also think about my own relationship with my husband. When we were dating, I would be so excited and nervous about any upcoming date. Dan and I dated long-distance and were only able to see each other every three months or so.
One time Dan came to visit me while I was at college and had driven all night to arrive there on college campus. I was so nervous about how I looked and nothing was coming out right! I winded up changing over and over again, and was over an hour late for our date! Dorothy actually very kindly kept Dan company while he was waiting on me. LOL
When I struggled with learning how to read my Bible every day, I felt like I could not be consistent. Preparing for this lesson, I wondered what hindered my very readily available relationship with the Lord for so long.
Many times, we go to our Bible and we see white and black. We see a big book with “thou shalt’s” and “thou shalt not’s.” God intended for our relationship to be so much more. If we have to be honest, many times we do not become so excited about our time with him like we would be preparing for a hot date or another important meeting with someone prominent.
I read Ephesians 1 and this chapter came to life. I want to share with you the amazing gifts that He has blessed us with from Ephesians 1: 1-14 to help you see all that Christ has in store for you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
So, close your eyes for a minute and imagine yourself in space before time was created. You really have no face or features; your soul is there and you know God is there, but you are really unaware of anything else at this time. You are in like a fuzzy bubble. God looks at you, his precious creation and says, “I desire to give you all of my greatest blessings; you are my prized possession! I have chosen you before I even created the world. There is no spot in you, my daughter. I love you, and love everything about you, my love. Your destiny is to be adopted into my family. (By the way, this is the destiny that the Lord chooses for all of us, to come to the knowledge of Him.) I am going to send Jesus, my perfect Son to Earth so that I can make you to be accepted in your body of flesh. When I look at your soul, there is no wrong you have done. When your carnal flesh does get the better of you sometime, my Son’s blood is powerful enough to redeem you and give you forgiveness of sins so that we never have to be separated. Something else, I may add, again, when you make the wrong earthly choices I have a treasure box here that you can open. In this treasure box are my coins of the riches of my grace. You can take as many as you would like to help you while you are living on Earth.
Also, while you are living on Earth, I am going to give you a never-ending store of wisdom, prudence, and a knowledge of my will for you so that you can enjoy your life on Earth, but also so that my knowledge can help you store up wealth for when you come to live with me for eternity. I will also help you labor in the stewardship of the purpose that I have created specifically for you. Also, I am going to give you an inheritance to everything that belongs to me. Daughter, everything I have, you will receive ownership to. I want you to shine, because, Daughter, when you shine, you make me shine to the ones who may not know me or have not heard of me.
So, listen, when you are born into the world, and you decide to trust in me for your salvation for eternity, I will seal you, and come to live on the inside of you so that you can always remember that you are mine and that you are bought with my blood and have an inheritance of all that is mine.
Now, do not forget my lovely daughter, these gifts I am giving you is only the down payment of the inheritance that I am preparing for you to have one day as we spend eternity together. Never forget my love for you. Love, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit!”
How precious is this thought! God loves us and desires for us to be in sweet communion with Him. The only thing, many times, that is standing in our way of having a sweet relationship with our Heavenly Father is our lack of faith. Romans 8:38-39 says,
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I hope this thought will help you to remember that you are loved! I hope you will fall in love with our Saviour, for He gave everything for you.
Love,
Jackie
(Get to know Jackie)
My name is Jackie Carr. I am married to Dan Carr, and have been married for a sweet twelve years. We have five precious children. We currently live in Gulfport, Mississippi. I recreated and manage our website at www.winningteam7.com where Dan and I write to help encourage others to build stronger homes, stronger churches, and to have a stronger political awareness. My passion is making my life count for eternity. I want to pass down to my children and others the many blessings that have been given to me through a rich Christian heritage as well as see our nation’s freedom be preserved. I currently teach Math and English part-time to 5th and 6th graders. I teach private voice lessons. I volunteer in my church 5-10 hours per week in our church music. I have written a book entitled, ‘Bringing Back Southern Charm.” You can purchase my book on our website at www.winningteam7.com. I also teach the Southern Charm Sunday School class to the 10th-12th grade girls in my church. You can connect with us through Facebook at DanJackieCarr or Jackie Carr. I spend more of my time on Instagram as JackieCarr_. In my most blessed time, I enjoy working in my home with my children and spending time with Dan. He always takes me on a date every week. I love coffee, chocolate, bread, running, reading, Pinterest, and shopping. I love connecting with other ladies and learning more about each of you.
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