Author: Sydney Farmer

The Truth About Love

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Hey guys, I know it’s been a while since you’ve all heard from me. I mean it’s been like over a year, so I hope y’all didn’t miss me too bad…just kidding. Anyway, I finally have an idea of what to write about, and I think it’s important that I say it, especially to people in my generation. RELATIONSHIPS ARE TOUGH! I’m telling you guys, don’t be fooled by those Hollywood movies like I’ve been. It’s not all just meeting someone, falling in love, having a slight falling out, and then the comedic relief character makes the guy realize that he really wants the girl, so the guy does some big gesture to get her back and then, just like that, happy ending! I am sorry to break it to y’all, but it’s not like that at all. I’m a hopeless romantic myself, so you can imagine how upset I was when I figured this out. I’m not saying relationships are bad, because they’re certainly not, but I’m learning that a long-term relationship is way more hard work than I ever thought it would be. 

The reason I bring this up is because, in this society, we’re taught that we should leave when it’s hard, because all of those movies make it look so easy. But, when you look at the way relationships are in the bible, it’s not like that at all. The relationship Jesus had with us, and the relationship we’re supposed to have with the Father is not easy at all. That’s why I think marriage is so sacred in the Bible. The love you promise to give your partner for the rest of your life is supposed to be a reflection of the love that God has for us. Not necessarily romantic love, but something deeper. When you look at the way Jesus loves us, and how he was treated here on Earth for us, love begins to have another meaning. Jesus has taught me recently that love is sacrifice, commitment, consistency, patience, it doesn’t always feel good, and it isn’t always gonna be easy. I was watching a sermon from Pastor Mike Todd, and I think he said it best. “If you study the scripture, love comes after the sacrifice. It comes after the commitment.” He even asks, “How much did you love God before you committed to him?” (I’m gonna be really honest with y’all, before I committed to getting to know God, I didn’t care for him nearly as much as I do now.) Jesus gave us his life because he loves us so much, knowing that we may never want to love him. What’s also incredible to me is that he knew what suffering awaited him. He told the disciples what was going to happen to him too, and he continued to get up every day and choose us and them – I mean can you imagine the sorrow he must have felt inside knowing that was going to happen to him, and he still did that for us? The disciples endured pain and suffering because of their love for God. Christians today are still oppressed all over the world (oops…sorry but it’s true). Didn’t mean for this to seem like all doom and gloom, but the story isn’t over! It actually has a really happy ending. Jesus comes to save us, we get to spend eternity with our Father in Heaven, and there will be no more pain and suffering ever again. That’s worth it to me, and it was worth it to Jesus too.

Now, I’m not condoning people to stay in an abusive relationship. I’m talking to those that are coming from a healthy relationship that may be in a little bit of a rut right now. To those that may be in the stage where it just doesn’t feel like either of you can agree on anything right now. To those where life just kinda got in the way, and you both are trying to relearn the new person that they’ve become. Mike Todd also said in his sermon, “If you’re frustrated and you don’t see how it’s gonna work, invite God into it.” If you both love each other, why should you give up because it’s hard? If you can’t fix it, God definitely can. I believe there is another side to whatever this rut is that you may be going through, and when you get there, I believe that you both will have a deeper understanding and appreciation for one another. I kinda envy old married couples because of that. They’ve gotten through life together, maybe had a few kids, a bunch of jobs, and a whole lot of disagreements, but because they woke up every day and decided to choose each other, they’ve become best friends and know each other better than anyone else. I said earlier that I’m a hopeless romantic, but I like to think God is too. I like to think he watches our love lives like how we watch those romantic movies. In the end, you’re rooting for the people that genuinely love each other, and you want so badly for them to make it in the end. God put you and that person together for a reason. Choose them, never go a day without praying for them, and God will take care of the rest.

Some scriptures about love:                                                    

  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-8                                             
  • John 3:16 
  • Colossians 3:14
  • John 15:13
  • 1 John 4:19 
  • Ephesians 5:25
  • Ephesians 4:2 
  • Ephesians 5:33
  • Proverbs 18:22

Some Christian songs about love: 

  • Broken Together by Casting Crowns
  • God Gave Me You by Dave Barnes
  • Jesus and You by Matthew West
  • You’ve Got Me by Steven Curtis Chapman

A “Wake Up” Call

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Hey there guys! I was in a car wreck today, and I wanna share with y’all the lesson that God gave me tonight as I was sitting and reflecting on it. Since I’ve moved home, I’ve gotten away from reading my bible and devoting some time to God. I’ve slowly been starting to feel that peace that God has given me slip away. In the last couple weeks I’ve spent some time praying and asking God to help me, and I’ve been kinda “beating around the bush” I guess you could say with the message that God wanted to give me. As I was finally starting to feel overwhelmed, I opened my bible and God revealed to me a convicting but a much needed and well deserved message. 

We cannot get comfortable!!!! It’s so easy to get caught up in what’s going on around us that we forget that our life could end in an instant. The number one thing that the devil is gonna do to keep you away from God is distract you, and there are so many distractions. I’ve been doing things that I would never do in an effort to avoid spending time with God. I did laundry and, if you know me, you know that’s a rare occurrence. I’ll get in bed and watch TikToks for hours before I decide to go to sleep. I recently watched one, and God gave him this word that has really stuck with me. He said, “We have to remember God in the BEFORE.” Before we distract ourselves, before that sin is committed, and before we get too comfortable. I’ve made a goal for myself now. Before I get distracted and before I give into temptation, to turn it into a prayer and give it to God before it happens. 

I was watching Incredibles 2 the other day and that guy Rick, that always helps the family when Bob loses his job or whenever they get in trouble, had said, “Wanna get out of the hole? Put down the shovel.” I had been praying to God asking Him to pull me out of the hole I had put myself in, and I had ignored every answer He had given me until today. Of course, even though this isn’t what I had in mind, it’s what I needed. 

God is so good guys, and He loves us so much. I just pray that y’all would be encouraged by this and know that God is working. He might do some things that we don’t like or don’t understand, but He is just and He is working not only for your good but to also bring glory to his kingdom. 

Go in peace, serve the Lord and Merry Christmas!

A Lament

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I’ve known God my whole life. I try to act like I’m on the right path and I’m doing what is right, but when I lay my head down at night, I know that I am fooling myself and everyone else. I only follow God and do what He asks of me when it’s convenient for me. I can’t bring myself to hate my sin and give it up. I see so many signs, and I know what God is telling me. I know what God wants me to do, but I make excuses. I’m lazy. I can see myself walking with God, but I’m not willing to do what He asks me to do and take that next step to be closer to Him. I find myself constantly asking for forgiveness but not turning away from my sin. I know I am forgiven, but I’m still ashamed. I want God to be proud of me, but I disrespect and disobey Him everyday. I know He loves me, but there’s so many reasons why He shouldn’t. I know what God has said about His unfailing love, but there’s always a voice that tells me that I’m not good enough. I never will be. Why does He love me? Why does God continue to reach out to me when He knows that I am only going to disappoint Him? I love God, but it seems that I still love myself more. Don’t get me wrong, God has given me so much joy and peace, but it’s hard knowing that I’ll never be good enough. It’s hard to keep trying when I know I’ll never succeed.

I’ll never be able to let go of the God I have because I know the love he has for me. I could never let go of that perfect love, even though my love for Him is so imperfect. My father in heaven will never let go of me. He’s with me in everything I go through. I am redeemed and forgiven no matter how hard it is for me to accept. 

Love, 

A struggling vessel

1 and Done?

Baptism

Howdy vessels,

Let’s just take a trip back 18 years ago shall we? Now there are a couple of things that y’all need to know before we get into this – just a little background info for ya. I was born into a Catholic church, and my family and I attended that church until I was about 8 years old. So, 18 years ago I would’ve been getting Christened – a picture will be provided don’t worry ;).

Baby Syd (2002)

I consider my christening, though I don’t remember it and I couldn’t even comprehend who God even was, my baptism and welcoming into the kingdom of God and the church. The Catholic church and other denominations that practice infant baptism believe that baptism is so important that it should be done without delay, especially if the infant is in danger of dying. They believe that we are all born with a fallen human nature and are tainted by original sin, so even children need to be freed from the darkness of sin and brought into the freedom of Jesus Christ. Because of this, the Catholic church believes that there must be proper growth in Christ. This just means learning and growing in faith. The Catholic church, and the Lutheran church I now attend that also practices infant baptism, calls this growth in faith “confirmation.” It basically means reaffirming your baptism and knowing what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God. I did my confirmation journey with my Lutheran church, and it will forever be some of the best times of my life and where I first experienced God’s presence.

There are people and denominations who disagree with infant baptism and the process of confirmation. Some believe that being baptized or christened as a baby is wrong because babies are without sin and it’s someone’s free will when or if they are baptized. This disagreement stems from differing beliefs about the nature of grace and faith, the means of salvation, and the role that baptism plays in those things.

You know what I think though? I think that we serve a loving God that doesn’t care about all that technical stuff. Yes, baptism is important, but does God really care when or how we do it? As long as there are good and godly intentions behind it, how could God not look down on it and smile? I think that Acts 8:35-36 is a great example. “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?'” As I see it, baptism, or anything concerning God, has no limits or technicalities.

As my life has continued to change, my faith has had its ups and downs. I believe in the last few months, I’ve come to know more about who God is than I knew in my entire life. I’ve contemplated and continue to contemplate getting baptized again because of this too, but then I remember that the God I love, loves me. I feel his love everyday, and I know he’s in my heart. And as of right now, I don’t feel like I need to be baptized again to prove that to myself.

Remember y’all, 

It’s God’s World and We’re Just Livin in it 😉

God Loves You & So Do I

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Hey everyone! Today, I want to talk about something that we all might need to hear right now. There’s a lot of hate going on in the world, and I know it’s easy to participate in it. We all have different opinions, and it’s easy to get angered when someone disagrees. I had been struggling with that for a while. I struggled with turning the other cheek when others did or said things that offended me. I especially struggled with it after moving away from my small hometown where virtually everyone, at least it seems, has the same opinions. It was easy for me to say that God lived in me because it’s easier to be kind when you believe the same thing someone else does. Then, I went to college.

1 John 4: 7-17 explains what God living in us truly is. If you have your bible, I really encourage you to read this passage before you continue reading this post because John explains it so much better than I ever could. To me, there are three points that John makes. First, God loves us. He proved this by sending his only son to die to forgive us of our sins. Now, we are no longer separated from God by our sin. Second, we have to believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, so the Holy Spirit can live in us. Third, since the Holy Spirit now lives in us, we have God’s love in our hearts. Therefore, we are called to not only love God, but to love all of his children. Since Jesus fulfilled the old law, we now live by these two commandments that Jesus tells us in Matthew 22: 37-39: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

It was hard for me to adjust to being in a new environment. I was frustrated and anxious as I watched so many people around me be hateful toward others. Those are the very same people that preach love everyone and accept everyone, but the minute someone believes differently than they do, they immediately curse them and persecute them. Their hypocrisy frustrated me for a while, but I finally realized that God has put me exactly where he needs me to be. We, as followers of Jesus, are the light of the world, and the world could use a little light right now.  Remember that God doesn’t give us the spirit of hatred and fear. He has given us the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. So, from one vessel to another, I challenge you to be the light that can guide others out of the darkness.

Go in peace and serve the Lord, 

A vessel

Other helpful passages along with the ones I used: Galatians 5, Ephesians 2&5, Colossians 3, 1 John 4&5, Romans 12, Matthew 22