Hey again! Ok, first of all, Jess, your last blog was amazing! totally encouraging and just plain ol' sweet sauce! i woulda commented, but our lame-o conputer has a listening disorder, and yah, the dumb links aren't working too well. that's also why i haven't replied to Christine and Shay's comments on my last blog. :)
but anyway, i'm running away with myself. *yoink*... ok, i'm back! oh! do you guys wanna know why my blog's called gift of grace anyway? i mean, i guess besides the obvious, yet exhilarating fact that every day and every experience with Christ is a gift of his awesome grace, but that's what my name means. Janelle translates to "Jehovah's gracious gift" and Kristine is "Christ-bearer." I don't know if my rents knew that before they named me, but my name's taken on a whole new meaning to me. and like, in the Old testament it was a big thing to be like "oh, i struggled with my sister and won, so let's call this son Naphtali, which means 'my struggle'"... lol. i mean, your name and its meaning was everything and sometimes proved to be a prophecy of what would happen in your life. it's crazy.... names are sweet stuff!

i remember at the beginning of the year in Bible, Mr. Kennedy asked us what we thought the the single most detrimental thing the church does was. (don't quote me on quoting him, cuz he hates that :P) I had no clue then, but thinking about it today, the first thing that came to mind was idolatry. i think idols are the biggest blockages in the lives of believers and nonbelievers today for a few reasons:
1) they can be anything. ANYTHING. from living just to have fun, to boys (lol, or girls for your guys), to an ideal body shape/looks you'd kill to have, even to "spiritual" things like worshipping worship. it's all idolatry!
2) because they can be anything, it's not always black and white that what you're doing is idolizing something. Sometimes we need divine intervention to determine whether what we're doing is idolatry or if it's simply totally enjoying something to its fullest, which is a totally cool thing to do :)
3) idols have these crap-crazy ways of cementing themselves to the throne in your life that the Lord is supposed to sit on. sometimes pull as you might, those guys just DON'T COME DOWN. and even when we've given it all over to the Lord, He asks us to trust Him and He chisels away, slowly sometimes, at the image we've set up until it's nothing left but crumbs. Except before He gets there, I know I have on numerous occasions, found my crazy glue and tried to re-stick the broken pieces back to my idol. ouch. sorry Jesus!
I think i'm out of numbers as to why I think idolatry is a huge killer... i just know it is! and we've gotta be aware of the things in our life. NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING should ever sit higher than God in our lives. under no circumstances! we need to be ready and willing to drop ab-so-lute-ly everything for the sake of the cross! i guess that's part of dying to yourself, which is another thing that the Lord's taking me through right now. He's like sucking the Janelle parts out and replacing them with holy, perfect God parts! kinda like an organ transplant... yah :) lol! A verse that is coming to mind is the one Jesus spoke "do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust detroy and thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in HEAVEN where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal. FOr where your treasure is, there you heart is also". i've gotta check out my treasures... the things i value, the things i put money and time into, and that's where my heart is. Oh Lord Jesus, thank you for your grace and faithfulness, cuz i've got a long way to go! :)

Tear down the borders that I have built
Crush the walls, stone by stone
Destroy my resistance that I hold so strong
It's just You and me alone
Till it's just You and me alone...