Ok, so I saw this last night before bed and was cracking up. There’s a possibility that I was cracking up because it was late and I was tired, but I’m pretty sure this is really funny. The three girls at the beginning are Kari Jobe, Darah Maclean, and Blanca from Group 1 Crew. I don’t know who all the guys at the end are. Enjoy! 
It’s a rainy Wednesday. Most of you are still in school as I write.
I wonder if you’ve thought about the call of Jesus Christ on your life, this afternoon? Have you pondered, recently, that He calls you to….die? I’m not talking about a physical death, necessarily (although some of us may someday have the privilege of losing our lives for the sake of the Gospel). I’m talking about a daily dying of ourselves that should last a lifetime.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8
Let a faithful Christ-follower, Jackie Pullinger (missionary serving drug addicts and prostitutes in Hong Kong) discuss this concept with you a little more.
Jesus Christ is worthy of your life, over and over again. Ask Him to teach you what He really means when He calls you to be His disciple. I’m asking, too.
Happy Valentine’s Day, my dears!
If you find yourself a little sad this evening because some of your friends got flowers or teddy bears or chocolate from a guy and you didn’t, know that I understand. Your best friend’s new boyfriend showering her with gifts can make your heart hurt a little, whether you’re in 7th grade, 11th grade, or…27. I’ve had the “mopey” Valentine’s Days, the “pretend-guys-are-dumb-and-that-you-don’t-care” Valentine’s Days, and the “next-year-will-be-my-year” Valentine’s Days. So many silly emotions surge on days like these, don’t they? Think about a few things with me:
As you’re pondering some of that, and hopefully headed to a snuggly place with your Bible, listen to this beautiful truth:
I was so excited, today, to see a great example in the news of a young woman “getting it.”
Kylie Bisutti, a twenty-one year old and former Victoria’s Secret model, decided to make some changes in her career because she’s a Christian and was becoming “convicted” after “reading the Bible” more. She said, “My body should only be for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing.” She’s exactly right!
Throughout human history, women have been sinning by misusing their hotness. (Proverbs 7:10-23) But according to the words of our Maker, your body was created to be sexually attractive for one reason: your relationship with your husband, one day, when you’ve promised each other “til death do us part.” (Genesis 2:21-25, Proverbs 5:18-19, Hebrews 13:4) Should your husband enjoy your body? Yes. Should anyone else? Nope. Your body is not for them. And to flaunt it as if it is for them is to dishonor God with your body…to sin.
Check out two really important passages about your body (knowing that God made you hot, and that He made your hotness for marriage):
Wow. What happens when a girl really believes what her Creator says?
Understanding God’s good design for our hotness (that it is for our husband’s eyes only!) and understanding the price God paid to make us His own (Jesus’ death on the cross, bearing God’s wrath instead of us so we could be reconciled to God and become His children!) leads us to make choices like Kylie made: To treat our bodies, our sexuality, as sacred. To honor this very great Savior in any way we can, including with our bodies.
So what about you? What might all of this mean in your life? As Dannah Gresh has written in her awesome book, The Secret Keeper, you’ve got a secret to keep. Are you hot? Yup. (Some of you struggle to believe this because you compare yourself to girls like Kylie Bisutti and feel like you don’t measure up. Hear me: You’re beautiful. You’re “wonderfully made,” just the way God designed you to be, with plenty of hotness that needs to be tucked away until the right time! Psalm 139:14) So again, are you hot? Yup. Is that something to be broadcast now? Nope. Keep your hotness hidden from the world until one man has earned the right to know, and until it honors your body’s Creator to display it: your honeymoon.
Ask God to teach you His ways. Ask Him to make US what He wants us to be. And then….push play. I love y’all!
Where No One Stands Alone from Ashley Wollam on Vimeo.
Today is the 39th anniversary of “Roe v. Wade,” the Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States. It is also recognized as ”Sanctity of Life Sunday” by Christians around the country.
Watch this beautiful video that depicts the development of a new life in a mother’s womb:
The Miracle Of Life from Catholic Media House on Vimeo.
Also, check out this awesome presentation of Psalm 139. As you watch, be reminded that our Creator deeply values the human lives He creates. He sees, knows, and loves the women who are struggling today with choices about an unplanned pregnancy, and the babies who quietly rest inside their wombs. He assigns great worth both to the women who chose abortion and the babies whose lives were taken. Women who choose abortion are not our enemies. They are poisoned by sin, like we are. They need grace, like we do. They are offered mercy and forgiveness and newness in Jesus Christ, like we are. Many of them are broken-hearted, and feel unforgiveable. That’s not true, girls. Point them to the Grace-Giver, Jesus Christ.
In the things you say and the way you live, demonstrate a deep, radical love for every human life: the unborn, their parents, the elderly, the disabled, the students rejected and mistreated at your school, and people who stand angrily against our Creator and His Word. Love them all. Love them well, girls.
With deep love and compassion for post-abortive women, and sensitivity to the fact that they are all around us and often carry deep, hidden grief and shame, know that we are called to stand for justice by the Creator of every human life. He says:
“…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:17)
As you walk through a confused culture, ask our Father to help you live this way:
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
Following the Life-Giver from LIFE International on Vimeo.
Worship the Creator.
Value life.
Show the broken-hearted grace.
Hey my dears!
Let’s ponder some important questions, together.
Learning to live right along with you,
Ashley
Your Own Worst Enemy from Ashley Wollam on Vimeo.
Some of you know that one of my favorite things to pray for “my girls” is that you will “come to know and rely on the love that He has for us” (1 John 4:16).
We are changed, you and I, when we become “rooted and grounded in” His “love.” (Ephesians 3:17) We become “compelled” (driven…motivated…pushed forward with passion!) by “the love of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21) towards surrender and ministry and usefulness to our Savior when we have encountered and been changed by His love (which He proved to you in His death and resurrection, through which we can be made right with God!).
I want to plead with you to meditate on His love, today. He loves you with a strong, unstoppable, refining love, a love that pursues you and holds you, not because of who you are, but to demonstrate who He is. (Romans 5:8)
Check out this music video, and ask God for grace to understand and believe His love for you. Nothing can separate you from it, if you’re in Christ. (Romans 8:35-39) When Jesus Christ chose you and saved you and made you “His own,” (Titus 2:14) He decided to be “for you” and not “against you” (Romans 8:31). Snuggle up in His love, and be transformed by it.
