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Hello!  I was locked out of my blogspot account, so I haven't been able to post on here in a long time. My blog has moved to my new website.  I would love for you to go check it out and follow me there.
www.savannahparvu.com

TICKET TO HEAVEN... IS YOURS VALID?

Recently I went to a concert with some of my coworkers. We went to a church in Windermere to see Tenth Avenue North, Royal Tailor and KB.  Prior to the concert we purchased our tickets in advance online.  We even decided to get the VIP package so we could have reserved seating and attend the special Question and Answer session they were going to have for the VIP ticket holders.  The evening of the concert we met at work and the four of us rode together to the church where the concert was being held.  Before we left the parking lot we all made sure we had our tickets and we all knew if anyone was going to forget theirs it would be me!

 

We arrived at the church about 30 minutes before the doors opened and we all stood in line with our tickets.  When the doors opened and it was our turn to enter the church the person at the door was scanning the tickets to be sure they hadn’t been used.  Everyone in my group went through with no problems… everyone except me!  My ticket wouldn’t scan and to be honest it was a little embarrassing because me being human I thought everyone must think I copied a ticket or something.  Two people tried to scan my ticket and it just would not work.  They called a lady over and told her the situation and she too tried to scan my ticket but it would not work.  She said, “don’t worry I have a list of the names of the people who bought their tickets online.  Let me check my list and see if you are on it.”  She pulled out a thick stack of papers with the names of people that bought their tickets online and she searched it and sure enough there in black and white was my name, Savannah Parvu –VIP.  She looked up from her papers with a smile on her face and said, “Your name is on the list you can come in.”

 

When she told me not to worry I wanted to tell her I wasn’t worried… I was frustrated!  I knew I paid for my ticket and didn’t copy it and I was embarrassed and felt like I was holding up my group.  After that I had to go to another table to get a sign for my seat and once again they had to find my name, which took a long time because they could not find it, but they did! 

 

That night during the concert God showed me why I went through trouble getting in.  If I just went through with no problems like everyone else did I would not have experienced what he taught me that night.  You see… everyone wants their “ticket to heaven.”  They think they can be a “good person” and do enough good to outweigh the bad and that’s all that matters.  Jesus says in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  That means if you say a “prayer” to receive your “ticket to heaven,” but never truly surrender your heart to the Lord and do the work of the Lord your “ticket” is not a ticket at all. 

 

In Revelation 21:27 we learn that only those whose name is written in the Lambs book of Life will enter the gates of heaven.  This means even if you’ve been a “good person” and think you have your “ticket” to heaven, but you haven’t surrendered your life to the Lord your name will not be written in the Lambs book of Life and you will not enter the gates of heaven.  Just like when I showed up at the concert that night with my ticket and the lady had to check the list to make sure I was on it… if my ticket wasn’t valid and my name wasn’t on the list I would not have been able to enter the doors of the concert.

 

Let’s spend some time asking God to search our hearts and show us if the life we are living is truly for Him or if we are just trying to be a “good person” without surrendering our life to Him.

SHARING OUR HURTS

We have all experienced some type of hurt or have had some type of bad experiences.  Some of us have experienced more than others, but on some level we all know what it feels like to hurt.  I had the privilege of leading two seminars on Human Trafficking at a Women’s Conference last weekend.  In the seminar I shared with the women some of my past hurts and experiences.  I also shared the work the Lord has done in my life and is currently doing.  At the end of the 2^nd seminar I led a lady came up to me, put her arm on my shoulder and the tears began to flow down her face.  I will never forget the words she said to me that day.  She said, “I am 75 years old and I was sexually abused by my brothers, cousins, uncles and dad and I have never told anyone except for you.  If you can talk about the bad things that have happened to you then I can too.”  As she told me her secret I could see fear in her eyes, but once she saw that I wasn’t going to condemn her or shame her I could see the weight of that secret being lifted off of her.

 

I can’t stop thinking about that lady and the amount of pain and shame she has carried around her whole life.  She had a secret she was too ashamed to share and therefore she has never been able to heal from it.  I’ve been thinking about how easy it would have been to teach the seminars and not share one personal experience.  That lady would have listened and left the same as she was when she came in. I allowed God to lead me in what I shared in those classes and because I followed Him and opened myself up He used my past hurts to show this lady she could trust me with her secret and for that I am forever grateful.

 

Romans 8:28 says, “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  I am a firm believer in this passage of scripture because time and time again I have seen God use the hurts in my life for good.

 

The next time you sense God is leading you to share something personal with someone, just remember it could be to allow that person to know they are not alone.

SURRENDER

For the past couple of weeks the word “surrender” has constantly been on my mind.  I've thought about it and what it means. I knew that God was the one telling me to surrender but at first I did not understand because I had already surrendered my life to him 5 years ago.  So, I searched to find other reason as to why this word was consuming my mind.  I talked to a couple people about it, read stuff about it and listened to songs about it. 

God finally showed me that there is a specific situation that I've been holding onto for a while now and it’s time to surrender it to Him.  When He first showed me this my first thought was, “I’m not giving this to Him, I can handle it better on my own.”  After that the thought of surrendering the situation made me feel anxiety and fear.  It wasn't long after that the thought of surrendering made me hurt.  While talking about this with a friend, God showed me that surrendering the situation does not mean that I ignore what happened or act like everything is all better.  It simply means I am giving the situation to Him and I am allowing Him to help me rather than doing it on my own.    My focus is on Him and not the situation itself.  Since then He has reminded me that His ways are greater than my own.  When I am too weak to walk or fight a battle He remains strong and gives me the strength that I need to win the war!

What is it that you are holding on to?  Are you ready to surrender it to the Lord and allow Him to help you?  He is waiting with arms wide open!

STRENGTH FROM THE LORD

STRENGTH FROM THE LORD
9/11/13

We all have days and situations that we go through that make us feel as if we can’t go on. We feel weak, tired and run down. Our strength has been depleted and everything just seems overwhelming and too big for us to handle. I know I’ve felt this way many times in my life. If it wasn’t for the Lord being by myself and giving me the strength that I need I would never make it. Isaiah 41:10b (NIV) says, “I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I don’t know about you, but I find great comfort in those words. There’s also a verse in Matthew that says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b. If we hide these truths in our hearts then difficult times or situations won’t be such a struggle.

Will you cling to these truths the next time you feel weak, tired and run down?

Stressed? Stop Worrying!

Stressed? Stop Worrying!

September 6, 2013
Read Matthew 6:25-34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
~Matthew 6:34

It seems like in our society today a majority of us seem to be “stressed.” I believe stress often comes from worrying… and we worry a lot, whether we think we do or not. We often worry about decisions, finances, relationships, health, kids, etc… According to Matthew 6:25-34 we are not supposed to worry about anything. Matthew 6:33 says, But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. It doesn’t say that He will give you some of these things, but ALL. This verse promises us that if we seek the Lord, He is going to provide ALL that we need. If we truly believe the Lord, we should be able to find comfort in that. We need to put our faith above our worry and walk by faith, not by sight.

I encourage you today to mediate of these scriptures. When a hint of worry comes to mind tell yourself that you are not going to worry, but you are going to seek God.

Will you walk by faith today or let worry hold you back?

HIS LOVE IS THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL!