You know...
One of my favorite verses in the bible is Matthew 18:21-22.
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked,'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seven times seventy times."
This is one of my favorite verses because it shows us one of the greatest ways we can love someone: by forgiving them. Please note that in olden days times saying "seven times seventy times" did not mean 149. It meant 77. So why did Jesus want us to forgive the same person for the same thing seventy-seven times?
I don't know.
But I have a theory.
Its just gonna be one of those questions that we ask when we get to heaven, that is if we aren't too amazed by the beauty of the LORD. What prompted me write this is because someone asked me that very question. I looked at them in deep consideration, trying to formulate a truthful, logical, and WWJS(what would Jesus say) response, and one came to me. I call it the: Get used to it theorem.
If the same person commits the same transgression against you, after they commit this transgression 77 times, then it will just become natural to forgive them, if you had already forgiven them the other 76 times before.
Now to me this makes sense, because we as humans tend to fall into routines, routines become a part of our daily lives-- they become part of us, and natural to do. Should forgiving people not become part of us, and just something we do without thinking? I think so, and I think that the big man upstairs would probably agree. Forgiveness is a gift, it can be given and received. Christ gave us a gift, what was it? Forgiveness for every sin we could possibly commit(except not believing in him before we leave this life). I have noticed that usually I have a song that I accompany with my mini-messages I guess you could call them, so here's today's. "7x70" by Christ August, who is currently going head to head with Phil Wickham fighting to be my favorite artist.
Forgiving someone is all for the benefit of your soul. The fact that YOU might hate someones guts or have a grudge against someone isn't hurting anyone but yourself. Though you might sit around thinking about how and why you have these hateful emotions towards someone, the hated person isn't thinking about how or why you hate them. Why does God dislike hate? Three majorly apparent reasons.
1) When you spend your time carrying unforgiveness around on your back, the weight of it is so large that you will have a hard time carrying your cross. Non-metaphorically: hating distracts you from God.
2) It defiles the most important commandment regarding others: love your neighbor as yourself. Love everyone. No exceptions. Not matter how much you do not like them, love them anyways. Besides, if you are not able to forgive someone else, than obviously, you are not able to forgive yourself. Which is very important, because God has already forgiven you. If the almighty Being that created the heavens and the earth single handedly and everything in between, forgave you for all the stupid stuff you've done... then you should forgive you too.
3) It's hypocritical. If we are called to love, and claim to live a life of love, but we hate, then how is that bringing glory to God? Stop trying to think of ways... because it doesn't hehe. If our life's purpose is to bring glory to God and bring others to bring glory to God, do you think that they will want to do that if they think that we are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites? I sure wouldn't. Just like the words of Gandhi, "I love your Jesus, but not your Christians"
Lots of people like Jesus, I mean come on, He's Jesus, whats not to like, but many people are prevented from loving him because they see the way some of the people who do claim to love him act. So in the words of Paul "Live a life worthy of the calling you have received." can't remember what book or verse, but definitely Paul.
Besides not forgiving someone is choosing not to give God an aspect of your life, God doesn't want part of you... he wants all of You. The good and the bad. You'd be surprised how forgiving someone can change your life. You'd be surprised at the pain and hate that seems to exit your heart.
Because when we choose to forgive, we are choosing to love.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
No Guilt in Life, No Fear in Death
Hello All!
Today, I sit on my bed, listening to a song, and its absolutely beautiful.
Its a song by Adam Young, but most people know him as Owl City.
He recorded a song, that is unfortunately not available for download
as of now, but you can listen to it on his blog. It is his version of In Christ Alone.
In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all-in-all
Here in the love of Christ I stand
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
For some reason, I can describe why,but it made my soul soar. I cried and I cried, tears of realization of what had been done for me, and tears of joy, because I know what I must do. We must love those, of all placed and all backgrounds. Despite our differences and despite the fact that we are possibly supposed to hate each other, we must love each other. He has given us so much, he has given us faith, and hope, and love that cannot be matched. God's love for us is firm and unable to be moved. He has given us each a gift and abilities and power. Inside us, his children, he has given us the ability to love everyone in a way that is different from others of the world. No fear in life no guilt in death, this is the power Christ has given us!
We have no reason to be afraid of anything!
If our God is with us then what should be fear but Him? I have problems with this one, I am so afraid of everything. If someone comes up behind me, I jump it scares me so much. I am even afraid to pray in the dark! Its ridiculous I know, but it happens to me. Sometimes I don't even do what i know that He wants me to do because I am scared of who knows what. But in reality, what is there to be afraid of? What is there to fear, not Man nor Angels nor Demons, nor Satan himself! "No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand"! If the love of our lives is Jesus Christ and our biggest fear is loosing Him, then what is there to fear? That verse in Romans that I need to memorize that say that there is no height nor death or anything that could ever separate us from the love of Christ!
And the second, No guilt in death. This one is fully baffling because we simply do too many things that we feel guilty about. I have a huge conscience and I know when I've done something wrong because the guilt stays with me until I fix it. Because of what has been done for us, we are able to approach the throne of Grace without blame all because of Jesus. We don't have a day of atonement where we have to perform rituals and sacrifices in order to be forgiven because all we have to do is ask Him and He will tell us that He has forgiven us long before the act was committed, all because we have put our faith in Him. All because God sent his only begotten Son so that all who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life. Oh death you have lost your sting! When we go home I pray that the words I will hear are "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Because Fearlessness coupled with Guiltlessness coupled with the Will Of God... makes us unstoppable.
Today, I sit on my bed, listening to a song, and its absolutely beautiful.
Its a song by Adam Young, but most people know him as Owl City.
He recorded a song, that is unfortunately not available for download
as of now, but you can listen to it on his blog. It is his version of In Christ Alone.
In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all-in-all
Here in the love of Christ I stand
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
For some reason, I can describe why,but it made my soul soar. I cried and I cried, tears of realization of what had been done for me, and tears of joy, because I know what I must do. We must love those, of all placed and all backgrounds. Despite our differences and despite the fact that we are possibly supposed to hate each other, we must love each other. He has given us so much, he has given us faith, and hope, and love that cannot be matched. God's love for us is firm and unable to be moved. He has given us each a gift and abilities and power. Inside us, his children, he has given us the ability to love everyone in a way that is different from others of the world. No fear in life no guilt in death, this is the power Christ has given us!
We have no reason to be afraid of anything!
If our God is with us then what should be fear but Him? I have problems with this one, I am so afraid of everything. If someone comes up behind me, I jump it scares me so much. I am even afraid to pray in the dark! Its ridiculous I know, but it happens to me. Sometimes I don't even do what i know that He wants me to do because I am scared of who knows what. But in reality, what is there to be afraid of? What is there to fear, not Man nor Angels nor Demons, nor Satan himself! "No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand"! If the love of our lives is Jesus Christ and our biggest fear is loosing Him, then what is there to fear? That verse in Romans that I need to memorize that say that there is no height nor death or anything that could ever separate us from the love of Christ!
And the second, No guilt in death. This one is fully baffling because we simply do too many things that we feel guilty about. I have a huge conscience and I know when I've done something wrong because the guilt stays with me until I fix it. Because of what has been done for us, we are able to approach the throne of Grace without blame all because of Jesus. We don't have a day of atonement where we have to perform rituals and sacrifices in order to be forgiven because all we have to do is ask Him and He will tell us that He has forgiven us long before the act was committed, all because we have put our faith in Him. All because God sent his only begotten Son so that all who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life. Oh death you have lost your sting! When we go home I pray that the words I will hear are "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Because Fearlessness coupled with Guiltlessness coupled with the Will Of God... makes us unstoppable.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
At the Side of a Well...
Hey All!
Over the past couple of days I have been reading the book called "A Voice in the Wind" by one of my favorite authors Francine Rivers. This is a christian fiction, but in reality it is no at all fiction, it tells a tale of a girl maybe some 40 years after the death of Christ. She is one of the first Christians, and is taken captive during the Roman seize of Jerusalem. Her entire family dies, and she is sold as a slave. Through all of this the girl asks God, "Jesus why did you spare me, the one whom has the least amount of faith?" well something along those lines. This book really opened my eyes to two big facts: 1) in my own way I am EXACTLY the same person as this girl, and 2) I am completely scared, and as a result I am missing out on all that God has to offer me.
(I am so sorry, the word I is about to be over used) I remember a time in my life, the summer of '09 when I was a fresh, brand new Christian. Completely on fire for Christ Jesus, I let him rule over every aspect of my life, and I fought countless battles for my faith. That is the only time in my entire existence where I truly experienced an unfathomable peace. My soul rested in Christ alone, and I wasn't afraid.
My, my; how things change over the course of a year.
A couple of days ago I recognized my big mistake and realized: somethings gotta change. Now during this time period of "Christianity" it is so easy to loose sight of God and focus in on ourselves. Granted there are MANY Christians who have not lost sight of the light, but there are many of us who have. I think we forget to evaluate ourselves. And I think that if we do, we might be surprised. Because some of us will realize how different we are from those first few months of being a fresh Christian, ready to spring up and fulfill the will of God.
Now a days I am so scared. Most people know for a fact that I am a "strong Christian", but most that are not Christian don't realize that I am a seriously crappy display of what a real Christian should be like. I think of the year and a half I have been a Christian that I have shared the word of God to a nonbeliever a grand stinking total of zero times. Why? Well for the same reason that the other 96.4% of Christians never do(not a made up statistic). I am scared. Obviously I am not scared that I will be thrown to a batch of hungry under fed lions, but I am scared of being rejected because of my faith. I am well aware of the fact that there are more than a hundred people in my life that do not know Christ. But do I do anything about it... no. Of course not. Do you see the problem? I do. We should be grabbing at every opportunity to share the story of love. But why don't we? Are we so scared and selfish that we settle with our own salvation, and are willing to watch others live life without the gift? I know that I am, was. But I decided to make a change. I decided to tear down the walls I've put up between myself and God, and let him control EVERY aspect of my life. Not just the parts that I think he should control. I always tell the band bible study: "God doesn't want part of you... he wants all of you." But I have been so wrapped up in my own little world with a population of me, that I have forgotten to follow my own advice! I will now listen to the thirst of my heart, and turn back to the one who can quench that thirst. Because I know that I have missed Jesus, and that I have been dying of thirst at the side of a well. The mask has come off and I now have my sword and my shield(biblically speaking that is), and I am ready to go out and do what I was created to do. Now maybe the population of my world will be more that me. Maybe now it will be 6,790,062,216
Because when we are dying of thirst at the side of a well, all common logic tells us to get up and take a drink.
Over the past couple of days I have been reading the book called "A Voice in the Wind" by one of my favorite authors Francine Rivers. This is a christian fiction, but in reality it is no at all fiction, it tells a tale of a girl maybe some 40 years after the death of Christ. She is one of the first Christians, and is taken captive during the Roman seize of Jerusalem. Her entire family dies, and she is sold as a slave. Through all of this the girl asks God, "Jesus why did you spare me, the one whom has the least amount of faith?" well something along those lines. This book really opened my eyes to two big facts: 1) in my own way I am EXACTLY the same person as this girl, and 2) I am completely scared, and as a result I am missing out on all that God has to offer me.
(I am so sorry, the word I is about to be over used) I remember a time in my life, the summer of '09 when I was a fresh, brand new Christian. Completely on fire for Christ Jesus, I let him rule over every aspect of my life, and I fought countless battles for my faith. That is the only time in my entire existence where I truly experienced an unfathomable peace. My soul rested in Christ alone, and I wasn't afraid.
My, my; how things change over the course of a year.
A couple of days ago I recognized my big mistake and realized: somethings gotta change. Now during this time period of "Christianity" it is so easy to loose sight of God and focus in on ourselves. Granted there are MANY Christians who have not lost sight of the light, but there are many of us who have. I think we forget to evaluate ourselves. And I think that if we do, we might be surprised. Because some of us will realize how different we are from those first few months of being a fresh Christian, ready to spring up and fulfill the will of God.
Now a days I am so scared. Most people know for a fact that I am a "strong Christian", but most that are not Christian don't realize that I am a seriously crappy display of what a real Christian should be like. I think of the year and a half I have been a Christian that I have shared the word of God to a nonbeliever a grand stinking total of zero times. Why? Well for the same reason that the other 96.4% of Christians never do(not a made up statistic). I am scared. Obviously I am not scared that I will be thrown to a batch of hungry under fed lions, but I am scared of being rejected because of my faith. I am well aware of the fact that there are more than a hundred people in my life that do not know Christ. But do I do anything about it... no. Of course not. Do you see the problem? I do. We should be grabbing at every opportunity to share the story of love. But why don't we? Are we so scared and selfish that we settle with our own salvation, and are willing to watch others live life without the gift? I know that I am, was. But I decided to make a change. I decided to tear down the walls I've put up between myself and God, and let him control EVERY aspect of my life. Not just the parts that I think he should control. I always tell the band bible study: "God doesn't want part of you... he wants all of you." But I have been so wrapped up in my own little world with a population of me, that I have forgotten to follow my own advice! I will now listen to the thirst of my heart, and turn back to the one who can quench that thirst. Because I know that I have missed Jesus, and that I have been dying of thirst at the side of a well. The mask has come off and I now have my sword and my shield(biblically speaking that is), and I am ready to go out and do what I was created to do. Now maybe the population of my world will be more that me. Maybe now it will be 6,790,062,216
Because when we are dying of thirst at the side of a well, all common logic tells us to get up and take a drink.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
In All Honesty...
In all honesty... I don't know what to write about. I'm genuinely hoping that something will morph into something... I'd like to dedicate this blog to my dearest friend Hayli Boren, who just happens to be sitting next to me. I love her, she is my SOUL sister. SOUL actually stands for Sisters in Our Undeniable Lord, it originally was SOL, but some would translate that as S... Out of Luck, so we quickly changed it.
Considering that my grandfather is ill, my mom has been flying back and forth to El Paso to visit and be with him. Being an only child I am used to having all the attention, but now I hardly see my mom it seems.
I've been put on the back burner. For the first time in my life.
Of course this is all strange and weird, and I don't like it. My mom's life used to practically revolve around me, and now I probably am the least of her worries. She told me "Jenna, you need to step it up, and take this time to grow up a bit, because I need you to. Please don't grow up completely, but just a little would be nice." Of course I didn't take this well, it hurt. Granted she said it in the nicest way possible, but that is when I really figured out that yes, I am extremely mature for my age, but I am too childish in forgetting things and procrastinating.
I guess I never thought that I would have to become mature before I was an adult, and sooner or later all teens have to become a young adult rather than a teen before they can actually be considered an adult for whatever reason. I just never guess it would happen to me. Of course I've been struggling with God through this, because he knows what I need to do, and I don't want to do it. My journals have become shorter, and I am less enthusiastic about my bible reading, but there is one reason I have been able to stay so strong. Faith. And along with faith, the person who is teaching me to have faith, the person who believes that faith is crap and logic is all that matters. For purposes of privacy we will call him... Cole.
I am very good friends with Cole, and he wants proof, not faith. Through answering as many of his questions as I can, God has strengthened me, and helped me to love really hard. I love Joe, I love him a lot. He is definitely one of my dearest friends. And it is because I love him a lot that I want to see him one day after I die, and not in the line of people going to Hell.
I've been tested and pushed far beyond my limits talking to my friend. Sometimes I can't answer his questions, and I feel like I'm failing him... I feel so hopeless sometimes. But I am trying super hard to not give up and keep my faith, knowing that my dear friend Cole has been placed in my life for a reason.
I just wanted to share this with you all because I would really like everyone to be stronger than I am myself. I love you all, and I try to love everyone. Faith is how we see, so we might as well not be blind.
Considering that my grandfather is ill, my mom has been flying back and forth to El Paso to visit and be with him. Being an only child I am used to having all the attention, but now I hardly see my mom it seems.
I've been put on the back burner. For the first time in my life.
Of course this is all strange and weird, and I don't like it. My mom's life used to practically revolve around me, and now I probably am the least of her worries. She told me "Jenna, you need to step it up, and take this time to grow up a bit, because I need you to. Please don't grow up completely, but just a little would be nice." Of course I didn't take this well, it hurt. Granted she said it in the nicest way possible, but that is when I really figured out that yes, I am extremely mature for my age, but I am too childish in forgetting things and procrastinating.
I guess I never thought that I would have to become mature before I was an adult, and sooner or later all teens have to become a young adult rather than a teen before they can actually be considered an adult for whatever reason. I just never guess it would happen to me. Of course I've been struggling with God through this, because he knows what I need to do, and I don't want to do it. My journals have become shorter, and I am less enthusiastic about my bible reading, but there is one reason I have been able to stay so strong. Faith. And along with faith, the person who is teaching me to have faith, the person who believes that faith is crap and logic is all that matters. For purposes of privacy we will call him... Cole.
I am very good friends with Cole, and he wants proof, not faith. Through answering as many of his questions as I can, God has strengthened me, and helped me to love really hard. I love Joe, I love him a lot. He is definitely one of my dearest friends. And it is because I love him a lot that I want to see him one day after I die, and not in the line of people going to Hell.
I've been tested and pushed far beyond my limits talking to my friend. Sometimes I can't answer his questions, and I feel like I'm failing him... I feel so hopeless sometimes. But I am trying super hard to not give up and keep my faith, knowing that my dear friend Cole has been placed in my life for a reason.
I just wanted to share this with you all because I would really like everyone to be stronger than I am myself. I love you all, and I try to love everyone. Faith is how we see, so we might as well not be blind.
Monday, September 13, 2010
It Hit Me Hard
Hello All!
Today in my English III class we discussed a poem written by a puritan woman in 1666 upon the burning of her house, and the loss of everything she owned. I am not going to lie, I was very surprised that they allowed us to read this poem for one reason: it was about a woman's faith in Christ. And considering that we had a deep discussion on it, I was thoroughly shocked. This poem really came at the right time, considering the hardships I am undergoing, because this woman wakes up to her house being burnt down, and what is this first thing she does?
She Prays.
She says "And to my God my heart did cry, to strengthen me in my distress, And not to leave me succourless."
This first thing she prays about is for God to strengthen her, and to be here with her.To me that was an outstanding profession of faith. She was like Job, she did not curse the name of the LORD, and even more amazingly, she did not ask why, or doubt or question, she says "And when I could no longer look, I blest his grace that gave and took, That laid my goods now in the dust. Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just, it was his own; it was not mine." She praises God! She praises God because she realized that she had been putting her faith into things that would fade and crumble anyway. She accepts the situation simply because God had put it in her life! And the bonus was that it made her stronger! She scolds herself for loving the world and man-made things! Things that we don't think twice about before loving it. Yes, God had to burn her house down in order to give her this revelation, but she realized it, and she learned and moved forward from it. And this last part makes me want to cry, because the severity of its truth is heart deep.
"Raise up thy thoughts above the sky, That dunghill mists away may fly. Thou hast a house on High Erect fram'd by that mighty architect, with glory richly furnished Stands permanent, though this be fled. It was purchased and paid for too By him who hath enough to do. A price so vast as is unknown Yet by his gift is made thine own. There's wealth enough; I need no more Farewell my pelf, farewell my store. The world no longer let me love, my wealth and treasure lies above." If we want to love God and belong to him, then we need to fall out of love with the world, and fall back in love, or just flat out in love with him... The world no longer let me love-- love the world no longer, because our wealth and treasure is in heaven with Christ our LORD.
The second I finished reading this God spoke to me, "A woman of faith, my woman of faith." I wonder what happened to Anne Bradstreet, the woman who had endless faith, I guess I will have to wait until I meet her someday, where I KNOW she will be. reading this poem has defiantly effected me, and I am glad God chose to speak to me.... oh great, now I am going to be rhyming all day. Farewell! See you soon! God bless you all!
Today in my English III class we discussed a poem written by a puritan woman in 1666 upon the burning of her house, and the loss of everything she owned. I am not going to lie, I was very surprised that they allowed us to read this poem for one reason: it was about a woman's faith in Christ. And considering that we had a deep discussion on it, I was thoroughly shocked. This poem really came at the right time, considering the hardships I am undergoing, because this woman wakes up to her house being burnt down, and what is this first thing she does?
She Prays.
She says "And to my God my heart did cry, to strengthen me in my distress, And not to leave me succourless."
This first thing she prays about is for God to strengthen her, and to be here with her.To me that was an outstanding profession of faith. She was like Job, she did not curse the name of the LORD, and even more amazingly, she did not ask why, or doubt or question, she says "And when I could no longer look, I blest his grace that gave and took, That laid my goods now in the dust. Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just, it was his own; it was not mine." She praises God! She praises God because she realized that she had been putting her faith into things that would fade and crumble anyway. She accepts the situation simply because God had put it in her life! And the bonus was that it made her stronger! She scolds herself for loving the world and man-made things! Things that we don't think twice about before loving it. Yes, God had to burn her house down in order to give her this revelation, but she realized it, and she learned and moved forward from it. And this last part makes me want to cry, because the severity of its truth is heart deep.
"Raise up thy thoughts above the sky, That dunghill mists away may fly. Thou hast a house on High Erect fram'd by that mighty architect, with glory richly furnished Stands permanent, though this be fled. It was purchased and paid for too By him who hath enough to do. A price so vast as is unknown Yet by his gift is made thine own. There's wealth enough; I need no more Farewell my pelf, farewell my store. The world no longer let me love, my wealth and treasure lies above." If we want to love God and belong to him, then we need to fall out of love with the world, and fall back in love, or just flat out in love with him... The world no longer let me love-- love the world no longer, because our wealth and treasure is in heaven with Christ our LORD.
The second I finished reading this God spoke to me, "A woman of faith, my woman of faith." I wonder what happened to Anne Bradstreet, the woman who had endless faith, I guess I will have to wait until I meet her someday, where I KNOW she will be. reading this poem has defiantly effected me, and I am glad God chose to speak to me.... oh great, now I am going to be rhyming all day. Farewell! See you soon! God bless you all!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Dear Heart...
This blog is dedicated to the members of the incredible band Sanctus Real since I will be usuing their lyrics in this post, and just because Pieces of a Real Heart has changed my life.
Dear Heart,
Do you belong to me, or do I belong to you? Just look at all the trouble you've dragged me into I've heard it said to follow your heart, but I'm starting to wonder if it's gone too far.
Oh Heart, you've let me down, chasing love where it can't be found. Heart we've fallen out, cause all your emotions have lead me to doubt. Tell me who's gonna save us now?
Dead Heart youre in the wrong place, lookini g out for yourself no matter what I say, and I know that your holding me back, and its time for a change, so I'm giving you away.
Dear Heart, you've let me down, chasing love where it can't be found. Heart we've fallen out, cause all you emotions have lead me to doubt.
Tell me whose gonna save us now?
Repeat
*Only Jesus can save us now...*
-Sanctus Real, Dear Heart, Pieces of a Real Heart.
This song has really put things into perspective for me.This song is about a heart that belongs to the person whom it is keeping alive. Have you ever heard the bible verse "Above all else guard yourself for it is the well spring of life"? Proverbs 4:23 One of the wisest women I know spoke this verse into my mind, and I think that what it says is very relevant. Above ALL else, guard your HEART for it is the WELLSPRING of LIFE.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the world... we need heart insurance.
If you want I can give you my heart agent, would you like me to recomend him? His name is Jesus Christ, and the only primium is loving him back. He's really the only one who will actually protect yours. All the other agents are phony... they just take your heart, drop it a couple of times, and maybe squish it. Not very pretty, but anyways if we are supposed to guard out hearts, All State isn't the one with good hands Christ is, and unlike Geico, who doesn't want to deal with you for more than fifteen minutes, God wants to deal with you forever. Because once you come around Christ wants to keep you around.
Yea... my God is pretty cool. If you decide to make Christ your ultimate heart insurance agent, you will find that there is no sustain able heart injury that he can't heal.
But unlike insurance Christ isn't with you just in case, He is with you when the 'in-case" happens and when you are living life. Becuase when He becomes our reason for living, we start to wonder how we lived without him in the first place. So give him a call, his number is 1-888-just pray. (this is not a real phone number) or 1-888- the-goal-is-love(nor this one)
Thank you! God bless!
Dear Heart,
Do you belong to me, or do I belong to you? Just look at all the trouble you've dragged me into I've heard it said to follow your heart, but I'm starting to wonder if it's gone too far.
Oh Heart, you've let me down, chasing love where it can't be found. Heart we've fallen out, cause all your emotions have lead me to doubt. Tell me who's gonna save us now?
Dead Heart youre in the wrong place, lookini g out for yourself no matter what I say, and I know that your holding me back, and its time for a change, so I'm giving you away.
Dear Heart, you've let me down, chasing love where it can't be found. Heart we've fallen out, cause all you emotions have lead me to doubt.
Tell me whose gonna save us now?
Repeat
*Only Jesus can save us now...*
-Sanctus Real, Dear Heart, Pieces of a Real Heart.
This song has really put things into perspective for me.This song is about a heart that belongs to the person whom it is keeping alive. Have you ever heard the bible verse "Above all else guard yourself for it is the well spring of life"? Proverbs 4:23 One of the wisest women I know spoke this verse into my mind, and I think that what it says is very relevant. Above ALL else, guard your HEART for it is the WELLSPRING of LIFE.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the world... we need heart insurance.
If you want I can give you my heart agent, would you like me to recomend him? His name is Jesus Christ, and the only primium is loving him back. He's really the only one who will actually protect yours. All the other agents are phony... they just take your heart, drop it a couple of times, and maybe squish it. Not very pretty, but anyways if we are supposed to guard out hearts, All State isn't the one with good hands Christ is, and unlike Geico, who doesn't want to deal with you for more than fifteen minutes, God wants to deal with you forever. Because once you come around Christ wants to keep you around.
Yea... my God is pretty cool. If you decide to make Christ your ultimate heart insurance agent, you will find that there is no sustain able heart injury that he can't heal.
But unlike insurance Christ isn't with you just in case, He is with you when the 'in-case" happens and when you are living life. Becuase when He becomes our reason for living, we start to wonder how we lived without him in the first place. So give him a call, his number is 1-888-just pray. (this is not a real phone number) or 1-888- the-goal-is-love(nor this one)
Thank you! God bless!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Here's to you
Here's to you, my wonderful friends. You have stayed by my side through this hard time in my life. Who are these friends? None other than Bethany Butler, Hayli Boren, Rachel Shallow, Michael Tapee, Syman Lau, Joshia John, Sidrah Shah, and anyone else who has taken the time to talk to me and just be there for me.
I know that one of these friends, Joshia, is following this blog, not officially, but on her own, and I would like to dedicate this blog to her. Joshia is one of those friends you find very rarely. Friends like her, are a dime-a-dozen. I have only a few like her, and I am lucky to have any at all. What are these friends? These friends are what I like to call "the Spiritual Sharpeners," these are the friends that love Christ more than you do. The friends that you call on the phone crying because of some random tragedy that has befallen you. But anyways today i would like to talk about a specific quality Joshia has.
She never settles for mediocrity.
In our daily relationships we have to do several things to keep the relationship moving forward, because a relationship that stops moving forwards and ceases to progress will begin to move backwards and regress. What are these things: 1) We hang out and talk, 2) We learn about each other, 3) We go over to each others houses. Well not only do these things help us keep relationships in our daily lives moving forward, but it also helps our relationship with God moving forward. What do these three simple things evaluate to?
1) Pray.
When someone is going through something in their lives, or even if it is just a small predicament, the first things I always tell them to do it pray. Prayer is not us talking at God, it is us talking To God... see the difference? We talk to him and he talks back, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly. It is our "date night with Jesus" so to speak. Don't say all these memorized prayers-- pray from your heart and speak as if he was right in front of you, and another thing-- don't go down a list.
2) Read the Bible.
Every answer to every question is there. So why do people seldomly ever pick it up. People say "I want to know what Jesus was like!" Well then open up your bible and read about him! This is a personal time for you and Christ. People say that the Bible is outdated, but that my friends is a lie. Every story and every analogy and every verse-- we can apply them to our daily lives. Reading the Bible, and really reading, not just skimming, but whole-hearted reading, can really drastically move our relationship with Christ forward.
3) Go to Church.
People say that "Church is full of hypocrites, so I don't go, I don't want a pastor telling me how to live my life" Well to the first part: if your church is full of hypocrites, then find a new one. The point of a church is to take part in fellowship. When we do this we are supposed to be encouraging people, and lifting each other up, but if that's not whats happening in yours all i can say is... frankly... talk to the pastor or find a new one, because that's not what Christ intended the church to be. To the second part unless the pastor or priest isn't reading from the bible, then its not him telling you how to live your life--- its God. Pastors who can't back up their message with the bible, then its probably not a good message.
These things help us to keep the relationship moving forward. We can't settle for meritocracy with Christ, never, our relationship is designed to stretch us, not make us comfortable. When you get comfortable in your relationship, you need to get uncomfortable and step out of that comfort zone of yours. Something that will keep your relationship with Christ a continuous and life long thing.
Joshia never gets comfortable, and i hope that I can be more like her... No matter where you are in your relationship tonight, step out off your plate and evaluate it. You might decide to make some changes.
I know that one of these friends, Joshia, is following this blog, not officially, but on her own, and I would like to dedicate this blog to her. Joshia is one of those friends you find very rarely. Friends like her, are a dime-a-dozen. I have only a few like her, and I am lucky to have any at all. What are these friends? These friends are what I like to call "the Spiritual Sharpeners," these are the friends that love Christ more than you do. The friends that you call on the phone crying because of some random tragedy that has befallen you. But anyways today i would like to talk about a specific quality Joshia has.
She never settles for mediocrity.
In our daily relationships we have to do several things to keep the relationship moving forward, because a relationship that stops moving forwards and ceases to progress will begin to move backwards and regress. What are these things: 1) We hang out and talk, 2) We learn about each other, 3) We go over to each others houses. Well not only do these things help us keep relationships in our daily lives moving forward, but it also helps our relationship with God moving forward. What do these three simple things evaluate to?
1) Pray.
When someone is going through something in their lives, or even if it is just a small predicament, the first things I always tell them to do it pray. Prayer is not us talking at God, it is us talking To God... see the difference? We talk to him and he talks back, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly. It is our "date night with Jesus" so to speak. Don't say all these memorized prayers-- pray from your heart and speak as if he was right in front of you, and another thing-- don't go down a list.
2) Read the Bible.
Every answer to every question is there. So why do people seldomly ever pick it up. People say "I want to know what Jesus was like!" Well then open up your bible and read about him! This is a personal time for you and Christ. People say that the Bible is outdated, but that my friends is a lie. Every story and every analogy and every verse-- we can apply them to our daily lives. Reading the Bible, and really reading, not just skimming, but whole-hearted reading, can really drastically move our relationship with Christ forward.
3) Go to Church.
People say that "Church is full of hypocrites, so I don't go, I don't want a pastor telling me how to live my life" Well to the first part: if your church is full of hypocrites, then find a new one. The point of a church is to take part in fellowship. When we do this we are supposed to be encouraging people, and lifting each other up, but if that's not whats happening in yours all i can say is... frankly... talk to the pastor or find a new one, because that's not what Christ intended the church to be. To the second part unless the pastor or priest isn't reading from the bible, then its not him telling you how to live your life--- its God. Pastors who can't back up their message with the bible, then its probably not a good message.
These things help us to keep the relationship moving forward. We can't settle for meritocracy with Christ, never, our relationship is designed to stretch us, not make us comfortable. When you get comfortable in your relationship, you need to get uncomfortable and step out of that comfort zone of yours. Something that will keep your relationship with Christ a continuous and life long thing.
Joshia never gets comfortable, and i hope that I can be more like her... No matter where you are in your relationship tonight, step out off your plate and evaluate it. You might decide to make some changes.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Take a deep breath
You know what I've been thinking about lately? Myself. With my grandfather being sick instead of it being about him, it has turned into something about me. But that's what death is... a big ball of selfishness, not for the person dying, but for the people around that person. For a christian we should feel two things, 1) There is a time for mourning and being sad-- why? Well children that's because we have no idea how long we will be separated from this dear person, 2) Joyful. God once told me "The heart can be happy while the mind is unhappy, therefore it is by far better to be joyful because joy feeds the heart, mind and most importantly- the soul." So there's a little God wisdom for you, but back to what i was saying. Yes joy. And if your me a little bit of jealousy. I mean seriously. Though I will miss him for the handful of decades more I will be here...
My grandpa gets to go to freaking Heaven and see Christ and sing to him for ETERNITY.
Yea... I'm jealous. But back to joy. Joy. We all know what it is. And we are supposed to feel it, but often times it gets jumbled in with other nasty feelings such as doubt. But see if we were always focused on God, these nasty feelings would not be a problem. But to date the only person I've ever know to have focused on God %100 of the time is Jesus... and that's hardly fair considering that he is God. So if you are experiencing something similar to me know this: though you love this person a lot you will see them again soon(hopefully), if you stay focused on God and keep your thoughts from yourself God will refine you. And that pain. That devil awful pain eating away at your heart, you know the one that makes you dis functional. It will all start to fade. This is just the dark before the morning. The hurt before the healing. All you have to do is give all your pain over to Christ. And trust me-- he can take it, he's taken far worse pain than you and i will ever know.
My grandpa gets to go to freaking Heaven and see Christ and sing to him for ETERNITY.
Yea... I'm jealous. But back to joy. Joy. We all know what it is. And we are supposed to feel it, but often times it gets jumbled in with other nasty feelings such as doubt. But see if we were always focused on God, these nasty feelings would not be a problem. But to date the only person I've ever know to have focused on God %100 of the time is Jesus... and that's hardly fair considering that he is God. So if you are experiencing something similar to me know this: though you love this person a lot you will see them again soon(hopefully), if you stay focused on God and keep your thoughts from yourself God will refine you. And that pain. That devil awful pain eating away at your heart, you know the one that makes you dis functional. It will all start to fade. This is just the dark before the morning. The hurt before the healing. All you have to do is give all your pain over to Christ. And trust me-- he can take it, he's taken far worse pain than you and i will ever know.
Monday, August 30, 2010
How is it possible?
The last few days have defiantely been some of the hardest of my life-- my grandpa, whom is like a father to me, is terminally ill-- I feel that I now know true pain. I have been in such a whirlwind of emotions that I've hardly had time to comprehend them; jealous and happy that he is going home to see Father, sad that he is leaving me, and empty because he will take so much of him with me. God is really putting me to the test. And I hope I am doing well. Never have I relied so heavily on God, never has Christ been at the front of my mind 24-7, but at the same time its so hard to pray because my own emotions are getting in the way. I know why pain makes me stronger now, I know why good men die, I know why He gave me eyes but faith is how I see. Now I just need to figure out why I am so afraid of the dark but I stray from the light. I truly am taking this one day at a time and letting tomorrow worry about itself. My only prayers "Take him home in peace," and "Refine me LORD through the flames." Ive been crying alot, but the only thing I keep saying is "The LORD gives and the LORD takes away, may the name of the LORD be praised" but the funny thing is, is that i promised my self that when a tragedy like this ever befallen me that those would be the first words out of my mouth. I am blessed to have Christ and such wonderful friends walking by my side as I experience the first physical death I have ever seen. I have only seen life-- never death. I will sow for myself righteousness, I will reap the fruit of Gods unfailing love, and I will break up my unploughed ground; for the time has come for me to seek God with all my heart until he showers righteousness on me.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
So...
Hello All,
About two days ago, I read a bible verse, I read my bible almost everyday, but this verse stood out. I am studying the book of Hosea, and anyone who hasn't read it should, its great!!! But anyways here is the verse.
"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12.
What is being said to us? Do you know? Because I do?
It is time to go back to GOD. It is time to stop playing church and get out of our pews. But why are we supposed to do this?...... Because it is our mission. God said to spread love. We can't spread love living like Christian Aetheists(Believers who act like God doesn't exist). We all know how to spread love, is simple... it can be a smile to a stranger, so if its this simple, then why aren't we doing it? We aren't doing our jobs. But why not? have we just settled with our eternity in heaven, what about those who are on their way to Hell?
About two days ago, I read a bible verse, I read my bible almost everyday, but this verse stood out. I am studying the book of Hosea, and anyone who hasn't read it should, its great!!! But anyways here is the verse.
"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12.
What is being said to us? Do you know? Because I do?
It is time to go back to GOD. It is time to stop playing church and get out of our pews. But why are we supposed to do this?...... Because it is our mission. God said to spread love. We can't spread love living like Christian Aetheists(Believers who act like God doesn't exist). We all know how to spread love, is simple... it can be a smile to a stranger, so if its this simple, then why aren't we doing it? We aren't doing our jobs. But why not? have we just settled with our eternity in heaven, what about those who are on their way to Hell?
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Hi
Hello all, my name is Jenna, and for some reason I was reading my best friends blog, and I felt like I should start a blog also. Technology... its great. My life is pretty average, but at the same time its not... I am a called out one, or in simple terms-- a christian. Like I said, my life is average; I am fifteen, a native Texan, divorced parents(sad that that is normal), christian(which is also common considering that Texas is the 'bible belt'), and I was born. Sounds pretty average to me.
I have never actually blogged, nor read a blog, so this is pretty new to me. According to other sources all people do on blogs is talk about is themselves , which is fine, but I think that might be boring... especially you. The Reader.
I have been thinking lately "of all the christians in the world, how many are actually real in-a-relationship-Christ-loving children of God". Considering that 1/3 of the world is christian, and that not even 1/3 of the teens at my youth group actually give a flying flip about God, not every many.
That brings up more sad feelings in my heart than water from a geyser.
So if you stumble across this Posting... my very first posting, I would like you to think about that. Are you a genuine christian, or are you just going through the motions? And if you are an atheist, agnostic, or a practicer of any other religion know this: The reason Christians have such a bad name is because many Christians claim Christ, but act as if he doesn't exist, meaning that we forget who we belong to and act like we don't know between right and wrong.
Well that is my first entry, and I don't really know how to close one of these things...
I better go do my Physics homework... God bless, I pray that you won't have as much homework as me...
I have never actually blogged, nor read a blog, so this is pretty new to me. According to other sources all people do on blogs is talk about is themselves , which is fine, but I think that might be boring... especially you. The Reader.
I have been thinking lately "of all the christians in the world, how many are actually real in-a-relationship-Christ-loving children of God". Considering that 1/3 of the world is christian, and that not even 1/3 of the teens at my youth group actually give a flying flip about God, not every many.
That brings up more sad feelings in my heart than water from a geyser.
So if you stumble across this Posting... my very first posting, I would like you to think about that. Are you a genuine christian, or are you just going through the motions? And if you are an atheist, agnostic, or a practicer of any other religion know this: The reason Christians have such a bad name is because many Christians claim Christ, but act as if he doesn't exist, meaning that we forget who we belong to and act like we don't know between right and wrong.
Well that is my first entry, and I don't really know how to close one of these things...
I better go do my Physics homework... God bless, I pray that you won't have as much homework as me...
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