So, i have obviously beenout of this for a while. Life is crazy. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it feels awesome. Alot has happened since my last post, so let me briefly update you:
1) Camp ended.
2) I did not return to school.
3) My Aunt Nancy passed away.
4) I've been confused like no one ever has.
5) I've felt alone and misguided and like no one in the world understands me.
6) I've made friends that will never go away.
7) I've made memories to always look back on and smile.
8) I've been stubborn.
9) I've been ignorant.
10) I've underestimated the awesomeness of God and of the Power that he pushes through the veins of his disciples.
Lately it feels as though my world has been shaken to the ground, but it is slowly being rebuilt the way that God wants it. I fail over and over again and He is still there. Out of everything that has happened I have experienced pain, sorrow, happiness and more. But most importantly I've been reminded of the Faithfulness of My Amazing, exalted God.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Sooo, I recently purchased a new book and it is called "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore. I'm not very big on reading but I like to go to book stores and I really like to buy books. While I was in Barnes & Noble looking around for a book I found this one and I started reading the back of it. Ya know, like I do most of the time. Only this time, it completely sucked me in. So of course, I brought it to the register and it was soon mine. I don't have alot of spare time working at camp and when I do have time I usually don't like to spend it reading. It's just not fun to me. But, from the first page of this book I have been challenged and I have come across a very interesting part of it and I would like to share it! So, here it goes.
"...but he refused to demand respect for the one and only God... To be free in Christ, our high places will have to fall. We must be willing to take a stand against idolatry."
-Beth Moore "Breaking Free"
So many things in this world will hold us captive! Before Christ, we were held captive to sin. Now, we have the ability to be broken of that imprisonment and to be free in Christ. But, to be free in Christ our high places will have to fall. Our pride will have to fall. We should be completely humble and give all of the great things God has given us back to him. Because he has blessed us beyond belief with things that we are completely unworthy for. Not only do our high places have to fall but, we must be willing to take a stand against idolatry.
Idolatry: Extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.
If you choose something or someone over God, that is idolatry. We are ALL guilty of it! I know that alot of the time...especially at camp...I would rather sleep than read my Bible. Sometimes I even choose Taco Bell over my prayer time. Is that good? No, definitely not. But, it takes discipline. God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He knows that we aren't. He still likes us to try our best to overcome temptation to choose stuff over him and to spend time with him.
"Resist him, stand firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
-1 Peter 5:9
That verse covers alot of ground. The word suffering can be alot of things because alot of things are hard to resist at different times. I feel that i am suffering when I wake up an hour early to read my bible before work, but I know that there are other people doing the same thing who are also tired. If at any point in my life I have to severely suffer for Christ, I would know that there are also people dying every single day for making his name known around the world. People who are dying for spending an hour before work reading the bible. We all struggle, different things are hard at different times for all of us. But, no matter what the circumstance is, we need to demand respect for God, even if we have to demand it from ourselves. We need to stand up against idolatry to give all of the glory to God and to show him the love that he deserves.
"And he said to his disciples, 'Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through which they come!'"
-Luke 17:1
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with temptation he will also provide the way to escape, that you may be able to endure it."
-1 Corinthians 10:13
"...but he refused to demand respect for the one and only God... To be free in Christ, our high places will have to fall. We must be willing to take a stand against idolatry."
-Beth Moore "Breaking Free"
So many things in this world will hold us captive! Before Christ, we were held captive to sin. Now, we have the ability to be broken of that imprisonment and to be free in Christ. But, to be free in Christ our high places will have to fall. Our pride will have to fall. We should be completely humble and give all of the great things God has given us back to him. Because he has blessed us beyond belief with things that we are completely unworthy for. Not only do our high places have to fall but, we must be willing to take a stand against idolatry.
Idolatry: Extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.
If you choose something or someone over God, that is idolatry. We are ALL guilty of it! I know that alot of the time...especially at camp...I would rather sleep than read my Bible. Sometimes I even choose Taco Bell over my prayer time. Is that good? No, definitely not. But, it takes discipline. God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He knows that we aren't. He still likes us to try our best to overcome temptation to choose stuff over him and to spend time with him.
"Resist him, stand firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
-1 Peter 5:9
That verse covers alot of ground. The word suffering can be alot of things because alot of things are hard to resist at different times. I feel that i am suffering when I wake up an hour early to read my bible before work, but I know that there are other people doing the same thing who are also tired. If at any point in my life I have to severely suffer for Christ, I would know that there are also people dying every single day for making his name known around the world. People who are dying for spending an hour before work reading the bible. We all struggle, different things are hard at different times for all of us. But, no matter what the circumstance is, we need to demand respect for God, even if we have to demand it from ourselves. We need to stand up against idolatry to give all of the glory to God and to show him the love that he deserves.
"And he said to his disciples, 'Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through which they come!'"
-Luke 17:1
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with temptation he will also provide the way to escape, that you may be able to endure it."
-1 Corinthians 10:13
Sunday, June 12, 2011
More than pets get trained...
Titus 2:11-12
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."
Alot of people think that after you become a Christian, it's like your life is magically perfect...no problems, all sunshine and no rain, which is definitely not the case. Actually, it becomes alot harder. You have to turn against the world. Against your former ways. Against your passions of the world and you have to be trained.
You don't just wake up the morning after becoming a Christian and automatically have it all figured out. God has to teach you, he has to train you.
Surely you have all trained an animal in your life. A dog? A cat? Anything? When they do right, you praise them and give them a treat, when they do wrong, you have to discipline them...and when you discipline them and you know that they did wrong, it hurts you because you know that if they did the right thing it could protect them from harm and maybe even death. I wonder if sometimes, God is like that with us?
"...training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."
All of those things are hard. I don't know about you, but I fail at these things daily. God has to discipline me everyday. I break his heart every single day. But, he loves me and cares about me and he wants to protect me from harm and death, so he keeps training me. And I keep trying. No matter how many times I fail. Because, I want to please him and I want to do the best that I can to make him happy.
Even though I upset him so much, he also delights in me. He loves the fact that we keep trying. He delights in it.
This is pretty short compared to my other posts, but it's pretty to the point. God tells us to do these things, and it is very hard for us. But with him, we can do it. He is for us and he wants us to do it. It also can't happen over night. It carries on throughout our entire lives. Just like you have to train your dog and remind them over time, God does that to us. But it's not all upsetting, God delights in us too. We won't reach perfection until the day of Christ, so keep your head up and keep pushing forward! God delights in you and he is on your side! No matter how hard it is, keep goin. He is Sooooo worth it. (:
Hopefully that was somewhat encouraging.
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."
Alot of people think that after you become a Christian, it's like your life is magically perfect...no problems, all sunshine and no rain, which is definitely not the case. Actually, it becomes alot harder. You have to turn against the world. Against your former ways. Against your passions of the world and you have to be trained.
You don't just wake up the morning after becoming a Christian and automatically have it all figured out. God has to teach you, he has to train you.
Surely you have all trained an animal in your life. A dog? A cat? Anything? When they do right, you praise them and give them a treat, when they do wrong, you have to discipline them...and when you discipline them and you know that they did wrong, it hurts you because you know that if they did the right thing it could protect them from harm and maybe even death. I wonder if sometimes, God is like that with us?
"...training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."
All of those things are hard. I don't know about you, but I fail at these things daily. God has to discipline me everyday. I break his heart every single day. But, he loves me and cares about me and he wants to protect me from harm and death, so he keeps training me. And I keep trying. No matter how many times I fail. Because, I want to please him and I want to do the best that I can to make him happy.
Even though I upset him so much, he also delights in me. He loves the fact that we keep trying. He delights in it.
This is pretty short compared to my other posts, but it's pretty to the point. God tells us to do these things, and it is very hard for us. But with him, we can do it. He is for us and he wants us to do it. It also can't happen over night. It carries on throughout our entire lives. Just like you have to train your dog and remind them over time, God does that to us. But it's not all upsetting, God delights in us too. We won't reach perfection until the day of Christ, so keep your head up and keep pushing forward! God delights in you and he is on your side! No matter how hard it is, keep goin. He is Sooooo worth it. (:
Hopefully that was somewhat encouraging.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
In all circumstances?!
So, I think that I can speak for everyone when I say that Christianity is hard. Being a real Christian, a real follower of God is hard! We will never reach all of the guidelines and yet we are still told to try to be like Christ, who is perfect. The only one who has ever lived life without falling short. Don't get me wrong, I love knowing that no matter how much I fall short, as long as I believe and have faith and am faithful to my best ability, God will still cover me with his grace, love and mercy and he will always be waiting time and time again with open arms. There is so much comfort in that! God is perfect, we are not and he still accepts and desires us! So beautiful. Anyways, back on topic.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 is very difficult. This topic has been brought up a lot lately in my life so I've been paying attention to just how many times I break this every single day. It says:
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God In Christ Jesus for you."
Man. It's a lot harder than it sounds. I find myself asking throughout the day "How can I be thankful for THAT?!" and slowly but surely God has been placing peace in me as I ask him that.
About a week ago, my aunt Nancy had a follow up appointment for her lung cancer. She went through chemotherapy and did radiation and we thought that everything was going to be ok. That she would get to stay here with us to see my sisters and I grow up and be there when we get married. We thought that she would get to be around for advice on raising our children...to get to see her grandson grow up. But, At this follow up appointment, we found out that not only was her cancer back, but it was back in her lungs, liver and neck. She will not be going through chemotherapy again, and the cancer will soon spread to her brain and take her out of my life forever. She won't be at my wedding. She won't get to hold my children. Where will we have thanksgiving from now on? Things will never be the same.
How can you be thankful for that?! I'm sure that all of you have been there and know how difficult it is. But still, we are told to be thankful. That it is "The will of God in Christ Jesus for us." and like always, he is right. As hard as it is, we should be thankful. I should be thankful. Because through this, I will have no one to fall on but God.
Nahum 1:7 says this:
"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him."
Even though we are going through trials, we need to take refuge in him. He gives us comfort, hen gives us joy, he gives us life. This is hard to take in, but it is very important. It is vital for us for God to be the source of our joy and for us to always rejoice, because no matter what happens, we still have a reason to be thankful. We still have reasons to rejoice.
Philippians 4:4
"Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I will say rejoice!"
If you move further down in 1 Thessalonians 5, you will see that Paul says "hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."
W
If we hold fast to what is good, we should look past the evil. Overlook the bad. "yes, this bad thing just happened, but look at all the good things happening! Thank you, Jesus!" and if you do these things, it will be clearly seen how you are set apart. You will still have joy in all circumstances, not everyone has that. If you do, use it! Don't just sit it on a shelf. Don't wallow around in self pity! That's not what we were created to do. We were created to bring God glory, rejoicing in him during times of tribulation is one of many ways you can give the glory to him. He's completely worthy of it.
God will sanctify you, he will set you apart if you accept him. All of him. His love, mercy, comfort, shelter...he has it all. He holds everything and everyone in his hands. He cares about you and your troubles. He wants to comfort you. He desires you...and he is faithful.
So, you have a reason to be thankful. Holdfast to what is good and give thanks to god through the bad times...and the good times!
So, I hope all of this makes sense. This is just one of my thoughts through my Christian walk. I feel like I just rambled on and on, so some things might not be clear. But, I guess I can sum this while post up with just a few verses:
James 1:2-4
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it's full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing."
Philippians 1:6
"and I am sure of this, that he who began a a food work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Trials will lead to steadfastness which will lead to perfection...but it won't be completed until the day of Jesus Christ. That means, we are to count it joy when we meet trials...until we die. Then and only then, we will be made perfect. Only by Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 is very difficult. This topic has been brought up a lot lately in my life so I've been paying attention to just how many times I break this every single day. It says:
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God In Christ Jesus for you."
Man. It's a lot harder than it sounds. I find myself asking throughout the day "How can I be thankful for THAT?!" and slowly but surely God has been placing peace in me as I ask him that.
About a week ago, my aunt Nancy had a follow up appointment for her lung cancer. She went through chemotherapy and did radiation and we thought that everything was going to be ok. That she would get to stay here with us to see my sisters and I grow up and be there when we get married. We thought that she would get to be around for advice on raising our children...to get to see her grandson grow up. But, At this follow up appointment, we found out that not only was her cancer back, but it was back in her lungs, liver and neck. She will not be going through chemotherapy again, and the cancer will soon spread to her brain and take her out of my life forever. She won't be at my wedding. She won't get to hold my children. Where will we have thanksgiving from now on? Things will never be the same.
How can you be thankful for that?! I'm sure that all of you have been there and know how difficult it is. But still, we are told to be thankful. That it is "The will of God in Christ Jesus for us." and like always, he is right. As hard as it is, we should be thankful. I should be thankful. Because through this, I will have no one to fall on but God.
Nahum 1:7 says this:
"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him."
Even though we are going through trials, we need to take refuge in him. He gives us comfort, hen gives us joy, he gives us life. This is hard to take in, but it is very important. It is vital for us for God to be the source of our joy and for us to always rejoice, because no matter what happens, we still have a reason to be thankful. We still have reasons to rejoice.
Philippians 4:4
"Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I will say rejoice!"
If you move further down in 1 Thessalonians 5, you will see that Paul says "hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."
W
If we hold fast to what is good, we should look past the evil. Overlook the bad. "yes, this bad thing just happened, but look at all the good things happening! Thank you, Jesus!" and if you do these things, it will be clearly seen how you are set apart. You will still have joy in all circumstances, not everyone has that. If you do, use it! Don't just sit it on a shelf. Don't wallow around in self pity! That's not what we were created to do. We were created to bring God glory, rejoicing in him during times of tribulation is one of many ways you can give the glory to him. He's completely worthy of it.
God will sanctify you, he will set you apart if you accept him. All of him. His love, mercy, comfort, shelter...he has it all. He holds everything and everyone in his hands. He cares about you and your troubles. He wants to comfort you. He desires you...and he is faithful.
So, you have a reason to be thankful. Holdfast to what is good and give thanks to god through the bad times...and the good times!
So, I hope all of this makes sense. This is just one of my thoughts through my Christian walk. I feel like I just rambled on and on, so some things might not be clear. But, I guess I can sum this while post up with just a few verses:
James 1:2-4
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it's full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing."
Philippians 1:6
"and I am sure of this, that he who began a a food work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Trials will lead to steadfastness which will lead to perfection...but it won't be completed until the day of Jesus Christ. That means, we are to count it joy when we meet trials...until we die. Then and only then, we will be made perfect. Only by Jesus.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Do not quench the spirit.
I have never done a blog before and honestly, I never really thought I would ever be a blogger. But, here I am...not by choice. You see, God has really been placing this on my heart for a few weeks now (blogging, that is) and I've just been putting it on the shelf because I never saw myself as a blogger. I guess that is not for me to determine because God has put me here, doing this for a reason. The more I fought it, the more it "haunted" me. That happens to me a lot. I say that I will never do something because it looks lame or because I don't want to put the effort into it, and then I end up doing it. Hopefully I'm not alone on that. Anyways, before I get deep into this whole blogging experience, I would like to share why and what this blog will be about. So, sit back and enjoy the story.
The website that you are on right now is thehouriscomingandisnowhere.blogspot.com...and is based off of the passage John 4:23 which says:
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."
So, let me say this again, the website you are currently on is thehouriscomingandisnowhere.blogspot.com..and is now here, not, and is no where. Just thought I'd clear that up.
This verse is so important to me. It brings conviction and keeps me on track because it has such a vital tone. The hour is NOW here...not tomorrow, or next week, or when I'm around people...no. The hour is now here, when the TRUE worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. Wow. Talk about a tornado kick in the spiritual face. It's something that God has been holding my hand through but, it can be a struggle. i love every moment of it, though. Anyways, that's how the website got it's name.
The blog is called 'Thoughts of a Worshiper of God"...also based off of John 4:23. I am a Worshiper of God and I always aim to be a true, loyal, complete, whole-hearted worshiper of God. Unfortunately I am a sinner and I don't always reach those standards, but I do always try. Also, my blog = my thoughts. Or thoughts that God gives/allows me to have by his awesome grace. Either way, the title makes perfect sense!
This post, the very first post ever, is called "Do not quench the spirit." I thought it was fitting because I did not want to write this blog, but God told me to. If I had decided against the blog i would have been quenching the spirit, which is never a good thing to do. I wish I could say i came up with that title all on my own, but it is actually based off of a verse which convicted me into writing the blog....1 Thessalonians 5:19 says "Do not quench the spirit." ...That's it. the entire verse. It is as simple as that! Don't quench the spirit! Can't say I've always obeyed that. But hopefully, we can work on it together...get a little bit of accountability going. Sound good? OK, cool.
That about wraps it up for the first post! Hopefully I will have some juicy information and incredibly deep, philosophical thoughts for you guys next time...but probably not. They will probably be very simple thoughts that boggle my mind. So, to recap; Be a true worshiper of God right now and do not quench the spirit. I honestly think that if we can work on those two points, things would get alot smoother for us.
Whoever you are, I hope you enjoyed this. I am open for questions always and I will be praying for you!
(:
The website that you are on right now is thehouriscomingandisnowhere.blogspot.com...and is based off of the passage John 4:23 which says:
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."
So, let me say this again, the website you are currently on is thehouriscomingandisnowhere.blogspot.com..and is now here, not, and is no where. Just thought I'd clear that up.
This verse is so important to me. It brings conviction and keeps me on track because it has such a vital tone. The hour is NOW here...not tomorrow, or next week, or when I'm around people...no. The hour is now here, when the TRUE worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. Wow. Talk about a tornado kick in the spiritual face. It's something that God has been holding my hand through but, it can be a struggle. i love every moment of it, though. Anyways, that's how the website got it's name.
The blog is called 'Thoughts of a Worshiper of God"...also based off of John 4:23. I am a Worshiper of God and I always aim to be a true, loyal, complete, whole-hearted worshiper of God. Unfortunately I am a sinner and I don't always reach those standards, but I do always try. Also, my blog = my thoughts. Or thoughts that God gives/allows me to have by his awesome grace. Either way, the title makes perfect sense!
This post, the very first post ever, is called "Do not quench the spirit." I thought it was fitting because I did not want to write this blog, but God told me to. If I had decided against the blog i would have been quenching the spirit, which is never a good thing to do. I wish I could say i came up with that title all on my own, but it is actually based off of a verse which convicted me into writing the blog....1 Thessalonians 5:19 says "Do not quench the spirit." ...That's it. the entire verse. It is as simple as that! Don't quench the spirit! Can't say I've always obeyed that. But hopefully, we can work on it together...get a little bit of accountability going. Sound good? OK, cool.
That about wraps it up for the first post! Hopefully I will have some juicy information and incredibly deep, philosophical thoughts for you guys next time...but probably not. They will probably be very simple thoughts that boggle my mind. So, to recap; Be a true worshiper of God right now and do not quench the spirit. I honestly think that if we can work on those two points, things would get alot smoother for us.
Whoever you are, I hope you enjoyed this. I am open for questions always and I will be praying for you!
(:
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