Have you ever wondered why we pray? I mean really....why do we pray? I don't know about you, but for the longest time, my prayers have sounded something like this: "God, please heal my stuffy nose." "Jesus, help me not to fail this exam, etc" Or maybe for some of us, it might be out of routine. Maybe, you pray before you hit the sheets at night, or maybe right before you eat. Up until just recently, I didn't see the point of prayer. I didn't see a reason to pray, because I couldn't imagine why God would need us to say "Dear, God, please help my mom feel better." In my mind, either it was His will for momma to be sick OR He would just make her feel better. He didn't need me for stuff like that...right?
It took me FOREVER to realize that it wasn't Him needing my prayers....it was me needing to depend on Him. Sure, He thrills in hearing from his children, but He doesn't need them. It's not like God is surprised when you pray to Him. He doesn't hear you and think "WHOOOOAAA, JESSICA HAD THAT JOB INTERVIEW TODAY?!" No, prayer is for your trust in Him to become stronger with each one. When God answers your prayers, you can look back and see how He was there for you. God just may not answer them how you want Him to. I'm still learning this and I don't think I'll ever have it "learned" completely.
Prayer is about getting close to God and deepening a relationship with Him. When you love somebody, you want to hang out with them, right? Well, prayer is exactly that! Prayer is, in a way, becoming vulnerable. We are acknowledging to both ourselves and to God that we can't do it by ourselves, that we need His help and guidance. We're showing God that we truly DO believe that He is our Source of strength. With our prayers we praise Him, confess to Him, simply talk with Him, ask him for comfort....Prayer is so powerful! It's important to remember that we have to pray about everything, not just the bad stuff. We can't just pray when things are going wrong, it has to be all the time!
It comes down to this simple fact; If you don't pray, you can't continue to grow in Christ. Sure, you might know alot about Him and His word. But without talking to Him, you just cannot keep growing in Him. Accepting and understanding this fact is crucial, and I say that with certainty. Another thing to remember, is it has to be sincere and heartfelt. You can't just say "Dear God, You are the source of my strength. Forgive me of the bad stuff I do....now let me win the lottery!" It has to be about Him. You'll find that the more you try to seek Him, the more powerful your prayers will become. There's my 2 cents...
Ephesians 6:18
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...
...Who's the fairest one of all? Don't lie. You know in your mind you want that mirror to say "YOU are, you gorgeous piece of human. You are the fairest one of all...." Or something to that effect. This would of course have to mean your mirror talks, which is irrelevant to our discussion today.
I really struggle with where my motives lie. In general, I rank many things above God and He is slowly convicting me of this. So where do the mirrors come in, you ask? Well, mirrors are just one example of the many distractions out there that keep me from getting stronger with God. Maybe not actual mirrors, of course, but the reflections IN a mirror can pose quite an obstacle in my walk with Him. (although there are probably people with mirror fetishes out there somewhere. It's ok. God loves you too.) There are tons of obstacles, not just mirrors. It could be your social life, a bf/gf, work, a favorite object, money, family, facebook, or even living comfortably. My point is to be careful with what distracts YOU from God, because it's different for every person.
Now, I'm sure you don't actually refer to your current top priority an "idol." I'm not saying I think you wake up and think "Hmmm, I think I'll go worship and fraternize with my idol, facebook, today!" Hate to sound harsh or blunt, but that's pretty much what you're doing. God needs to be first in all things. If something is more important than being with God, it's an idol. Plain and simple. God says not to make unto ourselves any graven images. That can mean ANYTHING under the sun. I got this in a text message from my youth pastor, Will, and I think it's very fitting here. Just to make you think, of course... "I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our pocket? What if we flipped through it several times a day? What if we turned back to get it, if we forgot it? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it? What if we gave to the kids as gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? What if we used it in case of an emergency? This is something to make you go "hmm". Where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone we don’t have to worry about being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think —where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!"
My point is short 'n sweet. Pay attention to what SHOULD matter to you and what actually DOES. God should be first, but we often find that this is not the case. Maybe it's time to do some re-evaluating...just my 2 cents.
Exodus 20:4-6
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."
I really struggle with where my motives lie. In general, I rank many things above God and He is slowly convicting me of this. So where do the mirrors come in, you ask? Well, mirrors are just one example of the many distractions out there that keep me from getting stronger with God. Maybe not actual mirrors, of course, but the reflections IN a mirror can pose quite an obstacle in my walk with Him. (although there are probably people with mirror fetishes out there somewhere. It's ok. God loves you too.) There are tons of obstacles, not just mirrors. It could be your social life, a bf/gf, work, a favorite object, money, family, facebook, or even living comfortably. My point is to be careful with what distracts YOU from God, because it's different for every person.
Now, I'm sure you don't actually refer to your current top priority an "idol." I'm not saying I think you wake up and think "Hmmm, I think I'll go worship and fraternize with my idol, facebook, today!" Hate to sound harsh or blunt, but that's pretty much what you're doing. God needs to be first in all things. If something is more important than being with God, it's an idol. Plain and simple. God says not to make unto ourselves any graven images. That can mean ANYTHING under the sun. I got this in a text message from my youth pastor, Will, and I think it's very fitting here. Just to make you think, of course... "I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our pocket? What if we flipped through it several times a day? What if we turned back to get it, if we forgot it? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it? What if we gave to the kids as gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? What if we used it in case of an emergency? This is something to make you go "hmm". Where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone we don’t have to worry about being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think —where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!"
My point is short 'n sweet. Pay attention to what SHOULD matter to you and what actually DOES. God should be first, but we often find that this is not the case. Maybe it's time to do some re-evaluating...just my 2 cents.
Exodus 20:4-6
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."
Friday, April 30, 2010
Life is a Gift...
Unfortunately, guys (and girls), the topic for this blog post was inspired by a tragic story. Today, there were 4 highschool seniors involved in an accident at HPCA, a private school near me. One guy, Justin Simmons, was ejected from the car and killed on the scene. Jacob Nance, the driver, was also ejected from the vehicle and injured severely. He is currently in a coma, after having had surgery. Apparently, speed was a major factor in the accident and the car flipped several times. I didn't have the pleasure of knowing them personally, but that doesn't take away from the fact that one died. I repeat, they were seniors. For those of you who don't know, I am a senior. I am not in any way trying to make this about me, no sir. I wanted to write this post today because when I hear of things like this, I literally am shattered. My heart breaks to hear about death. I realize that, if you are a believer, we will one day be united with Jesus, without pain or affliction. In my opinion, that doesn't make the idea of one's life being terminated sound any better.
When I hear about things like this, I always begin to really reflect on MY life. I begin to ask questions like this: How can I take life so for granted? Do I wake up every DAY and remember that the physical act of existing is a MIRACLE? How can we take away the ultimate gift of life from the innocent? How can I forget that every day when I get in my car to go to work, I am risking death? How can I procrastinate when I am not promised the next minute? What will I do with this life I've been given? Am I making an impact on anyone's life right now? Will my time here help influence someone or be used by God to lead someone to Him? Will I leave a legacy?
Guys, life is a gift. It's such a forgotten, neglected gift. We couldn't do ANYTHING without this gift. Nothing. Every day, when we wake up and sigh about the unearthly numbers on the clock before us, or groan because it's monday and not friday, or even if you wake up filled with hatred for this gift...we have to remember that we wouldn't be who we are without it. I, Jessica, would not be who I am without the LIFE that God GAVE me! Too often, life is squandered or smothered with distractions and meaningless things. Or, to take what I said literally, it is smothered. Everyday, babies are aborted without ever having been able to experience life. Everyday, someone, some person, some human being's LIFE, is extinguished by another. Everyday, someone, a person, a human being takes their own life. Think about that! Life is precious and we abuse that gift every day.
This won't be the longest post ever. As a matter of fact, it will be a very short one. But, life is short too, guys. I implore you all to really step back and think. What would happen if someone close to you, died in the next 5 minutes. What would happen if YOU died in the next 5 minutes. Make something of the time you have, guys.
UPDATE: 5/1/10, Jacob Nance died this next afternoon, after being taken off life support. R.I.P. Jacob.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When I hear about things like this, I always begin to really reflect on MY life. I begin to ask questions like this: How can I take life so for granted? Do I wake up every DAY and remember that the physical act of existing is a MIRACLE? How can we take away the ultimate gift of life from the innocent? How can I forget that every day when I get in my car to go to work, I am risking death? How can I procrastinate when I am not promised the next minute? What will I do with this life I've been given? Am I making an impact on anyone's life right now? Will my time here help influence someone or be used by God to lead someone to Him? Will I leave a legacy?
Guys, life is a gift. It's such a forgotten, neglected gift. We couldn't do ANYTHING without this gift. Nothing. Every day, when we wake up and sigh about the unearthly numbers on the clock before us, or groan because it's monday and not friday, or even if you wake up filled with hatred for this gift...we have to remember that we wouldn't be who we are without it. I, Jessica, would not be who I am without the LIFE that God GAVE me! Too often, life is squandered or smothered with distractions and meaningless things. Or, to take what I said literally, it is smothered. Everyday, babies are aborted without ever having been able to experience life. Everyday, someone, some person, some human being's LIFE, is extinguished by another. Everyday, someone, a person, a human being takes their own life. Think about that! Life is precious and we abuse that gift every day.
This won't be the longest post ever. As a matter of fact, it will be a very short one. But, life is short too, guys. I implore you all to really step back and think. What would happen if someone close to you, died in the next 5 minutes. What would happen if YOU died in the next 5 minutes. Make something of the time you have, guys.
UPDATE: 5/1/10, Jacob Nance died this next afternoon, after being taken off life support. R.I.P. Jacob.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
70 x 7 = 490
I'll bet the very first thing you thought when you saw my title was "Oh, I am overjoyed. Jessica can do arithmetic." Or perhaps you thought "It's about TIME for a post, it's been FOREVER!" In effort to be humble, however, I will assume that these posts have not been sorely missed for lack of depth, etc. The length of time between now and my last post, through the fault of my own, would be because I simply have not made the time to do so. I apologize, profusely. Anyway, today's post is about forgiveness. Oh yes. It's such a difficult thing when this "friend" was a real jerk to you and you just want to hold a grudge. Or when your brother (or sister) ...(or parents) really embarrassed you in front of your friends or annoyed you. It's just tough. However, Jesus says to do it. No matter what happened or what was said, Jesus wants us to forgive. We have to do it in order to glorify God.
I just want you to think about this for a second. Any POSSIBLE sin that anyone could POSSIBLY commit has been paid for by the blood of Christ. Not only that, but if someone has done something wrong against you, they did it directly to God too. The same goes for when you sin against someone else. You have hurt God, to His face. God is able to forgive at the drop of a hat! At the flip of a coin! If you made a mistake, would you not want your friend to forgive you? Or even if someone isn't your friend. If you are looking me in the computer screen right now, reading these very words and telling me that you are a serious Christian who is striving to obey Him, then shouldn't obeying HIM be the more important thing here? Seriously. If you honestly want to do what God says, it shouldn't be an issue to forgive someone who has wronged us. Whether that someone be a friend or someone you don't agree with or get along with very well. But it IS an issue. Why?
I mean it, WHY do we have such trouble forgiving? I know my struggles and areas of serious sin but I don't know yours. Heck, you may be the kind of person who forgives really easily! There is one person, I ain't saying names, that I have yet to fully forgive, to this day! I really want to get over that, and it's hard. Now, if I really wanted to start some kind of fight, I would just tell you to read my post on anger and then argue that forgiveness shouldn't be an issue because we shouldn't even be angry at somebody in the first place. This is assuming that we've already gotten really upset. Some reasons I, personally, might have trouble forgiving is because either my reputation has been ruined in someway, and I am selfishly dwelling on this imperfection that others might now know about or because I am jealous of that person. I mean, honestly, I am. I compare myself to people and when I see or know someone who I think is better than me, I am eager to cling to any flaw that I find out about. If that flaw happens to be something that they did to me, I don't want to forgive them because that would mean letting go of the one thing that I know isn't perfect about them. Selfish, isn't it. I think my next post'll be on jealousy.
Now, there are a million different reasons why you might harbor a grudge against someone. And frankly, I don't know what those are because every person is different. So, I encourage you to really think about WHY you don't want to forgive someone and really ask God to help you in that area of your walk with Him. To be plain and simple, God wants us to lean on Him, worship Him, be out-of-our-minds crazy about Him. We can't do that if we are busy thinking of ways to get back at someone or even just silently festering with fury at someone. We have to let it go. God will deal with them, it's not our business.
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
I just want you to think about this for a second. Any POSSIBLE sin that anyone could POSSIBLY commit has been paid for by the blood of Christ. Not only that, but if someone has done something wrong against you, they did it directly to God too. The same goes for when you sin against someone else. You have hurt God, to His face. God is able to forgive at the drop of a hat! At the flip of a coin! If you made a mistake, would you not want your friend to forgive you? Or even if someone isn't your friend. If you are looking me in the computer screen right now, reading these very words and telling me that you are a serious Christian who is striving to obey Him, then shouldn't obeying HIM be the more important thing here? Seriously. If you honestly want to do what God says, it shouldn't be an issue to forgive someone who has wronged us. Whether that someone be a friend or someone you don't agree with or get along with very well. But it IS an issue. Why?
I mean it, WHY do we have such trouble forgiving? I know my struggles and areas of serious sin but I don't know yours. Heck, you may be the kind of person who forgives really easily! There is one person, I ain't saying names, that I have yet to fully forgive, to this day! I really want to get over that, and it's hard. Now, if I really wanted to start some kind of fight, I would just tell you to read my post on anger and then argue that forgiveness shouldn't be an issue because we shouldn't even be angry at somebody in the first place. This is assuming that we've already gotten really upset. Some reasons I, personally, might have trouble forgiving is because either my reputation has been ruined in someway, and I am selfishly dwelling on this imperfection that others might now know about or because I am jealous of that person. I mean, honestly, I am. I compare myself to people and when I see or know someone who I think is better than me, I am eager to cling to any flaw that I find out about. If that flaw happens to be something that they did to me, I don't want to forgive them because that would mean letting go of the one thing that I know isn't perfect about them. Selfish, isn't it. I think my next post'll be on jealousy.
Now, there are a million different reasons why you might harbor a grudge against someone. And frankly, I don't know what those are because every person is different. So, I encourage you to really think about WHY you don't want to forgive someone and really ask God to help you in that area of your walk with Him. To be plain and simple, God wants us to lean on Him, worship Him, be out-of-our-minds crazy about Him. We can't do that if we are busy thinking of ways to get back at someone or even just silently festering with fury at someone. We have to let it go. God will deal with them, it's not our business.
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
You Are What You Say...
Sorry it's been so long since did a blog thing! I've been crazy busy, but I'm on a Thanksgiving/Fall/Christmas combined break so I have alot more time. Now, first and foremost, I want to tell whoever's reading that this is a MAJOR weakness of mine. Ok, I don't want you to think that I just sit here all day thinking of stuff to write about that OTHER people battle. I really struggle with my words. This little shpeal (I think that is how you spell it) has 5 different components that cover the importance of watching what you say. Those 5 things are gossip (behind the back), insults/criticism (to the face), honesty, the cuss words, and keeping your word. Now, these are not the ONLY things involved in watching what you say! There are others, but I consider these to be very important. If anyone has one that I just blatantly forgot about, leave it in the comment box. (if you want to)
A) Gossip. Uuuhh ok this is where I want to just scream at myself. I am so horrible about this, I could do it in my sleep, which is NOT a good thing. It is so hard to choose not to listen to stuff being said about someone else (Especially if you're not too keen on that person) and to not partake in the bashfest. It can be so damaging to a person's self-esteem. You know, sure, they don't hear you NOW. As much as you and I want to tell ourselves otherwise, it's gonna get to that person eventually and it's gonna hurt them. It could be as laidback as commenting on their clothing choice for the day, to as harsh and cruel as discussing their flaws and hating on their personality. Besides the fact that we wouldn't want it spread about us, God says not to do it! It hurts people, so why are we even doing it? We're just inviting people to gossip about how much we gossip. We do it to try to make ourselves feel better, but in truth, (for me anyway) I always feel worse about myself, cuz I know that I failed. I did what God says not to do, and that makes me feel worse.
B) Insults/Criticism. I'm not going to spend as much time on this, because alot is covered above when it comes to hurting others with our words. Whether it be directly to their face or behind their back, we are hurting others. I know alot of people who struggle with being mean to peoples' faces. Not to sound like I'm all goody-goody, but I don't struggle this is as much, so its harder to relate. I'm worse about "being nice" to someone's face and then ranting about them when they aren't around. The long and the short of it: There's no point to it. It can't make you feel good to know that you are mean when someone isn't around. It makes me feel bad anyway...
C) Honesty. Oh dear, I struggle with this too. My worst is deceiving or twisting the truth. It's a tad different than lying, but not much. If my parents ask me something, I will give a vague answer that IS true but not the way THEY perceive it. Does that make sense? Ok, example: My parents tell me I have to take my phone with me when I go to lunch with my friend, so they can reach me if they need to. I forget. My parents ask if I took my phone. If I pick up my phone and put it down again, I technically had my phone (for 2 seconds) and so I say "Yeah, I had my phone!" I am such a liar. My parents think I mean when I went with my friend, but I know that I only had it for 2 seconds but I HAD my phone. I wish I could give some advice to you fellow deceivers, but I'm in the same boat. The only thing I can do is say "Praying!" I could use some prayer in this area, but I have no idea how to fix it.
D) Cussing. Oh this is so hard too. Stupid mouths and our brains that control them. I am not as bad about just outright CUSSING about...I don't know, that grass over there, or that [expletive] pencil sharpener, etc. I am worse about accidental cussing or when I'm mad at someone. For instance, *toe hits wall and crunching noise is hard* As my face contorts in pain, I glare and just let the wall have it. Often if there is profanity in a joke, I just ignore it which isn't right! It's really hard to not cuss sometimes to sound cool, but I started realizing that I just sound kinda dumb when I cuss. I'm so cool, I just said [expletive]. Look at me! I just [!@#$]! It's actually more fun to come up with creative words that express my frustration without messing up my witness for God. I still struggle, but its more fun to think of other things. For instance, words such as pickle, crackers, junk, mess, flippin, ham, etc. It throws people off, but they recognize that you are not cussing. I encourage you to do the same! It's fun and not dishonoring!
E) Keeping Promises. This is a toughie. I don't think she'll ever read this, but Abbie Storch (amazing girrrl) had really helped me with my promise keeping. I started realizing just how important it is, if someone asks to keep someting confidential, they mean it. Who am I to go off telling others stuff that isn't any of my business and not my place to do so? If people can't trust us, what's the point? We don't have much to our name, except our word. If we lie, break our word, or gossip, people won't trust us! Then we have no friends, and no one to fellowship with. Then you're all alone, (except for Jesus, of course) with a bad rep that we can't get rid of, cuz no one will talk to us. I don't know about you, but if someone won't tell me a secret they heard, I think its cool. Sure, I may be curious but I know that I can trust that person later.
Basically, I think that it will definitely be a struggle. However, there is absolutely no reason that we can't put up a fight with the world, who tears people down at the flip of a switch on magazines, tv, etc. It's just more fulfilling to ENJOY people, instead of nitpicking their minor faults and harboring hatred. There is a way to resolve conflicts without being mean to someone. They may not like what you have to say, but if you are nice about it, there is nothing else you can do. I'll end with this: Be the person that you expect your friends to be. If you want your friends to keep confidentialites to themselves, to tell you the truth no matter what, etc, then do the same for them. Challenge: Say only encouraging words for a day. You'll be on cloud 9!That's my.....5 cents (haha)
Proverbs 16:24 (all time favorite)
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Matthew 12:36
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
A) Gossip. Uuuhh ok this is where I want to just scream at myself. I am so horrible about this, I could do it in my sleep, which is NOT a good thing. It is so hard to choose not to listen to stuff being said about someone else (Especially if you're not too keen on that person) and to not partake in the bashfest. It can be so damaging to a person's self-esteem. You know, sure, they don't hear you NOW. As much as you and I want to tell ourselves otherwise, it's gonna get to that person eventually and it's gonna hurt them. It could be as laidback as commenting on their clothing choice for the day, to as harsh and cruel as discussing their flaws and hating on their personality. Besides the fact that we wouldn't want it spread about us, God says not to do it! It hurts people, so why are we even doing it? We're just inviting people to gossip about how much we gossip. We do it to try to make ourselves feel better, but in truth, (for me anyway) I always feel worse about myself, cuz I know that I failed. I did what God says not to do, and that makes me feel worse.
B) Insults/Criticism. I'm not going to spend as much time on this, because alot is covered above when it comes to hurting others with our words. Whether it be directly to their face or behind their back, we are hurting others. I know alot of people who struggle with being mean to peoples' faces. Not to sound like I'm all goody-goody, but I don't struggle this is as much, so its harder to relate. I'm worse about "being nice" to someone's face and then ranting about them when they aren't around. The long and the short of it: There's no point to it. It can't make you feel good to know that you are mean when someone isn't around. It makes me feel bad anyway...
C) Honesty. Oh dear, I struggle with this too. My worst is deceiving or twisting the truth. It's a tad different than lying, but not much. If my parents ask me something, I will give a vague answer that IS true but not the way THEY perceive it. Does that make sense? Ok, example: My parents tell me I have to take my phone with me when I go to lunch with my friend, so they can reach me if they need to. I forget. My parents ask if I took my phone. If I pick up my phone and put it down again, I technically had my phone (for 2 seconds) and so I say "Yeah, I had my phone!" I am such a liar. My parents think I mean when I went with my friend, but I know that I only had it for 2 seconds but I HAD my phone. I wish I could give some advice to you fellow deceivers, but I'm in the same boat. The only thing I can do is say "Praying!" I could use some prayer in this area, but I have no idea how to fix it.
D) Cussing. Oh this is so hard too. Stupid mouths and our brains that control them. I am not as bad about just outright CUSSING about...I don't know, that grass over there, or that [expletive] pencil sharpener, etc. I am worse about accidental cussing or when I'm mad at someone. For instance, *toe hits wall and crunching noise is hard* As my face contorts in pain, I glare and just let the wall have it. Often if there is profanity in a joke, I just ignore it which isn't right! It's really hard to not cuss sometimes to sound cool, but I started realizing that I just sound kinda dumb when I cuss. I'm so cool, I just said [expletive]. Look at me! I just [!@#$]! It's actually more fun to come up with creative words that express my frustration without messing up my witness for God. I still struggle, but its more fun to think of other things. For instance, words such as pickle, crackers, junk, mess, flippin, ham, etc. It throws people off, but they recognize that you are not cussing. I encourage you to do the same! It's fun and not dishonoring!
E) Keeping Promises. This is a toughie. I don't think she'll ever read this, but Abbie Storch (amazing girrrl) had really helped me with my promise keeping. I started realizing just how important it is, if someone asks to keep someting confidential, they mean it. Who am I to go off telling others stuff that isn't any of my business and not my place to do so? If people can't trust us, what's the point? We don't have much to our name, except our word. If we lie, break our word, or gossip, people won't trust us! Then we have no friends, and no one to fellowship with. Then you're all alone, (except for Jesus, of course) with a bad rep that we can't get rid of, cuz no one will talk to us. I don't know about you, but if someone won't tell me a secret they heard, I think its cool. Sure, I may be curious but I know that I can trust that person later.
Basically, I think that it will definitely be a struggle. However, there is absolutely no reason that we can't put up a fight with the world, who tears people down at the flip of a switch on magazines, tv, etc. It's just more fulfilling to ENJOY people, instead of nitpicking their minor faults and harboring hatred. There is a way to resolve conflicts without being mean to someone. They may not like what you have to say, but if you are nice about it, there is nothing else you can do. I'll end with this: Be the person that you expect your friends to be. If you want your friends to keep confidentialites to themselves, to tell you the truth no matter what, etc, then do the same for them. Challenge: Say only encouraging words for a day. You'll be on cloud 9!That's my.....5 cents (haha)
Proverbs 16:24 (all time favorite)
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Matthew 12:36
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Blowing Fuses...
Have you ever been mad? I'm talking blow-a-FUSE furious? How about just a little ticked off? Frustrated? Moderately agitated? Irked? Fuming? There are hundreds of synonyms in any random thesaurus that describe this human emotion. Anger. Gotta love it. However, I have a thought question for you. Have you ever thought, I mean really thought, about WHY you get angry? I'm not talking about what your brother or sister did to your carpet, or what your best friend said about you behind you back, or what that one person did to you that one time at that party a while back, or whatever your circumstance. I'm talking about your motivation. Have an answer yet? I do. Frankly, whatever your reason or excuse, you got mad because things didn't go your way. A person did something or something happened and it wasn't how you wanted that particular thing to turn out. I want you to think about what I just said (or typed) because I don't want you to get mad at what I'm saying. I want you to really dig deep, because that's the whole point of this blog. To provoke you to be the best person that you can be for the Lord. OUR Lord.
Your brother or sister messed up that carpet, and you didn't WANT that carpet messed up. So you get mad, because that messed up carpet wasn't in your plans. Now you have to spend money to fix it, but you don't want to spend YOUR money. That money was going to that new Ab-chair work out thing you wanted. So that you could have nice abs, so that people would think you're pretty. (or handsome, for you men out there.) Your best friend said something mean about you and you didn't WANT that to be spread about you, so you get mad. Sure, they shouldn't have said anything but it's either true or not true. If it was true, you should never have done that thing in the first place. If it's NOT true, then you're being vain because you don't want your reputation messed up. For whatever the reason, you are mad because whatever it was that happened wasn't on your agenda for the day. You forget, that it was in GOD'S agenda. That person did that thing at that place and that's not how you wanted it. It's all about YOU. Y-O-U. You, you, you, you, you. It should be about God. Am I judging or hating on you? Nope, absolutely not. I do it all the time. I'm just trying to bring a NEW area of understanding into our idea of selfish. Besides the fact that 1 Corinthians says that love is slow to anger, it also says that love is never selfish. Ouch. That hits pretty hard. In order to obey God fully we need to examine our motivations.
I should probably add that there is one kind of anger that is not selfish. I'm sure you are sitting here thinking Wait...Didn't JESUS get mad? I thought He never sinned....I'm confused. Jesus got angry at the mistreatment of the House of God. That was definitely not selfish, because it was entirely for something else, and not for his own selfish gain. Jesus never sinned and I want to make sure you don't mistake my meaning. Just like if someone got angry because someone else was being hurt or teased, so did Jesus get upset for the Temple being used for the selfish ambition of merchants. Just thought I'd clarify...
These motivations are not necessarily limited to just anger. In every aspect of our lives, there are issues and struggles with where our priorities lie. Well, it's something I struggle with, but I'm not you. Every day, I wake up and the first thing I want to do is get on facebook. I want to make sure I'm hip and cool, or have posted the funniest status so that everyone will laugh and think I'm funny. I'm about to go to the gym or to work and I make sure my hair and make-up look good in case there are any cute guys. It just comes down to what we consider important, where we rank these important things, and what happens when these things don't go our way. We sulk, pout, whine, and get mad because we can't have our way. I don't know about you, but that makes me mad, because that's not what I want. I WANT to be an obedient child of the King that delights in Him and doesn't think of myself constantly. Asking God for help when it comes to things I struggle with is a comfort to me. Maybe you should try it!
Proverbs 29:11
A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Your brother or sister messed up that carpet, and you didn't WANT that carpet messed up. So you get mad, because that messed up carpet wasn't in your plans. Now you have to spend money to fix it, but you don't want to spend YOUR money. That money was going to that new Ab-chair work out thing you wanted. So that you could have nice abs, so that people would think you're pretty. (or handsome, for you men out there.) Your best friend said something mean about you and you didn't WANT that to be spread about you, so you get mad. Sure, they shouldn't have said anything but it's either true or not true. If it was true, you should never have done that thing in the first place. If it's NOT true, then you're being vain because you don't want your reputation messed up. For whatever the reason, you are mad because whatever it was that happened wasn't on your agenda for the day. You forget, that it was in GOD'S agenda. That person did that thing at that place and that's not how you wanted it. It's all about YOU. Y-O-U. You, you, you, you, you. It should be about God. Am I judging or hating on you? Nope, absolutely not. I do it all the time. I'm just trying to bring a NEW area of understanding into our idea of selfish. Besides the fact that 1 Corinthians says that love is slow to anger, it also says that love is never selfish. Ouch. That hits pretty hard. In order to obey God fully we need to examine our motivations.
I should probably add that there is one kind of anger that is not selfish. I'm sure you are sitting here thinking Wait...Didn't JESUS get mad? I thought He never sinned....I'm confused. Jesus got angry at the mistreatment of the House of God. That was definitely not selfish, because it was entirely for something else, and not for his own selfish gain. Jesus never sinned and I want to make sure you don't mistake my meaning. Just like if someone got angry because someone else was being hurt or teased, so did Jesus get upset for the Temple being used for the selfish ambition of merchants. Just thought I'd clarify...
These motivations are not necessarily limited to just anger. In every aspect of our lives, there are issues and struggles with where our priorities lie. Well, it's something I struggle with, but I'm not you. Every day, I wake up and the first thing I want to do is get on facebook. I want to make sure I'm hip and cool, or have posted the funniest status so that everyone will laugh and think I'm funny. I'm about to go to the gym or to work and I make sure my hair and make-up look good in case there are any cute guys. It just comes down to what we consider important, where we rank these important things, and what happens when these things don't go our way. We sulk, pout, whine, and get mad because we can't have our way. I don't know about you, but that makes me mad, because that's not what I want. I WANT to be an obedient child of the King that delights in Him and doesn't think of myself constantly. Asking God for help when it comes to things I struggle with is a comfort to me. Maybe you should try it!
Proverbs 29:11
A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Hanging Out...Literally
Ok, you knew this was coming at some point. This blog is directed at the ladies. Now, being a woman, I can fully relate to how difficult it is to buy modest clothes for teenagers that don't resemble a sack or other bag-like containers. But God calls us to help our brothers in Christ by not dressing in a manner that could cause them to fall into sin. I know, you're thinking "Have you SEEN the clothes that are being sold at any women's clothing store?!" They are not what I would call modest, by any stretch of the definition. So what is the definition you ask? The dictionary defines modesty as "Not extravant; Having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech, and dress; Humble." Ouch. I always thought that dressing in a modest manner meant no "hanging out" or no spandex (and other tight articles of clothing, of course). According to this definition, things that call attention to myself, in general, are considered to be immodest. Would that include clothes with lots of sequins, super bright colors, words written on the parts of clothing that are supposed to cover my tush, or anything else that calls attention to what I'm wearing? I don't know about you, but I never thought of that. I may be wrong, but I've really begun to think that wearing modest clothes means not exalting myself by wearing clothes that make me stand out, like really flashy clothes (in every sense of the word, ladies. No flashing.) You definitely don't have to agree with me and you are free to think that I finally fell off the rocker. It's just that when I think of a humble person, I think of someone doing what the Lord wants them to, but not in a way that everyone else can see. The same goes for clothes, in my humble opinion. I'll leave it at that.
I hear alot of girls say, and I quote, "Um, like its not my problem if some guy can't keep his mind out of the gutter. I can wear like whatever I want to and it is his problem if he thinks bad stuff about my body." Or worse, I have even heard "Um God GAVE it to me, so I am going to flaunt it, duh." There are definitely some exceptions, but there aren't many things that frustrate more than hearing these arguments. Girls, imagine if one of your teachers came in one day with this huge bag of hershey kisses. (or whatever your favorite candy is.) Suppose he or she put some of that candy right on your desk, directly in front of your face. Then she told you not to look at it, touch it, think about it, think about looking at it, think about touching it, or think about thinking about it. Can you honestly tell me you would not even glance at or think about it? I mean, honestly? I don't think I need to explain this example much further, because you get my point. As for the second argument, yeah He gave it to you. For the man you will someday marry, NOT every man who has two eyeballs! (or one, for that matter...) The Bible compares an immodest woman with a ring in a ping's NOSE. Gross. Why would you want guys giving you the wrong kind of attention? Don't you want a guy to show interest in you for your personality and not for you body? I rest my case.
Now, I understand how difficult it is to find clothing that glorifies God. It is so difficult. But if you make an effort by to obey Him, by searching through all those short shorts and low-cut shirts, He will bless you. You will be able to find stuff, I promise! You will be showing respect for yourself and guys will respect you for that too. I have one word for you: Camisole. They will be your best friend. Ladies, cover yourselves up for God. There's my two cents...
Proverb's 22:11
Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.
I hear alot of girls say, and I quote, "Um, like its not my problem if some guy can't keep his mind out of the gutter. I can wear like whatever I want to and it is his problem if he thinks bad stuff about my body." Or worse, I have even heard "Um God GAVE it to me, so I am going to flaunt it, duh." There are definitely some exceptions, but there aren't many things that frustrate more than hearing these arguments. Girls, imagine if one of your teachers came in one day with this huge bag of hershey kisses. (or whatever your favorite candy is.) Suppose he or she put some of that candy right on your desk, directly in front of your face. Then she told you not to look at it, touch it, think about it, think about looking at it, think about touching it, or think about thinking about it. Can you honestly tell me you would not even glance at or think about it? I mean, honestly? I don't think I need to explain this example much further, because you get my point. As for the second argument, yeah He gave it to you. For the man you will someday marry, NOT every man who has two eyeballs! (or one, for that matter...) The Bible compares an immodest woman with a ring in a ping's NOSE. Gross. Why would you want guys giving you the wrong kind of attention? Don't you want a guy to show interest in you for your personality and not for you body? I rest my case.
Now, I understand how difficult it is to find clothing that glorifies God. It is so difficult. But if you make an effort by to obey Him, by searching through all those short shorts and low-cut shirts, He will bless you. You will be able to find stuff, I promise! You will be showing respect for yourself and guys will respect you for that too. I have one word for you: Camisole. They will be your best friend. Ladies, cover yourselves up for God. There's my two cents...
Proverb's 22:11
Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.
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