So I believe that I am one to openly admit my mistakes when they come up. One thing that I feel I have been failing at lately is my constantly forgetfulness of God's beauty all around me. By this I do not mean just the beauty of nature. I think out of all things beautiful, that God made, this is the one thing that I notice the most. You could ask any of my friends and they would probably tell you that I love being out side more than anything. I will fail tests to just spend some time on a walk or laying in the Willow Bowl. The beauty of nature is hardly ever forgotten by me. I can look at pictures for hours if it is to cold to go outside. Yes I might be obsessive but God did make it so I have the right to sit in awe of His beauty. (OK so all of that was a side note, ha.)
The beauty that I often forget to thank God for is the beauty of the ones that mean the most to me. I see or think about my friends everyday and I seldom look at them with the eyes of God. This deeply troubles me. These people in my life mean the world to me and instead of thanking my Savior for putting them in my life and for making them the most beautiful creation in the world I push it aside and treat them like any other humankind would. I should make them feel constantly loved and like a child of God. Who am I to treat God's creation like nothing special?
God is beyond anything that we could ever imagine and His creation is so beautiful, yet we still forget our purpose in life. Our purpose to love his creation so deeply that He is moved. With all of these beautiful reminders around us like the sunsets, stars, people, etc... it should be so easy, but we still are taken away by things of this world. I hate that. I want to love with all of my heart, I want to move Gods heart, and I want to be a change in this world for God's glory.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Worry
Our God is a loving God. He constantly blesses us without us even deserving it. Who are we to throw our doubts and worries in God's face?
The bible constantly talks about how we should not worry about anything; our grades, the future, or our life. But yet I can make a pretty strong assumption that at some point we all have worried or stressed about something in our life that we shouldn't of had to worry about. Some people do this more than others but we all throw this back in God's face sometimes in our life.
I think that one of the keys to living a life full of joy, love, and passion is to not worry or stress about things, God already promises we will be fine.
Often I think and constantly hear, "Well I don't know where God is leading me.", "I don't know what God wants me to do.", "What if I make the wrong choice?". Does these questions really matter or even make sense? Where do we get the right to question if God is leading us?
God constantly blesses us. He is a God of love and compassion. He sent His beloved son to die for us. To die for us people that in no way deserved what he gave us. He gave us the chance to follow Him and forever live with Him in paradise. That is a loving Father.
So if God is constantly blessing us not matter what we do why are we taking so many years off of our lives by stressing. I strongly believe that God blesses us with every choice we make. Whatever decision we choose God is going to take it and bless us and the world with it. He is going to change your world for the best with His love and blessings. I think, as Christians, we think to much about what God is telling us to do. Honestly, God knows what we are already going to do and God already knows how He is going to bless us through that choice. Yet we sit here and worry about what He wants us to do!
Yes I am also a strong believer in prayer and the strength of prayer, but do not use that as your excuse to postpone doing something. Do not sit around and repeat those questions mentioned earlier, just waiting for God to speak to you. He wants us to go with our instinct make our choice and then make the best of what we choose. And make sure you make the best of your choice, because that is how God is going to take that and change the world through you.
Along with that I think that our instinct is usually the right choice, as a Christian, anyway. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and so that in itself alters us to make the right discussions. The Holy Spirit gives us our passion and desire to seek our God. The Holy Spirit knows what we need to do, and with it dwelling in our hearts we are going to know what to do.
So make a discussion with the choices you are given. Do not worry or stress about them and praise God for giving you the choices. And with whatever you choose go at it with all the passion that God has blessed you with. You can change the world from wherever you are and with whatever you do.
Conclusion:
Don't worry about making wrong choices, God is ready to bless you with whatever ones you choose.
The bible constantly talks about how we should not worry about anything; our grades, the future, or our life. But yet I can make a pretty strong assumption that at some point we all have worried or stressed about something in our life that we shouldn't of had to worry about. Some people do this more than others but we all throw this back in God's face sometimes in our life.
I think that one of the keys to living a life full of joy, love, and passion is to not worry or stress about things, God already promises we will be fine.
Often I think and constantly hear, "Well I don't know where God is leading me.", "I don't know what God wants me to do.", "What if I make the wrong choice?". Does these questions really matter or even make sense? Where do we get the right to question if God is leading us?
God constantly blesses us. He is a God of love and compassion. He sent His beloved son to die for us. To die for us people that in no way deserved what he gave us. He gave us the chance to follow Him and forever live with Him in paradise. That is a loving Father.
So if God is constantly blessing us not matter what we do why are we taking so many years off of our lives by stressing. I strongly believe that God blesses us with every choice we make. Whatever decision we choose God is going to take it and bless us and the world with it. He is going to change your world for the best with His love and blessings. I think, as Christians, we think to much about what God is telling us to do. Honestly, God knows what we are already going to do and God already knows how He is going to bless us through that choice. Yet we sit here and worry about what He wants us to do!
Yes I am also a strong believer in prayer and the strength of prayer, but do not use that as your excuse to postpone doing something. Do not sit around and repeat those questions mentioned earlier, just waiting for God to speak to you. He wants us to go with our instinct make our choice and then make the best of what we choose. And make sure you make the best of your choice, because that is how God is going to take that and change the world through you.
Along with that I think that our instinct is usually the right choice, as a Christian, anyway. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and so that in itself alters us to make the right discussions. The Holy Spirit gives us our passion and desire to seek our God. The Holy Spirit knows what we need to do, and with it dwelling in our hearts we are going to know what to do.
So make a discussion with the choices you are given. Do not worry or stress about them and praise God for giving you the choices. And with whatever you choose go at it with all the passion that God has blessed you with. You can change the world from wherever you are and with whatever you do.
Conclusion:
Don't worry about making wrong choices, God is ready to bless you with whatever ones you choose.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Living the Right Life
It is about what you do, not what you don’t do. As we go through life we are constantly thinking about what we want to do with the time that God gives us in this world. We all want to impact the world, we want to make a difference, and we want to be the best person that we can be. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill if you ask me, yet we hope for it every day. That is why I am writing this. We CAN change the world and we can exceed those expectations that we build for ourselves.
As I sit and think about the times that I have been upset with myself, they really have no common ground on even influencing my life. I sit around and worry about the things that I am NOT doing to change the world. I should be more loving. I should not judge. I should not cuss. I should open my bible every day. I should go to a bible study once a week, and so on. See what I mean, it is all the things that I don’t do but think I should. I mean all those things are important but really in the big scheme of things do they really matter? What matters? Loving God is the only thing that comes to my mind.
What we should focus on is what we are doing to change the world. How do we spend our time? Are we waking up every morning with the intent of changing the world. Do we wake up every morning and praise God for allowing us to make it through the night breathing and for giving us the day that is ahead of us? Do we walk by people and smile and say, “hi” even if we do not know them or if we are even having a bad day? How many times do you go out of your way for someone when you are having a bad day? How many times do you go out of your way, even if it is your friend, if you are having a good day?
We cannot be the people that are focused on what we shouldn’t do in life. We cannot sit here and look at people and say, “Well I would never do that.” or “I can’t do that.”. Who care what they are doing. God will reach them and God will redeem them, in His time plan. Why do we put so much of our energy in what we can not do? Let’s take premarital sex for example. We spend so much of our time thinking about premarital sex or even, ‘how far is to far’. We try to figure out ways to teach safe sex and abstinence within our school systems, we argue about what the bible has to say about it, and we try to break the norm and wait until marriage. Why are we wasting all this energy? Yes I think it is important, and I think that we all should consider what we want to tell our significant other in the future when they ask, but I think there are other thing that we should focus more of our time on. Like why are there millions of people dying each year of starvation, AIDS, and other diseases? Why is there still slavery and sex trafficking in every country? Do you see what I mean yet? Why do we care about this stuff that is not doing anything to impact the world?
We sit in your Christian bubbles and I watch the world go around us and never try to step out. We don’t try to make a change, and we are scared to speak up. We don’t want to break the norm and possibly be judged. Well guess what, no matter which road you choose to take you are going to be judged. You are going to be judged for staying in that bubble and not making a difference in anyone’s life, or you are going to be judged for breaking the norm and changing the world. Anyone can fit in, but it takes a true person to stand out. It is your choice! You choose which way you want to be persecuted. But remember that no matter what you choose to do you are going to be hated, persecuted, and judged by the world (John 15:18-24). But the greatest part of that is that you are going to be judged by the world. It is the world that Jesus said over and over again to hate (1 John 2:15-17). It is the love and judgment of the Father that matters.
As a Christian the hardest thing for me to hear is other people saying that Christians are judgmental. I totally agree to a point. I think that there are a ton of people out there that totally do not get the love that God desires us to have for people, but I also think there are people out there that totally get that. There are those Christians that understand what Jesus did. They understand His heart for the poor, for the needy, and for the outcasts. I work everyday to try and show this in my life. Who cares where you came from, your family situation, your mistakes, or where you were emotionally when they meet you? You are a child of God and you deserve the love that He would give everyone. As Christians we need to get better at this. How can we change the world when the world sees us as the people that do not accept them for who they are.
Jesus laid down his life for us and all he asks us to do is live a life full of love and passion for Him and for the people of the world. Sounds so easy doesn’t it? I will be the first to confess that I in no way come close to living my life this way. I am often negative and I do not praise God for everything that he has given me. But I recognize my down falls and I try to improve myself with all that the Holy Spirit gives me. God gave us the Holy Spirit so that we would not be alone, so we would have his wisdom, and so we could fight the temptations of the world. He has equipped us with everything we need, in this life, to break the norm and change the world. It doesn’t matter where you are in life and it sure the heck doesn’t matter if you have everything put together. The only thing that matters is if you want to stand out, if you want to accept the Holy Spirit into your heart, and if you want to live a life that is not satisfying to the world but satisfying to God.
Once you are ready to take that step, of complete faith ,your life will change radically. You will lose the desire of the world and you will yearn to focus on the things of God’s heart. Once the Holy Spirit is within you, you will strive to please God with your actions. Yes, it is true; it is not about the works that you do in this world. It is by grace alone that you are saved, but trust me once you get a glimpse of understanding of what grace is and means there is no way that you will want to do anything other than good works. You will want to dive into the scripture, you will want to intently pray and communicate with your Father, and you will want to be in fellowship with other Christian believers.
God gave me a passion. I am sure all of us are passionate about something in our life; teaching children, helping the sick, feeding the starving, being there for the dying, and so on… It is our passion that the Holy Spirit feeds on. When I am working in the area of my passion that is when I feel the fullest and the closest to God. I have a burning passion in my heart to help the needy; to work with children and show them the love that God has for them, to be there for them when no one else can. Maybe because of a parent dying of AIDS, a parent not being stable enough to care for them, or even a parent that is to busy working that they don’t have as much time to invest in their lives. This is how I can change the world. I can be there for them. I can change the world through their lives and I can change the world through the live of my friends that I reach out to.
So basically to sum all of this up after my long rant, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD! You might only do small things and impact a few people but through that you are changing the world. Do not focus on the little things that you are not doing, but focus on the little things that you are doing. I have had people in my life that have completely changed me. And I know, as a living example of a changed person, that one person can change the world by changing the life of another. You might not get the credit you deserve and you may never make the headlines, but to someone you matter and to someone you changed their life. God loves those of us who are humble (1Peter 5:5-7). So go ahead, take a leap of faith, and slowly but surely you will change the world.
Written by Me
Inspired by Dr. Greene
As I sit and think about the times that I have been upset with myself, they really have no common ground on even influencing my life. I sit around and worry about the things that I am NOT doing to change the world. I should be more loving. I should not judge. I should not cuss. I should open my bible every day. I should go to a bible study once a week, and so on. See what I mean, it is all the things that I don’t do but think I should. I mean all those things are important but really in the big scheme of things do they really matter? What matters? Loving God is the only thing that comes to my mind.
What we should focus on is what we are doing to change the world. How do we spend our time? Are we waking up every morning with the intent of changing the world. Do we wake up every morning and praise God for allowing us to make it through the night breathing and for giving us the day that is ahead of us? Do we walk by people and smile and say, “hi” even if we do not know them or if we are even having a bad day? How many times do you go out of your way for someone when you are having a bad day? How many times do you go out of your way, even if it is your friend, if you are having a good day?
We cannot be the people that are focused on what we shouldn’t do in life. We cannot sit here and look at people and say, “Well I would never do that.” or “I can’t do that.”. Who care what they are doing. God will reach them and God will redeem them, in His time plan. Why do we put so much of our energy in what we can not do? Let’s take premarital sex for example. We spend so much of our time thinking about premarital sex or even, ‘how far is to far’. We try to figure out ways to teach safe sex and abstinence within our school systems, we argue about what the bible has to say about it, and we try to break the norm and wait until marriage. Why are we wasting all this energy? Yes I think it is important, and I think that we all should consider what we want to tell our significant other in the future when they ask, but I think there are other thing that we should focus more of our time on. Like why are there millions of people dying each year of starvation, AIDS, and other diseases? Why is there still slavery and sex trafficking in every country? Do you see what I mean yet? Why do we care about this stuff that is not doing anything to impact the world?
We sit in your Christian bubbles and I watch the world go around us and never try to step out. We don’t try to make a change, and we are scared to speak up. We don’t want to break the norm and possibly be judged. Well guess what, no matter which road you choose to take you are going to be judged. You are going to be judged for staying in that bubble and not making a difference in anyone’s life, or you are going to be judged for breaking the norm and changing the world. Anyone can fit in, but it takes a true person to stand out. It is your choice! You choose which way you want to be persecuted. But remember that no matter what you choose to do you are going to be hated, persecuted, and judged by the world (John 15:18-24). But the greatest part of that is that you are going to be judged by the world. It is the world that Jesus said over and over again to hate (1 John 2:15-17). It is the love and judgment of the Father that matters.
As a Christian the hardest thing for me to hear is other people saying that Christians are judgmental. I totally agree to a point. I think that there are a ton of people out there that totally do not get the love that God desires us to have for people, but I also think there are people out there that totally get that. There are those Christians that understand what Jesus did. They understand His heart for the poor, for the needy, and for the outcasts. I work everyday to try and show this in my life. Who cares where you came from, your family situation, your mistakes, or where you were emotionally when they meet you? You are a child of God and you deserve the love that He would give everyone. As Christians we need to get better at this. How can we change the world when the world sees us as the people that do not accept them for who they are.
Jesus laid down his life for us and all he asks us to do is live a life full of love and passion for Him and for the people of the world. Sounds so easy doesn’t it? I will be the first to confess that I in no way come close to living my life this way. I am often negative and I do not praise God for everything that he has given me. But I recognize my down falls and I try to improve myself with all that the Holy Spirit gives me. God gave us the Holy Spirit so that we would not be alone, so we would have his wisdom, and so we could fight the temptations of the world. He has equipped us with everything we need, in this life, to break the norm and change the world. It doesn’t matter where you are in life and it sure the heck doesn’t matter if you have everything put together. The only thing that matters is if you want to stand out, if you want to accept the Holy Spirit into your heart, and if you want to live a life that is not satisfying to the world but satisfying to God.
Once you are ready to take that step, of complete faith ,your life will change radically. You will lose the desire of the world and you will yearn to focus on the things of God’s heart. Once the Holy Spirit is within you, you will strive to please God with your actions. Yes, it is true; it is not about the works that you do in this world. It is by grace alone that you are saved, but trust me once you get a glimpse of understanding of what grace is and means there is no way that you will want to do anything other than good works. You will want to dive into the scripture, you will want to intently pray and communicate with your Father, and you will want to be in fellowship with other Christian believers.
God gave me a passion. I am sure all of us are passionate about something in our life; teaching children, helping the sick, feeding the starving, being there for the dying, and so on… It is our passion that the Holy Spirit feeds on. When I am working in the area of my passion that is when I feel the fullest and the closest to God. I have a burning passion in my heart to help the needy; to work with children and show them the love that God has for them, to be there for them when no one else can. Maybe because of a parent dying of AIDS, a parent not being stable enough to care for them, or even a parent that is to busy working that they don’t have as much time to invest in their lives. This is how I can change the world. I can be there for them. I can change the world through their lives and I can change the world through the live of my friends that I reach out to.
So basically to sum all of this up after my long rant, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD! You might only do small things and impact a few people but through that you are changing the world. Do not focus on the little things that you are not doing, but focus on the little things that you are doing. I have had people in my life that have completely changed me. And I know, as a living example of a changed person, that one person can change the world by changing the life of another. You might not get the credit you deserve and you may never make the headlines, but to someone you matter and to someone you changed their life. God loves those of us who are humble (1Peter 5:5-7). So go ahead, take a leap of faith, and slowly but surely you will change the world.
Written by Me
Inspired by Dr. Greene
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