Honor His Gift...

Alright, I know that I haven’t posted anything for the past couple of days, but I have been having an ongoing conversation with a friend of mine(who also happens to be my accountability buddy and cousin) about evangelism. We realized just how little we are doing for the kingdom of God. We are good Christian girls who go to church every Sunday and are doing alright… wrong. We can talk about God with our Christian friends as much as we want(and that’s good!) But if we never follow through with the actions, its pointless faith. Reflections of Christ. That’s what we’re called to be. Not just with our words, but with our whole being. Living sacrifices. Look around you. When you’re at school/church/sports/work/etc. do you talk to the kid that’s alone or different, or do you go straight to your own group of friends? Light and salt. Why aren’t we more like Christ? Its time to step up. We are not too young or too insignificant to make a difference. When was the last time you volunteered to help someone you barely know? When was the last time you acted like Christ? We can do so much more for Him. What’s stopping us? Look at what He did for us. The least I can do is reach out to people I usually don’t. The least I can do is try.

Read:

Matthew 5:13-16

James 1:21-25

James 2:14-26

John 3:16

Challenge for a God centered life: Reach out to someone new this week. Talk to them, invite them somewhere with your friends, pray for them, just get to know them, and love them through Christ.

I pray that we do this with joyful hearts. Just think of what would happen if everyone gave their lives to Christ. No matter if it were uncomfortable, hard, frustrating, or all of the above. This is God’s challenge to us. Honor His gift.

Life is great, but Heaven is better.

So often we are the extreme. At one moment life is amazing and couldn’t get better, but then the next we are depressed and hating every second. We get so caught up in this world that we don’t see past it to the future… to God. He doesn’t change. Our life, our priorities, our situations may, but he remains faithful. He loves us more then we could ever know and wants to take care of us. Our petty situations in life are nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Look for the lesson in everything. What God is putting you through now is a gift, a lesson, for future use. Be a good student and soak it up. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says, ‘So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.’

Remember: the best is yet to come. God has great things in store for His chosen people. We just have to choose to look past this world of sin that we live in to what His will is for our lives, because most of the time we are missing the big picture! Fame on earth and fame in Heaven are too extremely different things. Life can be amazing, but we must always remember that Heaven is so much better.

One Little Note...

Recently, I was looking through an old notebook I had written years ago. As I was skimming the pages, a small note fell out of it. It was a plain piece of paper with only the words "Sometimes I forget... Daydreams don't come true." written plainly on it. As I read those words('daydreams don't come true') I was saddened beyond words, because, no matter how much I know my dreams are impossibilities, sometimes it takes those little reminders to jolt us back to reality. I constantly have to remind myself that the life I live is not about me.. and I am so glad that it isn't. I could never get anywhere by my own devices. I already know how frail I am. All it takes is a look in the mirror to see how inadequate you really are. Do you not notice all of the faults and mistakes that you make everyday? What if life were to revolve around you? would you be able to manage it? would you be able to manage even your own town without everything falling apart? The simple answer is no. I will always want something that I can't have, an impossibility, but I have to look back to the One that will never let me down. He will provide. He does provide. Everyday that you have breathe and life is a gift from above. He loves us. He has already shown His amazing love by doing the unthinkable. He died for us and took on the sins of the world. In doing that He took our place so that we may have eternal life. Therefore I will seek the joy of the Lord and find my strength in Him. He helps us through the most difficult situations and His way is always the most perfect. So next time you find yourself daydreaming about the impossibilities in life don't be discouraged. Just remember that life is not about you. It's about someone much greater who's way is perfect and better then you could ever imagine. But who can say this better then the Bible?

2 Samuel 22:29-37
 ²⁹ “For You are my lamp, O LORD;
      The LORD shall enlighten my darkness.
 ³⁰ For by You I can run against a troop;
      By my God I can leap over a wall.
 ³¹ As for God, His way is perfect;
      The word of the LORD is proven;
      He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
 ³² “For who is God, except the LORD?
      And who is a rock, except our God?
 ³³ God is my strength and power,
      And He makes my way perfect.
 ³⁴ He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
      And sets me on my high places.
 ³⁵ He teaches my hands to make war,
      So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
 ³⁶ “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
      Your gentleness has made me great.
 ³⁷ You enlarged my path under me;
      So my feet did not slip.