Hey everyone!
These past few days have been very interesting for sure. It's very new to me to go from a such a dull life, a life that I really wasn't ever living, to now being alive. And with these changes and this process God has been taking me through, there has been something huge that I have had to learn, and am most definetly still learning. That is waiting. Waiting on God.
I don't know about you, but most of the time for me, I wait like a child with a very short attention span. "Okay God, I'll be patient. I'll wait." 20 seconds later. "Oh but God I really want to know now, can I pleeeaaasseee know now?" Okay. So maybe it's not 20 seconds later. But sometimes, it really is. Humans don't like to wait. I personally hate waiting and being patient. But sometimes waiting can be really good for us.
When I was in the process of praying and seeking God about what His will was for me concerning the Honor Academy, it was hard to wait for answers. I wanted to know what I was doing, and when. And honestly, even now, it is a continual feeling I have to fight. Earlier today I just submitted my application fee for my application to attend the internship this August. Now that I have officially submitted that, all aspects of my application are done. The online application, the references, the phone interview, the fee. So now, I really have one more thing left to do. I wait. And trust.
As I've started to notice, I can't just wait without trust. I guess I could, but it would make the entire process so much harder. Waiting with trust makes the entire process so much easier. Sometimes I still get a bit antsy and want to know what will be going on. But to be honest, once I find out when I'm accepted or not, I'm still going to want to know what's going on. So sometimes God just calls us to wait and rest in Him. What a beauty that I get to start learning these things now. :) I recently found this Bible verse I thought I would share.
"Rest in the Lord and be willing to wait for Him. Do not trouble yourself when all goes well with the one who carries out his sinful plans. " ~ Psalm 37:7
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
A New Beginning
Hey everyone!
First of all, I want to apoligize. I realize it has been around a year since I last posted, and the last year I did post, I only posted twice. It's honestly really crazy to realize that much time has gone by since then! But so much has happened since then and I decided I would attempt to share with you some of the bigger things that have happened. :)
So I'm just going to be flat out honest with you guys. These past few years, something had seriously been missing when it came to my relationship with God. I knew of Him, yes. And I knew some Bible stories, most of the time I knew some of the right things to say.. I knew about Him. And even then, it still wasn't to the level I needed to. But there was something majorly missing. I didn't KNOW Him. I hadn't ever really encountered Him personally. Always struggling with major trust issues in my life, the area of my relationship with God was no different. In these past few months, I felt empty. I was stressing and worrying all the time, I wasn't spending time in the Bible and the Bible verses I did read just made me angry and feel convicted, and when it came to a measurement of how much I trusted God, it probably wouldn't have been enough to measure on any kind of scale. I wasn't trusting because I didn't know Him. How many people are really going to trust someone they don't know? Not many people. I mean sometimes, it will happen. But you can't normally develop a close relationship with someone you don't trust.
So I came to a point I was tired of myself. I was tired of waking up every morning and stressing and worrying about my future, I was tired of all my distrust in the people around me, and I was really starting to hate myself. I wasn't spending time with God, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to. But I knew one big thing. I wanted something to change.
Soon the opportunity came to go to a Christian retreat with our local church. I had heard of this retreat and many of the local teenagers had gone to it. They all said it was amazing, but I wasn't convinced. I wasn't sure how anything that involved spending a few days away from home could be concidered "amazing" on any level. I was scared and bitter, but had the money to go. Without really understanding why, I signed up for the retreat and paid for it in full. Having no idea that the retreat would be a HUGE turning point not only in my relationship with God, but also my life.
While I was there at the retreat, God met me there. Maybe not in the traditional face to face meeting you'd imagine, but without a doubt I know today that I encountered God while at that retreat. God did so much while I was there. He healed past wounds, broke ties of not being able to trust, and drew me closer to Him, all while revealing his plan for my life in little ways. While I was there, I found out that God was calling me into full time ministry of some kind. I just didn't know what form that would take.
Upon going home, I was happy to be home but also scared that everything I had experienced would disapear with it. Coming home was different, yes, and it was a transition for sure. But nothing disapeared. In fact, almost the opposite happened. In these past few weeks, God has stirred a passion and a calling for a Christian internship program through Teen Mania called the Honor Academy. Through this academy, I will be able to spend a year seeking God in a Christ centered environment with other people close to my age for a year. The entire program will bring huge changes, some of which I'll admit can be a little intimidating at times. But I know that God will grow me greatly through the program. (If you want to check out the website, it's www.honoracademy.com. I will probably post about the academy in a future post)
Through these past few weeks of prayer and seeking God in His will for my future, God has shown me that he would like for me to attend the academy this August, which would traditionally be the start of my Senior year of high school. In order to do this, I will need to not only graduate by August, which would mean finishing a year of high school early, but I will also need to fundraise to raise $2,400 by August, the amount required by the time the internship begins.
So life has been crazy these past few weeks but I am so excited to see what God will be doing with the future! I will try to start keeping this blog more active and should be posting more actively. :) You may also notice that I've changed the design and name of the blog just because of the change that I have personally gone through in my life recently. Instead of "My Life With God in Control", the name has been changed to "Complete Surrender". (This name change models the story in Matthew when Jesus asks Matthew to get up and follow Him) I have also changed the domain name and design to fit this theme a little better.
Thank you so much for your support! Prayers would be greatly appreciated! Also, if any of you have any prayer requests, feel free to comment and I will pray for you.
~ Angelica
First of all, I want to apoligize. I realize it has been around a year since I last posted, and the last year I did post, I only posted twice. It's honestly really crazy to realize that much time has gone by since then! But so much has happened since then and I decided I would attempt to share with you some of the bigger things that have happened. :)
So I'm just going to be flat out honest with you guys. These past few years, something had seriously been missing when it came to my relationship with God. I knew of Him, yes. And I knew some Bible stories, most of the time I knew some of the right things to say.. I knew about Him. And even then, it still wasn't to the level I needed to. But there was something majorly missing. I didn't KNOW Him. I hadn't ever really encountered Him personally. Always struggling with major trust issues in my life, the area of my relationship with God was no different. In these past few months, I felt empty. I was stressing and worrying all the time, I wasn't spending time in the Bible and the Bible verses I did read just made me angry and feel convicted, and when it came to a measurement of how much I trusted God, it probably wouldn't have been enough to measure on any kind of scale. I wasn't trusting because I didn't know Him. How many people are really going to trust someone they don't know? Not many people. I mean sometimes, it will happen. But you can't normally develop a close relationship with someone you don't trust.
So I came to a point I was tired of myself. I was tired of waking up every morning and stressing and worrying about my future, I was tired of all my distrust in the people around me, and I was really starting to hate myself. I wasn't spending time with God, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to. But I knew one big thing. I wanted something to change.
Soon the opportunity came to go to a Christian retreat with our local church. I had heard of this retreat and many of the local teenagers had gone to it. They all said it was amazing, but I wasn't convinced. I wasn't sure how anything that involved spending a few days away from home could be concidered "amazing" on any level. I was scared and bitter, but had the money to go. Without really understanding why, I signed up for the retreat and paid for it in full. Having no idea that the retreat would be a HUGE turning point not only in my relationship with God, but also my life.
While I was there at the retreat, God met me there. Maybe not in the traditional face to face meeting you'd imagine, but without a doubt I know today that I encountered God while at that retreat. God did so much while I was there. He healed past wounds, broke ties of not being able to trust, and drew me closer to Him, all while revealing his plan for my life in little ways. While I was there, I found out that God was calling me into full time ministry of some kind. I just didn't know what form that would take.
Upon going home, I was happy to be home but also scared that everything I had experienced would disapear with it. Coming home was different, yes, and it was a transition for sure. But nothing disapeared. In fact, almost the opposite happened. In these past few weeks, God has stirred a passion and a calling for a Christian internship program through Teen Mania called the Honor Academy. Through this academy, I will be able to spend a year seeking God in a Christ centered environment with other people close to my age for a year. The entire program will bring huge changes, some of which I'll admit can be a little intimidating at times. But I know that God will grow me greatly through the program. (If you want to check out the website, it's www.honoracademy.com. I will probably post about the academy in a future post)
Through these past few weeks of prayer and seeking God in His will for my future, God has shown me that he would like for me to attend the academy this August, which would traditionally be the start of my Senior year of high school. In order to do this, I will need to not only graduate by August, which would mean finishing a year of high school early, but I will also need to fundraise to raise $2,400 by August, the amount required by the time the internship begins.
So life has been crazy these past few weeks but I am so excited to see what God will be doing with the future! I will try to start keeping this blog more active and should be posting more actively. :) You may also notice that I've changed the design and name of the blog just because of the change that I have personally gone through in my life recently. Instead of "My Life With God in Control", the name has been changed to "Complete Surrender". (This name change models the story in Matthew when Jesus asks Matthew to get up and follow Him) I have also changed the domain name and design to fit this theme a little better.
Thank you so much for your support! Prayers would be greatly appreciated! Also, if any of you have any prayer requests, feel free to comment and I will pray for you.
~ Angelica
Friday, July 6, 2012
Fear(Part 2): Through the Goo and into Victory!
If you haven't already, please read "Fear(Part 1): Thick, Black Goo" here before reading Part 2 in this 2 part series. :)
So last time I explained what fear is and why we are all affected by fear. In truth, fear is a terrible emotion but a fairly common one, as everyone experiences fear in their lifetime. Some people experience it more than others, but when it comes down to it, everyone is affected by fear. Though there are different degrees of fear, there is not a single person on earth who has not been affected by fear at some point or another. So the question is, how do we get rid of this feeling of fear?
To find that answer, we have to start with Hope. Hope is the exact oposite of fear. Let me repeat that.
So for us, that's wonderful news. Knowing this truth is a huge step in the right direction to knowing how to combat fear. Here is the definition of hope. Hope: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Trust. Expectance. Promise. At first, hope can seem kinda iffy. It's easy to think, "Okay so hope is just wanting something to happen." Actually, take a look at that end word there in the deinition of hope. Promise. Hope in something or someone can also be a promise of being taken care of. So for us, when we are combating fear, who is it that we should put our hope to get through tough times? The answer here, is as simple as Jesus.
"O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. " Psalms 119:130:7
This verse here tells us that we need to put our faith and hope in Jesus, but it also tells us why. He has unfailing love and is full of redemption. In short, redemption means the act of being saved from sin. So the Bible is simply saying here that we should trust God and have our faith in him, simply because he has love that will never end and he has saved us from sin. I don't know about you, but It sounds like this is a reliable place to go to when it comes to being afraid. Perfect love casts out fear. Jesus is the very definition of perfect love, as stated here in 1 John 4:18 that states, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." and 1 John 4:8, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
So now we know that we need to go to God when we are afraid. Here are some different ways that I have found can be really affective ways of going to God in the face of fear.
Prayer. Talking to God is always one of the best ways to go. There is nothing better than talking to a God who understands you so well and knows exactly the problem you are going through. With God, there is no questions. You don't have to explain yourself when it comes to God. He just gets it and it makes sense. The thing is, he is ALWAYS there with you and already knows each and every detail of your problem you may be facing. In the direct fact of fear though, God will give us peace. This is stated in Psalm 34:4, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears."
Reading the Bible. Reading the Bible is good for every occasion, and is something that you just can't go wrong in doing. But expecially in times that you are scared and afraid, pulling out your Bible can be really calming. There are so many good BIble verses on the topic of fear, trusting in God when times get hard, and leaning on God to take care of you, it's really hard to close your Bible still feeling stressed and worried. Here is a sample of all the wonderful Bible verses on the topic of fear and how to handle it.
Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"
Joshua 1:9, "I will be strong and of good courage for I know that you are with me wherever I go."
Call Out to God(Outloud). This one is so powerful. When afraid, taking a moment to stop what you're doing and verbally call out to God is so helpful when dealing with an overwhelming sense of fear. For me personally, I have found that once I do this and call out to Him, a lot of my fear if not all of it disapears completley. You don't have to get fancy with this one either, but even something as simple as "God", or "God help me" should do the trick. Remember that God can hear you, and you don't need something huge to get his attention. He's already focused on you 100% and looking out for you.
Stay Close to God. This one is one of those that helps in the long run. It can most certinly help at the time you are going through fear as well, but the closer you become to God, the more you are going to trust Him, leading to you being less fearful. It's a beautiful cycle and all starts with getting to know Him better. This can be done by reading the Bible, talking to God, singing praise songs and just getting to know your Creater and Father better in any way.
Fear is just such a huge topic, there is so much that could be shared on the topic of fear itself. I'm not going to go into it all here, but I may post some sucess stories from teenagers like you that have gone through a scary situation and gotten through it by the grace of God. So be on the look out for some of those stories here coming up! And if you want to share a story yourself, please send me an email at angelicaspassion@aol.com with the title, "Fear Story" and share your story of how God helped you through your fear. I'd love to share it!
In the meantime, here are some extra verses to look up on fear if you are needing a place to start.
Proverbs 29:25
Psalm 86:11
Jeremiah 32:40
Isaiah 41:10
2 Timothy 1:7
If you have a topic that you want me to write about, I'd love to hear about it! Please send me an email at angelicaspassion@aol.com with the title "Topic Suggestion" and I will get back to you! :)
So last time I explained what fear is and why we are all affected by fear. In truth, fear is a terrible emotion but a fairly common one, as everyone experiences fear in their lifetime. Some people experience it more than others, but when it comes down to it, everyone is affected by fear. Though there are different degrees of fear, there is not a single person on earth who has not been affected by fear at some point or another. So the question is, how do we get rid of this feeling of fear?
To find that answer, we have to start with Hope. Hope is the exact oposite of fear. Let me repeat that.
Fear and Hope are Opposites.
So for us, that's wonderful news. Knowing this truth is a huge step in the right direction to knowing how to combat fear. Here is the definition of hope. Hope: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Trust. Expectance. Promise. At first, hope can seem kinda iffy. It's easy to think, "Okay so hope is just wanting something to happen." Actually, take a look at that end word there in the deinition of hope. Promise. Hope in something or someone can also be a promise of being taken care of. So for us, when we are combating fear, who is it that we should put our hope to get through tough times? The answer here, is as simple as Jesus.
"O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. " Psalms 119:130:7
This verse here tells us that we need to put our faith and hope in Jesus, but it also tells us why. He has unfailing love and is full of redemption. In short, redemption means the act of being saved from sin. So the Bible is simply saying here that we should trust God and have our faith in him, simply because he has love that will never end and he has saved us from sin. I don't know about you, but It sounds like this is a reliable place to go to when it comes to being afraid. Perfect love casts out fear. Jesus is the very definition of perfect love, as stated here in 1 John 4:18 that states, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." and 1 John 4:8, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
So now we know that we need to go to God when we are afraid. Here are some different ways that I have found can be really affective ways of going to God in the face of fear.
Prayer. Talking to God is always one of the best ways to go. There is nothing better than talking to a God who understands you so well and knows exactly the problem you are going through. With God, there is no questions. You don't have to explain yourself when it comes to God. He just gets it and it makes sense. The thing is, he is ALWAYS there with you and already knows each and every detail of your problem you may be facing. In the direct fact of fear though, God will give us peace. This is stated in Psalm 34:4, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears."
Reading the Bible. Reading the Bible is good for every occasion, and is something that you just can't go wrong in doing. But expecially in times that you are scared and afraid, pulling out your Bible can be really calming. There are so many good BIble verses on the topic of fear, trusting in God when times get hard, and leaning on God to take care of you, it's really hard to close your Bible still feeling stressed and worried. Here is a sample of all the wonderful Bible verses on the topic of fear and how to handle it.
Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"
Joshua 1:9, "I will be strong and of good courage for I know that you are with me wherever I go."
Call Out to God(Outloud). This one is so powerful. When afraid, taking a moment to stop what you're doing and verbally call out to God is so helpful when dealing with an overwhelming sense of fear. For me personally, I have found that once I do this and call out to Him, a lot of my fear if not all of it disapears completley. You don't have to get fancy with this one either, but even something as simple as "God", or "God help me" should do the trick. Remember that God can hear you, and you don't need something huge to get his attention. He's already focused on you 100% and looking out for you.
Stay Close to God. This one is one of those that helps in the long run. It can most certinly help at the time you are going through fear as well, but the closer you become to God, the more you are going to trust Him, leading to you being less fearful. It's a beautiful cycle and all starts with getting to know Him better. This can be done by reading the Bible, talking to God, singing praise songs and just getting to know your Creater and Father better in any way.
Fear is just such a huge topic, there is so much that could be shared on the topic of fear itself. I'm not going to go into it all here, but I may post some sucess stories from teenagers like you that have gone through a scary situation and gotten through it by the grace of God. So be on the look out for some of those stories here coming up! And if you want to share a story yourself, please send me an email at angelicaspassion@aol.com with the title, "Fear Story" and share your story of how God helped you through your fear. I'd love to share it!
In the meantime, here are some extra verses to look up on fear if you are needing a place to start.
Proverbs 29:25
Psalm 86:11
Jeremiah 32:40
Isaiah 41:10
2 Timothy 1:7
If you have a topic that you want me to write about, I'd love to hear about it! Please send me an email at angelicaspassion@aol.com with the title "Topic Suggestion" and I will get back to you! :)
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Fear(Part 1):Thick, Black Goo
When you think of fear, what comes to mind? If you're at all like me, you will think of a memory of something that made you fearful or scared. Maybe it was a childhood memory or a nightmare that still comes back to bug you. Or maybe it's something very real that threatens to panic you and send your thoughts racing and your heart pounding. Maybe you even start to think about all the times that you allowed fear to hold you back from all the things you love and enjoy. Either way, fear is a very real and powerful thing. And when we allow fear to stand in our way, it can keep us from doing the activities and things that we love, it can lead us away from the plan God has from us, and can even make us make decisions that we know are not good for us but we make them anyway when faced with fear. Fear is a very real and dangerous thing. But before we go over some ways to stop fear in its tracks, we have to figure out a few things first. First of all, what is fear?
Dictionary.com puts it this way, "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid."
Believe it or not, little amounts of fear every now and again can be really helpful. A little bit of fear can motivate us into starting something new, or jumping into action when needed. In fact, fear is the body's natural response to danger. Without this response, called the "fight or flight" response, we would be in real trouble. In the face of real danger, we would continue going about our business like nothing was the matter, and would eventually die because we wouldn't have any sense that would tell us something was wrong. In a sense, this response was created by God to protect us. The problem is that humans have taken this response and generalized it, becoming afraid of small things that God never intended us to be afraid of in the first place! Nowadays, humans are afraid of almost anything! If you've ever Googled a list of fears out there, the list can seem to go on and on, seemingly never ending! Now I'll be the first to admit, the list of things I'm afraid of would seem a bit long as well. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, as long as we have a way to fix it and don't just keep wallowing in our fears and not doing anything about them!
So if a little bit of fear can be helpful, what happens when this little amount of fear becomes generalized and we become afraid of much smaller, unimportant things, such as spiders, that job interview, a test in school, or going to the dentist? We can allow these simple fears to hinder our every day life. Having too much fear can stop us from doing God's work, and this overjoys the evil one. He hates to see us completing God's work in our life, and uses fear as one of the main ways to stop us in our tracks. Having too much fear in our lives can also make us make snap decisions or think quickly without really thinking things out or asking God for direction in our lives. Again, this is thrilling to the evil one because when we make decisions without asking God's direction first in our lives, we have a much greater chance of making decisions that are not in God's will for our lives.
Fear can be a very disastrous thing when it gets out of hand. But if we can learn to stop fear in its tracks, we can destroy fear and be one step closer to living the life that God has planned for us. Be on the look out for part two on fear called, "Fear(Part 2): Through the Goo and into Victory!" which will explain some of the things that we can do to escape the grasp that fear has on our lives and start living the life that God has planned for us. Until then, here are some encouraging Bible verses on the topic of fear:
"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. (NKJV)" ~ Deuteronomy 31:6
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
(NKJV)" ~ Psalm 27:1
"I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you love in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?" ~ Isaiah 51:12-13
Dictionary.com puts it this way, "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid."
Believe it or not, little amounts of fear every now and again can be really helpful. A little bit of fear can motivate us into starting something new, or jumping into action when needed. In fact, fear is the body's natural response to danger. Without this response, called the "fight or flight" response, we would be in real trouble. In the face of real danger, we would continue going about our business like nothing was the matter, and would eventually die because we wouldn't have any sense that would tell us something was wrong. In a sense, this response was created by God to protect us. The problem is that humans have taken this response and generalized it, becoming afraid of small things that God never intended us to be afraid of in the first place! Nowadays, humans are afraid of almost anything! If you've ever Googled a list of fears out there, the list can seem to go on and on, seemingly never ending! Now I'll be the first to admit, the list of things I'm afraid of would seem a bit long as well. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, as long as we have a way to fix it and don't just keep wallowing in our fears and not doing anything about them!
So if a little bit of fear can be helpful, what happens when this little amount of fear becomes generalized and we become afraid of much smaller, unimportant things, such as spiders, that job interview, a test in school, or going to the dentist? We can allow these simple fears to hinder our every day life. Having too much fear can stop us from doing God's work, and this overjoys the evil one. He hates to see us completing God's work in our life, and uses fear as one of the main ways to stop us in our tracks. Having too much fear in our lives can also make us make snap decisions or think quickly without really thinking things out or asking God for direction in our lives. Again, this is thrilling to the evil one because when we make decisions without asking God's direction first in our lives, we have a much greater chance of making decisions that are not in God's will for our lives.
Fear can be a very disastrous thing when it gets out of hand. But if we can learn to stop fear in its tracks, we can destroy fear and be one step closer to living the life that God has planned for us. Be on the look out for part two on fear called, "Fear(Part 2): Through the Goo and into Victory!" which will explain some of the things that we can do to escape the grasp that fear has on our lives and start living the life that God has planned for us. Until then, here are some encouraging Bible verses on the topic of fear:
"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. (NKJV)" ~ Deuteronomy 31:6
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
(NKJV)" ~ Psalm 27:1
"I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you love in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?" ~ Isaiah 51:12-13
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Created in God's Image
You now that girl at your school that just looks like she has everything handed to her on a silver platter? She always looks great, even if the school just had a major snow storm that she just had to walk through. Somehow this girl seems like no matter what physically hits her, she always has a solution. Bad hair day? No problem, she still looks great in a ponytail. Ran out of makeup? She has friends who will let her borrow some. No date to prom? That's alright, she has what... like 20 different options. Or more. To our untrained eye, this girl looks like her life is physically perfect. She has it all. The Looks. The Personality. The Guys. Why is it though that we take the time to notice so much about these kinds of people? We don't just notice that these people have everything made, but we also start thinking down the path of everything they have that we don't. We think to ourselves, "When I have a bad hair day, my hair looks nothing like that. I have no makeup so I'll have to run to the store this weekend. But with or without makeup, we'll never look like they do. No date to prom? Oh well, I'll just have to go with friends."
You see girls, we really need a new way of thinking here. First things first, even though this girl looks like everything in her life is just spectacular and perfect, most often times this is not the case. There could easily be something going on under the surface that we just don't see. But even if there is nothing going on underneath the surface and life is really going great for them, why can't we have life going the exact same way? Honestly, we don't need any of that stuff to make us happy. We don't need perfect looks, a drop dead gorgeous personality(although having God on your side does wonders for anyone's personality), or a guy hanging on our arm to make us happy. Why? Because God made us exactly the way we are for a reason. Who are we to say that he didn't make us perfectly? I don't know about you, but I don't exactly want to be telling God that something he made is not perfect. Who are we to judge God's work?
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
What we need to start doing is accepting ourselves for the way they are, and taking pride in who we are. All of us are beautiful and unique because we were all created by God, in his image. That simple fact right there should be so encouraging. We were created by a perfect God, in his image. What a beautiful thought. To think that we were hand crafted by God, the creator of the universe. Sometimes this can seem like such a crazy concept that it can be sometimes difficult to understand. But stop and think about this for a moment. What are we doing sitting here worrying about how that popular girl a few tables over looks like she has everything made when we all were made equal and in his image?
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Besides being beautifully created in his image, we were all unique and created with a purpose. Can you believe that? Not only do we get the honor of being created by God and in his image, but we also get to have a reason to live and purpose?! Insane and beautiful. :) Girls, think about this for a moment. You were created by God, for a reason. To look just the way you do. Regardless of whatever imperfections you think you have, God sees you perfectly and clearly. He loves you so much and you are beautiful to him. Instead of needed everyone at school to think you are popular, isn't it amazing to think that God sees you and you are popular in his sight? I sure think so. So next time you see that popular girl in the hallway, instead of thinking about everything she has and everything you don't, stop for a moment to remember that you are beautiful and God made you, just the way you are.
Merry Christmas girls! It's Christmas eve!!! I hope you all have had an amazing week! Time has gone by so fast! It feels like yesterday this school year was just beginning and now it's already halfway over! Goodness! I'll be praying for you girls in the coming weeks, I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. <3 On another note I wanted to add that for right now, I will be posted on the blog once a week, every Saturday until things change. In the future I might be able to post more frequently but with school I can only post about once a week for now. :) If any of you have any topics that you want me to write about or a question you want me to give my thoughts on, please feel free to comment below and I would love to get back to you. Merry Christmas girls!
You see girls, we really need a new way of thinking here. First things first, even though this girl looks like everything in her life is just spectacular and perfect, most often times this is not the case. There could easily be something going on under the surface that we just don't see. But even if there is nothing going on underneath the surface and life is really going great for them, why can't we have life going the exact same way? Honestly, we don't need any of that stuff to make us happy. We don't need perfect looks, a drop dead gorgeous personality(although having God on your side does wonders for anyone's personality), or a guy hanging on our arm to make us happy. Why? Because God made us exactly the way we are for a reason. Who are we to say that he didn't make us perfectly? I don't know about you, but I don't exactly want to be telling God that something he made is not perfect. Who are we to judge God's work?
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
What we need to start doing is accepting ourselves for the way they are, and taking pride in who we are. All of us are beautiful and unique because we were all created by God, in his image. That simple fact right there should be so encouraging. We were created by a perfect God, in his image. What a beautiful thought. To think that we were hand crafted by God, the creator of the universe. Sometimes this can seem like such a crazy concept that it can be sometimes difficult to understand. But stop and think about this for a moment. What are we doing sitting here worrying about how that popular girl a few tables over looks like she has everything made when we all were made equal and in his image?
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Besides being beautifully created in his image, we were all unique and created with a purpose. Can you believe that? Not only do we get the honor of being created by God and in his image, but we also get to have a reason to live and purpose?! Insane and beautiful. :) Girls, think about this for a moment. You were created by God, for a reason. To look just the way you do. Regardless of whatever imperfections you think you have, God sees you perfectly and clearly. He loves you so much and you are beautiful to him. Instead of needed everyone at school to think you are popular, isn't it amazing to think that God sees you and you are popular in his sight? I sure think so. So next time you see that popular girl in the hallway, instead of thinking about everything she has and everything you don't, stop for a moment to remember that you are beautiful and God made you, just the way you are.
Merry Christmas girls! It's Christmas eve!!! I hope you all have had an amazing week! Time has gone by so fast! It feels like yesterday this school year was just beginning and now it's already halfway over! Goodness! I'll be praying for you girls in the coming weeks, I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. <3 On another note I wanted to add that for right now, I will be posted on the blog once a week, every Saturday until things change. In the future I might be able to post more frequently but with school I can only post about once a week for now. :) If any of you have any topics that you want me to write about or a question you want me to give my thoughts on, please feel free to comment below and I would love to get back to you. Merry Christmas girls!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Unequally Yoked: Relationships
As teenagers, we can sometimes tend to fall for someone without thinking long term. We see examples of this all around us when girls fall for a guy, they start dating and then break up with each other a few days, weeks, and in few cases months later all because it didn't work out. If we were to really stop and look at this pattern of dating someone for such a short amount of time and then breaking up with them, we would see that most of the time, these people were not right for each other from the very beginning but because they started dating each other anyway, it became a bad cycle that did not end very well at all.
As Christians, hopefully we are not going around and dating a bunch of guys to find the right one. We need to be trusting that God will bring the right one along when the time is right. But there are some things we should and should not be doing as we wait for God to bring us that special someone. The main thing is that we don't need to be getting romantically involved with people that are not equally yoked, or not Christians themselves.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14
When we attach ourselves to someone who does not have the same belief system, we are setting ourselves up for the relationship to eventually fail and for us to have a broken heart. Sometimes, even when we decide to get emotionally attached to someone, they are not the special person that God has chosen for us in our future. It is also very important to note that we are not supposed to completely forget about these people or decide not to be friends with them just because they don't believe the same thing you do. We are not to forget about these people, but are supposed to be there to befriend and support them. But there is a fine line that needs to be drawn here. We can be friends with unbelievers but nothing more.
When God does not want us to be romantically involved with unbelievers, this is not to punish us or take away our fun. Instead, God is trying to protect us from getting hurt and getting dragged down by them. Most often times when a Christian and an unbeliever start dating, what eventually starts happening is the more and more time they spend around each other, the more and more that the unbeliever starts dragging the Christian down. We need to be together with someone that will lift us up and help support us in our faith, not eventually drag us down.
You might be sitting there thinking, "Okay, this makes sense. But what if we start dating and then they will eventually become a Christian?" Although this is a nice thought, most of the time this is not the case. I'm not saying it's not possible, but more then likely this person will end up bringing you down, no matter how strong you are to begin with. This is where we need to trust that the person God will bring to us will not have to change their beliefs just to be in a relationship with us, but instead, will already have their beliefs set in stone by the time you are supposed to start dating them. We need to have trust in God that he will bring us someone who is way better then we could have ever imagined. Someone who will lift us up instead of drag us down. Someone who will not only respect your beliefs, but agree with them. :-)
"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals.'" 1 Corinthians 15:33
Good luck girls, I'll be praying for you all in the weeks to come. Can you believe that Christmas is almost here? 7 days until we celebrate the birth of our King! <3
As Christians, hopefully we are not going around and dating a bunch of guys to find the right one. We need to be trusting that God will bring the right one along when the time is right. But there are some things we should and should not be doing as we wait for God to bring us that special someone. The main thing is that we don't need to be getting romantically involved with people that are not equally yoked, or not Christians themselves.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14
When we attach ourselves to someone who does not have the same belief system, we are setting ourselves up for the relationship to eventually fail and for us to have a broken heart. Sometimes, even when we decide to get emotionally attached to someone, they are not the special person that God has chosen for us in our future. It is also very important to note that we are not supposed to completely forget about these people or decide not to be friends with them just because they don't believe the same thing you do. We are not to forget about these people, but are supposed to be there to befriend and support them. But there is a fine line that needs to be drawn here. We can be friends with unbelievers but nothing more.
When God does not want us to be romantically involved with unbelievers, this is not to punish us or take away our fun. Instead, God is trying to protect us from getting hurt and getting dragged down by them. Most often times when a Christian and an unbeliever start dating, what eventually starts happening is the more and more time they spend around each other, the more and more that the unbeliever starts dragging the Christian down. We need to be together with someone that will lift us up and help support us in our faith, not eventually drag us down.
You might be sitting there thinking, "Okay, this makes sense. But what if we start dating and then they will eventually become a Christian?" Although this is a nice thought, most of the time this is not the case. I'm not saying it's not possible, but more then likely this person will end up bringing you down, no matter how strong you are to begin with. This is where we need to trust that the person God will bring to us will not have to change their beliefs just to be in a relationship with us, but instead, will already have their beliefs set in stone by the time you are supposed to start dating them. We need to have trust in God that he will bring us someone who is way better then we could have ever imagined. Someone who will lift us up instead of drag us down. Someone who will not only respect your beliefs, but agree with them. :-)
"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals.'" 1 Corinthians 15:33
Good luck girls, I'll be praying for you all in the weeks to come. Can you believe that Christmas is almost here? 7 days until we celebrate the birth of our King! <3
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Running from God
Have you ever had a situation in your life when you just kept running from God's will, even though you knew exactly what he wanted you to do? Recently in my life I was faced with this exact problem. God had told me what he wanted to do, and at first I made the right decision. At first, I listened to God. But then do you know what happened? I turned back around again and went, "Uhm.. God, I think you were wrong. I'm going to do this my own way." I'm sure you can guess that things really didn't turn out very well. But when you think about it, do things ever turn out very well when you don't listen to what God wants? Let me use an example.
If your parents were to tell you not to go to the party that was this weekend, but you decided to go with a friend anyway, there could be major consequences to going to that party without their permission. At first, going to the party without them might seem a little fun. After all, you are getting out on your own, doing what you want to do, and you don't have to listen to your parents will. Sounds like fun, right? Maybe for awhile, but then you might start to feel guilty or something bad might happen. It is usually after we go out and have our fun that we realize that our parents were right after all.
This reminds me a lot of what happened when I ran away from God's will. Although God never flat out stopped me from making that decision, because God did give us free will, he just sat there and waited for me to come running back to him when I realized he was right. Isn't this a lot of what parents do? We decide not to listen to them, decide that we're right and they're wrong, but in reality they are actually the ones that are right.
I want to urge you right now that if you are running away from God or God's will, to stop. I know that right now, whatever you are going through will be so much easier if you start listening to God's will and not your own. It might be run to go your own way and not listen to God, but it will always be better to put his will before your own. He looks out for us and cares so much about us, his will is ALWAYS in our best interest. Sometimes in life we might think that he doesn't care but the opposite could not be more true. He cares so much that he wants to keep us out of trouble. No, he won't stop us from making the right decision, but he will be right there to catch us when we fall. So if you are busy running away from God, I would encourage you to stop running AWAY from God, but start running TO him instead. You will be amazed with the results.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20
If your parents were to tell you not to go to the party that was this weekend, but you decided to go with a friend anyway, there could be major consequences to going to that party without their permission. At first, going to the party without them might seem a little fun. After all, you are getting out on your own, doing what you want to do, and you don't have to listen to your parents will. Sounds like fun, right? Maybe for awhile, but then you might start to feel guilty or something bad might happen. It is usually after we go out and have our fun that we realize that our parents were right after all.
This reminds me a lot of what happened when I ran away from God's will. Although God never flat out stopped me from making that decision, because God did give us free will, he just sat there and waited for me to come running back to him when I realized he was right. Isn't this a lot of what parents do? We decide not to listen to them, decide that we're right and they're wrong, but in reality they are actually the ones that are right.
I want to urge you right now that if you are running away from God or God's will, to stop. I know that right now, whatever you are going through will be so much easier if you start listening to God's will and not your own. It might be run to go your own way and not listen to God, but it will always be better to put his will before your own. He looks out for us and cares so much about us, his will is ALWAYS in our best interest. Sometimes in life we might think that he doesn't care but the opposite could not be more true. He cares so much that he wants to keep us out of trouble. No, he won't stop us from making the right decision, but he will be right there to catch us when we fall. So if you are busy running away from God, I would encourage you to stop running AWAY from God, but start running TO him instead. You will be amazed with the results.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20
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