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.

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! :)

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

God's Fireworks

So every 4th of July, our family always takes everyone out to go see fireworks. Sometimes it is not always the same place every year, but every year we never fail to see firework displays somewhere. In a way, it is one of the family traditions our family has for the 4th of July. I have always thought fireworks were so cool. So beautiful and captivating in a way.

Well around 3 to 4 years ago, on the 4th of July, we were on our way home from a fireworks display. Everyone was so excited and chatty about the beautiful display we had just seen. Everyone had a different perspective of the display as well. I had looked up into the clear, starry night sky when I saw bright flashes of light in the sky. There was no explanation for them, because there was not a storm cloud in sight. I thought they were the coolest thing and had told my parents, "Look Mom and Dad! It's God's Fireworks!" Everyone had laughed and agreed.

Well now, 3 to 4 years later, these mysterious light flashes still happen. Always on the 4th of July. Never failing. (: Tonight we all thought there would be none of God's fireworks because, one again, there was not a storm cloud in the sky. Well when we were driving home, just as I had turned and looked at the sky, I saw God's bright flashes of fireworks in the sky. We saw them 3 to 4 times before they were done. It's something so simple, but something that I hope continues to happen for the rest of my life. Just a little something that says, "I love you, this is just for you." Keep on the look out for little things that are "God's Fireworks" for you. They may or may not be the same thing. But do you have something that happens that you can just tell it was God? Be on the look out for these little things in life itself, not just the 4th of July. You never know, you might form a tradition with God. (:

Reality Check: What's Getting In The Way?

Hey girls!

You will never guess what I was doing tonight. I was in bed reading Paperdoll by Natalie Lloyd. Okay, so maybe it is not that odd of an idea to catch me reading at night. But, I had finished the first chapter a few days ago and was just starting to read the second chapter. As I was reading, I came across a few lines in the book that said this,

 "The well was about to become a symbol for all the places she's gone (unsuccessfully) looking for perfect love. And the man waiting there is going to offer her a deep, beautiful life that she probably didn't even feel she deserved. She had looked for love in some empty places, but that day love was waiting to show her what she'd been missing. (pg. 41 of Paperdoll)

You might be sitting here wondering, "Okay, that is an awesome passage in the book, but what does this have to do with anything?" Well you see, this explains exactly what I have been doing for so long. Looking for love in all the wrong and empty places. Over and over and over again. But do you know what keeps happening? God keeps calling me back to him. He is whispering to me letting me know that everything is going to be okay, he is here. The funny thing is I am currently stuck in the middle of all of this right now. Right in the middle. In fact, I would be sleeping right now if it was not for the fact I felt like I should pick up the book. And would you look at what God did. But the funny thing is it was not just reading tht part of the book that made me realize that was exactly what I was doing. God connected it with something that had happened a few weeks ago. I was participating in a small group for the youth and while we were all praying, one of the young ladies there had stopped to tell me that she had a picture of a well in her mind. She had felt lead to encourage me that God has so much in store for me. I had gone home giddy and happy that God has so much in store for me, but had never thought that maybe that simple night, God was trying to call me back to him.

As we see in this passage here in the book, Natalie is trying to explain how the well is a symbol of looking for love in all the wrong places. So now you can see how I connected these two together with a sudden understanding of this. God is trying to call me back to him to stop looking for love in all the wrong places. I think I am finally ready to take him up on that offer.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38-39


"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." - Luke 12:7

Both of these Bible verses are amazing, but out of these two the second one really hits home. This Bible verse here is actually reality. When it says that the "very hairs of your head are numbered" this is 100% true. Can you do something with me? Take a section of your hair and start counting. No, really. Try it with me. (: 1....2.....3.....4.....5....6.....7...8...9... Okay. I think you get the point here. I stopped at 9 only because I lost count! (: Out hairs are all together and intertwined, which makes them even harder to count. But I want you to think about something for a second. ALL of the hairs on your head have been counted, and God knows an exact number. Every thought that goes through your head, every word you speak, and where you are right now... God knows. But it is one thing to know that God knows all these things, and another to realize that he cares about all these things. Every one of these little things about you, God loves. Amazing huh? (:

Apparently I am in a writing mood tonight, so I better stop before I write a book. =) But girls there is one thing that I want to make so clear tonight. God, the creator of the universe, cares about you. He is calling you back home to him. Stop looking for love in all the wrong places and going after guys, money, looks, or whatever it might be. You see, we have to remember here that God created you. Let me try to put this in a little bit of a perspective for you for a second. =)

Let's pretend for a moment that you really wanted this brand new dress in the mall. It was an amazing dress. It was pink, sparkly, bright and colorful, and was even 50% off it's original price! In fact, it just might be that perfect dress to wear to prom! After almost a half an hour of begging your mom to buy you that dress, she finally gives in and gets you the dress. You are thrilled to be able to have that beautiful dress to call your own. After thanking your mom a million times you finally try on the dress when you are back at your house. It makes you look beautiful and attractive. Days go by, and you decide to wear the dress to prom. It seemed perfect. (: While you were at prom you spilled some punch on the dress creating a huge stain down the front of the dress. Although this might be really sad and disappointing, your mom bought you the dress and she can always get you another one. The pain caused by the dress getting ruined was not as strong in any way because you were not the one that made, or paid for the dress.

Okay so obviously, you would not be so rude as to not care that the dress was ruined after your mom kindly paid for it. Not to mention there are many things that could take the stain out of the dress now a-days. But, forgetting those little details, I hope you get my point. Because you did not pay for the dress, or make the dress, the pain caused by the dress getting ruined would not be as great. But on the other hand, imagine you had made the dress by hand. It had taken many days and days to put that dress together. Then you had taken it out to prom and ruined it. The pain caused by the dress getting ruined would be a lot worse now that you had actually taken the time yourself to put the dress together.

The point in all of this is simple. God made you, and everything about you. Everything from the fact that you have a freckle on your nose to the fact that your hair is a beautiful brown. He created you and made every part of you beautifully unique. Don't you think you would love something that you spent time time to create? When you create something, it becomes yours and all yours. You love it a lot because it was something that you uniquely made. Same with God. He created every little part of you, and loves you more then you can ever imagine. (:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

So girls I want to give you something to think about tonight. What is coming in the way of you and God? Where are you looking for love in all the wrong places? For me personally, I have been longing for acceptance. Acceptance from guys, and from the kids at my youth group. I get hurt so easily simply because I feel they are not "trying hard enough to be my friend" But tonight I guess something spoke to me. Something connected with the fact that I don't need these kids from youth group to feel accepted. I don't need the sweet and handsome boy from who knows where to come and sweep me off my feet. What I need, is a God that loves me and will never leave. And you know what? He is already here! (:

In His Love,
Angelica

Note: Remember that all work on this blog is original and belongs to me. Please contact me for permission if you want to use or take anything off of this blog. Thank you. (: 

Run TO God

Earlier today my little sister was crying over some school work she was frustrated with. She wanted to give up and throw in the towel. She was flat out done with trying to complete the lesson and wanted nothing more to do with it. My little brother who is almost 5, walked in the room after hearing his sister cry. "Are you okay?" He asked her, his eyes full of concern and worry. "Go away!" She had screamed back at him. My poor little brother had turned around and slowly walked out of the room.

After watching this happen as I got ready to do some school for the day, I realized something. All of us are a lot like my little sister. At times we can get sad, frustrated, and angry at God because we can feel like everything we are going through is all his fault. We blame God for things and problems that he is not causing. And I think this is all because we want someone to blame. If we can't blame our father, mother, or siblings we want to blame someone. And in this case, it can easily be God. And you know what God does when we yell and scream at him? He backs off, and waits. He waits for us to come running to his arms, and he will never leave. He will never turn around and walk out that door, but he will wait for you to decide to come to him. He loves you more then you could ever imagine. If you are in the middle of running away from God, I encourage you to stop and do the opposite. Run TO him. He cares so much about you, and wants to be closer to you, not further away. :)