Preparation 101

Lately, God has challenged me to be reverent as I come into His presence. There were a couple of Sunday mornings that I would be walking into the church building, reciting and repeating Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth or hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. He is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." That is how I prepared myself. But that is exactly the problem. I prepared myself. The results of this were pretty ugly. I walked down the halls into the worship service without a smile. I usually didn't wave at anyone, but gave them a solemn tip of my head. To top it off, during the worship, you would find me with my arms crossed and my lips closed during an upbeat song. I wanted to be reverent, but I had no idea what that really meant.
However, last Sunday, I woke up early and left the room by 9:00 am. I drove to the church and parked. I opened my Bible onto my lap, but didn't read it. I bowed my head and spoke to the Lord for about 10 minutes. I just closed my eyes and asked God to prepare my heart. To give me the right attitude as I walked in and to go in with pure motives-- to meet Him there. I spent time inviting Him to meet with us because if He isn't there, there's no reason for us to go inside. After 10 minutes, I decided to walk in and the results were completely different than before. I saw my brother, went to him and gave him a big hug. I wasn't solemn and I didn't ignore anyone. I was happy to be there! This next part is great. The first song played was called "Wake Up the World" and was very upbeat. This time though, you would not have found me with my arms crossed and my smile upside down. You would have found me clapping my hands and praising the Lord, who had just prepared my heart.
Before, I thought reverence meant only slow movements, isolation, and quiet. Although God leads me to these at certain times, He doesn't want me to be rude. When I let Him prepare my heart, He gave me the right attitude about entering His presence and the right motives for doing so.
Psalm 110:4-5 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His Name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

Trusting. REALLY Trusting

Being raised in church, I have heard about trusting God all my life. However, "trust in God" was more of a church phrase than something I could understand. After talking to my youth minister's wife, and meditating on the concept, God gave me understanding.

Trusting in God means knowing and truly believing that in every circumstance, God is there for you, beside you, behind you, in front of you, and all around you. In every situation, God takes care of you.

Trusting God is NOT believing everything will always be great. We have been warned many times in the Bible of trials we will face. In the trials, we are supposed to believe God is in control like He says He is.

Also, trusting God is NOT life will turn out exactly how you want it. Have a possible spouse in mind? Trusting God means believing wholeheartedly that God has the right one for you and will bring you together in His perfect timing.

Trusting God is believing He is in control.

Principal or President?

The other day at the end of class, we were discussing the President, and principals and election and all that jazz. So, as usual, my brain wandered off and tried to apply it spiritually. Here is what I cam up with:

The Principal was not elected. He was hired. Not by vote, but because he earned it.

The President was not hired. He was elected. Because of the grace of the people.


We cannot earn our salvation; We cannot be hired. If we COULD be hired, we would be able to boast about what we earned. But the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "It is by grace you have been save, through faith-and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."

Instead, we have been elected by God to be a part of His family. God voted for us like we vote for the president. He saved us by His grace because He knows we can never earn it. (If we were the principal, we would never get the job). The reason we cannot earn His saving grace is because of our sin. Our daily shortcomings. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."


In my life, I have learned to take God's grace even when punishing yourself seems best. We are not perfect, therefore we cannot punish perfectly. If we beat ourselves up everytime we fall in a specific area, we will turn ourselves one way. You are not your own LORD. Rather, Jesus is the Perfect Father. He is a Perfect Disciplinarian because when He punishes us for our sin, He does it in a way that will still bring Him glory and will lead you down the right path. So please stop beating yourself up and realize God will forgive you and pick you back up. So get back up and know God's grace.

Summer Pictures!

1). One happy family. haha. Leah was NOT happy. 2). Super Summer! I am such a dork! I thought I was being really cute, but turns out I was just holding the 1 backwards.....oh gosh... 3). This is my new friend Stephani on our icee date at falls creek! yay! 4). My cousin, Lyndsy and I at falls creek. Love her! 5). Me and Leah at silver dollar city on a caterpillar. 6). This is a baptism that took most of our church service! 29 students obeyed God and were baptized. Then, an invitation to our whole church was given. If they wanted to obey God by being baptized, they could do it right after church in that big pool. 5 more were baptized. Praise the LORD!

My Promise

I just finished reading Every Young Man's Battle-no, its not a typo...-and I have learned MANY facts about guys. You might think its a little strange, but I think its smart. I wanted to read it because I thought it would help me help you (guys). During my teen years, I have dressed modestly and that has not really been a huge deal for me because of my parents. But since reading this, I have realized that modesty in clothing is great, but I also need to be modest in my actions and my body language. I have probably been a stumbling block to my brothers in this area, but since reading Every Young Man's Battle, I want to change. So, here is my promise to guys and since I am making it known to everyone, you may keep me accountable.

I Promise to act in a way pleasing to the LORD

and in a way that will not cause my brothers

to stumble or fall because in a world full of sexual

impurity and temptation, my brothers need

an example of a pure and modest young woman.

Romans 14:13b says "Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block in your brother's way."

Romans 14:21 says "It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall."

Romans 15:1-2 says "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."

EPIPHANY!

An odd epiphany came to me while mowing the lawn with my dad. I was sitting on the riding lawn mower trying to mow the straightest lines I could while my dad was weed eating the perimeter of the yard. When he had finished, he began watching me while he took a break from working. Then, he began to show me small patches of grass I had looked over and missed. From there, he just guided me in straight lines so I would not become distracted, look away, and miss any more patches of grass. And I found out that if I continued to focus on his back, I would go straight.

The epiphany I had was about how much this scene is related to life. If you become distracted and look away from the LORD, you will no longer make straight lines, or paths. But! If you do keep your focus on God's leadership and guidance, your paths will be straight. God will guide you, but you must focus on Him and commit to following Him.

Here are some verses about God's guidance:

• Exodus 15:13
• Psalm 23:3
• Psalm 25:9
• Psalm 48:14
• Psalm 67:4
• Psalm 73:24
• Psalm 78:14
• Psalm 139:10
• Isaiah 42:16
• Isaiah 58:11
• John 16:13

Bits O' Wisdom

These are little bits o' wisdom I have gained during my tenth grade year:

1. Girls, never tell your boyfriend your deepest, darkest secret.
2. Not every hill is worth dying on. (meaning, don't waste your time stressing out over problems. Instead, look to the LORD.)
3. When you choose to become a christian, you are choosing to choose everyday to be one. When you ask Jesus into your heart, you aren't just choosing Him today, you are choosing to choose Jesus everyday.........it makes sense to me. Ask me if you don't understand. :)
4. There's a need but not always a call.
5. When there are boys and girls in a room, be careful what you talk about. (Mixed company) -Brian B. :)
6. I have really learned that God's strength is perfect.
7. Let the LORD work through you. Always. Otherwise, you will regret it.
8. Cain killed Abel.
9. Live and talk as if Jesus is coming back tomorrow.
10. Nobody plans to fail. They just don't plan not to. -Brian B.
11. I AM NOT THE SAVIOR.
12. The more time you spend in God's presence, the more joy you have. This was a really neat realization for me.
13. To be like Jesus, you need to be willing to do what others are unwilling to do (in terms of acts of service)
14. The joy of intimacy is committment.
15. Your body is a temple of the LORD, so what you wouldn't do in a church (also a temple of the LORD), don't do to your body.