Christmas

As Christmas morning rolled around, I was snuggled in my bed after a late night of endometriosis pain and talking to friends. I fell asleep around... 5 am, and was woken up by a family member at about 10. Expecting Santa had come, I arose out of bed, and walked down the hall. After my brother and I were given the okay, we went for our stockings and our presents. As usual, I was expecting what I asked for. The previous year.. everything I even hinted at, I got. This year... I didn't get one thing that was on my Christmas list. I had suggested a band - MercyMe. I have a few songs of theirs, but not a whole album. Instead... my parents got me around 20 Third Day cds... which is okay, but I've never been a huge fan of Third Day. They got me a movie that I've watched twice and loved... a book that's the sequel to that and a hello kitty toaster. What really had me disappointed was the fact that my parents didn't listen to my requests. Sure, all that stuff is okay and all, but what I really wanted was Lost season 6. Disappointed, I took all my gifts and went back to my room.

After awhile a few minutes, I picked up a devotional book [Morning and Evening by Spurgeon].. and started to read. It occurred to me that I had been looking at everything... all wrong. While the gifts are nice, that's not the reason we celebrate Christmas. Sometimes we get so carried away with getting and giving... that we forget what Christmas is truly about.

While I'm still a little upset, I know that I have no reason to be. Christ was born without anything... and he took on the very nature of a servant... and didn't see equality with God something to be grasped. [Phil 2] Our savior was born in the most humble of places... and had Christ had a Christmas - with gifts and all... I bet He wouldn't have gotten the best gifts - coming from a poor family. The Son of God... was poor, humble, and ready to serve. Christ gave us the choice to know the father, even though we've sinned. He was the ultimate sacrifice.

So, while I didn't get what I wanted, it really doesn't matter. So what if I'm not in perfect health or don't have the perfect family. Christ sacrificed so much more... so what's a little "suffering" every now and then? If we could even call it that.... compared to what Christ suffered.

While we might be disappointed... or even overjoyed at what we got for Christmas, don't forget the Best Gift Ever... the one that truly matters - Little Baby Jesus.

Merry Christmas.


Note - to watch the video, first scroll down and pause the music player... then hit play on the video. Listen to the words.

To Love or Not to Love?

So, in short, it's been a rough couple of weeks. Several friends that I've had for... quite a long time seem distant. People betray and look down on other people. Some people get jealous and put themselves above other people. Others talk behind our backs, but still call themselves our friends.

1st Corinthians 13 says....

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Now honestly, I can't say that I've followed this to the letter. I've done the exact opposite of love to people I love extremely much... and that, I'm sorry for. However, I'm not the only one. We've all done it.

John 2:24-25 says, "But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. " - Jesus KNEW what was in each person's heart... the opposite of love.

Thankfully, when all else fails, love does not... and God is love.

Thank God for His Marvelous Grace!

As Psalms 73:26 says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

In the Words of Matt Papa-

"You are all I need
My portion forever
The strength of my heart and my life
My sufficiency
In You I take refuge
You're my all when all is gone".

Praise be to our never-failing, loving God! To God be the Glory Forever and Ever.
We need to become less, so HE can become more.
Amen.

Cherry on Top?

That's right folks, an award.

The author of Life: Love & Livin' In it, gave me an award. I'd like to send a special thanks to her. :)

**Watch for a new post. I'm working on one, but I wanted to post this separate as a special type of thing. I would pass this on to other blogs, but I don't want people to get upset if I award one and don't another.

Beautiful

So... Last night, a friend and I were hanging out. We were playing on my laptop, in my school's main parking lot. - [Just because. ] I get wi-fi all over campus.- So, during this time, after several sodas at Stake 'n' Shake, we had to pee. It was pretty late... maybe around 9 o' clock, and the campus was still open, due to night classes. We went inside, got to a bathroom... and after a moment of relief, we went to wash our hands, and found a post-it on the mirror. [See picture.] It read, as you can plainly see, "You are loved by many. www.operationbeautiful.com"

-- If you haven't heard of Operation Beautiful, it's a lovely thing where you post random sticky notes in public places, telling the people that they're beautiful and worth it, promoting higher self-esteem. As we all know, our society has a major problem with low self-esteem. Society tends to look down on those of us that are a bit heavier, or aren't perfect in their eyes. The media photoshops and alters things in magazines so much, and so many people seek out surgeries in order to look like 'America's next top model'. Some people say that doesn't have any affect on them, but usually it does effect everyone, in some way. Think about it - if you were told you're beautiful or handsome, wouldn't that boost your day a little? Instead of looking down on yourself?

In fact, the Bible says we're one of a kind. We are God's WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he prepared in advance for us to do. [Ephesians 2:10] So, like an artist, God created us. We're His masterpiece. He knit us together in our mothers womb. [Psalm 139:13] Just like an Artist, it is an insult to God when we hate how He made us. God doesn't want us to have low self-esteem. However, he doesn't want us to be prideful, either. There's a balance. We have to remember that God created us. We are created in HIS image. [Genesis 1:27] Sin distorted that image, but through Christ, we are restored to what God created us to be - because Jesus takes away the sin that distorts. God wants us to be what he created us to be. He created us to glorify him. We are to take care of His temple, which, is our physical bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

That means, no cutting, no low self-esteem, no eating disorders... none of that- nothing that destroys or harms the body. Don't even think about doing any of those things. We are to 'honor God with [our] body' - not destroy it.

Remember, you are beautiful. God made you that way.

Beautifully Broken

So, not that long ago, the class of 2010 graduated high school... and I was in that class. That day was exciting, and I didn't think it would be so life changing. Now my former life, of taking care of Grandmur and going to high school, is over. Everything is changing. Reality is settling in, and it can be quite striking sometimes. Friends are moving away, and I'm staying here, to commit, and make a passion of mine come true- Learning Portuguese and preparing for the future that lies ahead of me in my personal ministry. I never really thought of the cost of being a disciple... I mean, it hit my mind a little bit when I was first called to be a missionary, but it hits harder as you slowly go though the process...

In Luke chapter 14, verses 25 through 35, it reads...

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

It took me a minute to realize what this was talking about. In Matthew 16:24 Jesus says...

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Multiple times in the Gospel Jesus says to Follow Him... but it following Him isn't simply going to church every Sunday... Following him means giving up everything. If Jesus asks you to leave behind your family and friends, your house, money, food, job... if He asked you to leave everything behind except the clothes you had on.. would you honestly do it?

Or would you claim that he's not really calling you to leave everything behind, and just go through the motions of being a Christian, and not really follow Him..

Christianity isn't about making yourself happy, or fulling your own desires. Your focus should be on GOD and Him alone. As Christian, you do not have any rights, you surrendered them, along with your heart, to God when you became a Christian. We, however, do have a new found freedom. Freedom from sin, but to get this, we must surrender totally and completely. Our motive should be to glorify the Father.

Being a Christian means letting Jesus be your Lord and Savior... meaning your His. What a relief this is, that we are not our own!!! What a joy that settles in our hearts.

I challenge you to get out of doing "business as usual" for God.

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."

Jude 1:24-25

What Grandmur Taught Me

Recently, as most of you know, one of my very close adopted family members passed on to be with our Lord. As I look back, We had a thing going. I'd go to school, get to her house, and spend the rest of the day with her...even if it meant sitting in the chair next to her doing my homework.. it was still time with her. I only really knew her for 2 1/2 years, but she taught me a lot during those years... and is still teaching me, in a way.

When I started coming over, it was right after a horrible battle with endometriosis and a touch of depression. I was enrolled in the alternative school... because I had been absent from regular high school for almost 3 months. I didn't think there was a way out of it. Then, My friend, her son, whom I am very close to - invited me over to spend time with her. So I came over.. I was torn, but that didn't matter to her. I knew she could tell... but she didn't care. She simply loved me anyway.

Time passed, and I'd come over every day... We'd watch westerns, and the Titanic [the 1953 version.. not the one with Leonardo DiCaprio in it, but we watched that one once together.] also, Raise of the Titanic... we'd sink it.. and raise it.. and sink it again.. and raise it again... and then we'd watch the whooooole saga of Lonesome dove.... mind you, it took 8 hours to get through the whole thing. She told me stories about pickin' cotton, the great depression, and snake bites... attempted to make me eat pork rinds and liver... which btw, I don't like.... and she truly cared for me... and I for her. It really didn't matter what we did... we just loved on each other.

Two weeks ago... I said my last "I love you" to her... she said her last "I love you too" and gave her last smile. The next time I saw her, she probably couldn't hear us... and she was breathing really hard. I told her, "I love you, and I know you love me. I'll see you later.".. and then I kissed her on forehead, for the last time.

The next day, I was told she had passed away. I never saw the corpse, but it probably would have been too shocking for me to see her body anyway. She was buried in Gadsden, Alabama.

The reality is.. I WILL see her later in our heavenly home. She taught me how to love in way I wouldn't even be able to comprehend with out her. She taught me that it's very extremely important to always trust in God and not lean on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5). She trusted God during her suffering... when she was going... and I could tell... we all could.

She's teaching me now, in the grieving process that God puts things in our path to grow us. The way of the Christian life is difficult, if done correctly... but as Oswald Chambers states....

Enter by the narrow gate . . . . Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life . . . —Matthew 7:13-14

If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in—it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory?

God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” ( Philippians 2:13 ). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.

Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10) , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.

Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest -- July 7th

Grandmur lived that life of excellence... and she set an example. What a glorious thing for Christ.

But now, it's our turn.... what will be our choice? How are we going to live our lives? What will people say about us after we've gone home? Will we get that, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?.... That all depends on the choices we make now. Choose carefully, ALWAYS take God into account, and let HIM guide you... and HE will make your paths straight. But remember, for Him to do that... you've got to let Him.

You need to always be... forever His.

Giving Our All in All

About a year ago, I asked God to help me save up for a mission trip to Brazil. I was Jr. in high school.... and I was yearning to go back, for a second time. Since then, my dad promised to buy 1/2 of my way to Brazil. So I started saving up my hard earned $50 or so every other week. I graduated high school, and now here I am. A new high school graduate... with a little over half her money to go to Brazil in upcoming September. Now... let's stop and think before I go too much further. A trip to Brazil.. is quite a bit. An 18 yr old, with out a job.. having a little more than half? That's quite an ordeal already. Yesterday, I got to thinking that I have extra at the moment... so.. why not waver a little bit... and buy an ipod? I've wanted a nano for over 6 years... and I still want one.. with the video recorder, and all those other fancy gismos and gadgets. So.. why not right? I'll grab the money, buy the ipod, and the rest will go for Brazil. At this point, there was nooo problem.

Today, I started talking about getting my ipod. I think I even talked about it when I was cleaning my car today... actually, I'm pretty sure I did. I've really wanted this ipod for a loonnng time... and I'm finally going to get it.

But then the thought came to me... I told God that if he gave me the money, I'd put every penny of it towards Brazil, and tithe.... but this was some of the graduation money... does it count? I had no idea. After talking it over with a few close friends, I decided, as childish as it seemed, to ask God if I could get an ipod.

Before I could, when I was driving home from my friends house, I had a convo with my dad about the Brazil money... of course, like always, dad started waving in his promise... Will my dad really pay half? I don't know. Will he help me pay for college? I don't know. I hope.... So, hey dad, can I get an ipod. Sure, give me the money. [I knew this would be his answer, but what worried me was the college and the Brazil money part.]

So by the time I got home, I was extremely worried about all of this, and I still wanted my ipod. After 13 years of school, and working extremely hard to get this far... I deserve an ipod, right?

Now, think right now, what would you do in my situation? Buy the ipod?

Well... I got to thinking... what is more important... A mission trip, or an ipod?... Neither. The only thing that is important is seeking God. In all honesty, an ipod doesn't matter, to say the least. We, as Christians, need to be seeking God with all our hearts, not just part of them... and if that means giving up getting an ipod.. so what? I may get that ipod one day.. but it REALLY DOESN'T MATTER. It doesn't matter if I have this or that.... as long as I have God.. and I always will, because He said that He will never leave me or forsake me [Hebrews 13:5], I'm good.

We're supposed to give God our ALL in ALL... not just part of it. You don't hear people singing, "1/10 to Jesus I surrender"... they sing, "ALL to Jesus I surrender"... Do we really mean that? Will we really give all we have?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity." - Jeremiah 29:11-14


Note: I did wind up getting the ipod, however, I really do have half of my Brazil money. God is good.

What Will It Be?

Your life can completely turn around within a few minutes. The way we live our lives is usually determined by our circumstances. Always remember our circumstances can change in a heartbeat. Never get too comfortable... but remember, God says, "Therefore I tell you, Do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" - Matthew 6:25. He says that he will take care care of us. In normal circumstances, children do not have to worry about if they will get food or clothes. They automatically assume their parents will provide for them. How much more will God provide for us, since we are God's children?!? God wants us to focus on him, no matter the circumstances. [See Matthew 14:22-36] Our circumstances and emotions should not determine who we are, or how we live our lives. Only God should determine this. God is our rock. He is unshakable. He will never change. [See Psalm 18:2]

-So why don't we just trust Him? He wants us to. He wants to have a relationship with us... and He wants that so badly that He sent HIS son to DIE for us, so that we might become righteous. [See Romans 3:21-26] If we accept Christ's sacrifice, if we believe that He is the Son of God then we ARE the Children of God. [See John 3:1-21] As Children of God, God wants us to have a relationship with us. He wants us to come to Him as children would come to Him.

-- Do we trust Him or do we live like children of the world, trusting only in ourselves?