Our Help and Our Hope

I was reading another devotional on God being our help and our hope throughout the year. And with a new year coming up I thought it would be cool to share what I learned from this devotional.

Hope and Help. Those are two four letter words that we need to take with us into the new year. When we think of those words we can think back throughout the year when God has been our help and our hope. Whether we were going through a rough time or a great time. I know in my year there have been great times and some heartbreaking times.

There is a hymn that has the lines "Oh God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come" As we think back in the "ages past" God has been our help and our hope throughout it all. "Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes" (Ephesians 1:4) I like how it says "in his eyes" because others definitly see our faults but God never does.

Here are a whole pile of questions that John asked in this blog that I thought I would answer (without going to in depth after all this is a public blog)

What do you have now that you didn’t have a year ago?
A wonderful job.

Think in terms of personal growth, experiences, and people God has blessed you with. Wow there are so many things that GOd has blessed me with: a new job, wonderful friends! WOW

How do you know God better than you did at this time a year ago? I am digging deeper in the word now. I am more eager to read it. I am feeling like my relationship with him is getting stronger! I love Him!

What more do you know about Him? He takes away fears when you ask him to and HE IS A HEALER!!! :) and He puts trials in our lives to HELP us grow. Each problem has a purpose.

What more do you know about yourself that He has revealed to you? I do have trust issues. WHen troubles come I lose faith that God is actually there.

What struggle has He helped you overcome? Fears of many things. The grief of losing someone very dear to me. He is helping me overcome the fear of my grandpa dying.

Is there anyone in your life who wasn’t there a year ago that you can honestly thank God for? My college friends for sure. Especially Keith, hes a great person and Heidi and Lydia they are awesome people as well!

What has He helped you to accomplish? I am almost over my fear of speaking in public. I am still shy about that, but I am overcoming that fear. I read my testimony in front of the whole NW congregation and I read a verse one week of Advent.

How has He been faithful to you even when you have been faithless? When I was in the hospital a few times, I lost faith that he was there but he was there throughout the whole thing.

Then he asked questions about the coming year:

Now think about this next year and how God is our only true hope.
Think of specifically where you need to apply some of that hope.

What are you afraid of? I am afraid that something in my life will become more important than why i was put here on earth. Other minor fears are Big dogs, guns, spiders

Where are you feeling inadequate? When it comes to helping my friends.

What do you want to change, and how can God help you? I want to change the priorities in my life. I am currently not watching TV in my room so i will have the self control to read my bible more. but there are still many distractions (which at the end of a week of not watching TV in my room, I will explain in detail in a blog on its own)

For all of this, He is our hope. And for all that we will face this next year that we don’t know anything about right now, He is our hope. He will be enough.

"Our fears for today, our worries for tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away" (Romans 8:38).

YAY

I know this is TOTALLY off topic from what I usually talk about but....


YAY my aunt (or more technically..my cousin..but tahts a long story right there...ask me in an email if you really want to know) and her husband are going to have a BABY!! The baby is due on June 30!!!! YAY!!! they got married last August! I am so excited! Iam going to be a...well... i guess...2nd cousin... i duno....

but anyways

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Thats what I love about Jesus"

I bought a CD today by Paul Brandt. He is a country singer, I have heard him sing and I love his voice so when i saw this CD I bought it. I was listening to the last song on the disc and it was called "Thats What I love about Jesus" (See lyrics below and then read the rest of my thoughts)

Thats What I Love About Jesus by Paul Brandt

I've had people say
That I'm a self made man
I'd like to set the record straight
Because I never could have planned
The way my life has gone
And the blessings I've received
It had nothing to do with me

I love to sing and play
And travel with these songs
But I've got to give the praise
Back to where it all belongs
Before I was even born
He knew what my job would be
He made me who I am for all the world to see

(Chorus)
That's what I love about Him
That's why I talk about Him
And friend I'd be lost with out Him
He makes this world make sense to me
And He let his life end
Just so he could be my friend
That's what I love about Jesus

Now it doesn't make me perfect
Or any better than you
And yes, He is my crutch
And He's my wheelchair too
Cause I can't do it on my own
He gives me all my strength
His power helps me make it through each day

(Chorus)

So if you hear this song
You've got to make a choice
To just keep rolling along
Or to listen to His voice
Since I gave my heart to Him
I have been set free
Yeah, He's made all the difference to me

(Chorus)

This song is so true. "Because I never could have planned The way my life has gone And the blessings I've received It had nothing to do with me" That is totally true. I could never have planned what was going to happen in my life. If i chose what would happen in my life, I would have nothing bad happen to me and I would never learn anything. I am glad that I dont have control over my life because I think it would be in shambles.

To be completely honest with all of you and I know this is putting myself out there...but God wants us to be truthful and authentic right? But, without God I think I would have killed myself long ago. there were just some things that I was struggling with 3 years ago, some really really bad stuff with friendships and highschool drama, I just had enough. But I knew that God would get me through it so I didnt do anything to myself like that. But if God hadnt have been there I would have let what others say to me get in my mind and make me think it. To some degree yes I thought I was what they were telling me because its all I heard. Now whenever I say somethign bad about myself or someone else says something bad about me, He tells me something that He loves about me. "That's what I love about Him That's why I talk about Him And friend I'd be lost with out Him He makes this world make sense to me And He let his life end Just so he could be my friend That's what I love about Jesus"

Truly, I would be SO lost without him, so totally totally lost. Sometimes I get a little lost on my path, but God leads me back on the right path. Jesus ended his life so we could live. I think that is pretty significant. No...scratch that. I KNOW that is pretty significant.

"Now it doesn't make me perfect Or any better than you And yes, He is my crutch And He's my wheelchair too Cause I can't do it on my own He gives me all my strength His power helps me make it through each day" On the other blog I wrote earlier today, i had written that I thought that my pastors had a perfect life, and that I was wrong to think so. Pastors are not perfect, so neither are we. We all need to lean on him ALWAYS. We need him to be our crutch or wheelchair sometimes.

We CANNOT get through life on our own strength. We need HIS strength to get us through what comes our way. We need HIS power to help us. It is SO true.

Wow this was a long blog. Man it seems like lately I have just rambled on. God is just teling me so much lately. Like when Karyn told me to write down verses on fear in a notebook, well I did that. And now with the situation with Grandpa, God is telling me to write down verses on Prayer. So that is what I am doing once I get off of the computer, which is soon. Its so late. but I wnat to spend some more time with God. Speaking of that, I am cutting my cable in my room for a week. God has been speaking to me a lot, and he told me tonight to get rid of my cable for a while and everytime I want to watch a favorite show or something, to pick up my bible and spend some time in convorsation with God. cool eh? So I am going to do that starting Wednesday. Tomorrow I am busy all day (visiting my grandpa and then going bowling)

I challenge you all to ask God what he wants you to surrender. I would love to hear comments on what God told you. :)

Blessings...

Oh Come all Ye Faithful...and not so faithful

I was reading another devotional today and it struck me again so I had to share.

“If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself” (2 Timothy 2:11-13 NIV)

During Christmas we sing "Oh come all ye faithful" Have you ever asked “Who’s that? Who can say they have been totally faithful to Christ?” We all fail Him from time to time. We all struggle with faith. We all prove to be unfaithful partners with God. Even Pastors from time to time, nobody is perfect except God himself. Its very encouraging to know that too, because sometimes I look at my Pastors and I am like 'wow they are so faithful, they love God so much' the truth is, they, too, have their moments of unfaithfulness.

If our security with God depended on our faithfulness to Him, we would all be in bad shape; but the good news is: our security with God depends on His faithfulness to us.

John said this "Jesus chided his disciples for having “little faith,” but He did not kick them off the team for it. He called His followers an “unbelieving generation,” but He did not abandon them. And in spite of the saying above about disowning those who disown Him, Jesus apparently made an exception to that rule for Peter, who on three occasions disowned having any part of Christ. He later forgave Peter and accepted him back. "

People were unfaithful to God, but he still loved them no matter what. He loves us even if we have flaws.

I’m sure we can all recall times when we struggled with faith, had a hard time finding it, or perhaps found ourselves unfaithful to God. Some may be in that place right now. This is a time to worship God for His faithfulness to us. We may have let go of Him, but He will never let go of us, because we are His, and He cannot disown what belongs to Him.

John ends the devotional by saying: “O come all ye faithful…” and not so faithful, too! The most important thing is to come!"

The Cycle of Fear

I was reading Karyn's Blog this morning. She was talking about herself being in a cycle. As I was reading that I realized that I, too, am in a cycle. I am in a cycle of fear.

A few months back, I was walking home from church and there was a big dog.... If you want to read that whole story go here. Anyways, I got some really good advice from Karyn. She told me to look up verses on fear and write them down. I have a notebook and I wrote a lot down about fear. Karyn told me to read those verses and believe what they say everytime I feel afraid. So I read them. I had little fear when I walked down that block for the first time since the incident. I had no fear from then on about walking down the block.

I find myself in the cycle of fear again. These past couple days there has been shootings at a house on 14th. I know that I am in no danger of getting shot because they are targetting this one house. But I am still very scared because I had never heard a gun shot before that day. I find myself fearing walking home again.

Why is it when we fear something, then we get over that and then we fear something else. Its a horrible cycle. Fear- Read and Believe- Over that Fear- Another fear comes- Fear- Read and Believe etc etc.

Its very frustrating. But here are a couple verses that I really liked from what I wrote down in my notebook. I am going to read them before I go to the Candlelight services at CHT and NW.

Blessings...

Matthew 10:31 ~ So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Luke 12:4 ~ My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

John 14:27 ~Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

"Christmas" is only a label, its the heart that matters

I was reading yet another good devotional this morning, well I didnt read it this morning, I was very tired but I watched the news tonight and it reminded me what I skimmed through this morning. So I read the devotional again.

WOW, Here I was saying to 'Put Christ back into CHRISTmas" but truly, Jesus really DOESN'T care about labels. After all, it's Christ that is the issue, not Christmas. I don't even think Jesus cares very much about what we or anyone else call an evergreen with lights on it in December. Jesus never cared much about labels anyway; He always cared more about what was in the heart.

John said something that caught my eye especially in this devotional: "Here's how you put Christ back into Christmas: you celebrate Him as Lord of your life and ruler of your heart, and you love even those who want to take Christmas out of the Holiday equation. Jesus didn't come to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17). He came to forgive sins -- mine… yours… everybody's. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Let's not let religious pride get in the way of the core message of the gospel. It's never been us against them; it's us for them. We mustn't forget that Jesus came to die for the very people who are trying to secularize our country. "

Christmas is not about some label, so lets not get all caught up by fighting the name of Christmas. If we do that we will forget to live out the reality of the hope of Christ to the world. If we are all caught up on fighting for the name, we are not focusing on what really matters. It's what's in your heart that really counts this Christmas. If people end up encountering the real Christ of Christmas, it wont matter what we end up calling the holiday itself.

The Priceless Gift

I was reading a devotional this morning from The Purpose Driven Life and the title was "The Priceless Gift." This hit me real hard. Its all things that I knew already but I guess in the past years I have just not really thought about FULLY. So I thought I would share these thoughts with you.

We give out gifts, wrap gifts, open gifts because of one priceless gift that was given to us 2000 years ago- God's son. This gift was given to us beacuse of God's mercy and grace. He did not have to do this and we certainly dont deserve it.

John says that "Grace is getting what you dont deserve; mercy is NOT getting what you DO deserve" We were given both. All we deserve is punishment for our sins, but God's mercy cancelled any punishment so his grace could give us life.

Two priceless gifts; one great and awesome God. Hallelujah!

Think of a spiritual gift that you have (encouragement, wisdom, administration, mercy, service, teaching etc) and that might be turned into a real present for someone this Christmas. John says that "Regardless of our material resources, we are all rich in spiritual gifts"

Lord, I pray that we wont forget to give the gift of Christ to someone this Christmas. Even in the fury of opening presents, help us not to forget WHY we are opening these gifts. Amen!

What to do when you are feeling down

God has been laying this on my heart. I see so many of my friends who are going through some bad stuff and are feeling pretty sad. So God has laid this on my heart to write this as a blog!

God is our peace:

Isaiah 26:3-4 " You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you, because they trust you. So, trust the Lord always, because he is our Rock forever!"

That is so true, God is our rock. We can lean on him for comfort. He will never move. People in your lives move away or people change but God never does, so we need to rely on Him to be our strength and help in times of trouble.

Isaiah 57:19-21 "I will give peace, real peace, to those far and near, and I will heal them' says the Lord. But evil people are like the angry sea, which cannot rest, whose waves toss up waste and mud 'there is no peace for evil people' says my God"

He will give peace to people who love him no matter what. Evil people will never get peace until they meet God. The true meaning of Peace only comes from knowing God.

God is our protector:

Psalm 37:39-40 "The Lord saves good people; he is their strength in times of trouble. The Lord helps them and saves them; he saves them from the wicked, because they trust in him for protection."

If we trust in Him when we are going through a rough time, he will bring us out of our troubles because he have trusted that he will get us through. There have been many times in my life where I have thought that God was not there.

I was around 1 year and a half and I was playing with my lamb toy that my Nana gave me at birth. I accidentally dropped the lamb down the basement stairs (over the bars) and I didn't realize how far it was (i was still young) and I reached down thinking I could just pick her up and be on my way. Well nope, I feel over the bars and straight down to the bottom of the stairs. My head landed right square on the lamb. The doctors said I would have died, if the lamb wasn't at the bottom of the stairs.

For the longest time I was like, why would God let that happen, why would he let me fall down the stairs. Everyone kept saying that God did save me because I am alive right now, but for a while I doubted. But then as I grew and matured spiritually, I had thought about the metaphors and spiritual meaning to that lamb being there. One of Jesus' names is "Lamb of God" I definitly feel that today, God saved me that day for a reason. Wow this is getting into what my testimony is going to be on sunday...crap!

Back to the actual blog.

God does not want us to worry:

Philippians 4:6-7 " Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus"

God doesnt want us to worry, He wants us to place our burdens on him because he can take it! We are not meant to carry a heavy burden! Thats why we need to give all that to God. We will be much happier people if we do that.

"I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit!" Romans 15:13

God's help in times of trouble

"When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, can you get that for me?"

I heard this quote the other day and its now on my MSN. It about sums up what we are supposed to so when we feel that Satan wants us. We ask Jesus to help us. Satan always rejoices when friends fight and he celebrates when we dont get along. I hate that! He is saying "yes! these girls are fighting, i can get them farther away from God! AWESOME" so when that happens, ask Jesus to help you.

My words arent too great right now, i dont know what happened with my blogging, but ya, I am just not motivated to blog right now, but i heard this quote and i had to share it.

"Submit yourselves then to God, resist the Devil and he will flee from you" James 4:7

Its not about me chapter 14

This is the last chapter of the book

Chapter 14: Upward thinking

We exist to give honor to his name (pg 142)

There may be no higher goal than to see someone think more highly of our Father!

Max was telling a story about a daughter and father and its a whole big story so i wont tell the whole thing, but at the end this is the paragraph
" The daughter takes the elevator to the top floor to see her father. When she arrives, he is waiting in the doorway. He's aware of her good works and has seen her kind acts. People think more highly of him because of her. And he knows it. As she approaches, he greets her with 6 words: "Well done, good and faithful servant"

May God bless you all until you hear the same!

Blessings...

Its not about me chapter 13

Chapter 13: My Success is about Him

God will make you good at something! Guaranteed! Whether its straightening the pews, or chair stacking, or singing in front of the church! GOd will make you good at SOMETHING.

(pg 133) God lets you excel so you can make him known!

When you succeed you might forget who helped you do so! Max says on page 134 that "Success sabotages the memories of the successful"

We need to know the purpose of our success! When we succeed we need to ask "why did God help us succeed" so we can make him known! thats why!