Young Promises

When you make a promise to someone, a promise that you probably shouldn't have made, it makes it harder to let go... especially when you made the promise before you were old enough to know what you were saying.

It's hard for me to see little kids run after each other, having 'boyfriends" and "girlfriends" and telling each other they "love them".  It's got to be important to us to teach our kids and our younger peers in school that things like this aren't important--that it's more important to become a better person for God.  I don't like young relationships, mostly because I was in one that's been affecting the rest of my life, and I don't want some of their innocence to be ruined by a pitiful, easily avoided mistake.

But to keep this brief, I will admit, maybe it's good for them to learn young.  Not that they should have relationships in elementary, but that when they are a teen, they can learn somehow what is truly important to them and to life, somehow, someway, by God's plans.

I guess I wouldn't be writing this blog if it weren't for those times when I found myself crying out to God for help because of what I'd done.. but I still can't help but wish I hadn't said some of the things I had, like "I promise to always love you" when I was only fourteen years old.  But I do believe in God's promises--that he will use everything for our good (Rom. 8:28)--and so I just hope that he turns this into a good thing.

But what do you think?  What part should we play in young people's lives?

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will."
- Romans 12:2

Spiritual Truths

I have a creepy feeling inside of me.  Some part of God's spirit in me is predicting things and preparing my heart for things I do not know will happen.  How do I know this stuff??  Nothing in my body can tell me what I've known before it happened, and yet, somehow I knew it?
The night before Mrs. Hoffman died, I read Isaiah 57:1-2, and I prayed to God, "If you take her, keep her in heaven, because she is a wonderful woman and has done many things for You that no other woman I know has done."
A couple of hours ago, I read in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, "There is a time for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die..." ...and as I read that, I knew somehow deep inside that this, in this moment, was talking about sweet little Julia... and now.. I hear that she has passed away... How can this happen?
The words of one of my new favorite songs screams out to me at this moment, because it's message is lining perfectly with my life, every second God is in control of me.

Alive Again - Matt Maher

Yes, I can see the light before I see the sunrise, and I can feel the wind before it hits my skin... it's so weird!
If anyone tries to tell you that the Spirit does not do things inside of a person that makes them know, say, or even understand things that cannot be understood by your body's senses, they do not know God!
God works amazing wonders.
I found it hard to believe such things even when my Bible teacher tried showing us it last year.  Honestly, he spoke in "tongues"--and it was weird! No idea what he said, and walking out of that class, all of my friends were like "Wow, do you believe that stuff? I think it's kinda crazy. Well, I don't really know, but yeah it was weird. I'm not sure."
But in that class, when he spoke whatever he did, it gave me some weird calmness.. and when he translated what he said... it spoke directly to me, into my life, and what I was going through at that time. He wasn't directing it toward anyone himself, but he faced me when he spoke it too. Interesting, huh..

Ever since then, I've looked for the Spirit, and I've found it here and there, in my life, and in others.
People find it hard to believe such a thing is true. Dying on the cross and being raised to life is a little less hard to believe than this, because this is something present.

Am I making any of this up? No; I wouldn't dare make a claim this big anywhere if I was not being truthful.
Does it line up with scripture? That someone can know things beyond herself because of the Spirit?
See for yourself:

    We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
    no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him" —
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
    The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgement:
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
    that he may instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Relax

I've been in a wonderful mood lately, and it's no wonder!  It is beautiful outside today!!  After sweating for hours while cleaning and taking a bike ride, I took a relaxing shower, and now I'm constantly thanking God for the wonderful day he has made.

It is on days like today when I get to see God in nearly everything.  So it's interesting that I opened to Matthew 4:10-11.  It says,
Jesus said to him, "Away from me Satan!  For it is written: 'Worship the Lord, your God, and serve him only.' "  Then the devil left him, and angels attended him.

 If you've followed my Twitter or read my last posts, I've struggled with my faith a lot.  Today has been like a break through for me:  finally, loving God is easy!
Immediately when I read this verse, I read, "Then the devil left him, and angels attended him."  So it is possible for Satan to leave us, I thought.  But what caused him to leave?  Both in my life and in Jesus', the answer is found in the verse before it:
  "Worship the Lord, and serve him only."  

 When you are only reading it, this passage seems to say that when Jesus spoke scripture against Satan--specifically saying "I won't serve you, I'll serve God only"--he went away; but that is only half of it.  The other half is what is first mentioned: Worship the Lord.  It doesn't give a specific time nor a specific way, it just says worship him.  All the time, constantly, in everything you do, worship God.  For forty days and nights, Jesus was learning how to worship God with his life, while he fasted.  I'm sure all of that time he spent with God is the real reason behind Satan's departing.  Once Jesus said those words, Satan could tell that he was tied to God, and so he left him.

I think this is a wonderful example of what loving God looks like when the devil attacks us.  He can come with our worries, like Jesus' upcoming death, and try to promise the world as an escape; yet, because we trust God's plan, we say, "Away from me Satan!" and cling to our Lord.

How is your love story?  If you're like me, maybe you need to relax and let God.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Storms

 Many times in life you will hit a storm.

Sometimes you see it coming in the distance and you prepare yourself.  Buy bread, milk, eggs. Close the windows.

But then the storm hits, and it's bigger than you expected.  You thought you were prepared for it, but really you're not.  All of your preparations don't seem to matter now because the power's out, the basement is flooded, batteries are all dying, and you can't find a single match.

 These are times when faith comes into play.

You have no backup plan.
Can you turn to God?  Do you trust him? It's so easy to relax in his arms when you're sleeping than when you're drowning, but you won't survive unless you relax then too!  Sometimes when you can't seem to breathe, you need to just listen to what he says and have faith.

"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."
-Jeremiah 29:11

Harry Potter

After reading the first book (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), I've been hooked on this series! I started them last Tuesday, and I just began the last one today! (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) So far, I have really enjoyed the series, and I plan on re-reading them in the future! I strongly encourage anyone to read them who has not had the chance yet, especially Christians. Although it is a story about wizards and witches, the books really point out this hidden, ongoing battle between good and evil, just as there is one between God and Satan in our lives.

These books focus on the life of Harry Potter, "the boy who lived". Everyday "muggles" never see the magical things happening around them because they are "protected" by the spells wizards put on the world's eyes; but these witches and wizards are warriors in this huge battle between good and evil. Voldemort (or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named") is the source of all evil, tempting otherwise good people to do evil things for him in hopes of taking over the world. Harry is anything but a normal boy, but he lives an honest life, fighting for the people around him instead of himself. He lives radically and stands up for what he knows is right, even though he needs help and support from his friends, and he becomes willing to lay down his own life to save the people around him from having to suffer any further. Although I do not think she was trying to make Harry Potter a Christian series, J.K. Rowling really presents a side of Christianity generally forgotten among us, about how we are supposed to live, and about how God always wins.



-Book Cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.-
(Post edited on Saturday, March 12, 2011)