Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

Most of us have heard the phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." But yet so many of us do. I often read books that have an eye-popping cover. Most the time I don't know what the book is about until I have checked it out. The same goes with people that we meet. We tend to judge people before we get to know them well. Luke 6:37a says "Do not judge, and you will not be judged." It shows that just as you judge people, people judge you. Then we get all these stereotypes that are so common today. For example, I hear sometimes that all Christians haven't done drugs, or drink or party, and their parents  are together. But some of my friends used to drink and party before they were Christian. I met some people on my Panama trip whose parents are divorced. The stereotype, that blonds are stupid isn't true. I know blonds who are very smart. When we judge people and put them in these stereotypes, we bring judgment upon ourselves. If you don't like to be judged for who you are not, then why should you judge someone else. Even if you know the person for a while, they can still surprise you with facts about their life. So you shouldn't count anything out before you ask, even if you are best friends or complete strangers.

What Would You Do?

So my family and I were heading to California to see my Grandpa. We left early in the morning, so we could get to Carson City, Nevada. We put the suitcases in the bed of our truck, but someone forgot to close the tailgate. Then we headed out. We were out of the city and in the foothills of the Rockies before someone told us that the back of our truck was open. We thanked God for letting all the suitcases still be there, but it would have been nice if someone would have told us earlier. We passed many people on the highway, but none of them told us. When Jesus was on the earth, he was here to serve people no matter how much it would cost Him. So what would you honestly do if you saw someone who needed help. Would you help them, or would you hope someone else would?

Future

The future can be a scary thing to think about, especially when you start looking at colleges. Some people seem to know what they want to do and where they want to go, and other people don't. I can say that I don't know where I want to go for college, or what I want to do. Sometimes I do wonder if I even have a future or if I'm going to be stuck at home with my parents. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" God already knows what you are going to do with your life, and it will be good for you to help you prosper, and give you hope. So if you feel like there is no future for you, call upon the Lord and ask that he will show you his perfect plan for your life.

Encouragement

I hate to admit it but some days are harder than others. There may be days when we might not even know if we are going to make it through the day. Or we are discouraged when we feel like we don't measure up to our own standards. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 says, "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." We try to find encouragement in things we do everyday, but none of that can compare to the eternal encouragement from the Lord. So when you are having a bad day, look to him for encouragement and not things of this world.

Caboose

I was in my basement recently, and I was looking at my brother's model train set he was working on. I picked the caboose off the table and put it on the tracks and began to push it back and forth. Then I began to compare the caboose to my life. The caboose is pulled by the steam engines, and it goes where ever the engines go. Many teenagers can be called a caboose. They follow a group and whatever that group does, they do. If someone starts drinking then they are more likely to start drinking too. They are the caboose and they just follow the engine who is the person in charge.

But the caboose can stand on it's own. It can move along the track with the help of an outside force. When I give the caboose a push it travels in the direction I want it to go. If I push it too hard, then it may fall off the tracks, but I can put it right back on. That is how our relationship with God is. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer 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 perfect and pleasing will." When we break apart from the world and let God control our lives, great things can happen. When the caboose is following the rest of the train, there are things it could miss out on. The train may pass a track that God wants the caboose to go on, but since it identifies with the train and not God, the caboose misses out on taking that track. But when the caboose let's God control where it goes, the caboose will be able to take the tracks that God wants him to take. If the train does fall off it's tracks, God will be right there to pick it up and put it back on track. This way God can show the caboose the good, perfect, and pleasing will that God has for the caboos's life.

So which caboose are you. . .
-the one who follows the crowd?
OR
-the one who stands alone and follows God?

Rejoicing Over What's Lost

When Jesus taught he used a lot of parables. One of my favorite parables is the one about the Lost Coin. The parable in Luke 15:8-10 says, "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angles of God over one sinner who repents." When we lose something that's important to us we search for it until we find it. Once we find it we rejoice because we have found what is lost. God is continually seeking after us. He wants you to turn to Him and follow His word. Every time one sinner repents and turns to God, heaven rejoices and throws a big party. It doesn't matter your past or where you came from, the moment you repent and turn to God is the minute heaven throws a party for you.

Sovereign

So I was in church and during worship we sang a song called "Sovereign". I was singing the lyrics of the screen except I had one dilemma. I don't have the biggest vocab in the world, so I sang the song with out really knowing the meaning of it. So I came home and looked up the definition of sovereign.
Sovereign means supreme ruler. When you put that definition in the song makes more sense. "Supreme ruler of the mountain air. Supreme ruler of the ocean floor." With that definition it shows how God is ruler over everything, including my life. Matthew 10:29-31 says "Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." If the supreme ruler knows every move of the sparrows he knows everything you do. Out of the 7 billion people the Supreme ruler knows everything about you. That is pretty cool. And I must say, God is sovereign over my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk_HBla7C28

Sources:
True Images Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. Print
"Chris Tomlin - Sovereign - Lyrics [Burning Lights Album]." YouTube. MattStone712, 8 Mar. 2013. Web.

Pics and Stories

Here are some pictures and stories from our trip that aren't big enough to get their own blog, but they are still worth telling.

Patience: The rooster that woke us up at four in the morning, and that everyone on the team wanted to have for dinner. But we let it live.

Wise Decisions: The cookies that you can only get in Panama. Some people on the team got packs of them and ate most of them, then were feeling sick when we got to the hotel. Not a wise decision.

Skill: This kid climbed a tree like a monkey, and knocked down a coconut for us to try. Now that's skill.

 

 Reward: The coconut after we opened it, and ate the meat.

Fun: After the week in Panama, we hit the beach during a layover. It was fun to hang out with them one last time before we head back to Colorado.

 



 

Language

Now in Panama, language was a big part of interacting with the kids. The problem is that they speak Spanish and I speak English. (I take a second language but Japanese didn't come in handy in Panama.) There was a time when we all did speak the same language, but then we turned our eyes off God and to ourselves. So God said that if they can speak the same language then they can do anything. So God scattered the language. So it is hard to go on a missions trip, when you can't speak the language. But God did provide a way to make it easier. He provided us with translators, and kids that can speak Spanish on our team. But there were other ways to talk to these kids. I remember that I would sit with my camera and take pictures of the kids, and every time I showed them the photo they started giggling. They didn't care that we couldn't speak the same language, but they enjoyed our company, and the cameras. This goes to show that you don't always need words to change a life, because sometimes being there is enough.