30 Days-June-Last Week

As this month comes to a close, I didn't do so good on my reading. I'm finished reading "Night of the Zombie Chickens" by Julie Mata. I love this book, it is just taking a while for me to read it.

Sunday- 4 pages

Monday- 27 pages

30 Days-June-Week 4

This week I only read one book, "Night of the Zombie Chickens" by Julie Mata. I am finding it to be a good book, I'm just finding it hard to find time to read it. I believe that the plot is well written, and it has some suspense in it which I love.

Sunday- 19 pages

Monday- 45 pages

Tuesday- 20 pages

Wednesday- 40 pages

Thursday- 22 pages

Friday- 48 pages

Saturday- 42 pages

Faith without Action

I know that we have heard over and over again that faith without action is dead. Last night I was reading over the passage in James 2 that talks about faith and deeds. I found the example that it talked about to be pretty powerful.

"Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."(21-24)

Abraham was strong in faith, but when God tested his faith, he proved by his actions that he was faithful to God. It is really easy to say that you have faith in something, but it is ten times harder to actually do anything with your faith. People on the outside can see our heart to see our faith. The only way that they can see our faith, is by the actions that we show. 

For the Longest Time

Casting Crowns has a song called the "Love You with the Truth." I love this song, and I really love the first three lines, "For the longest time / I believed the lies / That I'm not a strong enough believer." In the song, it talks about believing the lies that you can't share the truth with your friends. But I feel like the beginning of the song can be related to other parts of our lives.

For the longest time, I believed the ...
lie that I'm not important.
lie that I'm not pretty.
lie that I'm not smart.
lie that I'm don't have a purpose.
lie that no one loves me.
lie that I'm messed up to much for God to forgive me.
lie that God doesn't hear my prayers.
lie that I will never be able to follow my dreams.
lie that I am weak and unable to do anything for myself.
and so on.

Most of us can fall somewhere on that list, and if not on that list we all have some lie that we have in the back of our mind. The thing is, they are LIES, from Satan. The last part of John 8:44 says, "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies"  Satan is trying to destroy you so that you turn away from God. But he is telling lies, and lies aren't true. If you want to know what is true, then read the bible and believe what it says. If you don't know where to start with trying to find the truth to your lives, may I suggest Google. Google can help pinpoint verses to a specific topic that you enter. It is a marvelous thing, when you use it.
But trust me, those lies that you are holding onto is stopping God from doing amazing things with your life. 

30 Days - June - Week Three

I chose interesting books to read this week. The one I started last week, "Criss Cross" by Lynne Rae Perkins, was one I didn't really like. It was just like a bunch of friends talking through the whole thing. There was a story line, but it was hidden so well, that I didn't find it until the end of the book. The second book, "You Only Live Once- Get out there and live it up" by Bridie Clark was a choose your own path books. I enjoyed it because it let me choose the plot, and it was a quick read. The last book which I just started, "Night of the Zombie Chickens" by Julie Mata seems like it is going to be a good book. I haven't read enough to really tell.

Sunday-84 pages

Monday-64 pages

Tuesday-68 pages

Wednesday-59 pages

Thursday-34 pages

Friday-11 pages

Saturday-18 pages

Cool Shirt

People in my bible study saw a shirt, and they have been talking about it for weeks. The shirt goes-

KNOW GOD

KNOW HOPE

There are two ways to read this- Know God, Know Hope- or -No God, No Hope. This is pretty much a shirt asking about your relationship to God. If you know God and who he really is and how much he loves you, then you are able to find hope in whatever you are going through. If there is no God in you life, then you don't have the hope that he brings.

 But this isn't only true about hope, it is true about "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)" which are the fruits of the spirit. God encompasses all of these traits, and when you know God you know theses traits. 

So are you going to Know God, or are you going to have No God. 

Broken Beauty

Here is a poem I wrote called "Broken Beauty." I took some of our negative comments about ourselves that aren't inline with what God thinks. I pray that you find strength in this poem.

Broken Beauty

I feel small,
weak,
powerless.

I feel like I'm not of significance,
importance,
meaning.

I feel like I'm lost,
confused,
abandoned.

I fell like I blend in,
can't be seen,
can't be heard.

BUT

God said that
"his power is made perfect
in my weakness."

God made us
"in our image, 
after our likeness."

God said to,
" acknowledge him" and
" he will make straight your paths."

God, in his power
still loves us and 
" he hears us"

Put your hope in the Lord,
and not in yourself,
and let's see how beautiful you really are.


Verses used in the poem in order.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Genesis 1:26
Proverbs 3:6
1 John 5:14

30 Days - June - Week 2

For my 30 day challenge, I trying to read everyday. Sunday I finished "The Prom Dress" by Melody Carlson. I loved how the book ended. (but I don't want to give any spoilers) Then Monday- Friday I read "What I Believe" by Norma Fox Mazer. I love this book, because the story was told through a bunch of genres of literature. The problem was, it was hard to understand a few of the poems. The plot was really intense as you follow a family who has to majorly downsize, and how the girl in the family deals with this change. The book had realistic characters to. Then on Friday and Saturday, I started "Criss Cross" by Lynne Rae Perkins. I can't tell much of the plot yet because I'm not far into it, but I'm going to guess it is a love story told from the perspective of the boy and the girl. It seems like a really good book.

Sunday: 31 pages

Monday: 42 pages

Tuesday: 14 pages

Wednesday: 56 pages

Thursday: 24 pages

Friday: 45 pages

Saturday: 50 pages

Protection

It is finally summer, and with that most of us know to wear sunscreen when we go outdoors. If we don’t sunscreen, then we can end up badly burned. When I think about being badly burned, I think of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Daniel 3:19-25 tells the story,

Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”  He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Once you read the story, you see that God clearly saved the three of them from the furnace. And for this reason, I can make a comparison to God and the sunscreen we wear. They are both meant to protect us. God can protect us from so much more than just the sun’s UV rays. There is a sense of dual accomplishment when God protects you like sunscreen. When you protect yourself with sunscreen, you are blocking the UV rays, but you are also help prevent skin cancer. When God protects you, he is also using the protection to glorify his Kingdom.

But they both don’t protect every time you need them too. If you don’t cover your body completely with sunscreen, you find that you can get a weird burn pattern, or if you don’t reapply sunscreen then you still get burned. God also doesn’t protect you 24/7. He allows things in our lives to “burn” us, but he is doing that so that we may grow. If he always protects you, there will be no chance to learn and to grow. Everyone of us need a good amount of Godly “burn.” God knows what he need, and he would not “burn” you for the fun of it. There is a purpose behind it. Where just normal sunscreen just leaves you burn with no benefits. (At least for me. I burn then I turn white again. I don’t really tan.)

The last connection is that you need to put on sunscreen every day, to keep from burning. You need to put God on every day too. If you don’t have a strong relationship with Jesus, and if you don’t connect every day, then you can “burn” more easily, because your protection is weak. When you build a strong connection to your protection, then you are less likely to get “burned.”

As summer continues, I pray that you put on both kinds of protection, God for day to day life; sunscreen, for when you are going out in the sun.

Writer Note – I came up with this topic when I kept getting badly burned every day I was outside, for my putting on little sunscreen. One day I just did a stripe up my arms, and legs, and it is clear where I put sunscreen on and where I didn’t

Conversations with our Friends

Most the time when we are with our friends, we talk about whatever we want. Whether it is boys, or school, or people you don’t like, there is never a dull moment when you talk to your friends. But what are you saying when you talk to your friends? Are you constantly complaining, or are you looking on the bright side of life? Are you bringing your friends down, or are you building them up? How you talk and what you talk about is very important if you are going to show the light of God. Colossians 4:5-6 says, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” We are suppose to making the most of every opportunity we have with our friends. When the quote says to be full of grace, that doesn't mean that you focus on the negative things in life, but we are to focus on what is good, righteous, pure, gentle, and so on. When you talk about these things, you will stick out from the rest of your friends, but that then gives you a chance to talk about God. When the quote talks about how we are to season everything with salt, that is instructing us to turn everything back to God. If you at least bring god up in some of your conversations, then that gives your friends a chance to ask more questions. Lastly, we are friends with these people for a reason. And while we are friends we get to know each other very well. God is saying to use what you know about a person so that way you can meet them where they are to share the gospel. If a friend is really in to music, then playing some Christian songs might be better than just talking to her. I mean, who knows a friend better than a friend. So take time today to evaluate your conversations you have, and then start being a light to your friends.

30 Days - June - Week 1

During the school year, I have noticed that I haven't been reading as much as I would like, so this month I'm going to read everyday. This week I read from the book The Prom Queen by Melody Carlson. It is a really good book about this not so popular girl deciding to run for prom queen and all the struggles she faces. The main group of characters are Christian, and you can see through out the novel that when they are at their best is when they are closest to God. I would recommend this book to read.

Sunday: 2 pages
Monday: 12 pages
Tuesday: 10 pages
Wednesday: 40 pages
Thursday: 14 pages
Friday: 40 pages
Saturday: 50 pages

The Necklace-Part Three

This is going to be the last installment of this mini-series, but I believe that this is going to be the most powerful one. Last time I shared about how I presented the necklace in my school's bible study. while later that Wednesday, I shared my necklace in my Theory of Knowledge class. As for our final assignment, we had to bring in a piece of art that we either made, or a piece of art that someone else made that we liked. My presentation was just a five minute presentation like everyone else’s, but in that time I shared the meaning behind the necklace, and how it relates to my story and how I know have hope in Jesus Christ. After I finished, my teacher complimented me on how well thought out it was, and he loved that it was so personal with all of it’s meaning. 

But that wasn’t even the amazing part. The next day in my history class, my teacher surprised us by doing an activity instead of learning. The activity was we had to go around the room and say a complement to someone, then that person had to say a compliment about someone else and so on. So I thought I was going to be one of the last ones to be complimented because I don’t normally share a lot about my life, and everyone else in the class had their own close groups. But I was the third one to be complimented. And not only that, a part of the compliment was about how I gave such passion in what I do, and that clearly came through in my presentation of my necklace. And people kept coming up to me that I was beautiful, not on the outside necessarily, but that I was beautiful on the inside. This had to be the best part of the year by far.

Matthew 13:31-32 says, " He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” I used this verse last time to because it fits so well. The necklace is the little mustard seed, and when I shared about it, it grow in the number of people that it reached. I pray that you take away from this that even if it seems small and not important, God can take it and do huge things with it. You just have to have faith in God that what he is going to do will be amazing. 

The Necklace - Part Two

This is a continuation of the post for last Saturday. Last week I talked about the necklace that I made. Then last Wednesday, I shared my necklace with the Christian club at my school. I didn't have a whole long speech or anything elaborate planned, I just went up and shared about how we should use our summers wisely, and then I shared how there is more than one way to share your testimony. I shared my necklace, and once I finished, everyone clapped for they all thought that it was brilliant. That Wednesday I inspired some people with just one necklace. That just shows how God is able to something so small, like a necklace to make a big impact. Matthew 13:31-32 says, " He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” I plan to use this verse for today and Saturday because it shows how the smallest of things can make the biggest on impact. As long as you trust God that he can do something out of anything, then you will be amazed at what exactly he can do. 

30 Days - May - Week Five

My 30 day challenge this month is to memorize a new bible verse everyday. It has been hard as the month has progressed because I would become more forgetful, to memorize them. These probably aren't memorized as strongly as the ones at the beginning of the month.

Monday- Proverbs 12:9 "Better to be a nobody and have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food."

Tuesday- Proverbs 12:11 "He who works with his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgement."

Wednesday- Proverbs 12:19 "Truthful lips last forever, but a lying tongue last only a moment."

Thursday- Proverbs 23:19 "Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path."

Friday- Proverbs 28:6 "Beter a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are preserved."

Saturday- Psalms 147:5 "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."