Song Break Down-In The Eyes

I recently went to a Newsboys concert. I had a blast at the concert. The opening act for the Newsboys was a band called 1 Girl Nation. Walking into the concert, I didn't know who they were, or any of their songs. As the concert went on, I started to like their songs. One song that I liked in particular was "In The Eyes." I came home to listen to the actual song and I loved it. I feel like it is a song that every teenager should know, so I decided to break down the song. 
Verse one sets up the basis of the song. It talks about how we all struggle to figure out where we fit in. Do we fit in with the popular group, or the jocks, or the nerds. It is when we don't fit into these specific cliques, we feel left out and alone. When we feel alone, we tend to hide who we really are, so we can fit in somewhere. The lyrics in the first verse go, "You hold the picture/Though it goes unsaid/I know you question/Where you fit in/Among the faces/You hear their voices say/You are broken/So you hide away/Don't hide away"

The second verse talks about how you don't need to fit into a clique. You were made to be you. You have your own purpose in life, and it is not the same purpose as the person's sitting next to you. For Psalms 139: 14 says, "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." God made you for a reason, so you are going to be different from other people. That is okay, because God has made you to be wonderful, not lacking in anything that you might need to fulfill your purpose. "So you're different/Let them say you are/Cause you're the vision/Of the Father's heart/In the Father's heart"

I love the chorus of the song, because it puts to rest all the lies that we are told by the world. The chorus talks about how God sees you, and God sees you as beautiful, and perfect. Matthew 5:48 says, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." We are made in the image of God, and he is perfect, so we are made perfect. When sin entered the world, it tainted what we thought of ourselves. We believe the lies that this world tells us. The chorus straighten out those lies. The chorus goes."You are treasured/You are beautiful/In the eyes, in the eyes/Of the One who made you/You are perfect/You're worth more than you know/In the eyes, in the eyes/Of the One who made you"

The bridge of the song, ties the whole song together. No matter what lies the world tells you, God still sees you as priceless. God's opinion doesn't change, no matter what the world tells you. The bridge goes, "When the world has told you lies/You are priceless in His eyes" I pray that you find encouragement in this post. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
I know that you see me as beautiful and perfect. Help me to see me like you see me. This world will keep feeding me lie after lie, but in those times, help me to fall on the truth in the Bible. You see me as more than I see myself. Show everyday how special I am to you Lord. Amen.

Guarding Your Heart

For those who don't know, I am a fan of R5. R5 is a band composed of four siblings, and a friend. All their names start with "R" and there is five of them, which equates to the name R5. They just released a new single this week called, "Heart Made Up On You," and it is really good. Well later I watched the video of the story behind the song. The video is called, "Wrong Feels So Right," and they talk about how your mind may know what you are doing is wrong, but your heart is in it, and to your heart it feels so right. Well after I heard the song a bunch of times, I got to thinking. I knew that in the bible somewhere, it talked about guarding your heart, but I didn't know where. That night, I was reading Proverbs, and I came across verse 4:23 which says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I read the verse over and over again, but it wasn't necessarily clear to me what it meant to guard your heart.
So after doing a little research, I found that guarding your heart isn't keeping it under lock and key, not letting anyone in, like I assume most of us think it means. Guarding your heart doesn't mean that you can't hang with friends or date. Guarding your heart doesn't mean that you won't get hurt either. We all go through trials in our lives, and things happen, but that doesn't mean you need to cut yourself off from everyone. Trust me, it doesn't work. Guarding your heart is about being wise in the decisions that you make, and not falling for the lies of this world. Your heart is how you connect to God. When you guard your heart, you guard the connection that you have with God. In the verse above, it mentions that your heart is a wellspring of life, which is what God gives when we believe in him and follow his word. But when you don't guard you heart,and you let your heart get poisoned by the things of this world, then your wellspring of life stops flowing, because that connection you had with God is weakened. If you are struggling to guard your heart, or if you are in a relationship where your mind knows that it is wrong, but your heart doesn't want to leave, seek advice from an adult strong in their faith, or from God. It is important though to protect the connection you have with God, because he is your wellspring of life.

Dear Heavenly Father,
       Thank you for being our wellspring of life. Help us to guard our hearts from the temptations of this world. As we go through life, give us the wisdom to know when we need to leave a relationship, because it is hurting our connection with you. We know that our hearts are fragile and we don't want them to be tainted by what this world has to offer. Amen

Note-This is probably not what R5 had in mind when they wrote the song, but this is what I got out of the song.
Sources:
Mahoney, Kelli. "Why It's Important to Guard Your Heart." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
"'Guard Your Heart' Doesn't Mean Christians Can't Date." Christianity Today. N.p., 4 Mar. 2013. Web.

Missionaries

Many of us know that missionaries are people who go around sharing the love of Jesus Christ.  We also see missionaries as being people who travel all over the world to share the gospel with people who might not get another chance to hear it.  What would you say that we can all be missionaries and we don't have to spend thousands of dollars on airfare and hotels. Casting Crowns has a song, "Heroes", that goes,
He walks the halls,
Against the flow.
He sees his high school as his mission field.
He's broken cause he knows,
The hopeless roads that they are taking,
The empty feelings they are chasing,
Only lead to futures wasted,
So he's willing to stand alone.
He lives what he believes when they all say it's not worth believing.
Every night on his knees he prays God won't you please help me reach them.
This part of the song, talks about a boy seeing that his mission field is his high school. Most the kids that you go to school with, don't have a relationship with Jesus. Their only chance that they might have to get to know Jesus is through you. You are a missionary in your school, or where you work, or where ever else God has you. If you are sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people, than you are a missionary. Matthew 28:19 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The verse doesn't say to  go to foreign lands to share the gospel. It says to go out and share the gospel. Sure it does say of all nations, but if everyone for their home nation, like USA, and goes somewhere else to share the gospel, than the USA will feel left out because no one was left to share the gospel. Also, there are many different nationalities living in a country in modern society. Share the gospel with those nationalities, and they can take what you shared with them back to their nation. You just don't know what happens after you share the gospel with one person. So go out in your daily lives and share the gospel. God has placed you right where he needs you, and you need to take advantage of every opportunity you can to share the gospel.

Dear Heavenly Father,
You have put each of us right where you need us. I pray that we will take advantage of each opportunity that we have to share your love with people who may not know you. God I pray that you help us reach the people at our schools, work, and anywhere else that you have placed us. Help us to go and be missionaries for you Lord. I know that when we go out, we are never alone for you will never leave us or forsake us. Thank you for your love, and I pray that we can reflect your love out onto other people. 

The Possibility That Impossibility is Something God Can Overcome

Dreams are something that we all have. Growing up, we heard that we could be anything we wanted to be when we grow up. Then we grow older, and the dreams that you once had, seem harder to reach. It was like as we grew taller, the dreams seem farther to reach, and they were soon completely out of reach. Our dreams seem so far away, that it would be impossible to reach them. The thing is nothing is impossible with God.
I know that I have touch on this before, but that is because it is true, and so many of us have a hard time believing it. God does do the impossible. David beat Goliath with some stones and a sling shot.(1 Samuel 17) The odds were stacked completely against David, and it seemed impossible to win. But God had another thing to say, about the outcome of the battle. Jesus also raised a man for the dead.(John 11) Lazareth was the one that Jesus raised from the dead, which seems impossible to do because when you are dead, there is coming back to life. God parted the Red Sea for Moses and his gang to cross.(Exodus 14) When Moses and his followers needed a way to cross the sea, God did the impossible and parted the Red Sea, so that they could walk on dry ground. These are just a few examples of how God did the impossible in the bible. If God did the impossible back in the bible, then what is stopping him from doing the impossible in your life. God just what you to have faith that he can handle anything, and trust that he will doing whis will, no matter how "impossible" in your life.
Below are a few bible verses about how nothing with God is impossible.
Matthew 19:26 says, "But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Luke 1:37 says "For nothing will be impossible with God."

Mark 10:27 says, "Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God."

Mark 9:23 says, "And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes."

Below are a couple songs to help inspire you about God's power.
Casting Crowns-Dream For You
Kutless-What Faith Can Do
Casting Crowns-Thrive

Below are links to my other post that touch on this topic.
http://thekaitlynshow.blogspot.com/2014/01/possibilities.html
http://thekaitlynshow.blogspot.com/2013/04/untitled.html

Faithfulness of God

Around this time, many of us start freaking out because school is around the corner. We need to get new school supplies, and we need to start reading our summer reading book. For seniors, you have to start applying to colleges. This is just the beginning of another stressful school year. But while we are running around losing our minds, God stands faithful, unmovable and strong. I believe that it is a good thing to start of the year with hope for the new school year, instead of starting it in fear. Now a promise that God makes is that he will give you everything you need. Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Now this is only your needs, not the luxurious items that we so desperately want. But he is good to look over you, with his grace and mercy new everyday, which we all need. Sometimes though we feel like God isn't taking care of our needs. Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and not act? Does he promise and not fulfill." He will take care of your needs. He didn't make a promise that he couldn't keep like humans, and he isn't lying to us. It is difficult sometimes to determine what we need, and what we want.  When we make our luxuries as something that we need, then we feel like God isn't fulfilling either of these verses. Some of the needs are universal like love, and food, and shelter, but we each have other needs that are different, and it is up to ask God to give each of us our needs. Like in my math class, where I wanted an "A", but what I needed was a "B" to humble myself, but to also help me grow as a student. God is faithful, and he will fulfill his promises.

Dear Heavenly Father,
      You know what each of us needs, whether it be basic necessities or whether it is things we need to grow. I pray that you will show me what are my needs, and what are my desires that I want. If my desires aren't in line with what you have in mind for me, then please separate them from me as far as the east is from the west. Thank you for always meeting my needs, whether it is during times of calmness, or during a raging storm. You are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and you always keep your promises, which I thank you for. Amen.

The Me That You Don't See

Growing up, we were told the story of the three little pigs. We all know that the strongest house was made out of bricks, and the wolf couldn’t blow the house down no matter how hard he tried. Those same brick walls are what we construct around topics that we don’t want to let go. We build walls up around things that we are to embarrassed to tell people, or we are to ashamed of to tell God. We build the walls so that they can be indestructible, and no one will be able to penetrate it.  The thing is, the walls are more like piles of bricks that we can’t crawl out of. The burden of these bricks can bring any one down into a slump. But when you tell people and lean on them for help, then the bricks slowly come of the pile and the burden gets lighter. Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." We are to love one another, and a way to love is to help someone with their burdens. But people can't help if you don't share your burdens.

I want to be an example for people so I’m slowly going to remove some bricks that I have placed on me. Most of these are for the people who go to my high school.

Secular Music-Everyone at school sees me as this innocent girl. The thing is I have an over active imagination. So when I hear a song, that might be a little provocative, I just imagine clearly what the lyrics are saying. I don’t believe that as a Christian that you can’t listen to secular music. You just have to be super cautious of what you are listening to. That is hard, especially in high school, when everyone wants to play their music, and some aren't the cleanest. I know that most people struggle with this at some point in their life. To help, Ecclesiastics 7:5 says, "It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools."

TV Shows-By the time you reach high school, everyone is watching the adult shows. The thing is most the shows that I watch are on Disney Channel. I tried to move on from Disney Channel in 9^th grade, but that was the same year Austin and Ally came out. I tried so hard not to get interested, but when it premieres a day after my birthday, and when one of the main characters is really cute, and he is from Colorado, I couldn’t stop myself.  Now Austin and Ally is my favorite show, partly because I see myself in Ally. I don’t need to be watching those shows with bad language and inappropriate comments. Sure Disney Channel is a little young for me, and everyone in my classes comment on how bad Disney Channel is, but that just who I am.

Shyness-I don’t know why, but sixth grade I lost most of my trust for people, and I became really shy. Now I’m living with that, and trying to overcome it is so hard. I have to keep telling myself, that not everyone in the world is out to destroy me, and people care to hear what I have to say.  But I have been completely closed off for years, and sometimes my shyness came off as saying that I’m better than you. I’m trying to break out, but that is so hard to put yourself out there, when for years you didn't tell anyone, anything. That is partly why I wrote this post, to break down some of my walls.

Dear Heavenly Father,

                We all have things that we are hiding, either from you or from our peers. Please help us take down these walls that we have built brick by brick. You made us in your image, and we were not made to enclose ourselves in walls, but to live out your will fully. Lets us find strength to break down these walls. Amen

Note-I did change the secular music part, from what it originally was.

More than I Imagined

Have you ever had those moments when God does more then you could ask for, or even imagine. That is exactly what happened to me this past Fourth of July weekend. So lately I have been praying for more comments to come in on my blog. The reason why I wanted more comments, was so that I could get feedback on what I was doing, and so I can see how people liked my blog.  So when I got to my grandparents place, grandma went on about how much she liked my blog. She especially like the post that I did last Wednesday. She loved it so much that she told me that I should share it in front of the whole family. So on Sunday, I shared it with my family at breakfast. After that, family members kept coming up to me telling me how much that they liked it. 
I went home and realized that what happened over the weekend was the answer to my prayers. I wanted to know what people thought of my blog, and I found out. But it wasn't just a comment over the internet, it was face-to-face. Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." God did more then I could have imagined, with such a small request. Imagine what he can do with a larger request. When we put everything we have in the Lord, he is able to do more than we ever could imagine.

Dear Heavenly Father,
       Thank you for knowing our hearts, and knowing every desire we have before we can even put it into words. Thank you for listening to every little cry out to you. Help everyone of us place our trust in you, knowing that you can do more with what we have that we ever thought possible. You amaze us everyday, with the power that you have, and the love that you share freely. Please keep amazing us, by doing more than we can even imagine. Amen.

Forgiveness-Part Two

Wednesday, I talked about God's forgiveness for us. Well today, I'm going to talk about our forgiveness to other people. It is clear that we do get hurt by people; sometimes on accident, sometimes on purpose. But either way, we do get hurt either physically, mentally, or emotionally. As Christians, we are called to forgive everyone, who hurt us. In Matthew 18:22 Jesus says, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Jesus was telling us that no matter how many times someone may hurt us, we are to forgive them each time. Now this is hard. It isn't always easy to forgive someone, and it just doesn't happen over night. It takes time, and sometimes help from God. If you are finding it hard to forgive someone, then ask God to help lead your heart to forgiveness. God forgives us everyday for a multitude of things that we do, and to show appreciation, we should forgive others, for things they do against us. It won't be easy, especially not at first. And forgiveness, isn't a way to excuse the behavior, but it is you saying that you aren't going to take revenge, and it shows God's love to the person. Forgiveness is a process that we have to work on everyday, with God's help.

Dear Heavenly Father,

       Thank you for your forgiveness. Help me to follow your lead, and forgive the people who have hurt me. It won't be easy, so please lead me to having a heart that forgives. I know that this will be an ongoing process to forgive the people who hurt me. Please help me with this, and thanks for your constant forgiveness. Amen

Forgiveness-Part One

 I going to change somethings in my posts. Starting with this post, I'm going to add a prayer at the end that you can pray after you read my post. 

All of us sin everyday. Some of the sins are what we can "small" sins like lying. But there are sins that are "big" and they are hard to move past. For some of us, we feel like we have messed up so badly that God can never forgive us. But this feeling can cause more damage to our relationship with God. When we feel like we can't be forgiven, then we try to hide from God, and eventually we stop reading the bible, and stop praying. The thing is, if you actually kept reading the bible you might stumble across 1 John 1:9 which says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." This verse doesn't say he will forgive us of some of our sins, but it says our sins, which include any sin that you had committed. When  we feel like our sins won't be forgiven, then our relationship begins to crumble. But our relationship doesn't have to take a turn for the worse because our sins are forgiven so we don't have to try and hide them. God forgave you of all your sins, when Jesus died on the cross for us. There is no sin that God won't forgive. 
I know I have mentioned this before, but we did this activity in church again and it was amazing. What we did was we wrote our sins on a piece of paper, and we stuck the paper on the nails on the cross. Then during worship, they lit the papers on fire, and the papers were gone in an instant. With the papers gone, that symbolized that all our sins were forgiven. Now you may not do this at your church, but even if you do it by yourself, it is very refreshing just seeing our sins being forgiven. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
       Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins, and how your forgiveness is new everyday. I know that I have messed up in the past, yet you forgive me every time that I ask for forgiveness. Thank you for being faithful, and for your love for your children. Amen.