Bestest Brother

I have the best brother in the whole world. He goes out of his way to do things for me. For example, he programmed the Christmas lights on the house to play to the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars. He also helps me comes up with ideas for school projects. Lastly, he watches my television shows with me. He is a pretty cool brother.
As believers in Christ, we are adopted into his family. So you have lots of brothers and sisters. Brothers are there to help you through "adversity." (Proverbs 17:17) They are there to encourage you, and help you in your faith. And you have many brothers and sisters, a constant source of encouragement through adversity. If you are ever in need of help, you have brothers in sisters there waiting to help you.

Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for an amazing brother and sisters that I have. Help me to be encouragement to them. Amen.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. In preparation for Thanksgiving, my church talked about 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which goes, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." This verse sums up perfectly the attitude that we should have not just once a year, but every other day of the year. No matter what stage in life we are in, or what is going on in your life. If you think about it, we always have something to be thankful for. It can be as simple being thankful that breath is in your lungs. When we have the attitude of gratitude, then it is possible to have a positive outlook on life. Think about that as Thanksgiving Day ends and a new day begins, remember to continue to thank God for all he has done.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your constant love. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you for every breath I take and every step I walk. Thank you for all my friends and family.

Back Home

So yesterday some girls and I drove home for Thanksgiving break. There are some differences I have noticed between my dorm in Iowa, and back home in Colorado. Like for one, I can sit up in my bed at home. I also now have a cat that follows me where ever I go. It is nice to be home, and from the looks of it, I have a busy week ahead of me. Stay tune tomorrow for a special Thanksgiving post.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the safe drive home. I pray that I can have a good Thanksgiving break with my family. Amen.

First Snow

Yesterday was the first snow at Dordt College. It was cold and windy while the snow was falling, but at night, the snow sparkled and glistened under the street lights. I love snow, and how it blankets the Earth.

As I was looking out the window of my dorm this morning, I realized something. The imperfections on the ground was gone. Out of my window, there a huge land of grass for playing on. It gets so much use that there were dirt patches where the grass doesn’t grow. There are patches torn up from shoes that run across the grass. But once the snow fell, all the imperfections couldn’t be seen any more. All you can see is a blanket of white snow, fresh and untouched. Many of us who have grown up in the church know that Jesus washed us white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18) The fresh blanket of snow is how he sees you. He knows the imperfections that you have, but he chooses to see us clean and as pure as snow. So next time you have a snow fall, take some time to admire the fresh blanket of snow around you.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for loving me and seeing me as perfect, and not focused on my imperfections. Help me to see myself the way you see me. Amen. 

Someone's Superman

So recently, I have falling in love with Daughtry’s song “Waiting for Superman.” It is an amazing song, about a girl waiting for a guy to swoop in and rescue her. The video is also very well done. For those of you who haven’t seen the video, I suggest that you go watch it before reading on. Daughtry-Waiting For Superman The video shows how one guy is persistent in doing good, even though everyone around him doesn’t see it that way.

I hear this song and I watch the video, and I think about my actions in life. Am I that superman for somebody who needs me. In the video, the guy tries to be helpful on three different accounts and every time is intentions were taken the wrong way. Instead of the people he help say thank you, they turned and yelled at him, and even the cops got involved in one case. But even with all of this, he is still willing to help. If you were to think on your life, would you be able to do that. I probably would get discouraged after the first attempt, not even willing to help again. Many of us get discouraged if we don’t get the gratitude we think we deserve. The thing is the God calls us to love even when we aren’t loved back. Luke 6:32-35 says,

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

God called us to love those and help those who may not repay us with gratitude. In the end, God knows what you did, and he will reward you in heaven, a reward much greater than a thank you. And who knows, you might stumble on one person in your mist of helping people who really appreciate your help, like in the video, who ran after the man to give him a hug as he walked away. There are people who will thank you, for you were their superman at the right time, but you can’t just look at a person and know. You actually have to help people, and some might be grateful, and some might not. But it is what God has called us to do.

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for all that you have done for me, and for all the people you have placed in my life to help me. I pray that I am a willing servant who will go out to serve the people who need help, regardless of f they will thank me for it or not. Amen.

Beauty of Fall

Fall is a beautiful time of the year, where God displays all the warm colors on the trees. Below are a few pictures I took this fall. Enjoy it as the season is changing to winter.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the colors of fall. It is a beautiful season. As winter approaches, I pray that you will protect us in the snow and ice storms. Amen.

Rest

So the past couple of days I was rather sick, which is why there wasn’t a post on Wednesday. Wednesday I decided that I would take a day of rest. I know Sunday’s are for rest, but I turned Sunday’s into my day to get all my homework done. Then Tuesday when I was really getting sick, I decided to work through the pain, and go to all my classes, and over exert myself. That is why when I woke up Wednesday, I decided that I just need to let my body rest in an effort to let my body recover from all the pressure I put on it.

Now if you were to stop and examine your own life, how much rest are you getting? Most students in college and high school aren’t even getting a full night sleep. A time set aside for you to rest, and we waste it by staying up late. It is said that a normal person needs 7-8 hours of sleep. 3-4 hours is not cutting it. It’s not enough to allow your body to recharge. On Sunday’s, are you allowing your body to rest from the week of work, or are you doing all your work on Sunday. God even rested on the seventh day, and we should to.

As I finish up this post, I encourage you to find time on Sunday to rest, and to actually get 8 hours of sleep one night this week. Allow your body to recharge. Mark 6:31 says, “And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourself to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” God is calling us to rest our bodies every once and a while from the toils of work. Take some time this week to rest.  

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for allowing us time in our day to rest. I pray that no matter how busy my week may get that I can find time to rest my body. Amen. 

The Emptyness

I warned you last week that I wasn’t going to be doing a blog post on Wednesday. The reason for that because I was on a media fast for my Intro to Mass Communications class. The premise was that for three day, Tuesday through Thursday, we were to go without any forms of mass media. No TV, Internet, reading books for fun, social media, music, ect. My days were so packed with classes and homework, that I didn’t really miss it that much. I did however missed YouTube, and Thursday night, I waited until it was midnight, so that I could binge watch YouTube.

Now it is important to note what I was doing before the fast ended. The thing is that a couple of hours before the fast ended, I did two devotionals for my Bible Study for the next day, and I went to Praise and Worship. I was so filled with God, and so filled with his love. But as soon as it was Friday, I immediately replace being filled by God, to being filled by YouTube. YouTube cannot take the place of God. It left me filling empty, and I soon regretted staying up so late. Philippians 1:11 says, “Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Jesus died so that he could be with us in Spirit and fill us up with his love every day, and we turn that around to praise God for all he has done. That is what I did Thursday. I learned more about who God is, and grew closer to him. I then went to go and praise him for all he did. I was filled up with his love that YouTube can’t supply. I found the whole experience of being let down by YouTube as an opportunity to stop and reflect on what I am putting in the place of God, and it opened my eyes to others things that I may need to change in my life. So far, I haven't really watched YouTube, but I have been trying to focus more on God throughout the day.  

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your unfailing love. I know that I will chase things that won’t fill be up, but thank you for always being there when the things of this world leave me empty. I want to be filled by your love Lord. Amen.