New Year, Renewed Mind

So today is the last day of the year, and normally around this time, we start making New Year Resolutions. We seem to have a list of things that we would like to change about ourselves. I know for me, I would like to write the posts for my blog sooner than the morning of, allowing me more time to make the blog say what I want to. For others it may be going on a diet, or doing better in school, or working harder at your job, or what ever you can think of. I have a challenge for all my readers this New Year. Romans 12:2 says, "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." Coming out of the holiday season, where we were stressed about family coming over, or nervous about what presents we will get, or busy writing thank you cards, this is a good time to renew our mind and turn our focus back to God. God has a plan for us that is pleasing and perfect, but it is sometimes hard to see with all that happens in life. I encourage you to take time and renew your mind to focus on God and his plan for you this New Year's. Happy New Year!

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for another year, with it's ups and downs. Thank you that we have a chance to reflect and make goals for the up coming year. I pray that we are able to renew our minds, and focus back on you God, and that this year we will each be able to follow your plan that you have for us. Thank you Lord for another year!

From Stories to Reality - The Book With No Pictures

This is the last post for this series. When I was thinking of what to write about, I was trying to choose some other novel, but it wasn't until my mom checked this booked out from the library that I thought of doing a children's book. The book is title The Book With No Pictures, by B.J. Novak. Now the first thing that you think of when you look at the title, that it is going to be a very boring book, because of the lack of pictures. Most of the time, pictures are what make children's books so great, and one without pictures might be really boring. Right?
Wrong.
The book was so fun to read with my dad, because the book makes the parents who are reading the book make all sorts of crazy noise, and they have to say funny things. This incident reminds me of how much we stereotype people, especially when it comes to who can be saved and who can't be saved. John 7:24 says, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” When we just look at a person and we automatically made decisions about them and if they can be saved, we aren't using the right judgement. The right judgement, involves talking to the person, and getting to know them, and even then it isn't up to us to judge if they will be saved, but it is God's. We just need to let everyone know of the good news of Jesus Christ, and then let God work in their hearts. Some people will accept Jesus and some won't, but we can't judge if they will or won't based on appearances. Just like how The Book With No Pictures, turned out to be fun to read, and how I wouldn't have done a children's book if it wasn't for my mom, we can't make judgement with out talking to people. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for getting to know us for who we are and not as some stereotype. Help me to see people like the way you see them, and not be so fast to judge based of appearances. Help me to share your news with everyone, no matter what they look like. Thank you Lord for your constant love for me. Amen.

From Stories to Reality- Christmas Story

The past two times in this series I have used non-fiction stories to talk about. But since it is Christmas time, I figure that I write about a story that relates to Christmas. The story that I am using can be found in Isaiah 9:6  which goes, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." I chose this story, because of it's location in the Bible. It is found in Isaiah, which is located in the old testament, but if you read the passage, it sounds like it was written at the same time that Jesus was born. It was prophesied years before Jesus, that he will be born. This was a story to the Jews at the time, and it was passed down from generation to generation. It was a story, until Jesus came to Earth and made it a reality. Jesus became a wonderful counselor and the prince of peace, and the everlasting Father, and so much more, the night that he was born in manger, in the City of David. Jesus made this story that had been around for a while into reality.
Now, there is so much more to this in how it can apply to your life. We each have a story, whether it is something that we had to overcome, or a victory that we have won. God had already written our stories a long time ago, before we were even born. He knows what is going to happen, and he knows all the plot twists before they happen. He will take your story that he has written and make it a reality if you let him. Just like how Jesus turned a story into reality, God is willing to do the same with you if you let him in. I know how much we each want our own realities to come true, but the story that God has written for us, will play out so much better in reality than anything that we will write. You just have to trust in the story that God has written for you.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for sending you son down in a form of a baby, to come and save my life. Thank you that you already have my story written out, and I trust you that it will be amazing when it comes to reality. I know that it is hard to trust a story that we don't know the end to, so I pray for the courage to trust and follow you in all that you make reality for me. Amen.

From Stories to Reality-"Eve and Adam"

Another really great book that I read was "Eve and Adam" by Michael Grant, and Kathrine Applegate. The book was about a girl, Evening (Eve for short), who got into a terrible accident because of an apple, (I could go on a tangent and write a whole other blog about this but I won't.) Then while Eve is recovering in her mother's hospital, she has the task to create the perfect boy, Adam. On this software, you could create a boy, from the eye color, to the activities that he did, to how smart he was, to his age, and so on. Eve creates what she believes is the perfect boy, but when it comes to life and interacts with her, she quickly discovers what she thought was perfect wasn't.

Now there are two ways I am going to go with this. First, is the role of playing God. It was mentioned a lot in here, of playing God and creating someone. Eve realizes that playing God is a lot harder than it seems, when it comes to creating something. Now let's think, God is God, and he didn't just create one person who was perfect, he created billions of people and each one is perfect in their own way. Psalms 139:19 says, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." This verse just reflects how great God is when he created us, and how he sees us as being perfect. It is hard to see that sometimes because of sin that has entered the world, but we are made perfect to God.

Another thing that I take away from this, is that we might know who we want to date, but who we might think is perfect may not be. Eve created Adam, so that he could be her boyfriend, because at the time she wasn't really popular with the guys. But at the end of the book, she realizes that who she thought was perfect, Adam, wasn't as right for her as Solo, who had helped her though her stay at the hospital. We all have people who we think who will be great for us, whether it is a celebrity crush, or a cute guy at school. The thing is that we don't know who we are suppose to be with, but God does. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." God knows who who will marry, and he also know when you will meet, the date you will go on, and so on. We have to trust God that he has the perfect guy for us, and we should pray for our future spouse, praying that they are growing closer to God. 

This was a really great book, and there are so many more blogs I could do on this book, but I chose to write on these two because I think they're the most important. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for creating me to be perfect, and thank you for your plan of who I am going to marry. I pray that when the time is right, that you will show me this person, and I pray everyday that he is growing closer to you. Thank you for being so invested in my life, that you know the plans of my life down to the last second. Amen. 

From Stories to Reality-"Sold"

This is a new series that I am doing. I got inspired for this series because of the book that I was reading. It was a fiction story, but there was so much real world implications behind it, and the more books I read, the more it sunk in that I could write a series about the real world implications behind some stories. The first book that I want to talk about is Sold by Patricia McCormick. The story is about a girl Lakshmi from Nepal, who is sold to become a maid for people in the city to help pay off her family's debt. But little does she know at the time when she is sold, that she was sold into prostitution. At first Lakshmi doesn't want to be there and she tries to stand up for herself, but she finally breaks into doing what the lady who brought her wants. Towards the end of the novel, an American asks if she wants to be freed from this life, and finally with hesitation, Lakshmi says yes and the American rescues her.

Sure this may be a fictional story, but the author went to Nepal and did her research about girls from Nepal who are sold into prostitution.  This is real and present and thousands of girls are affected by this. Matthew 25:40 talks about helping the least of these, "The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"  Now most of us don't have the means to helping theses girls first hand but there are other ways to help. First of all you could pray. Prayer has a lot of impact, more than we know. God hears all of our prayers, and he takes them to heart. Praying for these girls is something that we all can do to help them. Another thing that you can do is just to talk about it and raise awareness. There are lots of us who don't know what is going on in countries outside of ours, but raising on an issue like this can help more people step up to help. Lastly, if you want to do more, there are many organizations out there that you can donate your time or your money to. One organization is Faith Alliance Against Slavery and Trafficking, and there are many more out there you would need to do some research.

Dear Heavenly Father,

               Thank you for bringing to our attention to what is happening to girls in Nepal and all over the world. I pray that you would be with those girls and that you will safely guide them out of the place that they are in, and show them how much you love them. Thank you for the people whose hearts are for helping these girls, and I pray that they can be successful in helping these girls. Amen.

Little Impacts

I think more of us should be like the young girl I met in Walmart last night. I had dropped a pack of tomatoes and they popped open, and this girl bent down and picked every last one up, and smiled when she gave them to me. She didn't think twice, she just did it. I bet that some of us would have walked around, or we would have felt obligated to pick them up. It is amazing how God can put one person in your life for a moment and they can make a huge impact. My family have problems when we all go shopping, and we were on each other nerves before we even got to the store, but conflicts and tensions happen. This girl totally lifted my spirits an I didn't feel so tense afterwards. It's amazing to think about that every moment of interaction can make a difference to someone else. This reminds me of Matthew 25:35-40. The first part goes, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Most of these occurrences where we have the opportunities are just spur of the moment opportunities. We don't always plan to feed someone who is hungry, or give them water or a place to stay, but we just do it, or we should just do it. We become trapped in our schedules or our thinking or whatever it is, and we miss the opportunity to feed someone, or give them cloths, or pick up their tomatoes. Sometimes, it takes us just doing something without thinking, to create these moments that change someone's life. You never know what the other person is going through and you don't know how much of an impact that your action will have on them. But you have opportunities to impact people's life with little things and it is very rewarding. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for placing people in my life, whether it is to impact me, or to impact someone else. Help me to take advantage of every opportunity you give me to impact someone's life and to show your love. Help me to not think, but to just follow you and to listen to everything you are telling me. Thank you Lord. Amen. 

Patience is a Virtue

Many of us growing up might have heard the phrase that patience is a virtue. Most of us have gone numb from hearing that verse so often. Patience I have found is something that we lose often and easily. You can't make a basket in the first shot, and you get impatient. Your grade doesn't change for weeks and you get impatient. You have to finish the long list of chores before you can have any fun, and you grow impatient. There is miscommunication between you and someone else, and you get impatient with them. On top of that, we show our impatience though a multitude of outlets. We get violent, or we gain an attitude, or we raise our voice, or we just tap our foot repeatedly. We lose our patience easily. God knows that we are quick to lose our patience. Some of us probably think that if God knows about our short patience, then why does he make us weight. When we want something, we want it now. not tomorrow, or next week, or next year, but now.
Believe it or not, but God has a plan for each one of us, and he has a reason for making us wait. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'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 a future and a hope.'" God has your best interests at heart, and he knows what he is doing. I was visiting a college last week, and for their chapel service, they had a pastor from a local church speak. He was sharing how in college, all his friends were getting married, and he didn't even have a date. He wanted to meet his wife right then, but if God would have gave into him, he would be in a world of hurt. At the time he prayed, his perspective wife was 15 and he was in his early 20's. That would have caused legal problems, that he didn't intend to have. He did marry her when she got older, and they are happy together, he just had to be patient and wait.
God doesn't want to hurt you, and he knows the implications of what could happen if he was to give you what you wanted right now. We think that God has a grandiose plan of why we have to wait, but it could be as simple as the fact that it is illegal on earth. He isn't out to throw you in prison, or get you killed, and he is looking out for you. He wants what is best for you, and what is best might require you to wait a little bit. Trust me, I have my own lists of things that I want God to do right now, but he is making me wait. It is difficult but know that you are not alone. Everyone is waiting for something, so get together so that you may encourage on another to be patient. The thing that we want will be much more rewarding when it is in God's will and in God's time, and not our own. We may never know all the motives of God, while we are on Earth, but we have to trust that he has our best interests in his heart.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for having a plan for my life, and keeping my best interests at heart.  Help me to have patience as I wait for you time, because I trust you and your reasons for making me wait. I will wait to see what your plan is for my life, and how you can take me and use me for the glory of your kingdom Lord. Thank you for caring about me so much Lord. Amen.

Walking Upstream

As Christians we know that we are to be different than that of the world. For 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." The things of this world are the sins that we commit but  we are then told are okay. The biggest one that I can think of is having sex before marriage. We are told that if we have protection, then we are safe to have sex before marriage, but the Bible could not disagree more. For you can't truly love two things at once. If you truly love the Lord, than you would not fall to the patterns of the world, but if you love the world, you can't be with the Lord. The Lord is perfect, and he can't be by things that aren't perfect. All of us will find ourselves in a place where we will have to either choose to Lord, or the world.

Now this can be a hard concept to grasp, because if we live in the world, we are going to be tempted, but if we seclude ourselves, then how are people going to see God's love. So picture a river that is flowing pretty good. Normally, we would love to go floating down it, because it is fun, and it is very easy to do. In this example though, going down stream is falling to sin. So we could sit on the shore so that we can avoid sin, but you're not really there to help people who are falling in deeper and deeper sin. The other option is to jump in the river, but you walk upstream. You are in with the people who need to be saved, but you are different in the fact that you are walking upstream. Since upstream is the opposite of downstream, the opposite of sin is God, then walking upstream is walking towards God. Will it be easy: no. If you have ever tried to walk upstream, then you can testify how difficult it is, but you aren't doing this along. When you slip on the slippery floor, just reach towards God, and he will catch you. Probably one of the most clever thing I have heard is that we all will drown at some point in our life, so drown towards God who can rescue you. When you place your trust in God, he will be there for you. It is better than you trying to save yourself, which you can't do. But when you walk upstream, you are making clear the choice that you will walk a different walk than that of the world. By doing this, you are being a light before others, like we are described to do in Matthew 5:16.

The key to being the light is to be different. You can be a good person, but being a good person doesn't save anyone, for salvation is based of faith and not acts. If people can't tell the difference between people who are floating downstream and you, then you need to reflect on who you love more, the Lord or the world. Being different will raise questions in people, giving you the opportunity to share the gospel, and leading them to salvation. It will be difficult, and it will be uncomfortable  but know that God has "overcome the world"(John 16:33).

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending you Son to save us. I pray that you will help each one of us reading this now to live a life that is different from that of the world. Thanks for being there when things get difficult, but help us to keep on chasing after you. Amen.

Digging Deeper into the Christmas Story

So it is finally December, and it is around Christmas time. In my Bible study at school, we are going through the book of Luke, and we are talking about the birth of Jesus. But we are talking about the passage in more than just a story that we hear once a year. You won’t believe how much knowledge you can gain in just 7 verses. The passage I’m sharing with you today is Luke 2:1-7 which goes:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Now I’m going to break down the passage some, but I’m not going to do all the work for you. The passage starts off by talking about some historical facts about the times. During our Bible study, someone asked why was that important. Well these historical facts could be compared to public records, to prove that what was happening in the Bible, actually happened. It gives us a reference point, to what was going on during Jesus’s life.

But there is more to that. Caesar made the decree. At that time Caesar was the ruler of the known world. He was the most powerful human at the time, and his decisions affected the child of God. If the decree wasn’t made than Jesus could have been born in any place else but a manger.

But if you look out farther, it really shows that God is in control. It had been prophesied that Jesus will be born in the town of David, and if it wasn’t for the decree that was made by Caesar, then Jesus wouldn’t be born in the town of David. It goes to show you that God is in charge of everyone, no matter how powerful you are.

Now for the second part of these verses. I’m not going to break it all down for you, but give you some questions for you to ponder. There are no right or wrong answers though, and if you want to share what you think in the comments then go ahead.

Was it important that Mary was only pledged to Joseph and not married to him?

Why is it significant that Jesus was born into complete poverty, when he could be born into wealth and money because he is God?

Does the distant that Mary and Joseph traveled add anything to the birth of Jesus?

These are just three questions from a multitude of questions you could ask. Christmas is more than just a baby born in a manger. When you dig in deep in the actually passage, than you can discover so much more. I pray that you take time to dig deeper into the story of Jesus’s birth.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for you son that came to this Earth to save us from our sins. Thank you for your Word, so that we may grow closer to you, and we can truly find out how great and powerful you are. Be with us this Christmas season, as we share this time with our family and friends. Amen.

Song Break Down Songs

I know that I didn't put a video link for any of the songs I talked about. Here they are now.

Things Are Looking Up
Video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=89puZ3_ejIc
Studio Session
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BGl1UvgP-A

Try
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoZLPSw8U8
Dancing With the Stars Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJWupNGOYXk

Don't Forget Where You Belong
Audio
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LXzCtPQVVA

Easy Love
Studio Session
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-zu9Bg5O8

Song Break Down- Easy Love

This is going to be my last post for this series. The song I chose is "Easy Love" by R5. This is also off their new EP, and like their song "Things Are Looking Up" from Wednesday, I really love this song. This one is going to be different from the others because I am just going to focus on the chorus of the song, which goes:

Lovin' you ain't easy
Nothin' ever is
But I will keep on fightin'
For a love like this
You know I wouldn't have it
Any other way
Even when times get tough
I don't want no easy love

Many of believers fall into this trap that one we follow Jesus, that our lives will get easier. The exact opposite happens though. Our lives get harder when we follow Jesus. Matthew 16:24 says, "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." If you are truly following Jesus, then you will stop living for your own will and desires and you will live for his. For all of us that is hard to do because we can’t see the future, so we don’t know what is to come, and as a result we want everything now. Another part of following Jesus is being persecuted. I know that I have talked about this before, but it is a huge part of a Christian life. If you are truly living out the love that Jesus has for you, then you will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” There are people in the world who are dying because of their faith, and it is not easy to give up your life for something that you can’t even see. But take heart in that fact that your persecution won’t go unnoticed. Matthew 5:10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The persecution that you face down here, will equate to a great reward in Heaven. You will be rewarded for the hard work that you put in, and your faithfulness even when things did get hard.
Following Jesus is hard. If loving Jesus was easy, then everyone one would do it, and there would be no real faith, because there would be no persecution. If loving Jesus was easy, we as humans wouldn’t grow to our full potential in Jesus. If loving Jesus was easy, than a relationship between Jesus and us would only be a weak little bond, because we wouldn’t have to rely on him as much or at all. Sure it may be hard to follow Jesus, but for “I wouldn't have it any other way,” because have a love that is difficult is what is needed for us to grow closer to God.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your love that is renewed daily. I know by following you, my life will be difficult, but without the challenges, I can’t build a strong relationship with you. Thank for all the struggles we face, and thank you for every time we get persecuted because we know that we are truly loving you. For nothing in this life will be easy, but with you by our sides nothing is impossible. Amen. 

Song Break Down-Don't Forget Where You Belong

This is going to be my last week of this miniseries.  I know that it doesn’t cover every secular song, but I hope that I have provided you with some great examples, and the one today is no exception. Today’s song is “Don’t Forget Where You Belong” by One direction. I know this isn’t one of their megahits, but I love this song, from the lyrics to the music, and the tone of the song.

With this song, I want to start with the chorus, which goes, “Don't forget where you belong–home./Don't forget where you belong–home./If you ever feel alone–don't./You were never on your own./And the proof is in this song.” The key factor in glorifying God in this song is defining where home is. Normally when we think of home we think of where our family is. For us, our family is in God.  Galatians 3:26 says, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” When we believe in God, we all become sons and daughters in God’s family. Our home is in God, and our family is all other Christians . The second part of this chorus, is saying that you never be alone. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” This song talks about traveling, but no matter where you go, you belong at home, and that you are never alone. Now the good news with God is that no matter where you travel he will always be with you. As Christians we don’t have a stationary building that we can call home, but wherever God is, then that is our home, and he is everywhere. So matter where you go, you are home, when you are with God.

When it comes to the first verse, the idea of just traveling, and the changes with that, still doesn’t affect where your home is. “Been a lot of places./I've been all around the world./Seen a lot of places./Never knowing where I was./On the horizon./Oh, well, I know, I know, I know, I know the sun will be rising/Back home./Living out of cases,/Packing up and taking off./Made a lot of changes/But not forgetting who I was./ On the horizon./Oh, well, I know, I know, I know, I know the moon will be rising/Back home.” Now most of us may not get the opportunity to tour the world, but most of us move, or go on vacation. For seniors, next year you are going to college, and for some of us we are going out of state which requires moving away from what you know.  For some of us, or parents may have moved you a lot when you were younger, and every time you moved, you had to change something, whether it was your friends, habits, or clothing. We all have to make these changes, but as I have mentioned before, God is still there with us, and we will always have a place to call home.

The bridge of this song I like a lot. Lights off when they should be on./Even stars in the skies, they're wrong./Short days when the nights are long/When I think of the things I've done/Don't matter how far I've gone–/I'm always feeling at home.” When I heard this, I had a though that we all walk away from God, from time to time. If you read in look 15 starting at verse 11, there is the parable of the lost son. For those who don’t know the story, it is about two sons, who asked for their father’s inheritance. One son took his part, and stayed with his father to work for him. The second son took his and he spent it and he eventually had to come back to his father poor, and asking for a job at his father’s place. His father, overjoyed to see his son threw him a party, for his son was lost, and he had been found. All of us at some point in our lives, walk away from god, and his house, thinking that we can do it alone. The thing is we can’t do it by our self, that is why Jesus was sent to earth, to save us when we could save ourselves. Just like the father in the story, he is overjoyed when you come back home. If you have strayed, come back home to God for he is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending you son to die for us, so that we may be apart in your family, and we will able to call you home. I pray for forgiveness for when we stray, and I pray that if anyone has strayed from you, that they will turn around and come running back. Thank you for always being with us, so that we may be with you where ever we may travel. Thank you for your never ending love. Amen.

Song Break Down-Try

For the second song that I’m going to break down is “Try” by Colbie Caillat. This song is just inspirational by itself, but there are verses in the Bible to back up the meaning of the song. This song is so true in its meaning that you are perfect just the way you are, and I feel like more girls need to hear this in their lives.

For the verses, the song tells a story of a girl who is out to impress the people around her. The first verse goes “Put your make up on/Get your nails done/Curl your hair/Run the extra mile/Keep it slim/So they like you. Do they like you?/Get your sexy on/Don't be shy, girl/Take it off/This is what you want, to belong/So they like you. Do you like you?” I love the question that is proposed in the verse, “Do you like you?” We all try to impress the people around us, but if we don’t love yourself then what is the point. If you have to drag yourself out of bed every morning and you work hard  to look a certain way that you don’t like, then what is the point of putting all your energy in.

The second verse continues on and I love what the second part of the verse talks about. “Wait a second,/Why should you care, what they think of you/When you're all alone, by yourself/Do you/Like you? Do you like you?” When you can’t even love yourself when you are by yourself, you are ingrained in trying to please people. When you’re by yourself, you should be able to be who you really are. There is no one to judge who you are, except yourself. Shouldn’t you try to please you who is there in that moment, than people who aren’t there.

The last verse talks about becoming who you are. The last line though is what I love the most that goes, “Cause I like you.” Now up to this point, I have talked more about the song, than how it is to glorify God. This last line is a more direct question, and every time I hear, I imagine God asking me that question. Many of us feels like we don’t deserve God’s love because of what we have done, but once you are saved, God doesn’t see you that way before. There are many Bible verses that speak on how wonderful you are made, it is just so hard to believe it.

Matthew 5:48-“ You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Proverbs 16:4-“ The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.”

Psalms 139:14-“ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Ephesians 2:20-“ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

These four verses are just a small sample of verse that talks about how God sees us. It may seem hard to believe these verses, but they are true. This song, wasn’t necessarily a song to directly glorify God, more than it is to show you how God thinks of you. Once you believe theses verses though, God is able to use you for many of other things that will glorify him. We just need to start with the foundation so that later in life God can build a house on it that will glorify him.

When it comes to the chorus, I’m not going to break it completely down. I challenge you to give up control of everything that you are doing to try to fit in. when  you give it to God, you don’t have to continuously try to please people. God’s love will flow from you and you’ll make friends who like you for you and not for that outer looks.

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
You don't have to try

Dear Heavenly Father

Thank you so much for creating me the way you wanted me to be created, for I know that I have a purpose and that I am made in the image of you. I know that it is hard to believe this truth, because the world throws so many lies at us. I pray that you help me, and anyone else who is reading my blog right now Lord, to understand that we are loved just the way we are, and that we don’t have to put on a show to win affection. Thank you Lord for making me.

Song Break Down-Things Are Looking Up-Part 2

If you haven’t read part one yet, I encourage you to do so before you read this one. For the second part of this song break down, I’m going to focus on the chorus. I find that my favorite part of the song is the chorus because it is so upbeat.

The first part of the chorus, or the pre-chorus, goes “I couldn't get it right/'Til you opened up my eyes/You turn my whole world upside down” When we were all still sinners, we saw the world one way. When we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we saw things a whole different way. We saw how he loves us (1 John 4:16), how he has a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11), how we are viewed in his eyes (Matthew 5:48), and how he saved us even when we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). He took the old way of knowing, and he flipped it on its head.

For the chorus of the song, I am going break it down out of order. When you listen to the chorus, there is a theme that runs throughout that talks about looking up. I find that it is talking about looking up into the stars. In Isaiah 40:26 it says, “Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” When we look up, we are looking to God’s beauty that he created, and we are realizing how great our God is. He created all the stars in the sky, and he knows them all by name. When we look up, we all that God has done, and how he can do incredible things in your life. The verse from “Praise You in This Storm” talks about looking up through all that is going it. The verse is Psalms 121:1-2 and it says, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.” We look up when we need help, and when we surrender to God.

Another thing that the chorus mentions is that you had enough looking at the ground. As humans, whenever we are ashamed, we tend to look down. When it comes to God, we mess up and we try to hide from God, but God still sees us. So instead of trying to hide our face by looking down, we should look up to the skies and just surrender it all to God. After this, read the chorus below, and connect what I just said to the words of the song.

Things are lookin' up/Things are lookin' up/I couldn't find a star in the sky/But now that I found us/Things are lookin' up/Even when I'm down/Had about enough/Lookin' at the ground/I couldn't find a star in the sky/But now that I found us/Things are lookin' up

I pray that you found this to be helpful.  We don’t need to separate what we can use to glorify God, based on what category the song falls into. This is just one example of how something secular can glorify God. I will post two or three more of examples, it might not be this long, but I pray that you read them all. I would love to hear your feedback on this, so please leave your

comments below.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for creating the Heavens and Earth. You are so great in all that you do, and your love is overwhelming. Thank you for forgiving our sins so that we may stand before you unashamed. We look up to you for your guidance and your love. Thank you so much for the music that we listen too. Amen.

Song Break Down-Things Are Lookin' Up Part One

In my Song Break Down Series, the first song that I’m going to break down is “Things Are Lookin’ Up” by R5. This one will look a little different from the others because I broke it into two parts. The second part will post at noon, because I just have so much to say. This song is off their new EP that they just released and I really enjoy it, and it was the one that really inspired me to do the song break down with secular songs.

The verses in the song are lines of comparison. The first line is “You were a business, I was a start up.” The verses are just praising how much better you are than I. Now think, if we put God in the place of the “you”, then aren’t we praising God about how much greater he is than us. Psalms 147:5 says, “How great is out Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!” With the line that I used, you are saying that God already knows what to do, and you are just starting, and you need his help. Below are a few more examples on how to take these lines and focus them on God.

I needed caffeine, you were a Starbucks/A Starbucks/(A double-shot). Many of us tend to hit Starbucks before school or work to get energy we need that is found in a cup of coffee. God is like our spiritual Starbucks. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Every morning when you wake up God is there waiting to hand you a boost of spiritual energy, you just need to take what God is offering, whether that be through prayer, reading your Bible, or just taking time every morning to worship God.

You were the sunshine, I was a rain check We all have our bad days, and our really stormy ones, but God can be the light that breaks through the clouds.  John 1:5a says, “The light shines in the darkness.” God is the light and no matter what you are going through he will be there to be a light of hope in your rain storm.

You were a free-way, I was a stop sign God wants us to trust him completely so that he can lay out his plan for our lives. But there are times were we put on the brakes because we think that we know better than God.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” If his plans are to give us a future and hope, then why do we keep stopping. We just need to trust God and just on God’s freeway and drive.

You were a diamond, I was a coal mine God is perfect and spotless, just like a shining diamond. Us in our sin, look more like a lump of coal. 1 Peter 2:22 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” Take heart in this though, while you were a lump of coal God is refining us every day. Psalms 66:10 says, “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” God takes the love he has for us, to make us better, and less like a lump of coal.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are so much greater than I am. You know more about me, and you know what my future holds. I pray that even through the secular music that we listen to, we may glorify you. You are so great and powerful and mind-blowing that there aren’t enough songs to sing of your love. Thank you so much for all that you do Lord. Amen.

Song Break Down-Intro to Something New

Many of my readers who have read my blog for a while may know that I do these song break downs. For those who don’t know, I take a song and take it apart and analyze it. I traditionally would do this with a Christian song, but I’m going to do a couple of secular songs. God created everything on this earth to glorify Him, it is just that sin has crept in and diluted everything. There is a way to glorify God with everything, it may just take some effort.

A good place to start is with the love songs, and that is where I’m probably going to focus the most. They are everywhere and there a plenty of them. Now they are suppose to be sung or listened with your date, but some of them can be used to worship God. The greatest commandment that God gave us is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”(Matthew 22:37) There aren’t enough words to express how much we love God, but singing some love songs is a good place to start.

Now as we do this we need to remember that it is all about our hearts. If you are sincerely worshipping God with what you sing, then it shouldn’t matter if you sing a non-secular song or a secular song. I’m not saying for all your worship songs to be secular, but I do know that some non secular songs aren’t the fastest, most up tempo songs, and that every once and a while you need a song that you can just dance to. If you struggle with secular music, than that is fine. Everyone is different in how they worship, and maybe this isn’t for you. Just find what works for you.

With that, I’m going to be doing some song break downs to secular music, and I hope you keep an open mind.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You know how passionate I am for using everything on Earth to glorify you. As I launch into this new series, I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead the way, so that I still glorify you while talking about secular music. I pray that this will touch my readers too. Amen.

How to go Deeper- Part 2

So on Saturday I talked on how to read the Bible so that you can understand what you are reading. Today, I am going to talk about taking what you learned and apply it to your life. God gave us the Bible, as a way to shape our lives after him, and to do that, we need to implement what we learned into our lives. To refresh your minds, this is where we left off last time.

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Comments

Red:The disciples trusted Jesus enough to follow Him into a boat in the middle of an lake.

Orange: Everything happened so fast that they couldn't prepare for it, like getting off the lake. But Jesus then calmed the storm as fast as it came up. Time wasn't an issue for Jesus. 

Yellow: He was there and he could be called upon when needed. Nothing disturbs him. 

Green: Desperation of the disciples whose trust was now gone. 

Blue: Showing how little trust the disciples had in Jesus, that he had everything under control. 

Purple: New to them, never seen before in any one else.

Pink: Shows how Jesus is the ruler over everything. 

So we have the annotations. Because I'm going to write from my perspective, you might think something different and that is totally fine. The storm in my life right now is my math class, again. My grades plummeted so fast, like the storm in the story, and there was no way I could stop it.  While I was desperately trying to figure out what to do about my grade, God had everything under control. Through this, I was never left to drown, or left on my own. But like the disciples, I had little faith in the storm. I saw how last year God used my math grade to help me become a better person, and I have seen the amazing things that he has done in my life over and over again, but the storm made me near sighted. Jesus is the ruler over everything, and I need to trust that he has everything under control.  Even when he feels far away he is still there.  

From the comparison I made to the story, I found out that I struggle with trusting God.  This is an area that I need to work on, and to read more about. I may also want to pray for trust in God, before I go into a difficult situation. Now we each have our own weakness and strengths, and God gave us the Bible to helps us find those, and to grow in them and in Him. You may not have time to read this deep everyday, but doing it once a week can make a difference. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for giving us your word. Help us to read and understand what it is saying. And as we read and discover more of who you are and who we are in you, help us to implement it into our lives,so that we can be a light to the world.  Amen.

 

How to go Deeper

Many of us know that we are suppose to read our Bibles. We have either heard it from our pastors, family, friends, or just from reading my blog. Reading the Bible is very important. But there is a difference between reading the Bible, and understanding what it says. Anyone can pick up the Bible and read it, but it takes time and effort to understand it. I know I have talked about reading the Bible, but today I want to provide an example of what it means to actually understand what the Bible is saying. So I'm going to go through one of my readings. Below is the verses and it is the story of when Jesus calmed the storm. This will be broken into two days, because if I put it in one day, it would get to long.

Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus Calms the Storm

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

The first step is to read the passage. You can't understand something that you didn't read.

The second step that I do is to ask any questions that might help clarify the passage, like traditions back then, or the history around an event. One question I had was how sturdy was this boat? Back then they didn't have the ships like we do today. The boats they had weren't sturdy, and they could be easily overturned. 

The third step I do is to reread the passage and mark it up. That could be highlighting it, making comments or connections, just whatever you do to understand the passage better. So below is my highlighting and comments. 

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Comments

Red:The disciples trusted Jesus enough to follow Him into a boat in the middle of an lake.

Orange: Everything happened so fast that they couldn't prepare for it, like getting off the lake. But Jesus then calmed the storm as fast as it came up. Time wasn't an issue for Jesus. 

Yellow: He was there and he could be called upon when needed. Nothing disturbs him. 

Green: Desperation of the disciples whose trust was now gone. 

Blue: Showing how little trust the disciples had in Jesus, that he had everything under control. 

Purple: New to them, never seen before in any one else.

Pink: Shows how Jesus is the ruler over everything. 

Now this is where I am going to stop for today. Next time, i'm going to talk about how you take your comments and annotations and relate them to you. 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for giving us your word to read, so that we may get to know you better, and we are able to follow your will for our lives. I know that it takes time to truly sit down to figure out the meaning of a passage, but I pray that you will help us find time, once a week at least, to go deeper into your word. Thank you for saving us from what ever storm we are in Lord. Amen.