Not Just Gold

God has been giving me a new look on things lately. He's helped me to see things from a different perspective than I had before.

Last Spring I was ministering to a fellow student who I had English with at my previous college. This student, Sam, didn't know God, he had come over to America from a place that didn't have much Christian influence. His English wasn't perfect so I ended up helping him with his essays, which is how I ended up telling him about God. After a few days I thought things were going well, but then suddenly he hit me with "Well that's all good but I'd still rather go to Hell." I was shocked and said so. I asked him why in the world he would choose that over the many wonders of Heaven, I described it as a place with no pain and that it was full of joy, the same way I'd heard it described countless times. His response was, "Why should I want that? I've got it good enough here." I didn't know what to say at the time but to look at him incredulously. I couldn't understand why he didn't want eternal happiness. We went on to talk for days after that, and while he  never came to Jesus I still feel like he was further than he had been before we talked.

Now I feel like God has shown me something about Heaven that I hadn't seen before. Yes the streets are made of gold and yes there will be no pain and sadness but that's not what's so great about Heaven. All those things pale in comparison to the best thing that awaits us when we get there, God himself I can't believe it took me so long to realize but being able to be with God, and to spend eternity living with Him is greater than anything I could ever imagine. When you love someone you want to be with them all the time and its the same way with God, because I love Him I always want to be with Him, I crave his presence and can not wait until I get to see Him face to face. And I believe he feels that way about each and every one of His children. That is why we should want to go to Heaven, to be with God, not for all the extra stuff that comes with it.

What's your outlook on Heaven? Do you crave God or are you still looking for just the gold?

Step Over The Line

Psychology can teach us a great many things, and my psycology class has taught me more than it probably intended. You see lately we've been talking about why people conform and why they allow other people to influence their actions. We learned about three different experiments that are aimed at answereing this, and one of them involved having someone shock another person for every incorrect answer they gave. Now the other person was not actually shocked but the test subject believed it was actually happening. During this test 65% of the people continued shocking the 'learner' until they reached the maximum voltage of 450. To me this is increadible, I would have never shocked the other person in the first place and seeing that so many people went all the way with it is mind blowing.

Some of you may be thinking, why in the world are you telling me all this? Whats the point of this psychology lesson? Well it got me thinking about how as Christians we let the opinions of the world affect us. The bible says in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world." this is telling us that we are in the world but not of the world. If we allow the world to influence us then what good are we doing for God? If we dress, act, and talk like the world then what example are we showing for Him? We must be set apart and act in the fashion God wishes us to. Only then can we make a difference and shine our light to others who need it.

Have you ever heard the song Cross the Line by Superchick? The opening lines of this song say this, "Follow the leader, stay in the lines. What will people think of what you've done this time. Go with the crowd surely someone knows why we're all wearing the emperors cloths." The song then goes on to say that we should "cross the line" Its telling us that we need to break out of the preconceived ideas that society places on us and not to worry about what others think. We need to step out and stand up for God instead of "wearing the emperors cloths" In the story of the Emperor's New Cloths the Emperor is tricked into wearing nothing thinking its actually a magic outfit, and all of his subjects conform to this belief because they don't want to be stupid or speak out because they fear how others will view them.

Are you letting your fear of other peoples thoughts keep you from speaking out for God? Are you letting that fear keep you from standing up for Him or telling someone else about Jesus's saving grace? Or have you let the world change you and make you say or do things that aren't Godly? Are you 'shocking' your friends and family or are you standing up for what you believe in and making an impact for God? Step over the line and stand up for God. I dare you.

The Power of Vision

Today I lost my glasses. This wasn't a simple I lost my glasses and found them a few minutes later thing, it was a major hunt through the house for them. I don't wear them all the time so it's understandable that I could loose them after taking them off but the issue is, I've never lost my glasses before. I'm very careful with them since I only have one pair and glasses are expensive. My parents and I spent four hours hunting through the house searching for them. Today I was suppose to drop off my college transcript at the college I'm transferring to, but I couldn't because I can't drive without my glasses. I get major headaches and migraines if I go out for long periods of time without them. In the end I missed going to the college and my Mom had to drop me off at work. When I got home we checked my room one more time and found them behind my DVDs that I keep on a shelf. How they got there I still don't know but I'm thankful that I found them.

Why did I tell you all this story? Because I had a realization from it all.

Our sight is incredibly important to us and we don't realize what we are missing until it is gone. Its the same thing with God. Once we've accepted him as our Savior and started living for him our eyes are opened up to the world around us. Our field of vision is expanded. We see the world differently than other people, or at least that's what were suppose to do. When I lost my glasses today I couldn't see properly, things were blurry and I had to strain my eyes to read signs and see faces. If we turn away from God our vision also becomes blurry, we begin to think some things are 'ok' to do just because everyone else is doing them. We allow things of this world to cloud our vision and judgments and fall into its trap.
 

But if we keep our eyes on God then he allows us to see more. Have you ever heard the song Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath? This song says the same thing I'm trying to tell you here. In it Brandon asks God to give him His eyes for "just one second, give me your eyes so I can see." With God's vision we begin to see the hurt that others are going through and we see how we can help them through it. We see peoples struggles, pain, and situations that we would have been previously blind to. He begins to show us how he sees the world and people. God uses this to open our hearts to others and to inspire us to go out and do more for Him. He also opens our eyes to everyday miracles and the wonders of this world. And through all of this we grow in God.

So are you inconveniencing yourself by allowing your vision to be clouded? Are you hurting yourself and your relationship with God because you've lost your spiritual glasses? Or have you found your pair and are seeing the world in a new light but haven't done anything about it yet? Are you letting your spiritual glasses go to waste or are you changing the world and helping others to see God's love and mercy?


I dare you to ask God to show you the world differently, to show you the world and people as He sees them, then do something about it.

The Importance of Stuff

So lately I've realized something amazing that God's been doing in my life.

I'm the kind of person who easily gets hooked on things, like T.V. shows, video games, and books. I've always easily become 'obsessed' with these things and they'll take up all my time. I'd always talk about them, look up everything I could, and basically immerse myself in them completely. I believed that I'd never get tired of immersing myself in these things. But lately I've found myself gravitating away from them. I don't care as much about all the latest information on them. I still like and even enjoy watching the shows I love and playing the games I've always enjoyed but they are no longer important to me.

Its amazing how God changes you without you ever realizing it. I didn't even notice the change in my behavior because I was devoting so much of my time to God. I've been thinking about Him more often, reading my bible, and doing things that are for Him instead of distracting myself with things of the world. If I have time after getting these things done I may pick up a ps2 controller and play some Kingdom Hearts but that's only if I have time. I think it is so awesome that I didn't even have to ask God to do this, he just did it! It just reconfirms the fact that the more we love and immerse ourselves in God the more like Him He makes us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us (and I'm using the amplified version) that, "And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the word of God] as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit." Basically its telling us that after we've after we've accepted God's love and forgiveness and started living for Him God begins to make us more like Him! And in doing so we loose the things of this world.

Have you been letting God make you more like him? Have you found bad habits falling away or are you continuing on with them? Do you use curse words or take the Lord's name in vain? Even if you only 'use them when your mad' that's still wrong, so let God take that away from you. Immerse yourself in Him and He will take all things out of your life that are not of Him. He will take away addictions, distractions, bad habits, and anything else that He needs to clean out of your life. But remember He can only do it if you let Him. If you still hold on to these things and not to God you won't loose them, but if you reach out for God and  hold on to him with all of your might then all these other things will fade away.

A whole awful lot

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." This quote was at the end of Dr. Suess's the Lorax movie and I'm sure its in the book as well, but it makes an incredible point. Who are we to sit around waiting for something to happen? No one is going to make things happen unless they care about that thing, and when that finally does get ready for some change! This can be applied to your relationship with God as well as our daily life as Christians.

It is because so many people walk around saying they are Christians and then don't do anything about it, or worse start acting just like the world, that we have such a bad reputation. What if every person who said they cared about God really acted like it? What if everyone acted on that love acted on that care stood up and started telling the world about God's love? Even if only one person stood up and decided that they cared enough to try and change something then they would make such an impact on the people around them. What an inspiration it would be to see someone do that? I personally have had people come up to me and start talking about God and I get so excited every time they do, because I know there is someone else out there who cares like I do.

How much do you care about your relationship with God? Are you willing to put everything on the line and do something for him? Are you willing to stand out and be bold for Christ? You should be, Christ died for us, he gave up everything so that we could be with him for eternity so why aren't you out there telling everyone the good news? Go out and be bold for Christ. He cared "A whole awful lot" for you and it changed the world once, why don't we do the same?

All I Need

So lately God's been talking to me about a lot of things. What I want to tell you all about today is something He's really been pressing on my heart. Boys. Specifically my desire to have a boyfriend.

Now I know what you're all thinking. Oh no here she goes talking about how a guy should treat you right or what to look for in a guy, or even what not to do with a guy. All these things are important in their own way but that's not what I'm here to talk to you all about today. Its something a little different. So let me tell you my story and you interpret  it how you will k?

I've always had a desire for a boyfriend and to be in love. I look around at all the happy couples and say God why can't I  have that? For a while God took away that craving for a boyfriend and let me focus only on Him, but lately I've had that desire stirring up in me again and I've found myself asking God over and over to let me meet my "man" as I call him. I've been asking God to let me meet and fall in love with the guy that I'm suppose to spend the rest of my life with. But so far he hasn't shown me that guy.

Recently I helped run the screens at a Women's conference at my church and one of the ladies speaking talked about her need to have a man in her life. While her story didn't duplicate mine (she's been through far more than me) some things she said rang true to me. And I found myself at prayer last Monday asking God to be the man in my life. To show me He was all I needed. And you know what? He did!! That very night God wrapped me in his arms and told me that I was His. That He was all I needed. I knew in my spirit and soul that He truly was all I needed. I've been falling more and more in love with God over the past several months and all that love came flooding into me Monday night. God told me he was always going to be by my side. That He would hold my hand, that He would be there when no one else could. That He was the Man in my life. I felt so reassured and so elated at this realization. Because at that moment all the desire for a boyfriend left me, because I had one in God. God was and will always be my closest friend. The bible says that we are the Bride of Christ and I know in all my heart that, that statement means so much more than what it seems to. It means that God will be with us when even a husband or wife can't. He will be there to carry us through anything. God will hold us, dance with us, and comfort us through anything because He loves us that much!

To me that is the most amazing and beautiful thing that's happened in a long time. So, my question to you is how in love with God are you? Are you letting him be your all in all? Will you dance with Him? And will you let him be your ultimate relationship? Because let me tell you, a relationship with God is one that will never ever fail you. He is the only person who will never leave your or forsake you because He loves you that much. He created you in  His image and He died on the cross for our sins so that we could be with Him forever. Do you think that a God who's done all that wouldn't want to be your boyfriend? Think again, God wants to be your everything. Now I'm not saying that you won't have a boyfriend/girlfriend (for you guys :) ) or that you won't get married. What I am saying is that with or without a boyfriend, with or without a spouse God will always be there, and He always wants to get closer to you. He wants you to love Him as much as He loves you.

I know in my heart that God has a guy just waiting for me, and when the time is right I'll meet him and fall in love with him, but for now (and even after) I'm going to focus on loving God more and more. And I'm going to treasure the fact that He will always be with me no matter what because He is all I need.