Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday --A Relentless Kindness--
It is Good Friday. And all I got to say is, have you ever looked on at yourself as if on the outside of you? Like you are having a deep argument with your father. And you know that you are doing bad, but you continue anyway? We as humans have done that to our Father above. I sometimes feel like I've left my body and when I did I saw myself outside the box, and yet, I couldn't do anything. It felt as if I was pretty deep in the pit already, why should I try to get out anymore? So the pit was filling up and as I suffocating in the rain and mud I felt a hand reach out to me, and pull me out. Have you ever felt like that? The moment Jesus died he paved the way to resurrect and in doing that, he made it possible to lift us out of the dirty pit. So while in these three days of waiting, be aware of the fact that you are waiting for the second coming too, and prepare your heart for whenever it is. I am not saying that in 3 days we'll be lifted, I'm just saying prepare your heart these days, and the rest of your life!
Hand in hand with my Creator,
Mari Fahel
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Stop beating around the bush already!!
Sally here. I skipped like a whole week of the 21 day iPod shuffle challenge. O.o Don't worry though, I've still been praying all the same. And there will be 21 of these posts. :)
Today's Challenge: Come Right Out and Say It by Relient K
I think this is the toughest one I've done yet!! This song is about a girl who keeps quiet and won't tell her boyfriend what's on her mind--which is apparently something that's going to hurt him. One of my favorite songs, because most of the time it seems like people...well, just don't tell me the whole truth. They keep things to themselves and they pretend that they're OK with everything, but I can tell that they're not!
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Why IS it that humans are just so worried about being accepted by everyone? Maybe because they want to feel important? I don't know. But they'll just endure and let problems just keep rotting and rotting and getting get worse, because that other person might get hurt. (And I get that too.) But this is a centuries-old lesson: What happens if you get a hole in your favorite pair of pants and you just leave it? Well, the hole's going to keep getting bigger and bigger until it's so big that you can't put a patch on it.
It's the same with relationships. If there's a problem, you need to say something to the other person whether it hurts them or not--because if you don't, they either A) won't even know that there's even a problem, or B) they won't know what to fix! The relationship will keep deteriorating until it's beyond repair.
There's an old word that hardly gets used anymore, because it's a quality that everybody ignores. It's "frank". No, that's not the first name of a popular emo guitarist. It means "direct and unreserved in speech; straightforward; sincere." Not ONLY are you telling the truth, but you're "coming right out and saying it." You don't try to HIDE the truth. You don't keep it to yourself.
I know there's a verse in the Bible that talks about this--something like, "If your brother has a problem, talk to him about it." If anyone knows what that verse is, please let me know in the comments, because I hate not knowing where a verse is. But anyway. This isn't just a rule of thumb--it's a rule that God made. Don't let sleeping dogs lie in a relationship. FIX IT, or you'll regret it later.
Today's Challenge: Come Right Out and Say It by Relient K
I think this is the toughest one I've done yet!! This song is about a girl who keeps quiet and won't tell her boyfriend what's on her mind--which is apparently something that's going to hurt him. One of my favorite songs, because most of the time it seems like people...well, just don't tell me the whole truth. They keep things to themselves and they pretend that they're OK with everything, but I can tell that they're not!
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Why IS it that humans are just so worried about being accepted by everyone? Maybe because they want to feel important? I don't know. But they'll just endure and let problems just keep rotting and rotting and getting get worse, because that other person might get hurt. (And I get that too.) But this is a centuries-old lesson: What happens if you get a hole in your favorite pair of pants and you just leave it? Well, the hole's going to keep getting bigger and bigger until it's so big that you can't put a patch on it.
It's the same with relationships. If there's a problem, you need to say something to the other person whether it hurts them or not--because if you don't, they either A) won't even know that there's even a problem, or B) they won't know what to fix! The relationship will keep deteriorating until it's beyond repair.
There's an old word that hardly gets used anymore, because it's a quality that everybody ignores. It's "frank". No, that's not the first name of a popular emo guitarist. It means "direct and unreserved in speech; straightforward; sincere." Not ONLY are you telling the truth, but you're "coming right out and saying it." You don't try to HIDE the truth. You don't keep it to yourself.
I know there's a verse in the Bible that talks about this--something like, "If your brother has a problem, talk to him about it." If anyone knows what that verse is, please let me know in the comments, because I hate not knowing where a verse is. But anyway. This isn't just a rule of thumb--it's a rule that God made. Don't let sleeping dogs lie in a relationship. FIX IT, or you'll regret it later.
Faith in Jesus--
21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
I am taking on a challenge that my best friend, Sally Kurtie is doing on Kingdom Commandos! Go here to see the blog! :3
Have you ever seen miracles happen right before your eyes? I'm sure you have! For some it is the day they first lay eyes on a baby who wasn't supposed to live. For others it is the healing that took place right before their eyes. For me it is both. I still believe that God brings people back to life. If He so wishes He could prevent a death. So, if you have faith in the God of Miracles, He will bring to your eyes miracles small or big. If you walk with Him in the Wilderness, there will be gardens on your way through it. Even if you don't believe that there is such thing as "big miracles" such as bringing people back to life, you can't deny that there has been people on this Earth awakened from that deep "forever" sleep. You need to open your eyes and ears, and shut your mouth at some point to see the miracles of God!
We are saved by grace through faith-- On wattpad I saw a question on the Spiritual Genre saying: "What is faith and what is believing????" and I replied:
"Faith and Belief go hand in hand. You know those games some kids play where you fall into the arms of someone? Faith is the act of trusting that when you fall into this person's arms they won't let you fall. Believing in someone is almost the same thing as it is believing that the person CAN do it. So basically when you say "I have faith in God" You are saying that you KNOW in your heart that he WILL save you. And believing in him is when you KNOW in your heart he CAN."
What is faith and what is believing????
Remember these words and God will (and has preformed) preform miracles in your life and maybe even through you!
~Mari Fahel~
I am taking on a challenge that my best friend, Sally Kurtie is doing on Kingdom Commandos! Go here to see the blog! :3
Have you ever seen miracles happen right before your eyes? I'm sure you have! For some it is the day they first lay eyes on a baby who wasn't supposed to live. For others it is the healing that took place right before their eyes. For me it is both. I still believe that God brings people back to life. If He so wishes He could prevent a death. So, if you have faith in the God of Miracles, He will bring to your eyes miracles small or big. If you walk with Him in the Wilderness, there will be gardens on your way through it. Even if you don't believe that there is such thing as "big miracles" such as bringing people back to life, you can't deny that there has been people on this Earth awakened from that deep "forever" sleep. You need to open your eyes and ears, and shut your mouth at some point to see the miracles of God!
We are saved by grace through faith-- On wattpad I saw a question on the Spiritual Genre saying: "What is faith and what is believing????" and I replied:
"Faith and Belief go hand in hand. You know those games some kids play where you fall into the arms of someone? Faith is the act of trusting that when you fall into this person's arms they won't let you fall. Believing in someone is almost the same thing as it is believing that the person CAN do it. So basically when you say "I have faith in God" You are saying that you KNOW in your heart that he WILL save you. And believing in him is when you KNOW in your heart he CAN."
What is faith and what is believing????
Remember these words and God will (and has preformed) preform miracles in your life and maybe even through you!
~Mari Fahel~
Friday, March 16, 2012
Who am I?
21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
I am taking on a challenge that my best friend, Sally Kurtie is doing on Kingdom Commandos! Go here to see the blog! :3
There are plenty of people who look at themselves and say "I wish I could be anyone but me!" But I must ask, why not you? Not only are you experiencing life with it's beautiful moments and memories, you are God's beloved child. He created you for a purpose and it is certainly not to sit around moping about how you don't cut it! "But, I have so many problems, God couldn't use me! I'm not worth it!" you may say. But, look at some of the Apostles! Simon Peter denied Christ! Paul tried to kill off Christ's people! And there are much more people out there that he used! How are you any different? He is working wonders in your life, all you got to do is let him and look through His eyes!
God does not despise the broken heart, he uplifts it as a father places his child on his shoulder! Let him be with you! He loves you more than you could imagine! Not only ask Him to tell you who you are, let Him say what He means, some people will ask God "Who am I?" and He'll tell them and they'll shrug it of saying "I can't be that! You are mistaken!" Look God isn't EVER mistaken, it's just that you don't truly want Him to say "You are my Beloved." Allow Him, He truly loves you!!!!
~Mari Fahel~
I am taking on a challenge that my best friend, Sally Kurtie is doing on Kingdom Commandos! Go here to see the blog! :3
There are plenty of people who look at themselves and say "I wish I could be anyone but me!" But I must ask, why not you? Not only are you experiencing life with it's beautiful moments and memories, you are God's beloved child. He created you for a purpose and it is certainly not to sit around moping about how you don't cut it! "But, I have so many problems, God couldn't use me! I'm not worth it!" you may say. But, look at some of the Apostles! Simon Peter denied Christ! Paul tried to kill off Christ's people! And there are much more people out there that he used! How are you any different? He is working wonders in your life, all you got to do is let him and look through His eyes!
God does not despise the broken heart, he uplifts it as a father places his child on his shoulder! Let him be with you! He loves you more than you could imagine! Not only ask Him to tell you who you are, let Him say what He means, some people will ask God "Who am I?" and He'll tell them and they'll shrug it of saying "I can't be that! You are mistaken!" Look God isn't EVER mistaken, it's just that you don't truly want Him to say "You are my Beloved." Allow Him, He truly loves you!!!!
~Mari Fahel~
Thursday, March 15, 2012
After a long Abandonedment--
--The Prodigal Co-Host has returned!!!! x3
I've come to re-post an entry from my devotional blog!!!
21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
I am taking on a challenge that my best friend, Sally Kurtie is doing on Kingdom Commandos! Go here to see the blog (Where I posted this)! :3
Suicide is one of those things that is suffered through a lot with those who are hurt or depressed. The only way we (those who are suicidal) know how to relieve it, is to cause pain outwardly. But it never lasts as long as we wish for self-injuring is a dangerous merry-go-round we go on often. We hurt to relieve ourselves of our depression then depression follows suit one after another every time we do so. A lot of Christians would say to commit suicide is an unforgivable sin, but how, may I ask, is killing yourself blaspheming against the Holy Spirit? Yes, that is the ONLY unforgivable sin out there. What God says to his people in there time of need is written plainly in the Bible SEEK the Kingdom of God and ALL these things shall be added unto you!
We ask for love, peace, joy and every ounce of patience that had escaped us. But never have we thought that God is testing us and what does a teacher do when his students are in a test? They are quiet!!!! But I swear to you, it is "Worth the Pain" during the night of our worst fears and agonizing cries, God is waiting with us until the Sun rises and he can open his arms in greeting of the new day he has brought us!
~Mari Fahel~
I've come to re-post an entry from my devotional blog!!!
21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
I am taking on a challenge that my best friend, Sally Kurtie is doing on Kingdom Commandos! Go here to see the blog (Where I posted this)! :3
Suicide is one of those things that is suffered through a lot with those who are hurt or depressed. The only way we (those who are suicidal) know how to relieve it, is to cause pain outwardly. But it never lasts as long as we wish for self-injuring is a dangerous merry-go-round we go on often. We hurt to relieve ourselves of our depression then depression follows suit one after another every time we do so. A lot of Christians would say to commit suicide is an unforgivable sin, but how, may I ask, is killing yourself blaspheming against the Holy Spirit? Yes, that is the ONLY unforgivable sin out there. What God says to his people in there time of need is written plainly in the Bible SEEK the Kingdom of God and ALL these things shall be added unto you!
We ask for love, peace, joy and every ounce of patience that had escaped us. But never have we thought that God is testing us and what does a teacher do when his students are in a test? They are quiet!!!! But I swear to you, it is "Worth the Pain" during the night of our worst fears and agonizing cries, God is waiting with us until the Sun rises and he can open his arms in greeting of the new day he has brought us!
~Mari Fahel~
Thursday, March 8, 2012
He'll never go
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Already Over by Red
There's times in our life when we just want to block God out and push Him out of our lives. We just want to do whatever we want to do, or maybe He didn't "come through" on something we prayed about. We ignore him and we live our lives on our own. The thing of it is, God's not going to just walk away! He doesn't give up on you, like a friend or even a family member might when we deliberately tell them to leave. This song talks about how God will never go. He's all around us. Once He gets through to you, He doesn't stop calling--kind of like an annoying person who keeps your phone ringing off the hook after you give him your phone number.
God never gives up on us, no matter how much we want Him to go away. He's stubborn that way. After all, He created you! So He'll just keep on bugging you and bugging you until you give in again and realize that the fight was already over since the beginning. He owns you, all of you, so why don't you stop fighting Him and let Him take care of you?
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Already Over by Red
There's times in our life when we just want to block God out and push Him out of our lives. We just want to do whatever we want to do, or maybe He didn't "come through" on something we prayed about. We ignore him and we live our lives on our own. The thing of it is, God's not going to just walk away! He doesn't give up on you, like a friend or even a family member might when we deliberately tell them to leave. This song talks about how God will never go. He's all around us. Once He gets through to you, He doesn't stop calling--kind of like an annoying person who keeps your phone ringing off the hook after you give him your phone number.
God never gives up on us, no matter how much we want Him to go away. He's stubborn that way. After all, He created you! So He'll just keep on bugging you and bugging you until you give in again and realize that the fight was already over since the beginning. He owns you, all of you, so why don't you stop fighting Him and let Him take care of you?
A world without God is a world without love
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Love Hate (On and On) by Disciple
This song has been stuck in my head ever since it started playing on my mp3 player this morning. Most of the lyrics copy my own thoughts. It talks about how some--in fact, most--of the world is filled with hate. Mothers kill their own children (yes I mean abortion), sons fight with their fathers, parents beat their children beyond need or reason, teenagers are forced to endure a life of brutal harrassment, innocence is stolen from little children before they can even understand what they're doing. Everyone is born into evil, especially in a day and age where lust and money take precedence over love.
Remember the verse in the Bible, "God is love"? In a world where God is hated and spurned, there is very little love. Sure, you meet someone every once in a while who would give their very life for the people they love. But it's SO RARE. Love, along with God, has been practically burned at stake. People think it's stupid to love someone unconditionally, to let them walk all over you.
Most people don't even know about love. Jesus is the only one who can bring the light of love into their dark souls. The job is given to YOU to show them some of that love, and Jesus will take it from there. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself? Are you up to it? No, it's not easy to love. It's not easy at all. But we're Christians--and that also means we are warriors. Help Jesus stop the hate--you are His tool here on earth.
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Love Hate (On and On) by Disciple
This song has been stuck in my head ever since it started playing on my mp3 player this morning. Most of the lyrics copy my own thoughts. It talks about how some--in fact, most--of the world is filled with hate. Mothers kill their own children (yes I mean abortion), sons fight with their fathers, parents beat their children beyond need or reason, teenagers are forced to endure a life of brutal harrassment, innocence is stolen from little children before they can even understand what they're doing. Everyone is born into evil, especially in a day and age where lust and money take precedence over love.
Remember the verse in the Bible, "God is love"? In a world where God is hated and spurned, there is very little love. Sure, you meet someone every once in a while who would give their very life for the people they love. But it's SO RARE. Love, along with God, has been practically burned at stake. People think it's stupid to love someone unconditionally, to let them walk all over you.
Most people don't even know about love. Jesus is the only one who can bring the light of love into their dark souls. The job is given to YOU to show them some of that love, and Jesus will take it from there. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself? Are you up to it? No, it's not easy to love. It's not easy at all. But we're Christians--and that also means we are warriors. Help Jesus stop the hate--you are His tool here on earth.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
You lift me up with your love
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Lift Me Up by The Afters
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Lift Me Up by The Afters
I turned my mp3 player on shuffle this morning when I was riding my bike with my brothers and sister--and boy, does that make some nice background music for a beautiful day! There's not much to say about it, since the song itself pretty much says it all. The lyrics are beautiful. ♥ So is the video, so watch it!
I've been saying this in the last few posts (actually, hasn't it been in every post by now...?) that humans are not perfect. We're not very strong, either. The devil really hates us, and he surrounds the world with trials and temptations. When he can't get us to turn away from the path of our own free will, he tries to force us into it by putting us through trials. We're in a world of darkness; that's all there is to it. We're born into it and we become it, and even when we become children of the light, it's hard not to go back to our true nature. But you have to remember THAT JESUS UNDERSTANDS!!! All you have to do is go back to him! He'll pick you back up off the ground, brush all the dirt off you, and give you the strength and courage to go on!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Faith and fear collide
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Collide by Skillet
So far, this challenge is definitely working--because God really IS telling me something with every song! My interpretation of this song is that it's about Christians, and how the world tries to "tearing down our lives."
Let's face it. Christians just flat out aren't welcome here. They laugh and point the finger and us because we're "too good" to go to parties and waste our lives away. And here's another cold, hard fact: sometimes we want to join them. It's not easy being a Christian, and we really don't get to do whatever we want. It's hard. The devil will always try to find some way to break our faith. As humans, we have a fear that things won't turn out all right, even if we're doing what God's telling us to. And there's those moments when we just don't know what God wants us to do. We stumble and we fall sometimes. Jesus never said it would be easy.
As Christians, though, we have faith inside us as well. I've mentioned on the past couple of shows that Christians have an assurance in their hearts that God is there for them, and that everything will turn out OK in the end. Even in the darkest of nights, that faith shines bright, like a candle burning in a window. It encourages us to keep going, to hold on, to take just one more step, to fight our way back to the top of that cliff.
Faith and fear collide in our hearts. Like it says in Ephesians, the battles we fight are not of flesh, blood, and bone--it's of the spirit. The spirit is willing--the spirit has that faith--but the flesh, the part where fear comes from, is weak. Think of the spirit and the flesh as oil and water. They just plain don't mix.
We have to hold onto God's hand and commit our lives totally to him. Don't feel bad if you stumble and let go of his hand for a moment--remember that he's always standing there waiting for you to accept his hand again so he can pull you back on your feet. Just hold on.
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Collide by Skillet
So far, this challenge is definitely working--because God really IS telling me something with every song! My interpretation of this song is that it's about Christians, and how the world tries to "tearing down our lives."
Let's face it. Christians just flat out aren't welcome here. They laugh and point the finger and us because we're "too good" to go to parties and waste our lives away. And here's another cold, hard fact: sometimes we want to join them. It's not easy being a Christian, and we really don't get to do whatever we want. It's hard. The devil will always try to find some way to break our faith. As humans, we have a fear that things won't turn out all right, even if we're doing what God's telling us to. And there's those moments when we just don't know what God wants us to do. We stumble and we fall sometimes. Jesus never said it would be easy.
As Christians, though, we have faith inside us as well. I've mentioned on the past couple of shows that Christians have an assurance in their hearts that God is there for them, and that everything will turn out OK in the end. Even in the darkest of nights, that faith shines bright, like a candle burning in a window. It encourages us to keep going, to hold on, to take just one more step, to fight our way back to the top of that cliff.
Faith and fear collide in our hearts. Like it says in Ephesians, the battles we fight are not of flesh, blood, and bone--it's of the spirit. The spirit is willing--the spirit has that faith--but the flesh, the part where fear comes from, is weak. Think of the spirit and the flesh as oil and water. They just plain don't mix.
We have to hold onto God's hand and commit our lives totally to him. Don't feel bad if you stumble and let go of his hand for a moment--remember that he's always standing there waiting for you to accept his hand again so he can pull you back on your feet. Just hold on.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The only one left to listen
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Therapy by Relient K
When this song started playing on my mp3 player, it was like a revelation. First I thought, "Really, Lord? Another Relient K song?" Then my next thought was, "Thanks for the reminder." This song is about a guy getting over a breakup--he's crying, he misses her, he's having a hard time moving on without her. But he takes a drive out in the country so he can have a one-to-one talk with God. He calls that his "therapy."
Life is really frustrating. Why? Well, it's LIFE, that's why. We get harrassed with a billion things that distract us. It gets to the point where we can't even think straight because there's so much drama going on! (Have I been there? Why yes I have, thank you.) Sometimes we vent to our friends, our family, or maybe even a random stranger. But there's other times when nobody's around. Either they can't understand or they just plain get sick of having to listen to you all the time. Or maybe you get to the point where you only wanna talk to that one person you just can't talk to at the moment. Those are the times we need to clear away all the distractions--lock yourself up in a closet with heavy metal music blaring at 31, or walk to the middle of a forest, or drive somewhere just to drive. We need to get alone with God. And once all the distractions are gone, you can have a good talk with Him.
Something I'm sure you've all heard me say on my show is, "When nobody else is there, God will ALWAYS be there for you." In fact, I'm pretty sure I say it at least once a show. I say that not only for your benefit, but for mine as well. As a teenager, I have lots of drama going on around me. Oy vey, I can't even BEGIN to tell you. The people who know me either aren't there for me when I need it, or they're just plain sick of me complaining! It's really lonesome because I feel like no one is on my side. I'll lock myself in my room and cry, mumbling all my frustrations out loud because I wish someone could hear. I need someone to wrap their arms around me and let me cry on their shoulder, and tell me it's all right. I feel alone.
I forget sometimes, though, that there IS someone who hears. There IS someone who wraps His arms around me and tells me it's OK. Sure, it's not physical, but He's still THERE. I may be stubborn and want whatever I want, but no matter what, He's not going to leave. He's the person who's going to take out fresh sheets of paper and a nice expensive pen to take down notes about how I feel--because yes, God DOES listen to your feelings, even if you don't think He does! And unlike those fancy-shmancy therapists in pressed suits who take those notes and make an "educated guess" as to what your major malfunction is, God knows EXACTLY what your problem is. He can administer the best cures because He's inside your mind! He made your mind for Pete's sake!
And you know what? In those moments where I remember God's there, I feel a lot better after venting all my frustrations out on Him. Sure, I'm saying the same things over and over again, but He doesn't mind hearing it. For the past 2 days I've been praying as hard as I can about just one thing, and I can't think of any fancy words to change up what I'm saying. I'm repeating myself over and over. I hate doing that because I'm a writer, and in a piece of writing that's redundant, but to God, it's not redundant at all. He knows we need it.
Today I feel like I let God down because I had to do the prayer during TinyChurch. Who knows, maybe I did. For like half an hour, I locked myself upstairs and cried because I felt like I couldn't do ANYTHING right!! But as I'm writing this, I remembered: well, I'm praying because people need me to. If I need to add a few extra days to my prayer fast because I have to pray during TinyChurch, then I will! I just have to keep pressing on. I can't let something like that bog me down. I have to keep going, I have to keep trying. God knows my heart. He knows what my intentions are, and most of all, He knows I'm a teenager and I can't do every little thing just exactly perfect! So after I vented in a bunch of random gibberish, actually, I set my jaw and I decided I'm going to keep praying about this thing anyway.
Let me tell you a little something. Ever since I was about 13, when I really need to talk to God, I get this picture in my head. It's me, as a little girl in a black dress. There's two rooms with a big brick wall in between--one room has me in it, the other room has Jesus in it, sitting on a chair. When I need to talk to him, I go outside my room and knock on the door of His room. He lets me in, of course, and I just sit down on the floor next to him and tell him all my troubles and ask him to forgive me. He hugs me and lets me cry, and then when I'm finished, I walk out of that room with a white dress on. Silly, isn't it? But we all have our own ways of praying, I'm sure. It helps me to picture Jesus better.
Nope, I'm not perfect. Not even by a long shot. I'm not as smart or as helpful as most of the people on The Endtime Tribune, but I do my little part. God gave me a job to do, and I'm going to do that. I'm going to pray about what I've set out to pray for--I'm going to talk to Him about it, cast it all on Him, ask Him to make things better and help it to work out. I'm sure the devil doesn't like that. But you know what, ole devil? This is me sticking my tongue out at you. :P Nyah nyah nyah! God's my therapist and you can't knock me down.
~Sally Kurtie
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Therapy by Relient K
When this song started playing on my mp3 player, it was like a revelation. First I thought, "Really, Lord? Another Relient K song?" Then my next thought was, "Thanks for the reminder." This song is about a guy getting over a breakup--he's crying, he misses her, he's having a hard time moving on without her. But he takes a drive out in the country so he can have a one-to-one talk with God. He calls that his "therapy."
Life is really frustrating. Why? Well, it's LIFE, that's why. We get harrassed with a billion things that distract us. It gets to the point where we can't even think straight because there's so much drama going on! (Have I been there? Why yes I have, thank you.) Sometimes we vent to our friends, our family, or maybe even a random stranger. But there's other times when nobody's around. Either they can't understand or they just plain get sick of having to listen to you all the time. Or maybe you get to the point where you only wanna talk to that one person you just can't talk to at the moment. Those are the times we need to clear away all the distractions--lock yourself up in a closet with heavy metal music blaring at 31, or walk to the middle of a forest, or drive somewhere just to drive. We need to get alone with God. And once all the distractions are gone, you can have a good talk with Him.
Something I'm sure you've all heard me say on my show is, "When nobody else is there, God will ALWAYS be there for you." In fact, I'm pretty sure I say it at least once a show. I say that not only for your benefit, but for mine as well. As a teenager, I have lots of drama going on around me. Oy vey, I can't even BEGIN to tell you. The people who know me either aren't there for me when I need it, or they're just plain sick of me complaining! It's really lonesome because I feel like no one is on my side. I'll lock myself in my room and cry, mumbling all my frustrations out loud because I wish someone could hear. I need someone to wrap their arms around me and let me cry on their shoulder, and tell me it's all right. I feel alone.
I forget sometimes, though, that there IS someone who hears. There IS someone who wraps His arms around me and tells me it's OK. Sure, it's not physical, but He's still THERE. I may be stubborn and want whatever I want, but no matter what, He's not going to leave. He's the person who's going to take out fresh sheets of paper and a nice expensive pen to take down notes about how I feel--because yes, God DOES listen to your feelings, even if you don't think He does! And unlike those fancy-shmancy therapists in pressed suits who take those notes and make an "educated guess" as to what your major malfunction is, God knows EXACTLY what your problem is. He can administer the best cures because He's inside your mind! He made your mind for Pete's sake!
And you know what? In those moments where I remember God's there, I feel a lot better after venting all my frustrations out on Him. Sure, I'm saying the same things over and over again, but He doesn't mind hearing it. For the past 2 days I've been praying as hard as I can about just one thing, and I can't think of any fancy words to change up what I'm saying. I'm repeating myself over and over. I hate doing that because I'm a writer, and in a piece of writing that's redundant, but to God, it's not redundant at all. He knows we need it.
Today I feel like I let God down because I had to do the prayer during TinyChurch. Who knows, maybe I did. For like half an hour, I locked myself upstairs and cried because I felt like I couldn't do ANYTHING right!! But as I'm writing this, I remembered: well, I'm praying because people need me to. If I need to add a few extra days to my prayer fast because I have to pray during TinyChurch, then I will! I just have to keep pressing on. I can't let something like that bog me down. I have to keep going, I have to keep trying. God knows my heart. He knows what my intentions are, and most of all, He knows I'm a teenager and I can't do every little thing just exactly perfect! So after I vented in a bunch of random gibberish, actually, I set my jaw and I decided I'm going to keep praying about this thing anyway.
Let me tell you a little something. Ever since I was about 13, when I really need to talk to God, I get this picture in my head. It's me, as a little girl in a black dress. There's two rooms with a big brick wall in between--one room has me in it, the other room has Jesus in it, sitting on a chair. When I need to talk to him, I go outside my room and knock on the door of His room. He lets me in, of course, and I just sit down on the floor next to him and tell him all my troubles and ask him to forgive me. He hugs me and lets me cry, and then when I'm finished, I walk out of that room with a white dress on. Silly, isn't it? But we all have our own ways of praying, I'm sure. It helps me to picture Jesus better.
Nope, I'm not perfect. Not even by a long shot. I'm not as smart or as helpful as most of the people on The Endtime Tribune, but I do my little part. God gave me a job to do, and I'm going to do that. I'm going to pray about what I've set out to pray for--I'm going to talk to Him about it, cast it all on Him, ask Him to make things better and help it to work out. I'm sure the devil doesn't like that. But you know what, ole devil? This is me sticking my tongue out at you. :P Nyah nyah nyah! God's my therapist and you can't knock me down.
~Sally Kurtie
Saturday, March 3, 2012
The spirit is willing...
Hey Guys! Sally Kurtie here with a post, after like three months. O.o It would help if you guys posted comments and stuff (as soon as I finish this post, I'm gonna mess with the settings so that people without Blogger accounts can comment). Anyway, I've come up with an idea that will give me ideas to post for the next three weeks!
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Curl Up & Die by Relient K
Now this one's a little tricky! This is actually a love song, and the meaning is a little encrypted. The singer feels bad for hurting the girl--and he's ready to move on, since the relationship is pretty broken. She's not, however; and he feels bad, because he DOES love her. So he says, "I'll just curl up with you and die too."
So how do I make this a Christian value? It's kind of easy, really. It made me think of this verse right off the bat:
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool that returns to his folly.
--Proverbs 26:11
My dad used this verse on me A LOT when I was...oh, 10-14 years of age, which were my difficult growing-up years. For as far back as I can remember, I got in trouble for the same stuff over and over again. Like waiting till my parents were gone and then rifling through the cabinets to steal snacks (I got a little overweight as punishment, by the way). Or I'd continually forget to clean off the highchairs or the coffee maker. Honestly? I'm still doing that. I'm just a backsliding person, honestly. It's hard for me to change my ways, unless I'm praying and reading my Bible every single day--if not multiple times a day.
Remember how Jesus said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak?" I don't know what it is about humans, but we naturally want to follow the crowd. We want to obey the lusts of our dirt-filled bodies and practice those stupid things that the world thinks is cool. Like lying, for instance. People really don't think lying is wrong--until someone lies to them!
It's so easy to belt out a little white lie, like if you want to check your email for a sec, but your mom walks in and asks if you're done with your homework. Even if you're not, you immediately respond, "Yes." Why? Because for some stupid reason, your flesh would rather go to hell over checking your email than doing your homework like you're supposed to! And then think about the trouble you're going to get into if your mom comes in later and sees you working on your homework again! Either you admit that you weren't really done with your homework (if you ask me, that's the easier route) or you pile on another lie to say "Oh, I forgot this lesson," or "I'm just double checking my work." Or, even worse, you don't even bother to go back to your homework to cover up that little white lie--and get into trouble later because you didn't finish your homework!
Now what does this have to do with the song? Well, let's use some figurative language--personification. Imagine the flesh and the spirit as two people, a girl and a guy for instance. The guy is "breaking the girl's heart" by ignoring what she wants and going with what God wants. It hurts to be spiritual! Like the email story I told you a minute ago. I don't know why, but for me, that darn email is a temptation to me. I'm always wanting to check my email when A) I'm supposed to be doing something else or B) I'm not supposed to be on the computer. (FYI, I've checked my email four or five times in the time it's taken me to get this far in the blog post, and I'm getting that urge to check again.) I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've gotten in trouble because I was "just checking my email." In those moments of weakness when I give in and check my email when I'm not supposed to, that's the guy feeling sorry for the girl and going back to her.
It's stupid. I mean, why would I want to go to hell over checking my email? Well, because it's fleshly to love fleshly desires, and my flesh is a part of me! If I don't keep my spirit strong, going back to God every single day to get my daily dose of prayer and Bible vitamins, I'm going to cave in. Because my spirit feels "sorry" for the flesh, because it gets tired of denying itself, it "goes back"--just for one touch. But that one touch can grow into a whole lot more, and before long, I'll be in a relationship with my flesh again. So I'll be back to square one, and all that work I did to get away from my flesh is for nothing. Kind of like that dog going back to his puke.
So today's lesson: Don't "curl up and die" just because you want to do what you want to do. If you start getting weak, go to God. You don't even have to talk about what you're going through--talk about, I don't know, your peanut butter sandwich! It's human to want to feel accepted by whoever you're talking to, and if you're talking to God, you're gonna want to do what He wants you to. :)
The 21 Day iPod Shuffle Challenge
If you come to the TinyChat meetings on The Endtime Tribune, you know that my dad talks a lot about the 21-day "prayer fast," where you pray about one thing and one thing only for 21 days. Well, I'm taking that challenge myself. But to add to that, I have a hard time having faith that God will even answer my prayers--ya know, cuz God does whatever He wants to. So I have to work on my faith the same time I'm praying for 21 days, so that I have the determination to keep that covenant. The way I'm going to do it is the 21-day iPod Shuffle Challenge--something I came up with myself.
A lot of the time, I'm praying for an answer and I ask God to give me that answer through a song. I just grab my mp3 player and put it on shuffle, and whatever song that comes up--be it a love song or a praise song--is supposed to answer my question somehow. Does it work? Well, sometimes. A few times I think God's sense of humor has kicked in and He gives me a song that has nothing to do with what I'm asking about. Well, for the next 21 days, once a day I'll put my mp3 player on Shuffle and think of a Christian lesson that goes with that song!
Today's Challenge: Curl Up & Die by Relient K
Now this one's a little tricky! This is actually a love song, and the meaning is a little encrypted. The singer feels bad for hurting the girl--and he's ready to move on, since the relationship is pretty broken. She's not, however; and he feels bad, because he DOES love her. So he says, "I'll just curl up with you and die too."
So how do I make this a Christian value? It's kind of easy, really. It made me think of this verse right off the bat:
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool that returns to his folly.
--Proverbs 26:11
My dad used this verse on me A LOT when I was...oh, 10-14 years of age, which were my difficult growing-up years. For as far back as I can remember, I got in trouble for the same stuff over and over again. Like waiting till my parents were gone and then rifling through the cabinets to steal snacks (I got a little overweight as punishment, by the way). Or I'd continually forget to clean off the highchairs or the coffee maker. Honestly? I'm still doing that. I'm just a backsliding person, honestly. It's hard for me to change my ways, unless I'm praying and reading my Bible every single day--if not multiple times a day.
Remember how Jesus said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak?" I don't know what it is about humans, but we naturally want to follow the crowd. We want to obey the lusts of our dirt-filled bodies and practice those stupid things that the world thinks is cool. Like lying, for instance. People really don't think lying is wrong--until someone lies to them!
It's so easy to belt out a little white lie, like if you want to check your email for a sec, but your mom walks in and asks if you're done with your homework. Even if you're not, you immediately respond, "Yes." Why? Because for some stupid reason, your flesh would rather go to hell over checking your email than doing your homework like you're supposed to! And then think about the trouble you're going to get into if your mom comes in later and sees you working on your homework again! Either you admit that you weren't really done with your homework (if you ask me, that's the easier route) or you pile on another lie to say "Oh, I forgot this lesson," or "I'm just double checking my work." Or, even worse, you don't even bother to go back to your homework to cover up that little white lie--and get into trouble later because you didn't finish your homework!
Now what does this have to do with the song? Well, let's use some figurative language--personification. Imagine the flesh and the spirit as two people, a girl and a guy for instance. The guy is "breaking the girl's heart" by ignoring what she wants and going with what God wants. It hurts to be spiritual! Like the email story I told you a minute ago. I don't know why, but for me, that darn email is a temptation to me. I'm always wanting to check my email when A) I'm supposed to be doing something else or B) I'm not supposed to be on the computer. (FYI, I've checked my email four or five times in the time it's taken me to get this far in the blog post, and I'm getting that urge to check again.) I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've gotten in trouble because I was "just checking my email." In those moments of weakness when I give in and check my email when I'm not supposed to, that's the guy feeling sorry for the girl and going back to her.
It's stupid. I mean, why would I want to go to hell over checking my email? Well, because it's fleshly to love fleshly desires, and my flesh is a part of me! If I don't keep my spirit strong, going back to God every single day to get my daily dose of prayer and Bible vitamins, I'm going to cave in. Because my spirit feels "sorry" for the flesh, because it gets tired of denying itself, it "goes back"--just for one touch. But that one touch can grow into a whole lot more, and before long, I'll be in a relationship with my flesh again. So I'll be back to square one, and all that work I did to get away from my flesh is for nothing. Kind of like that dog going back to his puke.
So today's lesson: Don't "curl up and die" just because you want to do what you want to do. If you start getting weak, go to God. You don't even have to talk about what you're going through--talk about, I don't know, your peanut butter sandwich! It's human to want to feel accepted by whoever you're talking to, and if you're talking to God, you're gonna want to do what He wants you to. :)
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Never trust elves. EVER.
"You better watch out, you better not cry,
You better not pout, I'm tellin' you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town."
*record needle scratches*
WHOA-WHOA-WHOA. HOLD UP. Since when is some bearded, old, fat dude in a red costume the guy we gotta be good for??! And he...knows when we're sleeping and when we're awake? And when we've been bad or good? That is just...disturbing. O.e Sometimes I just gotta wonder who came up with this stuff.
When I was 5 or 6, I thought the whole idea was funny. My mom and dad never really told me Santa Claus was real; I kinda got that into my own head because I just think like that and I'd seen a lot of movies. I figured it out one Christmas when my mom forgot to fill the stockings until the morning and I got out of bed and caught her doing it. XD Something like that, anyway. Maybe I "accidentally" peeked into some Wal-Mart bags after my parents went on a shopping spree in December and later found the same things in my stockings. I can't remember. I was only 5. I just remember what house I was in when I figured it out, and a few snatches of memory.
I upgraded a little after that. I just thought it was a gag that parents did to add to the surprise at Christmas. In all honesty, I liked the idea of Mom and Dad putting stuff in the stocking MUCH more than I liked having some stranger do it. I just didn't understand why.
Later on, around 12 or 13, I figured that Santa was a way of teaching kids about God. The presents stood for blessings that God gives us when we're good. And since He's, well, I dunno, GOD, He knows what we've been up to. That's why we have to behave ourselves. Then there's the spirit of Christmas--giving things, not getting things. And God's all about that. Santa, I figured, was a really primitive and childish way of leading up to teaching kids about God.
Getting older, I decided Santa was a symbol. He stood for everyone across the world who delivers presents to kids and such. He was, essentially, Christmas. He worked for God, I figured! Maybe he was even some kind of angel! After all, in all the movies he's such a sweet, jolly, loveable old man--kind of like the grandpa I always wanted but never got.
But the older I got, the more contempt grew in me for Santa. There's nothing wrong with Santa himself; he's just a character. The character's pretty awesome! But here's the thing: God-haters use Santa as a replacement for the real "reason for the season." Jesus and His birth is wiped out of the equation. Santa is the sweet old man who gives us presents, and gives us the so-called spirit of Christmas. We should all try to be like Santa and be giving...to heckfire with Jesus!! Just say "X-Mas" or "Happy Holidays" and you've got no problem.
See, I really HATE people who try to keep God out of the picture. Especially when it comes to holidays. I agree with Sarah, wholeheartedly. So what if it started out pagan. Agreed, that's not right. Agreed, we should celebrate the birth of Jesus every single day of our lives. But that doesn't mean we can't have a special day to celebrate it. Cuz humans are kinda stupid. They forget what Jesus did, because in the run-on sentence of life, they get too busy. But around Christmas, they remember, and they get pumped up with a lot of "giving" power that will last them through the year. ^_^
And here's another thing. I was going to write it up all by myself, but yesterday (Sunday the 18th, actually) I stumbled across this news article... O_O I actually have a little bit of respect for Justin Beiber now...I won't bore you with the entire post, but here's what he said:
"With Christmas just one week away, Justin Bieber isn't planning to head to bed early Dec. 24 to await the arrival of Santa Claus. In fact, the teen pop phenom says he's never believed in the man in the big red suit. "My mom always told me there wasn't a Santa," Bieber says in a new interview with AOL Music. "This was her logic: She thought if I grew up knowing about Santa then finding out he wasn't real, that it would be like she was lying to me. And then when she told me about God, I maybe wouldn't believe her.""
--Stolen from Yahoo News or something like that. XD
So, JB, I still don't like you. I still think you dress like a little Elvis punk and you sounded a whole lot better when you sounded like a kid. I still think that crazed fangirls totally overrate you. I still think you would sound WAY better singing rock than pop. BUT I'm gonna cut you some slack cuz we were brought up the same way. XD Just so you know.
Boy, I am terrible with concluding posts lately. lol I just wanted to say that Relient K's "Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town" (featured below) completely describes how Christmas goes crazy and wild and nuts if you only count Santa and not God. And I shall leave it at that...trusting you ACTUALLY watch the video. Otherwise, you will be lost...And sides, I went to all the trouble to find a funny video for it!!!!
Friday, December 9, 2011
A Silent Night was a Perfect Night
There's something beautifully magical about a silent winter night. I've been out in quite a few--well, at least it was still dark, because thanks to Daylight Savings Time I had to go outside and wait for the bus before the sun even dared peek over the horizon. And since I was so eager to get away from home, I was always the first to the bus stop. Standing there alone on an icy street for about fifteen minutes, I felt so much closer to the rest of the world. It was like I could sense everything. I could hear the wind whispering in the trees, I could see the city lights glowing on the clouds, I could feel the snowflakes caress my cheeks gently as if to apologize for the biting wind that carried them. God felt closer; the angels felt closer; the whole world felt closer. Without the noise, without the chaos, without the crowds, the winter wonderland was perfect. I can't even begin to describe the inspiration that ran through my veins, forming into words as I stood there freezing my tail off. Everyone else would come around, calling me crazy and complaining about the cold. But I endured because of the blissful silence.
Life is so full of noise. Doesn't matter what you're doing, something's always bound to interrupt you. Responsibilities, hobbies, friends, family, enemies, innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders, books, machinery, music, TV, cell phones, Facebook, Blogger, sports, news...and the list goes on. Something's always happening, something always needs to be done, something can always be done. Our heads get crammed so full of useless information that our internal computer starts going slow, processing all the easy things first to get them out of the way. It's the important stuff that gets ignored, that gets left until later and maybe even forgotten until it's too late, and your hard drive crashes.
"Goodness gosh, why don't you just get to the POINT already?!" you guys must be yelling at the computer screen right now. Boy, do I love getting figurative. x3 What I'm trying to say is, the noise and busyness in our lives drown out the gentle whispers of God. We get so darn absorbed in other things that we forget to remember Him. See, God doesn't like having to shout over all the noise. When He does that, things get pretty ugly--like they did with the Great Flood and in Sodom and Gomorrah. And hopefully you've never done anything QUITE that nasty!!! No, God prefers to whisper gently in our ears, in the silence...like during a winter night. Like during that silent winter night 2,000 years ago, when a little baby was born into a stable, among all the animals and smell, to an unassuming poor carpenter and his wife.
The Hebrews looked forward to their Messiah. But they were looking for a knight in shining armor on a white steed, someone who would stomp all the Romans' heads in. They weren't looking for a cute little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. That's why, unfortunately, they never found Him. People like the Pharisees had all the noise in their heads and they looked in all the wrong places. People like the poor shepherds, who were just sitting outside watching their sheep during that silent night, didn't have all that noise in their heads. When the angels came to tell them, they heard and they knew where to look.
So, like the title says, a silent winter night was a perfect night. It was the perfect time to bring around His little whisper, our Lord and Savior. For those who were listening, the glad tidings were loud and clear. So this year, make sure you keep your ears strained. We can't erase all the noise, but we can close ourselves in our bedrooms and have a quiet little talk with Jesus. Maybe He'll tell you something you need to hear.
Christmas Angels
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for there by some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2, KJV
What is an angel? Most of us think of a beautiful creature with long shining hair and soft white wings. Or if you're like Sarah, you picture a fierce warrior wielding a sword. Angels can be both. The Bible tells us about angels, heavenly beings that come from God to do His business. Sometimes they're delivering messages, sometimes they're kicking bad guy tail; but either way, they make a pretty big spectacle. Like that first Christmas two thousand and some-odd years ago, when they lit up the whole sky singing about the Savior's birth. “GloooOoooOooooOooooOriaaa...In Excelsis DeEoooo.”
Can you imagine, the whole field full of bright white heavenly light, and the whole sky full of these beautifully horrifying beings, and the whole ground shaking with the sound of their voice? Those poor shepherds. x]
Sometimes when I look back at my days in public school, I smile a little and wonder...what do they think of me now? I was a mysterious girl, beautiful, sweet and kind. No matter what anyone did to me, I braced myself and took it with a smile. I was never mean to anyone, at least not in their eyes; I may have lost my temper and cursed every once in a while, but I never did low, underhanded things like they would have in the same situation. No one knew who I was or where I came from. And when I left, I might as well have vanished into thin air. There would have been no way of proving that I'd actually been a real person. For all they know, I could have been an angel. I could have been sent by God to shine a light in that dark place. And who knows, maybe I was.
A friend of mine calls me Angel. Every time I see it in a message, I have to smile a little. Me, an angel? I was a brat in my childhood, I was a sneak in my early teens, and I was just plain evil when I was 16. Nowadays, I can't seem to do anything right. I'm always having dark, morbid thoughts. Some angel I am...at least, in my own opinion. What's the definition of the word angel? A messenger, a guide, a protector. I've been all of the above. With my smile and with my kind acts, I carry the message of salvation. With my encouraging and inspirational words, I point out the light waiting at the end of the tunnel. With a heart that cries out to everyone I see hurt, I do my best to shield my closest friends from harm...and I usually end up saving them in one way or another. God has obviously appointed me to be some kind of backup angel here on earth. That's a big responsibility! Sometimes it makes me pretty upset, because I feel like I'm not good enough. But if I wasn't good enough, God wouldn't have assigned me in the first place.
And have I met angels of my own? Well, sure I have! I won't name names, because I don't want anyone to feel embarrassed. But let me tell you right now, none of those angels exactly fit the stereotype that people have going on in their brains. Most of them are either rebellious punks or brokenhearted individuals. Still, they've been angels to me. They were there when I needed someone. One of them gave me the message to never give up. One of them guides me down this lonely road of life. One of them is my protector, shielding me from hurt. Goodness gawsh, I know angels! O_O Not only that, they're my close personal friends!!!
So many people go around looking for angels. Funny thing is, most of them are in plain sight. They're in the disguise of the tough punk girl who thinks she's ugly and mannish, or the hyperactive fat girl who's always crying, or the bad boy who seems destined for trouble. If you can't see them, be an angel yourself. It doesn't take much--and I tell you this from experience. It's as easy as a smile. Just try it out and see what happens. :)
What is an angel? Most of us think of a beautiful creature with long shining hair and soft white wings. Or if you're like Sarah, you picture a fierce warrior wielding a sword. Angels can be both. The Bible tells us about angels, heavenly beings that come from God to do His business. Sometimes they're delivering messages, sometimes they're kicking bad guy tail; but either way, they make a pretty big spectacle. Like that first Christmas two thousand and some-odd years ago, when they lit up the whole sky singing about the Savior's birth. “GloooOoooOooooOooooOriaaa...In Excelsis DeEoooo.”
Can you imagine, the whole field full of bright white heavenly light, and the whole sky full of these beautifully horrifying beings, and the whole ground shaking with the sound of their voice? Those poor shepherds. x]
Given, it's pretty awesome that God has special beings that He uses for messengers or on-call guards, depending on what needs to be done. Maybe someone needs encouragement (like Elijah), or guidance (like Joseph), or even a spiritual slap upside the head (like Balaam). Those angels seemed to come around all the time in the Bible. But the funny thing is, they don't show up as much as they used to—at least, not the real deal. You hear all kinds of stories about fake angels saying they're sent from God when they're really from the devil. A lot of people lose heart because they think God must not care about us very much anymore, just because He doesn't send angels or prophets or messengers anymore. That we know of.
Back in Bible times, people would have believed it when an angel appeared and spoke to them. In these modern times, there's fifty million things that angel could be besides an actual angel sent straight from God. It could be a hologram, or a computer generated image, or a robot, or a hallucination. They'd think the angel was an alien before they believed it was from God. My dad and I talked about that back in April when I was helping him paint a house. I was eating a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich, quietly listening to him rant about how stupid modern-day Christians are. “Why doesn't God send prophets anymore?” he wanted to know. Usually I don't say much when he's talking, because I consider my own opinions to be pretty stupid. But my mind was preoccupied with something else, and I answered before I could catch myself: “Well, nobody would believe them.”
People don't believe in miracles or magic anymore. In a world where science holds all the answers, there's no need to believe in higher powers. There's no need to believe in a higher meaning. Sci-fi has become the new Bible and the new religion. Even the real Christians who believe in angels and such can hardly believe it when an angel or a prophet shows up—because there's been so many fakes cleverly staged by either demons or people who want publicity. So it's pretty feasible to assume that God doesn't send heavenly messengers anymore simply because nobody would listen to them. But that doesn't mean He doesn't send messengers at all. God never loses. He just changes His tactic a little.
Sometimes when I look back at my days in public school, I smile a little and wonder...what do they think of me now? I was a mysterious girl, beautiful, sweet and kind. No matter what anyone did to me, I braced myself and took it with a smile. I was never mean to anyone, at least not in their eyes; I may have lost my temper and cursed every once in a while, but I never did low, underhanded things like they would have in the same situation. No one knew who I was or where I came from. And when I left, I might as well have vanished into thin air. There would have been no way of proving that I'd actually been a real person. For all they know, I could have been an angel. I could have been sent by God to shine a light in that dark place. And who knows, maybe I was.A friend of mine calls me Angel. Every time I see it in a message, I have to smile a little. Me, an angel? I was a brat in my childhood, I was a sneak in my early teens, and I was just plain evil when I was 16. Nowadays, I can't seem to do anything right. I'm always having dark, morbid thoughts. Some angel I am...at least, in my own opinion. What's the definition of the word angel? A messenger, a guide, a protector. I've been all of the above. With my smile and with my kind acts, I carry the message of salvation. With my encouraging and inspirational words, I point out the light waiting at the end of the tunnel. With a heart that cries out to everyone I see hurt, I do my best to shield my closest friends from harm...and I usually end up saving them in one way or another. God has obviously appointed me to be some kind of backup angel here on earth. That's a big responsibility! Sometimes it makes me pretty upset, because I feel like I'm not good enough. But if I wasn't good enough, God wouldn't have assigned me in the first place.
And have I met angels of my own? Well, sure I have! I won't name names, because I don't want anyone to feel embarrassed. But let me tell you right now, none of those angels exactly fit the stereotype that people have going on in their brains. Most of them are either rebellious punks or brokenhearted individuals. Still, they've been angels to me. They were there when I needed someone. One of them gave me the message to never give up. One of them guides me down this lonely road of life. One of them is my protector, shielding me from hurt. Goodness gawsh, I know angels! O_O Not only that, they're my close personal friends!!!
So many people go around looking for angels. Funny thing is, most of them are in plain sight. They're in the disguise of the tough punk girl who thinks she's ugly and mannish, or the hyperactive fat girl who's always crying, or the bad boy who seems destined for trouble. If you can't see them, be an angel yourself. It doesn't take much--and I tell you this from experience. It's as easy as a smile. Just try it out and see what happens. :)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
You Lift Me Up
Yesterday started out with Savannah saying, "Every outside is gray. And muddy. Even the sky looks muddy." Just my day: It was raining. *SIIIGH*
But actually, though so many things that would make a bad day for me yesterday...well...DIDN'T. Funny, huh?
Me and savannah tried watching some of her superman show on her laptop, but the thing kept lying and saying there was a damaged area to skip over! NOT. So it kept skipping ever three mins, so we didn't get to watch the whole thing. We did watch the last part today, though! :)
Well, the thing I remember after that is writing down in my notepad about what a cold and wet day it was, since it was almost lunch time, and it was still raining. I was out of options for writing yesterday, so I wanted to write up a post--but it didn't work that way.
Lunch time came, and peanut started barking. There was no one at the door, so I ignored him. But then, just a minute later, my mom came downstairs with t he phone, talking about disconnection with my dad. The next thing I knew, I saw a blue and white truck pulled up to our house! o.0 and then there was some scratching on the wall outside and....and...then the lights went out! AH!
"So much for my fabled blogpost," I said within myself,"and typing up that story!"
But I wasn't worried. The other kids were excited, because they didn't understand and thought it was an adventure, and the boys must have been scared out of their witts. But I couldn't my sister. Why wasn't I worried? Heck, this has happened more than once, and God took great care of us. He is with us! I kept reminding myself that. And if the electricity didn't come back on ever again, and then the water and then eviction, I knew he would take care of us. And he did. Mommy called Daddy back on one of the cell phones, and though he cursed, he came back, not a smudge of anger or panic on his face. I don't know what happened, but the electricity was back on in about four or five hours.
But let's not go that far yet! While we were waiting for our dad, me and all the girls got together in my room for a a read-aloud party with "At the Back of the North Wind." I was cold, and watched the snow fall down on us. Yes, with what had started out as a drippy day, ended in cold and bitter snow. Wait--what am I saying! There is nothing more beautiful than falling snow. It snowed the entire time the power was out--almost like a comfort in the times of worry. It stopped almost exactly when Daddy got home.
Now I laugh at myself for how depressed and angry I have been lately. I should have known God was there! *slaps myself upside the head* now I am smiling to myself, my heart light.
Before bed, we had family devotions time, and read the part in Job after Job had been lamenting, humbled by what had happened to him. And his friend encouraged him: Eliphaz.
And last night, before bed, I prayed for every one I could think of. Family, friends, neighbors, strangers and enemies. And I asked that they all knew that the Lord was there for them, like I do now. I love you God, and thank you for always there. Thank you for receiving this tar-colored heart, and taking to make it into something entirely new. When I let go, and step off of the edge of this rooftop of the world, thank you for flying around to catch me. Praise you, Oh God!
But actually, though so many things that would make a bad day for me yesterday...well...DIDN'T. Funny, huh?
Me and savannah tried watching some of her superman show on her laptop, but the thing kept lying and saying there was a damaged area to skip over! NOT. So it kept skipping ever three mins, so we didn't get to watch the whole thing. We did watch the last part today, though! :)
Well, the thing I remember after that is writing down in my notepad about what a cold and wet day it was, since it was almost lunch time, and it was still raining. I was out of options for writing yesterday, so I wanted to write up a post--but it didn't work that way.
Lunch time came, and peanut started barking. There was no one at the door, so I ignored him. But then, just a minute later, my mom came downstairs with t he phone, talking about disconnection with my dad. The next thing I knew, I saw a blue and white truck pulled up to our house! o.0 and then there was some scratching on the wall outside and....and...then the lights went out! AH!
"So much for my fabled blogpost," I said within myself,"and typing up that story!"
But I wasn't worried. The other kids were excited, because they didn't understand and thought it was an adventure, and the boys must have been scared out of their witts. But I couldn't my sister. Why wasn't I worried? Heck, this has happened more than once, and God took great care of us. He is with us! I kept reminding myself that. And if the electricity didn't come back on ever again, and then the water and then eviction, I knew he would take care of us. And he did. Mommy called Daddy back on one of the cell phones, and though he cursed, he came back, not a smudge of anger or panic on his face. I don't know what happened, but the electricity was back on in about four or five hours.
But let's not go that far yet! While we were waiting for our dad, me and all the girls got together in my room for a a read-aloud party with "At the Back of the North Wind." I was cold, and watched the snow fall down on us. Yes, with what had started out as a drippy day, ended in cold and bitter snow. Wait--what am I saying! There is nothing more beautiful than falling snow. It snowed the entire time the power was out--almost like a comfort in the times of worry. It stopped almost exactly when Daddy got home.
Now I laugh at myself for how depressed and angry I have been lately. I should have known God was there! *slaps myself upside the head* now I am smiling to myself, my heart light.
Before bed, we had family devotions time, and read the part in Job after Job had been lamenting, humbled by what had happened to him. And his friend encouraged him: Eliphaz.
And last night, before bed, I prayed for every one I could think of. Family, friends, neighbors, strangers and enemies. And I asked that they all knew that the Lord was there for them, like I do now. I love you God, and thank you for always there. Thank you for receiving this tar-colored heart, and taking to make it into something entirely new. When I let go, and step off of the edge of this rooftop of the world, thank you for flying around to catch me. Praise you, Oh God!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Souls aren't made of stone
Do you ever wake up in the morning with a song stuck in your head? I do, pretty much every morning. Probably because music is my inspiration for everything. I listen to music when I'm posting blogs, I listen to music when I'm writing stories, I listen to music while thinking deeply, I listen to music while doing difficult math, and I listen to music when I go to sleep. I tried doing that last night, putting on my dad's old fashioned headphones and turning on Switchfoot. Buuut as I said in an earlier post, I can only lay with my head facing directly upward or the plastic things that cover my ears will hurt me. T.T I couldn't go to sleep like that, so when I was half asleep I got frustrated and yanked the offensive thing off my head.
A lot of people think that the song "4:12" by Switchfoot is about materialism. That does make a small amount of sense, if you look at the second verse, which talks about this character having lowly jobs. But that's taking it out of context. If you look at the entire song, it gets confusing. Abbey, who's pretty apt at picking the meanings out of songs, told me that she thought it was about how people are fickle--everything's fine and dandy with their faith until something bad happens. I think maybe it's a little bit of both, but those ideas are just pieces of the bigger picture that Jon is trying to bring across here.
Ever since the dawn of atheism, the God-haters have been spinning the lie that there is no afterlife. There's no deeper meaning to our lives. We're just a byproduct of biological slime and a wayward bolt of lightning. We're just an accident. We don't have souls. There's no afterlife, no reward for working hard and fighting the good fight. Do you realize how worthless that makes people feel?? I mean, think of all the people who have lowly jobs. Like waiting tables or selling phones at the shopping mall. Those people can just be replaced by other lowly people. So when someone gets depressed, they think, "Oh, well I don't matter much in the world. I'm not making a difference. There's no meaning in my life. When I die, I'm just gonna go 'poof,' so why keep living when the going gets tough?" Can you imagine how many people are out there who have died because of this way of thinking? Or worse, how many people have turned to crime or drugs or sex because they thought it didn't matter?
But you see, we are more than material. This humanism thing that the God-haters have going on, it's nonsensical! Oh, they try to tell us that the idea of an afterlife is nonsensical, that their idea is what makes sense. That's because they don't want to deal with God or an afterlife, because if they do, that means they have to pay for all the scrap they've done! Heaven forbid (pun intended) that! Why do you think I say "When the only sense is nonsense, don't try to make sense of it"? That's one of many reasons!
God created you for a purpose. He's got your whole life planned out, from beginning to end, and He had it planned out when He created the universe! You're not just mutated, electrified slime; your soul isn't stone. You're a person. And inside you, there is a living breathing soul. There is deeper meaning to life. Everything that happens has a reason. If you're that busboy or that guy selling cell phones in the shopping mall, put your hope in the fact that you're not there for nothing. God has something planned for your life. You matter. That's what I'm always telling Zack, that's what I'm always telling Mari, that's what I'm always telling Abbey. In this life, there are no accidents. Remember that next time you feel worthless. ;D
A lot of people think that the song "4:12" by Switchfoot is about materialism. That does make a small amount of sense, if you look at the second verse, which talks about this character having lowly jobs. But that's taking it out of context. If you look at the entire song, it gets confusing. Abbey, who's pretty apt at picking the meanings out of songs, told me that she thought it was about how people are fickle--everything's fine and dandy with their faith until something bad happens. I think maybe it's a little bit of both, but those ideas are just pieces of the bigger picture that Jon is trying to bring across here.
Ever since the dawn of atheism, the God-haters have been spinning the lie that there is no afterlife. There's no deeper meaning to our lives. We're just a byproduct of biological slime and a wayward bolt of lightning. We're just an accident. We don't have souls. There's no afterlife, no reward for working hard and fighting the good fight. Do you realize how worthless that makes people feel?? I mean, think of all the people who have lowly jobs. Like waiting tables or selling phones at the shopping mall. Those people can just be replaced by other lowly people. So when someone gets depressed, they think, "Oh, well I don't matter much in the world. I'm not making a difference. There's no meaning in my life. When I die, I'm just gonna go 'poof,' so why keep living when the going gets tough?" Can you imagine how many people are out there who have died because of this way of thinking? Or worse, how many people have turned to crime or drugs or sex because they thought it didn't matter?
But you see, we are more than material. This humanism thing that the God-haters have going on, it's nonsensical! Oh, they try to tell us that the idea of an afterlife is nonsensical, that their idea is what makes sense. That's because they don't want to deal with God or an afterlife, because if they do, that means they have to pay for all the scrap they've done! Heaven forbid (pun intended) that! Why do you think I say "When the only sense is nonsense, don't try to make sense of it"? That's one of many reasons!
God created you for a purpose. He's got your whole life planned out, from beginning to end, and He had it planned out when He created the universe! You're not just mutated, electrified slime; your soul isn't stone. You're a person. And inside you, there is a living breathing soul. There is deeper meaning to life. Everything that happens has a reason. If you're that busboy or that guy selling cell phones in the shopping mall, put your hope in the fact that you're not there for nothing. God has something planned for your life. You matter. That's what I'm always telling Zack, that's what I'm always telling Mari, that's what I'm always telling Abbey. In this life, there are no accidents. Remember that next time you feel worthless. ;D
Sunday, November 13, 2011
One of Those Filthy Rags, Over Thar Yonder!
So, many of you, might've read the post below! Peace in the spirit, mind, and soul, is the best thing one can have, I shall call this peace a "cleanliness". I must say honestly, that this is a touchy subject, but my house has been infested by the evil cockroaches! Daily we had to keep food away from them, spray them, and even squish them with our hands! But most of the time, I kill a cockroach with "one of those filthy rags, over thar yonder" (hence the title) Have you ever noticed how churches say, "Filthy rags"? by that we think, "oh, we just used a rag on a counter, it's filthy..." NO! That is so unbiblical! If that were true, we wouldn't HAVE to use God's Son's blood to wash us. We could still forgive ourselves and everything would be fine! But that isn't the way it was! Image this: "you-just-cleaned-the-bathroom-kitchen-and-killed-cockroaches-and-all-types-of-bug-ridden-guts-with-lots-and-lots-of-mold-mildew-and-throw-up-and-more-disgusting-things-than-words-to-say-on-a-rag" type of "filthy rags"! Why would God send Jesus to die for everyone if it were just a spot of mud? We were really gross, And to think about it, God must've had a good strong stomach to clean us, not to say that not to say that we should continuously say that we are that bad, cuz God has risen us up for His glory to shine on us, and though we might've been those "FILTHY RAGS" before, we are not anymore, we are cleaned in the blood of Jesus Christ forever! I never thought of how roaches could be useful in a teaching on peace, but with all those, disgusting bugs, and gross things out there, we need to think of how God has, is, and will clean us until we no longer need it (that would be when we are in Heaven) It is the undoing of many wrongs to bring us to that clean, peace, that we have when our home, and rags are no longer in ruin. Although the world is in ruin, we can truthfully say that our lives are not, with that peace that passes all understanding! Think about the pain that Jesus suffered! Would he had done it if we could clean ourselves on our own? No, He wouldn't. But, He knew that we could not handle this on our own. It's like the overwhelmedness that you get when you look at a room that has toys, trash, clothes, and all those things that God can clean, but of your own works you couldn't, because you are only a child that needs the help of your Father!
Say Amen? AMEN!
Mari J. Fahel
That fresh, miny clean feeling...
[I know you guys have all been hankering after another of my introspective, thought-provoking posts. It seems like forever and a day since I've posted one. But since my inspiration is finally being nice to me on my secret novel, I guess I can try shooting for an amazingly inspirational post. ^_^ Here goes nuthin'....]
I'm a weird person. You want to know why? I'm obsessed with keeping my mouth squeaky clean. After I eat, I wash my mouth out with about half a bottle of water. Then I floss. Then, after about ten or fifteen minutes, I have to go brush my teeth because a bad taste is spreading through my mouth. It makes me think about all the bacteria that's starting to feed on the particles of food on my teeth, and I'm like, BLEGH! I can't think straight until I run upstairs and brush my teeth thoroughly. And I do mean thoroughly. I brush my tongue, the inside of my cheeks, and the roof of my mouth. I spit out the toothpaste, rinse the brush, and go over my teeth again just in case. The one thing I hate about toothpaste, though, is that it leaves a yucky sugary residue that starts tasting EYUUUCK after about half an hour, so I have to go get a drink. T.T lol. I'm always drinking water, not because I'm thirsty but because my mouth tastes funny. And I must brush my teeth every two or three hours. I don't keep count.
If you think about it, life is exactly like that. As human beings, we do, experience, and witness a lot of distasteful things. Heartbreak. Abuse. War. Sexual immorality. Sorcery. Lying, cheating, stealing, murdering. Little things, like losing your temper or not cleaning your room. It's all over the place! Everything leaves particles and residues in your brain that start rotting and growing spiritual "bacteria" if you don't do something about it.
When a Christian refers to someone's heart being "dirty," they envision a coating of dirt or mud. Because I've been raised in a Christan family, sometimes I think like that, too. But, honestly, to my mind dirt really isn't all that dirty. It's just dirt. God created the dirt to be the perfect source of nutrients, and the perfect recycling method. Things that were dead feed life to the plants that, in turn, give animals and humans life. And let's not forget, you're talking to the two-year-old girl who actually ate mud and offered some to her dad. xD
No, I think real "dirt" is bacteria, viruses, and all kinds of germs. I'm very conscientious about that. I'm continually washing my hands for apparently no reason; I'm always brushing my teeth way more than I should. I even get jittery when something potentially bacteria-infested brushes my arm or leg and I go stick my foot in the sink. xD Or if I think it possibly got on my clothes, I hurry up and change as quickly as possible.
So, when I think of a "dirty" heart, I compare it to a dirty mouth. I think of a festering, nasty infection with pus...kind of like a really bad ingrown toenail. Am I weird? Yes, I most certainly am, dears. I think of the world being germy. I think of every little tiny bad thing that I do as a brush with potentially bacteria-infested objects. I'm like, EYEWWWW....and I run off to God to get a spiritual checkup and some free spiritual toothpaste, floss, and a brand new toothbrush. ^_^ After I really have a good talk with God, I really feel better. Even if I'm just spouting off all of my emotions. I'm glad that no matter how stupid I am or how dirty and bacteria-infested I get, God's always going to be happy to clean me up again. ^_^
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Gotta love them fireworks.
When I was about 9 or 10 years old, my mom hauled down a Rubbermaid box to get me some winter clothes--I'd grown out of the ones I had last year. I took a particular liking to a blue sweatshirt with plain yellow embroidery on the front. It said: When the outlook is poor, try the up-look. I didn't really get it, but I liked the color blue, sooo....yeah. Later, when I wore it for the first time, I asked my dad what it meant. I used to ask him questions all the time.
"Well, honey," he said, "that means when things don't look good in front of you, around you, or under you, you look above you." He pointed one finger up at the ceiling. Of course I couldn't resist looking up. Then I just gave him a confused look. "What?"
"You pray."
I was too little to really understand what it meant to pray in times of trouble. Back then was when I thought "trouble" was stealing a handful of cookies from the jar. I thought the worst thing in the world that could happen to me was getting grounded from the TV. And when it came to God, I had the faith of a child. I knew He was there, because the Bible told me so, and that was enough for me.
Little did I know that later on in life I was going to pay a ten-month visit to public school, heartbreak, and betrayal. Walking through those hallways, I felt more alone than I ever had in my life. I couldn't see God in the faces of that crowd of people who didn't care about me. I needed to know He was there. Not just by praying and feeling that He was there; since I'd already discovered the meaning of false love and unfounded hope, I couldn't trust my faith. I needed to know He was there. I needed to see His hand working in the horrible situation I was in. I needed the assurance that this was part of His plan.
I was looking around me, at the people who called themselves my friends. I was looking ahead of me, at the future that school promised me. I was even looking under my feet, at the people who seemed bad. I couldn't see God anywhere. Not anywhere at all. What was I missing? The up look.
I started out this post with the intention of telling you just how God revealed that it was all His plan. But when I got to this paragraph and tried typing it up, I realized that...well, that's something that I should keep to myself. "Treasure it in my heart," like Mary did when she was raising Jesus. I guess all I can say is that up to this very day, God's been showing me, little by little, that He planned all of it. ALL of it. The false friends, the pain, the betrayal, the bad choices that I made; even the little things that seemed insignificant. If those things hadn't have happened, my life would be a lot different now and I would have lost the hopeful part of me. As I sit here today, typing this on a laptop, I realize just how much God's lit up the sky--then, afterwards, and now. And I think He'll keep on lighting up the sky with those amazing fireworks of His.
Trust me, He's there in everything. When I look back on those ten months and try to think of how things could have worked differently, I realize that no matter how terrible it was, I wouldn't have it any other way. I couldn't. And I shouldn't. God's plan for me is in everything that happens and everything I do. He's in the sky, my friends, my family, even this silly little blog. You just have to try the up-look. You have to remember who God is, and look for Him. Nothing is impossible; every little thing happens for a reason. Once you look for Him, you'll see Him. How do I know? Well...maybe that's a story to be told at a later date. But you know I'm not lying.
Little did I know that later on in life I was going to pay a ten-month visit to public school, heartbreak, and betrayal. Walking through those hallways, I felt more alone than I ever had in my life. I couldn't see God in the faces of that crowd of people who didn't care about me. I needed to know He was there. Not just by praying and feeling that He was there; since I'd already discovered the meaning of false love and unfounded hope, I couldn't trust my faith. I needed to know He was there. I needed to see His hand working in the horrible situation I was in. I needed the assurance that this was part of His plan.
I was looking around me, at the people who called themselves my friends. I was looking ahead of me, at the future that school promised me. I was even looking under my feet, at the people who seemed bad. I couldn't see God anywhere. Not anywhere at all. What was I missing? The up look.
I started out this post with the intention of telling you just how God revealed that it was all His plan. But when I got to this paragraph and tried typing it up, I realized that...well, that's something that I should keep to myself. "Treasure it in my heart," like Mary did when she was raising Jesus. I guess all I can say is that up to this very day, God's been showing me, little by little, that He planned all of it. ALL of it. The false friends, the pain, the betrayal, the bad choices that I made; even the little things that seemed insignificant. If those things hadn't have happened, my life would be a lot different now and I would have lost the hopeful part of me. As I sit here today, typing this on a laptop, I realize just how much God's lit up the sky--then, afterwards, and now. And I think He'll keep on lighting up the sky with those amazing fireworks of His.
Trust me, He's there in everything. When I look back on those ten months and try to think of how things could have worked differently, I realize that no matter how terrible it was, I wouldn't have it any other way. I couldn't. And I shouldn't. God's plan for me is in everything that happens and everything I do. He's in the sky, my friends, my family, even this silly little blog. You just have to try the up-look. You have to remember who God is, and look for Him. Nothing is impossible; every little thing happens for a reason. Once you look for Him, you'll see Him. How do I know? Well...maybe that's a story to be told at a later date. But you know I'm not lying.
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