Just follow the link: http://www.boundless.org/relationships/2006/what-girls-wish-you-knew
Saturday, 28 December 2013
Fire
Is mesmerizing.
At least to me it is :).
My Mom asked me to start a fire in the fireplace so our family could watch a movie together and I have to admit that I watched the fire more than the movie.
I am no Girl Scout but I remember from playing Nancy Drew computer games how to build a decent fire. The whole paper, kindling, and big logs deal, in that specific order. Well I successfully built a fire last night and found great amusement in watching it burn.
Fire burns, and fast too.
I was adding new logs to the fire every ten minutes to keep it burning bright, almost burning myself a few times in the process. This reminded me of my faith in God.
Faith is like fire, it needs to be fed to keep it burning strong. My soul needs to be fed to keep my faith alive. As a fire is fed wood, my soul requires Scripture, prayer, and fellowship to sustain it. When I stop putting logs on the fire, it soon extinguishes. The same happens to the soul when it is deprived of spiritual disciplines.
Sometimes I get lazy and I can feel my soul growing hungry. It always hungers for the Lord. And He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Matthew 5:6. I know this to be true because food for the soul is always within reach. By the blood of Christ I am able to have communion with the Father whenever I want. But it's up to me to feed my soul with the food that God has freely offered. Only the truth can satisfy the hunger.
Please Lord, help me keep the faith fire burning in my soul. May I never cease to be mesmerized by You.
At least to me it is :).
My Mom asked me to start a fire in the fireplace so our family could watch a movie together and I have to admit that I watched the fire more than the movie.
I am no Girl Scout but I remember from playing Nancy Drew computer games how to build a decent fire. The whole paper, kindling, and big logs deal, in that specific order. Well I successfully built a fire last night and found great amusement in watching it burn.
Fire burns, and fast too.
I was adding new logs to the fire every ten minutes to keep it burning bright, almost burning myself a few times in the process. This reminded me of my faith in God.
Faith is like fire, it needs to be fed to keep it burning strong. My soul needs to be fed to keep my faith alive. As a fire is fed wood, my soul requires Scripture, prayer, and fellowship to sustain it. When I stop putting logs on the fire, it soon extinguishes. The same happens to the soul when it is deprived of spiritual disciplines.
Sometimes I get lazy and I can feel my soul growing hungry. It always hungers for the Lord. And He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Matthew 5:6. I know this to be true because food for the soul is always within reach. By the blood of Christ I am able to have communion with the Father whenever I want. But it's up to me to feed my soul with the food that God has freely offered. Only the truth can satisfy the hunger.
Please Lord, help me keep the faith fire burning in my soul. May I never cease to be mesmerized by You.
Saturday, 7 December 2013
What I Do Not Want To Do
"...I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate...I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." - Paul (Romans 7:15-20)
I think that I can clearly identify with Paul.
I hate sin. It's awful, but I still do it every day. I'm sick of it.
"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (Romans 7:21-25)
I know that deep within me somewhere, something is always telling me to press on in my faith. It must be the Holy Spirit because I know that nothing truly good comes from me.
Thanks be to Jesus Christ our Lord indeed! God has not given up on me yet and I pray that He never will. The battle against sin cannot be won without God, I know this to be true because I have experienced both victory and defeat and when I call upon the Lord there is victory.
Temptations will never cease, but God is my deliverer and in Him I will trust.
Thank you Jesus for saving me from the chains of sin and for giving me the strength to continue the battle.
I think that I can clearly identify with Paul.
I hate sin. It's awful, but I still do it every day. I'm sick of it.
"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (Romans 7:21-25)
I know that deep within me somewhere, something is always telling me to press on in my faith. It must be the Holy Spirit because I know that nothing truly good comes from me.
Thanks be to Jesus Christ our Lord indeed! God has not given up on me yet and I pray that He never will. The battle against sin cannot be won without God, I know this to be true because I have experienced both victory and defeat and when I call upon the Lord there is victory.
Temptations will never cease, but God is my deliverer and in Him I will trust.
Thank you Jesus for saving me from the chains of sin and for giving me the strength to continue the battle.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Forgiveness
What is forgiveness?
I wrestled with the question last night as I laid awake in anger at one of my coworkers. For two hours I tossed and turned, my mind racing with all the things that I could say to make that person forever regret what they did. I wanted to make them feel terrible...even though they probably already do. But I knew deep down that I needed to forgive and forget, no matter how hard it may be. I also need to apologize for my part in the situation and ask for forgiveness myself.
It will have been three days past when I see that person at work again, so what will I say?
I thought about it a lot this morning as I was walking my paper route. While I prayed, asking God to soften my heart towards my coworker, I felt the Holy Spirit move me to tears.
My coworker does not know Christ.
I am possibly the only person they may ever know who does know Christ and yet I find myself thinking the most wicked thoughts about them and cursing them under my breath. What kind of a Christian am I?
With the tears came an image of my Saviour, broken and bleeding on the cross, dying so that my sins can be forgiven and my heart be made whiter than the snow on the ground under my feet.
If my God, who sees all of my sin and to whom I turn my back on a daily basis, willingly forgives me with new grace and mercy each morning, why should I hold bitterness in my heart and not forgive my coworker?
After my paper route, I decided that this is what I will say, "Hey _________, I am sorry for the way that I reacted the other night. I was offended and could not find the strength to forgive you in the moment but now that I have prayed and asked God for help, just as He has forgiven me I have decided to forgive you and forget that the situation ever happened. God keeps no record of my wrongs so neither will I of yours. What's done is done. Are we ok now?"
Forgiveness is something that I don't deserve yet it is given to me freely. A gift that I can receive whenever I need it. I pray that God will use this situation to bring my coworker closer to knowing Him someday.
Lord please give me opportunity. Thank You.
I wrestled with the question last night as I laid awake in anger at one of my coworkers. For two hours I tossed and turned, my mind racing with all the things that I could say to make that person forever regret what they did. I wanted to make them feel terrible...even though they probably already do. But I knew deep down that I needed to forgive and forget, no matter how hard it may be. I also need to apologize for my part in the situation and ask for forgiveness myself.
It will have been three days past when I see that person at work again, so what will I say?
I thought about it a lot this morning as I was walking my paper route. While I prayed, asking God to soften my heart towards my coworker, I felt the Holy Spirit move me to tears.
My coworker does not know Christ.
I am possibly the only person they may ever know who does know Christ and yet I find myself thinking the most wicked thoughts about them and cursing them under my breath. What kind of a Christian am I?
With the tears came an image of my Saviour, broken and bleeding on the cross, dying so that my sins can be forgiven and my heart be made whiter than the snow on the ground under my feet.
If my God, who sees all of my sin and to whom I turn my back on a daily basis, willingly forgives me with new grace and mercy each morning, why should I hold bitterness in my heart and not forgive my coworker?
After my paper route, I decided that this is what I will say, "Hey _________, I am sorry for the way that I reacted the other night. I was offended and could not find the strength to forgive you in the moment but now that I have prayed and asked God for help, just as He has forgiven me I have decided to forgive you and forget that the situation ever happened. God keeps no record of my wrongs so neither will I of yours. What's done is done. Are we ok now?"
Forgiveness is something that I don't deserve yet it is given to me freely. A gift that I can receive whenever I need it. I pray that God will use this situation to bring my coworker closer to knowing Him someday.
Lord please give me opportunity. Thank You.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
21
When I look back at all that has happened in this past year I realize that God's grace has been magnified for me. We have walked together through a lot...
- The gradual breaking down of a significant relationship until it was completely severed.
- An amazing season of internship at the church.
- Urbana 2012.
- Becoming a church member.
- Difficult exams and assignments.
- Days and days of weariness.
- Saying goodbye to a good friend who moved away.
- Planning my work/school/church life for the Fall semester.
- Hard battles against sinful habits.
- Exciting room remodeling.
- Purchasing my first car.
- The marriage of one of my best friends.
- Sad family moments, both biological and spiritual.
The best part of this list is that God is not done walking with me! I don't know how many minutes, days, months, or years I have ahead of me but one thing I do know: my final destination is heaven, and God is with me until I get there.
This year I want to learn to live like a citizen of heaven. Keeping in my mind the vision of myself standing before the throne of God with Jesus observing my every thought, word, and action. Would I think, speak, and act this way if I were with God? That is the question. Today begins another year of my life. How will it go?
- The gradual breaking down of a significant relationship until it was completely severed.
- An amazing season of internship at the church.
- Urbana 2012.
- Becoming a church member.
- Difficult exams and assignments.
- Days and days of weariness.
- Saying goodbye to a good friend who moved away.
- Planning my work/school/church life for the Fall semester.
- Hard battles against sinful habits.
- Exciting room remodeling.
- Purchasing my first car.
- The marriage of one of my best friends.
- Sad family moments, both biological and spiritual.
The best part of this list is that God is not done walking with me! I don't know how many minutes, days, months, or years I have ahead of me but one thing I do know: my final destination is heaven, and God is with me until I get there.
This year I want to learn to live like a citizen of heaven. Keeping in my mind the vision of myself standing before the throne of God with Jesus observing my every thought, word, and action. Would I think, speak, and act this way if I were with God? That is the question. Today begins another year of my life. How will it go?
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