When We Feel Temptation Is Too Much To Handle.

I know that sometimes life can be kind of crazy. It is so easy to justify getting off course with God and to justify our reasons why we keep making poor decisions. I have been there and done that. We compare our sins to sins we could be committing that are "far worse" than our own and we deem ourselves as "good enough."  We stop challenging ourselves and live complacently. Or maybe we justify our sin because right now, we can't handle all of the stress life is handing us. So, instead of turning to God when we need him most, we turn to other things for temporary release. There is a reason that alcoholics are the way they are. They are never satisfied, never truly released from the pain. They then continue to drink just to have the temporary release from that pain for a day. But the problem with drinking and doing other things that bring short lasting results is that we create more anguish for ourselves when we do these things. Our need is never truly met, and we are never satisfied. And so, we need to look at things from God's perspective. He is over here saying, "I am enough. I don't understand why you keep running from the real solution. I want to pour joy into your soul everyday. I want to bless you. And when the hard times come I want to be your anchor when waves crash over you. " In Jeremiah 2:5 it says, "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves." That is so powerful. When we stop and think about, what hasn't God provided? What are we not letting him full control of? Because when we live a life completely sold out and submitted to him, he will be our anchor, our source of joy, our everything. And you can sense his puzzlement in that verse. How am I not enough? He is willing to help us overcome the world, but we have to be willing to be done with our sinful behaviors that we keep trying to justify. I know that before I feel like I am bound to mess up, I think about this verse and tell myself God is enough. Try it, and see how He impacts your life. 

My Vlog!

I am going to start turning my blogposts into vlog posts! (: So if you would rather watch what I have to say instead of read it, I encourage you to do so! Share it with your friends! You should be able to find the other vids of me from the one above.

Being Alone With God.

I am currently sitting in my room and I really felt God wanted me to make a post about this, so I will. I titled this article, "Being Alone With God." I have been feeling this more and more lately that us as Christians have forgotten what it is like to be alone with God. The thought of being alone with God makes us feel uncomfortable because how will we know what to say or how to act. This my friends is sad. We have become so accustomed to being "spoon fed" that we no longer understand how to go deep with God on our own. The only time we feel on fire for God is after our pastor preaches a very deep message or for teens after a great youth retreat. But, what is that centered around? It's centered around production-the lights the stage, the gifted speakers, and a worship team that blows everyone out of the water. But, isn't our God the same everywhere? So why aren't we just as hungry for him everyday. Why aren't we searching after Him and His will every single day? We should be on our faces every morning praying and surrendering each day to his will. We should worship him the same in our rooms as in church as at a retreat. It shouldn't take a stadium full of people to get us on fire for God. I could go on and on about this for hours, because it's something God has really been speaking into my life lately. But I will sum this all up. We need to learn to be okay with being alone with God. We need to make God's presence our home. We can bring heaven to earth and we can connect with God here, right now. It doesn't take all of the lights. Just try it.

The video below is one of my new favorite worship songs-give it a listen.

John 10:27 " My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. " We must hear a voice more then once to recognize it. And once we become familiar with His voice we can follow it. Learn to be still and listen. 

Oh Jesus, Only With Your Help...

When people try to bring you down, you can choose 1 of 2 things. You can choose to let their words affect you and let them bring you down, or you can choose joy and be confident in who you are in Christ. Sometimes, when people(especially those who we are close with), ridicule us and try to bring us down, our automatic response is to get all fired up. But, when we do this we let them defeat us and let them have the satisfaction. Instead, we must learn to choose joy and laugh in the face of the enemies attack! We must choose to love people, even when we feel they don't deserve it and pray for them. Resentment gets you nowhere my friend. I will leave you with this closing verse. Psalm 3:1-3 "Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”
But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high."

2012-A Year To Remember!

This is a collage of memories with my youth group-I was baptized this year, I went to church camp, youth convention, vbs week with my little class, fine arts, and the missions trip to South Dakota!

Some more pictures of fun with my church family!

Family<3 step, half, and biological 

senior year football games<3

my mommy<3

Hey guys(: So tonight is New Year's Eve and I want to post some pictures that summerize what an amazing year it has been and how blessed I have been! love you all-have a fun time bringing in the new year!

Real Love and Being The Person God Intended You To Be

I have been pondering this for awhile now-and am still in the process of figuring out what love is. But, I suppose to start off with the basics, there are many different types of love. There is infatuation, romantic love,  puppy love, maternal love, conditional love, and any other thing you could think of under the sun. The kind I always tend to try to figure out is the kind of love between a boy and a girl. I always get stuck on so many questions related to this subject. So, let's break it down.-

Love by definition is a great attachment to and affection for, a passionate desire and longing for.  And as for what the Bible has to say about it is this: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."

And with this I leave myself to think. If love never fails- why are there so many homes broken each year. Why is it that when a man and a woman vow before God that they love each other so profoundly and will remain faithful until they enter into heaven, that they think it is okay to throw the towel in when life gets hard? If Jesus would have thrown the towel in when temptation was too strong, when the weight of our sin was too much to bear, we wouldn't get to spend an eternity with God. It makes my heart saddened that love has been so distorted and slewed from it's original intent. Just because your finances aren't going the way they should, just because you've gotten "too comfortable", just because, because, because. .. The truth is that the reason marriages fail, the reasons families are split, the reason kids hearts are torn, is because of pride, because of jealousy, because of lust, because of sin. Because people fail to place God at the head of their home. When times get hard pray together, when times are good give thanks together. When you keep your eyes focused on His plan, everything else will fall into place.

Real love is choosing to love someone when life is smooth sailing and joyous. It's loving someone when life couldn't get worse, when something earth shattering hits you so hard you can't stand, and taking that circumstance to the foot of the cross daily TOGETHER. Loving someone is a commitment-it's not just because there skin is smooth, their hair is gorgeous and they are in shape. All looks will fade and what you are left with is the person inside. I want to be able to get married someday and start a trend of long lasting marriages and break the curse of divorce in my family. I can only do that with the strength of God and a man of God by my side. And until I find him, I will focus on being the kind of women God has intended me to be.

I Love Bereans. End Of Story.

So, today I went with the ever so wonderful Becca to Bereans to pick out a new devotional book. I was originally set on one called, "The One Year Life Verse Devotional" by Jay Payleitner( a suggestion from a friend). But, they told me they didn't have that in stock and would have to order it. So, before I told them to go ahead and do that, I went to the devotional section to browse some others. In the process, I found a really cool one called, "The Message:Solo- an uncommon devotional." It lasts for a whole year so I can start it on January 1st. It is definetly more advanced-something that takes you deeper which is spiritually what I have been wanting. I think I am ready. It gives you a passage to read, some things to think on, some things to pray on, and some things to live by. But, it's also not handed to you and allows for your own thoughts as well. This I like. So, I will have to let you know more of what I think when I actually dig in.