Keeping CHRIST in Christmas

Something that bugs me is "Happy Holidays," "Seasons Greetings," etc. People are losing the meaning of CHRISTmas. Christmas is not about presents. It's about our Savior being born. He was sent to this earth to die on the cross for OUR sins. How selfless? If we are supposed to be like Christ, doesn't that mean we should be selfless and not worry about getting, but giving? I'm not saying I'm great at this. Truth is-it's something for me that needs a lot of work. That's why I need God in my life. Without him I would fail at everything. He fills in those spots where I fail. Writing about it helps me, though. When I put the challenge out there, it's a way to keep others accountable, and them help me. If I want to help others, I need to pray that God gives me a giving heart and not a greedy heart. It breaks my heart to see "Happy Holidays" "Seasons Greetings" and no Merry CHRISTmas. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season.
I hope you all have a blessed CHRISTmas spending time with people you love.

Where you go I'll go

I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin has been stuck in my head the past few days. I have to remind myself that I need to go where God is leading me. It may be scary, but God will be with my every step of the way. I want to go overseas and experience the culture there. I am very willing to go. I  am completely open to going because I know that God has something in store, and it would be amazing. I would learn so much by going. Most likely, I would work in a school for a semester. The reason I would want to do that is because I want to see if it's something I want to go into and maybe teach overseas some day. Who knows. Only God does. The reason I'm writing about this is due to the fact that lately I've been freaking out about what I want to do when I graduate. It seems so scary. After talking to a few people, the college I really wanted to go to I'm not so sure that's where God is leading me. I'm going to apply to the college that's been on my mind lately and see what happens with that. It's a really hard school to get into. When I start thinking it's impossible I need to remind myself of the passage in Matthew where is says With God, anything is possible. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to accept that fact when I worry about where I will be in year, but I need to give my worries to God and not take them back. This post may be all over the place, but the basic fact is that I've been feeling more direction from God lately. It's because I've put my full trust in him and haven't been worrying as much. God really does work in mysterious ways!!!

Reading the Bible

We talked about reading the Bible in youth group last night. I think of the Bible in the sense of a bonfire. If you keep putting wood on the fire it will continue to flame and give light. The same thing goes for reading the Bible. If you are continually in the word God will reveal himself to you. Reading the Bible will also help you know God more and grow in a deeper relationship with him. It will also help you be a shining light just like the flame in a fire. We want people to look at us and see the flame that we are on fire for God. People shouldn't have to wonder whether we are Christians or not. I'm not telling you this is easy. It takes time. I'm still not there and for the record, I never will because I'll never be perfect. That's why I need God. Think if we spent the time we do on Facebook reading the Bible? A challenge I was given from my youth pastor was to read the Bible 5 minutes every time before I log on to Facebook. It made me realize how much time I spend on Facebook and that I need to re-evaluate my priorities. It was actually scary of how much time I spent on Facebook. I need to limit myself. I need to do the important things first. Like: Spending time in God's word, praying, etc. What do you find yourself spending time on that you could spend in the word instead? Do you need to re-evaluate your priorities? I know I do. My goal is to spend a lot less time on Facebook and spend that time in God's word and doing things that are more important than Facebook. Be open to what God is showing you through his word. Be willing to go where God is leading you. Be open to new ideas. I hope this post finds you challenged.

Camp

God used the kids at camp this summer to show me things. Kids are so open about their faith, and don't hide it at all. When we worshiped, the kids were so into it and you could totally see God working through them. It was such an amazing experience. It's amazing to me that God knows every situation. When I applied for the job, he knew my friend was going to die when I was at camp. He knew the people there would pray with me or talk when I needed to. The family that was created there was amazing. God has really blessed me in the past year despite the many struggles I've faced. This is why I say, "God is good...ALL the time he is good." God has a plan in all of this, and that's what I need to be reminded of. When I started out at camp I didn't know how I was going to make it. I didn't know a single person there and in my mind, they seemed to not like me. God pushed me totally out of my comfort zone, and used that to show me so many things. I told numerous people that I wanted to quit. I felt God pushing me to stay and even though it was tough at first, it got better. This is something that I can apply to everyday life. I know that God doesn't put me in situations that I can't handle. In my mind I may not be able to handle it, but with God by my side, anything is possible!

A Slap on the Face from God

I am doing the study Lies Young Women Believe with a lady from my church. Last night, I felt a huge slap on the face from God at bible study. We were talking about the lies I struggle with. Believing lies is a sin. I am letting satan overtake me when God wants all of me, not just part of me. She said, when you believe those lies, you are telling God that he messed up. I never thought of it that way, so it really hit me last night. Part of Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him...," and in Psalm 139 it says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God did not mess up. It's from satan that I am choosing to believe those lies. The creator of the universe created us. How awesome is that?! The same God that created the oceans, created you and I. God wants us to look at others and say they're beautiful because we are all created in his image. It's hard when you may not like someone, but God also calls us to love our enemies (that's another barrel of monkeys). To overcome listening to satan, I have a choice to make. I can either sit around and think I'm ugly and worthless, or I can replace the thoughts from satan with truth from God’s word. We need to put on the armor of God to protect us because we can't do it on our own. God is with us every step of the way, and he promised in his word that he will NEVER leave or forsake us. What an awesome God we serve!

I know this post may seem all over the place, but basically, God did not make any mistakes when he created us. He has a purpose for each and every one of us. Philippians 1:6 proves this. It says, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."