Long time...No Blog...

Hey peeps!
I haven't blogged in FOREVER! But, I have an excuse. I've been babysitting at least 8 hours a week (over 2-3 days) and doing school and Christmas shopping and getting ready for Wisconsin (YAY!) and...and...and.... :)

Here's a couple passages for y'all.

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave to you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever we go.
This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teachers you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea." "

-Joshua 1:7,Isaiah 48:17-18

Be strong and courageous in your faith, even when it's tough...and listen to God! He knows the master plan and knows what is best for us. In this passage, it says "If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river..." Hmmm, what would it be like to really have peace flowing like a river?

-K

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village,
The child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in yet another obscure village,
where He worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty.
Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book.
He never held a public office.
He never had a family of His own.
He never owned a home.
He never went ot college.
He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born.
He did none of those things one usually associates with greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only thirty-tree when the tide of public opinion turned against Him.
His friends ran away. One of them denied Him;
another betrayed Him.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves, and
He was laid in a burrowed grace
through the kindness of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone.
Today he is the centerpiece of the human race
and the leader of mankind's progress.
All the armies that ever marched,
All the navies that ever sailed,
All the parliaments that ever sat,
All the kings that ever reigned,

All the great things of this world put together
have not affected ths life of man upon this earth
as powerfully as that
One Solitary Life.

-James Allan Francis (adapted)
(From "The Gospels-Jesus and His Followers" by ABeka)

Do You Earnestly Seek Him?

Psalm 63:1-8

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You,
my body longs for You,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water

I have seen You in the sanctuary
and beheld Your power and your glory.
Because Your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify You.
I will praise You as long as I live,
and in Your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Okay, soooo...Long time no blog. But no worries, I'm back :)
This psalm was written by David when he was actually in a desert. This DOES, however pertain to us.
Do we earnestly seek Him {Like we are} in a dry land with no water? We've seen His power and glory....But do we really think that His love is better than life? Are our souls really satisfied with Him as with food? Sadly, usually not. I was reading this blog post by one of the pastors at my church and it really hit me on the head. I'm usually more satisfied in self-image, gadgets, food and coffee than I am in God.


I have a LOT to work on. Do you?

-K

Are You Allowing God To Be In The Driver's Seat?

Last Night at MidWeek, we were talking about our futures. It really hit me hard. My plans may not even matter...God knows what my life will entail, and I need to make sure our plans are the same.

We had to fill out a sheet with what we spend time doing (like playing sports, working, getting ready in the morning) and then what our future plans are, and finally what our plans are for the end of our lives..
Then, we had to mix the papers up and get someone else's paper. The purpose of this was to realize that our plans may not work out like we think they will. The paper we picked up looked nothing like our own plans.
We really need to ask God what His plan is for our life, and how He plans to use us. Whether we like it or not, He IS in the driver's seat, and we are passengers. No matter how badly we want to "drive", He is always there, and He knows best....."For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

-K

"Making a Covenant"

This week in my Teen CBS lesson, we are talking about God's promises and covenants to Abram (Genesis 15:7-21). Some of the questions from the book and my answers are below.

-What additional prophetic information about the future of his descendants did God give at this time? Abram's descendants would be slaves for 400 years.
-Why do you think God delayed the fulfillment of His promise to Abram for such a long time? I think He wanted to teach them/us to be patient and to trust Him
-What promise of Jesus to the Church are we waiting for God to fulfill? (Matt.24:30-31) Jesus will come back to take all Christians back to Heaven
-Why has God delayed the fulfillment of this promise? He wants everyone to have a chance to come to repentance.

Come To Me, While You're Burdened

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke in easy and my burden is light.

When I read this passage, it has two meanings to me,(it may mean totally different things to you, depending on what you are going through in your life...thats the great thing about the Bible :D)

"Come to me,all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

1. We all go to Him when we are burdened and weary to accept Him as our Savior.

2. I think we also go to Him weary and burdened as Christians, because let's face it, living as a Christian in this world is not easy, is makes us weary and burdened. The world doesn't like Christians.


The awesome thing is, no matter which situation we are in, He will give us rest, and allow us to take his easy yoke, and give Him the one we are having problems with.


Remember, He doesn't say "Come to me when your life is hunky-dory." He says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened."

Don't get me wrong, we are supposed to go to Him when life is awesome, and thank Him for it.
BUT, we are not supposed to try to work our lives out by ourselves.

So, next time you're going through a trial, remember that you are to consider it pure joy, because it tests your faith and develops perseverence (James 1:2-3) (Wait, WHAT?! Yes, consider it JOY to go through hard times)
AND, you're supposed to go to God, and trade Him your burden for His light one...


K

Genealogy....

I am currently in the book of Numbers during my Chronological Bible Reading Plan, and as I was reading some genealogy last night, I remembered what Mr Bryan from TCBS said the other night. He said something to the effect of:
"Yes, Genesis may seem boring, and you may be tempted (as am I) to just skip over the Genealogy. A good thing to think about while reading it, is 'God knows each of our names, while my name may not be in this book (the Bible) it in in the Book of Life in Heaven. God put every word of His Bible there for a reason, and therefore we should not skip over parts.' "

So, just try to remember while you read genealogy that 1) We all DID start with Adam and Eve, and then only Noah later, and we KNOW that for a fact because God has written it in His Word.
2) Our names are in the Book of Life, so we should do our best to try to at least read His Word.

-K