Joy!!!

There's not much I can say about joy except that it's one of the greatest feelings ever. So what's the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is circumstantial. It deals with how you feel during a certain moment or situation. But joy on the other hand, that's a feeling that never goes away once you gain it. You may not like the situation you are in but your joyful because of the inheritance that God has promised us. Instead of happily ever after, they should joyfully ever after because joy is something that cannot be taken away from you. Like the song goes, I have the joy of the Lord deep deep down inside of me. Once it's in there, it cannot be taken away. Like I said, there's not much to be said about joy but one thing is for sure, once you have it, you cannot lose it so you might as well be joyful about life.

God's Love for us: life's a dance

God's Love for us: life's a dance: "'Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow, don't worry about what you don't know, life's a dance you lea..."

life's a dance

"Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow, don't worry about what you don't know, life's a dance you learn as you go"!!! Trying to learn a new dance is as hard as learning what life is all about and why you are here. Let me give you some advice. It's ok not to know everything because you don't need to know everything. God knows everything there is to know about you and one day he will let you know what you need to know. Until that time, don't worry about it. All you need to do is sit back, enjoy life, and watch God for the ques. He's know what he is doing and he will lead you. All you have to do is follow and he will provide for you every step you take with him. There will be times like trying to learn a new dance when you step on his feet but he'll pick you back up and he will continue to lead you. Just have patience and trust that he knows what he is doing because he is the only one who knows what he is doing. He has your back and he will always support you through every victory and failure. Life is all about giving it a whirl and putting yourself out there even if it means being hurt and being successful. The most important thing to do is to pick yourself up when you fall and move on. God will always be there for you but we have to make that decsion to stick by him even when we are hurt and crushed. So just sit back, let God take the lead, lean on him for your strength and know that he will always pick you up after every fall!!!!

taking care of number one

There are times in my life when I find myself taking on the burdens of the people around me. During those times, I forget completely about myself. I think that I'm satisfied with life but as soon as that happens, I suddenly find myself experiencing more pain. How can we possibly become a better person if we do not do what we need to do for ourselves. No one in this planet can possibly handle all the pain and bitterness of everybody except for Jesus. The problem is that we all have a control problem. We do not trust the Lord enough to handle it. But the reality is that the only one who can possibly handle and fix all of it is God. All of us, even me, have to learn to surrender it all to Christ and know that his will is going prevail over all else. It's one of the hardest things to do, learning how to let go and know that God will provide for all of our needs. In order to surrender, we need to become more vulnerable and lay it all out there on the line. One thing that always remains constant is that no matter what decision we make, we will always be supported by Christ who is our rock. As with any decision we make, the one thing we have to do before making it is prayer. When we cry out to God, he will answer us and he will give us clarity that everything is going to be ok. There is a song called salvation is here and the chorus goes like this, " Cause I know my God saved the day and I know his word never fails and I know my God made a way for me, salvation is here'. That chorus pretty much sums up all of this. Before even making a decision, God already knows the outcome because it happened 2000 years ago on the cross when God's son saved the day and all of our sins were wiped away. God is the only one who knows what is going to happen so when we learn how to surrender all of ourselves to him, we have entered the greatest trust that anyonce could ever ask for. I'm not, however, saying that we need to forget about everyone around us because it's the greatest joy ever to help one of your closest relatives or friends through any hardship, but we do need to learn how to take care ourselves and know that we are in the creator's hands.

Nice to know

So there I am tonight, sitting in Wendy's with the one of the most unique group of people that I have probably ever seen. Looking back on the night, it's something that I haven't experienced in a while. Keep in mind that that this group has only been together for maybe a month but we were all so able just to be open with each other even though some of us did not know each other that well. During this, we suddently found ourselves praying for each other right there in the middle of Wendy's. Who'd ever think that we would find ourselves praying for each other in Wendy's but it was so awesome. Sure we may not have that many things in common or not know each other but the one thing that we do all have in common is our love for Jesus and thats all we really ever need. That's the bond that makes things like this possible. That's why thinngs like praying for a complete stranger on the street is possible because we know what it's like to be loved by the Lord. I love how God brings it all together. Just the sense of God brings that sense of community whether it be with a group that you know nothing about or whether it's a group that you have spent your whole life with. Even if you do not know each other that much, the feeling of thinking you have known them your whole life comes from the Lord. He take a frienship of just one day and turn it into a relationship that feels like it has always been there. It was a fantastic day and night and there were hugs all around. We even got to see a frozen snake:) Thank you Lord for nights like this and the opportunity to make friendships that will never end and it's all because the bond of the Lord's love that we all share in common. So thank you Hannah, Sarah, Jenny, Brooke, Ashley, Beau, Austin for this night! And a shout out to Hannah for being baptized and publicly proclaiming her faith!!! Jesus is awesome and so is life!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Know His Name

"I know you gave the world your only son for us, to know your name, to live within the savior's love! You took my place, knowing he'd be crucified, you loved, you loved people underserving"!!!! What an amazing chorus to an amazing song called To Know Your Name by Hillsong. Once again, we see the savior's love conquering all and in return, giving us life. I know I say it all the time but that one act gave us the greatest gift of all and sometimes it takes us years just to realize how privileged we are to live!!!!! It says it right there in the chorus, He loved people undeserving!!!! No one on this planet deserves that love. This last week at church it was put into a perspective that made me realize just how lucky we are. In the crucifixion of Christ, he received our sin and we received his righteousness. What this means is that when God looks at us, he does not see the sinful person, he sees the righteousness of Christ. This makes so much sense because God is a perfect God and because he cannot be associated with sin, he sees the righteousness of his son in us. How amazing is that!!!! Yah I know, kinda hard to believe because what makes us so significant that God should only see the righteousness of Christ in us and not the sin. You would think that the only thing that could be seen in us is the sin because we do it so much but no, God does not see that!!!! I do not know about you but that just makes me want cry tears of joy when I hear that. Our God is so forgiving and merciful!!! The sooner we realize it, the less scared we will be to spread his incredible love throughout this entire world and see lives transformed because of him!!!!

What it means to be onfire

So I was asked tonight, what does it look like or mean to be an onfire Christian? For me, a person who is an onfire christian is more passionate about christianity than anything else in their lives. They are on the frontlines fighting for the Lord and spreading his word everywhere they go. They are a soldier in the Lord's army and they will do whatever it takes to bring God to this world. More than anything, they long for every person on this earth to realize their fullest potential and they want God to be evident in every part of everybody's life. They are not afraid to be vulnerable because they know that God will catch them whenever they fall. How amazing is that!!?? God will always be by our side and he will never let us fall. He's got our back in every situation whether we believe it or not. So what does this mean for our lives? Our relationship with God is a two way road. He will always be there for us and will never let us go, but what are we doing to make sure that he stay's evident in our lives? Do we truly believe in God and trust that he will always be there for us, or are we just saying it without doing anything to prove it? Our actions speak louder than our words. I believe it's in hebrews that Paul says that says I show you my faith through my works. What are we doing in our everyday life to show how much we love God? One day we will stand before the Lord and we will be judged for our actions on earth. What will you do to prove that God is your savior and that you will do anything to show his love here on earth. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out there and spread his love to everybody I come in contact with!!!!! So go be a soldier for the Lord's army!!!!!!!!!!!!!!