Magic and Miracles

   I'm currently reading the Harry Potter series for the first time and have noticed a lot of cool parallels one of which happens on page 34 in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." 
   Mr. Weasley in discussing his work and says, "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it ... Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking--they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face."
   This really struck me because if you connect muggles to people who don't know God (particularly atheists), wizards to people who know God, and magic to miracles(works of God) you can essentially say the same thing: A person who doesn't know God(such as an atheist) would never admit to miraculous happenings(acts of God) in their life, to the contrary they would create alternative explanations in an attempt to explain the phenomenons. 
   If we keep those connections in mind it makes this JK Rowling quote even more interesting, "Wizards represent all that the true 'Muggle' most fears: They are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit."
   I thought this quote was really cool because portrays muggles as the "normals" in the complete world that inhabits planet earth. The muggles belong to the earth they live on but the wizards belong somewhere else just like christians. John 15:19 says, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own, As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."
   Just as muggles hate wizards because they belong to a world they cannot be a part of, those of this world hate Christians because we belong to a world they do not understand. 
   Many people feel like the world of love and grace, of mercy and redemption and sacrifice that God offers us is absurd and the we are crazy for believing it is real. However, I know that it is real because I live in it and so do many others. I don't fear death or oblivion or eternity or uncertainty ect. when I am in God's world of love because He's God it covered and when I have my trust in Him I don't worry about it (not to say I never worry, I do frequently and stupidly remove my trust from God and try to place it in another option that is worthy of it. Of course, seeing as there are no other options I end up heading back to God!:))
   Anyway, that was just some more book connections to hopefully spark your own imagination! :)

Choice Prayer vs. Creative Prayer

   In Bible Study last night one of the things we talked about was creative prayer verses choice prayer. I thought it was really cool so that's what I'm going to write about today! :)
   The choice prayer is typically prayed in two different ways(there may be more I don't know of). The first one is options and would sound something like, "God, I really want to get into UT so please help me to do really good on my SAT, be in the top 8% at my school, or have a really great resume. I'll leave it up to you. Amen." That seems fine but in reality it limits God. Instead of allowing Him to work in your life freely, you are limiting Him to helping you get into UT while He might have bigger plans for you at Harvard! 
   The second is the solution prayer and I know I've prayed this one a lot! I would say something like, "God, my friend doesn't know you. Please help me to be your light in her life and lead her to you. Amen." Again, that sounds great but is restricting. I have no clue if my friend is ready to accept God or if God wants to use me to lead her to Him. It could be that He has planned for someone else to do that job so that her faith will be much more than it could be with my plan! 
   And then we have the third option, the creative prayer. In this prayer we tell God the problem and then stop. This leaves room for God to be creative and do things we could never have imagined ourselves. We see examples of this all throughout the Bible such as the feeding of the five thousand. (For a refresher read Mark 6:30-44.) When it is clear that the people have to eat, the disciples essentially pray the options prayer. They explain to Jesus that He can send the people home to eat or go buy food for everyone. Neither option is a very good one since people might faint from hunger on the way home and if they bought food they'd spend all their money and everyone would get a small bite. However, Jesus has a plan far beyond anything imaginable and it is with that plan that He feeds the people. God can do that with our prayer too. If I pray, "God, my friend doesn't know you. Amen," The possibilities for His power are so much greater than if I were to restrict him to doing what I think would be a good solution! Mary (His mother) does this at the water to wine miracle (John 2:1-12). In verse 3 Mary tells Jesus, "They have no wine." She doesn't ask Him to get some for them, she just states the problem and leaves the solution up to Him because she knows she can't imagine what He has in store, and she was right! :) So, in conclusion, pray your problems and leave room for God to be creative!

CHIRSTmas

  Lately I've been slightly distraught over how little we actually focus on Jesus during His birthday (aka CHRISTmas). And though I still wish He got the attention, what CHRISTmas has become in our society reveals some of the character of Jesus. 
   For instance, it's customary to receive gifts on your birthday but on Jesus' birthday everyone else receives gifts. Jesus gave us the gift of Himself on the day of His birth so others got a huge gift from Jesus even before people started to give each other gifts! The funny thing about the gift Jesus gave us of Himself and our salvation is that it's the biggest gift possible for us receive and yet we write thank you notes to the small ones people give instead of for the most important gift ever given. That represents who Jesus is. We would never dream of letting our siblings have our presents and decide what to do on our birthday but Jesus lets us. He is generous and selfless. 
   When you ask people what their favorite day of the year is they usually respond with "CHRISTmas because it's such a happy day." This is slightly ironic because the happiness that comes from presents and seeing you family is temporary and that is usually what people are talking about. It is the joy that Jesus offers that can keep you in the CHRISTmas mood all year round.
   The CHRISTmas mood is another weird thing about CHRISTmas. It's pretty much the fact that people are nicer during the CHRISTmas season because they are looking forward to breaks and presents. Only when you pass the superficial level of CHRISTmas 
and let the magnitude of Jesus birth sink in do you find real joy and a new, lasting reason to be kind and loving all year.
   So yeah, that's pretty much me doing a little ranting about the stupidity of the human race which has replaced lasting joy with happiness and a fat man. 

Proverbs 31:30 + The Hunger Games

If you have not yet read all 3 Hunger Games books, please do so before you proceed! :)

   Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

                          Proverbs 31:30

   Proverbs 31:30 is my memory verse for Bible study this week and although it is a well known one, I don't think people think a whole lot about what it actually means. I think we look at it and think to ourselves that it is a beautiful, simple verse and rings with wisdom and truth and then we move on. At least that is what I've been doing for the past 15 years and 111 days (aka until this morning). This morning I was thinking about how we never question the truth of the verse in words, it is clearly correct, but it is definitely questioned in the actions of our society. Take models for example, they clearly much more good looking than all the rest of us(whether natural or otherwise) so these lucky ducks get jobs where they don't get to pick what they wear and have to pretend to feel emotions they aren't feeling and are constantly being dissected in magazines ect. and worrying about how they look. And what do they gain (in terms of appearance)  from all this trouble? The chance to grow old and gain wrinkles and gray hair just like the rest of us. So, what was the point of that rambling you ask? Simply to make sure you are aware that beauty is indeed fleeting. Now for charm...

   This one is harder because some may like to present the argument that charm is not nearly so superficial but, alas, it is. They dictionary recently taught me that charm is a trait or feature imparting the power of pleasing people through personality or beauty. Now, if you are one of the aforementioned "charm is not superficial people" you may feel that the use of personality proves your point but it does not. You are born with a personality the same way you are born with you face. You may try to tweak it or change it to fit the image of what you or society think it should be but parts of the "real you" will always be peeking through the mask. On the other hand, character is the real deal. Character is what you have the power to change whether for better or worse.
   So, I was thinking of this while I was reading the Hunger Games and decided that a great example of this would be Peeta. Peeta is a charming guy. At school he was one of the cool kids. In his interviews, everyone loved him. During Quarter Quell training it took 2 hours for the other tributes to become his friends. Also, he's fairly attractive. But despite all this, the thing that saved his life was his character. Katniss liked Peeta but in her first games she was perfectly willing to kill him along with his charm and beauty. But when she gets a true glimpse at his character, his goodness, she can't. 
    Anyway, I thought that was a cool demonstration, hope you liked it! :)

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

   1 Cor. 3:10-15 (which I would recommend reading before proceeding to read this post) is Paul talking about the foundation of Jesus Christ that the Corinthians had. He basically tells them that their foundation(Jesus) will never fail but they must build upon it (the building is their faith walk) so that it will withstand fire (judgement). 
   I thought this was a really cool analogy because it is similar to many others but not quite the same. Two I'm reminded of in particular are building your house on the rock and being refined through fire. I think they are neat because although they were written by different people a different times, they all build on each other. First, we should build our house on the rock or base our lives of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we build up a big, beautiful house or allow God to work inside us and in our lives so that His richness shows on the outside too. Thirdly, our houses are tested by fire to see whether they are strong enough to withstand it or God will judge our life with Him based on whether we truly allowed Him to do the building or spent our lives creating a fake. 
   Anyway, that's what I was thinking about when I read that passage this morning. And all before 7 a.m.! :)

The Nobody Who Became Somebody

   At church yesterday, our pastor gave a sermon called 'The Nobody Who Became Somebody' that really spoke to me. (You can listen to it here under encounters with Christ.) The scripture the sermon revolves around is Mark 5:21-34. The rest of this post will be bullet points of things I learned.

• Jesus made this nobody somebody without even including her name in the Bible. For people to talk about her they have to tell her story, to recount the miracle Jesus worked in her, to remember the power of God before both people know who they are talking about!
• This women had the worst disease ever because she was constantly bleeding. When a woman was bleeding she was unclean and therefore all her life this woman couldn't have a normal marriage, go to the temple to pray, be alone with someone, and was shunned in public. And also, it was incurable.
• In the passage in says that she spent all she had on doctors but only got worse. I feel like this is a reminder that nothing good will come from trying to do the impossible without the power of God.
• This women spent every penny trying to find a cure for her physical disease but many people spend all the have on their soul disease. They buy stuff, go to social events, date/remarry ect, only to discover their disease is incurable. Thankfully we know that only Jesus can heal the incurable. (Cool thing about this is that one of God's names is the Great Physician!) In regard to this woman, her illness was incurable but her spirit was indomitable.
• This women hadn't met nor seen Jesus until the same day she slipped into the crowd to touch his cloak, she had only heard about Him. How can a woman who has only heard about Jesus have enough faith in Him to know that His clothes will heal her while I, who know Him, have trouble putting my full faith in Him with small things? It's incredible!
• Again, this women heard about Jesus. This woman who was publicly shunned had heard enough about Jesus to have so much faith in Him. Jesus was being talked about! Back then the name of Jesus effected so many, why aren't we saying it now?
• Ways to bring up Jesus at any conceivable time would be at any lull or connecting point in a conversation to tell something you've read, talk about what great things God's doing for a missionary, organization, in a true book or movie, ect. but be excited about it and tell it like that. Just add it normally to a conversation but with excitement. There will never be need for apologetic build up or anything before, just fit Jesus into your conversations. There is no time or place where it would be bad for a person to hear the name of Jesus.
• When she touched His clothes, Jesus felt power go out of Him. Ministering cost Him something yet He was willing to do them for us! And when He felt that, He found her and gave her His full attention, all of Himself, and I'm sure she'll never forget when Jesus was focused on her.

   So, I found so much of this extremely convicting but chose a couple things to really think about this week. One, focus on faith. I'm constantly doubting whether I'm really hearing God's voice or if God will do something when I want Him to. Also, I'm not talking about Jesus as much as He deserves to be talked about! So my focuses for the week are:

1. When I hear God speaking to me, I will immediately go do what He asks so I won't have time to start doubting.
2. I will try to talk Jesus in almost every conversation I have so that it becomes habit. 

Romans 2:1-Passing Judgement

   Towards the end of last school year, I really started to focus on not judging people, and it was helping a lot! Not to the point where I actually didn't judge but when I started to, I could catch myself and stop pretty early on. What this resulted in was less judgement (obviously:)), less gossip, and better relationships with other people. Unfortunately, I stopped focusing so much on it over the summer and ending up doing a little backsliding, which I didn't realize until my quiet time about 10 minutes ago when I read Romans 2:1, 
     You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
    It made me think a lot because while I might not sin in exactly the same way, I do sin, and because of that, the very action judging them is a sin. I knew that before but needed the reminder. Thank you God! :)
    One way thing that causes me to judge in cursing. When someone curses, my opinion of them automatically, and often subconsciously, goes down. However, I have one friend that I really like but she isn't a Christian and has absolutely no interest in any kind of faith. She does different thing I don't agree with (because I'm looking through Bible eyes), including curse. But often, instead of judging her when she says things, I judge the word she's just said. And if I can do this with her cursing, why can't I do it with everyone and every sin.
    What I'm not saying is that we should ignore that a certain person is doing something. We shouldn't. We need to keep in mind the ways different people are challenged so that we can be there for them if God ever asks us to, or share of verse we're feeling led to share with them. What we shouldn't do is hold the sin against them. After all, if everyone held each others sin against them and let it get in the way of relationships, we would have no close friends. (That said, pick your close friends wisely.) 
     So, in conclusion, don't judge people, judge actions. Don't see someone you don't want to be like, see something you don't want to do. And always be willing to encourage others if you feel God is calling you to do so.

Mark 4: The Parable of the Sower

   I just finished reading the Parable of the Sower from Mark 4 and got some really cool thoughts about it so I had to blog and expand on them before they went out of my head. So anyway, while I was reading I was thinking about how even though I know the "Good News," I still don't know a fraction of what God wants to teach me so not all of my heart is 'good soil.' That made me think about how to make good soil and I think it's really cool.
   When you want to plant a garden you make sure the soil is good first. This consists of three main steps: water, weed, fertilize.
  Weed, consists of finding the sin in you heart and rooting it out (read this post for a more detailed, whimsical description.) Obviously it is necessary to do this before you fertilize.
   Fertilizing is like like vitamins for the ground, it helps the soil become rich or able to produce good crops. There are many different ways we can fertilize are heart, but the ones that come to mind immediately are reading the Bible, praying, and fellowship. However, there is another way to fertilize that doesn't come in the usual package, compost. Compost is pretty much recycling gross garbage that is actually full of nutrients for your soil. You put certain kinds of trash in a bin and mix it up and it gets super hot and you have to stir it around with a shovel for weeks but when it's done, you never could never tell it was the garbage for a bit ago. For us, we can compost bad relationships, experiences, choices, ect. For a while it gets really tough, burning hot and shifting emotions, but in the end, the lessons He teaches us are so amazing it's hard to believe they came from the bad parts of your life! 
  Water isn't really a step that Has an order. You just make sure you water before and after you do anything else. You water before you weed so the ground is soft and the weeds will come up easier so since Jesus is the Living Water, you invite Him in before you 'weed' so it's less painful and ask Him to stay afterwards to give the new, weed free soil a good start! But in the end, if you don't continually water, all the good you've grown will die. In the same way, when we don't spend time in the presence of JC, our relationship dies and becomes religion. Ick!
   So, now concludes my new realization about the parable of the sower. Thanks for reading! :)

Lord of Hosts

   Lately I've been wondering what exactly Lord of Hosts means. I realize it's a name of God but I haven't really understood why He is the Lord of Hosts. A guy I met recently explained this way, "Because Jesus lives in us, we are the host. God lives in each of His followers therefore He's the Lord of hosts." (that is obviously not verbatim but whatever :)) But my study Bible told me that the Lord of Hosts meant that God was the ruler over many, as in Lord=God and Hosts=Angels (like in a Heavenly Host). Because of these different explanations that both seemed to make sense, I did some research. 
   
  The name 'Lord of Hosts' is translated from 'Jehovah Sabaoth.' Jehovah means God and Sabaoth means armies/hosts therefore when we simply take the words and literally translate, Lord of Hosts means ruler over many armies or fighting forces. However we can also take a look at the name in context.
  
  When we see 'Lord of Hosts' in the Bible (and it is used 250+ times), we see it used mainly in 2 different ways. 
1) A person is crying out to the Lord of Hosts. When this happens, the crier is calling for a defender, calling for God to come fight a battle they couldn't win alone. 
2) As a name for God after He shows His incredible power.   
So, in context, we can see that it shows God a powerful defender. (For specific in text examples go here: http://donotdepart.com/jehovah-sabaoth-the-lord-of-hosts)

   In conclusion, the Lord of Hosts is a name of God that highlights His supreme power over all of His creation. While His Hosts may include angels, they are truly all of creation. (So, that guy's explanation isn't Biblically true about the Lord of Hosts because host isn't translated into that meaning but we can use it that way because He is the Living God of the Living Word.)

I'm not that bad...

   When I look around me I often think I'm really not that bad. Yeah I mess up but, relatively speaking, I'm much better than the majority of earth's population. I'm am certainly not a despicable person of base character. In fact, I've been told exactly the opposite. And I love hearing that kind of praise!
   Unfortunately, all those compliments I receive are not turned into praise to God. I don't immediately thank Him for turning me around and helping me live like JC. Instead, I glow with pride, taking all God's credit. The truth of the matter is that the more God works in my life, the less I feel like I need Him and the more I push Him away. In fact, the moments where I am completely sold out for Jesus are quite fleeting and I often wind up feeling fake. But, I can comfort myself with the fact that I'm not (as I mentioned earlier) a despicable person of base character, though if I truly believe that fact, then I'm a liar.
   A popular hymn, Amazing Grace, goes like this, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me." I've sung this countless times and, in doing so, called myself a wretch. The definition for wretch is a despicable person of base character. As a liar falls into this category, there is no alternative for me, I am or was despicable. And right now I'd go with am.
   As fine as I think I am, if I were to go to heaven uncured of sin, it would reveal who I truly am. After all, good and bad are relative terms but perfect is perfect wherever you are, whomever you with. 
   So, if you ever feel the need to renew your relationship with Jesus, don't rush it but prioritize it so that when it gets tough, your relationship remains #1. I'm trying to take my own advice right now and now know that the best way to start is to say you're sorry.
   

When you just aren't feelin' it

   Lately I've been pushing aside my God time way too much. Because I'm not on my normal schedule there is an endless supply of excuses I can use but mostly I say, "How can I get anything out of this if I don't even want to do it?" Then say a quick prayer asking God to make me want to and push aside the knowledge that what I'm doing is wrong. The other night I was telling my iron sister how sometimes God gives me a certain determination to do something but without I can't do anything. She kinda looked at me funny and a little while later brought the subject up again and simply told me that she didn't think I needed that determination to do stuff. This wasn't what I wanted to hear and unsettled me a little because deep down I was well aware she was right. 
   I had recognized that my heart wasn't where it should be but didn't want to make any effort to move it so I asked God to do all the work. But, the thing about God is that He never forces us to do anything. He always lets us take the first step and then helps us from there. It's kind of like those pictures where Jesus has His hand out and we just need to reach up about an inch and grab it before He pulls us up. While my heart was in the wrong place, the small movement towards God was able to shift it just a little back to where it belongs!
   So, if you are ever acting like me and making excuses to push away your time with God, know that the feeling when you truly go back to Him is so gratifying that you can't fully understand why you were making excuses in the first place!

p.s. This is an awesome example of why it is so great to have an accountability partner to always point you in the right direction!

The Cursed Fig Tree

   I've always been confused by the Biblical story in which Jesus curses a fig tree. Last month I read it in Matthew but after reading it again today in Mark I decided it was time for some investigation. (The story is found in Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-14; 11:20-24.)
   Now, this story seems slightly disturbing in the sense that Jesus killed someone else's fig tree because it didn't have any fruit out of season. Thankfully, that statement is false. The fig tree was probably growing on the side of the road which was not uncommon in that time, just as it was not uncommon to go get fruit from a tree growing on the side of the road. I've drawn this conclusion because Peter, who often rebuked Jesus, didn't do so. You would think that if Jesus went a killed someone else's fig tree, Peter would feel the need to speak up. As for the no fruit out of season, my discovery is below.
   After reading several commentaries that popped up on google, I noticed that they all mentioned that the fig tree had leaves and in Palestine, the figs show up before the leaves. I'm not sure if this is true because, despite my efforts, I couldn't manage to find any reports on Palestinian figs that weren't christian based. Plus, my study Bible said leaves and fruit appear about the same time. Because of this, I didn't feel overly confident about the relationship between figs and fig leaves. Thankfully I ended up running across something that made much more sense anyway. And it was written by a fig farmer! (You can find what he wrote here if you'd like but I will summarize below.)
   There is such thing as a early fig, as in months early. It's called a berba. Most likely that is what Jesus went to look for. (After all, Peter didn't stop Him from looking for figs out of season!:)) But when Jesus went to check it wasn't just that He didn't see any ripe figs, He didn't see any fruit at all, ripe or unripe. Figs are supposed to have 1 to 2 fruits behind each leaf and the fruit should have at least been starting to grow! But it wasn't. This shows that the fig tree wasn't lacking fruit out of season, it was lacking fruit period. An unproductive fig tree on the side of the road doesn't help anyone anyway. 
   So now that we have the disturbing part of this story taken care of, lets move onto why. The main reason is the lesson Jesus taught from the story. He had no doubt whatsoever that the fig tree would die and wasn't the least surprised to that it withered. He used this as a teaching moment to show the disciples that when you believe in your heart that what you've said will come to pass through God, it will. 
   In my study Bible I read something else that I liked a lot. It basically said that because the tree had so many leaves it gave you the impression it would bear lots of fruit but it really had none. This could symbolize the hypocrisy of those who seem to be bearing lots of fruit but are, in fact, bearing none.
   And now my conclusion on Jesus cursing the fig tree draws to a close.
   

The First Step

   Sometimes I feel like many people look at Christianity in the wrong way. In their mind the first step is trying to be Christ-like. They read their Bibles, go to church, and try to be good because that is what we are supposed to do. That is true, God wants us to do those things I feel that He might say, "I long for them to explore my Word, experience fellowship with other believers, and continue trying to overcome sin because they love me and know that I love them." Big difference! Below I've broken apart the "God sentence." (I call it that because I believe that's what I've heard God saying to me.)
   I long for them to: God has a deep, unchanging longing for us to act on our faith and will prompt us to do so but by no means will He ever force us, it is our choice.
   Explore my Word: God doesn't want us to mindlessly read His word, He wants us to explore it. When you explore something you look carefully at everything. You take notes about miniscule details, you're excited about it, and most importantly, you have goal. God wants us to read with a real purpose, if that is to grow closer to Him, to help a friend or yourself with something, to become more knowledgeable about certain parts, He just wants there to be a reason.
   Experience fellowship with other believers: Not everyone experiences God through fellowship in the same way. If you zone out through the sermon and rush away with no time to talk afterwards, maybe big church isn't for you. A small sunday school class may be more suitable. The important thing is that we interact with other believers and learn from one another.
   Continue trying to overcome sin: God wants us to realize that it will be a continual struggle and the sin won't just disappear. Fighting sin is a lot like two beginners playing chess, you try to strategize but all you can really do is make some moves, constantly consult the expert, and do everything you can to protect your king.
   Because they love me and know that I love them: The underlying reason for wanting to be like Jesus must be love for it to be worth anything. He loves us so we love Him. We love Him so we want to make Him happy.
   In this case, the first step is to understand enough of God's love for us to love Him back.

Nothing Else

   A couple days ago, my iron sister said something that really struck me. Of course I've known that we won't be able to take anything into heaven but I'd only thought of it in the context of money, trinkets, ect. She used it in the context of an annotated Bible or that cross necklace you always wear. It was the first time I'd ever heard it put that way and it really made me think. 
   First off, lately God has been urging me to memorize more scripture. The fact that all I'm bringing to heaven is myself made me think about my Biblical knowledge. I can definitely tell bible stories and paraphrase verses but I there are few I'd be able to give exact wording or an address for. If I knew His word more fully, not only will it help me on earth but it would be, in a sense, preparation for heaven. (Not that you need to prepare, but you get the point.)
   Secondly, because God knows your heart, all the earthly accomplishments that weren't done for God won't be worth a thing. I went through a phase in elementary school where when I read my Bible I would use 5 different color highlighters so to others it looked like I read my Bible more often. Ironically, now that I actually read my Bible more, I don't care if other people know or not. :)
   Anyway, I thought it was very interesting to experience that truth in that context and hope y'all do too! 

Vanity

   Vanity is a word that is used often in the Bible. In fact, it is used fairly often in my head as well. I've always thought of being vain as caring about how you physically look. However, as I read through the Bible, it is often used in a context where it didn't seem to fit. Because of that, I looked the word up in the dictionary and found that my limited definition didn't come close to encompassing the fullness of the word.
   The actual definition of vanity is "something lacking real value, something that passes away." While this is true for looks, it really includes all worldly things. You could look at your new phone, your bedspread, or the views of a political party and think it's all vanity because these things will change, new and improved versions will always be coming out.
   I thought this was pretty neat because I have a really bad connotation for the word vain or vanity. If I can equate these words to 'worldly' it will help grow my dislike for the thought of worldly things. If I don't like the thought of them it will help strengthen my resolve to try and eliminate them from my life!
   One last thought: God's love is the one thing that isn't vanity. His love has always been and will always be unfathomable and perfect. So much so that it isn't even possible for it to be improved. The only reason it continues to seem new to us is because as we love more, we see more of its fullness.

God, please bless...

   When children are young their bedtime prayers often sound somewhat like this, "Dear God, Please bless mommy. Please bless daddy. Please bless my brother. Please bless my friends. Please bless my grandma. Amen." As we get older our prayers often evolve into one of two things(or both), 1) a true spiritual connection with God where He does a lot of the talking even if it is through our own words or 2) "Dear God, Please bless my mom in this specific way."
   As I thought about the contrast between option 1 and option 2 I decided I do both depending on how I'm emotionally feeling at the moment. When I am truly loving God and other through God, I effortlessly pray option 1. Love is such a strong emotion I have no choice but to pray with feeling. But, when I'm feeling bored, like prayer and reading the Bible is a routine or ritual necessary for me to follow, I pray option 2. 
   Obviously, option 1 is the way to go but my thoughts didn't stop there. I then thought about option 2 vs. the child's prayer. After a fair amount of consideration I think that the child's prayer is an example of the trust and innocence children posses. No child questions God's knowledge of how to "bless daddy." They don't consider telling Him how, which essentially is option 2. 
   When we pray for God to bless our grandma we trust that God will bless her in the best possible way, better than we know who. When we pray the God blesses grandma by providing the money for medicine through the wealthy friend she has so that she can go to a specific hospital and receive treatment that will heal her painlessly in one month, we are assuming that our plan is how God can best bless grandma. Unfortunately for us "option 2 prayers," this is seldom true.
   God is the giver of good gifts (Matthew 7:11). If He chooses to bless someone in a way that doesn't fit our criteria, that simply means we aren't looking at the big picture. When we just ask God to bless someone or something we can rest assured in the fact that He does see the big picture and will provide the best possible, long term blessing/s. 
   So, as of now, my conclusion on subject is that if we are praying for others we should make our prayers as generic as possible and leave the details up to God.

p.s. My Iron Sister once wrote about Ecclesiastes commented that the author recorded "sporadic realizations." I really like that because I feel like that is how my writing my seem to the reader. Hopefully y'all like Ecclesiastes! :)

Countering Your Life's Lies

   I recently returned for Sky Ranch Christian Camps after having an amazing, God filled week in Quest! I learned so much through my counselors throughout the week from different Bible Studies and conversations. At the very beginning of the week, one of these Bible Studies was about truth vs. lies. After listening I felt compelled to make a list of the lies I subconsciously believe and let affect my daily life. Throughout the week I tried to come up with truths to counter the lies.
   One of these lies was that I'm not a fun person to be around and no one can learn from me because I don't talk much. Despite making it seem like I should talk more, my belief in this lie made me more awkward and even less likely to talk to people I don't know at all or well. Throughout the week I couldn't figure out what to counter this with because it seemed so true in so many different settings but at the end of the week God showed me why He'd kept me waiting.
    Everyone in my cabin wrote their name on a sheet of paper and we passed them in a circle so that everyone could write a little note to each person. One of my notes was this:

 (It is super edited so you can read it)

   When I read this I realized that He had left that question in my head to show me that if I wait for His timing He would give me an unforgettable and encouraging answer that far surpasses anything else I could have received. Not only is this obviously God's reassurance, it is proof from a peer that what He is telling me others think is true! Thank you Jesus! :)

moral of the story: never stop waiting for Jesus or tell Him to hurry, if you do, you can't fully appreciate the answer when it appears. (plus He never stops waiting for you!:))

Baptized with the Holy Spirit

   Lately I've been curious about what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and have decided that I think being baptized with the Holy Spirit isn't actually connected to being baptized with water. In the dictionary there are separate definitions for the for the word 'baptize.' One says that it is the Christian ritual of immersion, sprinkling, or pouring water on someone. The second says it is a spiritual cleansing. In Matthew 3:11 John baptized with water but says Jesus will later baptize with the Holy Spirit. Because of these things I think that being baptized with water is definition 1 and being baptized with the Holy Spirit is definition 2. They are two separate things, an outward sign and an inward change.
   So, my belief is that being baptized with the holy spirit stands alone, without need for water. In this case, is being baptized with the Holy Spirit anything more than an inward change? I think so.
   I think that being baptized with the Holy Spirit means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2 tells us how the Holy Spirit descended on the the 12 disciples/apostles with rushing wind and fire and enabled them to speak in other tongues and filled them. I would say that this is what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit but I think I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and haven't encounter any flaming tongues, literal or metaphorical. So, I think that while being baptized means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it isn't necessarily in such as way. 
   When you're baptized with the Holy Spirit it fills you and supplies you with all you need to do God's work. At that point I think the apostles needed visible and obvious evidence of God's fulfilled promise of a helper as well as the ability to communicate. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit it fills us as well, and not just in a different way but in the way we personally need.

p.s. I'm sorry this post is particularly choppy but I'm not a super great writer yet and often can't get things to flow on paper the way they connect in my head. :(

A Bucket of Rocks

   In an email my Iron Sister sent me the other day, she compared  God's "light, love, and presence" to water going into a bucket of rocks. This struck me and I decided I wanted to expand on it!  
   The bucket represents our lives and the rocks are the things we fill it with. We can carefully fill our lives with as many beautiful rocks the will fit but we will never be completely full. There will always be little gaps creating a longing in us to fill them and we search desperately for a rock that will fit into the space perfectly or try to reorganize our lives to close the countless gaps. However, despite the pains we go to to fill gaps, filling one, often creates another. The only thing that can truly fill us is water (aka God's life, love, and presence which equates to Jesus who is the living water!) Water can find all the gaps and will fill them completely. There is an endless supply of water as well, God never withholds Himself from us!
   The water also overflows out of our bucket, something rocks can't do. And when it overflows, it fills the buckets of those around us. Once they are full, they can start overflowing onto those around them and the cycle of God's love continues!
   After a while the water will wear down the rocks in us so that we are less full of earthly things and more full of God. Every now and then we throw in another rock (sin), but God continues to supply His living water whenever we ask(and occasionally when we don't!) 
   The only thing that can cut off this constant flow of water is us. But when we ask, God will always be willing to fill us up again. Thank you God for filling our buckets in a way so that we are satisfied and can satisfy others!

Get Blown Away by God

   On my mission trip, one of the things that the speaker talked about was getting blown away by God. The Bible stories are incredible events that truly happened yet we often have heard them so much we don't care. Someone could come up to me and say "God used Moses to part the Red Sea!!!" And I would think, "I know." But if I was fishing in a tiny pond and some person comes and puts their stick in the mud and the pond splits, the bottom bone dry, I would freak out! When I read about Mary, a virgin, getting pregnant, I don't have to stop and reread that part, to think about it. But, should someone in today's world claim to be virgin and pregnant I would never believe them, that's too wild of a claim. But, God caused it to happen in Mary!
   There are even stories I wouldn't originally think of as miracles but are. Take Noah's Ark for example, I don't think it is scientifically possible for it to rain on the entire earth at once for 40 days, but it did. I'm surprised when it rains off and on for a week and  I often compare 'The Great Flood' to the 2 feet of water kind we get today. Or how Noah must of been feeling in the dark nasty boat to how I feel staring out the window of my house or car during a thunderstorm. I simply don't understand the greatness of events such as these, so I try to take them down a notch. By subconsciously doing this, I miss the breathtaking reality of all the God has done and can do.
   When I look at the Bible stories in this way it's easier to get blown away by God, but I still cannot comprehend the magnitude in these displays of power and love. I doubt that on this earth I will ever be fully able to, but, with God's help, I can try!

Our Influence

   One day on my mission trip I was doing my TAG time (time alone with God) and praying about what I was reading. Eventually I got to where I was journal praying about the day in general. It was normal stuff like getting along, working hard, influencing others when something made me reread that last line I wrote. "Help what I do to influence others." And I realized that although I'd like to think that if people where more like me, they'd be more like God, that is far from true. I sin way to much to be praying that I will influence others, what I need to be praying is that God will influence others using me! A world of Caroline's would not be a good world! So, I decided to pray, "when I'm enough like you, help me influence others." But that is wrong too because I will never be God caliber. When a person could be influenced by someone as amazing as God, why would I want to influence them instead? Now I pray, "God, YOU influence others through me." And I think that prayer makes quite a bit more since! :)

Serving God?

   In the work world, when an employee constantly messes up, they're fired. If they quit with a slam of the door, in the face of a boss who has always been kind to them, they won't be asked to return. We humans in the work world know that this is only natural. The employee may need the money they got payed, but if they do something like that, they don't deserve the job. I cannot express to you how grateful I am that God is not a human in the work world!
   God is our boss. He pays us with love, joy, peace, and more. In fact, our paychecks are ridiculous! Any time we ask for a raise or bonus He willingly supplies it, or something better. Not only that, as His employees, we mess up all the time! We deserve to get fired each and every day, but He never fires us because He knows we need our pay, which only He can supply. We only lose our job with Him when we walk away. When we slam the door in His face and quit. But despite our bad behavior, God continues to offer us our job back, in hopes we will come back to Him. Thank you God!

Cliche to Extraordinary

   For the past week, I've been in San Antonio on a mission trip. My group and I roofed and I had an amazing time! But on the first day, God jolted me into the reality of what I was doing. 

   At the beginning of each chapel service, there are two journal question. On Sunday night, before I even knew what I'd be doing, the question on the screen read, 'Why did you come to Blue Print?' (Blue Print was the ministry we worked from.) That question really struck me and my answer hit home. My honest answer was 1) My Youth group was going and I like to be involved in my church and 2) I like helping people.

   This answer may seem fine but it isn't. I should have gone on the trip with a mindset of serving God, not staying plugged in with church. And while it's good that I like helping people, I can't truly serve people unless my goal is to serve God.

   I'm so grateful to God for bringing me to the realization that I should be there to serve Him! It's all in His timing and I'm so thankful His timing was before I started working. And while I wish I could say I went with the right mindset, I'm extremely thankful I can say that the mindset I aimed for was serving God while I worked. I'm extremely thankful that God spun the trip so I could see that my cliche "help people" mindset should be a "serving God" mindset. And the simple fact that God lets us serve Him is extraordinary! Never again will I let myself turn something as extraordinary as a mission trip into ordinary and cliche! Thank you God! :)

Jesus is Tempted

   4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

   
   I've always thought of this story with the mindset of 'Jesus went into the desert to fast and Satan showed up.' But what the Bible actually says is, 'Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.' This really struck me as my iron sister read it aloud, the verse makes it seem like the point of Jesus going to wilderness wasn't to fast but to be tempted. Weird! But, when you think a lot about it, it makes sense. 
   As God's followers we are called into certain situations we know will be hard, situations where we know we will be tempted. These situations seem like they are solely to be helping others but could being tempted be the point of a calling into "our wilderness?"
   I know that God chooses each one of us for a certain job in His plan. When we go on mission trips, we often get more than we are giving but we still think the point is helping others. One of God's points is probably to help us. When we are tempted we grow. Jesus was a great example of how the only way to resist and grow is with God.  When we are tempted and forced to rely on Him, we become stronger. 
   So, if you are ever stuck in a hard spot and get mad at God because following Him was how you got there, remember that the point depends on perspective and from His perspective, the reason for it all may be your growth!

Giving Thanks

   I just read a devotional written by my iron sister (aka really awesome, Jesus loving, friend) that was discussing Psalm 50:23, "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" I love this verse so much, there are so many layers by which we can view what God is telling us in this 1 verse! So let's start unpacking!
   My Iron sister wrote this about this verse, "God wants us to thank Him continually, and I've realized that no matter how much I thank God, I won't cover everything He's given me." I thought this was such a cool thought. We don't even know everything that God has done for us! Some things He does that we can't see, others that we don't realize, and still more, things we just don't remember came from Him. So if you're ever at a loss as to what to thank God for, snap out of it! Thank Him for each thing in all you things, for your hair, your vision, your family, ect. Imagine all the things He is preventing from happening to you each day and thank Him. Thank Him for the fact that He forgave your last sin. Now, I'm not saying I do all this but I'm going to start trying! And should we manage to thank Him every second of the day for the rest of our lives we still won't hit everything but we be offering our thanksgiving as our sacrifice, and by doing that, glorifying God!
   When I read this verse, what really stood out to me was, "to one who orders his way rightly." To me this is God saying, "Caroline honey, it's not so much about the money you give at church or teaching others or any other visible, tangible thing. It is the thanks you give me that only I can see that matters. Giving thanks privately should be your first priority. That is the right order!" This is God reminding me that focusing on inner beauty and thanking Him will lead to better teaching and other stuff along those lines! 
   This verse also tells us that God prefers our thanks over all else, our recognition and gratitude toward Him for His marvelous works! I think it's so cool that He what He puts as #1 for giving Him glory is something we all can do! Young or old, rich or poor, giving thanks is simply in the heart. It doesn't cost money or call for prime physical condition, in doesn't even have to cost time. You can really hone in on giving thanks in the shower, or while vacuuming  or some other activity where your mind would otherwise be wandering. 
   I know that I need to take more advantage of the biggest gift God's given us for this life, prayer. And I can use that gift to give glory to God! Yay! :)

Thank You Note

   So, about 5 minutes ago I was thinking about how I think I have a gift at seeing the good in things so I was like, "Hey God, I have a gift for seeing the good in things." And then I thought for a second about that statement and said, "Sorry that's so braggatory but you gave me that gift!" And then I thought about that for a second and hit upon a conclusion I really wanted to blog about, so here we go!
   Conclusion: It is imposible to brag to God. 
   Anything good you have God has too, and way better! Besides, if you try to brag it's more like writing Him a thank you card.
   Say someone gave me a pillow. In my thank you note I might say something along the lines of, "I love my pillow so much! It's the prettiest color I've ever seen and so soft. It is the best pillow in the world!" That right there would be bragging if I weren't saying it to the person who gave me the pillow. You can't brag about something you own to the person who gave it to you! 
   That's how it is with God too. When you recognize a spiritual gift, TELL HIM! Be like, "Guess what God? I'm a super content person. Plus I have a gift for languages and a gift for being relational and hospitable! Great combo, huh? That was some good thinking you did there when you made me! Thanks a ton!" That statement isn't bragging, it's thanking God and letting Him know that you see, love, and feel confident in the gifts He's given you! 
   That said, I issue a challenge to you: Every moment for the rest of your life, try to brag to God! :)

The Great Puzzler

   Last night I was working on a puzzle with my sister and grandparents. It was a 4D map of Londen. We were working on a map of Londen many years ago and it was extremely hard because there were about 3 colors on the map and paragraphs of tiny cursive writing! When we finish this side we do a current on the looks even more impossible then attach them with double sided tape and add 3D buildings! This is an extremely hard puzzle but despite the difficulty I was having I know that there is someone else whose puzzle is much, much harder...now for the parable(not a awesome JC parable, just one of mine) of the Great Puzzler:
   Once upon a time there was a man who created a huge puzzle called "The World." He worked carefully to decide what layers the millions of different pieces went on, where they fit in, and what the were supposed to be a part of. For a man as great as this the puzzle could  have been done quite easily was it not for the pieces themselves. They were so anxious to find their place that they would run around instead of staying where they were supposed to be. They also wanted to fit in with the other pieces and worked very hard to become the same color and shape as the pieces around them so that the great puzzler had to paint and chisel instead of just putting the pieces together. One day the great puzzle will be finished but the more the great puzzler has to re-color and re-shape and re-place, the longer that day will be in coming. 
   This parable represents God's struggle with the people of the world. God is the Great Puzzler and we are the many pieces, always trying to conform ourselves to worldly people as to fit in. Because we change, we get ourselves into situation that may hurt but will lead us back to our original design so that we truly fit in to our place. We also hinder the completion of the puzzle by running around, obsessed with finding our place, instead of letting God, the one who sees the full picture, put us there and resting in his hand until then!

The Light

   Just a quick thought about 'The Light' analogy. I was studying my astronomy vocab last night for test and the definition of 'Black Hole' really struck me. One of the characteristics is that it's gravity field is so dense that even light can't escape. 
   Besides the true weirdness of the fact that gravity attracts light, I was like um, what about Jesus. No, not like, "Oh no, Jesus isn't all powerful because black hole's will suck Him in so He can't get out!" But I was like, I bet some non-believer has or will at some point use that against God, the flaw in His example. So what I actually thought was, "Hey God, I've always loved the light example so much but could you have maybe thought of a perfect one?" 
   But right after I thought that it occurred to me that there were two extremely plausible answers to this question that both made me the dumb one (not that there was any doubt about that!:)) So, here they are:
    #1 God didn't want to give us an example of something in nature that can truly be a full explanation of Jesus because we haven't discovered what it is yet and therefore wouldn't know what He was talking about. (especially in Bible times)
    #2 Jesus is the only real deal example because He is all powerful so it would make since that nothing can be a perfect analogy for Him because there is nothing even close to His caliber. But since we are humans and need examples to understand things, He gave us one in light (which truly is a great example).
    So that's that and by now you've probably realized that this blog really is what I said it would be, a collection of some of my random thoughts and snippets of my conversations with God! :)

Our Ocean

   Today I was listening to one of my favorite songs, Something Beautiful by Need to Breathe. (Click here for lyrics.) While listening I was trying to fit my life within the lyrics but discovered our lives and situation are all different songs(sorry for the cheesiness of the last statement!:))With that in mind I resorted to creating my life analogy based off of the said song but, obviously, not the same. I ended up having created my own ocean.
   Lately I've been struggling with wanting to know what God wants to do with my life. While I know this is silly as no amount of thought on my part is going to change His perfect plan and I'm still years away from graduating high school, I continue struggling as if the arguments listed above were nonexistent. I want to know out of curiosity and the longing to prepare myself with any special skills or just mentally. This too is silly because only God can truly prepare me. And that concludes the backstory belonging to this analogy! :)
   You grow up on a beach of golden sand and palm trees. The water is lovely, crystal clear, and fairly shallow near the beach. The water contains beautiful fish and coral and is always the perfect temperature. There is not much that can cause lasting harm unless you go a little deeper. To truly go deep you need special equipment. Now, if you are planning on going to collect data about dangerous sharks you aren't going to sit in a shark cage for a year before hand just to be prepared. If you are planning on scuba diving you aren't going to wear a wetsuit until you're about to go in. You trust that you will be provided with the correct equipment by the overseer and planner of your trip just before you go.
   In the same way, here in America we grow up on a golden beach and while we occasionally get hurt by no fault of our own and can often if we are reckless, we are very sheltered and happy. Not many people venture out into "the deep." When we choose to follow God's call we are venturing out. We have to trust that God, the overseer and planner of our trip, will provide us with all we need when the time comes.

Proverbs 24:17 (don't rejoice in other peoples suffering!)

   

   My first reaction to the picture above: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!:) And it is really funny but hits on what I feel is a serious issue for me and our society today. As people we love to see other people fail. Take the show Wipe Out for instance, every time a contest falls in the mud or whatever most of the audience laughs. Why? Because it's funny but why is it funny? I'm not sure there are any good ways to answer that question.
   Now, I'm not saying it isn't funny when a friend trips up the stairs (but is okay)or that it's wrong to laugh. It just makes me wonder why we humans think it is so funny. Personally I don't think Wipe Out or laughing WITH friends is bad at all. God created laughter and as long as we recognize the line between funny and mean, I think it God definitely wants us to laugh. Since we naturally think these things are funny, I don't think it's a bad thing. But apart from my interesting, thought provoking and somewhat pointless commentary above, this verse definitely has a more serious side. 
   I know I've definitely sinned in this way and still do though I try hard to fight against it. An example would be one time when I was secretly jealous of this one girl who was so sweet and was very respected by adults. Try as I might, I couldn't teachers and coaches and other adults to respect me in the same way. During soccer I would always want her to mess up because I wanted to be better than her. I would make excuses for myself to myself but at the end of the day it was a sin. 
   Another sports example would be when there's a really good girl on the other team and she gets hurt. There was a time I would feel happy about that because she now wouldn't be able to execute her ability towards us but thankfully God has done quite a bit of reshaping regarding that part of me.
    All this to say, don't wish bad on anybody or be happy if bad comes upon them. I guess you could have just read the verse! It sure is a good thing God didn't call me to write the Bible, if so it would be about 5 times as long but in the end say the same thing! :)
   

Jeremiah 18 (the potter and the clay)

  Today in my bible study I read through Jeremiah 18 and realized that despite who many times I've heard of the potter and the clay analogy I'd never actually read it's OT origin. So, here it goes...

The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³ So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I willpluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken,turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. ⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says theLord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’

  Right off the bat I think this story is so cool because Jesus taught with real life examples/parables to help the people understand, and here, thousands of years earlier, God does the same thing to help Jeremiah. He could of just told him but God knew that without the visual the words wouldn't make since. In His perfect plan and timing He told Jeremiah to go to the potter's at the exact time the vessel he way making spoiled and he reworked it into another vessel. 
   Although this analogy was meant for the House of Israel it, like so much, can be applied to us today! We are the clay, God is the potter. As  God is hard at work shaping us we often spoil in His hand. Although it hurts when He decides to break us apart and do quite a bit of molding, in the end we are a new creation (vessel) that is much better than the one before. 
   Jeremiah's presence in the story also reminds us that people will be watching us through the process. Many times they can't see the potter's hands and their focus is how we (the clay) react. Whether we willing let God have control of how we turn out in the end or if we harden and fight every time he breaks the tiniest piece of us. The more we fight the less time we give Him to shape us into His likeness. 
   Anyway, I just thought it was a super cool reminder the God is never changing and an awesome teacher!