Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Do you have that one best friend that you trust and tell everything to? If you don’t, that is okay! Because no matter what, God is and always will be there for you! You can trust him with anything… He knows what your going through, and understands how you feel! If you stay true to God and through bad times go to Him, He will always get you through it! He will clear your paths if you keep your eyes and heart focused on God and not your wordly problems! God will NEVER give you anything that you can’t handle! Sometimes life is hard, but if you look back on problems you had last week, last month, or maybe even last year; you found a way to get through it! Trust in God and you will be able to make the impossible, possible.

Conversations

Who could your words hurt?

Besides, they could get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossipers and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. ~1 Timothy 5:13

Have you ever had a conversation with someone about someone’s outfit, hair color, new shoes, etc.? More than likely you have. I have too! What if the person you were talking about heard you? Or maybe their mom was standing right there? A lot of people wouldn’t even consider that gossip, but the definition of gossip is to talk casually or maliciously about other people, that fits the bill perfectly if you ask me! The Bible is extremely clear on its stance against gossip. Romans 1:29 lists it among its list of wickedness and evil. Ephesians 4:29 tells us that our words should be used to build others up, that our words should be beneficial to those that listen. I don’t think anything beneficial came out of the conversations you (or me) have had about someone else; and it could of hurt the person that you were talking about if they ever found out! It is so much easier to see other people talking bad about someone then ourselves.

Try to not talk about others with a friend, and keep your conversations pure and clear of any foul talk. You would be surprised how much you actually do gossip!

Love Like Jesus

I love this picture because it really illustrates what Jesus went through for us. He loved us so much that He endured this massive amount of pain so that we could be free! Also, this really emphasizes God’s love for …

God’s Guidance

How do you live through Christ daily?

              “Brothers, i do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing i do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ.”   ~Philippians 3:13-14

In reality, life is anything and everything BUT easy. We face hard times, difficult decisions, tests of out faith, etc. Sometimes I, personally, just want to give up or give in. When times of trouble enter your life- you must first examine where the trouble stems from. God, and Satan too, work in mysterious ways. Let us first examine how Satan can enter and flourish in your life. He brings you up, gives you what it is you have been looking for, and makes you feel whole and powerful. Then, he brings you down into the darkness and pain that we so commonly feel in today’s society. Then, there is our mighty and powerful God, He places you in situations where character, strength, morality, and most importantly faith, are tested. He lets you experience the hardships in life, lets you experience the lowest points, only to raise you up in glory and happiness. In our world today, it is easy to go to God in prayer asking for something, it’s totally normal!Asking God for help and guidance…which is completely understandable, but to give every day to God- well that’s an amazingly powerful thing. But, don’t just pray to God; talk to Him! have conversations of thanks and praise to God!

Decisions

I will insruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will councel you and watch over you.  ~Psalm 32:8

There are always new decisions that need to be made: Is one of my friends a bad influence, and if so how do I need to handle it? Should I date this guy, knowing he has bad intention? These decisions, along with SO many more are things we will face for the rest of our lives. Today’s verse tells us that God will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go; that He will counsel us and watch over us. God is like our personal guidance counselor and He is available 24/7! We can pray and ask Him to guide us, and read His word and see what instructions He has given for us in Scripture. There are so many obstacles that God puts in out lives that we need to go to him and figure out the right thing to do; and He will always give us the answer! He is ready to listen and answer our prayers, all we have to do is ask. It might not always be the answer that we want to hear, but it will be the answer that He has planned for us that will work out the best in the end. We just need to have faith in Him and trust His plans for us.                   

This picture represents that pathway to Heaven. It also represents our life and the incidents and DECISIONS we make leading up to our time in Heaven.

Secrets

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.             ~Luke 12:2-3

You know how sometimes we say things and then someone that wasn’t suppose to hear it, comes and asks us about it. Maybe our mom and dad, or someone at school, and we are totally embarrassed or in trouble. It would have been much wiser not to say it in the first place. If we don’t want others to know, we need to keep it to ourselves. Secrets can be so fun and mysterious, but they are also a risk. Even if we trust our friends, they trust others too. I don’t know if you have ever seen the movie Mean Girls, but it portraits that really well. She never meant to hurt anyone, but when it came out, she realized that she shouldn’t have said nor done things that she didn’t want others to know about. We need to remember that. If we don’t want it to be proclaimed from the housetops, then we need to not say it at all.

Love

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”     ~John 13:34   Today’s verse tells us that we should love everyone just as Jesus loved us! Jesus loves us unconditionally! …

God’s Ways

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thought than your thoughts.”  ~Isaiah 55:8-9

As humans, we tend to think that our way is best. We tend to ignore the wisdom and advice of others and instead go along with what we think is right. Also, we tend to get things wrong… whether a wrong answer on a quiz or making the wrong decision in a situation. However, God’s way is never wrong. He never makes a mistake, no matter what. His ways are absolutely perfect. All we need to do is trust in God and let him be your directions. We may think that we are always right, but we aren’t. We were born a sinful nature and that includes making mistakes. Without God we could do nothing.

Don’t worry; the creator of the universe knows what He is doing. Proverbs 3:5-7

God’s path for your life is amazing! You will just have to wait and find it out!

Act and React

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.      ~Philippians 1:27

Actions speak louder than words. The verse doesn’t say whether good, semi bad, or really bad things happen… but WHATEVER, no matter what, that we need to remember that we belong to Christ and we are His witnesses! The way that we conduct ourselves shows more about our hearts rather than the words that come out of our mouths. Let’s say that a friend starts a rumor about me… I should conduct myself in a manner that is appropriate for a believer, not try to stoop to there level and retaliate in a way that could make matters worse. It definitely isn’t easy, but God will never put us in a situation that we can’t handle. Are you conducting yourself in a manner that is worthly of the gospel of Christ? Think about it. Watch the way you act. Make an effort to try and act and react the way that God would be pleased.

Spiritual Weapons

2 Corinthians 10:4- “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they are divine power to demolish strongholds.

Are the Bible and prayer your first choice for tools or are they your last resort? When we are faced with life problems such as frustration, anger, jealousy, stress, etc. we need to not focus on them as earthly things but as spiritual warfare. Satan uses those things to try and bring us down, but we need to look to God for help getting through those types of situations. We need to use our “spiritual weapons” which is, prayer, reading your Bible, fasting. The only thing that can demolish strongholds in our life are our spiritual weapons.