An Intermission

I know I dedicated the month of July to "Love Lessons", but God has been laying this blog on my heart for awhile, and I'm finally releasing my stubbornness and just writing it. Here's a list of things I've learned (and relearned) my Freshman year of High School...Hopefully it doesn't sound too cliche.

Most importantly...God is faithful. Yes, it's repetitive, but it's true. I wish I could explain to you how I've come to relearn this this past year, but I can't. Hopefully I've given you enough reason to trust me, but more importantly I hope that my words and actions have inspired to you become closer to God. The LAST thing that I want to do is drive you away from Him or distract you from Him. If I do, I fully expect you to tell me. If I've built you up in Him, just remember that it's not my doing. All of these blogs have been His words through me. All of my "revelations" have been from Him, and that's the end of it. The thing is...I don't WANT the recognition or praise because it's not mine to take in the first place. I'm not doing anything but relaying a message, so the praise is HIS. Not mine. End of subject.

On FORGIVENESS, God is faithful to forgive you when you ask. "For a CLEAN feeling! No matter what!" (I'm thinking the Orbitz lady knows what she's talking about...) The problem is we don't forgive others and we don't forgive ourselves. We tend to hold grudges(more tomorrow) against other people but they grudges we hold against ourselves are worse. Learning how to forgive others and yourself is a hard lesson to learn, but it shouldn't be. Most of the time forgiving others is easier than forgiving yourself because of guilt. The important thing to remember is that God has forgiven you and cast your sin as far as the east is from the west never to be seen again...so STOP BRINGING IT UP!! when we don't forgive others, we're not giving them a chance to forgive themselves. It's a vicious cycle.

On PROMISES. Don't make promises that you can't keep. Yep, it's Biblical. God kept every single promise He's ever made, and we're expected to do that. Yes, we're human. We're not going to be able to keep all of those promises. It's more logical to just not make the promise in the first place. It doesn't make it easier, it just makes it right.

On FRIENDSHIP. True, real friendship is totally irreplaceable...you shouldn't even have the opportunity to replace it. The term "best friend" is a term that people overuse. It's putting your friends on a scale, and it's not fair to them. They're gifts from God, and God didn't mean for you to put them on scale. Yes, you will be closer to some people. That's also a gift from God. Scales are never ever a good idea(ie. pretty scales, friend scales, "love" scales). They're not fair OR Biblical and they just end up hurting people. So, that should be enough incentive for you not to do it. Always remember that crushes are going to come and go, but your friends will always be there. So don't ditch your friends for a guy/girl. Seriously. It's not worth ruining friendships.

On HAPPINESS. You can't depend on anyone but God for your happiness. When you depend on anyone else, they let you down, and you blame them even though it's your own fault. People can't give you eternal joy--that's God's job. ((Short, I know...but incredibly true.))

On LETTING GO. Letting go isn't ever easy. Especially when you think you're right. After you've thoroughly screwed up your life, relationship with Christ and several friendships you finally realize that you were wrong(Thank God). That doesn't make it easier to let go. We always hear that sin is fun for a season, and that's true. And then you look back and think, "My GOODNESS. I'm SO STUPID." And THEN you realize how many people you neglected and hurt...including God--and that's the worst part. Knowing that you let God down. ((check out the forgiveness part. Again. It doesn't make it easier. Just right.)) Then, once you let God forgive you, and you forgive yourself, you realize that it's best for everyone. There's a song called, "If You Wanted a Song Written About You, All You Had to Do Was Ask" by Mayday Parade. In one part of the song then it says, "Even broken hearts may have their doubts". Very true...but, check out Jeremiah 17:9-10. A better example is "Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same."(("All at Once"-The Fray)). That's the case a lot of the time.

On FAMILY. No matter what, your family is your family. You're placed there for a reason. Even when they annoy you. Even when you THINK they're wrong. Even when they ARE wrong. They're still your family, and you're still a part of them. I know that not everyone has the best family situation. I know that. But they're still your family, even when it doesn't feel like it. Trust God, because He can be trusted. That's all I can say.

On GROWING UP(or trying to). Contrary to popular belief, growing up is NOT doing whatever you want. It means being mature enough to accept and follow through with God's will, disregarding what you want, and making His will what you want.

On PRAYER. Telling someone that you'll pray for them is not an excuse not to listen to their problems. God wants you to care about other people. Praying for them IS good, but sometimes, all people need is for you to LISTEN and CARE.

Hopefully, you guys took this to heart. These lessons were not EASY to learn. They weren't easy to share, either. It brought up a lot of stuff that I didn't want to think about. Looking back, it was worth it. God often works through you in hard situations. You just have to keep your eyes on Him, and let Him.

Life is not easy. We weren't promised that it was going to be easy. But, Someone loves you. Even when you don't think so. Don't you know? You've got me and Jesus. By your side, through the fight, you will never be alone on your own. You've got me and Jesus. (("Me and Jesus"-Stellar Kart)) It's true. You HAVE got me and Jesus. I promise you that, dear reader.

It's Monday...again.

So...let's see...

Last night was the Homecoming service for the NYC and Nicaragua people...It was extremely fun to watch, I must say. Ü

Anyway, mostly what I got out of last night. The guy who baptized was the Haitian pastor. Before he baptized someone he would say, "And I'm glad to do this" or he would say, "We're happy to have you." Now, we thought this was funny...why? Because people only say that if you've come to their house for a party--OHHHH.

Get it?

When you're baptized, you're showing the church that you've become a Christian. And that's a party. At our church, then it always seems like "how many" is the alpha question. But it's really not. It doesn't MATTER how many people got saved. It matters EVERY TIME someone gets saved. If it's just ONE person, then the missions trip was worth it. Cuz, "That's when the Angels Rejoice!!" (for all you Arch the Angel kiddos). Actually, even if you were NOT in Arch the Angel, this song is beneficial for your Christian walk.

When the light bulb first lit up the town, no the angels did not jump around and when the man stepped on the moon, they didn't sing a victory tune.

There's only one thing that we're sure about that can make those angels jump and shout! When a sinner makes the Lord his choice, that's when the angels rejoice!

When the United States became a nation, there was no angelic celebration. But when one lost sinner comes back home, they jump for joy around God's throne!

When the Model-T first hit the street, it didn't bring all Heaven to its feet, and when the first computer was born, they didn't blow on Gabriel's horn.

There's only one thing that we're sure about that can make those angels jump and shout! When a sinner makes the Lord his choice, that's when the angels rejoice!

See?? Now, that's not the full song, but you get the gist of it. It doesn't matter what we do if we're not doing our job. The Great Commission is for ALL of us. Not just for the "20% of the people that do 100% of the work".

Christian Life Compared to a Dentist's Office

Alrighty, it's time for a "revelation" moment...(as lovingly named by my lovely readers who are loving).

So, today we went to the Dentist's office because Sarie had messed with her silver cap and it came off. We got into the car, and she was explaining what Dr. Stratton aka. Mr. Dentist-dude, had told her. It was something like, "Um, then he took this blue stuff, and um, he told me that, um, it would hurt for a little while, but um, not forever."

Ringing any bells??

It should be. In this analogy, God is the dentist and Sarie is our human representation. (I'll get to the blue stuff and the cap later.) So, let's start at how Sarie got herself to the dentist in the first place. Last night, she was messing with her cap, and it came off. Now, the dentist had given her that cap to replace the old one.(Sound familiar? Let's call the cap 'Salvation' and the tooth 'Life'. Does that make more sense?) It is true that you can never lose your Salvation. So keep that in mind while I explain the rest.

Now, Sarie couldn't have gotten a new tooth. It was there for life. No matter how ugly and yellowed(Sorry, Sarie...=]) it was, it was hers forever, and there was nothing she could do about it. Then, this awesome Dentist came and was like, "Hey there, Sarie. I could fix your tooth! Bear in mind that you will be different from everyone else because you didn't take care of your teeth the first time, but it's okay. I forgive you."

At this point, Sarie has two options. She could say "No way, dude, I don't want your freaky silver tooth." or she could say, "Hey. That's going to protect me. I want one of those." Either way, Sarie had a choice. It was her choice to get the silver tooth.

Here's what ends up happening to so many of us. We get the silver tooth. It's good for awhile, until we mess it up and the dentist tells us that it's going to hurt to get it fixed. We end up blaming the dentist because HE'S the one causing the pain, but it's our fault. We didn't brush our teeth(QT, prayer, church, etc.) and we ate the "forbidden foods" (sin). Then, once we've thoroughly ruined what he did, we have no choice but to go back to the dentist. He fixes it. He tells you the rules again. He forgives you. He expects you to follow them, knowing that he's going to end up fixing it no matter how hard we try. And he ENJOYS it. It's his job.

With that being said, just because it's his JOB does NOT mean that we can do whatever we want. We're making him do more work and after he's been so cool about fixing your tooth, you realize that awesome dentist dude doesn't deserve your crap. He fixed you!! You try to be a good little kid and follow the rules because you know that it will hurt. It's the punishment for your disobedience, and you totally deserve it. You remember that it will only hurt for a little while. Check this out.

Let it all out (get it all out)
Rip it out, remove it
Don't be alarmed, when the wound begins to bleed

'Cause we're so scared to find out (what this life's all about)
So scared we're gonna lose it
And knowing all along
That's exactly what we need

And today I'll trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
But tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
Oh inconsistent me, crying out for consistency

And you said "I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse.
If the burden seems too much to bear,
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

And I'll let it be known (at times I have shown)
Signs of all my weakness
But somewhere in me, there is strength

And you promised me (that you believe)
in time I will defeat this
'Cause somewhere in me, there is strength

And today I'll trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
And I'll try my best to just forget
that that man isn't me

And you said "I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse.
If the burden seems too much to bear,
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

And you said "I know that this will hurt (I know this will hurt)
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse. (things will get much worse)
When the burden seems too much to bear, (seems too much to bear)
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

Reach out to me
Make my heart brand new
Every beat will be for you, for you

And I know you know
You touched my life
When you touched my heavy heart
and made it light


I think that that song describes it perfectly. The end WILL justify the pain it took to get you there. No matter how it looks now, He's gonna be there to fix you up.