ALL the Way

I would like to say a little bit about the title of my blog. I actually thought of putting this as my blog title shortly after seeing a friend's blog about the song All the Way. A popular hymn written by Fanny Crosby. 


The lyrics to this well known hymn are as follows,


All the way my Savior leads me,
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well!


All the way my savior leads me. I know that I myself have problems sometimes surrendering all to Jesus, we all do, we have a selfish and sinful nature and we need Christ. But in spite of our shortcomings Jesus always has open arms to any repentant sinful soul. 


What have I to ask beside? Jesus gave his life in order for me to live. What more could I ask for. The word "excruciating" comes from the word "crucifixion" and literally means "out of the cross". If the cross is so painful that there were no words to describe it, it had to have been pretty bad. I would like to think that if given the chance I would give up my life in order to save a friend but I honestly don't know if I could. What Jesus did on the cross for us was beyond what any of us could ever do for each other. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that  God made Jesus, Him who knew no sin, so that we could become the righteousness of God through Jesus. I could do a whole blog just on this but basically saying... Jesus loves us more than we could ever imagine.


Can I doubt his tender mercy? Less than a year ago a little girl that went to my school became seriously sick and the doctors thought for sure that she was going to die. I didn't know this little girl super well but I remember being really sad and crying a lot. I was on my way back from a Pathfinder Bible Bowl trip when I learned how serious her condition was and started crying a lot and then I prayed as hard as I ever remembering praying in my life for God to spare the life of this little girl who was so young. James 5:16 says "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much", and Matthew 21:22 says "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Needless to say, she survived, and is doing well.


Who through life has been my Guide. I would like to say that I have always done exactly what God wanted me to do, but I know I haven't there are things that I have said and done that I instantly regretted and I knew they were wrong. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all other things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" And my heart is no exception. The SIN problem is in our hearts but God is willing to change us, He is the only One who can change us and it's important for us to always seek that Change in our lives.


Heavenly peace, divinest comfort. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you, to give you hope and a future." Isaiah 26:3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." It's nice to know that God knows our plans, in fact, He made our plans! And they are wonderful plans to give us a hope and a future! If that isn't heavenly peace and divine comfort then I don't know what is. 


Here by faith in Him to dwell. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as, the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. I don't know about you but that boggles my mind. It's like saying, faith is the tangible part of what isn't there and the and knowing that what you can't see is actually there. It's so deep, I don't even fully understand myself. But I do know that faith is important in having that relationship with Jesus. Obviously if you can't see Him, there has to be something that keeps you believing in Him. That's what faith does, and through faith, we can dwell in Him.


For I know, what'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well! Whatever challenges life takes me through I know that Jesus will always come through for me. He promises in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

Will you accept the call?

Love Part 2

If you ever doubt His Love, remember, He loves you THIS much.

So today right before we performed a chimes song for Education Sabbath, the younger kid who introduced the song used the same verse I used in yesterday's blog post.

Coincidence? I don't think so. 

Also later one of my friends invited me to an outreach event that was happening in a Spanish neighborhood. I had no idea that one of the songs that she would be singing was How Deep the Father's Love For Us. 

Once again, I don't think it was coincidence.

At the outreach event there weren't very many people there and it sprinkled and rained throughout the whole thing. But near the end I saw that one of the attendees was walking away with a copy of the book The Passion of Love: He Did it for You, and it just made me so happy I jumped for joy and smiled. It reminded me how God doesn't only love me, but he has so much love that he has enough for each and every sinner that cries to Him in need. I'm so thankful for a God like that! 

God has a wonderful way of reminding us of His Love each and every day, it makes me so happy to think He cares about me so much.

Love

Frustrated to tears of the events of the past few months I went to my blog just for something to do and listened to the first song on my playlist. How deep the Father's Love for us, how vast beyond all measure that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.

How can I be mad at people for messing up and being hypocritical when I do the same thing to God? Think about it.

I mess up on a daily basis and then go to bed after praying; Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for this day, please forgive me of my sins. Then the next day I wake up and do the exact same things that I asked forgiveness for the night before. But God still loves me. How is this possible? Because God is Love.

God can never stop loving because He IS Love. He is the very essence of Love, it's definition.

It makes me awestruck to think that He can make me, the very essence and definition of a sinner, His treasure. 


It's one of those things that you think about and go "that is impossible". It's so deep there is no metaphor you could ever use to compare it to.

Imagine life without gravity. Deeper than that too.

God Loved us SO much that He gave His one and only Son to make us, the worst sinners, his treasure? Yes, and much more than that, not only did He do that, He offered to take us wretches to heaven to share His home with us and make us perfect too. It doesn't even cost us anything. It cost Him His Son.


Life isn't always easy, friends come and go, but one thing is always the same. His Love. 


Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Priceless

 As I was walking through Wal-Mart in one of the isles I saw a price scanner (for those items that don't have a price tag). I paused for little while while looking at the items on the shelves, then before I walked away I stuck my hand under the bar code scanner. Of course I knew it wouldn't do anything, I just thought it would be fun to see what shape the laser made on my hand. I looked at the screen, nothing, as I expected.

Oh, I'm not worth anything. I thought with a chuckle.

Then I looked closer. There in my hand was the shape of the cross. Then I heard that still small voice. You may not be worth anything to those of this world, but I paid for you with My Son, this bloodstained cross means way more than ANYTHING on that screen ever could.

I walked away from there deep in though. I am so very blessed to have a God who cares about me so much, he even reminds me of His love at Wal-Mart! I needed that today, and He knew that. Don't worry about what other people do or say to you, I paid for you with My Son, you are priceless.

Life's Blueprints

**CRASH** I didn't see them coming, I really didn't. Didn't help that they were speeding and it was lightly sprinkling. I pulled off the road into the median and the next thing I knew I was surrounded by flashing lights. I'd been hit by a silver Chevy Impala. I started crying, not because anyone was hurt but I was totally freaked out. I was mostly upset that I had just wrecked my mom's car.

Pretty much everything was going through my mind. How are we going too buy a new car? Oh yeah the tax return is coming soon. But that was supposed to be the down payment on my tuition for Fountainview, now I won't be able to go. What about my insurance? Would it go up a ton because I'm a new driver or not because it wasn't my fault, after all THEY were the ones speeding. They don't have insurance,?! They don't even deserve to be 
driving! Now I wont be able to afford my insurance and I'll have to go back to mooching rides from everyone. **sigh** Is the car drive-able? How are we going to get back to Illinois if it's not?


As I write this I think back to my last blog post. Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidence, God always has a plan for everything. At school recently for worship we read Job 1:10, "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of His hands, and His possessions have increased in the land." This verse was actually Satan asking God the reasons why Job feared God.

God put Job through many many troubles, it was hard for him, he lost his family, his house, his flocks and herds, his wife shunned him because he wouldn't reject God for everything He allowed to happen to Job, but Job never gave up on God. Job knew that all things would work together for good (Romans 8:28). And eventually, everything worked out for Job, he got everything back that he had lost and then some, but his faith in God was now stronger than ever.

God doesn't do bad things to us, He may however occasionally (or not so seldom), allow for bad things to happen to us because he knows when we come out on the other side of our trying time it will make us a better person altogether and increase our faith.

I'm not exactly sure that my fender bender was a "good thing" but I know that it will work together for good, God has a plan for my life, and He has a plan for your life.

Have you found your blueprints?

Are you ready?

Guardian angels. They are really great to have around. If they weren't around, none of us would be around either cause the evil one would have already destroyed us. But that wasn't God's plan, Jesus came to this world to save sinners, and His coming would have been totally pointless if there were no sinners left to save.

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, but my Father only. Matthew 24:36. No one knows when Jesus is going to come back except God, not even the angels in heaven. So although we have guardian angels, we never really know at what moment our lives may be over. God has a purpose for everyone, and He will protect you and keep you safe if you haven't fulfilled your purpose yet. 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

A hope AND a future... wow. Hope, we have this hope that burns within our hearts, hope in the coming of the Lord. And a future, 'cause without that hope we would have no future.

I know God has a plan for me, I've seen it. I have been in several situations where I know I shouldn't have survived. I love God's promise in Psalm 91:11 that says "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways." Keep you in all your ways. Wherever you go, His angels will be there protecting you.

People get sick, people get diseases, people die suddenly, some are murdered, some die in car crashes, and some die of old age; but even with all the technology we have these days to make life simple, with as little to do as possible (amazing how lazy the human race is), we still can't predict the future, including when we will die. Anyone can die, at any time, and only God knows when you will die.

So what can you do about it? Be ready. Always be ready, I want to be ready when Jesus comes, I want Him to say to me, "Well done, good, and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your LORD." So live life as if you will die today, but preach the gospel as if you were the only one preaching and had the whole world to tell before Jesus comes. I don't know if I'm ready, I would like to think I am, but the truth is we have all 
fallen short of the glory of God we can never truly be worthy of Him. Jesus wants to take us all to heaven to live with him for a thousand years, and then we will get to return to this Earth made new again. I want to be there for that! 

This world is growing old, it's not going to last forever, He is coming soon.

Are you ready...? 

Reverse Thinking

Friends

A life time's not too long to live as friends

Lately I haven't been as nice as I could be, so a shout out to anyone I've been a jerk to (you know who you are), I'm really sorry, I'm sorry that I keep messing up and having to say sorry over and over again.... hopefully this will be the last time. 

Friends are great, and I don't know what I would do without my best friends, Nikki, Alonda, Dene`, Winnie, Katherina, you guys have always been there for me and treated me way better than I deserved and WAY better than I treated you. thanks for being there.

Before I moved to Illinois in February of 2006 I didn't really have any close friends. I was mostly home-schooled up through the first half of 5th grade and the half of 2nd grade I did attend, the only people in my class were boys. As a second grader i still though that boys had cooties... (well, most of them). As a result, I really started the friend thing way later than most people, maybe that's why I'm so bad at being a good friend. 

So I've been working on the friend thing for almost five years now and I'm happy to say that I have at least 237 friends, not including the ones that don't have Facebook.

I heard a song, called Your Hands (by JJ Heller) right after I had been particularly mean to a couple of my friends, and frankly, my jerk-ness broke my own heart, so I prayed, and apologized, and if you are wondering why i'm writing about it, it's because I'm trying to remember, in every way possible the promises I've made and broken, it helps my accountability, besides maybe if I post it publicly it will embarrass me enough to change my behavior. 

Broken.... I'm thinking maybe it's a good thing. I need my heart to be broken, naturally the human heart is stony and cold, and only through Jesus can you be given a heart of flesh. Selflessness can't be found in yourself.... you have to surrender all to Jesus. 

Proverbs 17:17 says " A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Now that doesn't mean you should fight with your siblings but really, it's probably a better idea to fight with your siblings than your friends, they love you no matter what you do (most of the time). Really if you fight with your friends, you probably wont have very many.

Proverbs 18:24 says, " A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Is it really easier to get along with your friends than it is with your siblings? depends on the circumstances but most of the time for most people it is. I've been really bad at being "friendly" and have gotten very close to losing friends over it. 

So is it all worth it? having friends, definitely. Being a jerk, absolutely not.... you will always regret it, and if you don't, well, i'm praying for you.

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness." So even if you have dug the hole too deep and people don't forgive you, God ALWAYS will.

So to all my great friends, thanks for being there always, even though I have repeatedly been mean, you guys are great.