"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Have you ever looked at a rose petal? I mean really looked at them? It is amazing how something so simple can be so beautiful and intricate at the same time as giving off such a wonderful scent! Most of the time we think of roses as love gifts; flowers that mean certain things and are given sentimentally, or as decorative  ornaments, but underneath it all God's hand is seen...He must really be a loving and patient God to make something so small and intricate!

I am sure we have all heard the old, philosophical (Shakespearean) saying: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". I am going to have to agree with this; as strange as the thought seems, because of something my Youth Director said yesterday. We were discussing the responsibility of Christianity, the Bible to unbelievers.. and how to witness to people who do not accept the Bible as fact somehow came into the conversation. Anyhow, I asked what to do when people who would normally not view the Bible as fact  came asking about God but then turned away because of the latter. Her response really got me thinking: " They can tune out the Bible and everything you tell them, they can even tune out God's voice, but they can't ignore you."  They can't ignore you! This would also mean they can't ignore the things I do, thus making my words words valid, and God's voice heard since I (as a Christian) make Him my guide. They can't ignore what I do... the power our actions have!  If we act as we should and take the responsibility of being a Christian seriously, then those around us will be forced to face the difference they see in us vs. the world. If, however, we talk the same way as those around us and are not careful in what we do...even if it is all in the name of God, then those who might come to Him through us will only see themselves through us instead of God. Our job as Christians is to represent Christ to the world, if we mis-represent Him then what will others see? If we turn them off by our actions, even one time, it will take a lot to turn that preconceived  notion around. Though the righteous shall judge, we try to see the person as a whole beforehand, why? Because of God, so what is to stop other people from judging us by one wrong action..even (supposedly) in His name? Our actions speak louder than our words and through them our words shine. But does God? If as Christians we have the responsibility to reflect Him, then we  know that we must also be like Him. ("be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect"Matthew 5:48) If we reflect Him, then even though people might not listen to our words or the Bible right away, we can be assured that they cannot tune out our actions..so really..they could call us anything..we can call ourselves anything: Christian, Bible believer, one of "them", God freak, and so forth, but our actions are what determine who we really are. If a rose were called a skunk, but still looked like a rose and smelled like one, people would still eventually turn around and follow "that scent".  Simply phrased: people can persecute us and think wrong things about Christians, but if we are truly honoring God and walking where we should, then people can't ignore that; no matter what preconceived notion they might have, and will always have that nagging them until they decide to also follow Christ.

One last thing that we must always remember in our walk to be like Jesus: even roses have thorns. But He is the gardener and His kingdom is where He is pruning and tending us to be ready for. He knows our thorns because they pierced Him on the cross, but He wants to trim them back so that we may enter His kingdom as beautiful and perfect as a rose..He *will* trim them if we ask..then we will come even closer to our goal: to be as perfect as "*the rose of Sharon" :) *S of S 2:1

I pray that God will bless each of you in your walk with Him and that it will always be an easy one..but no matter what you might be facing right now..remember: God loves you and can take care of you..and..nothing lasts forever!

Jesus is our Valentines Day lover!

Happy Valentines Day friends! <3 For me, this is my favorite holiday..it's like a whole holiday dedicated to pink! What could be better?!

Anyway, the above picture pretty much says it all..but I'll add a few words:

Today, this holiday has been commercialized  to add to product demand (aka: flowers, candy, bears, etc) that the origin and beauty of it has been lost. But I think that the true meaning of this "holiday" was written loonngg before industry and the saints that brought us it's name. Think John 3:16.  When I saw that verse set up like a valentine greeting I realized.."wait! God does love us..He is our lover ..He sent His son so that we could live..and be His!" Doesn't that take "B Mine" to a whole new level?!  When we view this pagan holiday this way, everything becomes even more sweet. :)

This brings me to another point though, Jesus is our lover. "huh?" Think about it, what does He do? He pursues us till we give in and love Him, He wants all of us and to be in our heart, He was willing to die to save us (which is pretty noble and romantic), and what does he ask in return? Simply that we receive His love for us and honor it. We see relationships everywhere..things that go wrong and go right..but how do we know what do in one? We look at our parents, our siblings, friends, etc. But where did they learn how to deal with a relationship? Who knows...do they make mistakes too? Absolutely! So why are we looking at their relationship to perhaps base our own off of? Doesn't make a lot of sense does it?:P How did Jesus handle His relationships though? Perfectly! I'm sure He was always an awesome friend, brother, and child..you know what though? He is still a friend..and a lover. He wants to be yours and wants you to be His, so really, what relationship should we be modeling ours after? God's :) The more we spend time with Him the more we learn His ways, the more we practice with Him the less mistakes we will make, the more we love Him, the more loved we will feel, but most of all, the closer we are to Him  the better not only our relationship with Him will get, but also, the better our relationships with those around will be! If we want someone to model a perfect relationship from...just look to the sky..for all of nature reflects His glory and shows His love! Why settle for something less than perfect when perfect is possible through our Lord?!

This Valentines Day, I pray that as you show your love to those around you, that you will model that love off of what you see in your relationship with God!

Is that relationship where it should be?

What would we be without God?

What would we be without God? What would you be without Him? What would I be without Him? This is a question everyone can and should answer sometime in their  lives, however, it is a question only I can answer for myself and one only you could  answer for yourself. It is so hard to explain the rush of amazement that ocurrs when one realizes; really realizes, who one would be when God is taken out of the picture. Think about this, when we feel alone, we really would be, when we needed help, no one would step up to the plate. Who would give us guidance? Most importantly, if God was not there, no one would have been willing to die for our sins and no one would have been strong enough to overcome, not only temptation, but also death itself!
When God is taken out of the picture who would be the reason not to sin? Any morality that the world has left in it would be tossed out the window. Who would hold us accountable? No one.

So what would we be without God? Generally we would be thoughtless and alone in our sins..what about individually? What weaknesses do you have? What power would give you strength to go on in tough times? We are alone....humans only care so much, without the compassion for our neighbor that God showed us, we really wouldn't care what happened to those around us. So without God we would in one simple word be 'lost'.  Please think about this: who would you be without the knowledge that God is there with you?

This question (which I hope you examined and thought about) leads to two points: A: God is there! (yay r?!) And we are *not* alone..He is forgiving and loving and wants us to honor Him...we have to realize and face who we would be without Him to realize who we are and how changed we are with Him. How much of an impact He makes in our lives is truly eye opening to the to the fact of how much we really need Him. It is because of Him that we have the ability to be saved!

This beings me to pt B: Have you made that decision? If you haven't, why not? Have you ever even heard this before? If not please read: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/how_to_be_saved.html entirely! If so, I praise God for it! (pls note: u r not saved if you consider yourself a Christian..you are only saved based on asking to be because you know your sins and know you can't get to heaven on your own...as simple as that! If there is any doubt, please read what this site has to say for yourself, better safe that sorry..you only have one life..you can't relive it or a make decision once that life is over) Moving back to the question: "Have you ever even heard this before?" (Which if you have any questions..please feel free to contact me with them!) If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior you know what he is and what He does, but do you know that many do not and have never heard of this before? I am sure you have thought about that. But please think about this: Just as you saw yourself without the knowledge of God, so many people see everyday as a reality, not just a mental picture. Imagine if you had to go through the earlier image in your mind on a daily basis as a reality? This is happening here, now, to millions upon millions of people all over the world..maybe even your next door neighbor or family member. As Christians we have the responsibility to take the good news we have received and pass it on to others. We have come into the light now we need to pass that light on to others whose world is filled with darkness...their eyes will never see light if we don't go out as called and cure their blindness. This is an even more important truth than the earlier one..a truth that we must pass on. Don't let others pass on without knowing what it is like to never be alone and to be forgiven of all sin..spread the joy of God, for without Him, what would we be?

Read the Bible, it's great for the soul!

 

As I have been writing in this blog, I have become even more aware of how much the Bible gives us. We buy tons and TONS of devotionals that are supposed to "clear our soul" "uplift us" "encourage and bless". But really, what do they do? They collect dust and or put us to sleep..(they do for me anyway). It's amazing that people can take a text from the Bible and write a book about it, then make money off of it. Instead of trying to understand the Bible by buying other books to interpret it for us, what we should be doing is reading it over and over until our eyes are opened to what God wants us to see in the passage and we finally understand it. Instead of buying other books to encourage us, we should be looking at encouraging verses from the Bible. A couple of days ago I was a bit discouraged, so I decided to look up a bunch of uplifting verses. You would be amazed at how much stuff the Bible talks about! I read exactly what I needed and was able to read it over and over again, knowing that God said it, not someone who likes to write devotionals. Those are fun and kinda nice, I know I like to write some now and then and reading them is always encouraging, but the times I spend in the word are the most profitable. That is what we need to be doing when we are heavy laden, seek God and see what He has to say. There is really no other source that has as much substance, no other source that fits our every need than God's word! So please, grab some encouragement from the Bible next time you are burdened instead of going to your favorite writer or preacher, they might be good at what they do, but how did they get this way? By starting in the word, let's start there too..people are people, but God is Lord!

There is light at the end of 'His' path!

Isaiah 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

I saw this verse and found it so comforting I decided to memorize it. :P
Have you ever felt so alone or disheartened that all you can do is pray? Then suddenly God shows you a verse that is exactly what you needed to hear..this is that verse for me. Lately I have been trying to find the path God wants me to take, that path can sometimes feel hidden...like you see it and know it..but you are at a crossroads and everything seems blurry..the paths seem equal, spiritually and flesh wise, which can one possibly decide to take? That is why I find this verse and others like it so comforting. It's God's promise to us that no matter what decision or road we're at, He is there and will be that small, inner voice telling us what to do so that we stay on the path He has for us.

If are not sure of what road to take; as we all are at one time or another, please remember that God knows and His path for us is perfect. Remember to ask Him for directions and listen to that inner voice. He is the only one that can show us the path that will take us to Him.