There's Always More

     Have you ever felt like there's nothing much more you can possibly learn? That's usually right before you learn something new, and realize that you know practically nothing. That's probably why school lasts so long... Anyway, Sometimes as Christians it can be easy to get comfortable with the fact that we're Christians, and we go to church and listen to the lesson, and we agree with everything that's said but we don't realize that it applies to us. Or we can be singing, "love one another", fully aware and in agreeance with what we're singing, but then go home and talk nonstop about things that happened to us almost a year ago, that we really should have stopped thinking about by now. This can be very easy to do. And I'm not saying that everyone does this, but it can be very easy to kind of fall into a rut and not even realize it.

     What do we do when this happens? Okay, so I was on Pinterest once, and I thought, "I don't think that there is anything on here worth repinning." But then I went to the geek section. I think I was on for another 5 hours or so. This is what learning is like. If you start getting discouraged, or you realize that you haven't been learning anything, just read a passage in the Bible at random that you haven't read in a long time. It can be very easy to forget that just because we're Christians, that doesn't mean that the journey is over. That ends when we die. Not when we graduate, or when we become old, or when we just get bored. God intended for us to follow Him until we die. That's why the Bible is so big. There is literally no end to what we can learn from the Bible. In fact, when most people die, even the most diligent Bible students probably have only learned a fraction of what can be learned from the Bible. Why? Because there's always more to learn. So remember, when you feel like you've studied everything, you haven't studied near enough. :)

100%

First of all, normally I use my dad's iPad to write these articles, but I haven't had either time or access to it to write for a while, so I figured this time I won't wait. And for some reason, unless it fixes itself when I post, the font is going to be SUPER big today, so sorry about that. :)

Anyway, I love movies, and actors, and stuff like that. You know how some people are gamers, or book geeks, or athletes? I am a movie geek. It's like, what I do. Anyway, have you noticed that a lot of actors are 100% for homosexuals and them having marital rights? Now, we see several times in the Bible that that's not okay. At all. In fact, it's listed as "The unnatural" in Romans 1 I do believe. But I saw a quote from a famous actor. (and it could have been a fake, but it's how most people who are all for it think pretty much) They said that being 100% for or against anything is being closed-minded. My first reaction is, "Are you 100% for that statement??" I mean, you can't win with that statement.

Okay, what would happen if no one was 100% for something? Like, voting time. "Uuuuuuhhh... I'm not 100% for either of them!! So I can't choose either of them! But I'm not 100% for not voting, but I'm not 100% FOR voting either!!" and then you would be there for HOURS, never making up your mind because you're not 100% for anything! The same thing goes for anything else. If and when you were baptized, were you 100% on board with being a Christian? I sure hope so! I know I was. Were you like, "Well, I guess I'll be a Christian, but if something cooler comes along later, I may just do that instead. I'm not 100% for either, really." If that was your attitude then you weren't 100% in belief. If you say you are 100% for homosexual marital rights, but you think that it's closed-minded to be 100% for something, I don't know about you but that sounds rather closed-minded don't you? If we aren't 100% for anything, then what are we for? I mean, if we applied this to every day life, can you imagine how hard it would be to order something in a drive through?? If you actually managed to pick one out that is.

Okay, so I love Batman (in case y'all haven't noticed). One of the villains is Two Face. In case some of y'all aren't familiar with him, I'm going to give you a brief description of him. Two Face has this whole back story that varies a bit depending on the series, but he has this trick coin that he used to carry around with him, and somehow (some stories say fire, some say acid) half his face was burned permanently, as was one side of the coin. Now, before this happened, he was a good guy. He was super cool, and put a lot of bad guys behind bars. But he was also mental, and had two personalities. One good and one bad. So instead of just killing someone, he would flip his coin, and if it landed on the clean side you were safe, but if landed on the messed up side, caboom, you're dead. Two Face reminds me of modern day politics (hmmm..) he's neither 100% for killing everyone, or 100% for not killing them. So he lets fate decide. If we are never 100% for anything, we become two-faced. And nobody likes that.

String of Pearls

Okay, so for my article, I'm not really going to do an actual article. A couple of my lovely friends have started this monthly online magazine for Christian women called "String of Pearls", which I am happy to be a contributor to. :) So for my article today, I am going to share it with you so you can hopefully read some of the wonderful articles it contains that were done by some amazing young women. :)

http://www.joomag.com/magazine/string-of-pearls-october-2013/0282572001379797424?p=1&e=1&embedInfo=%3Bimage%2Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.joomag.com%2FFrontend%2Fflash%2Fgui%2Fthemes%2Fwood2_new%2Fthumbnail.png%2Cfill

God is always with us

     We all get discouraged at times. It's perfectly normal to. In fact, there are several verses on it. In Joshua 1:9 it says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for The Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Isn't that a pretty encouraging thought? I know that it doesn't always feel like this, but as long as you're doing the right thing, God is always with you. Even if we aren't in the best situation, God is always with you. Even Paul knew this when he was in prison, and was even content with what he had, even though he was in prison. In fact, he wasn't only content, but also he was singing praises and praying to God, and writing the epistles. Paul is like, the epitome of optimism. I mean, I might not be singing praises to God if I was imprisoned for being a Christian. I hope I would, and hopefully I will never have to find out. But when we are discouraged, it's good to look at Paul, and see the example that he set, and never seemed to be discouraged no matter what the circumstance. 

     If you look in 1 Samuel 12:22 it says, "For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His name's sake, for it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself." Okay, there is a difference between God being with us, and us not going through hard times. Just because we go through a rough time, that doesn't always mean that it's our fault. Sometimes we go through hard times because we need to learn something, and we're really stubborn so that may be the only way we can learn, (I feel like this happens to me a lot, as I am a very stubborn person, and learn things the hard way a LOT.) or maybe it's setting up for something even better in the end. Blessings in disguise are often the best kind, because you appreciate it more than if you hadn't had to go through the bad in order to get to the good. Or maybe you're going through a hard time for some other reason. But no matter what, as long as we follow God's commandments, it will always turn out to be fine. Even if we die first, we'll still end up in a place that's worth even the worst possible thing that can happen on earth. So remember, no matter what happens, remember that God is always with you no matter what, as long as you follow His commandments. And always remember that in Matthew 28:20 we are told that God is with us always. :)

More Important Things

     In 1 Timothy 4:7-8 it says, "Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." Okay, I like to run. But I kind of have bad knees, so before I start running I have to build them up a lot so I can go more than 5 steps without my knees being in extreme pain when I run. I want to take care of myself, but also, I just love running and always have. But even though that's important, it's not half as important as building up knowledge in more spiritual things. Or school. I mean, yes school is important, but it's not near as important as studying God's Word. Just like this verse says, it has promise for things here on earth, AND in heaven. Nothing else matters in the end. 

     Okay, think of it this way, will your great great great great great great grandchildren be effected by how good of grades you made in school? It's possible, but not very likely.  But will they be effected in your Biblical knowledge? Possibly, yes. I mean, if my great great great great great great great great great great grandfather was a king, do you think that that really matters to me now? No, not really. I mean, other than the fact that that would be kind of cool. But if my family had started being Christians that long ago, would that effect me now? Probably. I mean, if it weren't for them, then right now, I may not be a Christian at all. And not only will it effect their lives and mine, but also it will effect all of our lives even after we've died. Will good grades get us to heaven? No. 

     So next time you have to make a choice between doing something that might improve your grades, or get you on a sports team, or anything really, and doing something better, then I want to encourage you to do something better. Grades and such may be good for you now, but in the life to come. :)

Loving Your Enemies

     We are told in Matthew 5:43-44 to love our enemies. It says, "You have heard it was said to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," But what does this mean? A lot of times, this can be mistaken for, "Put up with your enemies." or, "You can dislike them, but just don't hate them." Well, what does the Bible say? That is what I will be talking about in this article.

     In 1 Corinthians 13, we are given a definition of love. So I will be reading that definition, which starts in verse 4, and goes through the first part of verse 8. It says, "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends." Now, I am going to re-read that, but in the contexts of loving our enemies.

     "Be patient and kind to your enemies. Do not envy them, or boast to them. Do not be arrogant or rude to your enemies. Do not insist on your own ways. To not be irritable or resentful toward your enemies. Do not rejoice in your enemies' wrongdoing, but rejoice in the truth. Bear all things coming from your enemy, believe all that they say, hope all things, and endure everything. Always love your enemies." Basically, if you combine the two, this is what the passage would probably say. 

     But do we really treat our enemies like this? I mean, this may be how we treat our friends and family, but as we read in Matthew, we should treat everyone like this. Not just the people we like. This can seem difficult, and sometimes even impossible. I'm sure everyone has struggled with this before. But we shouldn't just put up with our enemies, or ignore them. We should love them with the kind of love that we read about in 1 Corinthians 13. I think that often, the word "love" is misjudged to mean other things when used throughout the Bible in commandments. But as long as we keep in mind what love really is, it can be easier to fully understand the command given. So today, I want to encourage you to not put up with your enemies, but to love them, even though it seems almost impossible at times. :)