Week 2: You Asked For It
We are in week two of this series where you suggest topics for me to write about. I ,actually, got multiple requests on this particular topic that I am about to share. Feel free, to keep suggesting topics. "Love The Sinner, Hate The Sin" For as long as I have been around, I have heard the saying, "love the sinner, hate the sin." I am a sinner myself, my sin is no better than anyone else's sin. I am forgiven. God knew that we would be sinners, but He calls us to love others anyways. I love everyone, even in their sin, because I am a sinner too. The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side You probably have a family member/relative, friend, classmate, or co-worker that lives in a life of sin and doesn't know Jesus. Maybe they don't know Jesus. Maybe they don't know that they can live a life of redemption and the grass is greener on the other side. Maybe they don't know that their sins were washed away when our Savior was nailed to the cross with his arms stretched out wide, saying, "I love you this much." You get to be the one that tells them. You get to be the one that leads them in a different direction and, ultimately, change the course of that person's life. Or maybe you are reading this now, and you aren't a Christian. I hope you change your mind after reading this and studying the Bible a little bit. I am not perfect. No one is, but we can ask the Lord to forgive us. You can live a life of redemption. We can realize, "hey, I'm doing something Jesus wouldn't like", and ask for forgiveness. You can get out of the trap of sin. Here is what scripture says: “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 “I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1 NIV Judgmental Christians? Christians, sometimes I feel, get a bad reputation. My friend is really struggling right now. She is trying to convert a non-believer to a believer, but the non-believer thinks Christians are judgmental and are hypocrites. My friend is trying to broaden and expand this non-believer's view of Christianity. Not all Christians are the same. As Christians, we are supposed to love and encourage other sinners. Our job isn't to judge. That's God's job. Some simply might not go to church because they don't have what they believe to be, "the appropriate church clothes." Not all churches have a dress code. Mine doesn't. We welcome EVERYONE. Some might not attend church because they are afraid they will be judged on past mistakes. However, I do not care about your sin, and no one else should either. That is between you and God. I have sins of my own, that I need to take care of. That's between God and me. Some might not attend, because they are afraid of what others might think. However, there is a saying that goes, "sweep under your own doorstep, before you try to sweep someone else's." Here is what scripture says: ““Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Matthew 7:1 NIV “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”” John 8:7 NIV Our God is a Forgiving God I'm here to tell you today that, it does NOT matter how bad your past is, God still loves you and He is a redeemer. He forgives and forgets. He loved you before you were a sinner, He loved you while you were a sinner, and He will love you when you are a sinner. If you are sincere with your intentions to know God, and want to take that next step towards Jesus, He wants to take that next step towards you as well. He doesn't care about your past, He is looking at your future. Doing life with God is 110% better, than doing life alone. Right now, if you are reading this and thinking, "That girl doesn't know my sin. She doesn't know what I did. She has no clue how bad I've messed up", please understand that our God is a forgiving God. He forgets our transgressions as far as the east is to the west, when we ask for forgiveness. So come to the Lord broken. He will renew you. He will restore you. Here is what scripture says: "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;” Daniel 9:9 NIV Get Out Of Sin Leave that life of sin behind, and join God. Leave your past in the past. Turn away from your sins. Cleanse yourself of all things evil, and you will be made new again. You will be renewed. Here is what scripture says: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV Love The Sinner Just like God tells us to love one another, He also tells us to not associate with evil. We can love the sinner and preach the gospel to them all day, but I would not advise keeping company with sinners that don't know God and that don't ask for forgiveness for their sins. Bad company ruins good morals! This is what scripture tells us: 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” I truly hope you all know how loved and blessed you are. Please know, you don't have to live your life trapped in sin. You are free. I hope you have a wonderful week.
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Week 1: You Asked For It
So, I recently asked on Facebook and Instagram what are a couple topics that I should write about. I want you to enjoy reading and I want to encourage you. I am still taking requests., so please, let me know what you want me to talk about. I have decided to do a series of blogs with the topics you want me to write about. I will try to write about most of them. Some I might have to wait for later, so I can get more educated on that particular topic. Recently, I got a request from a young lady to write about remaining faithful and trusting God. It was ironic, because I had just shared a bible devotional with our Youth For Christ about putting your trust in God and praising God through the good times and the bad. I had talked about a man named Job. The story of Job starts in Job 1:1 if you would like to read for yourself. I'll give you a quick run down. Job was a wealthy man, many livestock, along with servants, and a happy family of 10 kids and a wife. He was a faithful and righteous servant of the Lord. His faith couldn't be wavered, which is proved later on in the story. One day God was talking to the devil about how Job was a wonderful servant of God. Satan replied to God telling Him that Job was only faithful because God blessed him abundantly. God let the devil test Job's faith. Satan took all of Job's many livestock, many servants, and all 10 children. He had been through the wringer and had endured so much pain, yet Job remained faithful. I would fall apart. The fact that Job remained so strong is absolutely incredible and astounding, really. Job saw that God had a greater plan. Satan then attacked Job's health. Satan covered Job in soars, head to toe. Job's wife told him to curse the Lord for inflicting all this pain and suffering upon him. How would you react to tragedy that occurred like this? Would you yell, scream, throw a temper tantrum, or curse God? If you answered yes to any of these, you'll be surprised at Jobs reaction. Job fell to the floor, on his knees and praised God. In Job 1:20-21 is says, 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” The most surprising thing is, Job didn't sin in this predicament. Not once. That is so amazing! The moral of this story is to put your faith and trust into God. God's plan is greater than what you could imagine. I go through trials and tough times all the time. Just because we are Christians doesn't mean we will always win the battle in bad situations. I have to constantly remind myself, God's plan for me is greater than my plan for me. God is where we draw our strength from. I know in life, sometimes, it feels like the odds are stacked against you, but God is for you. I overheard a conversation between my mom and a friend the other day. Mom was telling this young lady that after college she applied for a job, in which she didn't get. She was upset but remained strong and went for another opening at another job. The employer had pretty much assured her she would get the job, but she didn't. Something came up, and they decided to go with another candidate. Surprisingly, a job came up in the community where she was raised, she interviewed, and the job was hers. She got her dream job, with the exact position she had always wanted. My mother went on to tell the young lady that God was looking after her. He had the perfect blueprint laid out for her life. His plan was greater than hers. She trusted Him and He poured down the blessings. I know it's not always easy to trust in God's timing. We tend to want things RIGHT NOW. But the reward is so much greater when you are patient. Remember that! Have a fabulous week...
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” Matthew 25:23 NIV “I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:7 NIV In my latest blog I mentioned a couple of friends that helped lead me to Christ. The reality is, there are many other friends that I could name off the top of my head, that have helped impact my life. It would take all day.
Everyone deserves someone to be there for their lowest of lows and highest of highs. You deserve for someone to celebrate your greatest accomplishments and pray for you, through your darkest days. You deserve the kind of friendships that make you a better you. Lots of my friends have these qualities, and for that, they deserve the world. Some friends are straight God sends. The kind of friends that will pray for you and with you, the kind of friends that will worship and study God's word with you, those are the friendships you savor. If you are the girl that wants to become closer to God, but your friends don't have the same values, FIND NEW FRIENDS. I know it sounds harsh, but you don't deserve halfway friendships. You don't deserve the "friend" that dumps you for the next best thing that comes along. You deserve a life long, strong, independent, Christian friend who loves, supports, and prays for you. For some, those friends may be hard to find. It's worth the wait, though. Find friends who allow you to blossom and grow, not the ones who constantly try to one up you. Church is the best place to find friends. Those are the type of friends that you can go for what feels like eternity, and then catch right up where you left off the next time you see them. Those will be the friends you call on when you have a terrible day. Those will be the friends you call on when you get engaged. Those will be the friends you call on in your trials and defeat, but also, your greatest achievements and accomplishments. Be there for those friends, because you know, they will always be there for you. This next verse reminds me to be excited and happy for my friends when they are happy and sad for my friends when they go through a tragedy. Romans 12:15 says: Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. I will close with this... One awesome thing about friendship is, we get to choose who we want to associate and be friends with. We choose how we act towards others and we choose how we respond when others do unkind things to us. We aren't forced into anything we don't want to be involved with. You can make all kinds of choices, some for the better, others for the worst. Proverbs 13:20 says, Walk with the wise and become the wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. Proverbs 27:17 says, As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
models: myself & savana// @_savv.mae @movementworthy If you are a Christian, you have a testimony. Your testimony doesn't have to be as giant of a leap as, you were so far away from God and He suddenly rescued you one day, when you saw the light. Although, that's wonderful if your testimony is like that.
However, my testimony isn't really like that and I have never shared it before. I feel it's so important to put yours out there, because non-believers really need to understand where you were at one point in your life. They need to see that Christians aren't perfect, we are just rescued, and they can be too. So here it is... I have always thought of myself as a Christian. I was saved and baptized at an early age. I was a church attendee regularly, but I didn't read the Bible, I didn't pray spirit filled prayers, and I didn't worship Him like I should have been. I wasn't close to God and didn't totally understand Him. Although, it wasn't till a couple of years ago, that I realized, I wasn't living to share Christ's glory. I wasn't living to please Him. I was living and that is all. Just living, letting each day pass by, not leaving a mark or impact on the world. I had a purpose, and I just wasn't serving it. It was my first year to try out for school cheerleader, however, I had done all star cheerleading before. I befriended Mallory (which I'm still friends with today, HEY MAL!), and she was a strong Christian. She had a fire for the Lord. We both made cheerleader, went to summer camp, and she made the biggest impact on my life. Ultimately, she lead me back to Christ. We studied the Bible together that summer. We prayed together. Those are the kinds of friends you need in life. I am surrounded with those friends. I fell back in love with Jesus. I know I'm not the only girl she has impacted. I, personally, know of others that will tell you, Mallory is the reason they are where they are today. There is a special place in Heaven for her. She changed everything for me. I drew to Christ. I renewed my faith. I found love. I found forgiveness. I found grace. I found a desire to know God. I was a new person. Fast forward to about last year, I wasn't in a good place in my life anymore. I was angry, upset, hurt. I had prayers that were not being answered and I was in a dark place. I questioned my faith. I'm going to be honest here and not sugar coat it, I questioned God. But I started attending church on Wednesday nights and befriended another sweet, young lady. Her name is Ellie. She encouraged me. I started talking to Ellie and I realized that we had a lot of the same interests. Even in my darkest times, one of my biggest goals and callings in life is to be able to travel to Africa on a mission trip. I have always felt a tug at my heartstrings to go into missionary work, but the cost is so expensive. Ellie had recently went to Africa and got to experience all the things I want, so desperately, to experience. I came back to church each Wednesday night (aka youth night) and had a blast each time. Ellie was a rock and helped me grow as a Christian. I said before, I was in a dark place because I needed answers from God. Some of those prayers still aren't answered today, but I have found peace with it. I guess it wasn't in God's plan for me. Things don't always turn out the way you want, and that's okay. You don't get everything you want in life. You can't plan out your life. God already has it planned out. You just have to allow Him to use you and create a future for you. It's not in my hands, I gave all my burdens to God. That's why I'm not in that dark place anymore. I soon learned my purpose and invited other wonderful friends to attend church services with me. Brooke, Toni, and Lacey come to church with me each Wednesday and it's incredible. We pray, worship, and love the Lord together. We support, encourage, help, and guide each other. Another wonderful friend of mine is a pastors daughter, Annelise, and we encourage each other. I have surrounded myself with positive people; they build me up. I have also been blessed with parents & family that love me unconditionally and they have poured the love, grace, and mercy of Jesus into me, from an early age. I am not where I need to be in my walk with God. I can go deeper and farther. I will go deeper and farther. But wouldn't be where I am right now in my walk with Christ, if it wasn't for them. I see life in a completely different perspective. I have faith and I have strong, Christian friendships. I have many wonderful friends, that I couldn't even write them all down. They know who they are. They know they hold a special place in my heart. It makes all the difference in the world on how you choose your friends. Mine have just happened to change my life. Who you hang around with is who you act like. I want to encourage you too. Share your testimony with whoever you think might need it. You don't ever know how it will change their life. If you looked at me from the outside back then, you never would have known I was going through a hard time. I was blessed to meet wonderful friends that encouraged me to renew my relationship with Christ. I didn't have to take that leap by myself. I know not everyone will have that person in their life so, I will volunteer myself to be that person for you. I'll help, if you need me to, because it's hard to go through that alone. Shoot me a text, message, dm, or comment to me and I'll pray with you. I will encourage you. I want to be a world changer and I want you to be one too!
Psalm 119:125 (KJV) 125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High. (Psalm 7:17 NIV) |
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