I believe that one of God's most merciful gifts to us is death. Eve chose Satan when she ate that forbidden fruit, and Adam quickly followed. The moment they ate it, the world became a place full of sin and suffering. God then banished us from the garden of Eden. Was that a punishment though? I think not. In Genesis 3: 16-19, God tells both Adam and Eve their punishments for eating of the tree. These are the ones about pain in childbirth, etc.. Now later in the chapter (Genesis 3:22-24), God drives them out from the garden so as to keep them from eating of the tree that gives eternal life. God was being merciful, because although human broke the only rule He gave them, He wanted to protect us. He didn't want us to live in suffering and sin forever; therefore, He got us away from the tree of life. Now, when we die, we can go to Heaven and that will be eternal bliss rather than eternal suffering. Earth was intended to be a blissful place like Heaven, but we humans messed it up. Although death isn't a fun thing to think about, God has given us the opportunity to go to Heaven and that sounds like great fun to me! Removing us from the garden of Eden so as to give us death someday is God taking us away from suffering and into bliss. Thanks, God.
Any questions or suggestions, please tell me! Thank you all for reading this!
You are Beautiful.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Sunday, March 2, 2014
God gives us choice but knows our choice? Of course.
Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but I recently was inspired and therefore will be able to have some more posts. I hope you can learn, grow, or maybe even think slightly differently about something! So, here you go.
I don't know if anyone in your life has ever said something about how "it makes no sense that God could give you choice but know what you choose before you choose it." Well, a LOT of people in my life have told me that; therefore, I thought about it. To me, it makes perfect sense. Okay, obviously you don't know me, so I'm going to tell you a little something about myself so this will make sense. I am in high school and have a 4.0 and am extremely focused on maintaining high grades (Note: I do not recommend having as much heart in grade as I do). Okay, so that quick briefing on a side of me will make this example work. Say you are my teacher, and I turn in an essay. You tell me that you aren't going to read it and I get to choose my grade: A or B. Now, you have given me a choice, but you know that I will choose the A. (So maybe you didn't need to know about me for that, but I figured it would help). Are you as smart as God? Of course not! None of us are. BUT, you still were able to know what I would choose. Also, do you know me as well as God does? Absolutely not! You don't even know my name. Now think about it. If you could figure out what I would choose before I chose it with human intelligence and not knowing me, imagine how well God would be able to know what I would choose.
So if someone ever tells you that it doesn't make sense for God to give you a choice but still know what you would choose, maybe give them this example. It is simple really and hopefully will help someone you know, or even you, with his or her relationship with God.
You are Beautiful.
I don't know if anyone in your life has ever said something about how "it makes no sense that God could give you choice but know what you choose before you choose it." Well, a LOT of people in my life have told me that; therefore, I thought about it. To me, it makes perfect sense. Okay, obviously you don't know me, so I'm going to tell you a little something about myself so this will make sense. I am in high school and have a 4.0 and am extremely focused on maintaining high grades (Note: I do not recommend having as much heart in grade as I do). Okay, so that quick briefing on a side of me will make this example work. Say you are my teacher, and I turn in an essay. You tell me that you aren't going to read it and I get to choose my grade: A or B. Now, you have given me a choice, but you know that I will choose the A. (So maybe you didn't need to know about me for that, but I figured it would help). Are you as smart as God? Of course not! None of us are. BUT, you still were able to know what I would choose. Also, do you know me as well as God does? Absolutely not! You don't even know my name. Now think about it. If you could figure out what I would choose before I chose it with human intelligence and not knowing me, imagine how well God would be able to know what I would choose.
So if someone ever tells you that it doesn't make sense for God to give you a choice but still know what you would choose, maybe give them this example. It is simple really and hopefully will help someone you know, or even you, with his or her relationship with God.
You are Beautiful.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
YOU are a Saint
Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't been on in awhile! With the start of school and sports in full swing I have had very little time to write. I will try to make time to write more often! Well, this has been on my heart for a bit and so I thought I would share!
What if I told you that you are a saint? Would you believe me? I know I didn't believe the person who told me that for the first time. I mean I'm a sinner, right? I could never be good enough to be a saint, right? Wrong. The first thing I was wrong about was thinking that I am a sinner. I am sure that all of you have been told or heard time and time again that we are all sinners, but if you have asked for forgiveness and have let Christ save you, you are not a sinner any longer. You WERE a sinner. I WAS a sinner. Yes, I still sin, but I have been trying not to more and more and you know what? When I do sin, I ask for forgiveness and decide that I will never again make that choice to sin in that way again. If you ask me, there is a difference between being a sinner and being a person who sins. Sin does not govern my life anymore. A sinner sins habitually. A sinner is an ungodly person who does not have faith in God. I think that is the difference between being a sinner and being a person who does sin. Romans 5:8 says "while we were still sinners." WERE. Were is in the past. We are no longer sinners. Through Christ, we have died to sin. I'm sorry but a sinner can't have died to sin. That just wouldn't make any sense. 1 John 3:9 says, "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." Never does he say that the believe cannot commit a sin. We all sin. It happens, but a believer does not keep on sinning habitually. Sinner is used to talk about the ungodly or enemies of God in the Bible. That moment that you chose to accept God into your heart you quit being a sinner. So many people say that we as Christians sin everyday or we are all sinners. I really, really don't like hearing that. All it does is give Christians a low standard and make us think it is expected of us to sin so we might as well do it. No no no no no. We should never think it is okay to sin, because it isn't! We, as Christians, need to change the standard. We need to change the low expectation and raise it. Raise it much, much higher. A Christian cannot be a sinner. A sinner is an enemy of God and no Christian should ever be an enemy of God. I think we are saints. I think that being a saint is the standard we need to set and make that an expectation of Christians. You will act like what you tell yourself you are. I think that you will notice a very positive change in your behavior if you stop telling yourself that you are a sinner and it's okay because everyone is. YOU are a saint. That is the standard you need to set for yourself as an example of Christ.
Okay, that may have been a bit confusing. Please please please please please, if you are at all confused comment on this or something and I would love to go more in depth! There is so much more scripture on this topic that I would love to share and explain to you! The only scripture I put in the reference today is kind of the self explainable verses. If you need absolutely any explanation or more biblical proof or anything else, PLEASE feel free to ask. I am really passionate about this topic and want the standard for Christians to be raised because I know it can be. Remember, you are a saint.
You are Beautiful.
Main Scriptural References:
Romans 5:8
1 Peter 2:24
1 John 3:9
Galatians 2:17
What if I told you that you are a saint? Would you believe me? I know I didn't believe the person who told me that for the first time. I mean I'm a sinner, right? I could never be good enough to be a saint, right? Wrong. The first thing I was wrong about was thinking that I am a sinner. I am sure that all of you have been told or heard time and time again that we are all sinners, but if you have asked for forgiveness and have let Christ save you, you are not a sinner any longer. You WERE a sinner. I WAS a sinner. Yes, I still sin, but I have been trying not to more and more and you know what? When I do sin, I ask for forgiveness and decide that I will never again make that choice to sin in that way again. If you ask me, there is a difference between being a sinner and being a person who sins. Sin does not govern my life anymore. A sinner sins habitually. A sinner is an ungodly person who does not have faith in God. I think that is the difference between being a sinner and being a person who does sin. Romans 5:8 says "while we were still sinners." WERE. Were is in the past. We are no longer sinners. Through Christ, we have died to sin. I'm sorry but a sinner can't have died to sin. That just wouldn't make any sense. 1 John 3:9 says, "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." Never does he say that the believe cannot commit a sin. We all sin. It happens, but a believer does not keep on sinning habitually. Sinner is used to talk about the ungodly or enemies of God in the Bible. That moment that you chose to accept God into your heart you quit being a sinner. So many people say that we as Christians sin everyday or we are all sinners. I really, really don't like hearing that. All it does is give Christians a low standard and make us think it is expected of us to sin so we might as well do it. No no no no no. We should never think it is okay to sin, because it isn't! We, as Christians, need to change the standard. We need to change the low expectation and raise it. Raise it much, much higher. A Christian cannot be a sinner. A sinner is an enemy of God and no Christian should ever be an enemy of God. I think we are saints. I think that being a saint is the standard we need to set and make that an expectation of Christians. You will act like what you tell yourself you are. I think that you will notice a very positive change in your behavior if you stop telling yourself that you are a sinner and it's okay because everyone is. YOU are a saint. That is the standard you need to set for yourself as an example of Christ.
Okay, that may have been a bit confusing. Please please please please please, if you are at all confused comment on this or something and I would love to go more in depth! There is so much more scripture on this topic that I would love to share and explain to you! The only scripture I put in the reference today is kind of the self explainable verses. If you need absolutely any explanation or more biblical proof or anything else, PLEASE feel free to ask. I am really passionate about this topic and want the standard for Christians to be raised because I know it can be. Remember, you are a saint.
You are Beautiful.
Main Scriptural References:
Romans 5:8
1 Peter 2:24
1 John 3:9
Galatians 2:17
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
YOU are chosen
Like I said, I will be making posts for each of those encouragements. Well, here is the first one!
1 Thessalonians 1:4 says "For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you." He has chose you to be on this Earth. He has chosen you to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. God has chosen each and everyone of us to be his "treasured possession." The eternal, all powerful God wants YOU to be his treasured possession. Actually, scratch that. He doesn't WANT you to be it: You ARE it. God chooses you. He chooses us to bear His fruit, love one another, and love Him. He will be your King whether you choose it or not, but He wants you to choose Him so that you may be saved. We have to choose to worship Him.
Although God has already chosen to be your king and love you, have you chosen to love and worship Him? There are two kings: God and Satan. You are worshipping one of them. You choose one. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." You are either loving the light or hating it. You are either with it or against it. Who are you loving? Who are you with? If you have chosen Satan in the past, that is okay! God wants us to turn from darkness to light! He loves us no matter what! Romans 5:8 tells us that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Also 2 Corinthians 5:21: "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Wow. God really loves us. He really wants us to choose Him. He chose us to send His son to die for so that we may turn from darkness. Wow.
Sorry guys! That kind of took an intense turn, but this was on my heart to share. If any of these words were not of God then have them fall on deaf ears. Anyway, what I said is what really convinced me to choose to be baptized this year. You either love Him or you don't. That simple fact is what convinced me to be baptized. I had never really heard it that way before. He has chosen you. Now all you have to do is choose Him.
You are Beautiful.
Biblical References
1 Thessalonians 1:4
Colossians 3:12
Deuteronomy 14:2
2 Thessalonians 2:14
John 15:16
Romans 10:13
Psalm 47:7
1 John 1:5
Acts 26:18
2 Corinthians 6:14
2 Corinthians 5:21
1 Thessalonians 1:4 says "For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you." He has chose you to be on this Earth. He has chosen you to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. God has chosen each and everyone of us to be his "treasured possession." The eternal, all powerful God wants YOU to be his treasured possession. Actually, scratch that. He doesn't WANT you to be it: You ARE it. God chooses you. He chooses us to bear His fruit, love one another, and love Him. He will be your King whether you choose it or not, but He wants you to choose Him so that you may be saved. We have to choose to worship Him.
Although God has already chosen to be your king and love you, have you chosen to love and worship Him? There are two kings: God and Satan. You are worshipping one of them. You choose one. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." You are either loving the light or hating it. You are either with it or against it. Who are you loving? Who are you with? If you have chosen Satan in the past, that is okay! God wants us to turn from darkness to light! He loves us no matter what! Romans 5:8 tells us that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Also 2 Corinthians 5:21: "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Wow. God really loves us. He really wants us to choose Him. He chose us to send His son to die for so that we may turn from darkness. Wow.
Sorry guys! That kind of took an intense turn, but this was on my heart to share. If any of these words were not of God then have them fall on deaf ears. Anyway, what I said is what really convinced me to choose to be baptized this year. You either love Him or you don't. That simple fact is what convinced me to be baptized. I had never really heard it that way before. He has chosen you. Now all you have to do is choose Him.
You are Beautiful.
Biblical References
1 Thessalonians 1:4
Colossians 3:12
Deuteronomy 14:2
2 Thessalonians 2:14
John 15:16
Romans 10:13
Psalm 47:7
1 John 1:5
Acts 26:18
2 Corinthians 6:14
2 Corinthians 5:21
Monday, August 5, 2013
YOU are loved.
Hey guys! I realize that there is a very good chance that not many people will read this, but if even one person does I will be ecstatic! So, let me tell you a little about my faith. I have been a Christian since I was ten. I barely understood it at the time but each year at kamp (yep I go to Kanakuk) I grew a little closer to God and gained a lot more understanding of what it means to be a Christian. This year at kamp I got baptized, which I would definitely say is the best experience of my life up to this point. God has put it on my heart to share His love to the world and I thought this blog would be a pretty good start.
I just thought I would make this first post about how YOU were chosen by God. Nothing you can do will ever make God love you any more or any less: He loves YOU. You were made by God and he made you exactly how he wanted. Every girl I know, including myself, needs to hear these things sometimes. Never let anyone tell you differently.
You are Beautiful.
Today's Bible Verses of the Post:
1 Thessalonians 1:4
Romans 5:8
Psalm 139:13-15
(I will make posts about each of those encouragements to explain them)
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