Hatred vs. Love

Hatred - an emotion that often occurs in the lives of many. A sin, yet an easy example of our daily lives.

What is it exactly? A feeling of dislike and discontentment to a place or a thing; particularly a person.

Doesn't sound very good... does it? No. Not at all. 

We often will hate someone for something they've done to us, someone else or even themselves. Or maybe we hate them for another stupid reason. Perhaps they've made you jealous and that leads to hate? Is that right? Absolutely not!

No matter what people do to you or anyone else, for that matter.... don't hate them!! Rather, love them will all your heart... To be honest, you don't have to necessarily "like" someone to "love" them.... but, you can still treat them in a loving manner and not just that; pray for them. Every night. Kill them with kindness. Treat them as Christ treats you. You've sinned so many times. You've probably turned against him at one point in your life. You've probably been angry at him. Thought all that.... he doesn't hate you! He loves you and always will love you! He DIED for you. No matter your sins... he still loves you.... How awesome is that? He aids you. He cares for you. 

Treat others in such a way to reflect Christ. 

"This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." (2 John 1:6)

We love because He first loved us!!!! (1 John 4:19)

You can check out a short version of my testiomy here: http://www.hisismine.com/stories/943/shine4jesus149.html

The Reality is....

We live in a world that's so caught up in pop culture, the newest fashion trends and living by a reputation (hopefully a good one.) At least we want those things. We spend countless hours watching movies, sports, reality television and music videos. We waste time playing video games, browsing the web and updating or Facebook statuses. Why? Our culture demands it.

The reality is... this world will end! It will not last forever!

At the end of the world as we know it, waits an infinite life. That life is filled with either happiness and peacefulness or.... hurt, agony and pain. A separation between believers and non-believers.

 Looking at the long run, the time everlasting, why do we waste away hours and minutes in this life?

We, as Christians, need to be making a difference, sharing the gospel, living life to the fullest - to God's glory!

So why don't we? 

Why aren't we living fully for God? Why don't we spend as much time talking about the gospel as we do on Facebook? As we do watching television? 

Do a reality check. How much time are you wasting in this life? How many days have you wasted already? And how many are left?

Use that time to make a difference, rather than fulfill your life with entertainment. Immerse yourself in God's glory. Immerse yourself in God's Word.

Live for Him!

Glorify God

Glorify God with everything you have because he deserves your glory. He created you. 

Look at your hand right now. Look closely at your fingerprints. Each and everyone. They're all different, are they not? Isn't that amazing?

Now, go to Facebook, to your friend's list to be exact.

                        How many friends do you have?                                                                    

       100?

                             200?

Some have maybe 500 or more. Right?

Each of those friends has 10 different fingerprints on their fingers. So multiply that number by 10.

For me that's 4,510. That 4,510 DIFFERENT fingerprints. That's insane! 

God did that. He made each of us so unique. So special. And we take that for granted everyday. We should be glorifying him with all our heart. Thank God for your uniqueness. Glorify him.

Hope, Light, Love

This is something I wrote a while ago, expressing my feelings of going through the struggles and hatred of loneliness and regret, but breaking free to find God waiting for me to return to him.


I wander through darkness, looking for a smidgen of light, a slimmer of hope. Anything that will spark my memory, snap me back to reality, give me feeling and emotion again. I squint my eyes and search endlessly, groping and feeling around; grasping at sill more darkness. I have yet to find light. I have yet to find hope. I have yet to find love. With every second I feel more and more hopeless, yearning more and more for a taste of hope, a touch of love, a flicker of light. I scream once more, but no one hears. I cry again, but no one sees. I'm reaching out, to no avail. I need you now, above all else. I need your light, nothing else. I need your love to fill my heart. You and I will never part. Oh God, my God, give me hope. Give me peace and give me love. Give me everlasting light. Light I'll see throughout the night. Thank you God for all you've done, for my journey with you has just begun. 

The ChristianBlogger

Friends

Friends come and go quite often. I can speak from experience and say that friends will hurt your feelings, stab you in the back and lie to you. They can also encourage you, treat you kindly, and be there for you when you need them. But no matter what, they're going to let you down, it's just part of being human. It's our sinful nature. I've been hurt by my friends so many times, but whenever that happens, I know I can rely on God to back me up and give me comfort. He's always there for me. He doesn't come and go. He doesn't stab me in the back, lie to me or hurt my feelings. He loves me and helps me out wherever I go.

-ChristanBlogger

Fear

 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Sometimes, fear takes over my heart. I'll get really nervous and start shaking and hyperventilating. I won't be able to think of anything, my mind freezes up. When I have these times, I'll grab my Bible and hold it in my hands while I'm curled in a ball. Just the Bible itself comforts me. When my mind starts clearing up a bit, I start quoting this verse over and over and over. Then, God just fills me with peace and calmness. Even though I'll still be frightened, he's right there with me. He's comforting me and loving me. He's always there, no matter what. Through the fears, through the tough times, through the fear.

Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust is a pretty powerful thing and often falters. I know from experience, that if you trust someone, and they break that trust, you have trouble trusting anyone after that. The problem with people is... we are mankind. People will break our trust, and more than likely we've broken other people's trust. But... I have this friend who's never ever broken my trust before. He's my best friend. He's my Lord and Savior. 

He loves us so much! As it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, if we trust God and let him direct our lives, he will help us go down the correct path. The path of wisdom. The path that's straight. The path that's good, not evil. Put your trust in God... he'll never let you down. Ever.

Good Works

I met a Jehovah Witness at the door today and they kept trying to  explain to me about the necessity of doing good works, so that we can get to heaven. I didn't want to be rude or anything, but I couldn't help saying, "I trust in Jesus. I'm a christian." They didn't care... they continued to tell me about their lives in the Jehovah Witness and everything that they have to do and such. After they left, it got me thinking, "Wow... they were really insistent."

I wish as a Christian that I could be so insistent and constantly telling others about Jesus. Even though I don't have to do good works to get into heaven, God wants us to do good works. He commands us in the Bible to share His love with others! Anyway, I know this isn't like my usual style of posting, but I thought I'd share this with you, since it's been on my mind.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  - Ephesians 2:10 -

Transformed and Renewed

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.
-Romans 12:1-2

As a normal teen, I can get sucked up into the world's ways so often. It's really hard to not follow in the path and footsteps of the way the world wants me to. Whether if it's buying new clothes that are modest or not saying the bad words that some of my friends say. Maybe you're treating your parents in a disrespectful way when you're at home, but at church you're acting like a whole different person. 

During these times and during all these struggles, as Christians we need to remember that God is fully in charge of our lives. We need to try to be careful of how we are acting and whether or not we are glorifying him in what we are doing. The verse below is a great guideline to follow while trying to renew your mind to test God's will. :) 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
-Philippians 4:8

Tough Times

Sometimes... life gets really hard. It weighs down upon my shoulders and I feel like the pressure is going to crush me. I'll cry and ask God to help me out; to help lift the burden. I go through a lot of hurts and pains, but I always seem to forget that God loves me. He doesn't give me anything I can't handle. Everything that happens in my life he has a purpose for. It strengthens me and helps me to grow stronger in Him. It's hard to remember, but through those times of struggles... trust God. He knows what he's doing.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
- James 1:2-4

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
-Romans 8:28

Sincerely, the Christian Blogger

Loved - John 10:27-28

27. My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ~John 10:27-28


When I first read these verses, they meant nothing to me, they were just more verses in my Bible. But I read them one time, while riding on a bus. I was really going through a hard time and just happened to stumble upon this verse. As soon as I saw the part about no one being able to snatch his sheep out of his hand, my heart stopped. I stopped reading and reread these two verses... over and over and over again. Then I realized, oh my gosh. He really loves me. God really loves me. I mean, I already knew that, but just the power of these verses settled in on my heart, saying, God loves you. Jesus loves you. They won't let people hurt you. They know you more than anyone else. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Wow.

Faith, Love and Peace - 2 Timothy 2:22

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. -2 Timothy 2:22

When I came across this verse, it really struck me, because I'd never paid a lot of attention to it before. Since it has the word youth in it, it really called out to me, since I'm a youth and really showed me that I need to not be worrying about my life and things that are useless, but set my mind and heart upon righteousness, faith, love and peace. Sometimes it can be so hard to follow what God wants us to, because we have so many things to keep us sidetracked: television, celebrities, sports, music, magazines, movies.... the list goes on and on and will always continue to go on and on. This verse tahgut me that I need to do less worrying about those things and more worrying about following the things that God wants us to.

A Blog - 1 Timothy 4:12

I've always wanted to start a blog that would help inspire teens to become strong Christians and help them to realize that God is always there for them to help them and comfort them in times of need. I've never done anything like this before, but I figured, "Why not?" Therefore, I created this blog and am now typing up my first post.

One of my favorite Bible verses, which is my theme verse for the blog is 1 Timothy 4:12, which states, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

As teenagers, God doesn't want us to sit around and be scared because we are so young. We need to take advantage of our youngness and use it to share God's love, showing others, including other believers, who we are as Christians.

Signed, the Christian Blogger