Friday, April 29, 2011

Having A Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ

   Many can say that Jesus is their Savior and they have been saved. But how many christians can say that they have a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Many are confused by this subject. How can you have a personal relationship with Jesus?
(1) Listen! 
   You cannot just pray to God every single night for financial help, family issues, or any other needs that you have. You have to listen to him! How do we listen to him? It begins with reading His word. The bible has so much advice and help for us if we would just read and open up our hearts to God. If you are in a relationship, and only the girl talks but the guy never responds, it most likely will not work out. You have to stop and listen. Go into your room or a quiet outdoors place today and read your bible. Stop to listen and God will tell you what he wants you to hear.
(2) Don't be a Sunday morning Christian!
  Many people can say they go to church every Sunday. But how many of those people can say that they put into action what they learn at church? I am guilty of this! I will learn about how gossip is wrong at church on Sunday, but whenever the school week begins, I seem to forget all about it! People watch and study christians more than any other group of people. Many can call christians hypocrites. A person who shouts and praises God on Sunday, may be found at a club drunk during the week or cussing out a person who cuts them off on the interstate. Jesus wants us to praise him not only on Sundays but everyday of the week! My Sunday School teacher once told me, "If you think you are standing still in your relationship with Jesus Christ then you are really falling backwards, towards the devils evil ways." Don't let this happen! Read your bible daily and memorize scripture so you may be ready to fight the devil when he attacks you and grow stronger in your relationship with Jesus Christ! Don't leave your Holy Bible on the bookshelf all week until church on Sunday. Take it out and study it. Be an every day of the week christian!
   I hope I have left you with something to think about over the weekend. God has great plans for you, but you have to grow united with him first. Please leave comments below if you have any questions or comments. I love hearing feedback from the readers! God bless and have a great afternoon!
  

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Peace Through the Storms of Life

  What a great time to right out about this topic. My sincere prayers go out to everyone across the U.S (or elsewhere) who are having severe weather this week. For the first time today, my school went through a real tornado warning. We had always gone through drills but we had never predicted that we might be in one for real. Students were lined up against the walls and everyone was scared. I had a good talk with God through this time. With 173 (I think) deaths across the southeastern United States this week, I will admit, I was scared for my life! I prayed to God and less than a minute after I finished talking to God our tornado warning turned into a tornado watch. I was relieved! As soon as our principal came over the intercom and said that I prayed to God and said Thank you!!!! I was so scared but MY God had taken care of ME! We experience storms every day. No, not necessarily weather related storms, but storms in our life. Turn on your TV and watch your local news channel. These are just some of the storms. The devil is trying his hardest to shake our faith and make us fall and sin. You have to hold on to God! Even if you do fall, he will reach out his hand and help you back up.  God is always there and he is watching out for us. Hebrews 13:5 says 'Never will I leave you; never will forsake you.' I want to encourage everyone to pray for anyone experiencing storms right now. God bless you all and have a great rest of the week.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Christ is Risen!

   I hope you all had a great Easter weekend. I was not able to post this yesterday because my family came over. We all enjoy going easter egg hunting, having the easter bunny come, dying easter eggs and other stuff like that for easter, but we should never forget what easter really means.
Good Friday - This is the day that Jesus was crucified on the cross. Why do we call it Good Friday? We do because by this action Jesus saved us from our sins! He loved us enough to hang on a cross and die for us!
Day of Silence -  This is the day after Jesus was crucified. It was simply the day of silence.
Easter day -  Christ rose from the dead on this day! The stone had been rolled away! The mighty God had shown his power and Jesus showed that we can have victory over death! Praise God that we can serve a risen Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ!
   Now, let us look closer into one of the events after Jesus has risen from the dead. The same day that Jesus had been resurrected two of His followers were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about 7 miles from Jerusalem. They were talking about all that had happened. As they did, Jesus came up and walked beside them, but they were kept from recognizing him. They told him about Jesus of Nazareth and everything that had happened. Seeing their lack of faith, He explained what had been said in the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village they urged Jesus to stay with them, even though he acted as though he was walking further. He stayed with them. Jesus went with them and while at the table, he broke the bread and blessed it. It was then that it finally appeared to them who he really was. They got up and returned once to Jerusalem saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and appeared to Simon." (Scripture summarized from Luke 24:13-35)
   What can we learn from this? Jesus comes to us in our disappointments though we may not recognize him. Jesus wants us to pour our hearts out to him and he will listen. Jesus takes our confusion to God's word. Jesus accepts our invitation to become more involved in our daily lives. He shows himself in familiar patterns. Jesus restores our hope and passion and wants us to share with others. I want to encourage you this week to look closer into this scripture and think about how Jesus has walked beside you in your daily life. God bless and have a great week!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Jesus - The Messiah?

  Many have asked this question since the New Testament became part of the bible. Is Jesus Christ the messiah? I am not afraid to say that I believe that Jesus  is the messiah! You can find many verses in the Old Testament that prophesied traits of the messiah. Comparing this to Jesus' life story, Jesus is the messiah and God sent him to save the world!  Seven hundred years before it happened the prophet of Isaiah described the life of Jesus :
Isaiah 53


 1 Who has believed our message
   and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
   and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
   a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

 4 Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted. 
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed. 
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.

 7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth. 
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
   Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
[b] 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
   and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
   nor was any deceit in his mouth.

 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes
 his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 
11 After he has suffered,
   he will see the light of life
 
and be satisfied;
by his knowledge
 my righteous servant will justify many,
   and he will bear their iniquities. 
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.



So, God sent his one and only son to die on the cross for your/my sins just so he could call us his children. Jesus came and saved the world, and he is coming back to save his children very soon! Wait no longer! Repent and give your live the Christ!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Note from the Author

Hello! I hope you all are having a great week so far! I am sorry but I will not be posting daily do to a busy schedule. I will try to post as often as I can. Thank you for all your support! And please leave me any feedback in the comments section below my blog entries. God bless!
                                                                                           Your sister in Christ,
                                                                                                    Macy

Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Parable of the Sower

    Many of Jesus' parables are told throughout the new testament. A parable is a short story that compares an idea to a common story. The parable of the sower is told in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:2-20, and Luke 8:4-15. Now, lets take a look at what this parable is about and what it means.
    Jesus told, "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he went about scattering his seed, some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places. It sprang up quickly in the shallow ground but soon withered because it did not have a good root system. Another seed fell among the thorns, which grew up and choked the plant. Still, another seed fell on good soil where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."(Summarized from Matthew 13:1-23, New International Version) The disciples then came to Jesus and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will have taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables : Though seeing they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. 
 The Meaning of The Parable

  •     When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one (Satan) comes and steals it away. This is the seed sown along the path.
  •      The seed on the rocky ground is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But when trouble or persecution because of the word, he lasts only a short time. 
  •      The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfullness of wealth choke him, making it unfruitful. 
  •      But the one who falls into good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces crop.
***The soil in this parable represents the human heart.***

   So what describes the soil of YOUR heart? Stony? Shallow? Strangled? Or Spiritual?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

God's Grace

What is grace? In a dictionary it might be defined as favor or good will. God's grace is more like a gift he gives us. Grace is something we get that we do not deserve! We deserve death because of our sins (Romans 3:23) but God offers us his grace. He sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, (John 3:16) to die on the cross of calvary for our sins! Amazing Grace, a well known hymm, shows grace as God's gift of redemption. Take a moment to read over the lyrics of this beloved hymm and think about what God's grace is.
                                     Amazing Grace - John Newton (1725-1807)                                                                                                                                                                     

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
                                                                                                                                                                      
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10