Something New Every Day

Today I learned something new.

That while Christ was on the cross, He was forsaken by His Father for 3 hours. From noon until 3pm, darkness covered the land, and God turned away from the sin that was staining Jesus. Our sin.

This was the only way for the price to be paid. And Jesus did it. So that we may live with Him forever. You've probably never thought about that, huh? I guess it's something that we pass by in the text.

In the bible, Jesus calls out to God: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Can you imagine that? After being beaten and tortured for us, Jesus calls out to the only person that can save Him, looking for help, and God isn't there. Why? Because God can't bear to look at sin. It had consumed His Son. It was written all over His face. And God couldn't look at it.

This is what took place. These events happened. And for what?

Once Jesus gave up His spirit and died, the veil in the temple separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, was torn. From top to bottom. Imagine that. Not bottom to top. TOP TO BOTTOM.

There was no longer that separation between God and man anymore. Jesus became the mediator. And through Jesus, we find life.

Beautiful life.

Blessings,

A.

He is Greater

This morning at church, I was amazed. I haven't gone for the past 2 weeks, so I was behind, but we are working on a series where we are finding the statements in Hebrews that says that Jesus is greater than...

So basically what it is, is saying that Jesus is greater than anything that you put after His name.

He is greater than the angels.

He is greater than the prophets.

He is greater than any High Priest.

He is greater than anything.

But what I was amazed about was the fact that today, we were talking about Him being greater than any High Priest; and His compassion. Last night when I wrote the 'Compassion' poem, I had no idea what we were going to be talking about in church, and a line that I used in the poem was a direct statement from the Bible.

Weird, huh? It's little things like that when I feel like God is speaking to me, through things.

[If you want to know what I'm talking about, look on the blog for my poem called 'Compassion' and then read Hebrews 4 (near the end, talking about Christ's compassion)]

If I hadn't gone to church, I would have missed that.

I'm glad that I didn't.

Blessings,

A.

"Compassion" - Original Poem

This poem that I wrote was inspired by my grandma, Donna.

I asked her to give me a topic, and she chose 'Compassion.'

This is the result.

How would you define compassion?

A strong drive or feeling in your heart?

The help you send to those in need?

Or could you define it at all?

It's a burning desire to take away pain

From those who need it most.

And my Savior proved this on Calvary;

He sacrificed Himself, His arms spread to each coast.

The night the veil was torn,

He drank in the world's sin.

With His everlasting love,

His compassion flowed from Him.

With every stripe He thought of us,

And prayed to His Father up above.

As He was lifted up for the world to see,

All He proved was love.

His compassion is never failing,

He already paid the price.

So that one day you and I

Could walk with Him in white.

So how would you define compassion?

A deep hunger that hopes for us?

I know a man who defines it well,

And His name is Christ Jesus.

Blessings,

A. 

Sin: Is There a Gray Area?

Do you ever think about your sin? I know lately for me, it's become a lot of what I think about. Not actually DOING it (or trying my best not to), but wondering about it.

It's common thought that if something is out of sight, it's out of mind. But that is not how it works with sin. Or people think that if someone murders someone, that their lie isn't that bad. That isn't how it works either. Or how about when people try to blur the lines of what constitutes as a sin..."Oh, this is okay I'm sure." Wrong again.

All of these excuses won't gain you entrance to Heaven. There isn't a gray area for sin, although many try to make it that way. Society has deemed so many things acceptable, which are direct violations of Biblical laws.

Example: America was founded on the idea of religious freedom. A place that we could worship freely. Things were fine, but when people started realizing that they could do things without a king watching over them, the rules began to bend.

The rules have been bent so much that what used to be a bold sin, has now become something that we don't even flinch at. Think about murder. This used to be such a horrific act, and it gained attention. And now on the news, we hear about daily. And not just one person, but hundreds, or thousands. Our world has become so desensitized to God's laws that they are being broken without hindrance.

But there will soon come a day when people will have to atone for what they have done. And there isn't going to be anyone standing next to them to blame. You can't tell God, "Well she did it too," or "But I wasn't as bad as him." You're going to have to stand there on your own, and account for your sins. And I'm going to as well.

This is why we should be more aware of our use of sins. God doesn't weigh sins. One sin isn't worse than another. So telling a lie is weighed the same AS murdering someone. Nothing more and nothing less.

Think about that one.

Blessings,

A.

"Everlasting Life" - Original Poem

This poem that I wrote today has to do with the concept of everlasting life.

Everlasting life.

An idea that you can't fathom;

The mind just can't contain it.

But with Jesus as Lord and Savior,

You're able to attain it.

God exists outside of time,

For it is His creation.

And one day every knee will bow

From every tribe, tongue and nation.

This human life, you put a price

On how well you can live it.

Trying to outdo your peers

While the point, you've seemed to miss it.

It's not about who looks the best,

Or the kind of car you drive.

It's about the place you put your faith,

For which we all should strive.

In the end, God won't care

What excuse you make.

Fact is, you sinned, now you won't live

Even when Christ died for your sake.

Why not live for Christ and give yourself

The chance at everlasting.

For your trust and faith in His Son's Name,

Is all God was ever asking.

Blessings,

A. 

Let's Make a List...

Today I held my bible study with my friend, Briana. Because we didn't really go there with any decided plan, we came up with the topic of: What do we do in our daily lives that dishonor God? Good question, right? I think it's so easy for us to come up with a few things, but not really dig down and find what the real problems are.

We went in trying to come up with 30 things, but in the end, we came up with 57. I was really surprised, but excited all the same! I thought that I would share the list, so that hopefully, after reading some of these things, it will make you more aware of the things that you do, and in turn, make you less likely to do them.

I mean, in society today, so many things (the movies, the media, music, the government, and for some of us, even the church) are not seen as sin anymore, and so people are okay with what they are doing. When we came up with the list, we then went ahead and found the bible verses that went against the sin, and what we could do to correct those problems.

Some of the things on this list are things that I'm guilty of, and I have no problem saying that, because I'm human. But now that I am aware of what I do, it's making me conscious enough to pay attention to my life.

Here is the list:

1. Swearing

2. Not reading the Bible daily

3. Not praying consistently

4. Using God's name in vain

5. Disrespecting authorities/elders

6. Not going to church regularly

7. Bodily harm

8. Ungodly thoughts

9. Stealing

10. Jealousy

11. Gossip/slander

12. Not helping those in need

13. Homosexuality

14. Using promises (I swear on ...)

15. Secular music/movies/media

16. Not evangelizing/spreading the Word

17. Wishing harm on other people/cursing others

18. Pride/selfishness

19. Lust

20. Sexual promiscuity/immorality

21. Wanting to be like others/not happy with self

22. Not loving others or enemies

23. Marital affairs/adultery

24. Not forgiving people

25. Lying/dishonesty/deception

26. Idolatry

27. Being lukewarm

28. Anger

29. Giving in to temptation

30. Murder

31. Making fun of others/mocking

32. Hatred

33. Going to bed angry

34. Judging others

35. Yoking ourselves with non-believers

36. Betrayal

37. Bribery

38. Putting money before God

39. Breaking promises

40. Divorce

41. Not giving first thoughts in the morning to God

42. Addictions

43. Drunkenness

44. No faith

45. Borrowing, without returning (money, etc.)

46. Pornography

47. Hypocrisy

48. Criticism of others

49. Seeking revenge/payback

50. Arrogance

51. Laziness

52. Fighting/provoking arguments

53. Greed

54. Ungratefulness

55. Not honoring your body as a temple

56. Impatience

57. Use of middle finger

Those are what we came up with :) If you have any that you would like to add, feel free to leave a comment and let me know, or use the link on the side of the page, find me on facebook, and send me a message :)

Blessings,

A.

"Ordinary Girl" - Original Poem

I wrote this poem today. It's about who I am as a person & the things I've come to find. I thought that I would share it with you :) I hope you enjoy it!

I'm no ordinary girl;

I don't belong to this place.

My Father reigns from up above,

He is the King of Grace.

I couldn't get there on my own,

The way is paved to Hades.

For my sin forced separation;

But my Lord, My Jesus saved me.

I'm no ordinary girl;

On the outside I appear just like you.

It's the inner workings of my soul,

That Christ has made brand new.

Do you wonder who He is?

Or do you wonder what He did,

To make me speak about Him

To give the Glory that is His?

He walked this earth as you and I;

Spoke of eternal life up above.

He was sent here for a purpose.

For every human, He would bleed love.

Beaten, bruised and broken;

By His stripes, He gave us life.

Our burdens, He took as His own;

For our sins, He paid the price.

A crown of thorns and pierced with nails,

He was crucified on Calvary.

I was worth enough to endure the pain,

My Jesus suffered for me.

"Father, forgive them;

For they know not what they do."

My Savior prayed from the cross,

As a final plea for mercy for me and you.

I'm no ordinary girl;

I was bought for a price.

Through broken skin, His blood poured out;

Christ died for us that night.

And yet you won't give Him

The honor He is due.

He made eternity available.

He sacrificed His life for you.

The scriptures say that in the end

Every tongue shall confess,

That Jesus Christ is Lord of All

His righful glory, He shall possess.

I'm no ordinary girl;

I don't have any fears,

For I will preach the name of Jesus,

Until the whole world hears.

Blessings,

A. 

Existence of an Amazing God

In one of my books that I am reading, called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, there is a mention of a website. So I was curious and went to it, and found the link that was referenced. There is nothing more that I can say, but wow. This video (the link is posted below), is absolutely amazing.

The awesomeness of God is revealed in the video, and it just makes me think that even though I am so small compared to the greatness of the world, God still cares about me. He has numbered each one of those stars, and He knows them by name. He tells the oceans where to stop, and He knows the number of hairs on our heads.

God is amazing. Nothing short of it.

http://www.crazylovebook.com/videos_awe.html

Blessings,

A.

New Life

Hey guys!

I'm really excited to start this blog :) First, I want to say thank you to my friend Ashley, who gave me the idea to start this. I have so many ideas and thoughts running through my head, but I never really had a place to put them.

Well, for starters, here is a little bit about me: I'm a follower of Christ. This is how I would start off defining myself. Everything else about me is second best, and I try to live based off of this description. I have been a Christian all of my life, but believe me, I've had my shares of ups and downs, and I've been in hard places. God has always brought me through, and I'm thankful to Him for that. Otherwise? I'm a very ambitious person, and I love to help people. That being said, I've been to 3 colleges, and after the last one, I decided that maybe it wasn't my thing. I feel like God is calling me to do something else, and I feel that it's music, ministry and missions. I started my own bible study, and I love it :) To me, it's not about the number of people that show up, but the content of what you're discussing. It's a time for me to share what I know about Christ, and learn things from other people. As far as the music/writing goes, I've started writing songs around the age of 9 or 10, and then I stopped for a while. I've finally gotten back into it, and I love it. It's a way for me to write about my experiences, talk to God, and get things off my chest that I may not be able to say to someone.

As far as who I am, I don't know what else I can use to define myself. I mean, I could use the standard: loving, caring, helpful, loyal, etc., but I don't think that will give you (or me) a clear picture of who I am on the inside. Using this blog, I can see it. I can express myself, give my opinions and get feedback.

I've found that life is a tough journey, but as long as I'm living it for Christ, I know that I don't have to go through it alone.

And that makes all the difference in the world.