Music Monday: Tomorrow

This song deals with not sweating your day and giving it over to Jesus. We don't know what will happen tomorrow but He's in control.  Tomorrow could hold the best day ever or it may even be the worst day of our lives to date. Either way we need to yield to Jesus' authority because He is in control.

Prayer: It's not Awkward

You know how when you see that one person everyday in the hallways at school? Its like a regular thing for you on the way to chemistry. You vaguely know that person's name because you had a class with them like last year. But its awkward. Like you want to say hi but you're not sure if they will reject you and pretend like they’ve never seen you.

Sometimes I feel like that’s the way prayer is. You’re a Christian and stuff and you want to pray because… well because Jesus did it. And if He did it, you should too. However it's kind of awkward to talk out loud to a God you can't physically see.
But trust me, it's not as bad at it can seem. And really prayer is one of the coolest things God has blessed us with. But before I share one way I pray, I am going to explain why we pray.

1.        Like I said before, Jesus did it

·          The Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13)

·          John 17

2.        It will keep us from temptation

·          Mark 14:38

3.        God hears our prayers and answers them

·          Mark 11:22-24

So prayer is a pretty sweet deal. We get to talk to God and He will fix all of our problems right? Wrong.

In the garden before Jesus was taken to be slaughtered for our sins, He prayed to the Father that He would take the cup away. He was getting punishment for sins He had never and never would commit. That was going to be Hell. Literally. And Jesus asked if there was any other way to get us out of our sin situation. In the end, however, Jesus said not His will but the Father's will be done (Mark 14:36). Jesus knew that the Father's will would come through so that's what we should pray for.

In Spiderman 3 (the old trilogy) Harry prayed that God would kill Peter Parker. Ironically though, Harry ended up dead. God is not just our genie that sits there saying “Poof, what do you want? Poof, what do you want?” It took me a while to get that and that’s why I like to use the Lord’s Prayer to keep me on track. This is not the only way to pray and its not what I do all the time but I would like to share it with you.

Basically I use the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13) as a guide . For each line of the Prayer or two I add something and personalize it. It would be too awkward and not real to write down one of my prayers, however I will explain further:

·          Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name

o    I talk about how holy God is and how I want others to know that and I pray that He will reveal to the people around me how amazing He is.

·          Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven

o    I pray about wanting God’s will, not mine, to happen in me, in my friends, and in the whole world.

·          Give us this day our daily bread

o    I pray for the necessities in life: food, water, shelter, and Him. Also I pray to not start thinking all of this, His blessings, is from me and that He will keep me leaning on Him for everything everyday.

·          And forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors

o    I ask for forgiveness of my sins and pray that He will help me forgive others

·          And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one

o    I pray that He will keep me from the things I know are tempting for me so I don’t sin against Him

Breakaway Ministries (a Christian ministry at A&M in Texas) did a 6 week in-depth study  over the Lord’s Prayer and how it’s a guide to prayer. Click the link here to listen to all of them. Ben Stuart did a really great job and that podcast is what helped me expand on the idea of praying the Lord’s Prayer.

Comment Below on ways you like to pray!

Memory Verse Thursday: Matthew 10:32-33

Tuesday night (A school night, I am so cool right? Just kidding!) I saw God's Not Dead with a couple of friends and it got me thinking. After I laughed at a couple of the cheesy parts (Don't worry, I wont spoil anything) I thought about one of the verses they mentioned in the movie: Matthew 10:32-33.

Matthew 10:32-33 (ESV)

 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,  but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus had His whole life on earth center around dying on the cross so we could be forgiven of our sins. He took us seriously and wants us to take Him seriously and not be ashamed of Him. At my High School, the majority of the people I interact with are not Christians.  A lot of them don't give a hoot about how much Jesus loves them but I still take Him as a big deal because He took me as a big deal. And when you look at how He talked, He made it clear that we shouldn't just brush Him off.

Music Monday: Jesus Paid it all

With Easter still burning fresh in our minds I have decided that this week's song will reflect on that glorious Easter day.

Jesus seriously did pay it all. This is not just a song. He is God so He left Heaven to live among His sinful creation and then be murdered by them. But, like He said in John 10:17-18, He lay down His life and took it back! Jesus did not stay dead. That however doesn't mean He didn't sacrifice. Jesus is the perfect example of sacrifice and I love how this song explains a small portion of what Jesus did.

Misconceptions About Jesus and Easter

It is Easter Saturday so we are currently in the day the Bible barely talks about. If you read the gospels they go through the last week of Jesus (Mark 11- 16:8 is my fave) and they say what happened on each day including Saturday. This is the day Jesus was laid in the tomb as recorded in Matthew 27:57-66. 

For some reason as a child I thought Jesus spent that day in Hell hiding under some fireproof blanket and stealing the key of Life back from the Devil. That apparently isn't in the gospels ... I feel like there are a lot of more misconceptions about Jesus and Easter. Allow me to just list three (even though there are way more).

1. Easter Sunday (April 20 this year) isn't like the exact day Jesus rose from the dead. Every year the date changes. The way people determine Easter is quiet confusing: it is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, as calculated according to tables based in Western churches on the Gregorian calendar and in Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar according to dictionary.com. 

2. Christ is not Jesus' last name. It took me a while to get that and understand that Jesus is THE Christ. Christ also means Messiah. The Messiah is the One who had been prophesized about  all throughout the Old Testament so when people called Jesus the Christ or Messiah (like Peter in Mark 8:27-30) they were acknowledging who He was.

3. You may have heard this one a lot, or maybe not, but one thing constantly being reinforced in my mind at my church is that Jesus isn't and wasn't a "moral teacher". I love the way C.S. Lewis puts it in Mere Christianity: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

There are many more misconceptions but that's all I want to list now. Since tomorrow is Easter (the second best holiday of the year other than the month of Christmas (the day after Thanksgiving up until the day after Christmas)) I would encourage you to read what Jesus did the day He rose form the dead. On the blogs Lies Young Women Believe (check out their blog) they posted something called the "Best Week Ever" where every day this week they went through passages in the Bible of what Jesus did on that day the week He died. 

I encourage you to read the selections tomorrow (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20 & also Romans 6:23 & Ephesians 2:1) with me. And comment below if you have had any other misconceptions about Easter.

Easter Memory Verse Wednesday: John 11:25-26

Continuing this wonderful Easter week, I decided to have the verse this week be centered around Jesus’ resurrection and what it did.

John 11:25-26 (ESV)

 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

A lot of times the death and resurrection of Christ can seem so distant. (It did happen around 2,000 years ago.) I feel a lot of times we hear the story of Jesus as just that: a story. But its not. It’s life. He is life.

As you memorize this verse, remind yourself that this isn’t just another story, it is THE story that shifted you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

Easter Music Monday: This is Amazing Grace

It is the "Holy Week" which means Easter is just around the corner. This week everything on God's Grace will be centered around the best example for grace: the cross!

Today's Easter Music Monday is a song by Phil Wickham: This is Amazing Grace. 

As you listen to the song honestly think about how AMAZING what Jesus did for us is. He took our place on the cross and bore our cross! That is the definition of grace and all week we should be reminded of that. But not just all week, but for the rest of our lives. 

Guest Post: #Blessed

{Today's guest post is from my friend Maelyn! She's a sophomore at Baylor and was an "intern" at my church over the summer. Maelyn was also a leader at an awsome weekend retreat at my church. She has encouraged me like crazy and I hope this post encourages you too! She has allowed me to take a post from her beautiful blog (http://laughterloveandgod.wordpress.com) check it out!}

My friends & I made it home from Chilis #goodmeal #goodfriends #goodlife #blessed

**In case you didn’t know {Mom}, a hashtag is a category/topic/phrase used to define/describe/go along with whatever you post, see visual aid above.**

I am an avid social media user. I am particularly passionate about Instagram.

Instagram is cool because it makes me feel cool {yes. I did just say that}. It takes simple meals I’ve microwaved, the sunrise seen from my window, the cup{s} of I coffee consume, and makes them look 74829374239x cooler than before. Basically, it takes normal, little things, and makes them a bigger deal.

Lately, I’ve noticed how #blessed has been popping up all over my news feeds.

Some people think it’s a problem. Or just think it’s overused. I myself contribute to this excessive #blessed-ing.

“Ran into this beauty at the library, haven’t seen her in ages! #blessed”

“Worshipping under the stars with fellow Baylor students #blessed”

“Got to sleep in 15 extra minutes this morning #blessed”

I think maybe the reason social media users are weary of #blessed is because they don’t think pictures or statuses posted include authentic blessings. At least, that is sometimes how I feel.

But today, as I was walking to class in the rain with my Rangers ball cap on, inadvertently smiling to myself because 1) I love hats 2)  I love rain 3) it was a beautiful combination of the two, I had an epiphany.

Who  am I to judge how someone feels blessed? No, Instagrammer, you can’t feel blessed during an 8 mile run. You can only feel blessed by {insert medium here: the sunrise, baking warm cookies, cheering your team on, etc.}

Now doesn’t that just sound silly?

God made us differently. We love Him and feel His love in different ways. We hear His voice, are aware of His presence, and see His work in our lives in ways that are unique to us. It’s like God has a specific love language for each and every one of us.

I feel God’s love most when I am in nature. Sunsets, hikes, stars, lightning, oceans,  they all get me. But I also feel God’s love when something spontaneously makes my day: a class is cancelled, a friend brings me breakfast, I was able to squeeze in a power nap. I also feel God’s love through people: reuniting with a long lost friend, engaging in a Spirit-led conversation with my small group, etc.

All of these things make me feel #blessed. But you may not feel #blessed by nature, or by naps, or by talking. You may feel #blessed through serving others, or receiving gifts, or alone time.

God is a straight up genius. He wired us in distinct ways. He knows our wiring so well, He knows us so well. He knows how to speak to us, to love us, to inspire us, to still us, to grab our attention.

The God of the World knows me, He loves me, and He wants me to know I am loved. That makes me feel #blessed.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. Psalm 139:1

Let's Take a Pause...

It is time to take a pause to remember a very special day in the world’s history… (Drum roll please)

 Today is Ally Waller’s Birthday!!!!

I can not say how happy I am that God has blessed Ally with another year! She is one of my best friends and I pray that she always will be. Ally is the kind of person that is always there to hear you complain about your life, laugh with you when you are acting silly, and encourage you in ways you couldn’t even imagine! I only wish I could be as good as a friend as she is to me!

Happy birthday Ally! I pray that it's full of sunshine and lollipops!

Proverbs 9:11 (NIV)
For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.

Music Monday: Create In Me

A lot of people think that after they get saved that’s it. But Becoming a Christian isn’t just a way to skip hell and go to heaven. It’s an adventure with God, a life long thing. After we are saved by Jesus we are saved for life but that doesn't mean we're perfect. Because we're not. We sin and God has a lot of work to do in us. He wants us to spread His salvation Word but we can only do that with His help. This song by Rend Collective reminds us of that.
(http://rendcollective.com/)

Grace Finally Gets Grace

There is something I heard once that has changed the way I think about myself, other people and Jesus. The person said something along the lines of:

If you compare your self to someone else, it’s like trying to get a reflection from mud. No matter what you won’t come out with a good view of yourself. You will either see a distorted picture of yourself looking better than you really do or you will end up with an uglier version than reality. 

After hearing those words I realized two important things:

1.      You should never compare yourself to any human

2.      I compare my self to people All The Time.

At that point of my life I decided to stop acting like life was a competition and just start living to be the best Grace I could be for God’s kingdom. However, that permitted another problem, maybe a larger problem than before.

At night I pray to God before bed. Sometimes I’m so tired that it just comes out in strange slurs before I drift off to the dream world. That’s not the problem - well, it is, but I’ll blog about prayer later. The problem is what I was doing. Night after night I would play back the whole day and to the best to my ability I would take note of all the things I remembered I did wrong then I would beg to God to take those thing out of me (example: talking too much, being rude to my friends, etc.). Kind of obsessive, I know. (Ironically, I could never recall all of my sins, it would take a million and two lifetimes.)

The problem with that was that I was feeling like because I was sinning (like everyone does) God was disappointed in me and maybe even loved me less. And that is exactly what the Devil wanted me to think. Luckily God can turn everything the Devil plans from evil into good.

The key verse for this blog is 2 Corinthians 12:9 and for some reason one day I flipped my Bible to that page.

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasures in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

After reading that, I realized I was focusing on me (again) when none of this is even about me. Life is about bringing glory and honor to God through the Cross. I can’t spend all my time focusing on me and how even though I’m a Christian I still fall woefully short in some- in a lot of areas. I need to keep my eyes on Christ.

John 3:30

“He must increase but I must decrease.”

My Weaknesses	Christ’s Strength
I talk way too much	Jesus always said just enough
It’s not always easy for me to forgive and forget	Jesus forgives our sins like it’s breathing
My attitude gets really ugly (especially when I’m sleepy)	Jesus was tired when He was on earth (He didn’t even have a “place to rest His head”) but He still showed compassion and love
I get super prideful sometimes	Jesus humbled Himself SO GREATLY and he didn’t have to because He’s God

I could honestly go on and on but I think my point has been made. Instead of focusing on my weaknesses I should focus on God’s grace because He is basically oozing with it. And that beautiful grace shines so much more whenever it is held besides His undeserving children.

There is nothing wrong with pointing out our sins and praying that God will change us. We want Him to change us so we can have our actions flow from His love but we shouldn’t let that affect the way we think God views us. Because when we were sinners, when we were enemies of God, Jesus died for us to make us the sons of God.

Romans 5:8

But God commanded his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Memory Verse Thursday: 1 John 1:5

1 John 1:5 (ESV)
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

The book of Ephesians talks a little bit about how before we were saved by Jesus we were "sons of disobedience" and how we were "once darkness". Today's memory verse explains why we couldn’t get to heaven on our own. We were darkness and God is light. That doesn’t mix.

This week remember that God is light and because of Jesus so are you! He has brought us out of the darkness and into light!

Here is a tip for memorizing Scripture:
Pray! (I can’t believe I haven’t said this one before!)