Stop listening to your heart!

     Imagine your heart like a pitcher. You know, the kind you make tea or Kool-aid in. 
     Whatever ingredients you put in it, that determines the taste. No matter what you may want to taste or expect to taste, when a glass is put in front of it, what comes out of the pitcher is determined exactly by what you put in it.
     That's exactly what happens when you pour something into your heart. That's exactly why it's SO DANGEROUS to listen to your heart!
     Jeremiah 17:9 says:  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

     When you pour hate in your heart, you will pour out hate on others — or even yourself. When you pour anger, resentment, fear, jealousy, pride, or bitterness on your heart, it will leak out somehow. Even if you try hard not to let it. 

     It makes me think of verses I heard in Sunday school from Genesis 4:6-7: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

     What a scary thought? Sin is crouching at MY door and desires to HAVE me! I MUST master it!! 

     Whatever is causing you to put negative feelings in your heart, that's not from God. That comes from you, rooted in sin that you are responsible for mastering. Nobody else!

     Whether you are dealing with a boyfriend, gossip, bullies, your best friends, your siblings, it's so important that you MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS. Otherwise, they will rule over you. (You can learn more about this in the current issue of Mighty Strong Girls.)

     "But it feels right to be angry," you might say. Especially if it's a social injustice you are fired up about. And that's right, it's OK sometimes to be angry. 

     Before you soak your heart with the emotion, line it up with the one source of TRUTH you have been given from the Lord — His word. It is your guide for all the ingredients God desires for you to pour into your heart, so you can in turn pour it out onto others. 

     God isn't responsible for our hearts. We are. He offers us truth. We can find it in His word. 

     

Getting back to God

by Payson

                                      
     Remember me? 

     It's been a while hasn't it. I have a reason why I haven't been writing, but the more I think about it, the more stupid the reason seems. 

     I have been having a rough time in the past couple months. I didn't really know what to write about. I didn't really have anything inspiring to say. 

     But now that I think about it, that's a really stupid reason. Isn't that what this blog is about? Sharing my struggles to help others? So why not share?
     I have been really depressed lately. I really don't know what's causing it. That's leading to very bad self-hatred. Which leads to poor eating habits. That's all it takes for me to be back in my destructive habits. Skipping a meal here and there, purging after a big meal — nothing huge. Not compared to what I have done before. But I know that I shouldn't do it.
     I have been really thinking about it in the past few days, and I made a connection. A very huge connection. 

     I have recently been lacking in my faith walk. I've been walking away from God rather than toward Him like I should be doing. That's why I have been struggling. I know that's why! 

     When I read my bible daily, and talk to Him all the time, I don't feel depressed; I feel uplifted! Like I can take on the world! And I would really like to feel like that again.
     So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to get a plan to read my bible daily. I'm going to write every day in my journal, and I'm going to pray. Pray A LOT. 

     So the big inspiring message for this blog post? DON'T STRAY FROM GOD. You probably hear that a lot, but trust me, it has some pretty scary consequences. 

     If your life isn't going as nice as you would like it, take it to God. Focus everything on Him, and I promise, things will start to look up.

Not just a random act of kindness

by Morgan

     When you get to a point of feeling relaxed and comfortable in your walk with Christ, it becomes less and less fulfilling and less and less glorifying to God. 
     These past couples weeks, I’ve felt relaxed and comfortable with where I’m at. I started going through the motions instead of getting something out of what I was doing. To say the least, I started to feel alone in my walk. 
     A couple nights ago, my friends and I made plans to go out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings for a post-prom fundraiser. My friend Kayla and I felt obligated to go, since our parents were in charge of the whole thing. I also had been praying and asking God how much my limit was on going out, instead of staying in and building the relationships with my family, especially my little sister. I truly believe that I felt obligated to go because God was going to put something or someone in my path to turn me back to Him. 
     Before my friends and I ate, we prayed — as we always do. We prayed for continuous nourishment and strength with the essential tools God provides for us. We, too, prayed for the relationships He has given us and guidance in our everyday life. 
     We then ate our food and talked about random things that were going on in our lives and just caught up on things we don’t get to talk about as much anymore. 
      While we were waiting on our check, the waitress came up to us. She informed us that someone saw us praying before we ate and paid for our check. My reaction was just as you all would think. I got the chills and prayed. I then realized that God reminded me I’m not alone in my walk with Him, nor will I ever be. He reminded me that although storms and troubles may come, He will always be there to calm down the storm for me. He controls all things. He is in charge of all things. 
     We will have doubts along the way, and we will stumble, but God catches our fall. He has caught mine several times, and I know He is always right there with open arms, waiting to catch yours.
     "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." – Philippines 4:19-20. 
     God will exceed all the needs we might have. If we’re feeling lonely, He will hang out with us. If we are feeling down, He will lift our spirits back up. If we think we are failing, He will help us succeed. God never fails. 

What is love?

It's a feeling, right? I mean, that's what everyone says. That's what you believe, because when you watch a movie or read a book with a romantic scene, it makes your heart leap. You FEEL it — sometimes from your head to your toes. It's a moment, a little slice of time — maybe even a 30-second commercial that makes you ewwwww and awwwwww and your heart does a little flippy-flop. 

Yep. It's a feeling. 

When you feel it, the emotion of love, directed toward another, then he feels it back. Or sometimes he doesn't.You either love someone or you don't, right??? It's not a choice. It's a destiny, completely out of your control. Like an emotion, a feeling. Right? 

But what about unrequited love. It's painful. Love should never cause pain. That was something else. A crush. Infatuation. Not love. Something that's supposed to be good shouldn't make you feel so bad… So, OK, love is NOT an emotion. 

But love, it's definitely a noun. It's a place you can find, if you try really hard. Not a place that you visit, but a place you can arrive at if you have a good map and the person reading it with you really wants to reach that destination, too. YES! YES! That's it! You fall in love — that place where you feel strongly for another person. Yes, you could spend eternity here in this "happily ever after." Right there. On the map!

Love is definitely a PLACE. Well, except, oh what about divorce. If love was a really a place, how could it go away after you get there? How could love possibly fall off the map? Cease to exist? Swallow itself whole?

OK, so maybe love isn't a place. Is love still a noun? Noun. A noun is categorized by people, place or thing. We know it's not a place or a thing. Is love a person? Who loves more than anyone? Jesus?

Is love Jesus? Jesus extended grace, forgiveness and mercy to EVERYONE. Not just Jews. But to sinners. He was definitely loving. And He commanded that we should "love our neighbors." 

Wait, these things Jesus did…they are all verbs. A verb? Could love be a verb? An act? 

1 Corinthians 13 tells us about love that it is patient and kind. It rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love, writes the apostle Paul, is greater than hope and faith. 

What? How can love BE patient and kind? Can love really rejoice and bear all things? What things? Like my hurt, frustration and fears? Can love really DO that? How could love be greater than faith? Faith, it requires so much. And yet love is greater than faith? Really? 

Could it be that love is how we act out our faith, the very vessel of hope? 

If love is a verb, and not a noun, it means our service is love. What we DO, day in and day out, is love — or is not love. Our choices are reflections of our love. Our every word and action is a mirror held up to our hearts. 

Love sees the real person, but does not care about the sins, shame and darkness. Love pushes you toward the light. Love doesn't care if you are vulnerable or hurt or are without makeup. Love picks you up and dusts you off without condemnation, envy or anger. 

Love isn't afraid of pain or loss; love doesn't shy away from even society's most rejected. Jesus, he ministered to prostitutes and the hated Samaritans. Nobody was outside the reach of Jesus and his love. 

Love doesn't require a promise or commitment, just a moment. Love wants to be known and used, and even if you turn your back on it, love will extend its hand again and again.

Yes, love is definitely a verb, embodied in the life of Jesus, a noun. Love is compassion lived out in actions, choices, daily steps of faith ready to help us overcome pain, anger and emptiness. There, time and again to offer hope and healing.