The World's 'I Can't' vs. Christ's 'I Won't'

The flesh is weak. And so, we end up thinking, and saying things like:

I CAN'T get rid of this porn addiction.
I CAN't get over this drug problem.
I CAN'T get over this depression, or pain, or illness, or miscommunication, or my lying habits.

By choosing Christ, instead we have a willing spirit. And through Christ we can faithfully say:

I WON'T let this addiction take over my thoughts and mind.
I WON'T let drugs control my life.
I WON'T let depression take away my joy, for CHRIST is my Joy and He has OVERCOME.

Take heart. Let your fleshly 'I can't' become your spiritual 'I won't'.

Better Things

Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.

But what if I don't want them to fall apart?

You know that little picture floating around facebook? A little girl is holding her precious, dearly loved teddy bear in a strong embrace looking up to Jesus sadly saying "but I love my teddy bear LORD..." What she doesn't realize is that Jesus has a bigger, fluffier, cuddlier teddy bear for his little daughter.

How true is this picture. We, as humans, when we find something that we are comfortable with don't ever want to let go of that thing because we feel like it keeps us together, or it's too precious, or it's the only thing making us happy. In reality, Jesus, who knows our future and life better than we could ever begin to imagine, has something in store for us that is better.

Don't be discouraged when a relationship, a house, a job opportunity, or anything of the sort falls through. God knows what he's doing. Keep your faith. Keep trudging up that hill. You may not understand now, but as soon as you clear that ridge and look over the horizon you'll see why those temporary things had to fall apart, so the better things could fall together.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11 “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5

My Boyfriend! Wait, where's God?

Yes, I have a boyfriend.

His name is Michael. I call him The Doctor. We connected over our love for Doctor Who. xD And then I got to know him better and better, and God was showing me that he was the type of man I should be looking for in a boyfriend/future husband. Michael's first love? Jesus. He loves God with his whole heart, AND he likes Doctor Who? Uh, yes please.

But in all seriousness, the Lord has decided to take this new chapter of my life to teach me a few things.

So, I drove home from church today, and I just started praying as I was driving. I was enjoying the beautiful country road complete with green grass, rolling hills, and a setting sun over the becautiful Rocky Mountains. I thanked the Lord for everything He had made and for my eyes, that I could see the grandeur. And then, I started praying for and about Michael. I started praying about connecting with him more, learning to cherish him more, and about becoming his best friend more and more. In response, God laid some stuff on my heart:

1) I need to be seeking Him as my best friend first...Put more clearly, before seeking to be Michael's best friend, I need to be seeking the Lord Jesus as my best friend first. This was a big "HEY!" moment for me. I need to be talking to God about the important and non-important things, and I need to be reading His word so He can talk to me; just like best friends.

2) I need to have God be the most important thing in my life, that means He needs to be even more important than Michael. Now you might be thinking, "Hannah! Hah! That's a given. I mean seriously, how could Michael even be close to the most important thing, before God?" You know what, I would probably be saying the exact same thing as you if it was before I started dating Michael. The thing you are going to realize, the thing you need to WATCH OUT for, is that when you get a boyfirend, or a girlfriend, and even when you're married; your significant other starts to become something so special to you that it's EASY to place them on a pedastal. But today, God was warning/whispering to me about this fact.

I think about Michael a lot, my brain is always on him. But what if I had God on my mind like that? What if I was thinking about God; how I could better serve Him, or how I could better please Him. I'd be doing a lot more stuff for the Lord, if my thoughts were constantly on Him.

In conclusion, I'm very thankful for Michael. I'm thankful for his love for Christ, and his heart to serve God. And I'm thankful that Jesus has put him in my life. But more importantly I'm thankful for his Creator. I dont deserve Christ, yet He is there every second of the day for me. The question is: am I there for him? Am I putting Him first? Is He my best friend? 'Cause ultimately, He's the one who put me here, and He's the one who cares about me the most. :)

Spiritual Hygiene

hygiene is GOOD!

I'm assuming that you, like most of the world, believe in personal hygiene right?! Washing your hands, taking showers, brushing your teeth, the whole parade. I mean, could you imagine living in a world that DIDN'T care about hygiene? Gross! Well, let me tell you a TRUE story, directly from the Bible, that gives us a deeper meaning behind personal hygiene, but most importantly, spiritual hygiene.

Matthew 15:1
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem saying,

Pause for a minute. Let's get our facts straight. Scribes were the authors or writers in Bible times. The scribes would copy scripture (the Old Testament) onto scrolls. Pharisees, on the other hand, were people who stuck to the old law of Moses and followed those laws to a "T". Both very religious groups of men. Correct? Correct. Now let's move on to verse 2.

Matthew 15:2
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.



the disciples didn't do this

Now the Pharisees and scribes are calling out Jesus' disciples. The disciples did not follow the customs of Moses, or any of the elders from the Old Testament, because they did not wash their hands before eating. The Pharisees and scribes didn't like that. Washing your hands before a meal was the proper, religious, law abiding thing to do. Just like nowadays it is the proper thing to do to take a shower or bath. Except washing hands also had a religious tie to it! Not obeying that law, was looked down upon, and scorned. Moving on to verse 3.
Matthew 15:3
But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them (the scribes and Pharisees), Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your traditions?



Oooohhh OUCH! The Pharisees and scribes always tried to ask Jesus questions to see if they could throw them off, but Jesus would answer their questions, and in return asked them questions he knew they could not answer. This time, Jesus was telling the scribes and Pharisees this: Why do you guys overstep and break the commandments of God by your traditions? The scribes and Pharisees had their own traditions that went against God's law! But because they thought they were so religious, it was alright for them to make their traditions just as important as God's.

Now you might be wondering, Hannah! where is this post going?! I'm just Bout there! Jesus went on to say this:

Matthew 15:8-9
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

their knowledge consumed them

The Pharisees and scribes were very religious men. They copied scripture, they were religious leaders, they knew the law from back to front and front to back. But they lacked something. Their heads were so full of knowledge that they didn't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They didn't even reconigze him as their Messiah. They thought they knew everything about God but they missed one vital, necessary part: God's Son. And as the Son stood right in front of them, their knowledge blinded them. They honored God with their lips, but they worshipped him in vain, because their doctrine was the commandments of men, not of God.

The next verses will get to the heart of what I'm trying to say.

Matthew 15:10-11, 18-20
And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man.

I know you're saying, "WOAH! HANNAH! That's a lot to process!" Actually, it's pretty simple! I'll show you.

Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees, AND the multitude of people around him and told them to listen up, to hear, to make sure they understood what he was about to say. And what he said was this; they washed their hands back then before a meal because they didn't want anything unclean accidently entering their body. What Jesus said was whatever you put into your mouth does not defile a man. (The definition of defile according to Webster's is "to make filthy".) But the things that we think, and the things that come out of our mouth do defile us. Because of our sinful nature, our thoughts are full of lies, adulterous and murderous thoughts. We lie, we take God's name in vain, we make fun of people. The things that defile us, or make us filthy spiritually, don't come from eating something weird because we didn't wash our hands, they come from what we say and think. Jesus wanted the multitude, the scribes and Pharisees, and his disciples to know that it didn't matter if the disciples didn't wash their hands before a meal, what mattered was the sin nature of man.

So when we are washing our hands, or taking a shower, I want all of us to remember this Bible story, this life lesson. Not only should we keep ourselves clean, but we should keep the inside of us clean. If our inside is dirty and filthy, than we should clean it. Make it new and clean. Just think of it like this, if the outside of a glass was clean and fingerprint free and sparkling, but inside the glass there was spoiled milk, would anyone use that glass? No. The outside of us can't just be the only thing that's clean. We need to make sure that spiritually we are clean as well. Say kind words, do nice things, think good thoughts. And most importantly, open your eyes, wipe the dirt out of them, and see Jesus.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE. 

The Right One

Boys. We never know if we truly love them, hate them, or even worse, wonder if they love or hate us. I mean seriously, they say WE'RE the complicated ones when they're like a ginormous maze in themselves.

Questions we young wonder women ask ourselves most frequently are:
1. When is the right one going to come along?
2. Does that perfect guy even exist?
3. Why don't I have a boyfriend NOW?!

There are actually answers to all these questions! Lets begin with the first question.

We always wonder when the right guy is going to come into our lives. I'm going to give you something practical to think on; consider your age. If you're 13 and you've got a boyfriend or your obsessed with a crush, there is a huge possibility that he isn't going to be the love of your entire life. A lot of girls nowadays in this situation seriously believe that they will be with that one guy forever. That it's true love. Guess what? They brake up with that boy a week, a month, a year later. Girls don't know the true meaning of "love" anymore. Neither do guys. Sorry, but its the truth. Okay here's the deal; the right guy will come into your life at the right time. God doesn't make mistakes, so when he puts that perfect guy into your path, it will be at the right time and place. And girls, make sure the #1 thing you look for in a guy is this: he should love Jesus Christ with all his heart, soul, and mind. That is the most important thing you should look for in a guy.

Lets move on to the second question; Does that perfect guy really exist? For this, I want you to grab a piece of paper or open up Microsoft Office Word on your computer. Title the paper "What I Want in my Future Husband or Boyfriend". For number one write down: 1. He must love the LORD with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength; he must be a STRONG Christian. The rest of the list you can add anything you want to about what you want in your future husband or boyfriend. Here's my list so you can use it as an example:

2. I want him to love and respect his parents because then I will know he will love and respect me.

3. He needs to respect my family. I want him to like hanging around my brothers. I want him to be able to laugh with my parents and be able to enjoy spending time with my whole entire family.

4. He needs to he a real man. He cannot be a sissy or act even a little gay. He needs to be able to work hard, and be able to take things like a man.
 
5. He should have a respectful view of me and other women. He should wait for me to hug him, or hold hands with him. Or ask my permission to do those things.

 6. A sense of humor would be awesome. My family is always joking around and teasing each other. He would have to be able to joke around right along with us

That's my list! Now, post in the comments box what your list is!

Now, you might look at your list and think: "Oh my goodness, this is a lot to ask for...is there a guy out there that actually has all of this?" The answer is YES. God has a special guy picked out just for you with ALL these traits. They key is to be patient and wait for God to place him in your life. DON'T EVER SETTLE FOR LESS THAN WHAT IS WRITTEN DOWN ON YOUR LIST. EVER! Its not worth it.

The third and final question is the one I ask myself the most often. Why do I not have a boyfriend right now?! I had to learn this question over a period of a few years. I always asked myself, "How come guys don't like me?" "Am I not pretty enough?" "Am I not good enough?" "Is something wrong with me?" I slowly came to the realization that it really wasn't any of those things. The reason I didn't have a boyfriend was because God was protecting me. God has a guy out there for me and the LORD is saving me for a guy that will treat me with respect and who will treat me right. That boy might be in my life right now! Who knows!

So, if you don't have a boyfriend, and you want one right now, just remember that God is protecting you because he wants the very BEST for you. That perfect guy is out there. God will clear the way for you to be with him, in HIS good time. :)

Great Experiences

What is the meaning of a great experience? What makes and experience TRULY great?

I've had a lot of time to mull...mull?...mull...that sounds so weird. I mean seriously try saying that out loud...
to mull this question over.

I had a truly great experience a few weeks ago at Church Camp. I made some good decisions and I made some bad decisions there. The good decisions stirred up something inside of me, they inspired me, they let me have fun, they encouraged me. Making good decisions effected me in a wonderful way. I want to serve the LORD with everything, I want to be a good witness, I want to impact other people's lives, I want to go out there and enjoy life, I mean making those good decisions helped in such a positive way.

The bad decisions I regret. I wish I could do them over. I wish I had another chance. BUT those bad decisions helped me to accomplish something important. They helped me learn. They helped open my eyes to see the meaning of my actions and my thoughts. They helped me to understand not to make those kind of decisions again.

So, in conclusion, I think what truly makes an experience a GREAT experience is the good, and the bad. You certainly learn from your mistakes, but you can learn to also rejoice in the bad and reflect on how it helped you learn. Does that make it right to deliberately make wrong choices? Absolutely NOT! But to have a great experience, you need to learn from the bad and rejoice in the good. Being able to learn, to grow, to mature, to have fun, to enjoy life, all comes down too your good and bad decisions, which is why having a mixture of both good and bad, makes and experience truly great.