I'm Listening...

   I’ve talked a lot about how sometimes it feels like when we talk to God that it is a one way conversation. There’s a scene in the Avengers where Thor tells Loki to listen well that reminds me of this. Thor is about to reprimand Loki and he says “listen well brother.” Then Thor is hit by Iron Man. Loki says “I’m listening.”

   Sometimes I feel like that is how it is with God. A while back I wrote a blog called A One Way Conversation. I talked about how it is nice to know that God is listening, but sometimes I wish he would talk back. A lot of times he does talk back indirectly. But, sometimes I get a feeling that he does talk to me directly. I get a feeling in my heart that I should do something.

   That’s when God says: “listen well, my child.” And then it is like “I’m listening.” But then you only get that feeling or hear a voice telling you to do something to help others. Sometimes I feel like I want another sign. I question whether or not this is actually God telling me to do something, or if it is just a fleeting idea. But, normally, you know if God is telling you to do something.

   This is when sin comes in. Wait, you are saying if I do not do something I know I am supposed to do it is still sin? I thought that sin is doing something wrong/disobeying God. It is, but there are sins of omission and sins of commission. Sins of commission are sins that we know are wrong that we directly do. Sins of omission are things we know we should do but we choose not to do.

   See, like Loki, we may say we are listening but when God tells us to do something we choose to ignore him. A wise preacher once said that he noticed that as we grow in our relationship with God our sins become less of commission and instead sins of omission. We may not directly sin against God. But, when he tells us to do something we choose not to do it. We are to be God’s light to the world.
   So many times we see bad things happening we wonder “why isn’t God doing anything about this?” Well, he is probably telling you, or someone else, to do something but you choose not to. It is time for Christians to stand up and say “I’m going to do something (Check out the song Do Something by Matthew West here).” Rather than stepping back and saying “it’s not my problem.” That is not what God calls us to do. We must follow the Great Commission and show others the love of Christ.

   So, do you ever not listen to God? What can you do to start listening to him more? Are you going to do what he tells you to do and follow the Great Commission?
   James 4:17, John 10:27-28, Matthew 28:16-20

Caring and Yet Not Caring

   For those of you who don’t know I am a deep thinker. I love to learn new things and think about many different things. There is one question I have always struggled with. I have posed this question to many of my friends and people who I look up to and none of them had the answer. The question was: how do we care about others but not care about what they think about things and us?

   It has literally taken me years to figure out this answer and I will explain to you why. For so long I said I care about others, because that is what God calls us to do. And, I still do care about others. But, I never understood how I could care about someone and not care what they think about me. I mean if someone would say that they think I’m too sarcastic. Should I just say to them “well I don’t care what you think?” If I did that I may lose my friendship with that person.

   But, I have finally figured out the answer to this conundrum, which is actually quite simple. The answer is to have peace in God. Let me explain this answer. If someone would say to me “you are too sarcastic.” I have two choices. If I don’t have peace in God, I could let it go to my head and try to change for them. But, if I do have peace in God then I can just say “okay.” I don’t have to say anything more because if I do then I could either hurt myself or that person. If I know who I am in God, and I have peace in him, it doesn’t matter what other people say about me.

   Now, there is a little thing we need to remember in here. Sometimes what people say about us is true and they are trying to keep us accountable. So, when someone does say something about us we need to reflect on if they are correct or not. Good friends will try to keep us accountable and make us better.

   There you have it. When people say things about us we have two options. We can either change ourselves over and over again for others. Or, we can know who we are in God. But, we need to reflect on what that person said. If the person really does care about you he may just be trying to keep you accountable.

   So, do you care too much about what others think about you? Do you know who you are in God? Has anyone ever tried to keep you accountable and you haven’t listened to them? Are you keeping others accountable?

   John 13:34-35, John 1:12, Galatians 6:1-5

Who Do You Belong To?

   Way, way back at the beginning of the earth Lucifer decided he did not want to follow God anymore. He wanted to be worshiped as a God. Thus, Lucifer hatched a plan in order to separate God from his creation. And, you know the story. He tricks Adam and Eve into eating the fruit, sin enters the world, humans are separated from God, and Lucifer is kicked out of heaven and becomes the prince of this world. Lucifer thinks he has won. He knows he now has power over humans and he is worshiped.

   But, God had a plan. He chose a nation to be a light to the world. He chose Israel to bless other nations. God made a covenant with them and taught them how to sacrifice to him so that he could still have a relationship with his people. But, it was not enough. Humans continued to fall away from Him and Israel chose to disobey him. Satan still believed he had the upper hand because he was able to pull God’s chosen people away from God.

   Then God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to sacrifice his only son so that the relationship with God and humans could be restored. The devil thought we were all his. He thought he had won. But, I think inside Satan knows/knew that he would never win. That doesn’t mean that he will not stop trying. He is very persistent and wants us to follow him rather than God. But, the neat thing is Jesus came so that we could be saved. He became the ultimate sacrifice. Now all we need to do is believe in him, accept him, and follow him.

   This is why we can have confidence no matter what we go through because God is on our side. We know that when the devil says, “they’re all mine.” Jesus responds, “over my dead body.” And, we know we belong to God not Satan.

   So, do you remember that you have a savior who has already won the war for you? Do you believe Christ died for your sins? Are you choosing to follow God rather than Satan?

   John 3:16, 1 John 3:8, Revelation 12:10-12

When You Know the Answers but You Forget

What do you do

When you feel so down?

When you cannot be perked up

Because you feel like you are going to drown.

We have so many blessings

In life

But for some reason we forget them

Because we have so much strife

What do you do

When you feel so alone?

When you forget

Everything you have known.

In times when it feels

Like God is far away

And you cannot

Keep the Devil at bay.

He whispers lies

And says you are not loved.

But in order to remember

All you need to do is look above.

   For some reason whenever I am going through a hard time in life I get the urge to write. Most of the time, if it is a really difficult time, I write poetry. However, sometimes it is not a really difficult time and I find myself writing again. Sometimes I find myself writing because I know how I should feel or what I should do but it is hard.

   The world tells us that we should act on our feelings; that we should follow our heart. But the Bible says that the heart is wicked (Jeremiah 17:9-10). When we accept God he then creates a clean heart in us. But, sometimes we still stray away.

   One struggle I have always had is listening to the lies the Devil tells me. I have learned that I am a child of God, and that is the only identity I should need. But, sometimes I forget who I am. Or, I believe the lie that no one cares and I am all alone. I find that normally it is in those times that I heard the Devil’s voice more than God’s. That is because, like the Israelites, I tend to go through phases where I trust in God and phases where I don’t.

   The reason behind why I tend to go through these phases is because I stop talking to my best friend. I stop talking to God. When I take my eyes off him then my problems become big. When my eyes are on him then my problems do not seem as large.

   I’m not going to lie, it was not easy to write this blog. It is not easy to be real with others and let them know your downfalls. But, that is what we are called to do (2 Corinthians 12:9). My point is that no matter what problem you are facing it is important to keep your eyes fixed on God. Because, when you do, your problems will not seem as big since you have a bigger God on your side.

   So, are you listening to the Devil or God? Are you going through phases in your life where you trust God and where you do not trust him? What can you do to keep your eyes fixed on him?

   Matthew 14:22-33, Nehemiah 1:9, John 1:12

Are You On the Fence?

   “I’m on the fence about it.” Have you ever said that? You just are not sure which way you want to go; or which way is right. Well, at Camp YoliJwa they do a little skit that deals with this predicament. It goes something like this:

   A girl is sitting on a fence (or a bench). She is just minding her own business when Jesus comes over. He says “you know, today would be a great day to come over to my side of the fence.” The girl says “yeah, I guess I could do that.” But, just as she is about to go over Satan comes on the other side. He says “you don’t want to do that. Come to my side. You will not have any responsibilities on my side.” The girl stops and thinks about it. Jesus says “please come to my side. You may not have another chance to.” Satan says “no, you’ve got all the time in the world. Besides, if you go to his side you will not have as much fun. Come to my side.” The girl says “you know what I think I’m just going to stay here.” Jesus looks like he is about to cry and turns away. Then Satan starts to laugh. The girl asks Satan “why is Jesus so sad, and why are you laughing?” Satan says “because Jesus knows that if you are on the fence you are on my side.”

   The moral of this skit is that we cannot continue to be on the fence. There are so many people out there who consider themselves Christian but they are just on the fence about it. There are also Christians out there who have chosen to accept Christ but they are on the fence in other ways or about other things.

   It’s like this. When I was first learning how to drive it would take me a long time to get places because when I was at a stop sign I was never sure if I should go or not when a car was coming. But, now that I am more experienced I know when to commit. If I would not commit/go I would be stuck at the stop sign for a long time. Or, if I would go but decide all of the sudden that I should stop I would get hit.

   Especially nowadays we need to know what we believe and why we believe what we believe. We cannot continue to be on the fence about things. If we do not commit we are of no use to God. We need to follow the Great Commission and spread the gospel.

   So, have you gone to Jesus’ side? Are you on the fence about anything you shouldn’t be on the fence about? Are you following the Great Commission?

   Revelation 3:15-16, Deuteronomy 30:19, Matthew 28:16-20

Why I'm NOT a Feminist

   When I was younger I used to watch the show Boy Meets World. As I grew up, I always remembered the episode called “Class Pre-Union.” That is when all the students dress up and present where they are going to be in 20 years from then. Topanga comes in in a toga and says she is going to be President. The reason she is wearing the toga is because they got rid of all other clothes so that no one feels insecure (or something like that). She also said that all men were put underground and only used for breeding purposes. Now anytime I get upset at my brother I say “I agree with Topanga.” And, my brother knows exactly what I am talking about. Some people may call me a Feminist because I say this, and other things as jokes, against the male population.

   However, I don’t consider myself a feminist. Merriam-Webster defines Feminism as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” I’m all for equal opportunity; but I feel feminism has gone way too far. Feminists are starting to want inequality. What? I thought women wanted equality with men. No, actually Feminists want women to be higher than men. Women want to be President, join the army, want to be the head of the household, and call men cavemen when they say things like "you should not be wearing that" because they do not want to be tempted.

   So, let me say why this is wrong not by my opinion but by the facts. Where am I getting these facts? From the highest authority: the Bible. Genesis 3:16 talks about the curse Eve received for disobeying God’s command. Eve will want to rule over her husband but she will not be able to. 1 Peter 3:1-7 talks about how wives should accept the authority of their husbands. Then husbands should give honor to their wives. Finally, Ephesians 5:21-33 says that wives and husbands are to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” It goes on to say that for women this means they are to submit to their husbands. And, husbands are to love their wives.

   All of these passages point to one overlying idea: men and women are different. Men are more equipped for certain jobs. It does not mean women cannot do those jobs but men are better equipped for them. Just the same as women are more equipped for certain jobs than men are. But, above all, the Bible makes it clear that wives are to submit to their husbands. Men are just better at ruling over things than women are. That doesn’t mean that men should be pig heads and say “I know what I’m doing. You are a woman and I don’t have to listen to you.” Because, in those same passages, it says men are to respect women. This means, men should take women’s thoughts into account and love them.

   Finally, if women are not to rule over things what are they to do? Women are to be helpers for men (Genesis 2:18), to be energetic and strong (Proverbs 31:17), laugh without fear of the future (Proverbs 31:25), give instruction with kindness (Proverbs 31:26), encourage young women to be good workers (Titus 2:3-5), watch everything in the household (Proverbs 31:27), temperate and faithful (1 Timothy 3:11), and fear the Lord (Proverbs 31:30). Women are powerful in their own way. They are better suited for certain jobs than men are. Women and men are to be equals in marriage because having one without the other does not make the world better (1 Corinthians 11:11-12). That’s why God gave women certain abilities and men certain abilities and why he created both male and female. And, that’s why both men and women are to submit to God.

   So, how do you feel about the Feminist movement? Are you trying to do jobs that just are better suited for someone else? Are you doing jobs that are suited for you?

   Genesis 3, 1 Peter 3:1-7, Proverbs 31:10-31

   P.S. Here is a link to a video that talks a bit more about Feminism and how the movement isn’t really for equality between men and women. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNErQFmOwq0