Pleasing God

"Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." Galatians 1:10 -- We should all remember this! Pleasing the world, our friends, family, or whoever else is not what we should be focusing on. The only person we ever need to please is God. If we are pleasing Him, then He will help us please others in a way that still glorifies Him. And if we can't please others in a way that still serves Him, He may remove those people from our lives in order to introduce us to other believers who will better help us by growing in the faith. God is a loving God :)

Don't Let Your Emotions Vote

June 22 "Trusting God Day By Day" Daily Devotional by Joyce Meyer

Don't Let Your Emotions Vote

"Do not be misled, my beloved brethren." James 1:16

If we desire to walk after the Spirit, all our actions must be governed by God's principles. In the realm of the Spirit, there is a precise standard of right and wrong, and how we feel does not alter that standard. If doing the right thing requires a "yes" from us, then it must be "yes" whether we feel excited or discouraged. If it is "no," then it is "no." A principled life is enormously different from an emotional life. When an emotional person feels thrilled or happy, he may undertake what he ordinarily would not do. But when he feels cold and emotionless or melancholy, he will not fulfill his duty, because his feelings refuse to cooperate.

All who desire to be truly spiritual must conduct themselves daily according to godly principles. A good sign to show you're growing and maturing in Christ is when you consistently obey, even when you don't feel like it.

Learn not to ask yourself how you feel about things, but instead ask yourself if doing or not doing something is right for you. You may know that you need to do something, but you don't feel like doing it at all. You can wish you felt like it, but wishing does no good. You must live by principle and simply choose to do what you know is right. There may be a certain thing you want to do badly. It might be a purchase you want to make that you know is too expensive. Your feelings vote "yes," but your heart says "no." Tell your feelings they don't get to vote. They are too immature to vote and will never vote for what is best for you in the long run.

We don't allow people to vote in political elections until they are eighteen, because we assume they would be too immature to know what they are doing. Why not look at your emotions the same way? They have always been a part of you, but they are very immature. They are without wisdom and cannot be trusted to do the right thing, so just don't let them vote. We mature but our emotions don't, and if they are left unchecked, our lives will be a series of unfinished and disappointing ventures.

Trust in Him: Pray and ask God to help you trust Him more than you trust your emotions.

God's School of Wisdom

May 28 "Love Out Loud" Daily Devotional by Joyce Meyer

God's School of Wisdom

"I have taught you in the way of skillful and godly Wisdom [which is comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God]." Proverbs 4:11

True Christianity goes far beyond mere doctrine. We certainly need to know the principles of our faith in the form of doctrine, but real love for God is so much more than a set of basic beliefs; it is also a way of daily, practical living that comes from understanding the ways and purposes of God.

When we approach everyday situations from the perspective of God's ways and purposes, we ask questions such as: "How would Jesus talk to that person?" "How would Jesus deal with that person's obvious need?" When we begin to think along these lines, we are learning to be wise because we are seeking to understand the ways and purposes of God.

Moses was a very wise man, one who understood the importance of knowing God's ways. In Exodus 33:13, he cried out to God: "...If I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You..." God answered Moses' prayer, as we read in Psalm 103:7: "He made known His ways...to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel."

Notice the distinction between what God made known to Moses (His ways) and what he made known to the children of Israel (His acts). Some people are only interested in God's acts--what He will do for them. But wise people are like Moses; they hunger for a deep understanding of His ways. Let me encourage you to cry out to God as Moses did.

Love God Today: Ask God to show you His ways and help you understand His purposes.

Oh Today...

Hey all! It's been soooo longggg since I've posted anything! I'm determined to try to at least somewhat keep up with this blog! I mean really, it's the least I can do.

Well, today I learned a valuable lesson. I overcame temptation! *Cheers* *Applause* Thank you, thank you. Okay, but back to a serious note. I don't know if anyone else does this (I'm sure you do), but sometimes I read a Bible verse and I'm like: "That's a great verse! I'm gonna remember this verse so that when I'm going through a trial or a struggle, I'll have it to back me up and lift my spirits." OHHH THE STRUGGLE. The verse I'm thinking of right now is 1 Corinthians 10:13. "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't remember the verse word for word. I completely had to look it up on BibleGateway.com (which is a great site, by the way!). Let's face it: I HATE BEING TEMPTED. I'm not sure I know anyone who enjoys it, but seriously. It's not even a mindset of "Oh here I am being tempted again." No, it's "Oh my gosh, how am I ever going to overcome this?" (There's an emotional difference that I'm hoping you maybe can pretend to "hear" while reading that, haha.) But honestly, temptations aren't easy. They're not meant to be easy. If everyone could overcome every temptation easily, they wouldn't be TEMPTING to us. I like that BibleGateway has footnotes about this verse. It says "The Greek for temptation and tempted can also mean testing and tested." Whew, that's something to wrap your mind around! It's so true, too. When you are being tempted, you are also being tested. God knows this, and if you know it as well and trust in Him to help you work through the struggle, you will succeed in turning away from the temptation and turning toward God.

Temptations are enticing to us because we're humans and we make mistakes and we enjoy a thrill (which is why temptations are also bad for us). Giving in to a temptation doesn't make you a bad person. It further solidifies that you are, in fact, HUMAN. The dictionary on my computer defines temptation as "a desire to do something, esp. something wrong or unwise." Well if that's not blunt then I don't know what is. Remember, we're humans, which means as intelligent as we are...well, we're also stupid sometimes. We all know that temptations are "wrong" and "unwise," so why do we give in? Because, as the dictionary even knows, temptations are DESIRABLE. Something attracts us to the sin or wrongdoing that we know we may or may not be about to carry through with. But we can overcome.

One of my absolute FAVORITE verses in the Bible is John 16:33. "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." That is always SO encouraging to me. I'm gonna struggle. I'm gonna go through trials. I'm going to encounter temptations and hate them and wish they were gone, but the truth is, they'll still be there until I commit to doing something about them, whether that is giving in to my selfish ways or rising above all that with Christ.

Today I chose to rise above. Although that statement may prod you to commend me on a job well done, I don't want to take any of the credit. I don't deserve that. I'm not trying to be overly modest or humble about it, but I'm also not being braggy. I am proud of myself, though. It's amazing that when you're going through a struggle, while you're in the midst of a temptation, prayer is the powerful force that helps you climb your way out of the pit you've fallen into. The one that you have happily dug for yourself while toying with the idea of saying yes to the temptation right in front of you. But the great thing about prayer is that even when you don't feel like you're praying a "good prayer," your heart knows better. Your heart prays what your mind and words can't, and God hears that. He offers you a hand and helps you up out of the pit and embraces you in His love, and all because you chose Him over sin.

I don't know, maybe this sounds like such a trivial thing to you, but to me, it's more than that. Temptations come in all shapes and sizes, and the more you overcome them with Christ, the more you are strengthened in Christ.

"One day, you'll be standing in front of God, and He'll show you just how easy it was to say no." A very special person in my life likes to remind me of these wise words, and he's right. That's also something that keeps me going when I'm in the midst of trying to resist a temptation. As much as I want to give in (remember, it's tempting because it's desirable), if I just stop and breathe and really think about it for a minute, I realize that the payoff of saying no is much greater than the adrenaline rush from saying yes. An adrenaline rush doesn't last, but the lesson God teaches you from saying no...that's something you can hang your hat on for the rest of your life.

So long story short, don't feel alone if you're going through a temptation. For one, you're human, so you're going to be tempted. It's completely normal. For two, you have so many brothers and sisters in Christ (friends, family, church family, whoever!) who are more than willing to listen to you in your time of need. Do not ever hesitate to contact someone when you're being tempted. The devil wants you to try to face it on your own so that you'll give in, but God wants you to turn to your Christian family and Him, so that we all can help you overcome and grow from it. And I promise, the growth you receive after overcoming is SO worth it :)


Much love,
n.

Redesigned!

Did some redesigning of my blog! New background, new fonts, new pictures :)

I mean I've updated my life recently, so shouldn't my blog be a part of that too?


Enjoy :)

Time is Nothing But My Friend

I'm making changes in my life. Slowly, but surely, I'll end up where I want to be. I'm not completely satisfied with everything yet, including myself, but I will get there. And instead of stressing about all of this, I'm content with it. I'm ready to take part in this journey in my life and be who I want to be, and learn to love myself for who I am, on the outside and on the inside. It won't happen overnight, but I'm okay with that. I'm ready.

Not only am I ready for this journey of learning to love myself and be happy with myself, but I'm also ready for these next few weeks in general. Next week will be spent preparing for finals, and that weekend I'm going on vacation with my family. Not just my immediate family, but my entire family. I literally can't wait. The week after next is finals, which won't be fun, but honestly probably won't be horrible either.

Then the 19th, I have my heart surgery. *dramatic silence for serious effect* Haha but no, really, I am so ready for this. I just don't feel nervous. Not yet, anyway. I'm sure when I get there and it's about to happen, I'll flip a switch and freak out. But right now? No, not yet. I'm just peaceful about it all. I know it needs to happen, and with as much as my heart has been bothering me lately, I'm beyond ready for this ablation. I know I will be better off after, and also, I'm ready to spend my week of recovery at my parents' house with them. There's just something about leaving Empo and being 3 hours away from all my friends. I love my friends to death, and I love ESU so much. And as much as I say I hate my hometown, I really don't. I don't even really hate anyone from my hometown. Honestly, I just dislike the small town mentality that everyone there has. The mindset is so selfish, all about taking and not at all about giving. As cheesy as this sounds, now that I've been away from home for so long, I feel like I've started living. Honestly, when you live in a small town, you're stuck in your own little world, your own little comfort zone. And until you move far enough away to become your own person, you're sort of okay with that. But life is so much bigger. Moving away was probably the best thing I ever could have done. Yet, as much as I say I never want to move back there, I don't mind visiting. In fact, sometimes I crave visits to back home. I miss my little small town SEK so much.

Anyway, I'm just feeling content and peaceful right now and it's been a long time since I've felt like this. It's a wonderful feeling, really. You should try it sometime :)
This is really all I have to write right now. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day :)

xoxo,
n.

Poem Anyone? Yep, I wrote it.

Hearing voices again
It’s nothing but the wind
Bringing back memories
Remembering miseries
Too realistic to ever relive

Mending hearts of fear
Doubt too real, too near
Pain so careless
Embers aglow
Tears fall now, cascading

Surround yourself with love
Yet all alone you’ll be
Mind is weak
Body is frail
Faint is your soul, you see

Despondent, destroyed, useless
Never looking up, hopeless
Life is brutal, cruel
Love is delusive, misleading
Unreachable…breathe your last breath.