Kids Will Be Kids

The other night my friend Erin spent the night with my girls and me at our house. It was really nice because we got the fine opportunity to hang out and talk about all sorts of random things which is always fun. One subject in particular went on for a while, because some of us had different views than others, the subject was on raising children. One of my girls made this broad statement of how she will discipline her children, "Sit down. Shut up. Because I said so." And she said she would follow up with smacking them. I was pretty much offended at this. I would not agree with any part of what she said. If my authority was questioned by my future child, I would simply give them the logical reason of why I was going to discipline them, being the mature and logical adult I hope to be. My views on spanking? Nunya! I will not spank at all. I will not hit my kids, nor will I show them anger in any physical and illogical manner. I feel that spanking and hitting your kids is just an irrational way of venting your very own personal anger on your child. It's for parents who can't use their reasoning and logical skills in certain situations. To treat a child this way is morally and ethically wrong on so many levels. if a child doesn't know the exact reason that they're being punished, then how does one expect the child to learn from their mistake? After years of being raised in this unethical way, I took it upon myself to be the person that actually used their brain in said situations. When I realized this philosophy of not being given a logical reason to why I was being treated the way I was from my parents, I began to ask them why I was being punished. I wanted to know for future reference, so that I wouldn't repeat my mistakes. Of course, this took practice, and after a while my stormy life began to clear because we were no longer involving our emotions, rather logic. I understand it's okay to be mad sometimes, but not when you're in a dispute with someone. So in a way I was teaching my parents how to be parents to me. The fights began to dissolve and I was beginning to have hope again for my life. But all of this leads me to the fact that not only do I witness parents treating their kids illogically, but teachers as well. I think that just because children are technically younger than adults, does not inquire that they should be talked down to; talked to like a baby; talked to, no offense, in a rather "dumbed down" voice. Children are smarter than they let on! Want to know why we adults don't know this? It's because we intimidate them to the point where they're going to act the way we treat them: like children. I know I was a lot smarter growing up than I let people know. It was like they were expecting me to fail in the realm of intelligence. One thing I could not tolerate was the fact that adults would change their voices when talking to me. I'm talking elementary school and middle school. I remember one time I was at church and I was probably about 6 and my sister's friends would always come up to me saying, "Ohh you're soooo cute!!!" I couldn't stand it. I didn't want to be cute. I wanted to be treated differently; like a normal human being. Children aren't aliens, so why should they be treated any differently when spoken to? Today during clean up, while sanitizing the serving area, I was listening in on the children's lessen for the camp that's staying this week. The teacher used a shrill, and "dumbed down" voice when teaching them about Jesus Christ. It's kind of funny, actually, how royally peeved I was becoming the more I listened to her teaching methods. I remember when I was a kid and how much I hated the dumbed down voice my Sunday school teachers used. I would often think to myself, "Yes, Jesus does love me and you. But can you teach me something I haven't heard?!" For years growing up I never really learned too much in depth about the bible, even after attending Sunday school after sunday school, and AWANAs after AWANAs. It actually wasn't until this past year that I started going up to my pastors and asking them questions that I had been dying to know. I started gaining a better knowledge about things, not just about the bible, but about life in general. I wish I would have been taught the things I know now, when I was younger. My view is that it doesn't matter how old a person is, that they're never too young or too old to learn something new and true about God. What I'm saying is, I realized I shouldn't hold back any important information of life based on one's age. It doesn't say this anywhere in the bible, but I am positive that Jesus didn't use a baby voice when preaching to the multitudes. And in those multitudes, I am certain, that there were people of all ages; young and old. But I felt inadequate every time an adult would talk to me about something. In my mind, I would be so distracted by the tone they used, that sometimes I would zone out from them talking to me completely. I would think to myself, use your real, live, "adult voice"; don't make me feel small and puny by the way you talk. One of my fellow co-workers is set on the thought that I was never a child, but merely an adult trapped in an child's body. I'm not sure that's really the case, though. I just never wanted to feel inadequate based on my age. I love learning, but I will lose my interest really quickly if I feel the person talking to me is speaking in a condescending tone. It's rather rude and prideful in my view. I feel that everyone has at least heard Jesus loves them, but its just that some don't grasp the power of the fact that He loves us. He loves us. Now you know He loves you. But the thing is, I can't force you to understand the fact that He loves you. And you can't expect someone to understand this if you never explain it in a logical sense. Saying, "God loves you because He said so, " is way less powerful than saying it like this, "God sent His only son to die for your sins and to show His omnipotent power and love He has for you; to show His mercy and grace on us corrupted people." I don't know about you, but I like the second response more. I want the kids in this generation to grow up knowing more than I did at their age. The way to do it is not to be condescending towards them, but to accept the fact that they need the truth, and to not just think that whatever you tell them is going over their heads. They'll grasp the concept if God wants them to, and let me tell you, God wants them to! I say, don't be afraid to teach small kids if you're in the position to. Why hold back anything, and why pass up a chance to help produce an eternal fruit in their life? More to come.

-R

Is it Enough?

The other night was really odd. I woke up several times, but still got a pleasant night's sleep, (even from waking up early and going to bed late.) It was so weird what I'm about to tell you! I had a series of dreams that night, and woke up between each. The one dream in particular that really stayed in my mind happened like this:
I was volunteering at a homeless shelter talking to a lady right after serving her a sandwich. When she got up to leave I started walking down the road a bit. As I was walking, some friends appeared around me and we continued on together. All of the sudden huge rain drops appeared out of nowhere. And when I say huge rain drops I mean: GINORMOUS. We thought it was kinda cool, yet freaky, so we started running the opposite direction that the rain was coming from. Pretty soon the rain was falling faster and faster, but vanished when we turned the corner of a building. The rain was completely gone, but what we saw in the sky astonished us. The clouds were intense and started breaking apart. As the sky broke up, out poured blood everywhere in the sky. The sky wasn't so much a sky anymore than it was blood. This all felt so real, even my thoughts were real. I thought to myself as I witnessed this, "If this is the end of the world right this second, did I do everything to please God?" When I woke up the next morning, the question of whether or not I'm living my life for God, and God only, inflicted me. It impacted me. It's lingering, still. This happened two nights ago, and that question that I don't have an answer for, is still strong on my mind. I'm glad I had this dream because it's helping me to do more thinking on my daily walk with God. It's helping me to love more. It's true, I DO want to please God, I DO want to live for Him..but am I seriously doing everything FOR God? Or is some of it set aside for my selfishness? More to come.

-R

What Is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me...

As a human being I tend to think a lot. The other day during General Clean-up I got to thinking: There are certain people who feel the need to emotionally hurt those they love, as a way of proving to themselves that the person they're hurting, does in fact, love them. Then I got to realizing that no matter how much certain people in my life hurt me, I cannot help but love them still. I find that sometimes, hurting others is a trait found in hurting people. It's more or so likely that they've been hurt in recent times or abandoned by those who have claimed to love them. So they begin this "hate fest", or habit, of hurting those they love as a test to see who actually sticks around in rough times. I try to be that "real friend" in my relationships with people. Of course people are going to let you down, and they will hurt you, but in the end, I feel that's it worth staying in certain people's lives in the end and investing in them; showing never ending love. I once wrote a letter to a friend but never sent it. Inside the letter I described what love meant to me. Love is not a feeling, and it's not just a word. To me, love is an attribute and can be shown through action. It's not a feeling, but it can lead people to feel a certain way. For instance, God is love. And love to me as an action is helping someone change for the better; walking with them endlessly, (even if it's at a distance.) you don't have to be "best friends" with someone in order to love them. So as all of this lingered on in my mind as I cleaned cabins around the camp, I found a letter under a mattress and it inflicted me.

If I had to choose one thing that tears me apart, it would have to be hurting people who want God, but can't seem to let go of things in their life which separates them from Him. Some people don't get it. They don't understand that you cannot expect to "feel God" if they're riding the fence of Christianity.

This letter makes me want to scream. I want to scream, "GOD'S THERE WITH YOU. HE'S EVERYWHERE. HE LOVES YOU. HE DESIRES A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. JUST OPEN YOUR HEART AND YOUR EYES; SEE HIM; FEEL HIM. LET GO OF THE FLEETING THINGS OF THIS WORLD. You can do it.." I hate this letter. I've been there; felt that way. I have felt lost and alone. I've been in that place where I ignored God, and listened intently on Satan's lies oh how I was "never good enough"; "never smart enough"; "never wanted by anyone". It's the worse feeling I've ever experienced. Worse than breaking my collar bone; worse than blowing out my left knee and feeling the pain from of my permanently internal bruised bone in cold weather. Being far from God is like having a never ending hunger pain. It's torture. And I never want to see anyone feeling this way. I don't. That's the truth from the bottom of my heart. And I have a message I suggest for anyone who isn't feeling close to God. For those can't see God, I recommend OPENING YOUR EYES. For those who can't hear God, you should probably take a minute to genuinely LISTEN. And for those who cannot feel God, LET GO of the things that drag us away from having a beautiful relationship with Him. It's moments in life like these that make camp clean-up well worth it. My eyes have been widen just a bit more. I have been reminded that there are people out there losing the battle of life between God and world. And for those people all I can do is love and pray for them. And show them God's love, even when it's hard to do so. I pray that whoever wrote this letter had a benefited time at camp last week, and that their relationship with God was strengthened, and that they'll be able to carry that strength throughout their life. I truly want everyone to know how perfect it feels to be in the center of God's will and plan for our individual lives; how safe and secure and promising it is...More to come.

-R

A Life With God? So Worth It.

Sometimes I feel like no matter where I am I always seem to come across those "unhappy" people. I call them unhappy because they always seem to speak with bitterness or sort of an attitude; in some cases they speak on a power trip. In a judging sense the first word that comes into my head, honestly, would be anal. But then I get to realizing, maybe they're not anal, not unhappy, on a power trip, or acting on negative attitudes; maybe the problem is me. Maybe I'm just impatient and lacking one of the key commandments God has for us: love. I'd much rather admit the problem is me, rather than anyone else. For I can change myself, but would fail to change someone else. Sometimes I feel like my expectations for the way people should act are immensely high. They're high for me as well, believe it or not. But when I set a standard, its always impossible to reach it. That's why I'm glad God has given us a standard by which we should live: with love over flowing in our hearts, and the least bit of judgment toward someone. The other day when I was on facebook, I received an IM from a random kid who had added me weeks earlier. I cannot begin to repeat the vulgarity that continued out of no where. It was craziness. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't going to judge him in the way a Pharisee would. Instead, I should him an act of love. I think he starting becoming ashamed of what he was saying, because he left as fast as he got there. I have pity on irrational people, because I know that it's just built up anger inside of them, and they don't know how to handle it. I spent a while praying for the poor soul, and looked to God's word for guidance. I read up on Acts chapter I believe, where they apostles went and had a prayer meeting and were filled with the Holy Spirit. That's what I want. I want to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that it leads me to the truth through any situation. Something that occurred to me was that I shouldn't take offence when someone offends me. The time I should take offence is when someone offends my God. But even then, I should turn the other cheek. I know I'm not living on this earth to benefit myself, but to benefit my God. The scripture that I thought of in this scenario was Jeremiah 17:9. I cant take personal offence when another deceitful heart blatantly tries to hurt me, because every one's heart is deceitful and so very desperately wicked. Who can know it? I can't. You can't. Only God can. So we leave the dealing of the hearts up to God. Through Christ, even with my wicked heart, I can have love for all. Hurting, non hurting, saved, non saved- everyone. I don't want to ever become a bitter christian, which in my opinion is a big contradiction..instead, i want to be joyous because Jesus Christ is alive in me; it's no longer I who live, but Christ in me. I really need to crack down more on that, (I tend to take offence easily sometimes). Concluding thoughts: I want to be like Jesus. I want to walk with Him; talk with Him, After all, you are who you hang out with. More to come.

-R

Story of My Lack of Faith

This summer has been incredibly different; not like any other I've had. I have been working at a Christian Camp in Idyllwild since June 19th..and never expected it to go this way. Come to think of it I had no idea what was going to occur, but I knew that God was going to do some work on my Christan walk with Him. I just didn't know exactly how He was going to do it. It's true, God does work in mysterious ways, and sometimes I am so amazed at how He gets His work accomplished. I do believe he is perfect and omnipotent, but it's deeper than just believing when I see Him working directly in my life. Me of all people. God threw in some great experiences so far this summer, painful at times, but oh so worth it. I went through enormous stress at some points, causing me to have self doubt and internal pain. I felt this way for the last part of June up until a couple of days ago. God relieved me. He lifted the heavy burden that lay upon my shoulders. I could finally breath in His goodness with a clear mind, and let me tell you, it's the best feeling I've ever felt, which is the Holy Spirit giving me clear directions of where to head next in life. The first book that came to my mind this morning during my devotions was Psalm. So I flipped over from Jonah to Psalm, and read the first page I landed on. It just so happen to Psalm 106, and the first verse in NKJ says this: "Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." This verse can't be more true. It hit me hard when I read this. God wanted me to read this. He wanted to remind me of all that He's done in the past couple of days. And praise be to Him for everything! As I read on I came to verse 3, which is basically saying, blessed are those who are righteous until the end, no matter what. No matter what I go through I really do need to reflect on what God has already accomplished in my life, and let go of any doubt that Satan tried to slip into my life. When I read this verse I thought of another verse to go along with it, and that is to leave all judgment to God, (1 Cor 4:5). I need to have persistent faith that God will take care of my problems, and that He will give people what they deserve; it's not up to me. And praise be to God for that! The next part of the passage that stood out to me was verses 6 and 7, when David reminds us about how the Israelites lacked faith in God, even after He promised to lead them out, and even after He has shown them many miracles, signs, and blessings. Through all of that, the Israelites still lacked faith, and I can't blame them, for I have lacked faith many times in my journey of life. And I've come to the realization that lacking faith and trust in God is an utter waste of time. It does nothing but draw us off course with our relationship with Him, only to come back to the same place that we started at, only so that God can show us the true, pure way. Back to the verses, God kept His promise lively, and He did eventually free them from Egypt, but only after struggles from disobedience from the Israelites. I can see God doing this in my life actively; giving me what I don't deserve and keeping His promise that He'll never leave me. In verses 11 and 12 God proves His way is better; His way of obeying Him and trusting Him. I'll have to agree with that. Things are better God's way. As this summer persisted, so did my weariness and lack of faith. But again, God provided a way out of my suffering, all I had to do was suck it up and grasp on to the small amount of faith I had. God reminded me that He's in control of my life, and just like that, the pain in my life vanished; gone. Even when I had some occurrences which made me lose complete confidence, God was there holding my hand, and lending a shoulder to cry on. All I needed to do was let go of my desires to make room for God's. But God showed up plain as day, and clear as a starry night. I try not to lack faith, but sometimes I fail at it. Then I ask myself, "how could I not have faith in my perfect God? And why is it that I lack faith, even though I know God is sovereign? Why do I let myself slip into Satan's lies so easily? It may be that I need more experiences in life; more chances to say yes to god, and no to me. Until I can hold my head up high and say with utter confidence, "My faith is found in Christ alone. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." But through this experience I gladly stand up and give God the glory that He is worthy of, for delivering me out of pain and burdens too heavy, even when I lacked the slightest amount of faith. This leads me to verses 13-15, how the Israelites failed to put in God's best interest, but rather, their own. Which caused them to stumble and made the journey more difficult. Even though I lack faith at times with my walk with God, it grows immensely through my struggles. And isn't that better than enduring those same struggles, yet not growing? I would boldly say yes. My relationship with God shouldn't be selfish. God keeps his promises and faithfulness in me, so He expects the same back. I have no problem with this system of life. I am no longer the same person I was in the beginning of this summer. And i will proudly stand up and say so. I admit I have my downfalls, but I'm not going to let my sin, or others' sin pull me back from the kind of beautiful relationship I can have with my Lord and Saviour. I won't let Satan take the reigns no longer. God is in control of my life. Whatever He says, goes. And wherever He goes, I go. I will continue to look back on this summer, and how God changed my life. And I'll continue to let Him have His way in me, wherever that may be. More to come.

-R

Servitude

Serving appears a ton in the New Testament, mostly because Jesus came and showed a perfect example of what a disciple of God is supposed to look like. After He came and died, His disciples continued in His footsteps to share the Truth. And in doing so, they made sure to include serving and giving of themselves for God's glory. With serving, comes giving.

Serving:

• shows I am a follower of Christ
• confirms my faith

Committing my life to Christ means that I gave it to Him to use me however needed to bring glory to Him. And giving my life to Him means it's no longer mine to live; means to die to self; putting God's wants before my own.

*Jesus Christ emptied Himself

• I need to empty myself and rid of the things that pull me away from God
• I need to be obedient to Christ until death; just as Jesus did

*I need to give:

• with the right heart
• because it shows love and selflessness, (step closer to being like Jesus)
• because it shows separation from the world
• because it shows Jesus' love through action

***Find contentedness in Christ alone.
Jesus Christ is: peace, love, perfect, patient.
I need to allow God to work through me in this life.

Faith is Needed; God is Holy and in Control

"We cannot escape the simple and obvious truth that God must be the main thing in my life."
- John Piper

1 Corinthians 3

Fact: We're all going to die someday. With that in mind, I need to focus on having a strong faith that my life is in God's hands. It's also important to comprehend how important my beliefs are, and how important they should be.

*My beliefs matter:

• Determines the way that I live my life
• Every action that I make is because of what I believe
• There's a belief behind every motive
• All of my thoughts need to be of God's truth

*Beliefs worldly= worldly actions; Beliefs of God= godly actions.

Verse 1-4 : There's a point in every Christian's life where they need to stop and think, "I need to grow up in my faith." This "growing up spiritually" means that you're able to seek God on your own. That you're able to talk to Him, read His word; without having someone hold your hand the entire time. To grow up spiritually requires that, in a sense, you're able to feed yourself. This should result in a lifestyle that's pleasing to God. Another crucial thing to keep in mind: Motives must be right. Meaning, don't do things to impress man; do it to impress God.

Verse 12-15

• Authenticity of faith will be tested
• Live for God if He dwells in you

***Beliefs lead to action
v18 - Remembering humility is important
v19 - Wisdom of the world is STUPID
v23 - I belong to Christ. Christ belongs to me.