To live everyday like it was Christmas. Each day we live there are days of hapiness and days a trials and sadness. Its how we choose to react to life circumstances. Life happens everyday and we need to be ready for for a life that is not ours. To live everyday like Christmas is living not of ourselves. Take up the cross and follow Jesus. Luke 9:23. Live to follow Jesus daily.
Be the spark. If it only takes a spark to get a Fire going than be the difference we are supposed to be. If christmas time is a time of sharing joy and love to everyone we meet than, may we receive the greatest gift of all--LOVE! And give it everyday as we are commanded according to Gods word.
We don't live for Christmas. We live to share Christs love daily! May we receive it and give it.
Now, I believe we are challenging ourselves to live and be like Christ without the challenge. We always share and talk about what we should do and how we should love and what we can do,but it goes back to the saying of our actions need to be our words. I feel the greatest issue today is hypocrisy. I see myself always trying to figure out what it means to be a Christian instead of just living it out like I am told. We live in a society today full of good intentions of I really am going to go have coffee with that individual or I really am going to give some money to this organization or next week I will put something in the offering plate or even I should really go talk to that individual over there. If we all acted upon our intentions the world little by little would be listening to the one who created it-- God.
We are born into this world not for ourselves. We are called to love. It can be challenge at times but a time of growth and understanding of who we are in Christ. May we instead of just caring for our own needs and selfish desires and how we always want to be the right one or prove that person wrong, may we humble ourselves to live like Christ. May we dust up the house of our lives and start the fire to a life of living with a difference. May we be bold with genuinity and authenticity and share the love and light of Christ that is living in us and through us.
The great intentions and talk about actions is great but, what would life be like if we took the challenge to go a step further and act out the love of our savior. Even right now I am just talking about acting upon it and right now it is just talk until I do something.
My challenge to myself is to act out the love of Christ by sharing how God has worked through my life each day. We have all the conversations with friends and family and I want to open up the door and share what is really happening. Instead of just talking about weather and Plans and relationships I believe there needs to me more talk about god and our individual relationships with Him.
I also want to act on love by telling others I am thinking of them and ultimately God loves them. Whether that is a phone call or a letter people need to know that we are thinking and praying about them genuinely. God can can work through the smallest circumstances.
The other challenge is we should be living the light of Christ every step we take and every breath we make. If God is our everything than we need to live the life of showing his love. I want to strive to take up these challenges. If God is truly my everything than I want to live only for him and put all other things aside.
Through this challenge I can only do it with Gods help. All things are possible through him. Also,I pray that I will only do this for his kingdom and nothing of myself.
I pray that we as a community in the body of Christ will take on this daily challenge and live the life of christ everywhere we go and in everything we do. May we follow the work of the holy spirit in us and work as a community together all for the kingdom of God.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Becoming the Light of Christ
Growing up in it self is a learning experience, but it is the experience of the journey that matures us as individuals as we grow up. My values in life are influenced mostly by my parents and the experiences they have put me through on the way. I have become the woman I am today through how my parents have brought me up. A lot of those influences were growing up in the church. I grew up believing in having a personal relationship with God. Through building and instilling that faith in God, I have learned to trust and love God through every part of my life. Joy from God is another value that has influenced me. I have always wanted people to see happiness when they look at me. I have learned that it needs to be Gods life that people see in me and not my own life. I use question of "Who am I living for?" I need to be living my life for God himself and bring joy to the rest of the world by shining his light. Matthew 5:13-16 state what it means to be salt and light in the world. I want to strive and shine the light of Christ everywhere I go. It is a journey to go through, but sharing a simple smile and trying to make someones day are great reminders to share the joy of Christ that lives inside of us.
Bennis's lessons teach us to reflect on our own lives and shape ourselves to the individual God wants us to be through looking at our strengths and weaknesses. When I try to keep Christ as the center of my life he is the one who brings me life. Sometimes I try to take control of everything in my life and think I can get it all done. I have learned to not force God's timing. He will draw his people to his side when the time is right, part of that timing is me realizing that I can not force anything into anyone's life.
I am definitely one who learns through the great analogies of life. I teach myself from the everyday parts of life through finding God in his life examples. I am my own best teacher when I ponder and reflect on a specific idea and see all the possible perspectives of it. When things do not go well it leads to a reflection on my own life. A lot of the time it is through conviction. Lately God has convicted me on true humility. I would always have the mentality of "hey look at me, I am being nice or doing something kind!" but, wow God stuck it to my face and I am still working on it. I really need to remember that God is my only audience and not care about what anyone else thinks. Through reflecting God teaches me a lot on my own life. I have always been curious about what it really means to have complete faith in God. That is always a learning process for me and I see it through life experiences and through the great analogies of life. Reflection is important, we need to take the time to learn about who God is in our daily lives and look to how we can be the light of Christ in every life experience.
Bennis's lessons teach us to reflect on our own lives and shape ourselves to the individual God wants us to be through looking at our strengths and weaknesses. When I try to keep Christ as the center of my life he is the one who brings me life. Sometimes I try to take control of everything in my life and think I can get it all done. I have learned to not force God's timing. He will draw his people to his side when the time is right, part of that timing is me realizing that I can not force anything into anyone's life.
I am definitely one who learns through the great analogies of life. I teach myself from the everyday parts of life through finding God in his life examples. I am my own best teacher when I ponder and reflect on a specific idea and see all the possible perspectives of it. When things do not go well it leads to a reflection on my own life. A lot of the time it is through conviction. Lately God has convicted me on true humility. I would always have the mentality of "hey look at me, I am being nice or doing something kind!" but, wow God stuck it to my face and I am still working on it. I really need to remember that God is my only audience and not care about what anyone else thinks. Through reflecting God teaches me a lot on my own life. I have always been curious about what it really means to have complete faith in God. That is always a learning process for me and I see it through life experiences and through the great analogies of life. Reflection is important, we need to take the time to learn about who God is in our daily lives and look to how we can be the light of Christ in every life experience.
Monday, September 26, 2011
When God Intervenes
(picture taken at Camp Lebanon)
Leadership can be described in many ways. There are different forms and styles of leadership. This picture shows the example of leadership in three ways through referencing the book The Tale of Three Trees. Each tree wanted to be something when they grew up. One wanted to be a treasure chest, another a ship and the last one to just grow up and remind others of God. Each tree thought that they knew what was best for their lives but, instead there was a better plan. Just like in leadership, we have plans for what we want to do but, a better plan happens. In my experience, I thought as a counselor at camp I would be there for the girls in my cabin each week and pour out God's Love on them. Yes, God did do great things through that but, he also showed me His love through the campers and how he is working through each and everyone of their lives. God had his plan when he put me in that position and really showed me how he impacts my life through the campers lives and what they have been through. I thank God for the girls he brought into my cabin and for all the work that was done.
Emerging theories of leadership show growth in ones life. Leaders are servants. Those who want to fit the needs of others around. Leaders become so enthralled by others lives and put interest into their lives more than their own. Followership show great leadership skill that are progressing. Followers can be seen as leaders through their consistency and focus on what is important through commitments in life.
Being on staff at Camp Lebanon was a wonderful God giving experience. I saw order in having the same type of schedule every week/day. Yet, we learned flexcellence. Meaning excellence while being flexible at the same time. Schedule would have to change and we as staff would be just as excited for that event as much as the planned event. When you look at it; the curve balls in life are the best times for fun and learning experiences. Just like with the three trees story; plans do not always work and the unknowns become the best experiences. We come to find out that God works through us through the unplanned times - that also happen in leadership.
When God intervenes in life, we need to take the time to thank him for the many realizations we have and give all the glory back to him!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Life Through the Camera Lens
What does it mean to see life in a new perspective?
In life we seem to get caught up in our day to day routines, seeing only what we need to see. We start our days thinking we already know what will happen, go to work, got to class, maybe there is a meeting or even once in a while have lunch with a friend- but, we just get caught up in this world. Instead we should plan for the unexpected. Let us not just look into our "first lens" of life. May we focus in and see a real perspective. Look around at the people we are with everyday - think about how God sees that person as an individual. Do we not realize their are other people in our lives? People who are going about life in their own way.
May we focus in and strive to interact with one another. Take the time to see what is really going on in each others lives. I do not thing we realize - but, just so you know we are not as busy as we think we are. Lets take that extra couple minutes in our days to get to know the people around us in our lives.
From a "zoomed out" perspective our society has followed the social norms of living a busy lifestyle. As we focus in each individual person in our society - each one of us has a life! Looking around today - may we start to see the perspective of seeing "real life" in everyone's life. Everyone has a story - as we walk by, drive by, or think of people we have no idea what is really going on in their lives. That is why we should take the time to listen and share about experiences in each others lives.
As we take the time for "focus" the lens on the lives around us, we may than realize the focus becomes less on ourselves. May we take the interest of others into a stronger perspective. "Philippians 2:3-4" May we realize that everyone has a life and a passion and may we gain insights from one another. May we stop the judgement of one another and realize we are all equal.
Become a photographer- better yet, be the camera! Allow God to be the photographer! Let him take the pictures of life through you. May we start to see life through his perspective. Focus in on the lives of one another. Capture the joys and happiness of laughter and the hurts and sadness of pain. Lets allow God to pull out the "zoom lens" of our lives and share life. It may be vulnerable at times but, we are called to love through sharing our real life experiences.
Cameras are great but, cameras are better when pictures are taken with them. Lets capture the moments of each others lives. May we not pass by beautiful moments in life that could create even more beautiful pictures that last longer than a memory. God knows what picture extravaganzas he wants to go on and what photo shoots in life to focus in on. May we open up our lives into God's great plan and allow him to do the work that needs to be done.
May we gain a better perspective to "focus" in on the lives around us and start to see life through the camera lens!
In life we seem to get caught up in our day to day routines, seeing only what we need to see. We start our days thinking we already know what will happen, go to work, got to class, maybe there is a meeting or even once in a while have lunch with a friend- but, we just get caught up in this world. Instead we should plan for the unexpected. Let us not just look into our "first lens" of life. May we focus in and see a real perspective. Look around at the people we are with everyday - think about how God sees that person as an individual. Do we not realize their are other people in our lives? People who are going about life in their own way.
May we focus in and strive to interact with one another. Take the time to see what is really going on in each others lives. I do not thing we realize - but, just so you know we are not as busy as we think we are. Lets take that extra couple minutes in our days to get to know the people around us in our lives.
From a "zoomed out" perspective our society has followed the social norms of living a busy lifestyle. As we focus in each individual person in our society - each one of us has a life! Looking around today - may we start to see the perspective of seeing "real life" in everyone's life. Everyone has a story - as we walk by, drive by, or think of people we have no idea what is really going on in their lives. That is why we should take the time to listen and share about experiences in each others lives.
As we take the time for "focus" the lens on the lives around us, we may than realize the focus becomes less on ourselves. May we take the interest of others into a stronger perspective. "Philippians 2:3-4" May we realize that everyone has a life and a passion and may we gain insights from one another. May we stop the judgement of one another and realize we are all equal.
Become a photographer- better yet, be the camera! Allow God to be the photographer! Let him take the pictures of life through you. May we start to see life through his perspective. Focus in on the lives of one another. Capture the joys and happiness of laughter and the hurts and sadness of pain. Lets allow God to pull out the "zoom lens" of our lives and share life. It may be vulnerable at times but, we are called to love through sharing our real life experiences.
Cameras are great but, cameras are better when pictures are taken with them. Lets capture the moments of each others lives. May we not pass by beautiful moments in life that could create even more beautiful pictures that last longer than a memory. God knows what picture extravaganzas he wants to go on and what photo shoots in life to focus in on. May we open up our lives into God's great plan and allow him to do the work that needs to be done.
May we gain a better perspective to "focus" in on the lives around us and start to see life through the camera lens!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Embracing Leadership
There are many perspectives to define a leader. Being a leader is not at all about the title. It is about having a heart that cares for those that may be watching. A leader is being a follower. Leaders want to see followers accomplish a goal and watch them learn through the process. Through setting an example of positive values, one may even lead without even knowing it. A leader is really one who steps down and looks at life in many perspectives. One who looks at life by looking at the interest of others first. Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others". To become truly selfless and humble defines a leader. When I look back at individuals I looked up to I see characteristics of serving and loving on all of those around them. The individual did not have a care in the world if anyone noticed them as a leader, all they wanted to do was serve.
One who really strives to humble themselves and Jesus Christ did has the characteristics of a true leader. As stated in Matthew 18:3-4 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven". That is how leaders become followers. We are to strive and be in tune and resonate with the most holy God. To really humble ourselves can be challenging. In my experience it could turn to prideful-humility. The thought of wanting others to notice your humility. There is no humility in that at all. To become truly humble-not wanting any benefit at all, is a humble servant of the Lord.
Embracing the thought of a leader leads to the idea of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. To truly strive and be humble-just as Christ was. Doing everything for the glory of God through serving others through love. I pray that we strive to become more and more like the example of Christ himself.
One who really strives to humble themselves and Jesus Christ did has the characteristics of a true leader. As stated in Matthew 18:3-4 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven". That is how leaders become followers. We are to strive and be in tune and resonate with the most holy God. To really humble ourselves can be challenging. In my experience it could turn to prideful-humility. The thought of wanting others to notice your humility. There is no humility in that at all. To become truly humble-not wanting any benefit at all, is a humble servant of the Lord.
Embracing the thought of a leader leads to the idea of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. To truly strive and be humble-just as Christ was. Doing everything for the glory of God through serving others through love. I pray that we strive to become more and more like the example of Christ himself.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Gods Presence...
I don't want to be anywhere but here in your presence! God your Joy surrounds us and your Peace is with in us. Where else would we feel content then in your presence. I don't want to feel anything but this standing in awe of you! You are truly an awesome God! You are so big and do great things through us and in your kingdom. We are here to Serve and Love on others! This is the greatest thing in life. Through us loving Jesus Christ himself we Love others also! Love is the greatest thing in life and we experience it through God's presence! God your presence is working through our hearts! You are preparing our hearts so we can do good for your kingdom! Psalm 27:4 "...live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life..." Be in God's presence forever!
Just like the analogy of a sailboat. We need to get to Christ and we get there by the wind of the Holy Spirit. We need to unfurl the sails of our life and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives so we draw closer to God. Move closer to the likeness of Lord himself. Sometimes we do not unfurl the sails as much as we need to thinking we can do it ourselves. The wind is needed to move just like the Holy Spirit is needed to grow closer to Christ himself..
Grow more intimate with Christ! Nourish the tree of our life. The fruit will then grow and mature. We grow in our life with Christ when we focus in on the Word of God.
Imagine what it is like in Gods presence and then to stay there! How amazing... why would we want anything else to fulfill? Let alone what else could fulfill? All we need is Christ in our lives for us to feel content! How do we then think other things can fill that void? Nothing else can fulfill! We as humans cannot realize this... and yet we allow Satan lie to us... trying to fill that void with everything else.. lets try to not be so selfish and just go with Jesus Christ from the start! Yet even though the crap happens.. it is hard to believe but God's presence is still there even in the lowest times.. (good to know we are never alone or by ourselves) in those lowest points where the mountains need to be moved there is still hope and faith! It is through those hard times that God uses us the most! We get so low that we finally notice who God is and why he loves us still... even though we feel we ran away or tried to avoid Him. Psalm 34:19 "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time" His Presence is always there!!
Those times where it feels where is this road going to end... he is still there! I like to see it as a road trip! We take a car ride and sometimes we get to the destination right away. Other times there may be a detour to get there but you still get there, but it is in that detour that maybe it took a little longer but somehow we still needed to take the more scenic route to get to point b. There are times where we get completely lost.... yet we ask others for help so we can get back on track (and that is a thanks to God because He provides that person) Sometimes we just do not even know what the destination is but we get in the car and go through experiences to find a destination (adventurous). Although there are so many routes God is still always there and redirects our lives through the Holy Spirit! Thank you God for that! Psalm 140:13 "Surely righteous people are praising your name; the godly will live in your presence." Live in God's presence! He is always there!
Also getting into the car do we shove Jesus in the trunk and just avoid him or put Him in the backseat to just see how we are doing (but of course we do not like to listen to backseat drivers!) Or maybe we allow him to sit in the passenger seat but what we NEED to do is just hand over the keys get out of the driver seat and let Jesus drive and be in control!! Jesus is the best ultimate driver of our lives and he know how to lead us in our life experiences! When he takes us on our adventures He know the route to get there! He also maybe takes us through some detours to go through the random experiences! He know the route better than anyone! Of course God can't just be the GPS either he need to be the driver because the GPS just guides and yes God guides our lives but better yet he could just control and be there for your whole life! God's presence is always there! Jehovah Shammah (He is always there!) Lets depend on Him to guide and help us to grow closer and stronger in our faith!! God thank you for always being there! There is no greater joy than to be living in God's presence!!
Just like the analogy of a sailboat. We need to get to Christ and we get there by the wind of the Holy Spirit. We need to unfurl the sails of our life and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives so we draw closer to God. Move closer to the likeness of Lord himself. Sometimes we do not unfurl the sails as much as we need to thinking we can do it ourselves. The wind is needed to move just like the Holy Spirit is needed to grow closer to Christ himself..
Grow more intimate with Christ! Nourish the tree of our life. The fruit will then grow and mature. We grow in our life with Christ when we focus in on the Word of God.
Imagine what it is like in Gods presence and then to stay there! How amazing... why would we want anything else to fulfill? Let alone what else could fulfill? All we need is Christ in our lives for us to feel content! How do we then think other things can fill that void? Nothing else can fulfill! We as humans cannot realize this... and yet we allow Satan lie to us... trying to fill that void with everything else.. lets try to not be so selfish and just go with Jesus Christ from the start! Yet even though the crap happens.. it is hard to believe but God's presence is still there even in the lowest times.. (good to know we are never alone or by ourselves) in those lowest points where the mountains need to be moved there is still hope and faith! It is through those hard times that God uses us the most! We get so low that we finally notice who God is and why he loves us still... even though we feel we ran away or tried to avoid Him. Psalm 34:19 "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time" His Presence is always there!!
Those times where it feels where is this road going to end... he is still there! I like to see it as a road trip! We take a car ride and sometimes we get to the destination right away. Other times there may be a detour to get there but you still get there, but it is in that detour that maybe it took a little longer but somehow we still needed to take the more scenic route to get to point b. There are times where we get completely lost.... yet we ask others for help so we can get back on track (and that is a thanks to God because He provides that person) Sometimes we just do not even know what the destination is but we get in the car and go through experiences to find a destination (adventurous). Although there are so many routes God is still always there and redirects our lives through the Holy Spirit! Thank you God for that! Psalm 140:13 "Surely righteous people are praising your name; the godly will live in your presence." Live in God's presence! He is always there!
Also getting into the car do we shove Jesus in the trunk and just avoid him or put Him in the backseat to just see how we are doing (but of course we do not like to listen to backseat drivers!) Or maybe we allow him to sit in the passenger seat but what we NEED to do is just hand over the keys get out of the driver seat and let Jesus drive and be in control!! Jesus is the best ultimate driver of our lives and he know how to lead us in our life experiences! When he takes us on our adventures He know the route to get there! He also maybe takes us through some detours to go through the random experiences! He know the route better than anyone! Of course God can't just be the GPS either he need to be the driver because the GPS just guides and yes God guides our lives but better yet he could just control and be there for your whole life! God's presence is always there! Jehovah Shammah (He is always there!) Lets depend on Him to guide and help us to grow closer and stronger in our faith!! God thank you for always being there! There is no greater joy than to be living in God's presence!!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Be the Change...
Everyday life goes by and there is so much that happens. Some days people feel it is the worst day and other days people feel it is the best day! Why are there good days and bad days?? We should always have a good day! Even if something goes wrong we should not allow it to ruin the whole day. If we wait till the next day to start out fresh then the rest of the bad day is going to be horrible. We should start out fresh every hour, minute, second, or just every moment!! If we all did this I feel people would interact with each other with better attitudes!! Everyday goes by and then it is a new day. We should not have crappy days in our lives.
How can we make our days better?!? I feel that it is natural that your day gets made when you make someone else's day! I do not know if that is just me but of the times when you did something for someone else, did your day go that much better? There is joy in helping others! I think we all need to become more loving like Jesus Christ and become humble servants of His kingdom! "Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude" 1 Peter 3:8 God has even called us to love other and have humble attitudes. Our lives need to be the evidence of God's truth. In today's society I feel that we live in a selfish world where we all think it is all about us and what we want. That is not what it is to be like though, we should be caring about everyone else and their needs. We should be asking ourselves the question "What can I do to help someone today?" instead we ask "What do I need now?"
I think we can make a change in this world. All we need to do is humble ourselves and be content with who we are and what we have. God called us to be His humble servants and that is what we should do. We should be more interested in the lives of others around us and not just our own. "When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be you guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others that yourself. Do not be interested only in your own life, but, be interested in the lives of others." Philippians 2:3-4
The lives of others around us is so important to invest in. sometimes all people need is a hello or a smile and there day goes that much better! Life is to fragile to just walk by another person and go on just caring about your own life. The selfishness needs to stop and more caring needs to start! Lets start sharing the love and happiness towards each other!
How can we make our days better?!? I feel that it is natural that your day gets made when you make someone else's day! I do not know if that is just me but of the times when you did something for someone else, did your day go that much better? There is joy in helping others! I think we all need to become more loving like Jesus Christ and become humble servants of His kingdom! "Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude" 1 Peter 3:8 God has even called us to love other and have humble attitudes. Our lives need to be the evidence of God's truth. In today's society I feel that we live in a selfish world where we all think it is all about us and what we want. That is not what it is to be like though, we should be caring about everyone else and their needs. We should be asking ourselves the question "What can I do to help someone today?" instead we ask "What do I need now?"
I think we can make a change in this world. All we need to do is humble ourselves and be content with who we are and what we have. God called us to be His humble servants and that is what we should do. We should be more interested in the lives of others around us and not just our own. "When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be you guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others that yourself. Do not be interested only in your own life, but, be interested in the lives of others." Philippians 2:3-4
The lives of others around us is so important to invest in. sometimes all people need is a hello or a smile and there day goes that much better! Life is to fragile to just walk by another person and go on just caring about your own life. The selfishness needs to stop and more caring needs to start! Lets start sharing the love and happiness towards each other!
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