Saturday, July 31, 2010

Sundays

First things first, I would like to think my lovely lady for bring this matter, and my faults in it, to my attention. ♥

In today's busy world, Sunday is anything but a day of rest. We are always out and about, doing this and that. There are places to go, people to see, no time to rest. Right? Not exactly... On the seventh day, Sunday, God rested after creating the world. He made it a Commandment that on Sunday should be a day of rest. Back in biblical times, they took this very seriously. Even the preparation of food was considered work and, therefore, not done. Nowadays, for most people, it's different. There's church, then football, running errands, planning for the week ahead, etc. We don't give God his place on this day. Sometimes we only allot him an hour or two during church. So how much of the day should be devoted to God? Well, all of it. I know it's difficult. He knows it's difficult, that's why He forgives us for not devoting this day to Him. But it doesn't have to stay this way. We don't have to keep ignoring God on the day that should be devoted to Him. Start small. Give Him a little more time than you do now. Rest a little more, read the Bible. Then you can increase the time you do those things and you're on your way. :)

Peace,
Kyle

God's Gifts to Us: Respect Them

God has blessed us on this earth with so many amazing things. The oil in the ground, the beauty and bounty of the land are all gifts to us from the LORD. Why must we abuse them? I think we should respect those gifts more. This was brought to my attention by my amazing girlfriend while we were discussing the oil spill disaster . We are slowly destroying everything that God has given us. The rainforests are a prime example. I don't know the numbers, but I know they are staggering. Many square miles of beautiful rainforests are being leveled off every day. Species are going endangered and extinct left and right. We can and need to stop this from getting worse. Simple things: recycle, car pool, donate money to reputable charities. So go out and change the world in the name of the LORD. :)

Peace be with you,
Kyle

Friday, July 30, 2010

Friends: God's Reminder

I was talking to my best friend last night. I was having a bad day and she reminded me, again, how God is here for me. I thanked her for being God's reminder, and she quoted her grandmother: "Friends are God's messengers. They show us we always have someone to love us." Good friends are always there for you, just like God is. Sometimes God will send you a reminder via your friend. Make sure you listen to it. Sometimes it's not exactly what you want to hear. Here's a situation: Your boy/girlfriend just broke up with you. You're really upset about it. You are talking to your friend and they tell you it's all going to be OK and you should try to move on. Although this may not be what you want to hear, take it as God's Word. He always knows what's best for us.
Sometimes, His plans don't take shape right away, but be faithful. Trust in God. A perfect example is the story of Joseph in Genesis. His brothers sold him into slavery. He went to Egypt as a slave, then a prisoner. He could have given up, bet he kept following the LORD. He stayed faithful and that took him far! He went from being a prisoner to Pharaoh's right-hand man! That's what faith can do.
So listen to your friends. Sometimes God will speak to you through them. And what God says matters. Amen

Peace be with you,
Kyle

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

God is Here For You

The other day, I told my friend about something bad that was going on in my life (sorry, not gonna go into specifics). She answered me with a few questions. She asked, "Who's in your heart now?" I replied, "God." Then she asked, "What has He done for you?" I replied, "Everything". Again she asked, "What can He do for you?" My answer: "Anything." Lastly, she asked, "What does He want you to do?", and I said, "I don't know." Then, she finally gave me an answer. She said, "Prayer. He wants you to talk to Him."

That whole conversationed reminded me of something I have somehow forgotten: God is always here for us. He has been with His people since the beginning of time. He gave His only son for us. Another thing: He will always be here. After the great flood of Noah's day, God made a promise, and He made it with a brilliant rainbow. That promise still stands today. We all must remember that God is here and he always will be.

We also must remember to pray. In times of doubt or darkness or sin, all we have to do is pray to the LORD. Just ask for forgiveness, guidance, help, whatever you need. But also thank Him. He's done so much for us. Amen

Peace be with you,
Kyle

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Confronting the Lies

When I started going to public school in 8th grade, I thought my life would change drastically. It did, but in the opposite way I thought it would. I started drifting away from God; I didn't realize it at all. However, when I entered high school, I knew I was messing up, but I didn't want to stop because I was making a lot of new friends. I was becoming popular, and I didn't want it to stop. Next thing I knew, I was doing bad things left and right. I went into sophmore year being friends with anyone I talked to cause I was "cool". However, half way through the year, I got to the point were I lied about almost anything just to be cool. But thanks to God, I had two friends confront me about my lying. They came to me and told me they knew I was lying. Then we had a deep conversation and they reminded me who I was: I was God's daughter. That night I recommited my life to Christ and I wrote down all the lies I could remember telling. I went to those people and asked for forgiveness. Suprisingly, I only lost a few friends. People like me still because I am me and I am there for them. That's what matters: being yourself. God taught me that the hard way but I am so happy I learned it.

In Christ,
Elise

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Praying Shouldn't be Exercise

First off, I would like to thank Pastor Dick for his sermon today, which mentioned some of the things I will be talking about, and prompted me to write today.

People pray for different reasons. Some do it because they think it is expected, others pray because they they're told it's an exercise. We must not think of prayer like an exercise. It's not something that you need to do all the time in order to get better. The important thing is to pray with your heart. It's not about praying the "right" way. There is no "right" way to pray. It's all about having a relationship with God, your Father. All you have to do is talk to Him, and mean what you say. Amen


Peace,
Kyle

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Blog Changes

Dear readers,

I have changed the permissions of my blog so anonymous readers/ without accounts can comment on my posts. I apologize for preventing anyone without an account from commenting. Comment away! :)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

God is Calling

I'm going to start this one out with a question: What does God want you to do to spread His word? I started this blog because I believe God put the idea into my head, so I can spread His word to His people. I believe God gave me my musical abilities so I can praise Him and spread the Word through my songs and the songs of others. So what's God calling you to do? He wants everyone who truly believes to spread the Word so others will follow suit. Some listen, some don't, others just don't look, or don't know enough to look and listen to Him. Will you listen? Things done in God's name are the best things to be done. So pick up the phone when God calls, don't just let it ring. If God hasn't made the call yet, do something for His people in the meantime. Donate to your local food pantry, go on a mission trip, volunteer somewhere. Even the little things help. So, remember, when God calls you, be sure to listen, it's always for the best.

Peace be with you,
Kyle

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Philippians 4: 6-7

Philippians 4: 6-7 reads: "Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus."

This is my favorite bible verse, and it happened to be one of the verses that majorly strengthened my relationship with God. It kinda taught me how to pray. All too often we ask God for something. More often than we thank Him. This verse doesn't tell us to stop asking God for things. It tells us we should ask God for what we need, but also thank Him for listening and doing everything He does for us. If we do that, like the reading says, we will experience God's peace, which is so great we can't fully conprehend it. Yeah, it's that great.

Peace be with you,
Kyle

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

It's Not Always Easy

Last year, during a curling bonspiel (tournament), God taught me a very important lesson.
It was our third game of the bonspiel, and we needed to win in order to have a chance at taking home a medal. We were neck-and-neck with the other team for the first four ends. When I had time, I took a moment to pray to God. I asked him to give our team the strength and wisdom to win the match.
We stayed neck-and-neck through the eighth (final) end and into the ninth (overtime) end. The score was tied, and after every rock was thrown, We gathered at the house to measure and score the rocks. One of our rocks and one of theirs were about the same distance from the center, so we brought out the measuring device. It turned out our rock was closer by literally 1mm.
God taught me a lesson that night. He taught me that things aren't always a cake walk. Sometimes we really need to work to get what we want. It's not always easy. Amen to that.

Peace,
Kyle

Monday, July 19, 2010

Grace

Grace. It's just one word, but it's all around us. I have been told many times by my pastor: "No matter what we've done, no matter what we will do, no matter what has been done to us, God will still love us." It's so true! Jesus died on the cross for us so God will forgive us of all our sins. The best part: that forgiveness is for forever! As long as we believe in God and believe with all our hearts that Jesus died for our sins, we are saved. So we should never dwell on the past, never worry about whether or not God cares about what we've done in the past, or what has been done to us. In God's book, it doesn't even matter. He loves us, has always loved us, and will always love as long as we believe in Him. Amen

Peace be with you,
Kyle

Hello everyone

First things first, welcome to my blog. My hopes are that this blog will strengthen your relationship with God and help you see Him in your everyday life. I will only post when I have something new to say. There won't be a new post everyday, but check back often or follow the blog! :)