This I Know

Throughout all of my instagram and Facebook feed, I can scroll through endless selfies. Not that there’s anything wrong with taking a selfie every once and a while, I do so myself. It’s one of my pet peeves when I see a singular Christian’s feed just filled with selfies and things that don’t really matter rather than letting their lights shine. It got me to think of a verse that we all should know good and well. Matthew 5:16 says “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Instead of posting things that aren’t very Christ-like, we should strive to let our Christian lights shine through us. (1st Corinthians 11:1)  One of my favorite songs is “I Am Mine No More.” It’s a simple song with a lot of meaning. Here are the lyrics.  I am mine no more I am mine no more  I’ve been bought with blood  I am mine no more Let’s strive to be more Christ-like. 

Do you have any habits? Brushing your teeth, eating food, going to sleep at a certain time.. Is reading your Bible on your list? If not, it should be.   Joshua 1:8 says “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”  Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” How are we supposed to hear if we don’t open our ears? We should want to grow more in truth. In Hebrews, we’re told the Bible is a two edged sword. You don’t ever hear of a soldier going into a battle without his sword, do you?  Here’s a Bible study plan that I’ve used before. :) 

One of my favorite Bible verses is Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” I love this verse for many reasons. Really if you think about it, having a pure heart makes life a whole lot easier. Having your heart set on God doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. When I think of having a pure heart I think of someone who truly loves God and His work.  You have to want to have a pure heart to have a pure heart. I love the verse Psalm 51:10 ““Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” David longed to have a pure or clean heart. We all know David was not perfect, but he still had a heart for God. We need to too.  “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15  

This past week I, along with a couple other thousand teenagers, attended Exposure Youth Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. These couple of days are easily one of the best days of the year. One of my favorite times during the day at EYC was team time. If you don’t already know what it is, you’re basically split into teams of 30 or so people, and you spend a couple hours with them each day you’re there. We play games, learn more about each other, and my favorite- spending a few minutes in The Word. This year I was fortunate enough to have one of the best team leaders I’ve ever had. One night we start our devo. I can’t even remember what it was about that particular night, but somehow we got on the subject of making mistakes. While talking all together about this subject, our team leader begins to tell us the 4 steps of a mistake. This really stuck out to me and I just wanted to share it with you guys.  1.) Make the mistake 2.) Admit you made a mistake (the hardest step) 3.) Learn ...

1.) Teach a Bible class! I’ve been teaching the 2-4 year olds at my congregation the past few months. It’s been so much fun, and I’ve probably learned more than them! Or even if you volunteered to help in a Bible class, that’s awesome! 2.) Encourage I’ve noticed a lot of older people encourage us younger people, but what about us encouraging them? It could be something as small as telling the preacher his sermon was great, or telling a older women how much you love her cookies at potluck. 3.) Cook a Meal for a Shut-in I have been wanting to do this for a while. Hoping I can do it soon! 4.) Call A Shut-in 5.) Pretty much anything an adult can do in the church! I know a lot of people say we are “the future of the Church ,” but no, if we want to we can be the Church now!

1.) We need to encourage one another                 As an introvert, it can be hard for me to talk to someone. 1st Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” I know sometimes even simply saying “You’re doing a great job!” can pick someone up in their walk as a Christian. We need to be there for each other as brothers and sisters  2.) We need to spend more time in The Word I know reading our Bible everyday can be a struggle for a lot of us. It’s important for us to grow in the truth, not just in Sunday school or Wednesday night Bible class. Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  3.) We need to LOVE      1st Corinthians 13:7 says “Love bears all...

“likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭2:9‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Being modest is so easy, if you have your mind set on the ultimate goal. I really love going to summer camp, not only is it fun, but you never have to worry about girls (or boys) walking around in inappropriate clothing. Most of the time you’re surrounded by great Christian people. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:19‬ ‭ESV I could list an enormous amount of verses concerning modesty. 1st Corinthians reminds us that not only are we representing ourselves, as Christians we are representing God. That’s not only in the way we dress, it’s in the way we talk and walk. We should always keep our minds on what is important. We should always strive to be a Proverbs 31 woman. One of my fav...