Short thought of the day:
On Sunday, Anjoli and a friend, Britta, tried to figure out their life plans (for an assignment). Needless to say, it was almost impossible, but that's my point--this whole "life plan" thing, as much as we wish it weren't so, isn't up to us!
I try to figure out my future plans as much as the next person (believe me!), but we must admit:
It's WAY harder than it sounds!
But I guess that's why God writes our plans for us and guides us through them rather than just telling us we're on our own.
Ahh, what would we do without Him (well you know, besides not existing and all)?? :)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
It's a hard-sock life
I just put clothes away, and I must say that my dread of that task is never disappointed. The daunting task of putting away clothes after you've done laundry is an annoying endeavor that seems to take ages to complete.
By anyway, my point is as follows:
At home, Anjoli and I have a seemingly infinite, and increasingly growing, collection of mismatched socks. We went through a phase once in which we purposely wore mismatching socks (and that probably did not help the situation at all!), but that phase was the result of an initial inability to find matching pairs in the morning. Sighhh.
I'm pretty sure the worst part of sorting clothing is the part when you have to sort your socks. Aside from the fact that it's irritating to go through EVERY white sock to find THE white sock that matches the one in your hand, for some reason I am always missing one of the socks in at least one pair. Why? If you figure out the answer to that question, please do elaborate for me. It's extremely frustrating to take your clothes out of the dryer, sort through them, and end up with one or more socks with no match. What do you do with those socks?? I can't just set them aside in a pile/basket/drawer until the next time I do laundry and hope the other one appears in the next load. I can almost guarantee I won't look at that/those sock/s for a long, long time if I do that. I can't just throw away the sock and hope that it's memory never returns to my mind; we all know that the other sock of the pair would show up the next day or week and I'd be wishing I had the other sock.
So, alas, I am just stuck and doomed to (probably) an eternity of occasionally continuing to wear mismatched socks. After all, they do come in handy when you can't find any of your socks that do match. :)
By anyway, my point is as follows:
SOCKS!
At home, Anjoli and I have a seemingly infinite, and increasingly growing, collection of mismatched socks. We went through a phase once in which we purposely wore mismatching socks (and that probably did not help the situation at all!), but that phase was the result of an initial inability to find matching pairs in the morning. Sighhh.
I'm pretty sure the worst part of sorting clothing is the part when you have to sort your socks. Aside from the fact that it's irritating to go through EVERY white sock to find THE white sock that matches the one in your hand, for some reason I am always missing one of the socks in at least one pair. Why? If you figure out the answer to that question, please do elaborate for me. It's extremely frustrating to take your clothes out of the dryer, sort through them, and end up with one or more socks with no match. What do you do with those socks?? I can't just set them aside in a pile/basket/drawer until the next time I do laundry and hope the other one appears in the next load. I can almost guarantee I won't look at that/those sock/s for a long, long time if I do that. I can't just throw away the sock and hope that it's memory never returns to my mind; we all know that the other sock of the pair would show up the next day or week and I'd be wishing I had the other sock.
So, alas, I am just stuck and doomed to (probably) an eternity of occasionally continuing to wear mismatched socks. After all, they do come in handy when you can't find any of your socks that do match. :)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
God is not a contradiction
Are there any questions a person can ask that God can not answer?
It's an interesting question I've heard time and time again, but what do you think?
That's a hard concept to grasp. God is perfect.
100% Right
100% Good
100% Truth
100% All-knowing
100% GOD.
So if God knows all and sees all, does he always have an answer? Well, I don't know for sure about all of the serious questions, but I have to say "YES" to that one.
But what about the more illogical questions?
-Is yellow square or round?
-How many hours are in a mile?
The Bible says in Hebrews 6:18, "...it is impossible for God to lie."
I guess that could say something about the illogical questions. If we asked God if yellow was square or round, perhaps He couldn't answer that one ((of course, we could go by yellow light, which may allow for a logical geometric answer, but for the sake of argument, we are talking strictly the shape of a color)). As we all know, God is 100% truth. If there is no possible way for Him to answer this question truthfully, without defying all logic which HE has given to us, then maybe--just maybe--there do happen to be some questions He "can not" answer because He will not make, nor will He ever be, a contradiction.
Now, that was just a silly little thought I shared with you, but in all seriousness, God knows all. So bring your questions of faith, doubt, etc. to Him. I bet He does have an answer for you. :)
It's an interesting question I've heard time and time again, but what do you think?
That's a hard concept to grasp. God is perfect.
100% Right
100% Good
100% Truth
100% All-knowing
100% GOD.
So if God knows all and sees all, does he always have an answer? Well, I don't know for sure about all of the serious questions, but I have to say "YES" to that one.
But what about the more illogical questions?
-Is yellow square or round?
-How many hours are in a mile?
The Bible says in Hebrews 6:18, "...it is impossible for God to lie."
I guess that could say something about the illogical questions. If we asked God if yellow was square or round, perhaps He couldn't answer that one ((of course, we could go by yellow light, which may allow for a logical geometric answer, but for the sake of argument, we are talking strictly the shape of a color)). As we all know, God is 100% truth. If there is no possible way for Him to answer this question truthfully, without defying all logic which HE has given to us, then maybe--just maybe--there do happen to be some questions He "can not" answer because He will not make, nor will He ever be, a contradiction.
Now, that was just a silly little thought I shared with you, but in all seriousness, God knows all. So bring your questions of faith, doubt, etc. to Him. I bet He does have an answer for you. :)
I will not be moved
I read Anjoli's blog this afternoon. In summary, it was titled: "Where were you when the world stopped turning?"
She told the story of where she was when the event on 9/11/01 took place, and discussed how that day was unforgettable, and then she said the following:
"But I was told that we had to show them we were strong and we hadn't been defeated...so we were told to go outside, to play, to come together and never let something like that tear apart ourselves or our country."
That statement got me thinking. We are a unified nation, and we will not let terrorists or adversaries ruin that nor strip us of our faith and strength.
So, this is a short point for today, but I just want to encourage you to always stay strong and don't be moved by any rough patched through which you, or the nation as a whole, may go. Whether it be school, health, family/friend loss, an attack on your faith, or an attack on your country, everyone struggles. However, I believe that the United States of America became more united after that day, so I will try to do the same in my own life. I will become stronger in faith, not in doubt, when I struggle. Then, when everything seems fine again, I will know that I will be even more prepared for the next thing that comes my way; I will not be moved.
She told the story of where she was when the event on 9/11/01 took place, and discussed how that day was unforgettable, and then she said the following:
"But I was told that we had to show them we were strong and we hadn't been defeated...so we were told to go outside, to play, to come together and never let something like that tear apart ourselves or our country."
That statement got me thinking. We are a unified nation, and we will not let terrorists or adversaries ruin that nor strip us of our faith and strength.
So, this is a short point for today, but I just want to encourage you to always stay strong and don't be moved by any rough patched through which you, or the nation as a whole, may go. Whether it be school, health, family/friend loss, an attack on your faith, or an attack on your country, everyone struggles. However, I believe that the United States of America became more united after that day, so I will try to do the same in my own life. I will become stronger in faith, not in doubt, when I struggle. Then, when everything seems fine again, I will know that I will be even more prepared for the next thing that comes my way; I will not be moved.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
And what we do in here will fill the streets out there
Tonight in Cru (Campus Crusades for Christ), we sang a song that sunk deeply into my heart. Here are some of the lyrics:
And what we do in here
Will fill the streets out there
Let us dance for you
Let us dance for you
So often we go to church, Sunday school, Bible study, etc. and everyone is so into God, you can't imagine feeling any other way. But let me ask you this: what happens when you leave? What happens when you go to classes the next day and one of your professors puts down Christianity? What happens when you see a pregnant teenager or a person following the Muslim faith?
Do you show love to those people?
When we're at church, or groups like Cru, we feel safe. We feel we can profess our faith, shout it to the rooftops, as loudly and as proudly as we desire. We show love to everyone (I hope). I we welcome everyone into the arms of Jesus. But when we leave and start a new day, do we do the same?
So if you get to school and that professor starts mocking the Christian faith, do you get up and leave? Do you drop the class? Or do you stay and witness the love of God to that teacher every single time you go to class? Do you raise your hand and say "I'm sorry, Mr./Ms./Dr./Professor ________, but I disagree with you." in front of the class (or perhaps right after class)?
When the pregnant teenager walks down the street or hallway, what are you thinking? Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, "well she made a big mistake and now she's going to live with those consequences!" OR do you consider the fact that maybe this pregnancy wasn't the result of willful premarital sex, and rather it was rape and she was strong enough to keep that unborn life inside of her.
And what about the person of the Muslim faith? Do you judge him/her just because others like him/her did something horrible to our country? I sure hope not. There's a group of self-professed Christians going around and protesting even at funerals against things they believe are wrong, rather than showing love to those people. If you, as a Christian, don't associate yourself with other Christians who show no love towards outsiders, who are you associate another human being with the people of another faith who made bad decisions?
A long time ago, I asked my mother what to do when I knew someone who was living in sin. She always told me:
Love the sinner; hate the sin.
After all, every sin is equal to God.
Murder = lying = premarital sex = cheating on a test = treating yourself badly.
If you get nothing else out of this, please know this:
God loves you. God loves them. If God loves them, you should love them, too.
If you show love to these people, they might just come to know Jesus as well!
So here's my challenge to you. I'm going to take this challenge as well; I hope you'll tell me how it works out for you!
Take your faith with you wherever you go. In this coming week, let what you do inside the doors of your church or Christian organization fill the streets outside of those walls. Step out of those boundaries, and proclaim yourself as a child of God to the WORLD. Compliment someone.Talk to someone to whom you normally wouldn't. Make a new friend. Stand up for someone. Tell all of Facebook! Do something that will take you over-the-top. I can almost guarantee that you'll feel GREAT after you do! :)
Have a super terrific evening!
And what we do in here
Will fill the streets out there
Let us dance for you
Let us dance for you
So often we go to church, Sunday school, Bible study, etc. and everyone is so into God, you can't imagine feeling any other way. But let me ask you this: what happens when you leave? What happens when you go to classes the next day and one of your professors puts down Christianity? What happens when you see a pregnant teenager or a person following the Muslim faith?
Do you show love to those people?
When we're at church, or groups like Cru, we feel safe. We feel we can profess our faith, shout it to the rooftops, as loudly and as proudly as we desire. We show love to everyone (I hope). I we welcome everyone into the arms of Jesus. But when we leave and start a new day, do we do the same?
So if you get to school and that professor starts mocking the Christian faith, do you get up and leave? Do you drop the class? Or do you stay and witness the love of God to that teacher every single time you go to class? Do you raise your hand and say "I'm sorry, Mr./Ms./Dr./Professor ________, but I disagree with you." in front of the class (or perhaps right after class)?
When the pregnant teenager walks down the street or hallway, what are you thinking? Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, "well she made a big mistake and now she's going to live with those consequences!" OR do you consider the fact that maybe this pregnancy wasn't the result of willful premarital sex, and rather it was rape and she was strong enough to keep that unborn life inside of her.
And what about the person of the Muslim faith? Do you judge him/her just because others like him/her did something horrible to our country? I sure hope not. There's a group of self-professed Christians going around and protesting even at funerals against things they believe are wrong, rather than showing love to those people. If you, as a Christian, don't associate yourself with other Christians who show no love towards outsiders, who are you associate another human being with the people of another faith who made bad decisions?
A long time ago, I asked my mother what to do when I knew someone who was living in sin. She always told me:
Love the sinner; hate the sin.
After all, every sin is equal to God.
Murder = lying = premarital sex = cheating on a test = treating yourself badly.
If you get nothing else out of this, please know this:
God loves you. God loves them. If God loves them, you should love them, too.
If you show love to these people, they might just come to know Jesus as well!
So here's my challenge to you. I'm going to take this challenge as well; I hope you'll tell me how it works out for you!
Take your faith with you wherever you go. In this coming week, let what you do inside the doors of your church or Christian organization fill the streets outside of those walls. Step out of those boundaries, and proclaim yourself as a child of God to the WORLD. Compliment someone.Talk to someone to whom you normally wouldn't. Make a new friend. Stand up for someone. Tell all of Facebook! Do something that will take you over-the-top. I can almost guarantee that you'll feel GREAT after you do! :)
Have a super terrific evening!
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