* 5 Sides *

There are 5 sides to this starfish-- This white starfish is actually one of my favorite kinds! We have more than a few in the house... :) 

I was thinking of different ideas to write about tonight when I looked up at the wall and saw my starfish hanging out. I thought of some things that might help me through my days and I think that it will help you too... 5 sides, 5 different meaning...

Side 1:: ASK-- It's a funny thing... running around from day to day scrambling everywhere to get things done-- kids to school, work on time, tiny lunch breaks, grocery shopping, car maintenance... etc. Well, how many times in your chaos of a day do you "ASK"for God's help? A simple "God help me" can make all the difference. 

Side 2:: SEEK-- I chose "SEEK" because I am guilty of it too-- I don't really seek God's face as much as I should. I ask... What does it really mean to "seek" something? I personally define seeking as looking hard-- like concentrating on something that I want to find.. you know, like the game Hide and Seek? God wants us to find (seek) Him-- not just when we are having a bad day- but in the good ones too- Find Him/ Seek Him and say thank you. Say thank you for the bad times and good times-- everything God brings you too-- there is joy in it somewhere.

Side 3:: PRAY-- Prayer is commonly misunderstood in my opinion. A lot of people seem to think that you are SUPPOSE TO pray at certain times- See, the key word I used was "suppose to"-- Pray is something that should come out of your heart- pure and offered before God... not a "work". It's like saying as a Christian you must do this.... you have to do that... Whatever your "must do" and "have to" is... (ex: you must work in children's church.... or you have to be an usher today) these are all works-- see you don't have to DO anything-- these should be done with a pure heart-- not a heart that is burdened and bogged down. You shouldn't have to let out a deep burdened sigh before doing these things. Same with prayer... prayer is a communication between you and God-- your relationship builds as you speak to Him- Prayer is a fancy word for having a conversation with your Beloved. So what am I saying? Pray/ talk to God all day... at night... in the morning... before a meal... right now... Doesn't have to be all formal-- He just wants your pure heart.

Side 4:: LOVE-- Jesus loves you so much that He died for you!! There are a lot of different scriptures that point to salvation-- but I really love Romans 5. It starts to summarize what Jesus did for us. Here, let me share...

 ¹ Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have^[a] peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² who through our faith^[b] has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory. ³ We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience.⁴ And patience produces character, and character produces hope.⁵ And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.

 ⁶ When we were unable to help ourselves, at the right time, Christ died for us, although we were living against God. ⁷ Very few people will die to save the life of someone else. Although perhaps for a good person someone might possibly die.⁸ But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

 ⁹ So through Christ we will surely be saved from God's anger, because we have been made right with God by the blood of Christ's death. ¹⁰ While we were God's enemies, he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Surely, now that we are his friends, he will save us through his Son's life. ¹¹ And not only that, but now we are also very happy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we are now God's friends again.

Lots of good nuggets in there hua?! See how it says Jesus died for you and me even when we were still sinners? I mean who does that?!! HE DID!!! 

Side 5:: WALK-- Your walk is YOUR walk-- and is like no one else's. Please please do not let others tell you how your personal walk with Jesus should be. Don't let them influence you. Let Jesus influence you. If you are having a problem- its difficult (i know because im guilty) try going to God first. Let Him take over the situation. The more you seek Him, the more you love Him, the more you pray/talk with Him... the closer you will become with Him. He longs to have a long long relationship with you because Jesus --- well, He loves you so stinkin much!!!!! lol 

You can totally come up with what your 5 sides mean-- I just chose some that meant something to me. 

Take care of you :)

He's Got the whole world...

It's been circling around that 2012 is the end of the world-- some are saying December 21, 2012 to be exact.

Are you one of the many people that believe this? Be honest... don't just say no when you really think that it is... say what you mean-- mean what you say. (It says that in the bible too.)

Okay... so here's how this all came about...

I was getting a massage and the masseuse started talking about his finance being in school and he was saying she was upset & concerned she was never going to get to finish. I asked why and he said "Well you know, because of the end of the world" I responded with "End of the world? What are you talking about?" He said that his finance said that the world was going to end on Dec. 21, 2012. Now, I had heard of this, but really never looked into it. 

Which led me to really think about all this. Think about this...

If God created the universe... and He made everything- I mean everything we see, feel, touch, smell-- it's all His-- it's all God's; and everything is to His glory. So, here's my question (& statement) if this whole "End of the world" stuff is based on Mayan's calendar and "calculations" then you tell me how that brings any glory and honor to God? The world ends just as the Mayans says it was going to (and who are they compared to God Himself?!- There is no one higher than God, no one above Him) and then how does that give ANY glory and honor- credit to God Himself? It's like the Mayans can say "na nanny boo boo- I told you guys there was no God--" and that would TOTALLY defeat the purpose of God's plan.

He is the One who created all and He is the only One that can end it all. Genesis 1:1- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Jesus doesn't even know the day of His return. Matthew 24:36- "No one knows when that day or time will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

I was reading an article from NASA the other day, and was surprised when I saw & later researched the following to be true  "Their calendar does not end on December 21, 2012; it's just the end of the cycle and the beginning of a new one. It's just like on December 31, our calendar comes to an end, but a new calendar begins on January 1." See how it says "end of a cycle and beginning of a new one"? Ummm everything in life is like this-- without ends, there cannot be new beginnings! Also... it's like the end of the month-- Is July 31st going to come and AHHHHHH we fall off the face of the earth like a waterfall cliff? NO-- of course 

not... that is if Jesus doesn't come back before then! lol

I just wanted to encourage you that God is on your side and He loves you a lot! He sent His Son Jesus to die for you! Romans 5:6-11 nlt- "⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

If you haven't already... won't you accept Jesus into your heart? It's totally worth it and I mean... you can't go wrong here... who else can die for you and wipe your slate clean- whiter than snow!!?? Who else can save you from God's condemnation?! Who else can restore your your friendship with God on your behalf? Go ahead and ask Him to come into your life, into your heart... He's waiting for you... He hasn't given up on you... He loves you more than you will ever know!!

You see, if the world does in fact end at... BAM... (just kidding) at this very moment-- I know where I will be going... Heaven!! 

Where will you be spending your forever? -Just something to think about...

Take care of you :)