Procrastination

Procrastination. I'm sure many of us do this a lot. I know I do. It's very easy to just put things off. In my opinion procrastinating should be put to a minimum. I mean we shouldn't do it. When I think about the best motivation for not procrastinating, I think of Christ. Did He procrastinate about dying on the cross for our sins? If I were Him I would've put that off until the last minutes but He didn't I encourage you to stop procrastinating and just do it. Don't put it off any longer:) Have a great day!

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is not a topic that I like to talk about very much because I don't like "being the bigger person". I don't like having to give forgiveness or ask for forgiveness. I struggle with this a lot because my flesh does not desire to be like Christ. Forgiveness is something that most people I know, and people in general, do not like to talk about forgiveness. People at my church are constantly talking about how Christ died on the cross to forgive us for our sins. But, we never talk about how we should be the ones asking and giving forgiveness. Now me just saying stuff about this topic doesn't mean much so, I will give you some verses to go along with it. We're gonna start out in Matthew 26:28 which says,"for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Christ shed His blood so He would be able to forgive us of our sins. Without Christ dying on the cross we would not have eternal life in Heaven with Christ but instead we would spend eternity in hell. Now I want to look back in Daniel 9:9. It says, "To the LORD our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him." God is merciful and forgiving... shouldn't we be too? There are several more verses that I could put up here but I won't. Feel free to look those up though. I hope this post encourages you! Have a great day! (:

Run Your Race (Part 1)

I want you to read this passage. While you're reading it, think about it. Also, you might want to come up with some questions to ask yourself.

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ~ 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

What do you think about what you just read? What questions did you ask yourself? Well, with me personally to connect an athlete to something is one of the biggest way to get me to understand it because I'm and athlete. I know that in order to win games or run a fast mile you have train, eat the right foods, pace yourself, etc. One thing we all need to realize is that just as a runner prepares for a race, or a soccer player prepares for a game, we must prepare for our Christian race. Now when you win a race or a game you get a prize such as a trophy, but one day you will forget about it or it will be destroyed. What if you don't win? What happens then? Well, you typically don't get a prize. But what about our Christian walk? Does only one winner get a prize? NO! Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior and accepts the challenge of following Him will get a prize and that prize is spending time with Christ in heaven. There is no greater gift than that one. As you run this race remember that you are never alone; Christ is always with you. I hope this was encouraging to you! I will try and have part 2 posted sometime this week if school permits:). Have a good night!

Our Purpose

Have you ever thought about what our purpose is on this earth? I mean God must have put us here for a reason right? Well, of course He did. And in this post we are going to look at what our purpose is. I know I've already done a post like this before but I think I need to do it again... I'm not quite sure why though;). Have you ever thought about why God put us on earth? We weren't put on this earth to just enjoy what it has to offer and die. We are here to bring glory to God in all that we do. I struggle with this a lot. It's hard to do everything to glorify God because our flesh longs for the things of this world, not the things of Christ. Just be constantly thinking... is what I'm doing glorifying to God? Hope y'all have a great day! :)

What Are You Learning?

Are you still reading your Bible everyday? I know I haven't checked up on this in a while and also I haven't given you guys any of the past 3 months reading plans... I'm sorry about that:). But my question is, what are you learning? If you are reading your Bible everyday, you should be learning something. If you aren't, I understand why. There have a few times where I read my Bible just because I'm supposed to, not because I need to. I've gone through my Bible reading time without focusing on it and when I was done couldn't even remember what I had just read. With school it can be easy to do that... we are too busy focusing on upcoming tests, or homework we have to do last minute, or, for me, I have soccer game and I'm so nervous I can't focus. None of those things are bad necessarily but Satan can use them to distract us from focusing on God and His Word. I just want to encourage you to read your Bible with a purpose and be learning something every time you open God's Word. Have a great day! :)

When Trials Come (Part 2)

Well, hopefully all of you guys read my first post about trials... if not you need to:). So I was playing piano yesterday and found a song that I have known for a long time but I had forgotten about it. I think this fits in well under the category of trials(or help when you're going through a trial). So I hope you all enjoy this song. It's called Lord, I Need You by Ron Hamilton.

"Sometimes when life seems gentle and blessings flood my way, I turn my gaze away from You and soon forget to pray. But when the sky grows darker and courage turns to fear, My anxious voice cries upward with words You long to hear."

"Lord, I need You when the sea of life is calm. O Lord, I need You when the wind is blowing strong. Whether trials come or cease, keep me always on my knees. Lord, I need You. Lord, I need You."

"Lord, help me to remember I'm weak but You are strong. I cannot sing apart from You, for Lord, You are my song. Although I'm prone to wander and boast in all I do; Lord, keep my eyes turned upward so I depend on You."

"Lord, I need You when the sea of life is calm. O Lord, I need You when the wind is blowing strong. Whether trials come or cease, keep me always on my knees. Lord, I need You. Lord, I need You."

When Trials Come

Some people like talking about their trials. Some people like to keep it to themselves. Some people just like to go to their happy place and pretend that they don't have any trials. Now I'm not saying that if you aren't going through a trial right now that you are crazy. What I am saying is that if you are truly a Christian and you are trying to follow Christ, you will have trials and if you don't have one now be sure there will be more to come. So far all I've managed to do is basically put you all down in the dumps because you're either crazy or you have problems but if you keep reading it will get better. I promise! Since we are going to have trials, where do we get comfort? Where can we get strength? Where will we find help? The answer to all these questions is the Bible. Now that's a pretty broad answer so let's narrow it down a little bit.

We're gonna start out with Hebrews 13:5. It says, "Keep your like free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."" Now the first part of this verse is important but when you're reading it I want you right now to focus on the last part of it. Now let's move on to our second verse. It is in Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 6. It says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." Again He states that He will never leave you. When you are in the middle of a trial I want you to remember these verses. They will hopefully help you get through your trial.

*I sort of combined this post with another I was going to do about God never leaving you but I think I covered that subject pretty well with this post. I hope this encourages you. I have other verses to go along with this lesson but I think it would be a good Bible study for you to do especially if you're going through a trial currently.

New Year's Resolution; Checkup

Hey guys! How have your new year's resolutions been going? Mine have been going surprisingly well. I been reading my Bible everyday which is shocking to me because I still can't believe I've done it faithfully for this long! Have you been reading your Bible everyday? If you haven't, I encourage to do it from now on. Now doing this kinda fits in with my post on motivation (which you see in our January posts). I just want to remind you that without God being your sole-motivator, you won't be able to do this. I encourage you to ask God to help you start or keep doing those new year's resolutions. I'm gonna keep checking up on all of you but, I can't ask you everyday so I encourage you be accountable to someone. This will not only help you but it will also help the person you're doing it with. I hope you all have a great day! :)

Complaining

Complaining is one of my best friends and has been for as long as I can remember but it's not a good character trait to have. Complaining not only annoys others but it also going against what God say in the Bible. In Philippians 2:14 it says, "Do all things without grumbling or questioning". I encourage you to memorize that verse so whenever you think about complaining because you're not happy with that situation you can think of that verse. Now this is much easier said than done. For me, I'm gonna have no choice but to follow through because my Mom reads our blog... 'nough said ;). But some of you may not be as lucky as I am. If you don't of anyone to check up on you then ask a friend or a family member or you can ask me:). The reason that I'm saying to get someone to check up on you is because it gives you accountability. So, next time you're about to complain think of that verse and pray and ask God to help you not complain but to reflect Christ in your response. Hope this encourages. you. Have a great day!

Motivation

I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to start this post... well, I guess I just did:). So, motivation. Are you motivated? If you are, ar you motivated for the right reasons? Now if you think about you can probably think of a whole lot more bad reasons to be motivated than good and I would expect you to. We live in a sinful world and sin comes naturally to us so we need to work at being motivated for the right reasons. So what are some bad reasons to be motivated? Well, you could be motivated to have a girlfriend or boyfriend just because your friends have one, you could be motivated to do drugs just because your 'friends' tell you they're cool. Now that's only two but I'm sure you can think of plenty of others. Now what should be our one and only motivation? Jesus Christ. He deserves honor and glory and praise. If Christ is our sole motivator then we should no problem doing what's right... right? Well, there's just one problem... Because we are sinners, we are also natural God-haters. So, if we hate God how can we want Him to be our sole motivator? We have to accept the gift of Salvation through Christ because He is the only one who can save us from sin. If you have done that, ask Christ right now to be your sole motivator. He alone can save you from sin. He alone can is where you can find true happiness. Christ shouldd be your ONLY motivator. I hope this post encourages you.. and if it didn't make sense let me know so I can fix it:) I'm still half asleep:).

Decently and in Order

Decently and in order... fun subject isn't it? You may be thinking (especially if you're a boy... no offense guys;)) that there is no reason to clean or be organized because if it gets bad enough then someone will come and do it for me. And by this point you're probably going, "ok Breanna, what is the point?" Well, the point is... YOU NEED TO BE ORGANIZED!!!!!!!! Not that I'm being bossy or anything but this is something that really bugs me... and I know it shouldn't but it does. Not only does it bother me, it probably bugs God too. Why do I say that? Because the Bible tells us to do things "decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). So, if God says things should be done decently and in order then things should be done decently and in order. Now this is easy for me because I'm a little OCD... when it comes to organization... I'm not like some germ freak or anything;). But if you do have problems with doing things decently and in order (like my sister;)) then ask God to help you. He will. I promise:). Well, I guess I better go and do my homework... but I hope y'all have a great day! :)

New Year, New Habits

Well, here we are in 2011. Can you believe how fast time has gone?!?! As you can see the title of this post is, "New Year, New Habits". Do you have any new habits? I have a couple; 1. I've been reading my Bible everyday. 2. I got up on time! 3. Kept my room clean. Now you may be thinking, ok Breanna it's been 3 days! Seriously? I know it's only been 3 days but they've been a good 3 days! Now with there being 362 more of them I intend to keep doing what I've been doing. Now I have already done a few posts about reading your Bible everyday and making GOOD new habits so I'm not gonna keep running those things into the ground but I do want to check up on you guys. I'm not trying to be nosy but I want to know that I'm not alone;) I need some moral support;) jk. Now I know Caroline is typically the only one who comments but on this post I want everyone who reads it to comment on it. I don't care if I know who you are or not. You don't even have to say anything! I just want this year to be really focused on God and on His Word, and if we do that then everything else will fall into place:D. Well, I guess I better go so you guys don't get tired of reading a really long post:) but I hope all of y'all have a good night!

Good Morning!

Hi everyone! I know most of our posts aren't normally like this but, I've always been the one to mix things up a bit:). My goal basically for this post is just encourage you. What is your morning routine? Does it include reading your Bible? If you answered no, then you're in the same boat as me... I struggle with reading my Bible everyday. I always come up with an excuse like: I'm have too much school to do, or I'll do it later (but later never comes). Not reading your Bible everyday is dangerous... not spending time in God's Word can draw you closer to sin, even if you think it's not happening... it is. My challenge for you is read your Bible everyday, no matter what kind of time you have... it's very important! Since I have been in that boat, I know that it is easier to do something if you're accountable to someone. So get a friend, a neighbor, a family member, and if you have none of those willing to do it, I would be more than happy to! Hope you have a great Morning!:)

Goodbye...

Have you ever had to tell someone goodbye? It's hard isn't it? Recently, I have had to say goodbye to people a lot and it's not easy. My Dad's work called him and told him he had to leave. He was gone for 11 days. That's the longest I had ever been away from my Dad. During that time I was reminded that, though my earthly father may have to leave, my Heavenly Father was and always is there for me. Telling someone goodbye is hard but. as long as you're saved, we never have to say goodbye to Christ. Just remember, whenever you are telling someone goodbye, God is there to comfort you; no matter what, He's always there!

Are You Ready?

Death. Not a very fun topic to talk about is it??? Of course not! Especially if you're like me. But I hope to change your mind by the time you are done reading this:) Last Monday, two women were shot and killed at a Tennessee post office. When they went to work that morning they had no idea that they wouldn't be coming home that evening and that they would be in eternity. No one knew. Now that probably doesn't incite you to keep reading does it??? Well, maybe it will get better;). So, after that tragic incident it left a lot of people wondering; why? who? We don't know the answer. No one does, but God does. He has a purpose for everything and we need to trust his judgment. Now just exactly where am I going with this??? Well, if you asked that, you are about to find out!:) Last week, I was somehow involved with 4 incidents that involved death (it wasn't a good week). What I saw last week pointed to one thing, are you ready? Well, if you asked me that question then I could tell you yes confidently!!! But the question remains, are you ready??? I hope your answer is yes. Last week those peoples ages ranged from 18 to 50+ years. So, it can happen any time. Make sure you're ready and don't wait another minute! Are you ready?