Retreat Comments.(just to share)

In the Junior/Senior Leadership Retreat I strongly felt God speaking to me. I felt that God was telling me about how I have to learn to stop trying to fix my problems by myself and "half-trusting" Him. During the main session we read Proverbs 3: 5-6 which says

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

This made me think about how sometimes I want to plan every step of my life and how I can fix or work out anything that goes wrong. Many times I have broken down because I feel that things do not go my way. With this verse I know that my way of doing things might not be the "right path" ...God knows the right way. I just have to trust him completely and hand him all my problems. God knows how things will turn out since he knows everything. During the session of Integrity I felt like this was confirmed. When they gave the example of us trying to fight with our own strength. We cannot do anything with our own strength, we need the weapons that God has given us. God gave us the power to control our emotions and everything. Emotions or anything else do not control us. By trusting in God we feel peace and by going through these things we grow. God will give us wisdom and discernment  if we ask for it and these things will lead us to the right path. God leads us, our understanding is nothing without God's wisdom which is different than "earthly wisdom." 

Colossians 3

This Chapter has A LOT of things to learn from. It has to do with focusing not on "earthly things" which is hard as a teenager, but to focus on "above." It also mentions how when we receive Christ we are to behave differently. I like to think "The world's 'normal' is not my normal." Christ changes our life completely! Our hearts, our thoughts and we are no longer the same. We do not behave like we used to. God renews us completely. It is interesting how being kind, forgiving, humble, patient, and many other virtues start with love. God is love, so if we love God, we behave how God wants us to naturally. And it also caught my attention how it mentions to do everything for God, to please Him! This is haard for me. I have heard this sooo many times, but laziness takes over. I want to keep this in mind and actually take it seriously this year. I want to do my best at everything how God would want me to. I am 100% sure that if I REALLY did everything like for Christ, I would be doing so much better. I want to give excellency to God, not just mediocre. This applies to all aspects of life.

Neglecting Responsibilities = Consequences!

This one is based on 2 Samuel 11...
This passage is the story of David and Bathsheba. I already knew what everyone else that has read the passage knows.. "David gets Bathsheba pregnant and then kills her husband." What is interesting though is that all the craziness that happens does not start when David sends for Bathsheba! It starts right when he decides not to go to war! Kings are supposed to go to war, but David decides to stay. He neglected his responsibility and that "opened doors" for temptation. When David found out that he had gotten Bathsheba pregnant he sent for Uriah, her husband(who WAS at war, where David had to be). Instead of being "responsible" he does 2 things to "fix" it.

1. He invites Uriah to eat and drink. (so that Uriah didn't go home)
2. He sent Uriah to the front of the war zone where he would surely die.

When Uriah dies they let David know. When they told Bathsheba she mourns for her husband, but then moves in with David and his other wives -_-'

ALL of this happened for not being responsible!! One sin...then another...and another! If David had gone to war, so many things would have been different. And David was a King :S... This reminds me when I watch TV and hear about celebrities that do foolish things.
Being a Senior puts me in a position of leadership and I have to be responsible! Younger people are watching me and I have to be a good example! I don't want to make one mistake that leads me to more and more sin like David :O.

My prayer is For God to help me with my behavior. I want to be obedient to him and be an example to others. Obedience starts with
Loving God :)

Doing Something For God...

I read 1 Chronicles 17...

This passage was quite interesting for me because it mentions David feeling upset because he was living in a palace, while the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was in a tent. David wanted to do something for God. Then what amazes me is what God tells Nathan to tell David! 
“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: ¹¹ When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. ¹⁴ I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”
 God appreciates that David wants to do something for him, but tells him that it is not necessary. God blesses David instead, and what the Lord blesses is forever.  
This made me think about what I can do for God this year! God has a plan for each and every one of us and he is constantly blessing us when we do not deserve it! I want to honor God and serve him with every aspect of my life. David chased after God's own heart and wanted to do something for him, I feel like that is something I need to do ALWAYS! When we chase God's heart, we start to become like him and walk according to his will.