The power of His name.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 I've always heard of how powerful the name of Jesus is. This verse expresses that anything that we do should be done in His name. I believe that when we use His name in word or deed, we should use it with Faith. We could simply just use 

Jesus's name, but if we do not believe in the power that it has, then nothing will happen. We should give thanks to God for the name of Jesus and the power it has. I want to use Jesus's name the right way and with faith. I do not want to use it as any other normal word, it is of great power and I want to use it as an act of thankfulness to God. Everything that I do, I want to do my best because it is for the Lord, not for men. 

Romans 1:1-7

Romans 1:1-7 Is about the gift of Salvation that God has given us. Through grace we have this salvation. I really love this because Salvation is available for everyone who belongs to Christ. Jesus has given us salvation through his sacrifice, dying on the cross and rising up again. It is interesting how in this verse it mentions being obedient to faith. Trusting and receiving this salvation is our own choice. verse seven ends with "those who are loved by God and called to be his holy people". God gave us the "pass" of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is by grace and not by works that we get to heaven. Doing what honors and is pleasing to God as an act of thankfulness and love from us to Him. Without God we are nothing and have nothing. It is my goal to share this message with those that do not yet have Jesus in their lives and show them that no matter what sins they have committed. We are all sinners, but with Jesus we have salvation and are renewed in him. We are no longer slaves to sin. 

Living Life in Him...

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7 This verse really caught my attention because it mentioned how we actually have to live in the Lord when we receive Jesus. We cannot live however we want because if Jesus is our Lord, our king, we want to obey Him and do things that will honor Him. We cant go around thinking that what we do doesn't harm anyone.  If we are rooted and built up in him we live a great and stable life. We are to be thankful for all the blessings that God has given us, He blesses us because He loves us and by honoring Him, and living in him, we are being thankful for what he has done for us. Something that we do not deserve, but that he has given us because of love and mercy.

John 1:14

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." I really liked this verse because of the wording. 'The word became flesh' It is interesting how this can be related to how Jesus fulfilled many prophecies when he came to earth as a man. Also how it talks about the glory of God, we see Jesus performing miracles all the time and this is only by the glory of God. Jesus also has so much grace and truth. Jesus many times said how he was the voice of truth. I feel like I should not take for granted who Jesus is and what he has done for me. I want to work on always being thankful for who Jesus is and everything that he does for me and blesses me. 

Thanking God For Change...

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge. Corinthians 1:4-5. This verse is very nice because it focuses on thanking God for His grace for "us" and for the change that can be received through Jesus. With God we have been 'enriched' with speech and knowledge. The speech and knowledge that can be obtained from God is full of wisdom. Thanking God for these things is something that we should all practice daily. Salvation and Change is available to us, this is something to be thankful for. We should live in that change that God has given us, this way we are light to the world. We can be that spark the starts a fire, we can impact lives with our change in Jesus. 

Thanking God through music...

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. Psalm 95:1-2 When I read this verse I loved how worshiping and thanking God can be in many ways. I enjoy music a lot! I spent two years of my life in music school learning how to play guitar. I saw it as a talent that God gave me, and I had to give him back with that talent on way or another. Thanking God has to be a constant habit for me, I have learned that I have to thank God even through the hard times. I do recognize though, that I have to put it more into practice. Sometimes when I feel very tired and anxious like I cant with everything going on, I find relief and peace by singing my heart out to God. That gives me joy and it is pleasing to God. Things like singing and playing an instrument are excellent ways to praise and thank God. I will try to get even better at these things this year. :) 

Make a Difference...

 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2). In my room I decided to write inspirational phrases on my wall. One of those phrases says "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I wrote this because Christians tend to only judge others for what they do wrong but do not examine themselves first. With this quote I am reminding myself that I have to be that change to then help others make the change. As I am transformed by the renewing of my mind, then I will follow God's will and change the world through God. Being the change we want to see in the world starts with worshiping God. The change starts from the inside out. In this verse it mentions how offering our bodies as a living sacrifice is an act of worship.