Revelation 3

In this chapter it is comparing churches. The church in Sardis is like the #Vegas. They are just getting things worse. They didn't "shine" anymore, they didnt have good testimony. It was cold and spiritually dead. This is were we see that it is important to ask God to cleanse us from impurities so that we are not part of "sardis". On the other hand we see the church in Philadelphia which is just getting things right. It is the city of God and He tells them that he will open doors and that nobody will shut those doors. God also tells them that he will be taking care of them for when the time comes. He also gives them advice on how to no let anyone take away their crown. These churches are polar opposites ,it is interesting to compare them. I want to be part of Philadelphia if you ask me, always ready and with God holding me. I do not want to be part of sardis by being distracted and loving things that do not benefit me.

Fully Depending on God.

My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Ever since I read this verse this has been my prayer. I have nothing to worry about, nothing to be afraid of, God is in control of absolutely everything.Nothing can come against me because God is there for me. I may think that I will never do ______, but God opens and closes doors according to his purpose. If I depend on God I know that I am safe. I am secure, when the storm comes, all the troubles and pains, he will always be there for me. People may fail me, but God will never fail me. I was so glad to read this verse Psalm 62:7. It is what I needed to hear and to remember. With God, I have everything:) 

Be HOLY!<<-

I continued to study 1 Peter 1, today I felt like writing about verses 13-25. This section is about being holy. Since we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we are inspired to live life differently. We deicide to follow Jesus's steps and to act different from what the world views as ordinary. God is holy and if we want to be like him, we are to be holy as well. God tells us that we ought to be holy how he is holy. We should spend life trying to be like God. It is not good to spend time on things that will not last. We might think that being holy is hard because we are sinners. Jesus washed away our sins on the cross and therefore we are forgiven and get to be holy like God. I want to pray so that my actions and my heart are right according to God's purpose. I want to be holy like he is holy.

TRIALS!

Trials. They are never fun. I have always had a hard time going through trials, pretty sure every one has a hard time. In Peter 1:7 it says " These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." This clearly explains why trial exist and how they help to glorify God. Honestly I could have never gone through a trial without God's help. Even when we think that trials are too huge and hard, we must always remember that God will only give us what he knows we can manage. It is fire that refines us. Our faith is worth more than gold. God sends us trials to make us grow, and he is there to help us :) so cool :) 

Pleasing God:)

Without faith it is impossible to please God. I have heard these words many times and today for my devo I bumped into  Hebrews 11:6. I have always thought that those words are confusing. If you accepted Jesus into your heart and live according to his purpose it is because you have faith in him right? Well I read many testimonies of people who have gone through really difficult things to defend their faith. I have grown up in church and going to a christian school..sooo a kind of bubble.This is not an excuse to not "act with faith" we are faced with situations every day. We need to learn how to defend our faith. Many non believers criticize christians because of their lack of faith in their eyes. We have to act with the faith in which we believe in to influence others with it.

Quality Time...

I feel like everyone has gone through those up and downs when it comes to spending time with God.  I have them all the time and it is annoying. I wish I could spend quality time with God every single day. I always get distracted with things around me. Some people have told me that if I can make it a habit I will always reserve time for it. I want to spend quality time with God because he deserves that and MUCHHH more. If God is my number one priority there should always be time to spend in prayer and reading his word. I do do those things, but quality time is more than a daily devotional and prayer before sleep. It is setting apart time that you would use for things you enjoy to give to God. And giving time to God is also enjoyable :) I want to work on getting away from things that consume my time to reserve that time and dedicate it to God. 

No Bad Words...

As I have been studying proverbs I have seen that it mentions to not mention bad or corrupt words. I have been taught to never say "bad words" because it sounds horrible and because God doesn't like it. I can't say that I NEVER say bad words, it is really hard for those words not to stick when you have a bunch of people at school saying them around you. I have even heard that some of them have "swear tuesdays" which to me is kind of pointless because that does not benefit them in any ways. One of the places in proverbs in which it is pointed out is in proverbs chapter four  verse 24. The verse before it even says to guard your heart for everything that we do flows from it. I want to guard my heart and to keep my mouth from perversity. I want to please God and I only want things that are contributing to my life positively to come out of my mouth. I want to work in clearing my vocabulary from "bad words" completely. 

Sleeping in God's Perfect Peace...

Have you ever gone to bed and feel scared? Scared may be because you watched a creepy movie, your afraid of the dark, or if you feel anxious about something that happened or will happen. I have gone to bed scared…of my future. Being a Senior it is very scary to think that I will leave home and go somewhere totally new and away from family and friends. I know that I will eventually get used to it, but right now it all sounds scary because I do not know what to expect. I will be alone. As I was reading proverbs chapter 3, verse 24 caught my attention. This verse says that when we lie down we will not be afraid, it even goes on to say that our sleep will be sweet. It is comforting how God takes care of even those little details. He guards our sleep and gives us his perfect peace. He lets us rest without any worries. I want to always have God's peace even in my sleep. Away from my fears and worries.