Thursday, March 29, 2012

Answered Prayer!

Does God really hear my prayer?  Or am I just speaking to the wind? Does He really care what happens to us or are we just left here alone? How can I be sure that He has answered my prayer?



Sometimes I have wondered some of these questions, and some of the other questions I have heard from others! Well in this blog, I am going to tackle these questions! I am going to go through one question at a time, so let us dive right in!

Does God really hear my prayer? ~ Yes! God does hear our prayers! Though sometimes it does not feel like it!  Sometimes I feel as if God does not hear my prayer, and I feel as if I am talking to the wall! But when I feel like that I know that I need to pray all the more! Or pray and ask God if there is anything blocking between Him and me! Even though sometimes it seems as if God does not hear our prayers! But do not doubt, He does hear!

Or am I just speaking to the wind? No! Sometimes we must plea with God, He wants to see if we are faithful! Or maybe there are times when you have asked Him a question and He has given you a clear answer, but then you don't like that answer, so you ask Him again, He sometimes will be quiet then also! But the Devil wants you to think that you are talking to the wind, to become discouraged! But do not give up, for Jesus does hear and answer our prayers!

Does He really care what happens to us or are we just left here alone? Yes God does care! And He does not leave us alone at anytime! He shows His love in many different ways, I am sure if you take a few minutes a day you will find out how much. Here is a personal story of me...

When I was about 12 or 13 years old, I can't remember, I was making a trip downstairs when I tripped on the strap of what I was carrying! I flipped and my hand reached out to grab the hand railings and I landed on the second step to the bottom! Now the thing that is incredible, that was too, but our old basement was not furnished and the bottom was concrete, and on both sides of the stairs were holes big enough that I could have fallen between them! And when I flipped my head did not hit the steps! My guardian angel sure was busy that day! There are many other stories that I could tell, but on to the next question. :)

This isn't the one I feel down, I just found this on the Internet! :)


How can I be sure that He has answered my prayer? Well, sometimes God does not answer our prayers the way we want Him or would like for Him to do! His ways are perfect and His timing is too! Sometimes He says wait awhile, sometimes He says No, and sometimes He says Yes! I have another story to share with you how God answered my prayer!

For as long as I can remember I wanted a flute. Well years, and years went by, and I really didn't think much about it! But last year I got the strongest impression that I wanted my flute! So I started praying about it, and I asked my parents to pray about it, and my mother even put it in her prayer book! But I didn't have any money! And my parents could not afford to buy me one either! So I prayed!

Well a part of my prayer was answered when my mother said that she could hire me to work for a business that she is running! So slowly I started to earn money! Months past by and finally the day came when I could buy my flute! I was super excited, I could hardly wait! When it finally arrived I prayed and dedicated my flute right then and there!

The Lord had really blessed my efforts at learning the flute, I have only had my flute 6 weeks and I can already play many, many songs! The Lord is good!

This isn't my flute, but looks a lot like it! :)


Yes, God does hear and answer our prayers! Sometimes it doesn't happen right away, but it will happen if it is the Lord's will, which why we should pray that it is the Lord's will! And if it is not the Lord's will to ask Him to take the desire away. It is not always easy when He says no or when He says wait awhile, but it is another way that the Lord teaches us patience!

When you feel discouraged, pray about, tell the Lord how you feel! And do not give up when He doesn't answer you right away, keep praying and claiming promises in the Bible! And the Lord is there even when we don't think so!

I have had many answered prayers and the Lord is always right on time! There are many miracle stories, I am sure you have your own stories! And don't forget after He has answered your prayers, to thank Him for it!

Why don't you pray today?  I am sure Jesus would love to hear from you!





Sunday, March 25, 2012

How it all Began...


I don’t know if you know what’s all behind this darker movement or not but what I am about to tell you may reveal things you may never have thought of before. You see I am about to tell you a story, one in which is absolutely true. So, if you would please buckle your seat belt I will begin.

There once was a world in which everything was perfect, everything. There were only three people back then. They were so much alike in so many ways and yet they were all unique, in and of themselves, their names were God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now keep in mind that you do not have to agree with any of this, at all. But let us continue with our story.

Now these three Beings wanted to share their home with others, so they called a meeting and decided to make heaven. After that they created all, what they called, angels,  things went more smoothly for they had created these angels to love and serve them, not out of force, but because the angels wanted to out of love for their Creator. 

Now there was one angel among them, the highest of them all, he was commander of all the angels, all the music, and not only that, but stood on the right hand of God the Son. His name was Lucifer, meaning the morning star. All the angels looked up to him and admired his beauty. But heaven didn’t last like this forever, you see Lucifer started thinking of how he could do a better job of running God’s job and he was jealous of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. So he went from angel to angel whispering all kinds of untrue things, now you might be thinking why on earth would intelligent beings believe a lie? 



Well consider this, the angels had never before heard a lie, they didn’t even know what one was. And not only that but they trusted Lucifer, anyway Lucifer got one-third of all the angels on his side of thinking. And they went up to God the Son and declared war against Him and all the principles that He had. Now you might be thinking why didn’t God the Son just zap him and then he wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore, well think of it this way the angels would have wondered if Lucifer, who had by know changed his name to Satan, was really right and if God the Son was just trying to discard the evidence. Also they then would have served Him out of fear and not love. No, He had to let this run its course and let the whole universe see what would happen.

So there was war in heaven, sounds kind of like a paradox doesn’t it? Michael, another name for God the Son, and His angels fought against the Dragon, another name for Satan, and his angels. And Michael won the war and cast the Dragon out of heaven along with his angels, for there could be no sin to corrupt heaven.



As you can probably imagine everyone was sad in heaven, but soon afterwards God the Son started to make a plan, He was going to Create a new world and not only that but He would put all manner of animals and living things on the planet and something called human, made after His own image. So down to work God the Son went. He spoke all of the things into existence, all this taking place in 6 days, and on the sixth day God the Son got on His hands’ and knees’ and formed man out of the dust of the ground.



And when He was finished with His masterpiece He bent down as close as He could and breathed into man’s nostrils and man became a living soul. I think the reason he got so close was because He wants to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us! When Adam woke up, for that was what God the Son called him, he looked all around him and saw all the beautiful things his Creator had made, and he got to name all of the animals but out of all the animals there was no help mate for him, so God the Son caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and He took one of his ribs and formed woman, and gave her to Adam and he named her Eve. Then as a final act, on the Seventh Day God the Son rested. Not because He was tired of His work, but to give us an example, of what we should do. 

Well God the Son showed them all around the Garden that they called Eden, and when they got to the midst of the garden God the Son told them that they could eat of every tree except the one in the middle, For in the day that they would eat of it they would surely die.




Now Satan watched all of this from where he was and of course he came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea to get man and his wife to eat of the fruit, and then the lovely paradise home would belong to him and his demonic force (evil angels). So Satan transformed himself into a serpent, back then they were very beautiful. 

And using the same silvery voice he used in heaven to deceive the angels he called to Eve, who was close to the tree. He flattered her by telling her that she was beautiful and that the tree was not harmful and to look at, he told her to look at himself, after all he could now talk, he told Eve that she would be as God knowing good and evil. So Eve took of the fruit and ate and gave to her husband with her and he did eat, I believe he ate out of fear of losing Eve.

So that is how sin entered the world, I am sure you are acquainted with what happened next to Adam and Eve, they had to leave their beautiful home! And Satan he was so pleased with himself because now he and his angels are in charge of the world. Now you might ask why God would put a tree in the Garden if He knew that they would eat it, it was to test their love and obedience to Him, and the angels in heaven had just witnessed their fellow friends deceived, how could they be sure that it would not happen again?  So God put the tree in the garden and sadly our first parents failed the test.

Let us know fast forward in time. We are now where we are today, and Satan is much, much wiser than he was for he has had around 6,900 years in which to deceive people and during that time much has happened. Let us go back in history for a moment… we are in the year A.D. 27 and we are standing at the bank of the Jordan River, the crowd is huge, there is much jostling and yelling, people are elbowing you right and left. And the person that we are most interested in, whom everyone is interested in, is a man dressed up in camel clothing.  You try to see, vainly, through the crowd to where he is standing, you have heard rumors of this guy named John the Baptist, some say he is the Messiah, others say he is the prophet Elijah, and still others say they think that he is one of the other prophets.

 Finally you hear someone say, “Look, there on top of the rock, look he is up there.” We anxiously wait to hear what he says, everyone calms down to the point that no one is speaking. John says something about baptism and then steps into the water and invites all who are willing to join him. At first no one moves and then out of the crowd someone, dressed in a white garment with a red sash that goes over one shoulder steps into the water. We try to get closer so as not to miss one word, John says, “I am not worthy to baptize you, you baptize me.” The Man says to John do not worry, but it has to be this way to fulfill the prophecy. John reverently takes the Man and dips Him in the water, and just as he raises Him again, light streams down from the sky and a dove lands on the Man’s shoulder and flies off again, and we hear a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Some think they heard thundering but only a few heard the words.

Now Jesus the Man who was baptized goes into the wilderness, led by the Spirit of God, to be tempted. He fasted 40 days and through this period, guess who comes up...Satan himself. He tempts Jesus throughout the 40 days to give in, but we do not have any record of what went on between the two. Then at the end of the 40 days, which represented Israel’s wandering for 40 years, Satan once more comes to Him, but he has transformed himself into an angel of light, which is possible as we have seen he was able to do, since he transform himself into a serpent, he says to Jesus, “If, thou be the Son of God turn this stone into bread.” Right then and there is where he showed doubt that he thought Jesus was God. And Jesus answered and said unto Satan, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.” And Satan then showed his true self and was no longer transformed.

He then took Jesus up on top of a high building and said to Jesus, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

And Jesus said, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Satan then took Jesus up in, an exceeding high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms and their wonders, and said to Him, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

I must interject here and say that, that is the object of this whole thing with Satan, he wants worship and that has been and will always be his object until the very last, but more on that later.

Jesus then said unto Satan, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

Satan finally left Jesus alone and angels of God were sent down to comfort Him and give Him food.

Let us now forward a little bit ahead about 3 ½ years, Jesus has been in ministry all this time and has acquired disciples, 12 in all. We find Him now in a Garden called Gethsemane and He has pleaded with His disciples to watch and pray but they were so tired that they soon fell fast asleep, He now comes to them and says, “Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.” We anxiously look up ahead, and what do we see but bobbing torches, a lot of them. And they are coming this way! Finally they halt a couple feet away and Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, comes forward! He kisses Jesus on the cheek and then steps back but not before Jesus whispers something about betraying Him with a kiss. One of the servants of the priests’ comes forward and starts to tie Jesus’ hands, when all of a sudden Peter, another one of Jesus’ disciples, springs forward with sword drawn and cuts off the servant’s ear!



We hear Jesus softly but firmly rebuke Peter and low and behold, Jesus touches the man’s ear and when He removes His hand, why there is the ear! The servant is completely surprised and silently praises God and Jesus, but he has a job to do which now seems to him most terrible, for he has to tie up the very hands that have just healed him!

Jesus is finally tied up after revealing himself through a bright light twice, when asked who He was, and sadly all of the disciples have fled from fear. Jesus is led by the mob until we finally come to the Sanhedrin and the Judgment Hall where we see this kind, gentle man being whipped and spit on and treated very cruel. Then He is asked a bunch of questions of which He doesn’t answer a word. We see Him as a meek Lamb, as prophesied. Some of the disciples have been led into the Hall because of certain connections one of them had. 

Finally it gets to the point that we see them take Him to Pilot’s Judgment Hall where He is beaten and talked badly to once again, we see that the mob is being influenced by demonic angel forces and Satan himself is in the crowd, egging the priests’ and everyone else on. We then see that Jesus is finally led to Herod’s Judgment Hall, where the same process happens all over again and then we follow Him back again to Pilot’s place, Pilot really doesn’t want to kill Jesus, we can tell that he thinks that Jesus is an innocent Man and the dream his wife had about Jesus made him all the more think that this Man was innocent. 

Ah, finally he thinks about a man in whom is really wicked and possessed, he had been trying to catch this thief for many years and the people were glad to have this Barabbas off of the streets. He would offer the man Barabbas to this crowd who was thirsting for blood, surely they would rather have this thief and murderer off of the streets and let this innocent Man, Jesus go. Finally Jesus is brought out along with the vial Barabbas, who after imprisonment has not changed, the difference between the two is plainly seen, Jesus is calm and has a quiet dignity about Him, while Barabbas has an evil sneer on his face and right away joins the crowd with their angry cries.

 Pilot lifts his hand and all becomes quiet and he says, “Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?” For it was the custom in that day to release to the people one imprisoned, whomever they would like. But no the people cried all the louder, led by Satan and his evil angels, crucify Him!  So Pilot called for a bowl of water and “washed his hands of the ordeal” and the people cried, “the blood be on the hands of us and our children.” So we see that Satan, once again is leading in a darker movement. 

Anyway, back to the story, we see that some soldiers lay a heavy cross on His bruised and bloody shoulders and led Him down the street with two other thieves to a hill called Golgotha, which is interpreted the Skull. But hardly had we begun on the journey, and then did Jesus fall down under the weight of the cross! They rudely picked Him up and they went only a few steps when He falls again. This time Jesus could not get up under the weight, so a soldier shouted to a person in the crowd, “You carry His cross.”

 So we journey on finally arriving, and of course all along the way the thieves have been fighting and cursing, while Jesus is silent and submissive. We get up the hill and the soldiers lay down the crosses, it takes up to 2 or 3 soldiers to pin the other two men to their crosses, and only one to put Jesus on His cross, the soldier calls for some nails, he picked up three good sized ones and then the hammer. He places the nails on Jesus’ palms and bam, once then twice into the tender flesh and the nail is impeded into the flesh and the cross. The soldier then does the other hand and the feet he does with one nail. The soldier then takes a crown of thorns and pushes it deep into the skull of Jesus. And finally they raise the crosses. One thief on each side and Jesus in the middle, the crowd gathers in to watch, all the ones’ on the crosses are whipped, bloody, beaten, and naked hanging there for all the world to see.



The disciples are there, Jesus’ Mother is there, all of them weeping. The crowd is threatening Jesus and talking very cruel to Him, oh if only they knew who it was that was hanging on that cross! Jesus did that for me and He did that for you! He did it for the entire world, but only a few really realized His mission, the angels in heaven didn’t even play there harps that day, for their Creator was hanging on a wooden tree!

 And Satan and his angels are rejoicing thinking they have finally succeeded in killing the Savior of the world; little did Satan know that it was all a part of a much greater plan, one in which he was playing a vital part.

Jesus cried out, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” What love Jesus had in order to say that about the very ones that hung Him! Then Jesus cried again and said, “My God, My God, why do you forsake me?” And then we hear Him say, “I thirst.” The soldiers tried to give Him vinegar but Jesus refused because it was fermented. 

And then we hear the thief on one of His sides start to join in the crowd and said something to the affect that, if you are the Messiah then save yourself and us too. Then the other thief said to the one thief, something to the affect that he should not be talking for they were hanging because of something they had done, but this Man has done nothing wrong, and then turning to Jesus he said, “Lord, remember me when thou enter in thy kingdom.” And Jesus said unto the man, “Verily, Verily I tell thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.”

Then all of a sudden the ground starts to shake and thunder is heard, then we hear Jesus say one last thing, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” And Jesus died. Satan thought he had won the battle, but little did he know the battle had just begun.

 Let us now fast forward three days later, Sunday morning, we are in the garden of Joseph of Arimathaea, when suddenly we see something in the sky it gets closer and closer and as it descends it gets brighter and brighter, when all of a sudden the soldiers who were guarding the grave fall as dead men, for the thing, was an angel and he had come to raise Jesus from the grave, he rolled the stone away and said to Him, “Awake, for thy Father calleth thee.” 





And then lo and behold there is Jesus walking out of the grave, radiant with glory and light! Satan is defeated, Jesus has rose! And after a little bit goes to His Father were he is welcomed into heaven and His Father accepts his offering, His life, for the redemption of fallen men.

Now that we have a little more history we can now fast forward to where we are today, one of the things which Jesus told His disciples was that He was coming again to take them and all His followers to heaven and that He was going to prepare mansions for them. And he told them how they would know when the time was near. He gave them signs and told them that they would hear of wars and rumors of wars, famines, floods and pestilence. He told them not to be deceived, he repeated that so many times that it must have been important and a big thing in the last days.

 Well, let us review our world today is there wars and rumors of wars? Yes! Are there famines, floods and pestilences? Yes! Satan is working heavily to make sure and deceive as many people as possible, for he knows that his days are numbered and he will be destroyed, so he is trying to get as many people as possible to join his ranks, why? I will tell you, it is because, if we are following Jesus then he has to pay for their sins. Does that make sense? In other words he doesn’t want to pay the penalty for anyone’s sins and that is why he is trying to deceive as many as possible.

Now we have seen that Satan has continued his revolution against God, and God will only stand it for so long. 

Now if you don’t mind let us fast forward to the future. The exact date I cannot give you for “No man knows the day nor the hour.” But sometime in the near future… a Sunday Law has been passed by the government in which there is to be no buying or selling, the Bible tells of such a time (called the mark of the beast) we see that all the stores are closed on what the world thinks is a holy day, by now people who believe differently in the law are hidden away or about to go.

 And the reason the economy is so bad, says a person, is because of the people who are not believing or keeping Sunday, holy. The people are furious, they will find this group of people and kill them all, then the world will be right again, so they think, so on they are led by a demonic force. 

You see before this Sunday law was passed there came one who claimed to be Jesus coming back, and he said many of the same things Jesus said while He was here on this earth, and the whole world, except for a small group of people, wandered after this supposed Christ.

 He tells the people that he has changed the day to Sunday and that a law should be made in order that everyone should keep it. Right here we see that it is not Jesus, but Satan transformed into an angel of light, to deceive the nations, for Jesus, the real Jesus, says that He changes not, and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

So Satan under this disguise makes the nation, the whole world, in fact, follow this Sunday law. So now we have this mob searching out all the people who do not believe in God, there have been plagues that have happened, water turning to blood and boils, just to name some, and now we have this mob, a very angry mob, coming to destroy this people whom they think is causing all these problems, and just when they are about to destroy them, the sky turns dark and clouds are racing across the sky, thunder breaks forth from the sky, then we see a small dark cloud ever descending, closer and closer, the group looks on, their faces wreathing with smiles, for this is their Redeemer, the true Jesus! 



And the wicked run for cover, they are scared to death of Him, as the cloud gets closer it gets more brighter and brighter, until the wicked have to cover their eyes, while the happy group look on in awe, Jesus then calls forth the dead and they all see this group of Righteous people, who have followed Jesus, being transformed and raised to meet their Lord in the air and the cloud is finally gone. The wicked whom were not destroyed by the brightness of Jesus’ coming are now destroyed by a hurricane of activity and of disaster caused by Satan and His evil force of angels, soon it is just Satan and his angels left for one thousand years.



At the end of the thousand years in which the redeemed have judged the wicked, Jesus now descends with the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. 



And  all the wicked are raised and Satan once more uses his powers of deception to get all the wicked to join in an army, to fight God’s kingdom and destroy it. But before they take one step toward the city, with the redeemed inside, God plays before them, from beginning to end the  history of the world, and all their sins will be forced upon their minds and they will all bow down and declare Him righteous and just, including Satan. 

Then fire will come down from heaven and destroy them until every last one of them is gone forever. No more sin, sickness, diseases, all will be right with the Lord and no sin will ever again destroy this planet. God and Jesus will create a new heaven and a new earth!



Now, you may know, a little bit more about who is behind this darker movement and once again you don’t have to agree with any of this, but all of what I have told you is based on the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. And if you have any questions feel free to ask.

 Thank you for reading my story and it is now safe to unbuckle your seat belt for our journey into past, present, and future is done. 

I leave you with the decision, and remember that God never forces any of us, but loves all of us. I encourage you to read the series by Ellen White called "The Conflict of The Ages" in those books she explains, way better than I have, what is going on! 

Also remember that God does not want to destroy anyone, He wants us all to be saved, and to go to heaven with Him! But He will never force anyone to change against his will! It is only after continual rejection of the Holy Spirit, and after the person dies, that it will be to late! Won't you make your decision today?



I will be praying for you. 

    


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Orion And The Serpent...

The darkness covered the Earth like a blanket, and quietness seemed to reign. Except for the crickets, who decided to hold a concert, everything was calm. I stood on our patio, looking up into outer space. It seemed as if I was transported to another world, as if I could behold heaven right where I stood!

I have always been fascinated with outer space, constellations, star formations, cluster stars, you name it, I love it! The pictures that I have found of constellations up close and other star formations are breath taking! But this evening I was watching one of my favorite constellations, one which I love to point out to people and explain! The one I am about to explain to you.

I stood gazing at the constellation, Orion! Even the very name of it, brings a smile to my face. It is quite distinctive in the Eastern night sky, it usually is only visible during the winter and some of the spring months. You can easily point it out to anyone and they would recognize it the next time they are out. It has two stars at the top one a little higher than the other, then below those two stars are three other stars forming what is known as the belt. Then if it is dark enough and there are no city lights on, you would be able to see three more stars hanging down from the belt, that is known as the sword. Then there are two finale stars one a little higher than the others, those are the feet.



They are so many aspects that can be pointed out about Orion, that I won't name them all for you, I will just focus on two, for now, and maybe later, if you want, I can go into more detail.

The two that I want to focus on are, the Sword and the Feet. First the Sword...we have good evidence in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy to know that Jesus, when He comes back the second time, will be from the East, and it will be from the well known constellation of Orion! A well known fact about Orion is this, in the Sword there is a special star, this star is the middle one, the middle star, astronomers have discovered, is like a trench and it seems to lead to some place else, and they are not able to go through this tunnel because they don't know where it ends and it is to far from Earth!



Now, to me it was quite obvious what this meant, that star is where Jesus is coming out of! But don't just believe it because of what I say, study about it! You'll be quite amazed, and if you would like some information from me just ask, and I will be happy to share! :)

Okay, now the next thing that I want to go to are the Feet, you will notice when you look at the feet, that one is raised a little higher than the other, well now I will try my best to explain that to you. Beneath the constellation of Orion is a constellation called The River, but I like to refer to it as...The Serpent!



You probably well know the Bible text Genesis 3:15, if not I will encourage you to look it up! It is the first prophecy in the Bible, and part of it says this, "It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Now if you go back to the constellation of Orion...it makes perfect sense! God tells us right in the stars what is going to happen! The constellations tell the story of Salvation! 



Now to me this was so amazing! I love it! And every time I look at Orion, I think of the plan of Salvation and how Jesus is coming very soon to take us home with Him! I pray that this will be a blessing to you as well!  




 These are some pictures of the inside of Orion, thought you might like to see them!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Fiery Trials...

"Why me? What is the purpose of going through all this pain? What is wrong? Why does it always seem as if I am going through hard times?" I thought. "I just don't get it! Please Lord can you help me out?"

When I was younger I couldn't understand why this was happening to me, I didn't know what I know now. It seemed as if I was the oddball, the only different one! And it hurt! I won't admit that it didn't! You see when I was younger, I was teased! And I just couldn't understand why the Lord would allow me to go through something like that!

But now that I look back, I can see why! Forgive the people that have done it, and move on, you see I wouldn't be who I am today, if it wasn't for them! A special thank you to them, though I have now moved away from that area!

You see the Lord uses fiery trials to make precious jewels/ gems! He tries us so that we may better reflect His image! But back then I didn't know that, I didn't understand! But thanks to my mother and searching out the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy and talking to others, I can now see why the Lord seems to put us in "hot" places.

For me personally, if I wasn't teased, I wouldn't have wanted to be home schooled, and if I didn't become home schooled I wouldn't have developed my relationship with Jesus, or my mother! They're were other lessons the Lord had to teach me with that fiery trial! Forgiveness for one, and looking past what they said or did, to what Jesus thought of me. During those times the greatest comforting thought was, Jesus was teased and picked on too! Which I read in Ellen White's book The Desire of Ages. It was nice to know that He knew what I was going through!

Jesus always knows, no matter what it may be, what we are going through! He had the hardest fiery trials ever! And if we trust Him, He will help us through our fiery trials, and when we are out of the fire, we will shine!

Jesus is still seeing me through fiery trials, and I have a long way to go, but I know that for every "hot" place that I go through He will be there, to help and encourage, and to say, "My child, take My hand, hold it tight, and I will see you through!"

Just remember that no matter what fiery trials we go through, we can count it all joy to suffer for Jesus! And someday we will see the results!





Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sharp Top!

The trees were bursting into their colorful robes of red, orange, and flaming yellow! The birds were softly calling to each other, the day had begun! I could hardly wait until I was among them! Today was an important day for my family, for we were going to climb a mountain! But not just any mountain we were going to climb... Sharp Top!

It was Peak Season, which means the colors where at there prettiest! The moment finally arrived, we were at the base of the mountain! We had been told by everyone, that once you reached the top you could see for miles around! I could hardly wait, Sharp Top here we come!

Let me say this first before I continue on, we live very close to the Blue Ridge Mountains and can see the peaks from our upstairs window. The mountains are always in some shade of blue, hence the name! :) Anyway, the mountains we live closest by are called the Peaks of Otter, and there are two particular mountains, one of them is called Flat Top, because it is lower, and the other is Sharp Top! Sharp Top is the one my family and I climbed.

So there we where at the base of the mountain, and started to make our way up! During the whole 1.5 miles up, the story of Ellen White's vision "The Narrow Way" kept coming to my remembrance. 

You know it brings a great lesson to our minds, at least it did to mine. That when we are traveling the Christian road, it might not always be easy, or very nice, and way can get narrower and narrower! And sometimes the name of the the road can get us to think twice about following it! But Jesus never promised that it would be easy, He did promise however to be with us the whole way to the top! But not the top of Sharp Top, to the top of Mount Zion!


But back to the story of my mountain climbing adventure! There where many places, that if you were not especially careful, you would or could fall. There were rocks that shifted and places when the path looked narrow, or the only way to go through was to go through some rocks! But finally, after resting many times we made it to the top! Victory!!! 




There are going to be places in the Christian's path that, if you don't watch out, you could slip and fall right back into the World. And sometimes when we place our trust on material things, they will shift and fall away, and sometimes the way is narrow and we must go through a fiery trial! But still Jesus the Rock of ages will see us to the top! And at last we will have Victory!!

Just remember to lean on Jesus, for He is the only one that will see you through to the top! So, would you like to climb this mountain with me?

This is me on top of Sharp Top, you can see Flat Top behind me! :)




Sunday, March 11, 2012

Tangled!!!

I was surrounded....trapped, it seemed as if there was no way to escape! People were surrounding me, I didn't know what to do, I looked down, "Just great," I thought, "My feet are tangled!" The rope slowly seemed to climb up me, until it was around my whole body, and then......

Beep, beep, beep... I awoke with a start, my heart pounding, "What? Where am I?" And then I realized, it was only a dream!

But now that I look back on that dream, believe it or not, I find some spiritual lessons in it. Sometimes we feel surrounded, trapped by the enemy (Satan), and it seems as if you have gone to far to escape! Other people around you surround you, trying to convince you that you are doing right, and that there is nothing wrong with what you are doing (Peer Pressure). And when you look down your feet are tangled with rope.

That is exactly what the Devil wants, he wants you to feel tangled! But you don't have to be! Let me tell you a story about myself, how I got untangled....But first let me say, that sometimes the things we are usually tangled in are the sins that we like, so it won't be easy to get untangled! Okay now the story...

I was caught up in a sin, that I thought was perfectly fine, and then someone told me how this particular sin is very deadly (they didn't know I was into it) and they gave me a bunch of Ellen White quotes and Bible texts. I thought to myself, "What could possibly be wrong in this, and I put the quotes aside and soon forgot about them, well to make a long story short, I kept on being faced with it over and over again, and just like my dream, I was tangled, I did not want to give it up, but the Lord finally won the battle, and I got untangled.

Now the next point I want to bring out is.... don't look down! You need to look up, but just not at anything, you need to look to Jesus, for He will take your hand, if you place your's in His, and He will untangle you! Believe me, I know, it has happened many times!!!

So no matter how long you have been tangled, Jesus will help you out! There are a lot of tangled ropes or webs that we can get ensnared with, but don't let that discourage you, the Bible says something to that effect, "A righteous man falls seven times, but a fool falls once." (Paraphrasing but you get the point :)

The point is, it doesn't matter how much you fall, it matters how many times you get up again! So the next time you seem tangled, go to God in prayer, and read some encouraging Bible texts, and sometimes it helps talking to someone you trust!

Oh and one more thing, the longer we don't give it to Jesus the more it will wrap around our body, and soon it might kill us...Remember you are never alone! We have all been there sometime or other. So don't be discouraged!

I don't want to be tangled, do you?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Lessons From A....Mirror?

I stood there, looking in the mirror, amazed... To think that a piece of glass can perfectly reflect my image back to me. I started thinking, "If a mirror can do this, why can't people?" I then forgot about my whole intercourse with myself and went to do other things. Later that week, in my Science book, I was reading about concave lenses and the whole story of how it was discovered. Then I really started to wonder... "Is God trying to tell me something here?" And then right there, staring me in the face was the answer, my Science book then brought out the spiritual applications of "Reflecting" and I have to admit I was spell bound.

Usually when we look in a mirror, we don't generally think about what is staring back at us. And we usually don't take the mirror and try and clean off the dirty spots. And most people when they stop looking in the mirror, they forget how they look!

Well believe it or not, I have a mirror made out of paper! That's right, paper! Can you guess what it is? And if so, do you have it? Well before you answer those questions, let me give you some clues.

The first clue is....it was spoken by God. Guess it yet?
The second clue is...it was written by God's finger, (and later by Moses.)

Now I'm sure that you must have guessed what my paper mirror is...The Bible! But there is a mini mirror that is more specific that I'm talking about...The Ten Commandments! Otherwise known as The Law.

The Law is meant to be a reflecting mirror, letting us know what we need to change in our lives, but just like the mirror it does not clean us! We must pray and work with Christ in order to be truly clean! And just like a regular mirror, we can walk away from The Law and forget what sins we need to change! The Bible too is a reflecting mirror and it also shows us the right way to go, and how to clean the rough spots.

I heard a story, which probably you have heard, of a man visiting the blacksmith shop, he was watching the blacksmith as he was working on a piece of gold, and he asked, "How do you know when the gold is done?" The blacksmith turned and smiled and said, "Oh, that's easy when I see my image in it I know that it is done."

Our heart is a mirror also, and all we see, do, hear, and everything else, decides what image will be there! If we meditate on God's Word, and pray, we will soon have the image of Jesus. And sometimes we have to pass through fiery trials, but when we are refined, Jesus will be able to see His image in us! And then, just like a mirror, we can reflect that light to others!

I want to be a mirror, don't you?

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Secret Key

Sometimes you just wonder, "What is the Secret?" And everybody knows that a key can unlock, so all we have to do is find the key to unlock the secret, right? Do you ever feel as I do, that you just have to know what is going on, especially when it seems as if everybody is talking about it, you just have to get in on the secret as well!
But what about the secret key for the Christian life? Is there one? I mean, nobody is perfect, right? But there just has to be a secret to it all, maybe I'm not looking deep enough. Or maybe, I already know and just can't figure it out! Like it's right in front of you, or something.

Hmm.... now where did I put those keys? Have you ever heard that before, I sure have! And I have helped them find them as well! :) Well I believe there is a key to the Christian life as well. And it doesn't have to be a secret either! Everyone can know about it! All you need is a couple of "key" ingredients.



The first "key" that you will need is the Bible, the second "key" you will need is a relationship with Jesus (those quiet moments) with Him, and there is one more "key" that is absolutely essential, but I am not going to tell you till later; after all I wouldn't want to spoil the "secret of it all!"

We all talk about being converted, and being baptized. But then when we are around others we don't act like Christ! I have often wondered, "What is wrong with me? After all I am supposed to be like Jesus!" But then once again I slip and fall right back to where I was before! How frustrating!

Well I won't keep you suspense any longer... the "Secret Key" is prayer! The Bible says "Pray without ceasing," and Ellen White has these words to say, "Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power. No other means of grace can be substituted and the health of the soul be preserved. Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the Wellspring of life, and strengthens the sinew and muscle of the religious experience. Neglect the exercise of prayer, or engage in prayer spasmodically, now and then, as seems convenient, and you lose your hold on God. The spiritual faculties lose their vitality, the religious experience lacks health and vigor...." {Pr 12.4}

So as you can see the true secret of the Christian life is... Prayer! And we often times forget that we should pray, I would highly suggest reading the book called Prayer, by Ellen White, it is so encouraging!





Remember the other "keys" as well, but in order to have that relationship with Jesus you must Pray! Just make sure you don't "lose" these! And tell the "Secret" to others, I am sure they would be wanting to know what the secret is all about!

It is when we forget to pray, that is when we fall! So I'll pray for you and you can pray for me. This is one secret you can share!