Thursday, December 20, 2012

A Day To Remember...

In five days the world will begin what is known as Christmas. People place lights all around and exchange gifts with each other, it's a day to spend with family and friends. The world has made this holiday very commercialized. How, you may ask, does this have to do with a day to remember? If you will hang in there with me, you will soon find out. =)



Christmas was made a holiday to commemorate the birth of Jesus, since no one knew His exact date of birth, the government selected December 25th as the day the world would commemorate it. Scholars have figured out that Jesus was most likely born sometime in the fall, September to the beginning of October, but most everyone commemorates the birth on December 25th.



The world has changed that holiday by putting a fictitious character called Santa Claus in the mix of everything, who lives in the North Pole and has a workshop and reindeer that fly and elves who help him out. The world has made the holiday to be more geared toward giving gifts to each other, and just plain busyness.



So many people are so busy worried about getting stuff for Christmas and the hustle and bustle that it contains, they don't take time to smell the roses, or if you live in a cold state, feel the snowflakes falling! They don't get to spend time with the ones they love, they just worry about what a big hassle it is.



I believe that this time of year should really be focused on what we could do for others, who could we bring cheer to, is there a family in need that could use something that you have, or why not sing to some shut in elderly. Instead of wasting our time and money buying things that we never use or need, why not buy something for someone else that you know they could use.



You could also make a special thank offering to the One who came down to this Earth long ago. He is the One who we should remember at this time of the year, we should once again thank Him for making such a huge sacrifice to come down to this dark and sinful planet, so that we could be saved.



Yes, this is the day that the world remembers as Christmas, but this year try not to think about the worry or get caught up in the excitement, try and do something for someone in need. After all Jesus came down to this Earth because we did have a need, and that need was a Savior!



I want to remember others and the true meaning of Christmas, don't you?



P.S. Happy Holidays! =D


Thursday, December 13, 2012

Feeling The Wind

One of my favorite things to do when it is windy out is to throw out my arms and let the wind blow! Many people ask, how do you know God is real? I like to tell them, it's like the wind, you don't know that it is there, but you can feel it's presence. God is like this, we can't see Him but we know He is there by the things He does in our lives.



 When Jesus was here on this Earth, right before His ascension to heaven, He told His disciples that He would send the Comforter. Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, it is because of the Holy Spirit that we can feel God's presence in our lives.



The Holy Spirit tells us when we are doing things that aren't right, or gives us suggestion we could do to make someone else happy. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Godhead, they are three different people but they work together as one. 



Like the wind we can't feel His presence but we know that He is working, each one of us could tell stories of how He maybe rescued us from an accident, or worked a different kind of miracle in our life. He is the one who puts peoples lives in our paths so that we can share the truth with them. 



Wind will come and go where it pleases, it works in mysterious ways. The Holy Spirit works like that on a soul, it comes and begins the gentle working of breaking the heart of stone and revealing the heart of flesh that is beneath. 



When we are sad or when we are happy He is their and telling our sorrows and our joys to Jesus. He is like a translator for us. =)  

Sometimes the wind is strong and seems to blow everything apart. The Holy Spirit sometimes has to work with us the same way, we may not like how He is dealing with us and we may resent it, but if we give into His loving ways, He will lead us back to a calmer direction. 



I love to feel the wind, but I also want to feel God's presence in my life, don't you? 


Thursday, December 6, 2012

Language of Canaan...


The language of Canaan, doesn’t the very name sound wonderful? I want to learn this language more than any other. This is the language of heaven, the name Canaan, refers to the Promised Land – the one that is to come. Only those who are saved by the blood of the Lamb and have accepted Jesus can talk this pure language. The question is though; can we prepare and start talking it now?




I believe that we can start right now to speak heavenly language. We can do this by watching what we say, but you may ask how do I do this? Good question, hopefully I can answer it for you. =)

When we say things that are mean or cutting down to someone it can hurt that person’s feelings. By watching what we say to others is one way we can speak that language. When we say kind things and kind words and compliment people, it not only makes that person feel good but it makes us feel a lot better as well.



But there is more to it than by just saying kind words. We must not speak vulgar words, or in other words, swear words; but there is also something else we should watch as well. We should be careful and not use slang words as well. We must say what we mean and use words properly. This is heavenly language… now; you may ask what do you mean by slang words? I will do my best at answering that.



Lots of people use words very loosely now-a-days, saying things like ‘yo, dude, cool, totally, so on and so forth.  These words are some of the slang words that are used today. I try and imagine if Jesus or the angels would speak that way to each other. For me personally I can’t imagine the angels saying to each other, “Dude that is so totally cool!” Can you?



By using words properly we are speaking heavenly language, instead of using cool as meaning you like it, you could just say, “I really like that!” Or, “Wow, that is really something else!”

At first it might be really hard, and you will catch yourself saying those words, because it is a habit and you are used to it. I remember when I first learned that those words where slang, it was really hard to stop saying them, but I paid attention and had other people who would tell me, hey you said it, so that I could make sure that I wouldn’t say it anymore. I realized that I wanted to speak heavenly language, and now hearing other people say those words it just seems strange. =)



Read what a well-known author has to say about this.

Weed out Every Careless Word—Remember that by your words you shall be justified, and by your words condemned. The tongue needs bridling. The words you speak are seeds sown, which produce fruit either good or evil. Now is your sowing time.

The good man, from the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things. Why? Because Christ is an abiding presence in the soul. The sanctifying truth is a treasure-house of wisdom to all who practice the truth. As a living spring it is springing up unto everlasting life. The one who has not Christ abiding in his heart will indulge in cheap talk, exaggerated statements, that make mischief. The tongue that utters perverse things, common things, slang phrases, that tongue needs to be treated with the hot coals of juniper.—MS 17, 1895.



At times the follower of Christ may by circumstances be compelled to witness scenes of unholy pleasure, but it is with a sorrowful heart. The language is not the language of Canaan, and the child of God will never choose such associations. When he is necessarily brought into society that he does not choose, let him lean upon God, and the Lord will preserve him. But he is not to sacrifice his principles in any case, whatever the temptation. {2SM 127.1}



The Language of Canaan—We are to be witnesses for Christ; and this we shall be when we grow up daily into the full stature of men and women in Christ. It is our privilege to grow more and more like Him every day. Then we shall acquire the power to express our love for Him in higher, purer speech, and our ideas will enlarge and deepen, and our judgment become more sound and trustworthy, while our testimony will have more of life and assurance. We are not to cultivate the language of the earthy, and be so familiar with the conversation of men, that the language of Canaan will be new and unfamiliar to us.—Sons and Daughters of God, 72



Your words are to be an expression of His sympathy. You are to speak the language of Canaan. You are no more of the world. You have come out from the world, and you are to be separate from its methods and practices. In word and action you are to reveal God’s purposes of love. {TDG 270.3}



Students, educate yourselves to speak in the language of Canaan, the language spoken in the heavenly school by the members of the royal family. Sternly determine to put away all foolish talking and jesting, all selfish amusements. By faith grasp God’s promises, and determine that you will be Christians here below, while preparing for translation. {RH August 27, 1903, par. 21}



I want to learn more and more each day to speak in that heavenly language, don’t you?