Time Flies

We've all heard from our parents about how quickly time flies. I've never paid much attention to that statement until recently, time does fly by fast! it seems like just yesterday I was bouncing off the walls in excitement over finally reaching the big "1-0"!! finally hitting the double digits! That was a little over 6 years ago and that may not sound like such a long time but so much has happened in those few years!! so much time was wasted on me! on the things I wanted to do, liked to do, and enjoyed doing. Not that it's wrong to have fun or take care of yourself, we're supposed to take care of this temple, but we cant have this self-centered way of thinking, we are supposed to be servants after all.



We waste so much of this short life on vain pointless things and keep putting off the things that matter!! Like telling our younger brother "no. Maybe some other time" when he asks us to play a boardgame with him that we dont really like, or telling ourselves "I'll do the dishes without being told to help Mom out some other time when i don't have plans.", or telling ourselves "I'll call up my Grandparents sometime when I'm not so busy with other things."



That "some other time" we talk about may not be there later, may not be there tomorrow or the next day! James 4:13&14 says "come now, you who say, 'today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."


Life is short! We don't know how long we to spend time with our siblings, or to try to help ease our Mom's workload by helping her without being told. Job said in Job 7:7 "Oh, remembr that my life is a breath!" Just that quick and we're looking back on 6 years we've wasted, pretty soon those 6 years turn into 10, then 15, then 20 and so on and before we know it's too late.


We should be taking every oppertunity to to serve others especially our family, and make the most of ever bit of time that God gives us.

Blessings,

Jade

Thoughts for the new year

As we're coming to the end of the year, alot of people are talking about their New Years Resolution, something the want to do in 2008. The things I'm blogging about today, are things Christians need to battle and guard against not just in '08, but every year and every day.

My family recently received a catalog from a Christian bookstore, and as I looked through and saw all the Christian music arists, read about the books they were selling, and saw the movies the were advertizing and selling, I thought " what's happened?"
The Christian artists look just like the mainstream artists. By looking at them you would NEVER guess they were Christians. We've bought several books from a CHRISTIAN bookstore that were written by CHRISTIAN authors that we've had to throw away because of bad language, bad scenes, etc. Same thing with movies: bad language, bad scenes, immodest clothing.
CHRISRTIAN bookstores are advertizing and selling all this filthy junk!!
And what's worse is that we CHRISTIANS are buying that filthy junk.


There are people in the Church who, if you passed them on the street you would think they were anything but a Christian. Wearing tight, immodest clothes, and heay dark make-up.
They're watching all the same movies that their non-Christian friends watch, listening to the same music, and reading the same non-Christian, athiestic books. They're not doing what Romans 12:2 says: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Christians are conforming!!!!!!
We keep allowing a little more sin into our lives, and a little more, and a little more, and we think it won't have any affect on us! Proverbs 4:23 says "keep you heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." The Hebrew word for diligence is mishmar, meaning guard and watch. So, if we fill our hearts with sin, then what will flow from our hearts are things that God hates. But. if we fill our Hearts with God's word and things that are pure, then things that are pleasing to God will flow from our hearts.

Christians are not supposed to blend in with the world. We're suppose to be the light of the world! Our lives are supposed to reflect the Good News about Christ (phillipians 1:27).
But, instead of being lights and reflecting the Good News, we try to "sugar coat" everything. We try to be Christians AND please the world at the same time. Matthew 6:24 says "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other...."


We can't stradle the fence! We need to love and serve God whole heartedly.
Titus 1:16 says "They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work."
We're supposed to reflect God in all that that we do, from the inside out, in every area of our lives, all the time!

My family is very careful about what we watch, read, listen to, and wear.
But, sometime I find myself trying to please God AND the world, and I also see that I'm not always reflecting the Good News in every area of my life.
These are things that, with God's help I'm working on and battling every-single-day.
It's easy to go with the flow of the world, but it's hard to do what God wants and what is pleasing to Him, when the whole world is telling you to do something different.



We need to strive to please God and not the world, and we're going to have to stuggle with this every day because satan is prowling around like a roaring lion, waiting for someone to devour and he will do anything to make us serve him and not God, he will use things in this world to lure us away from God, so we need to ask God to guard our hearts and help us say "no" to the world.

I know this is a long post and I'm sorry if it's too confusing, if you have a question about something I said please feel free ask me in a comment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


God Bless,
Jade

Making Good Choices

A few days ago my friend sent me this email and I thought it would be good to post it.

MOVIE ALERT!!!!!

Today, on December 7th, a new movie has been released. It looks cool, and harmless enough, but it is BAD.
It is called "The Golden Compass", and it is against God and the church, and it is atheistic,
and the guy who wrote it said that its purpose is to plant in the hearts of children that there is no God.
We know better, but many others will not.
"The Golden Compass" is the first part of a trilogy, which ends in a boy and a girl "killing God".
The movie was purposefully released at the beginning of the Christmas season, which is Christ's birthday. It is also the exact opposite of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", with the opening scene of a 12-year-old girl hiding in a wardrobe and going into a different world.
In this movie demons and witches are the good guys and the church is represented as evil.
It points to The Fall as redemption of mankind, instead of its downfall.

Help let Hollywood know that we will not stand up to this.
Forward this to everyone in your address book.
Hopefully, this boycott might be heard.

"GOLDEN COMPASS" POINTS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!!!!

We need to guard against things like this and avoid them like Paul told Timothy in

1 Timothy 6:20. This movie does point in the wrong direction and the sad thing is that there are alot of other things that point in the wrong direction like bad movies, games, music, ect., that "Christians" are watching, playing, and listening to! Some of the very things we need to guard against!

In James 5:16b it says that "The effective , fervant prayer of a righteous man avails much."

We need to fervantly pray that they won't meet the goals they have for this film, and others like it.