A Mess of thoughts

Why is it that when we get on facebook we are quick to 'like' status' bout drama & other things but not so much about Jesus? Or when we're happy the first person we tell is our boyfriend, or our bestfriend? It's not God. One of the things I've really been working on is putting God first, in ALL circumstances. It's easy to forget about God when we think everything is going right because thats when we feel like we need don't need God. We're quick to be like "God I need you" when times are rough & when bad things happen to us/people we love but thats it. How often do we go to God first when we're happy? It just doesn't happen that way most of the time. I know I'm guilty of this too.
Its about a relationship with God & thats pretty insulting, don't you think? No one likes to be used. You don't only talk to your best friend when somethings wrong. No, you talk to them all the time & you spend time with them. God wants that too. By praying, going to church, & reading the bible is all ways that you can spend time with God. Or.. it's easy for us to be like God, help this & help that & do this & do that but all we're basically doing is telling God what we want & not that it's always bad to pray about things you want but I've learned a lot from the past that-- I don't & won't always get what I want. God has the plans for me & I'm continously learning to submit to what he would have instead of what I would have.

Well these are some of my thoughts for the day.. I might add more later or something but for now this is it.

Reasons why I follow Jesus.

1. He died on the cross for me.
2. He was beaten for me.
3. He conquered sin.
4. He conquered Satan.
5. He is perfect.
6. I love him.
7. He loves me uconditionally.
8. He keeps his promises.
9. His ways are better than mine.
10. He will never leave/forsake me.
11. He made Heaven for me to live with him.
12. He answers prayers.
13. He knows everything.
14. He is everywhere at the same time.
15. He is my Savior.
16. He was human like me.
17. He had feelings just like me.
18. He never gave into temptation.
19. He teaches me how to live.
20. He gave me the Holy Spirit to help me.
21. He protects me.
22. He outcasted demons.
23. He healed the sick.
24. He walked on water.
25. He feed the 5,000.
26. He turned water into wine.
27. He is Mighty.
28. He is powerful.
29. He created me.
30. He inspired the bible.
31. He has plans for me.
32. He never changes, he is the same everyday.
33. He saved me from my sin.
34. He forgave/forgives me.
35. If he starts a work in you, he will complete it.
36. He deserves to be worshiped.
37. He gives me strength.
38. He helps me through hard times.
39. He has changed me & is continuing to change me.
40. He is real.
41. He made everything.
42. He is simply amazing.
43. He uses everything for his glory.
44. He is better than any sin.
45. He is eternal.
46. He is holy.

I'm sure there's more but I'm gonna stop here.. (: might add more laterrr.

Lord forgive me...

I know that I have hurt God the most & this one of the 'note' pages on facebook for forgiveness so I decided that I would do this one...

HeavenlyFather,

forgive me for the times that I get preoccupied, for the times when I feel like doing things my own way & do not stop to think about what you would have me to do.
Forgive me for the times that I can't seem to love someone else. I know that you love & have created everybody but sometimes I don't see people the way you do. The times when I gossip because some people just aren't easy to love.

Forgive me when I worry because I know that I have little faith by doing so. Forgive me when I don't pray as much as I should or read my bible enough because I've found something else that I think would be better use of my time. I know that spending time with you is the most important thing though. Forgive me when I am grumpy & impatient, forgive me when I'm not a very good witness to someone else because of something I did or said. Forgive me when I procrastinate on things because I know that it doesn't glorify you.

I thank you for loving me because I know you didn't have to. I thank you for always forgiving me even though I know I don't deserve it. I thank for sending your son to die on the cross because you didn't have to that for us. We deserve to go to Hell but you loved us so much.

Music.

One of the things that I have learned over the past year is that what you listen to does matter. I use to think that music was harmless. It has a good beat so why not listen to it? If you think that way, well I did too.
As a christian I felt as if God was convicting me of this. 400 songs on my ipod & pretty much none of them were christian songs. I thought this is really wrong. How can I be a christian & not even listen to songs that lift Christ up on a regular basis? I'm not saying that ALL secular music is bad. I mean Taylor Swift is pretty awesome, I really like her music but its about being careful to what you listen to.
I started listening to Lecrae, Tedashii, & some other christian rappers & I thought wow, this is good stuff. Why should I listen to Lil wayne or Lady Gaga or whoever if I can listen to them with the same type of beats but just different lyrics. I get tired of hearing about sex, weed, and money in songs. If you're a christian & you love Jesus then why would you listen to a song that talks about how money is great & you'll do anything to get it? Or why would you listen to a song about sex when you know they're talking about it in a way that is against the way the bible talks about it ?
I don't say this because I've got it all figured out or because I'm smarter.. I say it because I struggle with it too. Music is one of the easiest things to fall into temptation with. Songs on the radio, songs in movies, and they have catchy beats. They are so easy to get stuck in your head.
Songs represent people and it seems like basic knowledge but Katy Perry use to sing christian / gospel music, but now she doesn't & theres more artists like that but now she sings.. well you know what she sings now. The point is some of her songs aren't too bad, like firework, there's nothing wrong with talking about how someone makes you feel & how they are special but from a big picture sense, I don't want to listen to that because she walked away from christian music. She'd rather sing for herself than sing about God. I have a problem with that. I'd rather listen to a song about how I have 99 problems & Jesus is going to solve them.
This is kind of a mix up of thoughts but its just something that I feel strongly about & I just thought I would share :)

If God is good, then why do people go to Hell?

I have heard people ask this for a long time & I decided that I would blog about it. Hell is a hard subject to talk about though. You may not want to believe that it is real & you may not want to believe what I'm about to say but for those who have had this question & want an answer this blog is for you.

We see from the bible that :

-Hell is a place of tornment (Luke 16:23)

-Hell contains fire that will never go out ( Mark 9:43)

-Hell is a place of intense sorrow (Matthew 13:41 & 42)

-Hell as a place of eternal punishment ( Matthew 25:46)

The first thing that we can see from the bible for a reason that people can go to Hell is because God is holy & we are not. Holiness is a part of God's character. God is perfect & he is the standard for what is right & wrong. So because God is holy, he can't have anything to do with sin. Most of you know the story of Adam & Eve, since they both took the apple & ate it we see that they could no longer be with God in the Garden of Eden. None of us are perfect. We lie to get out of things, we cheat on tests, only think of ourselves sometimes, & the list goes on. We change our minds but God never changes his. He is the same today, tomorrow, & many days after that. God is holy but he is also love. (1 John 4:16) The fact that people go to Hell might not seem fair to us but we are not holy like God is and we don't understand God or just how holy he is. So, those who refuse his salvation an eternal consequence.

God is eternal and he us for eternity. It is hard to understand but God has & always will be there. There was never a time when he didn't exist. In Ecclessiates 3:11it says that he has put eternity into our hearts. We were made to have a relationship with God, but our sinfulness gets in the way. Hell is a reality because of the fact that we are sinful.

So that doesn't exactly sound like what you want to hear? But God made a way out (John3:16) God loved us so much that he sent his son to die on a cross for us. So there is a way out. Maybe there is only one way but atleast there is a way. Because we were all sinners God could have sent us all to Hell right away because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but he didn't want that. He wanted us to be with him. Wow, do you know how amazing that is? Someone LOVES us so much that he would give up his son to die on a cross, to be beaten, have spikes go through his wrists & ankles, his legs were broken. He was in complete agony but he did that for me, & for you. The reality is that God doesn't reject people, people reject God. He could force us to worship him & allow us to get out of Hell but then he takes away our free will. Just like you want friends who want to be your friend because you are a great and worthy of being friends with God wants the same thing. He wants us to freely worship Him. He is a loving God and allows us to choose for ourselves. It is up to us whether or not we choose to accept God's free gift of salvation.

In my opinion I am so thankful that there is one way at all. God has done so much for us, why can't we worship him? because he is worthy of our praise! & God doesn't want anyone to go to Hell. I hope this helps (:

Ten Truths.

Ten Truths about me that you might not know...or you might, who knows? Depends on how well you know me (:

Truth #1 : I hate bugs.

Okay so some people can tolerate them but I just can't. I always run away from bees & wasps. My mom killed a bug for me just the other night because I didn't want to lol :(

Truth #2: I am a big procrastinator.

its something I am working on but for some reason I never feel motivated to do much of anything until the last minute. There are always those rare exceptions but most of the time I just put off everything!

Truth #3: I am addicted to four things.

1) Mountain dew. I just love it lol (:

2) Facebook. I spend wayy too muchh time on there but you probably have the same problem lol.

3) Christian Rap. Okay so if you don't know who Lecrae, Trip Lee, PRo, or Tedashii then you are missing out. They really know how to rap God's word & it really speaks to me. So if you see a post on facebook from me, its probably from one of them.

4) taking pictures. I like to remember things & the best way to remember them is through pictures. I'm not really a photographer or anything like that but I do like it. Getting cool pictures always excites me :)

Truth #4: I'm not a very good cook.

Just last night I tried to cook Patrick some eggs and what did I do? I cracked the egg outside of the skillet so it accidently went down the side of the skillet instead of in it. smh.. I need to work on this.

Truth #5: Family is SUPER important to me.

I may not always get a long with them but I don't know where I would be without them. My mom is like my backbone. She is always there to support me & give me Godly advice. My dad helps me financially & always gives me a good laugh. & my lovely sister Casey. I have already talked bout her but she really is great. I love all the rest of my family too, cousins, grandparents. I like being able to get together with them & have family time.

Truth #6: I have a big heart.

I care soo much about other people, and my feelings usually get hurt pretty easily. That part is what sucks about it, but the positive about it is that I care about people. I want to help. If you needed me at 3 in the morning, then I would be there trying to help with whatever I can. I relate to pain well, even if I haven't been through it. I wanna be able to be there for you.

Truth #7: I love Jesus with all my heart & I truly wish more people did.

Truth is, I use to think it was weird to say you loved God or Jesus. I use to think how could I really love Jesus? That's weird. But now I love him & I want to say it. I wish more people felt this way because even though being a christian isn't always easy. God is so much greater than sin. I'm not perfect though. I hate thinking about Jesus dying on the cross because it is so graphic but at the time time I love it because Jesus loved me so much!

Truth #8: Parkwood is my churchhhh :)

My friend Tyler & I came up with parkweezy haha. Don't ask, but thats our nickname for it. I love my church. I have been apart of it since I was born. It has helped me grow so much. I have a wonderful family there who support me and love me. I have great pastors who teach me the word.

Truth #9: I try to rap but I'm not very good at it.

I'm working on this, so maybe if I have a good enough rap one day you will hear it lol. But for now I just do it to be silly.

Truth #10: My favorite restaurant is O'Charleys.

They have AMAZING rolls & food. The End.

I'm already getting excited for next semester !

This is my schedule :)

Json - Pray For My City (City Lights Album) New Hip-hop Song 2010

I'm inlove with Jesus Christ & these people who write songs like this :)))