Meaningless! Meaningless!

Do you ever get wrapped up in your day to day task? I know I do and I have come to realize how meaningless these tasks are if I am not doing them in the love of Christ. This became apparent when I read the first chapter of Ecclesiastes.

1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”

3 What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
    nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.

Wisdom Is Meaningless

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
    what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
    the more knowledge, the more grief.

Although reading this may sound depressing, in reality God is just telling us to work for him. To do our daily tasks involving God and to honor him. In this chapter Solomon is looking back on his life and warning believers to make the mistakes he had made. Our earthly life and decisions are pointless if they do not involve God.  God should be the center of our life. God knows the plans he has for us and wants us to honor him through our actions. I encourage you all to take the time to consult God and ask him to direct you to live a life consumed by him. Without our life focused on God we can not fulfill the mission he has planned for us. How are you living our daily life focused on God??

Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. -Psalm 119:113

Lots of Love,

In the moment

In our hustle of a life, I see so many individuals focusing on their phones. Even myself, I have so many commitments that I am constantly checking my email, writing a blog, check social media for pages I run. I am guilty as well of not putting my phone down when I should. Unfortunately when we live like this we are not living our life to the fullest. We are becoming consumed by the media and it is having an affect on our relationships. We are more conscious about checking social media and texting our friends then talking to our family. What if your little sister has something important to tell you about her day, but she does not believe its important because she knows you’re “busy” with your phone? Just thinking that someone does not think what they have to say is important just makes me sad. Why are we allowing ourselves to be caught up in this virtual world? In twenty years no one is going to care how many Instagram likes we have and who posted what on twitter. What is really going to matter is the relationships we have built with other people. I just can not imagine passing on relationships I have made just because I was texting someone else. What if you were on your phone and you current best friend walks by? You did not say hi or how are you because you were consumed in social media. You never know when someones last moment may be so take the time to spend with them.  Take the time to talk to your grandma, ask your sister how her day was and spend time with your friends without your phones. So my advice for my generation and even the younger generation is, get off your device, it will be there when you are done. Live in the moment with your friends and family. When you get this mindset you start to see how long you actually spend on your phone and the moments you are missing.

Sing praise to the Lord, you holy one of his. Give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” -Psalm 30:4-6

Lots of Love,

Holey Bible

You are faced everyday with a choice when looking at the Bible. Are you going to choose to believe the whole scripture or are you going to only believe bits and pieces? If you only choose parts of the Bible we are using faith to consciously believe that the Bible is not there. We are choosing to ignore parts of the Bible, that apply to our life. The part may be a temptation, life event or even a belief that you are not comfortable with and choose to ignore the reality of the issue. God wants us to come to him and share our burdens. He does not judge if we sin, but we need to make a conscious effort to know him through the entire Bible. A church service I attended used this topic in one of their sermons. The pastor started ripping apart an “old Bible” (told us later it was an encyclopedia) and taking out the parts that we intentionally choose to ignore. If you continue to live your life in way that you pretend a part of the Bible is gone, you no longer have the Holy Bible. We have a Bible that is holey and no longer is fulfilling the word of Christ. How many pages do you have to rip out to get the gospel you want to believe? God is giving you this life to tell others about Jesus and his sacrifice. God tells us to spread the good news to those who have not heard. (Mat.28:19) He wants you to be a disciple of his word, but how can you do this if you are not whole heartedly committed to him? How will the world hear about Jesus if you do nothing? As Christians we need to tell the world about the whole scripture, not just the parts we enjoy. So ask yourself have you embraced the whole Gospel or do you have a hole in  your Bible?

How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” -Romans 10: 14-15

Lots of Love,

You Are Dust

Today marks the beginning of the Lenten season. The next forty days of humbling ourselves and reminding ourselves the love of our Lord. We get marked with ashes to remember that we were created from dust and we will return to dust.  I have always seen this process as such a humbling experience that God gave his life for US. Like for us human beings that sin again and again, but he still forgives us. How awesome is that???? Ash Wednesday is a common tradition that many Christians practice during the Lenten season. Many of us Christians during this time like to “give up” certain habits, but I like to take a different approach. As I have already gotten asked “What are you giving up for lent?” as people look at the cross blatantly marked on my forehead, I like to tell them I am adding something to my life instead. I have decided to only add positive words to my vocabulary and daily thoughts. In a sense I am letting go of negative thoughts and comments, but adding a world of positivity in my life. As you go through this Lenten season, ask yourself how can you show Christ’s love? How can you humble yourself as a Christian? What if you are the only Christian a person has met? How would that affect them? As you continue through lent keep these questions in mind and remember that You are Dust and Dust You Shall Return.

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust will return. -Genesis 3:19

Lots of Love,

Temptation vs. Christians

   Temptation arises in all people and believers of Christ. As Christians we need to immerse our selves in Christ’s scripture and use prayer to fight off the devil. By using prayer we are establishing a relationship with God and allowing him to use us as his disciples. Becoming God’s disciples allows
God to be above us and be our authority. When thinking about the actions and words of temptation the verse Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind.  The verse says “In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” This verse comes to my mind because the devil wants us to give in and rush aspects of our lives. We are human, but need to realize that nothing is a surprise to God and he will place us where he wants us. We need to establish a relationship with God by thwarting off the devil and using prayer. Recognizing what God is doing in our lives will help us strive to walk closer with God.
    One of my professors has published a book called Partnering With the King and he takes this subject of temptation head on.  Dr. Hiigel makes a point to state  “Power achieved through selfish ambition competes with God.” During my first couple months of college I  have constantly seen students who are trying to succeed and gain “power” over their social lives. Unfortunately, these students are not walking with God, but essentially competing with him. This is counterproductive to God’s work in our story, but instead Christian students we should magnify his name. Indulging in temptation degrades our morals and character. Rather we should channel God and show nonbelievers what it is like to be loved by God. What if you were the only Christian the nonbeliver had ever met and you were not acting Christlike? We need to humbly adjust to new ways and paths of life that God has to offer us. The closer we become to God the easier temptations are to resist. God’s power and only his power will direct our life free of temptation.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. -James 4:7

Lots of Love,

Grandparents

        This past summer I was able to travel all over the United States. One trip I took was a cruise to Alaska with my 81 year old grandma. I did not realize how blessed I was to do this until I returned home. After this trip, I realized I have been taking my grandparents for advantage. When talking to my friends I realized that most unfortunately do not have their grandparents around or in their lives.
        During August I passed up an opportunity to attend a get together with my other set of grandparents. Sadly, I never got a next time with my grandpa. He unexpectedly passed away the next week. I regret not going to visit him that previous weekend and smiling at his contagious laugh. God blessed me with another angel, but I wish I had one last time with him.
        I do not want to take my grandparents or great grandparent for granted anymore. So, during the past few months in college I have taken up writing to each grandparent when I am thinking about them. This small task can completely change how their day and week is going. To know that someone still cares about them. I don't want them to feel lonely in their last years of life. Even if when you talk to them they tell you the same thing that they told you the week before. Smile and just know they love you so much.
         These past few days I have also received the opportunity to be able to trace my ancestry. I have not ever known much past my great-grandparents, so this was a unique experience for me. I found myself wanting to know more and more about my history. I began wanting to meet these relatives and have them tell me stories of their lifetime. I then realized I still have relatives around to tell me everything about their life. It is just taking the time to sit down and actually listen to them.
        Another option I have had to be able to reach out to my grandparents is my prayer list. I write down the people I want to pray for on a certain day of the week. When that day arrives I text or call the person and ask them how they want me to pray for them. This simple task of just calling your grandparents may me intimidating at first, but I tell you it is completely worth it. Reach out to them and let them know that you still care. Change their mind about the way our generation is perceived.
       Thank you to my grandparents for always loving me and giving me constructive criticism. I experienced my fair share of loss in my life, but I am not ready to let go of my grandparents. I am so grateful for God for giving me these opportunities to share my life next to them.

I have loved you with an everlasting love. -Jeremiah 31:3

Lots of Love,