This is Your Life, Are You Who You Want To Be?

Life... it's a crazy misinterpreted word. What does "life" to you, really mean? 

Does living to you consist of sitting on your couch day to day? Does watching Ellen & re-runs of Oprah get you by? Does opening a bag of chips and eating them all get you places? 

Does staying in one spot for months get you farther? 

God wants us to pursue life, love it and work hard to praise him through it. 

It can be so easy to just put God aside for those around us, objects, habits and addictions. 

But when we pursue life, work hard and love The Lord; life can be very fulfilling & it allows us to show others Gods deliverance. 

If we sit at home bored for hours, why not spend that time changing the world? Use what you do for fun be a way of praising God, allow what is a habit be done for good & let the people you spend hours with see a change in you, let them see Christ in you, no matter if they know it's him, or they just see your smile and positivity through hard situations. 

This is your life, are you who you want to be? Is this what you dreamed your life to be? Are you doing what you love, living for Jesus and changing those around you, or are you letting life pass you by? 

I really don't like thinking Christians sit at home just simply loving Jesus, instead of being out and making a difference. You know the joy God brings, you see what he has done for you; do you not want others to experience the same & have Him for eternal life too!? 

Romans 12:12 says: 

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation,

 be constant in prayer" 

Times in our life when we feel like it's a dry season, like we're sitting at home with our bag of chips in your hand & you're letting life pass you by; be constant in prayer, rejoice in his hope, and patient in hard times. God will come, you also have to take the steps to move forward though. 

what do you think it would be like? Looking at your life from the eyes of another? Would you know you did a good job & be proud or do you think you'd wish you'd done better? It's easier to change the way you look at it now, than regret not making a difference later.

So pursue life, work hard & be the example of Jesus & what He did for us. 

This is your life, be who you want to be.  

Challenge: Apathy

One question I'm aching to ask is: what makes our generation so apathetic? 

For those of you who don't know the word, it is defined by Wikipedia as: the absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical and/or physical life. 

People are often apathetic about their eternity and are only focused on fulfilling their present happiness. "Because that's all that matters"

Being apathetic about the things that matter most in life is directly detrimental to you, your future, and your eternity.

God wants our focus to be on our eternity, not on temporary pleasures.

 When we set our hearts on the present, in the right way, we realize Jesus is enough, God is enough for us, and having an active relationship with Him is all we truly need in this life.

Apathy is hard to control, and someone once asked me if it is controllable--or "can we control how much we care?"
So my question to you, is can we?

God is not a God of apathy, rather He is a God of action, and He's actively pursuing us.

Hebrews 11:6

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

you want to take the focus off of yourself, and whatever reasons you have for being apathetic, whether they're conscious or not

and put that focus on God

because He is a God that demands action from you

to have a growing relationship with himself. 

If you believe in Him and take the action to accept Him into your life in order to  have a living, breathing relationship with Him, not only will you no longer be apathetic, but you will also experience His blessings.

I  really want to thank my best friend Megan Huppe for helping me with this weeks, it was a lot to work on together. Through it we managed, and came up with what we thought was best for you all to read. My dad gave me a good challenge this week, I really hope my work payed off. Thanks again Megan, and to all who read- it really does mean the world to me. :)
God Bless,
    - Victoria!

Sharing My Heart:

God uses the best of us to go through tough situations where we can speak out our testimony, whether it be addiction, a life or death situation or a story that changes us all. 
Our faith can be shaken more than the thunder shakes our skies. 
When we decide to let God be our leader and not ourselves our story will be much more of a happy ending. 
With me, the hardest part in my life right now is knowing that physical aspects are much less important than emotional and mental connections. 
But the hardest thing in trusting in God, is firstly knowing hes there. 
He has a plan for your life, whether slipping up and realizing whats more important in life is the lesson, or just letting experiences teach you whats right- He knows your heart. 
In my favourite book of the Bible, Psalms 17:5 says "My steps have held fast to your paths, my feet have not slipped" 
Gods plan for you never goes astray, in bad situations  he is there- through terrible days- he is there. 
There are days I doubt he even knows I exist, especially when I mess up and feel like he won't forgive me. Like I've done something so bad that God has had enough of forgiving me, so he stops. Thing is, he's forgiven you already; he's cast our sins into the depths of the sea. It is God saying: "I have sunk your sins to the bottom of the ocean and there is no way you're getting there." Just picture how far down the Titanic is, God has pushed our sins below that ship and set us free. Our love for him and our hearts desire is so much more than holding onto what God has already cast away!
So quit saying you're not worthy, that you aren't forgiven. Because there is no sin in this world that God cannot forgive, there is no man that has gone too far to be saved. 
As far the East is from the West, you are forgiven. AMEN! 

Luke 7:36-49 is an amazing story, and I recommended you read it. 

Video that inspired today's entry: http://youtu.be/IT8uhx-A5ag 

Frustration in yourself, & what to do.

Recently I have noticed a vibe in myself that isn't exactly positive. I've stooped to a lower level of attention for God & i haven't been giving him fully what he deserves of me. Which is everything, he deserves me every moment and needs my love to be shown to others.

Weakening in your Christian walk is easy, but what's hard is stepping back up and knowing what's best for you. Which all along this ride I have tried to hard to push back into Gods loving and open arms, but have noticed I prefer the worldly aspect of things, which tears me apart. 

Needing Gods strength is like asking for the impossible to happen, at least it feels that way. You pray for strength, you pray for the pain and heartache to go away & yet you still find yourself in sin! 

You want Gods love to shine through you, and to just be happy~with him in the picture, but it's so hard when you have people around you who are so easily happy and they don't have Jesus to thank. 

I mean they do, they just don't realize it. 

I hate feeling so caught and so trapped like this, and not knowing which direction to face and stick on is nauseating, and exhausting. My heart is in two different spots and all I want is the best for me. 

So I pray and ask all of you for God to do a work in me, that helps me see there is so much more in this life than letting the world over take you; I need stability and I need Gods reassurance that everything will work out, and his plan is better than mine- because IT IS. 

Trying to control your own fate is so not worth it in the end & I know I'll quickly learn that. I just pray for help in my life, for me to see and live out what I need to for God to be strongest in my life. Because the last thing I want to be doing, is trying to teach all of you what's best when I'm not living it out myself.

it pains me to admit these things, but what Christian doesn't have a dry season? 

#pleasepray

Sincerely, 

      Victoria. 

We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight

        What is the definition of FAITH?

Wikipedia states that it is: A belief, trust or devotion in something/somebody- especially without logical proof. It also says it is: trust in God, belief and devotion to God.

Having faith is probably one of the most difficult things to have 100% of. But God knows that, He says that with little faith; we can move mountains (Matthew 17:20)
One of my favourite verses in scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We walk by faith, not by sight."
We walk in  life not by what we see, but what we put our trust into. People can be blind, have faith & walk perfectly clear through life. Being blind doesn't mean you can't see. But you cannot walk in life without a version of faith, no matter if its in yourself, an idol, or the supreme father; God.

Hebrews 11:1 

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." 

Being sure of something and believing in it is having faith, how many of us do that daily- how many of us really have faith in ourselves and other people, or in Christ? 

I've come to realize that the world comes with satisfactory, not satisfaction. 

It seems to think it will satisfy you, only to let you down. 

So I stopped relying on the world to hold my every need & relied on God to be my anchor & my life has been much more of walk than a run. 

When your faith is shaken, when you're at a point in your life when you're so ready to give up; the littlest of your faith that comes out will change your life- the littlest of faith can move a mountain. If that's possible with God, what isn't?  

• Titus 1:2

  "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time," 
  Hope is not wishful thinking, it's confidence that the things God has promised will happen. God never lies. it's against His nature, therefore it's impossible for Him to lie! (Hebrew 6:18) 
  
  
  Your faith in God, devotion to his love and hope in your life will bring you more satisfaction than the sweetest taste of honey this world could ever give you. 
  If you give your faith to God today, it could be the littlest spring of it... if you give him the chance, he will always find ways to please you like no one else can. 
  
  
  Cause when the world says you can't, it'll tell you that you can. 
  
  
  Kutless | What Faith Can Do: http://youtu.be/u1JBSQMkQEo

Understanding Parents

In the Bible it talks plenty on parents, honoring them, obeying them, listening to them, loving them, the list goes on- but does it really get into specifics of how on earth to deal with them!?
Their rules, commandments, expectations, the endless chores and crap we have to do!?

If you Google right now "Bible verses on being a parent" you'd get Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
And "Bible verses on how to be a child to our parents" it gives us verses like Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."
Pretty simple stuff right? "honor and listen to each other cause it's right".. where's the good stuff? the "How do I deal with it when my mom makes me do the dishes & I don't want to, but I have to because she asked?"
yeah I wish there was a logical answer to that, or even a scriptural one but fact is God wants us to honor our father and mother because it is good to do so. It doesn't mean you're un-holy and degrading when you don't do the dishes one night, it just means you need to find other ways to honor them.

In dealing with their "endless, endless lists" we have to give them honor and we have to give them grace because they were put in the position to be our parents, to raise us to be who we're becoming. But when do we stop "becoming"? I like to think of it as they never really stop raising us, we just stop letting them.  Our parents will always be who we are, and will always be the ones who loved us more than anyone ever could.

I know with my family, dishes are a large war a lot of the time. Because it's an obvious thing everyone sees, we use it against each other a lot & it can cause a lot of tension. It's easier to say "just do it" than it is to actually do, but when you realize you're doing one thing in your day to help the ones who do everything for you, it makes more of a difference and it feels a lot better to do.

The way I was raised, the limitations I have now, the access to things I had when I had them are actually insane to realize a first time parent did & came up with.
I mean when you think about it, your parents have never been parents to you before, and look where you're at.
Success is in your heart and a heart is in a home, my home is my family and my family is who has made me who I am. Being a parent is probably a hard task, but when it's stops being a task and becomes your life & teaching them life it stops being a job, it's just who you are.

As for being a someone's child, we need to honor and respect them, because they have been through this stuff and it is important to know that you can learn from their mistakes and you're aloud to make your own; but they just want the best for you. 
My parents taught me to really go after what I want, love others as God loves me and live the right life for The Lord.
I have expectations to follow, but they don't expect me to be perfect and they love me even when I'm not.

As for if you're a parent (you broke the "no parents" rule, by the way)
Let your kids always be themselves, make mistakes because they can't learn from being perfect- they learn from being taught, not forced and they love by example not always by experience. 
When I become a mom, in many many years from now; I want to know by the time their 18 that I did the absolute best that I could and I'm proud of them, but I'm also proud of myself as a parent, as well as my husband.

Families have their issues, trials and experiences. I hate the quote "at the end of the day" but I have to use it, at the end of the day they're my family and they have been the ones to be my example and best friends my whole life. I'll never take them for granted. 

I want to thank my parents for inspiring this weeks entry/ rant, and putting up with me all my life and understanding me more than ever. Love you guys! 

Pain & Trust

   Through the last 2 days I have been threw some pretty immense pain throughout my whole body. My neck, back, hips, and now even my legs are in pain and it's almost impossible to be in any position comfortably. 

I have been praying the past 2 days for God to deliver me from my pain & distress. it's hard not to expect it right away, especially when you're going through the type of pain that I am.

Psalm 111:7-8 says:

"The works of his hands are faithful and just; his precepts (commandments) are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness." 

Just goes to show, when I think God isn't there, when I feel like he doesn't care he's the one who ultimately does. His faithfulness is always with me. 

My body is in immense pain, I can fully trust The Lord but he isn't a musician for our pain; physical or not. 

trusting in him is knowing that no matter what in the end he will always provide for you, love you and bring you out of your weary time. 

Honestly I'm scared sometimes that my body is too messed up to fix, that I'm too broken to handle. But then God brings me Psalm reminders (56:3) "When I am afraid I put my trust in you" 

that's all it takes for me to know that God loves me, and I will soon be out of my pain. 

But it's not just because I'm waiting on his works, I have to take humanly steps to get out of my pain. Such as my chiropractor appt. - that's today.

 I pray that in your hard times, when you feel so weak and brittle & your trust in The Lord is severed that you find the strength to know he's the one who has never left and never will. We serve a God who loves unexpected endings... just wait for yours. 

God bless you!