Rich in life!

If you have ever seen the very rich people in the world, they are lacking is several areas! Love, real family, and simplicity!
I have been living in a life a simplicity for some time, and I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have an amble supply of money and riches. I think I would go insane! I work hard for the money I do have, and its enough for me! But Christian, we are richer that anyone on earth because, we have an eternal place in God's kingdom, where we will live FOREVER!
It doesn't matter how much the rich people have in money, they will leave behind it all when they die, and if they die without Christ, they also lose something even more precious, their soul! Anyone in their right mind wouldn't choose eternal punishment over God's mercy! My family doesn't have much, but we have each other, and we have God! That is enough to pull us through life, as God will provide! Christian, we need to be rich in life, not in earthly things, cause truly, we will live forever! This time on earth is just a tiny section of our whole life, because we will never die in soul! Wow, doesn't that just give you goosebumps?! We are going to live forever! But where we spend eternity depends entirely on our choices during our short time on earth! Cause Christian, sin only lasts for a season!
The reason I post this is because too many people focus on becoming wealthy in earthly riches, while the real riches wait for us in the life after this! Christian, strive to be rich in eternal life, and how much more rewarding will the life after death be! God Bless and thanks for reading!

Joy never ending!

Joy is often confused with happiness, and though happiness can be the result of joy, it is not what joy really is!
In my own words, joy can only be described as an inner peace, some unseen assurance that everything will turn out alright in the end! In worldly terms, joy may often be the source of the reason for living, the reason to put up with everything terrible! Just some sick sense that it'll be just fine somehow! Joy however is very different in the Bible! Nehemiah 8:10 tells us how the joy of the Lord is our strength. After an easy search, I have discovered that joy is mentioned in the Bible 155 times, if not more! In my family we refer to the joy of the Lord, which we say, once we have it, we cannot lose it! Once we except Christ, we have a hidden joy, both in the sacrifice God made for us, so that we might live, and the future rule and reign of Christ! And a joy of leaving this troubled world, for the wonders of Heaven in God's presence! Like Nehemiah tells us, the joy of the Lord is our strength, and having this joy, means having the strength to go on, even in the trials we are put through that make us want to give us, the joy of the Lord will continually help us get back up and try again!
Just thinking that God is right there, just waiting to help us stand up again, like a father helping his child up from a fall, just makes my heart swell with how much our heavenly father loves us! God's love, makes our earthly parents love for us look like hatred in comparison!
Christian, the truth is, earthly joy and happiness can be taken away, proven time and time again by the instabilities of this sinful world! Joy is the one thing, once received in God, is something that can never be taken away! We can't leave the fate of our joy in the arms of earthly things, as these will fade in time, not matter how you try to preserve it!
That's why, to think of the future for us Christian, in our minds we are already dancing on streets of gold in God's kingdom! Just as our soul cannot be taken from us, so our joy in the Lord, can never be taken! So, next time you feel depressed and saddened by the evil of the world, remember Christian, THE JOY OF THE LORD IS NEVER ENDING! God Bless you all and thanks for reading!

The Finger Prints of God

Do you ever hear people say, Your crazy to think that God actually exists, look around you, I don't see anything to prove that God exists! Well Christian, that person is both physically and spiritually blind!
I love nature! The beauty I see there is amazing! The intricate design of a leaf, a plant, a flower. The physical fitness of a humming bird, a rabbit, a deer. The cunning of a fox, a snake, a raccoon. The majesty of mountains, streams, rivers, and forests. The design of the eyes, the ears, the heart! Or of the growth of a child in a mother's womb! Or the greatest thing God made for us, His word! Christian, God's finger prints are everywhere! And yet we see the thousands of people who deny that God had anything to do with it, and the fact that they would rather believe the "fairy tale" of evolution, calming that believing that God did it is far more far fetched, than believing we humans came into existence by implantation of an alien intelligence from other planets, or that the first cell piggy backed on the backs of crystals, and that the whole world was created in a gigantic explosion! Last time I checked, explosions don't organize anything, yet total disorder is to ensue! Christian, we don't need to bend to the belief, it doesn't even stand up to
God! Yes, we will never know where God came from, cause he is never ending and never beginning, he has always been! Our human mind can't fully grasp that, but at least we know, God is here! We see his work everywhere! And he gave us the ability of feelings, Love, Anger, Sadness, Joy, Peace, and he made us special, Male and Female, who can have special feelings for each other! God has given us more that we could ever deserve! We should be down on our knees praising God with all we are! Cause as we have pointed out, the last thing we want to do, is be blind! If we are to be true soldiers of God, we need to be believers of the truth!
The next time you look around you, be it at your home, outdoors, at work, or simply at yourself in the mirror, open your eyes, and see the Finger Prints of God! God Bless and thanks for reading!

Burning Fire!

When I was little, I said I believed in God cause, its what my parents said, and it was the right thing to say. The story goes I accepted God before I turned 5. But I never understood why I needed God, all I knew was, that's what the good people did.
My parents protected me from the sin of this world, by keeping me with them through out my life. Not to say that I didn't sin, but it was within the confines of my own home. It wasn't until I was 8 years old that I started to understand why I needed God, because of my sin, and that without him, I would go to hell! In my 8 year old mind, that was very scary! And now, almost 11 years later, the Holy Spirit is with me! My Father see things about me that I don't see all the time. I want to witness to people, and as soon as I start witnessing, I am no longer the Rachel I know, cause when I am witnessing, I can quote scripture, and I know just what to say, and in those moments of truth, I feel strong, like not one thing can touch me, even if the person I am witnessing to is angry enough to hurt me, I feel no fear! If that is not the work of the Holy Spirit, I surely don't know what is!
There is nothing like seeing a persons face transform through conviction! It gets me so excited! Makes me think...I HAVE A PURPOSE!!! I feel a fire in my heart for the lost souls of this world! What excitement waits for me if I do what God commanded me to do!
The whole point Christian is, I think that everyone has that burning fire for witnessing, cause, when you actually witness, its the most exciting and exhilarating feeling that will ever pump through your veins! God is telling you, Yes this is what I want you to do! The only way we can surely live for real, is to die to ourselves, and live for the Lord! Only then are we truly free!
Even at a young age, we want to know the truth! My first witnessing was amazing to me...the young man I witnessed to was so thirsty for the truth, and he listened so intently, that the Holy Spirit was just making me sweat with the excitement of having a dry, hungry soul right next to me!
Christian, we were created to serve the Lord, and to bring the lost to him, if we don't do that, we are throwing away our God given gift, and soon we will loose our abilities to witness, and we will need to relearn what God gave us freely! Christian, don't throw away your God given purpose, learn it, live it, Love it! God is just itching to see you pick up your sword, and fight the good fight! I hope that you are just as excited as I am to bring lost souls to God, but in order to do that Christian, we need to pick up our sword! So, learn it, and receive that wonderful feeling, a Burning Fire for the lost souls of the world! Thank you for reading and God Bless!

Set Free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone loves fellowship with friends and family that they love! My life has been lacking fellowship for so long, and I can't help sharing my new found love, in my new brothers and sisters in Christ at our humble gathering at Set Free! Its a building filled with love and praise for God and comfort for one another! This is where I am the happiest to be, with my friends! I have met so many new faces, all of them refreshing reminders of God's love for us! And to see some old friends, who have finally come to Christ, is amazing! How long we have prayed for them, now to see them worshiping God along side us!

God has truly blessed us with this gathering of true believers! Every Saturday we get together just to revel in the grace and mercy of God to the newly saved! To see the ruff characters of this world come to Christ, crying at the mercy of God, is enough to make you shout for joy! Pray for me Christian, as I strive to bring my lost friends at work to the Lord, and I pray I will be able to bring them here, to this small place of humble worship, and great fellowship! My Dad has long prayed for this is well, and he thanks God greatly for bringing us here!

Christian, everyone needs the fellowship of the faith to keep us going! We prayed for this gathering, and God provided! Have you prayed for your fellowship yet?! God is waiting! Thank you for reading and God Bless!

Well Done!

Who doesn't want to hear that they have done a good job?! Who doesn't want to know that they are good hard workers, and their work is appreciated?!
There is something about being praised that just make your heart swell and you feelings soar! You want to jump up and down, and just sing your so happy! And we all know what it feels like to not be praised....we loose all of our motivation, our heart sinks, and our attitudes become taunt, and sour.
Well Christian, we all love to be praised for a job well done! If we love to be praised by man, just think how much more exhilarating it is to be praised by God! To hear him say, Well Done my child, you have fought the good fight, you have kept my commandments, and have not denied my name! O if only to hear our heavenly father say that! How humbling that would be!
None of us are perfect Christian, we all stand under God and his laws! But if we strive for good, and follow God's work, truly, he will greet us with those words of praise, WELL DONE! (Matthew 25:21) God clearly states that if we do well, he will bless us! So Christian, stand strong in the ways of God, and strive to do well! God Bless and thanks for reading!

To be able to Look Ahead!

Do you ever wish you knew what the future held for you? Do you wish you knew what job you would end up with in the end after college, who your going to marry, or what kind of kids your going have, or even just being able to see that pay raise coming in the mail in a week!
We all at one point in time wish we had seen the future in order to prevent that terrible thing from happening!
You see Christian, if we had the ability to look ahead...we wouldn't rely on God! We would rely on our our wits and abilities in order to gain the outcome the we wish. Like on the movie Next, life would be way to predictable, and you would only ever rely on yourself.
I have wished countless times that I could go back in time, and fix those problems that cause me so much grief, but Christian, even when we can't see it, God lets things happen for a purpose! Either to save us from future danger, or to strengthen us in Christ that we might never leave his side. Whatever the outcome, God is there, watching out for you, he ever knows when you will die. Christian, 10 out of 10 people die, there is no way to prevent it, but we can determine in what form of spiritual growth we die. God is ever knocking on the door of your heart, like a lover waiting for his beloved, all he wants to do is hold you, comfort you, and protect you! All you need to do is open the door! You will grow spiritually only through God, so as my father so often has us quote, "Live your life in view of your death, because what matters on your death bed is what really matters in life." If we fear the outcome of our death, we are not saved Christian! Through God we gain peace of our death. I look toward my death with peace, like Paul, I have a desire to depart and be with God! And I will die when I am meant to, cause God knows all things! So no longer look ahead, but look up, toward God, who knows all, and will never leave you! God Bless and thanks for reading!

Until the Whole World Hears!

People are always out to get us, the size of our family is scoffed at, my parents declared insane, and us kids declared a real nuisance to the the parents. Its hard to live in a world where everyone scoffs at your family, at you, your looks, or where you work! But Christian, we have GOD! We don't need to fear sinful man anymore, we can fight the good fight! Who cares if the world doesn't like your family, GOD does! Who cares that the world doesn't like you, GOD does! Who's opinion matters more? Think about Christian, who's opinion do you care about more? For truly GOD's opinion matters more than any mortal man!

But we can still help the world, even if we be but a small part in the world! No matter how undeserving the people of this world may be, we are no different! Unless you are willing to judge yourself the way you want to judge others, don't judge! I have found myself judging others, but I have no room to talk!
What we need to do as Christians, is spread the word, the truth, and grace to those who are humbled by God's law. People are only truly convicted under the light of the law, and so we must first present the law, until the mouth is stopped, and then share the good news! Christian, we should not rest, until the whole world hears! For we will lay down the cares of this world, and pick up the Law of GOD! God speed to you Christian, speak the truth! Thank you for reading and God bless!

Best Friends are Wonderful!

Everyday God shows me how wonderful friends really are! They can never be replaced! If I had nothing of value in life, except friends, I know I could still go on! My friends make me feel special, important, smart, and blessed beyond all measure! My friends, Shannon, Andy, Lauren, Laura, Katrina, Gerard, Ming, Ruth, Lydia, Kelly, and all of my other friends are the best gift God could give me, besides my life, and my family! Everyday, I am greeted with a smile, or a sweet little message on windows live saying Good morning and how are you doing? And those awesome emails that tell me how much I am missed, or how excited that friend is to see me on my next trip! My friends know what to say when I am sad, or hurt, cause sometimes they know me better than my own siblings. When God gave us the blessing of friends, he knew what he was doing, and I will always thank God for his priceless gifts he gave to me in friends! Yes my friends, without God, and without you, my world would look very dark indeed! I want to personally thank you from the bottom of my heart, for being a friend to a sinner like me! I do not deserve you, but thank God he has blessed me all the same! A friend is one who will stand by your side, hold you when you cry, and tell you everything is going to be all right, and no matter what may come, your friend is sure to be your chum! Thank you God for the wonderfully blessing of my best friends, bless them to the full Lord, and never leave them! Thank you for reading and God bless!

Missing someone

Have you ever tried to forget something you considered bad, or something you considered good, or forget someone that used to be ever so special to you, that is still special no matter how hard you try to forget?!
I find the past comes knocking when life is at the height of stress and the tiredness of the soul. I have fought in vain, memories of lost loved ones, but to no avail! I can still see those people as clearly as the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening, and I pray everyday that God would make it all a bad dream, or that God would turn it all around, and cause conviction and faith of the Lord to make it beautiful again.
Not even all of these lost ones are dead, but are supposed to be dead to me, as I will never see them again. The pain I feel at losing a friend, or a family member, is something that causes me to go away into my own thoughts, where I don't have to try to hide my pain anymore.
2 and a half years ago, I lost 3 family members all within 3 months, the funerals opened my eyes to how unfair life really is, it is never going to be easy. The very next year after these funerals, I lost 2 of my loved friends with in a week, saying good bye was the hardest thing I have ever done.
You see Christian, God is always making sure that your eyes are on him at all times. He wants you to relay on him, not on other people, as I did with my loved one, I put that person in the place where they didn't belong. I thought of them always, and their name was the first to pass my lips often in the morning...so God took that person from me! I blame myself entirely, and as I turn my life back to God, I promise myself and God, I will never place a loved one in that place of importance again, cause I never again want to loose someone that special that way again! The faces of my dead and alive lost loved ones haunt my sight when my heart is sad, I can see them smiling, and sometimes I still can't believe they are gone, that I will see them again soon, and not never again as it is.
Christian, when you loose someone special, it will be hard! But you can stay focused on God, and the burden will lighten under his mercy! Call out to him in times of trouble! If the faces of lost loved ones fade, they are supposed to, but don't try to hard to remember, cause if you will see them again, that is a surprise for the future, one that only God can tell! Thank you for reading and God Bless!

The Cleaning Day

Do you ever have those days when you mom all of a sudden says, "Ok kids we are not going to do school today, we are just going to clean all day instead!" One pain for another right?! But it is still very rewarding.
We did do school yesterday, but right afterward we were off to work! One part of the work was to go through all of our stuff...I mean ALL of it! Clothes, toys, books, CD's, DVD's, and pictures! Whatever you did not deem worthy to stick around went into the trash, or give away! The only things I really got rid of was clothes, ones that didn't fit any more. Whatever I kept, I rearranged to look nice and neat. This is a picture of my lofted bed, after some remaking and hanging up some pictures! As you can see its my little get away, my tiny alcove where I can hide. It even has a plug in up there so I can take my lab top up there and watch a movie or play some games. After going through the things we had out, we then went through our spring clothes, even though with this snow storm, spring doesn't look any closer. I told my family that our friends who live down in the warmer places are jealous of our snow, and my sister Sarah said, "THEY CAN HAVE IT! Ha ha! I found that funny. We do have way too much snow! You have to at least have all your school work done, and you have gone through all of your belongings, and do your normal house work before your aloud to go and play with friends. Its alot of sacrifice, but if you want to have friends over, its worth it!
I had a great time with my friend Katrina yesterday, and sounds like we are going to get back together today, another snow in day, but school is still here for us home school kids, unfortunately! Ugg! What would we do without our friends to escape to?! I would hate to wonder! Hello to all my friends, both those who are the friends I can talk to, and to those friends who are now only friends in spirit! I love you all, and I hope in time I prove myself worthy to have you all for friends!
I end this cleaning post with a goodbye to all my friends! Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get all my friends over here at the same time?! That would be awesome! Love you Shannon, Andy, Gerard, Ming, Kelly, Amelia, Katrina, Emily, Laura, Ruth, Lauren, the Petersons, and Lydia! God bless you all, and thanks for reading!

An Honest Assessment

What do I mean by an honest assessment? Well, what do you think about yourself? You think your a "good person", good looking, loved by everyone, or a perfect example maybe?
Well, I am not out to get your honest assessment, but I am out to get mine. What you think about yourself will eventually tell you where you really stand.
Over the past several months, I finally see myself for what I am! I am selfish, I love conditionally, I am a lier, I am a murder at heart, I am very proud, I dishonor my parents, I am not worthy of respect or love, and thus I am rejected.
I have failed in so many ways, and yet my family, and my God still love me.....why? I don't deserve anything that I have, I have abused everything so badly! My friends still love me, but they don't know the truth about who I really am. I am a dirty, ugly sinner! I am fighting to get rid of my regard for myself, no one likes a proud person. If anyone that I have harmed in the past reads this, I am sorry, so so sorry about all I have done, and I hope one day you will forgive me! Give me another chance my family, my friends, my God! I don't want to go down, I want to prove with God's help that I am his, and he is mine! God help me die to myself, and give me a new body! Thank you for reading and God bless!

The World's Roller Coaster

In this world, everyone is looking for the fun side of life. Adventure, danger, getting away with it, love, excitement, suspense, and friends. We all have our own idea of what fun should be, but it may not always be the right way to have fun.
The fun in the world, without the Lord, is like a roller coaster. If you like roller coasters, there is one thing you wish most about them.....that the ride lasted longer! But it never does, you can spend up to ten times longer just waiting in line, then it does to ride. If you ever try having fun the world's way, its like this! You got on your ride of fun, expecting it to be so much fun that it is unforgettable. For a while the ride is really exciting, quite the thriller, then all of a sudden.....its over! For the rest of the day you will be happy about what you did, and enjoy your day, thinking, I had so much fun!
But like a roller coaster ride, the fun doesn't last, cause like the roller coaster, you can't take it with you, and make the fun last forever! When you get off, that's it! You will have a memory, that will last alot longer than the feeling you had, and it may be painful. That is why, God is the real joy giver. No matter what happens in the world, God's joy won't leave you! Just like when I experienced turbulence on my first flight. Either it will pass, or it will drag you down to your death. I choose God's "fun" because without God, I am nothing! So the next time your tempted to get on a "roller coaster" think about the end result, and stay with God! Thank you for reading and God bless!