Light in the midst of failure

Well, we have established that I have failed in my responsibilities, so now what?
The biggest temptation when we are having problems with our responsibilities is to stop trying, to just give up! Well, believing that things can't change, and not even trying, is just a recipe for more failure! Yes, I know you don't feel like doing anything, and it just seems pointless to try, but that is where we are wrong!
God is looking down at us, willing us to get up and try again! Cause truly, we can only succeed with God's help! As I try to pick myself up, and reestablish my standing in my responsibility, I have to remember that God is with me, and that with him I will never fail! The Bible tells us that all things work together for good, not that everything is good, but that it will all work together for good!
There is a purpose for everything that happens in life, even though sometimes you won't like what is happening, its doesn't mean it won't lead to something better! You might even be tempted to hate, or blame during your times of failure and struggle, but that is when we need to get down on our knees and beg God to help us be pure, even in our anger.
No one is perfect, and no one knows everything, except Christ! By following Christ's example, we learn patience, love, and we are slow to anger! By striving for Christ, the rest falls into place! All we need to do, is follow him!
So let God's light shine, even in the presence of people who believe your a failure, cause God will never give up on you; so don't give up on the people around you! I pray one day I will be of help instead of being a failure! Thanks for reading and God bless!

Spring time joys

When winter's grip has loosened,
On the earth's cold bare ground,
And the melted snow has lended,
Its water to rain a fresh new sound.

A deep breath you take,
In the smell of life anew,
You walk around the lake,
The water melted you knew.

Green things begin to grow,
The robins return once more,
You smell the flowers that you know,
And you look for whats in store.

A morning dove sings,
The smell of cut grass the wind brings,
This beauty seems to be made for kings,
But of God the creatures sing!

The days grow longer in light
And the nights shorter in dark,
And the crickets chirp with delight,
And on a branch does rest a lark.

These are spring time joys!
For once a year it comes,
Its fun for girls and boys,
This beauty is what the world becomes!

By Shotgun Girl

Failure

Have you ever felt like you can't do anything right? That everything you do just seems to make your situation even worse?
I thought today instead of telling everyone what needs to happen, I'll just tell myself, and you get to listen! Yes, its true that we all feel like failures at some point in time, things just don't seem to stay the way you want them too, and you can't do anything right with anyone, everything we do is gone through with a fine tooth comb, and it just doesn't add up! When am I going to be enough? How will I ever do what is right?!
It wasn't until God opened my eyes last night that I began to understand. There is nothing I can do to make my life better, by myself that is! I am the mess, and God is the organizer! Without the organizer, the mess will never get picked up, it just stays there!
I don't want to be a mess anymore, I want to be someone who can do things right, through Christ who strengthens me! I don't want to be a failure, but a blessing to all! There are times when I look at my friends and want to ask, What do you see in me? I am a mess!!!! I don't get along with my mom, I don't get my house work done when I should, I procrastinate, I fight with my siblings, and I am behind in school! But God is still here with me, why is that? I write this in the hope that one day, I will no longer be a failure, but a success through Christ!
But truly Christian, I never want it to be said that I am an awesome person, when there is so much to work on! I don't deserve praise cause I have not earned it! And I don't want you to think that I am that "perfect person" who knows what to say, and knows what to do all the time! I have only listed a few of my defaults, I could probably make a pretty big list of what is wrong with me.
I love you all so very much! Thank you so much for reading and learning with me in this blog! God bless you!

My Best Friend

What is a friend to me?
Someone who stands by my side,
And gives me comfort in my need,
And without a friend I cannot abide!

A true friend HE is to me,
For do you not know?
HE died for me on Calvary!

A friend will stand by me,
No matter what I may have done,
They are not ashamed to be seen with me,
With a friend I will never be shunned!

A true friend HE is to me,
For do you not know?
HE died for me on Calvary!

A friend will cry with me,
They will never leave me alone,
And they don't care what other people see,
For they are my best friend, their heart has shone!

A true friend HE is to me,
For do you not know?
He died for me on Calvary!

I would die for my friends,
For they have loved a sinner like me,
So no matter what time I spend,
To show a love they will see,
To their needs I will tend,
Because they have loved me!

A true friend HE is to me,
For do you not know?
He died for me on Calvary!
He is my Best Friend!

By,
Shotgun Girl

STOP! DON"T! QUIT IT!

I am sure we are all very familiar with the words used to make us stop doing whatever we are doing. We have heard it all through our childhood and early teen age life! And it only gets better when we become an adult and have kids, now WE are telling them to stop it instead of the other way around!
And there is probably a vast number of reasons why we were told to stop doing what we were doing, whether it was something gross, something dangerous, or something wrong, it just deserved a reprimand some how! I am sure when you were younger you hated being corrected, that you would just sooner be right than wrong.
Well, God speaks to us through our conscience everyday! Sometimes we may try to block out the warning in our minds, but he just seems to get louder with each attempt! STOP! DON"T! QUIT IT!
Every time we want to do something wrong, our mind is just screaming with God's warnings! I have met many people who have put a stone wall around their conscience, and do whatever they want, with no guilt! And your thinking, how could they do that?! The answer is alot of inner turmoil and struggle! Cause even a supposed "bad person" has the feeling that what he is doing is wrong! But they won't ever admit to that! Sometimes, keeping a strong image is more important to people than a clean conscience!
But in my past experience, having a clean conscience feels so much better! Part of my comfort comes from the fact that I am a child of God, and he helps me through everyday life, even through those times when your conscience is screaming, STOP! DON"T! QUIT IT! God doesn't want to see you go where you shouldn't, in fact his heart aches for those who have walled up their conscience!
Christian, don't block your conscience! Your conscience is like the "mother board" of your morals, the difference between right and wrong! And God governs that!
The next time we hear that screaming in our head Christian, we need to run in the opposite direction! God doesn't want us to sin, and until we learn to follow Christ and NOT our sinful desires, we will hear those words, STOP! DON"T! QUIT IT! ringing in our conscience! Thanks for reading and God bless!

Hey look I can speak!

Have you ever thought about how special it is to be able to make a sound that makes sense? The ability to communicate is so special, and we use it every day, and take it for granted that we can speak!
God created the vocal cords so that we could make a noise, to sing and speak, and he made the tongue so we could form words and make them come out clearly. How special it is to sing praise hymns to God! How special it is to speak to God in prayer!
If we just lost the ability to speak, would our life be easier even with everything else? No it would be worse! We wouldn't be able to call for help when we are in trouble, we wouldn't be able to tell someone that we love them! And the parents wouldn't be able to scold the kids!!! At this point some of the younger generation is thinking....hmmm maybe we should try that sometime!
But truly, the ability to speak is a special gift God gave us, as part of being different from the animal race. So the next time you speak to someone, bless them with that voice that God gave you! Everyone needs to know that using speech to cause pain, is the worst way to use it! And just for fun, when you do talk to someone, just randomly say, Hey look I can speak! Cause we really are blessed with the ability of speech! Thanks for reading and God bless!

Who will love me?

What is this I see?
The mother from whom I came,
She is angry with me,
And it puts my heart to shame!

Who will love me?
The wrong which I have done,
Makes me an evil thing to see,
And for this I have been shunned,
So who, I ask you, will love me?

I am not what she wants me to be,
Pure, proper, and a lovely thing indeed,
She does not see these things in me,
But someone of bad report, in ugly character and deed.

Who will love me?
The wrong which I have done,
Makes me an evil thing to see,
And for this I have been shunned,
So who, I ask you, will love me?

I see HIM, HE who loves me!
HE hangs there on a tree,
And HE takes all the blame for me!
So now someone loves me!

I know HE loves me!
And no matter what wrong I have done,
HE will make me clean and beautiful for all to see!
And I know that HE will never leave me alone,
For HE, I know, loves me!

Written by,
Shotgun Girl

To be Unloved!

Does somebody love you? Well I would sure hope so! There are very few people I know who claim they are not loved by someone. And most of the time the people I do know that claim to be unloved, are unsaved!

God loves us no matter what, and he loves everyone in the world, even the unsaved! But still, what do you think if would be like to be unloved?! Probably more horrible than words could tell! There are so many people that I love and cherish, and I can't imagine not having God and my friends and family in my life, all of who love me I believe!

But what about the so called unloved ones? What must we do for them? That's easy, direct them to the one who does love them, Jesus Christ! For he is the one who loves unconditionally, unlike the rest of the world! I hope that you always assure people of God's affection for them, and the affections of you to other people! It may not seem mandatory, but trust me, everyone in the world LOVES to hear the words I love you from the people they care about! Remember that no matter what you have done, or what someone else may have done, God loves you both, just the same!

Jesus experienced being HATED by his own father, he saw the disgust of God as he looked at the sin that covered him, and felt how it feels to truly be unloved! Rejected and in pain, Jesus paid the ultimate price for us, and for that we should always be grateful, and give our love to Christ, and the people around us! My message to you, never leave an unloved soul behind! God Bless and thanks for reading!

A sinner of one, a sinner of ALL!

Have you ever sinned in your life?! Well of course who hasn't?! Are you guilty?! The answer is, ABSOLUTELY! We all deserve the death sentence, but we aren't getting it, why? Jesus Christ died for us! In James 2:10 we are told that if we keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, we are guilty of all! That means, we break one law, and we are guilty of the rest! And everyone of us are guilty!
That is why we need Christ, without him we are lost! He is the one who makes our sin sheet blank. And we need him everyday of our lives, as we struggle to avoid the sins of this world. And we are not always going to succeed, we will inevitably fall into sin, and when we do, God is there for us to go to him in prayer, to ask him to cleanse us and make us whole once more. Just because you excepted Christ does not make you void of sin does it? NO, NOT AT ALL! We still sin, with our words, actions, and thoughts! None of us are without sin ever, cause if we were without sin, we would obey God in everything, and we would be another Jesus! And that is not possible! There is only one good, and that is GOD! 1 John 2:4 tells us that if someone says I know God, and doesn't keep his commandments, the truth is not in him! Well that pretty much sums it up right there.
It doesn't matter how many good things you have done, you can outweigh the bad! Only God can take the sin in your life and cleanse your soul! We are all sinners, but one thing makes us different from the rest of the world, we have Christ! Praise God that he loves us, and was willing to suffer for us in order that we might live! It makes me cry to imagine the perfect lamb of God hanging on a cross! He is unlike any other, and we don't deserve one thing that God has done for us!
If we are a sinner of one, we are a sinner of ALL! And the only thing we can do is repent and live for Christ! 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So never let the thought cross your mind that you are perfect once you receive Christ, cause if we are perfect once we receive him, why turn to him at all? Be humble in spirit, and kind in words and actions, and live with God's help, the life he intended! God Bless and thanks for reading!

The True Sacrifice

If you saw that your best friend, or your sibling, or just anyone that you loved was about to be hit by a car, what would you do? What would you give to insure that persons safety? Your money, your possessions, your life?!
For me, just imagining that someone I loved died makes me cry! In that moment I would do anything for them, even if it meant, dieing in their place! But what about a complete stranger? Would you give your life for them? My first reaction would be no, I don't know them and they are not my responsibility. WRONG! You are here on this earth to tell others about Christ, not to stand by and watch them perish! What if that stranger didn't know Christ, they are going to hell! That should shake us to the core! By giving your life for others, you give them a second chance, the chance that you already took advantage of, you accepted Christ, and in our heart we long to go home, so why not go home in the act of saving souls?!
You see Christian, God died for everyone, cause he is capable of loving everyone! If we loved like God loves, we would not sleep for fear of missing a witnessing opportunity! Christ hung on a cross, in agony, suffering for us all, when we didn't even deserve it! Its so humbling to think of the God of us all, hanging there just for us, when we don't deserve such love! The least we can do is save as many as we can for the God who loves them! God wants to use us so badly for his tools of salvation, but we have been sitting in our church seats, listening to our paster instead, we only pray for the unsaved, but don't put actions to our prayers! When ever you see someone in trouble, look at them as someone lost and in desperate need of your help, and God's love! If we are willing to go into the very fires of hell for our loved ones, how are the unsaved any different?!
I write this post with the simple message, are you going to honour the sacrifice of Christ?! If so Christian, go to the battle field and save the wounded and lost, just like Christ told us to do in his word! Don't just believe in the True Sacrifice, be a true sacrifice! God bless and thanks for reading!

Guarding your Heart

There is alot that we need to guard our hearts from, one of them being, when you believe what your heart is telling you, instead of what God is telling you. We all have a tendency to do that, especially when it comes to feelings and love. We can all say, I have felt it, I know what love is, but really you know what lust is. Love is not a feeling, as I have said several times, it is a decision, and it is back up by your actions.
If you truly love someone, you will do whats best for them, not what is best for you in your mind.
Part of guarding the heart is making sure we don't go diving after our so called feelings. Without God telling us what to do, we shouldn't so much as think about what we think would be what God would have us do until he has given us clear instruction! Sometimes guarding your heart requires alot more than just, "I am not going to do that."
You may have to avoid certain people, or certain places in order to guard your heart. Yes people can sometimes get hurt when doing what is necessary, but they won't get hurt as much as when your unguarded heart does a hair pin and leaves someone devastated and the other one confused. I learned alot from my first relationship, and now my heart is guarded well, but only after me and that other person were hurt, and parents were struck with responsibility on the part of protection.
I am alone, but I am actually in a relationship that matters the most, my relationship with God! And while my eyes are focused on God and his love for me, I have no time to search for my love mate. Yes, every young heart yearns for love, but as long as we have God, the rest will happen at God's appointed time. I do truly want to guard my heart, and wait patiently for the one of God's choosing, and that God would always be at the center. I know I speak on love and God alot, and to be quite honest, without those two things, life would have nothing of value! And to be honest to you my readers, God and Love are the two things that are always in my thoughts.
I hope one day that you to will find a love in God that surpasses any earthly relationship. I also pray that while you are waiting for the special someone, you will guard your heart, and give your love and obedience to someone who loved you before you were born, Jesus Christ! God Bless you and thanks for reading!

A Vacation Dream!

After a whole year of planning and waiting, my brother and I were finally able to go down to North Carolina to spend a vacation with our dear friends! The whole time I was there it felt like a dream, and now I am awake again, back home up north once more. I wish the dream would've lasted longer!

We made new friends, and enjoyed time with old ones. God has truly blessed us with many brothers and sisters in Christ down there! It felt wonderful to finally feel apart of the crowd in a right way, instead of being surrounded by unbelievers and mockery. It was especially nice to see the Neumanns, McDonalds, Bassetts, and the Sands. These families have been great friends to us, and to see them all after 8 years was a wonderful blessing. We did several activities down there including volleyball, skating, hiking,going to the beach, bible studies, and going out to eat and spend time in fellowship.

Even though I got a sunburn, and really sore muscles, I enjoyed every minute of my time down there, which is probably why the time went by so quickly.

To get to the point of this post, a vacation is allot like life. Your born and the vacation begins, and depending on whether or not you spend your vacation in the right way, will either make the vacation seem longer or shorter. But sooner or later you have to go home! Life is too short to waste, and God planned your "vacation" long before you were conceived. The way we can spend our "vacation time" wisely is to do what our "vacation planner" told us to do. The Bible tells us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That is the right way to spend our vacation here on earth. But if we spend our time doing as we please, life will be very short indeed! Because when a sinner's vacation ends, eternal hell fire waits for them! That is why Christian, our time here on earth needs to be spent in the right way, winning souls for Christ!

Yes it is true that the sinners of this world seem to have the "first class" ticket in life, but in reality, they are falling without a parachute! Jesus is our parachute, the one thing that saves us from eternal death! The more parachutes we give out the better, because as we have said, our vacation time is short! So Christian, my final word to you on this matter is this.....live the right vacation life, because just like a real vacation, you don't know when it will come to a sudden end! Thank you for reading and God bless!