Reaching Forth!

Hello my fellow followers! It just struck me as odd to think that in a year and a half, I will be hitting my 20th year of life! I feel like a child in a sea of adults in Christ! I have learned so much this year, and my life might have finally turned torward that blooming stage!
I am a child at heart as well, loving to pull jokes and laugh whole heartily, uncaring on whether I come across as crazy and scary....sometimes! The reason I write this post is leaning torward what my grandma is doing with me and my family! For the past week my grandma has be coming over for a "Huddle Team Bible Study" or as my sister Sarah refers to it, a "Huggle"! One of our team verses is Philippians 3:13-14 " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Life is like a marathon! Life isn't a video game, there is no "pauses, extra lives, skipping levels, or restarts." Like a marathon, its all of it or none of it! If we don't study and exercise our life book (the Bible) we start our marathon of life in bad shape, and we fall behind! With each new hardship or trial, our feet feel heavier and we seem to be getting no where! Only when we train under our schoolmaster Jesus Christ, will we be able to run the race, fight the good fight, live the good life! As a dear friend of mine pointed out, life is to short to waste on those things that don't matter! Until we start running our marathon on the straight path of God's word, we are like a turtle in a bucket, going around in circles with no realization of how sadly pathetic we look!
I have been having my "turtle" moments and not until lately do I realize how silly I have been, when I have God on my side, I should be walking like, talking like, living like God is there! Its not something to say just to make people think you are a good person! If that is what you are doing, shame on you, you hypocrite! Start living like you mean it, or every minute of your life marathon is a waste of your very short period of time!
Trust me Christian, I am sad to say I was a hypocrite, but now God has opened my eyes! And I pray that this post opens your eyes as well, life is short, how are you going to run it?!
I am saving up for Bible college right now, cause I want to become learned in the word of God, not the word of man! I know God will provide the money I need, and the job I need later on in life, but for now, I am in the now! But at the same time, I am REACHING FORTH! I am stirring the waters of a ministry, waiting for what God will do with my life! But for now, you can just read my thoughts and prayers in this blog, which I have grown to love, a place of quiet and remembrance! And my writing abilities, its all God's doing, just me as a person, I could never write like this, only God can take a cabbage and turn it into a rose! So Christian, start reaching forth, and live the Marathon of Life! Time is short, so the sooner the better! Thanks for reading, and God bless you!

Purity.....o so clean!

Purity is a foreign word in today's world. Today young men and women lose their purity as young as the age of 12. And some don't even know what purity means!
Well the root word "pure" simply means clean, very very clean! Meaning there is no dirt or evil thing on it, it is pure! At the age of 12 I was taken on a vacation with my mother, and she taught me about purity, and how important it really is! Purity is not just for women either, its for men too! It is hard to remain pure, it is probably harder to remain mentally pure than physically in many ways, seeing as we can imagine just about anything in our minds! I can honestly say that I am not mentally pure, so God has had to cleanse my mind many times!
Purity comes in many forms, Sexually, Mentally, Actions, and words. 1 Timothy 4:12 tells us that we are to be an example to the believers, one of the examples being, you guessed it, Purity! God wants us to be pure, set apart from the men and women in this world, who do not strive for purity, but for pleasure! Cause as the Bible tells us in Hebrew 11:24-25, Moses would rather suffer the afflictions of being a Christian, rather than sinning for a season!
What I hope you get from this Christian, is that we need to strive to be pure! When we say something ask ourselves, is this pure? When we do something, ask ourselves, is this pure? When we think about something, again, ask ourselves, is this pure? It is true Christian, that we are far from perfect, and we struggle with purity! But God is there, watching us, hoping that we strive for purity, even when we are tempted beyond any other! So Christian, think pure,feel pure, look pure, and remember what Jesus did for you, so that you might live! God Bless and thanks for reading!

A Blessing or a problem?!

At some point in time we need to wake up and ask ourselves the question, are we being a true blessing to the people around us?! Cause Christian, anyone can talk the talk, but can we walk the walk?! On days when I seem to have friction with everyone I come into contact with, I have to ask myself, Am I becoming more of a problem than a blessing? The truth is we all have our short comings, and praise be that God is patient! But we can't stand by thinking that all of man kind can be patient, while we try their patience!
I know for a fact that I am not always a blessing to my family, and trust me Christian, it hurts to know the truth about yourself, especially when it comes to the regard of the people you love! If God is truly in us, what is with all this fighting and impatience amongst ourselves?!
Don't panic, God is there, but Christian, for being children of God, we really need to shape up and show it! Or more exact, I need to shape up! I am not about to judge what I am not worthy to judge! The beam in my eye is great compared to the moat in someone elses eye!
The choices we make in life are one of two, good or bad! When I wake up in the morning, I should be able to get up in the morning and make a decision to be a blessing to the people in my life! I am a child of God, let us show it for once, and love with our actions!
I write this in the hopes that one day I can say that I am a blessing to my loved ones, instead of a problem! I am not here to fix you, in fact I am not here to fix myself, at least not without God! Cause without God Christian, our shots at being a "good person" are all in vain! But again, we are not a hopeless case! God is willing to stand by and wait....are we willing to give in and go to him?! I choose right now to strive to be a blessing instead of a problem! What is your choice?! Thank you for reading my friend, and God bless!

Healing Rain!

The snow is finally melting, rain is falling, washing the world clean after months of dirt, snow and tracks. And finally we can see the grass, and the sun, and the blue skies!
Just like the healing rain of God, that falls on us in times of sorrow, so the rain of spring wakes up the earth, and brings forth the abundance of green things. And Christian, just like nothing will grow with out rain, so we won't grow without God!
It is true, life isn't fair, and never will be, but God makes our life stand out among the rest, like a mountain among stones. Cause with God anything is possible! He cries with us when we cry, he struggles with us when we struggle, and he died for us so that we can live! Christian we owe everything to God, the least we an do is give him our heart! He is like an impatient groom waiting for his bride, a mother waiting for the arrival of her child, and like a rain waiting to fall on a dry lifeless ground! God loves us, and wants nothing more than to care for us like a father, cause in the end Christian, we will spend the rest of our lives with this loving father! I know its hard to give yourself over to God's hands, especially when we don't feel the humble spirit that should be ever present in us! We are proud, but, as God has pointed out to us, we are not a hopeless case! He is waiting...just waiting! And every time we refuse to let him in, its like a crop refusing the life giving rain that it needs to survive! Christian, God only ever wants what is best for us....I mean look around, have you ever not seen how beautiful the world is, how wonderful your friends are, or how loving your family is?! God has given you everything, in return, you need to let him be the one constant in your life, because without him ,it is only ever a down hill movement!
The reason I called this post Healing Rain, is because I love rain, and rain is a sign of renewal, and regrowth, and just like the snow is melting outside, so our pride should be melting away from our hearts, and give place to God, the thing that can fill that hole in your heart! So the next time you feel that pride drying up your heart, be ready to receive that thirst quenching, life giving, healing rain that God sends to us in our times of trouble!
And just a tip to people who love natural beauty, the next time a thunderstorm rolls your way, bring a couple lawn chairs into your garage and watch the rain and the thunder and the lighting! It is so beautiful, and if you watch it with someone you love, it makes it even more special! Thank you all for continuing to read my blog! I hope I am giving you what you need! Keep commenting! God bless you, and thanks!

This is NOW!

Ever have your mind just run away with you? All those things your going to do, be it next week, next month, or next year, your mind is always on those future things!
I always was looking forward to future things, or imagining the possibilities of where a situation might lead....but only to have those thoughts be shattered by some unseen prevention! Like when I started throwing up the day I was going to leave for a trip, or when I lost someone I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with! Christian, only God knows what is coming next...and really, making plans is a pain, and any planner will tell you that anything you plan, is never set in stone! How many times have I found myself wishing that I could make things certain?! More than I like to recall! You see Christian, it would be so boring if we knew what was coming! We would never be surprised again, be a happy surprise or a sad one!
I believe that focusing on the present, is the philosophy we need to execute in our everyday life! The future is uncertain, so leaning on the stable fact of the present, what going on right now is all that is definitely certain! Sure, we all know that someday in the future God will return and we will be gathered in his presence forever! What a wonderful future, but Christian, the rest of our life is made of choices, the choice of wrong or right! The right being obeying the voice of God, and the wrong being anything outside of God's Commands! We can't choose who we meet, or who dies, or what boss we end up with, or any other number of things! We are powerless!
Christian, we need to focus on the NOW! Cause the future can be taken away, mostly by that one thing that most people fear....death! The same applies to unsaved friends, we are only certain about the now, but the future is not at all certain, that person could die that night, or even 10 minutes after your conversation! Believe me, I am not good at this subject, I wish more than anything that my future plans were set in stone! But I know that those plans, Marriage, family, a good career, staying out of dept, all that is uncertain! All I can rely on is the fact I am alive right NOW, I am a Christian right NOW, and I love my God and my family and my friends right NOW! Christian, be certain that your future holds salvation, but being sure that you are not a false convert, and if you are one, you can fix that, RIGHT NOW! Focus on the NOW, and God will hold your FUTURE for you! Thank you for reading, and God Bless!

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!