Browsing Tag

Relationship with God

Who is God?

Posted on July 9, 2014

Have you ever wished that you could see God? Touch Him? Go grab some coffee with Him and chat about the meaning of life? Sometimes, its easy when you feel you can’t see or touch God to wonder who is He? What’s He really like?

One of the best ways to get to know God is by reading or listening to the Bible. While that’s not the fun solution, its the best way you can get to know who He is an what He really likes. Getting into the Bible does take a little bit of work. Its not for the weak. It might mean setting some time aside when you’d rather be on Facebook or Twitter. It may mean refocusing your energy, or putting your phone away for ten minutes so you can focus without having to respond to a text.

By reading the Bible you can get to know who God is. And one of the best things about God is that He is love. Check out this verse:

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he had love for us and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins – 1 John 4:9-10 Basic English[/quote]

Wow. What a God. The fact that he loved us enough to sent his son Jesus for us even before we loved him back is incredible. We wouldn’t do anything close to that for someone else. We wouldn’t trade our most valuable possession for someone who was our enemy. Yet that’s what God did. While we had no love for God, He stepped in and gave everything He had. He put it all on the line so that we might have the chance to have eternal life through Jesus. Talk about love!

So the next time you’re wondering about God, who He is and what He’s in to, remember that you can always go to the Bible to find answers. Its also important to remind ourselves that God is love. He loved us so much that He put everything He had on the line to pay the price for our sins. There is no one else who could love you the way God does. So challenge yourself to go deeper into the Bible and get to know more about God!

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What Baseball Shows Us About Living For God

Posted on June 11, 2014

Have you ever noticed when you don’t know the point or the goal of something it can sort of seem pointless?

For example, let’s say you’re out for the baseball team this year and you show up to practice on time. During the entire practice, your coach never gives you any instructions. You just sit around for the few hours of practice feeling weird maybe you and your team mates might even get mad, all because your coach never told you the goal or point of the practice for that day.

It can be easy to feel that same way as Christians. When we don’t understand the point of we’re living for God it makes it easy to feel mad and frustrated.

So, what is the ultimate goal of the Christian life? Is it doing good stuff? Or is it all about going to church? Is it learning to become a better person?

While all those things are important, the main goal of the Christian life is getting to know Christ.

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, (Philippians 3:10 NLT)

As a Christian, our main goal should be getting to know Christ. That gives our life as Christians meaning and should be the basis for all we do. It would be a shame to live out our whole life here on earth without spending some time getting to know Christ. So make knowing Him a priority in your life today!

Pray: Jesus, I thank you for what you did for me on the cross. I determine to take time to get to know you. I want to know you and make getting to know you a priority today!

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How To Make Better Decisions

Posted on May 28, 2014

Have you ever made a really bad decision? Or maybe sometimes you just struggle with making a decision. Maybe you’re afraid to make the wrong choice and so its hard for you to commit to making a decision and stick with it. Making decisions can be tricky at times, but here’s a few thoughts that we think will help make the decision making process easier.

God wants to help. God wants to lead and guide His children into making good decisions. Whether its what car to buy, or who to date, God is interested in helping you make a good decision about that thing. So lean on His wisdom and include Him in the decision making process.
“Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children.” – Romans 8:14 (GNB)
Spend time with God. To really get to know God and get His take on your decisions, you’ve got to start by spending time hanging out with God. You get to know God better by reading the Bible and talking to God/praying. So invest the time now getting to know God so that when a time of decision comes, you’re ready to know and hear His voice.
Don’t get mad if you don’t get an answer right away. Its easy to pray about something and expect an answer right that second. Sometimes, the answer doesn’t always come right away. So don’t give up or back out on involving God in your decisions if you don’t hear anything right away. Choose to hang in there, knowing that God will always come through for you.
Balance God’s wisdom with other people’s wisdom. If God speaks to you about a decision always go with what God says, not what others say. However, if you haven’t really heard anything from God about a decision, its okay to ask other people for advice or help. Some decisions aren’t world altering, and so its totally fine to just lean on the advice, thoughts, or wisdom of others.

Making better decisions always starts by putting God and His word first in your life. If you’ll choose to always put those things first in your life, you’ll find that you’ll be making better decisions and living with less regret. Choose to always put God and the Bible first in your life!

How To Handle Life Changes

Posted on May 21, 2014

Sometimes, life brings lots of changes. Whether it’s a move to a new city, maybe a graduation from school, a new job, a divorce, you name it, those changes can be really stressful. So what are some good ways you can deal with the stress of a life change? Here’s a couple things to help make life change easier.

Draw close to God
Major life changes can really mess with your relationship with God if you’ll let them. When life changes happen, you’re faced with a choice. Will you let those changes draw you closer to God, or will you push Him away?
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. (James 4:8 NLT)
Don’t be afraid
It’s really easy to fall into the trap of fear when life changes come. You know things aren’t going to be the same as before and many times the fear of the unknown or fear of the changes can become very real. Be sure to watch out for fear in your life and if you see it creeping in be sure to tell it no. Don’t allow fear to become something that holds you back.
Don’t fear, because I am with you; don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand. (Isaiah 41:10 CEB)
Get Help
Don’t avoid asking for help if you need it. Your youth pastor or pastor has great life advice they can give you to help you through life change. Be willing to ask for their advice or help if you need it. God has placed these people in your life. They can be an encouragement when you need it the most.

Changes in life happen to us all. Sometimes, they’re harder to handle than others. The good thing to remember is that no matter how hard times get, you’re not alone. Find a pastor or youth pastor you can talk to or draw close to God and get his help and advice. God will encourage you like no one else can. Get close to God and see how awesome he really is!

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Who Should I Pray To?

Posted on January 8, 2014

Have you ever wondered who to pray to? Or who you should address when you pray? Should you start out your prayer by saying, “Our Father”? Or should you be directing your prayers to Mary? There are so many questions about what is the “right” way to pray. How do you decide who you should pray to and what you should call that person?

The best place to start with questions on prayer is in the Bible. The Bible talks a lot about prayer. One place that talks about prayer is when Jesus was with his disciples in Luke 11. His disciples started asking Jesus questions about prayer. One of the first things they asked Jesus was to teach them how to pray. Jesus responded like this:

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″] 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. 3Give us each day the food we need, 4and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.” [/quote]

In this verse, Jesus shows us who we should be praying to, God the Father. He addresses God as Father and since he was giving the disciples a model for prayer in these verses, we can use the same format when we are praying. We can talk to God as our father in prayer! That’s exciting news. God isn’t some far off God that has nothing to do with our lives, but he’s a real God that we can pray to as father.

So remember, that when you pray, you are praying to God the father. He’s the one that you’re talking to and spending time with.

3 Reasons Jesus Is Better Than Santa Claus

Posted on December 18, 2013

Santa is a pretty cool guy! We’ve got nothing against the guy in the red suit, but we do want to list a few reasons why Jesus is way better than Santa.

1. Jesus doesn’t give out coal. The great thing about Jesus is that He doesn’t give bad gifts, like coal. He only gives the best gifts, you know the ones the non-coal type. Jesus has your best interests at heart and is all about giving you awesome gifts. So no matter what you are in need of this Christmas season, Jesus has your answer!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. – James 1:17 (Message)

2. Santa gifts last a year or two but Jesus’ gifts last forever. There’s lots of awesome gifts that you can get from Santa. Many times, those toys might be really great when you first get them, but after a while, you usually outgrow them or they go out of style. Jesus, on the other hand gives gifts that never wear out or get outdated. The gifts Jesus gives are ones that you can enjoy for the rest of your life!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. – James 1:17 (Message)

3. Talking to Santa lasts a few months, talking to Jesus lasts a lifetime.
The great thing about Jesus is that you are able to talk to Him at any time. He’s there and ready to listen. You don’t have to wait until the Christmas season and find him at a department store to talk to Him. You can talk to Jesus at anytime and in any place, and He’s ready to listen.

Jesus has got Santa beat when it comes to Christmas awesomeness. Where Santa is lacking, Jesus has got him covered. Jesus desires nothing more than getting to know you better this Christmas season. So in the middle of your time off from school and eating your weight in candy canes, take some time to think about all the good things that Jesus has done for you, and be sure to thank Him for being way better than Santa!

What Mountain Dew Can Teach You About Life

Posted on December 11, 2013

Mountain Dew is a really popular drink which tastes amazing! Even though Mountain Dew tastes so good, it doesn’t really offer any nutritional value. For example, drinking a bottle of Mountain Dew every day won’t help you become a better athlete. However, drinking a sports drink could help because they are specially designed to help athletes. It’s the ingredients that make up those sports drinks that make the difference.

That’s true in life too. It’s the ingredients or tools that we build our lives on that matter. It’s those ingredients that we build our lives upon that determine our success. Jesus talks about this in Matthew.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27 NLT)

So what are you building your life on? Are you building your life on Jesus? If you do, your foundation in life will be secure and unshakeable. If you haven’t made Jesus the foundation of your life choose to start today. Put Jesus first and you’ll be really glad you did.

3 Reasons Why Reading Your Bible Is Like Brushing Your Teeth

Posted on December 4, 2013

Brushing your teeth isn’t usually the highlight of your day, in fact, you might even sometime not want to brush them in order to get out the door earlier in the morning or to get to bed quicker at night. Even though brushing your teeth can feel like a chore sometimes, teeth brushing can teach us about reading the Bible. And hopefully, make reading the Bible seem a little less boring.

Brushing should be a habit. Imagine if you only brushed your teeth once and never touched your toothbrush again. My guess is that you’d have some pretty gross teeth and stinky breath. Well, just like you shouldn’t brush your teeth only once, you shouldn’t read your Bible only once. The Bible is a book that you need to get into. You’re not going to get it all by reading it once.
“Never stop reading The Book of the Law he gave you. Day and night you must think about what it says. – Joshua 1:8 (CEV)
Brushing keeps you fresh. Your breath gets just plain nasty if you don’t brush your teeth. That’s a lot like reading the Bible. Reading the Bible helps to keep us fresh. The Bible is filled with instruction, wisdom and guidance to keep us going strong through life. Getting into the Bible is a great way to encourage yourself and stay fresh in your walk with God.
Brushing makes you feel better. Don’t you love that awesome clean feeling that you get after you brush your teeth? The same feeling is available to us when we read the Bible. The Bible will encourage us and make us feel better. Whether you’re going through a problem, need some healing, or just plain want to be encouraged, reading the Bible is your answer.

The Bible is a powerful book. It has the power to change the way you look at life and the way you feel. If you haven’t already, choose to make reading the Bible a habit. You’ll be glad you did.

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Reason #1 Why Jesus Is Better Than a Superhero

Posted on November 1, 2013

We’ve probably all got a superhero that we totally love. Whether its Superman, Spiderman, Captain America or Wolverine there’s probably one that stands out to you more than another. Superheroes are pretty awesome with all their love for helping people and superpowers, however, there is someone who puts all other superheroes to shame. His name is Jesus. So why is Jesus way better than a superhero? There’s like ten million reasons why Jesus is better than all other superheroes out there today, but one reason that Jesus is better than a superhero is that he was able to do what no one else could do. He was able to give us back the ability to have a relationship with God.

When God created Adam originally, God was able to talk to Adam. They were able to be friends and have a true relationship. There was nothing stopping them from talking. However, when Adam ate the fruit from the tree he wasn’t supposed to, his relationship with God got messed up. Adam felt ashamed and hid from God. From that point on, man was no longer to talk to God like he once had.

The good news is that Jesus came to the rescue. He did something that no one else could do. He bridged the gap that sin had made in each of our lives. He was able to bring us back to God.

This is great news! That means that if we accept Jesus as our savior, we can have an awesome relationship with God. We can be friends with God and talk to Him everyday like Adam did in the garden. Jesus kicks all other superhero’s tails because He paid the ultimate price to rescue us and let us have a relationship with God.

4 Scriptures That Will Change Your Life

Posted on August 26, 2013

Scriptures Can Change Your Life

It can seem kind of strange to think that reading some scriptures could actually change your life. You’re probably thinking, winning a million dollars or something like that could change my life, but some scriptures, probably not. You might be thinking the Bible is old and hard to understand…how could something like that change my life?

Well, believe it or not, the Bible has the power to change your life. In Hebrews it describes the word of God like this, “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.” – Hebrews 4:12 (NLT) The Word of God is powerful. It has the power to change things in your life.

One of the best decisions you can ever make is to spend some time getting to know what the Word of God has to say. It can literally change your life!

Here are some great places to start reading:[list type=”check”]

“What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)
“For nothing is impossible with God.” “ – Luke 1:37 (NLT)
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1 (NLT)

[/list]

These are just a few suggestions to get you started reading the Word. There are many other good scriptures out there, so just start reading and you’ll find that as you spend time thinking about these scriptures they will become more exciting to you. They’ll stop just being boring words on a page, but will come alive to you.

Pray: God I thank you for your Word. I thank you that it is powerful and life changing. I ask for your help in reading the Bible. Help it to become more real to me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Listen: Promises by Sanctus Real

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