When We Fail So Many Times

I was reading my Bible a couple weeks ago and suddenly, a passage just sort of jumped out at me. I had been reading through Psalm and got to Psalm 107 when I noticed something quite encouraging. The chapter starts out with, " O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy:"

The Bible goes on to list all the things the Lord had brought the children of Israel from and out of. Then, their soul fainted in them, in the wilderness. (vs.5) But yet, in verse 6 it says, "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses." Then it keeps on going, how he led them in the right way, satisfied their longing soul, but then they rebelled. So, being a just God, he sent judgement on them. But in verse 13 it says, "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses."

And it just keeps going on and on like that, God helps Israel, Israel goes against God, they cry, He delivers. I just thought that was so profound. I had read that before, but I really thought about it, and isn't it great that we have God who is so forgiving that, no matter how many times we seems to stray, He will take us back if we repent?

I know, so many times in my life, I have gotten to where it seemed I could NEVER go back to being as close to God as I was when I got saved, but the Lord loves me no matter how far I wander away. And then, when I finally come to myself, like the prodigal son, I wonder why I was stupid enough to let myself go that far from Someone who is so loving and kind. I call on God, and I know He forgives me. Even though I have done it time and time again.

And in the book of James, he states, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (Jas. 4:6) So, just remember, it doesn't matter how far you think you have gone, or how bad you think you are, if you humbly ask God for forgiveness, He has promised to forgive and deliver you.

Their name is WHAT??

I was sitting here, looking for a song to sing at my graduation, when suddenly, I came across something quite...well, weird, actually. My best friend and I had typed in 'Graduation songs' when up came all these lists that had the names of the songs, and the people who recorded them. Now, growing up in a Christian home, I am used to names like, The Rochester family, The Thren family, The Raub family, ect. But some of these names were pretty interesting, in fact, I'd go so far as to say some of them were hilarious!

For example:

Third Eye Blind- Ok, someone in the band must have three eyes!
Semisonic-And that's supposed to mean what??
Green Day-What ever happened to "It's a beautiful day"?? Instead it's a green day?? Odd!
All American Rejects-Ok, tell me something, if you were a reject, would YOU want to publicize it?
Spice Girls-Sounds like a baking team! Not a singing group
U2-This one really got me, you too WHAT? Can't anyone use correct English anymore? FINISH THE SENTENCE!!
And perhaps the most funny one is:
Smashing Pumpkins-THIS is the name of a BAND? It sounds more like a Halloween past time!

Why can't people have good names for their bands or groups?

Well I guess that's because none of these bands that I have named above, glorify God. In any way. Now, I haven't heard their songs, don't care to either, but from their names, you can guess what sort of junk they try to sing.

Names are a very important part in society today. Back in the Bible days, the children were named for the ancestors, for physical attributes, ect. Names have also carried a stigma with them, such as: Judas, reminds us of the one who betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Delilah, a Philistine woman who tricked Sampson, Herod, a wicked king who tried to kill Jesus at His birth, and the list could go on and on. But you get my drift.

Well, anyway, I just wanted to share that with you all. That's it for now.

Seek and Ye Shall Find

As a young person, I know what it feels like to have to drag yourself out of bed every morning for school. And it's even more harder to discipline myself to get up EARLIER so I can have time to read my Bible. I would like to say I have been consistent with that, but I cannot. It seems there is always an excuse to get up, eat breakfast, brush the teeth and start school. Without stopping to read the Bible.

In the Bible, especially in the Psalms, it stresses the point to rise EARLY. As for me, I know that after the evening has wound down, I have too many things to try to fit in before it's time for bed. So I put off reading it then too. If you haven't noticed, I am writing this for me, as well as others. I notice in my own life, that, the longer I put off reading the Bible, the day becomes worse. It seems nothing goes right.

David, a man after God's own heart, knew the importance of getting a hold of God EARLY, before the day had really started, before there were distractions, and before the devil could tempt him to do anything contrary to God's will. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;" (Ps. 63:1) "Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early." (Ps 108:2) And in Proverbs, it states: " I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me" (Prov. 8:17)

To seek the Lord early is important, I think, and seeking Him with everything you have. The Bible says, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jer. 29:13) There have been many times I have lost some thing, and I would get up very early to look for it, and I wouldn't stop until I found it. Usually, I will enlist my family to help look for it, and we would look together.

If you were to lose your boyfriend, or girlfriends class ring, if you've exchanged it, you would want to find that as soon as you could. Why? Because that is something of value, of importance. The same thing if you lost one of your school books, and you had a test to study for. You would want to find it, so you could study and do well on your test. And if you lost something of that great importance, would you be saying, " Oh well, I'll look for it when I get the chance"? No, you would be searching the entire house frantically until you found it. Just like the shepherd, who left the ninety and nine in the fold, and went out to search for the ONE that was lost, and like the woman who swept the whole house to look for that ONE coin.

If we have lost God's will in our life, if we have lost that fellowship with Him, we should search for Him, just as the woman and shepherd searched for the things they lost...with our whole hearts. "But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." (Deut. 4:29) But the Bible states there is also a time limit to find God. In Isaiah, the prophet says, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" (Isa. 55:6)
So, as I close out this entry, I encourage you, to seek the Lord with your whole heart. It doesn't matter what people are saying about you, or what they are doing. Just stay strong in what YOU know is right, and don't compromise, no matter what.

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

New Blog

Hey all,
I'm going to try starting a new blog that's geared toward young people like me. I hope this blog can be a blessing to you as well as to me. If you would like to see something here, just ask, andI'll do my best. If you have a topic you would like a young person's view on, go ahead and mention it and I'll write about it if I can.
Thanks ahead of time for your participation.

Bethany