Unity.

When we take a look under the hood of a car there are many parts that have to work together in order for the car to run smoothly and achieve it's purpose. We may not notice the importance of the cooperation until it fails. The same is true in relationships. Your relationships with others can run smoothly... and they can also stall (just like a car). 




Philippians 2:1-2

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

God wants us to be united with the Spirit and one another. When Christians listen to the Spirit, we can be like a smoothly running engine. But when we push ourselves before others, when we're out of step with the Spirit, we're like an engine with parts that won't cooperate.

Higher Ways.

Surely you have had that sinking feeling. As you crammed for a test or looked through a new computer program. It comes when you learn just enough to realize how much you don't know.
When you were a child, your world was limited. There were probably times when you felt independent or though that you could make better decisions than your parents. They might have been amused as you stubbornly learned lessons the hard way. 


Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

    How unsearchable his judgments,

    and his paths beyond tracing out! 

³⁴ 

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

    Or who has been his counselor?"

³⁵ 

“Who has ever given to God,

    that God should repay them?”

³⁶ 

For from him and through him and for him are all things. 

    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Consider how very little we actually understand God's higher ways. It's ironic that realizing how little we know might be our first glimmer of wisdom. 
Imagine how silly you would feel telling a rocket scientist how to operate a phone. Or how ridiculous it would be to offer Albert Einstein advice about arithmetic. These verses remind us that God knows all and doesn't need us to explain to him what is best. He can be trusted. 


The Holy Spirit is a mystery. As long as we live on earth, we will probably never understand these higher ways - how the Spirit helps us when we pray, guides us in decisions, and protects us from hard. The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the "Comforter." Perhaps the greatest 'comfort' of all us realizing we don't have to know everything. 

Filler Up!

"Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." (Colossians 3:16 NLT)

Let the message FILL YOUR LIVES. I found this so important. I've tried to many years and have made it my resolution to memorize Bible verses, to be constantly drowning in his love, his word, his promises, and his life.

I've struggled with doing this for a while now, i've tried to read the bible, doing devos and i think this year, it really kicked in. Doing devos here is definitely a challenge sometimes, but its worth it. We need to continuously be reminded to look and focus on the cross. Doing a devo blog with other friends for sure keeps you more accountable. And i love the end result as well, reading what i've written and what i've learnt.

Memorizing bible verses, recently i got an iPhone, and i downloaded this app, Phonto! Basically its an app filled with different fonts (i love fonts) and it allows you to add text to a photo. I took a photo of just black, so it could be my background, and lately i've been making text images, that i use as wallpapers, and i think the process really helped grind it into my mind. And sometimes on the walk to school, i try to recall all i have done, and it works! A lot better than other things.

Reading his word is so important. A heard a quote once that said "Christian books are not a replacement for the Word of God" and thats so true. Im reading "You Can Change" by Tim Chester, and its a great book, but its not the scripture. We need to focus on just that because it is assured that THE WORD is true, and is God's words, speaking to you.

Learn to indulge into his Word, keep thinking about it, and you will embody it.

Why Do I Ask?

As a kid, I always asked my parents for things. Things such as toys, new clothes, the latest electronics, and money. I always thought that once I ask, I’ll receive it right away. I thought that that was how God worked, ask and I’ll receive right away.

There are many Christians out there that ask but don’t receive. Why? Because they don’t have the right heart. I realized that most of my requests to God weren’t being answered. I kept questioning why He would do that.

I thought He listened then brushed it off. Then, I realized that I wasn’t asking because I needed those things. I asked because I wanted them.

Growing up in a Christian school I was very exposed to “The Lord’s Prayer”.

It’s located in Matthew 6:9-13 it says:

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

I always thought that it was just another thing to memorize until January 1, 2012. After all those years I soon realized that there was a deeper meaning to it. I’ve studied these verses but it was just a quick brief about what it was, I never really dug deep into what it really meant.

The first day of this year I entered the gym (where we have our youth service) not expecting anything. As I was listening to my pastor she focused on these verses and I realized that there was more to those words that came out of my mouth. I thought of it as a slap in the face. Something that I’ve been doing for so long and not knowing what it meant really hit me hard. She said this one line in her sermon, “God doesn’t answer because we’re doubtful.”

I think that this hit me hard because I wasn’t asking God for the right things. It was just for me, me, and me. She helped me realize that God only answers our prayers when we have the right heart. We don’t need to use big words or be in a certain place at a certain time. We just need to have the right mind and heart.

My pastor explained 3 reasons why God doesn't answer our prayers.

1. Because of the unconfessed sins in our lives.

Isaiah 59:1-2:

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. ² But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

2. Because of our own doubt.

James 1:6-7:

⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

3. Because we have the wrong motives.

-

James 4:2-3:

² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

"The greatest prayer anyone can pray is, “They will be done.”"

-Lehman Strauss, Sense and Nonsense about Prayer