Sacrifice Leading to a Tranformation

Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect."

    Sacrifice. To many, that's a big word. To some, it's laying your life into God's hands. Jesus called us to be living sacrifices–to live a pure and holy life for Him. In order to live a life pleasing to God, we must let Him take control. Who knows better than us? God. He knows more about each and every one of us more than we know ourselves. He knows what's best for us.
    Sometimes, I think we think we know it all. I find this rather funny because I've been there too. The great kicker is that we are the creation, but God is the Creator. Every invention has an inventor. Before the light bulb was created, there was Thomas Edison. Before the airplane, there was Orville and Wilbur Wright (also known as the Wright Brothers). All the men and women who were considered great inventors in their time, created their inventions to serve a need. Their creations served a purpose.
Before all of creation, there was God. God created man. Mankind was created for a special purpose– a special need...
Colossians 1:16 "For all things in Heaven and on earth were created by Him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through Him and for Him."
    We were created to live for Him. To worship Him. To give of our lives fully for Him. Sacrifice. One of the definitions for the word sacrifice is "the thing so surrendered or devoted." We need to totally surrender to God–to give up our wills and let His be done.
    The second verse in Romans 12 says to be transformed. Have you ever watched the stages that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly? It's amazing, really. The caterpillar hatches from it's egg six days after it's laid. It then feeds on the plant that it has been laid on (as an egg). This is very much the same thing God does for us. He plants us where He wants us. He knows our needs before we're born. The caterpillar then begins to feed on every leaf in it's sight to prepare for the next stage– just as we as Christians should strive to live a better and more nutritious life for Him; feeding on His word.
    The next stage in the life of  a caterpillar is the most mesmerizing part of the cycle. Metamorphosis–a complete change of form, structure, or substance. Before the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it forms a chrysalis by spinning silk. While in this protective casing, the caterpillar undergoes amazing changes through the course of twelve days. It's body structure changes. It forms two wings and a long tongue. Finally, it breaks free of this hard shell. This creature is no longer a little weak caterpillar–it's a beautiful, strong butterfly with many colors.
    In the same way, we need to go through the same changes that a butterfly goes through. If you ever took a close look at butterflies, you'd notice that each one is different–no two are exactly the same. We are each different. We're not copies of each other. However, we were made in the wonderful image of God. The way we live our lives should be a reflection of the transformation that He has made in our lives.
    What does  your life say about your creator? Are you still that little caterpillar? Or are you willing to undergo the transformations you need to become a beautiful butterfly?

What Work of Art Will You Leave Behind?

We all want to make a difference. We all have that urgency inside of us to do something great. We have the potential and power to do so, but why aren't we doing it? Do we even realize the actual power that we have within us?

The Bible says that we can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens us. (Phillippians 4:13) Our weaknesses become His strength. He has ALL the power and authority. He gave us all our own mind and imagination and the creativity to do something great.
There is no smallness in God's kingdom. No matter what we do, if it's for Him, it makes ALL the difference. Anything that we can do for Him is a big thing. And He honors the work that we put forth into the kingdom.

God has given each and everyone of us a talent//gift and the ability to dream. I'm reading a book right now (I actually just started it last night) and the author says something that REALLY just hit me. It was like BAM! That's awesome! lol He said:
"The canvas you paint first is your life. Then your life becomes the brush from which you paint that part of the world you touch while you are here on this planet. You are an artist. What work of art will you leave behind?"

We all have a blank canvas in front of us right now. You do, and so do I. Our generation is trying to figure out what they wanna do with their lives. No matter who we are, I believe that we all want to leave something about them behind, a legacy of sorts. We want people to know that we CAN make a difference!

God is calling us to make a difference. Our generation is the generation that will make the greatest impact for generations to come. We all have some kind of gift we'd like to share with the world. Maybe not the whole world. But you can definitely change YOUR world.

Think of life as a blank canvas. If you could make it into anything you want, what would it be?

Always Stand for the Good!

1 Peter 3:13-18
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they feara]">; do not be frightened."b]"> 15But
in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that
you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping
a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your
good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by
the Spirit,

I was reading this, and it just touched my heart. So many times people try to do something good, and the Devil gets in the way. Sometimes people bash their ideas or just push the actual person away. Jesus said "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10)
He also said in verse 11 and 12 ""Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same
way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

I just felt like telling someone today, that even if people hurt you and persecute your good-doings.. don't be ashamed because there is a God who is greater and He will be so proud of you. And you will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Don't be afraid to stand up for Jesus!! Just remember to keep a right spirit and attitude (1 Peter 3:15-16)
Have an awesome day everyone!! (:

The "Me" Generation; A Generation That Doesn't Understand

Ok so I haven't written a lot of notes lately ((I'm talking particularly about my "me" generation notes)) So let's play catch up. The first note I wrote on this topic was The "me" Generation. Don't know what I'm talking about? Read it haha. The last note I wrote about The "me" Generation was called: The "me" Generation; A Generation That Knows No Love. And now here I am, writing this one. So hopefully, you're all caught up ;)
Since we're getting closer to Easter ((yay!)) I figured I'd write something to that effect. The scripture that I'd like to use is this, "No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life for his friends." John 15:13.
Now my question is this, how many people out in the world today would die for their friend? Seriously. Some people say, "Oh I would!" And then I would say, "Really. Why would you?" And then the conversation would go something like they would do it for their friend because of how much they care for that friend. And that they would just die without that friend!!
Many people ask the same question about God. Why? Why would He even bother to come down to the Earth just to die.. for me? Even tho I've betrayed Him.. I don't care about my life. No one does. But He DOES care about your life.
Just like many people give their lives for their country... for the people they don't know... to protect. To serve people they don't even know. God loves you even MORE than that!! He loved you because He knew you! He loved you even tho you may betray Him. He loved you so much that He gave His life for you. He went thru the punishment so we wouldn't have to.
I believe that our generation doesn't understand how much Jesus gave. If they did, the "me" generation would become a "we" generation. A generation that would seek God more than ever. A generation full of love and compassion. A generation that would love others as God has loved each and every one of us. Think about it... He gave His life so we could live, Why not live our lives and give back to Him. There's a song that's in my head right now and it goes "He paid a debt He did not owe, and I owed a debt I could not pay.." Yes, it's an oldie.. but so very true.
Jesus Christ gave His life on a cross. Why not give our lives to Him? Now I'm not saying for you to go and die lol. I'm just simply saying this; why not sacrifice ourselves, our busy schedules, and do the work of the Kingdom? Just as He did the work of the Kingdom.
God Bless.

My Burden. :)

My burden...
I have such a strong burden for children. I mean, you have no idea. I just started teaching in our nursery, and man I gotta tell ya.. I love it! It's so fun to just let loose and be a kid again. I love helping the children learn the love of our God. Just to be able to see the look on their faces when you say, "Jesus loves you."--It's worth everything. I believe that children are a vital part in the church of God. They are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today! They will be the ones to take over when we're long gone. We need to teach them now, we need to reach them- NOW! It is said that 3 out of 4 children will leave the church when they're 18. How sad, but true, this is. It is also said that by the age of 13, a child decides what they're going to believe for the rest of they're life. Wow. We need to reach our children more than ever before; through teaching, discipleship, prayer groups- we need to do everything we can to reach them and keep them in the church. And I am determined to be a part of this. I don't know how, but I'm starting now. Even the littlest things help. And this... this is my burden.

I believe it's time for another blog; Loneliness.

So today topic is about loneliness. There are so many questions about loneliness. We live in a society where loneliness is so common. The problem is, people don't know how to deal with it. Many people are scared when they find themselves alone. They ask: What does is it mean to be alone? How can we deal with our loneliness? What does God say about the lonely? Is it ok to feel alone?

1. What does loneliness? And how should we handle it?
People find themselves alone for many reasons: lack of friends, lack of communication skills, pulling themselves away from the outside world without really noticing until they find themselves.. alone. Being alone means to be apart from others- excluded from the outside world. Dictionary.com says that loneliness is "affected with, characterized by, or causing a depressing feeling of being alone" and "companionless." Sometimes people find themselves lost and alone simply because a.) no one wants to be their friend or b.) they don't want a friend or c.) they don't know how to be a friend. Good, solid friendships are hard to find these days. There are so many people that will do anything just to be someone's friend, however they don't keep the morals and values of a friendship. Therefore, they end up alone. Some people, if you're like me, find themselves alone because they won't give up their morals and values that they strongly believe in. In this generation, people would give up what they believe in just for a friend.. They don't know how to stand against the crowd and be the minority. It is so hard to be a Christian and have good, faithful friends these days. There's so much junk in the world that stops us from having loyal friends. However, if you DO find yourself alone, keep reading. Don't be afraid. There is hope for you! Because guess what, you're NOT alone! You have Jesus Christ and He can help you in those 'alone' times and He can make you stronger.

2.What does the Bible say about the lonely?
Many people don't realize that it's OK to feel alone. It's not bad. And it's certainly not sinful. The only time when it becomes wrong and harmful, is when you decide to stay alone and find yourself in a deep depression. When you refuse to make or repair old damaged friendships, that's when you need to get on your hands and knees and pray to God. I'll talk more on that later, though.
But back to what I was saying, it's FINE to feel alone. Luke 5:16 says:
"Yet Jesus himself frequently withdrew to the wilderness and prayed."
Sometimes, we really do need that alone time. When we do find ourselves alone, it's a great time to get ourselves back in tune with God.

3.A Closing word.
What I've been doing lately is a lot of reading and devotion times. I
have found myself not alone, but instead I have found myself closer to
God and NOT alone. I have found that I really DO enjoy spending more
time with God. I don't completely withdraw myself from people, because
we all need people for support and comfort. However, you would find me
somewhere reading a book instead of a crowd of people. It's not that I
don't like people, it's just that I love reading educational books. Call me a nerd, but that's honestly how I've been lately. God needs people who can learn to take advantage of the 'quiet times' in their life. By taking those times that you feel all alone and praying and really getting in tune with God, you make yourself a stronger person. Just don't forget that our fleshly selves DO need human interaction. Don't pull yourself too far from the world, but do involve yourself in more spiritual growing.
I hope that I have helped someone. If you have any questions on loneliness, do feel free to ask. This is kind of just a summary. However, if you do have a specific question and would like it answered in a blog or private message, feel free! I seriously love questions! Even if I don't know the answer, I'll find it. Love y'all and God Bless!!

My New Heart Song

This song means so much to me... It's in the hard times that I realize that God will always love me no matter what. Just to know that He loves me, means everything to me. He is truly the friend that will never forsake me. My life is a little bit bumpy right now. I'm at the place where I'm finding out who my real friends are. I'm also finding out that as you get older, things change. I'm kinda at the place where I need to decide if I'm going to actually 'grow up' and be 'mature' or am I going to stay in my childish ways and grow up later..? And it's really hard because I want to grow up and be who God wants me to be, but in the process I'm losing some friends. It hurts, but I know I'll make it through and make new friends. And I know that there is one friend who will always be my friend, and that is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Dependence by Jamie Slocum


This is the life I’ve always wanted
To know the prince of peace
To feel my faith restored
As your grace surrounds me

This is the day of new beginnings
This is where my freedom starts
And now death has lost its sting
And Jesus how can I thank you?

Just to know, just to know that you love me
Gives me hope to carry on
What can this world do to me? No, no
Just to know, just to know that you’re with me
On all these roads I traveled on
When all I have is gone
I confess my dependence on you

There is a lightness in my laughter
There is a joy inside my soul
My heart is overwhelmed
And Jesus how can I thank you?

Just to know, just to know that you love me
Gives me hope to carry on
What can this world do to me? No, no
Just to know, just to know that you’re with me
On all these roads I traveled on
When all I have is gone
I confess my dependence on you
Dependence on you

Just to know, just to know that you love me
It gives me hope to carry on
You’re the one thing that I can turn to
Just to know, just to know that you’re with me
On all these roads I traveled on
You’re the one thing that I can turn to
Just to know, just to know that you love me
It gives me hope to carry on
There’s nothing this world can do
I confess my dependence on you
Lord, I confess my dependence on you
Dependence on you

The "Me" Generation; a Generation that knows no love

Today's generation has no clue what love really is. Don't believe me? Ask any teen on the street what love is and I guarantee that they don't come up with what I'm about to tell you. Most of them would say a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, love for a spouse, love for a child—and yes, these are all examples of love; but not the love I am thinking of. I'm talking about the love of Jesus Christ.
The love of Jesus Christ is what I like to think of as 'brotherly love.' Loving someone as Christ would. Leviticus 19:18 says, "You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." Then in John 13:34 says, “I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."
Now why would God say to love someone as yourself, then give you a NEW command saying to love as He has loved you? I firmly believe that God realized that we ourselves don't understand the full meaning of love. So He had to define it for us by going to the cross of Calvary. The Bible says, "No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
Now He didn't die only for the people that where good to Him—no, He died for you, for me, even those who He knew were going to betray Him. How much more should we love others? How much more should we get out of our busy schedules to show someone God's love?
People also look at the way we act towards each other in the church. So much of the world has crept into the church and it's really sad. There's so much disunity and gossip and lying and hatred among God's people. And that's exactly what the devil wants—disunity. Mark 3:25 says, "If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." If we (the church) aren't of one mind, it is easier for the devil to attack.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:20 "If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." Do we want people to look at us as liars and people who go against each other? OR Do we want people to be able to recognize us by the love of Christ--that undying, unfailing love?

As Russ Cripps put it in his book-votional ThirtyOneAnothers:

God came down to redefine love, to show us that loving others is real love because real love is not about us, it's about them. We really don't know how to love one another. We must juxtapose the old love and the new love and learn to love others on the same level that Jesus loves them. In that NEW love, the HIGHER love, we place others before ourselves.
It is obvious that we all want to receive the love of Jesus. The real challenge lies in our ability to give love to others also---it's not just caring for them, not just loving them, but loving them as Christ loves you."

Think about this as you celebrate this Valentine's Day. Hopefully, you have a new viewpoint on love. I pray that you start learning to love others as Christ loves you.

<3Krissy

The "Me" Generation

Today I had to write an essay for the PSSA testing. The prompt was to state my opinion on having community service as a requirement for students to graduate. As I got to writing {which I love to do} I got to thinking. Our generation is a "me" generation.. in other words: our generation (MY generation) has no respect, no responsibilities and hardly an ounce of compassion. What ever happened to some of the Golden Rules? "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" or "Treat others like you would like to be treated." This younger generation is into nothing but computers, cellphones, fashion and they pretty much think about themselves. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that EVERYONE in this generation is like this, however, the majority of this generation is.
The next few blogs//notes//whatever else you want to call them, will be on the "me" generation. Don't you just love that phrase? Maybe I'll write a book on that... someday. But anyhow, like I said, I'm in a writing mood so watch out. I'm going to give everyone a little insight on what the whole "me" generation is and how we, as Christians, can defeat it! But first, we need to get ourselves right with God before we go and fight other battles. We need to fight our battles--the battles of self, the flesh and (most importantly) the mind.

Galations 5:17 says "For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want."
We need to get our flesh and mind under subjection to the Spirit so God can move in and through us. So that's what we are going to do. And the first subject we are going to talk about is love.

Thanks for reading this guys.. I really appreciate it. I'm going to try to write as often as I can. Maybe (someday) I'll actually write a book.. after I get my degree in psychology of course ;) However, that can't stop me from actually writing now.. so I'll be on later to write about love and how to have unconditional love for others--as Jesus did. But until then, may God's blessing pour out on you!
~Krissy