Michelle's Walk to Remember

Faith- Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6

2012-01-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:6 says "And without faith it is impossible to please Him for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him."

This is what a believers faith should be like. We have never seen God yet we believe that there is one. Yet some days I have to admit I have wondered if God is real and what if we are wrong. But I know that is Satan trying to mess with my mind and trying to make me doubt my salvation. Trusting in an invisible God may sound crazy to some but I know He is real because of what I've seen Him do in my life and in others as well. His hand of protection has been with me throughout my life. Why should I doubt? That is foolish. My God is an awesome God and He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Him as stated in John 14:6. Do you need any other passage of Scripture to make this any clearer? I certainly don't. Take that Satan! No one not even you can snatch me from God's hand.

God Is In Control- Jeremiah 10:23

2012-01-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

Jeremiah 10:23 says "I know O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps."

Oh that we as believers would listen to God's Word more often. I struggle with this. Learning to trust God more that He will direct my steps. God is sovereign. He is in control. I am not the driver of the car. He is. I am only a passenger who feels like she has no clue where the two of us are going/heading to. I hate that feeling of not knowing. Some days I just feel utterly lost. I'm sure you have felt that way before too. Just have to lean on Christ and rely on Him that He knows the way/the road when we don't. We need to have peace in our hearts about that.

Humility- John 8:54

2012-01-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

John 8:54 says- Jesus answered "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me of whom you say He is our God."

As I was reading my Bible today this verse in John stood out to me. This verse shows Christ being humble. He says He will not glorify himself rather that His Father will glorify him. Not only does it show him being humble but it is an example for us to follow. We should not look for praise from others. But rather we should be giving all the praise and glory to God thanking Him for everything.

Learning to be humble will be hard if we try to do it in our strength. In fact we can't do it in our own strength. We can't do anything without Christ. We by nature are very proud people. We think in our mind we are right in whatever we say. Our opinion can be the only right opinion. Everyone who thinks otherwise is always wrong. We in turn are the ones who are wrong. There are a few exceptions when it comes to this that being Christ is the only way to heaven and other moral issues. In those cases we are right because we have the Word of God to back us up and Word of God is the truth. I think what I struggle with most is trying to remain humble even though I know I am right. But my pride and knowing I'm right wants to snap back and prove to the other person how I am in fact right event though they in turn insist that they are.

My question is for my friends who are Christians as well would be what would you do in that type of situation? How would you confront someone who is a sister or brother in the faith who says something is okay to do even when they know it's the wrong thing to do and they know they are wrong but when you try to talk to them about it gets angered easily?

My prayer for us all today is that we would learn how to become more humble like Christ and ask God to remove the pride in our life that so easily entangles us to the sin of anger.

Project 366

2012-01-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

I know it has been a while since I wrote on this blog. My friend Amber challenged me to do a 366 day project. So I have decided that I will do a daily post on this blog. It will be related to whatever I read in the Bible for that day and/or what I learned and gleaned from that passage(s). This will be a way for me to hold myself accountable for reading the Bible every day like I wanted to since the beginning of this year. I hope it is an encouragement to you. I look forward to sharing with you what I learn. If at any time you think I have taken a verse out of context or something like that or if you have anything to add or want to answer a question I posted please let me know in the comments section. I have only been a Christian for 11 years so I have a lot to learn still and room to grow in my faith like you all. :-) I hope you will join me in my journey through the Bible.

Blessings,
Michelle

All He Had (Would He Be Enough?)

2011-11-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

There once was a man
Who had nothing
Nothing in the World's Eyes
Of any wealth or value
He was in their eyes
A VERY poor man

But...
The World was wrong
What?!?! How could that be??
With no money
No prosperity

No.
Not all the extravagant things
That money could buy
Could compare to what he had
What is this you ask?
What could be better than money and things?
Faith was the key.
The key to eternal life
Life for all eternity
With the one and only true King

Yes Faith
Faith in the One
The Only One who could save him
Save him from what?
What did he/we need to be saved from?
From the fiery clenches of Hell
An eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth

Dear God, I am AFRAID!!
I Do Not Want To Go There!!

Repent the Lord has told you!
Repent of your evil ways!
Repent and Have Faith and Believe!
Till your old and dieing days!

For you have sinned!
Lieing, Stealing, Adultery, Blasphemy
The list goes on and on....

Oh God Forgive Me!
I am SOOO VERY sorry!!
Remove my transgressions
Give me everlasting life!
I am unworthy of your love and grace
Thank you for paying that costly price
A life that was sinless given for a wretched sinner like me
And because of that ultimate price
I AM FREE!!!! I AM FREE!!!
So utterly in love with thee
My Savior Who Died For Me!!!!

So...
Give me all the trials and tribulations that may come.
But I will press on
I will remain steadfast
My faith will remain strong

Or let me be weak and poor
like the poor man I mentioned before
like in Luke chapter 16
For like him my hope is in the Lord!
No matter whatever comes my way.
My hope and peace shall be in the Lord
For I know that I am saved.
And in Him and Him alone my faith will always stay
Even if they take everything away
I will not compromise
I will not sway
For the poor man is my example
And all he ever had was faith
In the One who came to save
And that was enough...
If that was enough for Him
It should be also enough for me.

What about you?
Where would you be?
What would your faith look like?
If you had only faith
Faith in the Lord, Savior and King.

Would He be enough?
He is enough for me...

by Michelle Miano

I wrote this poem based off a sermon I heard my pastor preach this past Sunday morning. Please listen to it. Thank you so much!!!

Proverbs 11

2011-03-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

False balance is an abomination but a just weight is His delight (v.1)

Pride leads to dishonor (v.2)

Humble leads to wisdom (v.2)

. Being humble = being submissive to God

- Micah 6:8 says "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?"

The integrity of the upright will guide them(the person) (v.3)

The crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them (v.3)

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath (v.4)

- Ezekial 7:19 says "They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling."

- Zephaniah 1:8 says "Then it will come about on the day of the LORD'S sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the king's sons and all who clothe themselves with foreign garments."

Righteousness delivers from death (v.4)

Righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way. (v.5)

The wicked will fall by his own wickedness (v.5)

Righteousness of the upright will deliver them (v.6)

Treacherous will be caught by their own greed (v.6)

When a wicked man dies.... (v.7)
- His expectation will perish (v.7)
- Hope of strong men perishes (v.7)
. Job 8:13-14 says "¹³"So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish, ¹⁴Whose confidence is fragile, And whose trust a spider's web."

Righteous are delivered from trouble (v.8)

Wicked takes his place (v.8)

With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor (v.9)

Through knowledge the righteous will be delivered (v.9)

When it goes well with the righteous the city rejoices (v.10)

- Proverbs 28:12 says "When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

When the wicked perish there is joyful shouting (v.10)

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted (v.11)

By the mouth of the wicked it is torn down (v.11)

He who despises his neighbor lacks sense (v.12)

- Despise means belittle or shows contempt for

A man of understanding keeps silent (v.12)

He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets (v.13)

-Talebearer is a malicious slanderer, not merely one who is indiscreet

. Proverbs 16:28 says "A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends"

. Proverbs 20:19 says "He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, Therefore do not associate with a gossip."

He who is trustworthy conceals a matter (v.13)

Where there is no guidance the people fall (v.14)

-Steering, wise direction on the course of life is guidance.

. Proverbs 15:22 says "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed."

. Proverbs 20:18 says "Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance."

. Proverbs 24:6 says "For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory."

But in abundance of counselors there is victory! (v.14)

He who hates being a guarantor is secure (v.15)

- Stay out of debt! Those who get into it will suffer for it.

Gracious women attains honor (v.16)

Merciful man does himself good (v.17)

- Matthew 5:7 says "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

. The Lord calls the merciful blessed. They are blessed because they shall receive mercy.

Cruel man does himself harm (v.17)

He who sows righteousness gets a true reward (v.18)

- A true reward is an eternal reward, an enduring one.

. Hosea 10:12 says "Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you.

. Galatians 6:8-9 says "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary."

. James 3:18 says "And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

Steadfast in righteousness will attain to life (v.19)

-Proverbs 12:28 says "In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death."

-Proverbs 19:23 says "The fear of the LORD leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil."

He who pursues evil will bring about his own death (v.19)

- Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

. Evil in Proverbs 11:19= Sin in Romans 6:23

-James 1:15 says "Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."

. Sin leads to death

Lord detests men of perverse heart (v.20)

Lord delights in those whose ways are blameless (v.20)

The wicked will not go unpunished, the righteous will go free (v.21)

Women should show discretion (v.22)

Desire of the righteous ends only in good; Hope of the wicked ends only in wrath (v.23)

One man gives freely yet gains even more (v.24)

-I think some of the things would be just a good thing.

Generous man will be prosperous (v.25)

He who waters will himself be watered (v.25)

- I think this part of the verse could have to do with spiritual growth and helping each other as brothers and sisters in Christ grow in the faith. When we help someone grow than in the process of that we will be helped as well.

But blessing will be at the head of him who sells it(grain) (v.26)

-This reminds me of Joseph in Genesis 42. It's kind of interesting that it reminded me of it and when I looked at the references it mentioned that same exact chapter in the list. Joseph did not withhold grain from his brothers but sold it to them and the Lord blessed Him for it.

He who diligently seeks good, seeks favor (v.27)

He who seeks evil, evil will come to him (v.27)

-Psalm 7:15-16 says "He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the hole which he made. ¹⁶His mischief will return upon his own head, and his violence will descend upon his own plate."

He who trusts in his riches will fall (v.28)

The righteous will flourish like a green leaf (v.28)

-I love the description of the righteous in this verse

.Psalm 1:1-3 says "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! ²But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. ³He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers."

.Jeremiah 17:7-8 says "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD.
⁸"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."

He who troubles his own house will inherit wind (v.29)

The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life (v.30)

He who is wise wins souls (v.30)

Matthew 18:15 says "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother."

.Not sure if this is what Proverbs is referring to or not but that is the only reference I could find in my Bible for it.

Last but not least I'm not sure as to what verse 31 means. Proverbs 11:31 says "If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!"

If anyone can tell me what they think that verse means that would be wonderful.

That is what I learned from Proverbs 11.

Why? Oh Why? and Doubts

2010-11-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Why? Oh Why?

I lament
I cry
Woe is me
Why God? Why me?
I cry out in self pity
Why? Oh Why?
My thoughts and his lying words deceived me
Trials come my way
Still I try to understand
Why did the Lord make it happen this way?
Why a time and trials so rough?

So He can show me how I am weak
And need to have faith
And on Him I need to lean
For everything
And in Him alone put my trust

by Michelle Miano

Doubts?

When all these doubts plague me
And my worries overwhelm me
I cry out "Why me?"
Who can give me the strength I need?

Only Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our mighty King
Who alone reigns with power and majesty.
Can give us the strength that we need.

by Michelle Miano

I decided to put these two poems up together in one post because they were similar and shorter than most of my other poems. I wrote these a couple months ago but didn't feel comfortable putting these up until today.. I'm not sure why today is different than any other day but maybe someone else is going through what I've been feeling and just needs to read/see/hear these poems to know that they are not alone in feeling this way. I hope it helps lift someones spirits.

Much love to my dear sisters and brothers in Christ.

Joyful Peace

2010-10-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Peace surpassing
All my understanding
Love never fading
So very comforting
To know that my Savior, He...
Yes He
Is always right beside me
Through life's greatest trials
And plagues of worry sweep through
He will always remain
He will always be true

His love so astounding
So utterly amazing
And I so undeserving

I can never thank Him enough
For His awesome sacrifice
and wonderful grace, mercy and love
The least I can do is give Him my all
Every second of my life
To thank Him for what He did to pay the price
For all the sins I had done wrong
and continue to do for so very long

And that when I would surrender all my life to Him
I would forever and ever be a daughter to Christ
And I would be His for Eternity
And knowing that is so wonderful to me
That it gives me such a joyful peace

So I need not fear when death draws near
For God knows the time, place, manner, and day.
I need not worry because I am saved.
If I have truly given my life to God
And if He alone drew me to repentance and faith.

All I then can say is
Lord Thank For Choosing Me On That Special Day!

by Michelle Miano

The beginnings of this poem were written as I was listening to a sermon given by Mike Livingston at my church on October 3rd. The passage of Scripture he discussed was Philippians 1:18-26. Through listening to his sermon and reading this passage I made the poem you just read.

Philippians 1:18-26 (New American Standard Bible)

18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,
19for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
To Live Is Christ
21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
22But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.
23But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
24yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
26so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

The sermon was very encouraging to me. If you want to listen to it the link is here.

I hope it encourages you as much as it did to me. Love you my dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

Proverbs 10

2010-10-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

These are my notes from Proverbs 10.

A wise son makes a father glad. One who fears the Lord is wise. A foolish son is a grief to his mother (v.1).

Ill gotten gains do not profit-foolish person. Righteousness delivers from death-wise son (v.2).

The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger to the wise son. He will reject the craving of the wicked for the foolish son. (v.3)

Poor is he who works with negligent hands- foolish son. Hand of the diligent makes rich- wise son (v.4).

He who gathers in the summer is the wise son. He who sleeps in harvest is the son who acts shamefully and is the foolish son (v.5)

Blessings are on the righteous. The mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Violent plans and language come from the mouth of the wicked(v.6).

The memory of the righteous will/is blessed. The name of the wicked will rot (v.7).

The wise will receive commands but a babbling fool will be ruined (v.8).

When you walk in integrity, you will walk securely. He who perverts his way will be found out (v.9).

He who winks his eye causes trouble (v.10).

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life. I'm guessing this fountain of life is having something to do with with something spiritual/spiritual aspect in our walk with Christ (v.11).

Hatred stirs up strife. This is so very true. Love covers all transgressions. Hallelujah! (v.12).

Lips of the discerning, wisdom is found. Rod for the back of those who lack understanding (v.13).

Wise men store up knowledge. The mouth of the foolish-- ruin is at hand (v.14).

The rich man's wealth is his fortress. The ruin of the poor is their poverty (v.15).

My study Bible says "Wealth can sometimes protect from trouble while poverty is a liability that exposes one to misfortune." The wages of the righteousness is life. The income of the wicked is punishment. This reminds me of "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life." (v.16).

He who heeds instructions is on the path of life. He who ignores reproof goes astray (v.17).

He who conceals hatred has lying lips and he who spreads slander is a fool (v.18).

When there is many words transgression is unavoidable. He who restrains his lips is wise (v.19).

The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver. Heart of the wicked is worth little (v.20).

Lips of the righteous feed many. Pastors are like this. Fools die for lack of understanding (v.21).

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich. He adds no sorrow to it (v.22).

My study Bible says real prosperity is a divine blessing accompanied by neither anxiety or trouble. Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool. Wisdom is like sport to a man of understanding. Sport you have to practice it. You can't expect to be the best at it when you first start doing it. Sport could also mean fun which could be describing the fool. They don't care how it might be hurtful. They are having fun and finding enjoyment in it so they won't stop doing it. (v.23).

What the wicked fears will come upon him. The desires of the righteous will be granted (v.24).

When the storm/whirlwind passes the wicked will be no more. But the righteous will remain for they have an everlasting foundation which is Jesus Christ. Reminds me of "Firm Foundation" song (v.25).

The lazy person is like sour vinegar and smoke to the eyes- irritating to the one who sends them.(v.26).

The fear of the Lord prolongs life but the wicked life will be shortened (v.27).

Hope of the righteous=gladness. Expectation of the wicked perishes (v.28).

Way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright but ruin to workers of iniquity (v.29).

Righteous will never be shaken. Wicked will not dwell in the land (v.30).

Wisdom flows from the mouth of the righteous. Perverted tongue will be cut out (v.31). The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable but the mouth of the wicked bring forth what is perverted. (v.32).

That is what I learned from reading Proverbs 10.

Proverbs 9

2010-10-19T12:19:00.001-07:00

Here are my notes from reading Proverbs 9.

Wisdom is building a house and preparing (v.1-3).

She calls to those who are naive and lack understanding to come to her house (v.4-5).

Forsake folly and live and proceed in the way of understanding (v.6).

He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Don't reprove a scoffer or he will hate you. A scoffer and/or a wicked person will not receive criticism. They will be angry and turn against the person who is trying to help them. Reprove a wise person on the other hand and that person will love you (v.7-8).

Give instruction to a wise person and they will become wiser. Teach a righteous person and he will listen and increase his learning. He will understand that he needs to learn more and that they do not know everything. They should listen and understand and know that there is always going to be someone smarter, wiser, more mature than them, and therefore have more experience in that are that is being taught to them. Therefore they should also show their teachers respect (v.9).

The theme of the Book of Proverbs is reiterated here. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (v.10).

By me your days will be multiplied and years of life will be added to you. This only happens if you are the wise person (v.11).

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself and if you scoff you alone will bear it. You can either choose to be wise and reap the benefits of doing so or you can scoff and incur the penalty (v.12).

Women of folly is described as:

Boisterous (v.13)

Naive (v.13)

Knows nothing (v.13)

She calls to those who are making their paths straight- those who are going straight on their ways, not staying off the path, those who are living in an upright manner, righteous person, wise and pleasing to God. (v.13)

Calling all those who are naive and lacking understanding to turn aside for a moment to her place. (v.16)

Stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. This reminds me of the saying "What somebody doesn't knows can't hurt them." Even though when it is found out as seen in the previous chapter there is nothing they can do about it, they cannot give it back. (v.17)

The naive will not know or realize that the dead are there and that the woman of folly's guests are in the depths of Sheol are there. He won't find out until it is too later and he has already been a participant in the act/crime. (v.18)

This act/crime can be anything, not just adultery.

This is what I got from reading Proverbs 9.

Peace and Hope

2010-10-17T08:55:00.001-07:00

Peace and Hope
To be able to cope
When life throws you those curves
And you don't know where to turn.

O Lord, which way?
Should I choose to go
Or should I stay?

When you don't know what He's doing
Just remember that He's all knowing.

Live by faith and not by sight
Do not fret for you need not be dismayed.
For the Lord is with you
On this journey called life.

Yes every second of every day
He'll be with you forever and always

So trust Him and He will you give you the peace and hope
So that you will be able to cope.

by Michelle Miano

Ten Shekels and a Shirt- Paris Reidhead

2010-10-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned I had been on a Facebook fast. During that week I listened to a variety of different sermons. One of the sermons I listened to was Ten Shekels and a Shirt by Paris Reidhead. This was an amazing sermon. I had never heard it before. If you haven't listened to it I would recommend that you do.

Here are my notes from his sermon...

Judges 17-18:6 (New American Standard Bible)

Judges 17- Micah's Idolatry
1Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
2He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD."
3He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, "I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you."
4So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah.
5And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest.
6In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
7Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.
8Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah.
9Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place."
10Micah then said to him, "Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance." So the Levite went in.
11The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.
12So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah.
13Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest."
Judges 18
Danites Seek Territory
1In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.
2So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, search the land " And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
3When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, "Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?"
4He said to them, "Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest."
5They said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous."
6The priest said to them, "Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD'S approval."

Judges 18:14-21 (New American Standard Bible)

Danites Take Micah's Idols
14Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do."
15They turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
16The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17Now the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took the graven image and the ephod and household idols and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
18When these went into Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod and household idols and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
19They said to him, "Be silent, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"
20The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and household idols and the graven image and went among the people.
21Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the valuables in front of them.

Every man back then did what was right in his own eyes.

Pragmatism- If it succeeds, it's good. If it's worth it, it's true.

What is the standard of success? Is God an end or is He a means?

Humanism- The end of all being is the happiness of man. "The reason of existence is man's happiness. No absolute standard." -John Dewey.

Liberalism- Put sugar in coffee to sweeten the journey for a short period of time. Happiness is a by-product not a prime product.

What is the philosophy of evangelism and Christianity?

Missionaries are sometimes motivated by humanism. He realized that the people he was trying to reach out to knew about God and didn't want to go to heaven. It wasn't that they had never heard. We don't want people to suffer--that's humanism. They loved their sin and that's why they deserve to go to Hell. God tells us that "He did not send us to go out there for their (the people who were lost) sake but for Christ's (my) sake."

The end of all being is the glory of God.

Why did we repent? Weep over yours sins not because of the danger of Hell but because you realize the enormity of your sins. Bad men deserve to receive the wrath of a Good God.

Did I repent just to go to Heaven? God deserves the obedience! Repent for the Glory of God! You are defrauding the God of the glory He could get out of your life.

Are we crucified with Christ?

I am crucified with Christ! Lord fill my life with your presence! Everything will be done by you and for you! God is not going to be a means to anyone's end! You can do nothing for yourself! It's not what you are going to get out of God! It's what God is going to get out of you!

May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering! That my friends is our entire life! Not bits and pieces but every aspect of our life!

And They Crucified Him- Art Katz

2010-09-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

So I decided to go on a Facebook fast for a week. I realized that I had spending way too much time on Facebook and not enough time in the Word of God. The first thing I listened too was a sermon called And They Crucified Him by Art Katz. Thank you Tim Rector for suggesting this sermon for me to listen to. I strongly encourage anyone who has not listened to this sermon to do so.

Here are the notes I took and what I learned from the sermon:

Matthew 27:35-54 (New American Standard Bible)

35And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.
36And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.
37And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
38At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
39And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads
40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
41In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying,
42"He saved others; He cannot save Himself He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
43"HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
44The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.
45Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
47And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah."
48Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.
49But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."
50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
54Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

This passage does not milk the event sentimentally or emotionally. No drama.

The cross of the crucified Christ.

The Jewish intellect like to know many things.

Do not let our minds be a mish mosh of things.

We are most of us guilty of making God in our image. Not us in His image as it should be. We need to know Him exactly as He is.

Too many times in worship, Jesus is like a "buddy, buddy."

The cross was the most horrible form of death. As Art Katz was describing crucifixion, quoting from a bible dictionary, I never realized Christ's death was that horrible. Our knowledge of God and His crucifixion is distorted when we see images of Christ crucified today. We live in a civilization that has no tolerance for suffering. Truth is suffering on the cross. We have tragically avoided the cross of Christ because of the worlds influence. Only the cross can crucify the world from us and us from the world. The world is too much with us because the cross has been neglected in our understanding and our experience. Nothing but the cross can. Luke says that what is esteemed by men is judged by God.

Are you longing for Christ to take you out of this world? I have to say that I have not been which I know is wrong of me..

In missing the cross we have missed the power of the resurrection.

The denial of self is a form of suffering. The avoidance of pain is a costly avoidance.

I found this from Art very powerful. He said "If God's people do not become radically sacred, then the world will become radically profane." This is so very true! We can see it today! It's right in our face!

Manipulation is the antithesis to faith. Church has become performance.

How much of our modern religion has become like the old tale of the "Emperor's New Clothes?" Until we come to the nakedness of the cross we will not have His garment of righteousness. The Spirit of God is first the spirit of truth before He is any other.

Are we willing to bring our total life to Christ for His total correction?

The cross should be our standard and that through it, our own life should be squared. How then are you assured of being built straight in Him?

We still want a King who will come down from the cross. We don't want to join Him on it.

To see Him as He is, is to see ourselves as we are. We need to. We need to have our vision corrected. We have become too used to the cross. We need to make the cross an event. There is nothing more difficult to proclaim then the cross. We have made the cross a theory for salvation.

The veil of self interest has still not been torn in two.

God will be pleased to afflict suffering. Are you willing? Walk in the way of the cross and then graduate to the truth and then the taste of the life. It begins with the way and ends with the life.

Do away with yourself. Give everything to Christ.

Are you willing to suffer for Christ? We need to all think about this as we go through trials. Nothing we will ever face, not trial or tribulation, will ever be as horrible as Christ's death on the cross.

And remember this...

Romans 8:35-9:1 (New American Standard Bible)

35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Just as it is written,
"FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Think on these things and be encouraged and challenged to give everything to Christ.

Helping others with Through A Different Lens

2010-07-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, the Lord has allowed me to develop a love for photography. And by His grace, He has allowed me to encourage some of you with my photos. Not all of my photographs have been posted on the blog Through A Different Lens but have been posted on my page on Facebook for Through A Different Lens

Recently, my dad has been studying much about the biblical concept of being otherminded--putting others before one's self, as we are commanded in Scripture (Phil. 2:3-4). As I've thought about the subject, I've asked myself how I might use my photography to be otherminded. As I thought and prayed about this, an idea came to mind.

There is a wonderful sister in Christ, in my church, who, due to a host of significant medical issues, is presently unable to work. My family and I love this sister very much and, I believe, the Holy Spirit has pricked my heart to help this sister in a more tangible way.

In order to raise funds for my sister in Christ, I am going to begin offering prints of my photography for sale. 100% of the proceeds will be given to my sister in Christ, as a love gift to help meet her needs.

I am still working out some of the details, but I wanted to share my idea with you to see if any of you would be interested in purchasing prints of my photography to help this sister in need.

Please prayerfully consider helping me to be otherminded, by helping our sister in Christ.

Thank you.

Blessings,
Michelle Miano

Proverbs 8

2010-07-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Wisdom appeals to everyone to listen to her. They should listen to her(v.1-4).

She tells them to understand prudence(v.5).

Wisdom shall speak noble things. Her opening her lips will reveal right things(v.6).

Wisdom's mouth will utter truth. Wickedness is an abomination to wisdom's lip(v.7).

All her utterances of her mouth are in righteousness. Nothing crooked or perverted in them(the utterances)(v.8).

They are straightforward to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge(v.9).

Instruction is better than silver. Knowledge is better than gold(v.10).

Wisdom is better than jewels. All desirable things cannot compare to her(v.11).

Wisdom dwells with prudence. If you are wise than you will be prudent(v.12). You will also find knowledge and discretion.

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Wisdom hates pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverted mouth(v.13).

Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. She is understanding and power is hers(v.14).

Kings reign and rulers decree justice by/with using wisdom(v.15).

Princes rules and nobles judge rightly when using wisdom(v.16).

Wisdom loves those who love her. Those who diligently seek wisdom will find wisdom(v.17).

Enduring wealth and righteousness are with wisdom(v.18).

Her fruit and what she will yield is better than pure gold and the choicest silver(v.19).

Wisdom walks in the way/path of righteousness and justice(v.20).

Those who love her(hold her dear), she will endow/give wealth and their treasuries be made full(v.21).

The origin of wisdom(v.22-31).

Wisdom possessed by the Lord at the beginning of His way. Before His works of old. Before even the Earth was formed there was wisdom(v.22-29).

Wisdom was a master workman(v.30).

Rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having delight in the sons of men(v.31).

Wisdom again appeals to his sons to listen to him for if they do, if they keep Wisdom's way, they will be blessed(v.32).

Heed instruction and be wise; do not neglect it. Do not just toss it aside and think who cares what they say(v.33).

He who finds wisdom finds life. He/she who does this will find favor from the Lord(v.35).

He who sins against me injures himself. All those who hate me love death. This is beginning to sound more like wisdom is Christ. Those who hate me love death. Those who are rebellious and unrepentant will want to have nothing to do with Christ. They will hate Christ and his followers. They will be lost sinners, trying to entice others to follow their ways, on the path to destruction and away from Christ. Those people sometimes may have no knowledge that they are doing this because they cannot see that what they are doing is wrong. That is why we need to be alert, watchful, and helping our sisters/brothers in accountability and rebuking them so that they do not become enticed and trapped and snared in their friends, who are unbelievers and worldly, ways.

This is what I learned from Proverbs 8.

Proverbs 7

2010-07-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Treasure God's commandments within you, within your heart.

Teaching as the apple of your eye- which is the pupil of the eye, a precious thing to be guarded with the utmost care.

Write them on the tablet of your heart- memorization, meditate on this.

Let wisdom and understanding be your intimate friend. If you will have them as a companion they will protect you from the enticements of the adulteress.

Adulteress is described as the foreigner who flatters with her words.

The victim (v.6-9) does/goes to the adulteress house when it is evening/darkness as if to keep it a secret.

The adulteress is described as dressed as a harlot, cunning of heart, enticing, boisterous, and rebellious.

An adulteress tactics include kisses (v.13), flattery (v.15), sensuality (v.16-18), reassurance that the victim will be fine and not be caught because her husband isn't home and won't be coming home for a while (v.19-20), and persuasion (v.21).

The young man is fooled and trapped and heads to his doom for he does not know it will cost him his life (v.22-23).

Pay attention to the words of my mouth- listen attentively it says.

Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways or stray into her paths. She has many victims that she has cast down and slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

I have one thing to say that although in Proverbs the adulteress is described as a female that males are not without sin in this area too. I believe that adulteress can be changed to adulterer and seen in men as well as ladies.

This is what I learned from Proverbs 7.

Lord Set My Heart On Fire

2010-07-13T23:08:00.001-07:00

Proverbs 6

2010-06-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 6:1 explains that the person is liable for financial obligations of another.

v.2-The person makes too many promises and is committed to too many things

v.3 says "deliver yourself" which means get released from the obligation.

v.6-19 talks about how the person should shun laziness.

v.6-8 Ant-mentioned only here and in Proverbs 30:25 in the Bible. It has no physically present leader, yet it works with initiative, diligence, and foresight which is in contrast to the sluggard.

v.9 Sluggard- slothful person. Does not begin things as seen because it says- "when will you arise from your sleep?" and "how long will you lie down?"

v.12-13 Body language- What I am saying has another meaning to it. Express dishonesty attributed to crooked speech.

A worthless person is a wicked man.
.Perverse mouth, winks with eyes, signals with his feet
.Points with his fingers, perversity in his heart continually, devises evil, who spreads strife. Calamity will come suddenly.
.Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing

v.16-19 Poetic emphasis. God hates the sin but loves the sinner. These aren't sins, they are sinners. Got hates the wicked. Makes grace all the more amazing. Christ died for sinners, not just sin.

v. 20-35 The theme of this section is the seventh commandment.

v. 21 Bind them continually on you heart. Always remember these things in your thoughts and heart.

v.22 Let them guide on your way through life. Always on your mind.

v.23 Commandment is described as a lamp. The teaching is the light coming forth from the lamp. Reproofs for discipline is the way of life.

v.24 Evil woman- adulteress- who has a smooth tongue.

v.25 Do not desire it and let it capture you. This is the first step that leads to adultery.

v.27-29 It is impossible to engage in adultery without suffering consequences for the actions they have done. Those who commit adultery will not go unpunished. It may not occur right away but they will get caught one day...

v.32 The one who commits adultery lacks no sense.

v.30-35 With a thief, they are able to repay for what he has stolen and paid more than that an extra amount on top of that. With an adulterer it is not possible to pay the person back. That person will always be jealous and never satisfied because you took that away from him.

This is what I have learned from Proverbs 6.

Proverbs 5

2010-05-17T17:17:00.001-07:00

Proverbs 5:1- Again the father tells his son to pay attention to wisdom.

Reasons are that you may maintain discretion and that your lips may preserve knowledge according to verse 2.

Proverbs 5:3 starts to describe the adulteress...

Lips-- drip honey (vs. 3)

Speech-- smoother than oil- I would think that means crafty with her words. (vs. 3)

Bitter as gall/wormwood (vs. 4)

Sharp as a double edged sword-- At first someone thinks they are going to be able to do it all in secret and not get caught but in the end it comes back to bite them. Reminds me of the problems Tiger Woods had been having. (vs. 4)

Feet go down to death (vs. 5)

Steps lead straight to the grave. Hebrew is Sheol. (vs. 5)

Gives no thought to the way of life. (vs. 6)

Her paths are crooked but she knows it not. Not sure what this means. Maybe it is how believers and unbelievers can not even realize that they are committing adultery when they just look at someone with lust. They don't realize that they are breaking one of God's commandment. She doesn't realize how lost she is. (vs. 6)

Father says to keep to a path FAR from her. (vs. 8)

They realize what they have done and it is already too late (vs. 12)

Lust leads to public disgrace (vs. 14)

Find contentment with your own spouse (vs. 15)

Springs=children. Should you have children through relationships with various women? NO! (vs. 16)

Healthy view of sex. Have sex only with the one who you are married to. (vs. 18-19)

Why should you be having sex with a foreigner or any other person that is not your spouse? (vs. 20)

The ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord. God is always watching what we are doing. (vs. 21)

The wicked will die for his failure to heed divine instruction. (vs. 23)

This is what I've learned from Proverbs 5.

God Hears

2010-05-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Sing praise to our great and glorious God above
Who blesses us each day with everlasting mercy and love
Our shield and defender whenever the devil is near
But we need not fear
The devil may try to tear a family apart
But God will never depart
So they need not fret or dismay
For God will protect us each and every day

For God is with each of us
Who have Him in our heart

Those whose trust is in the Lord
Will be stronger in the valley for sure
And day by day
Every step they take
Will follow His only way

Christ is their light, like the sun's rays
To brighten up even the darkest day

So dry your tears
And let not the devil plague you with doubts and fears
Remember Your Father in Heaven hears
Your prayers will not fall on deaf ears
One day He will wipe away all your tears.

I'll Keep Smiling

2010-03-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Through the Grace of God I'll keep smiling
Though the trials may come
And the storm and tempest rage on
I'll keep smiling

With all the energy I have
I'll give all that I am
And through the Grace of God I'll keep smiling

With all my tears and my fears
And through all my darkest days
I will cling on to Christ
Who is the resurrection and the life
And through the Grace of God I'll keep smiling

Though I may not be the same
As I was just yesterday
Even with my disability
I will press on
I will lean on
My God, My Savior
Jesus Christ, My Heavenly Father
For everything I need
There He will always be
Always there with me
And through the Grace of God I'll keep smiling.

by: Michelle Miano

The book Joni by Joni Eareckson Tada inspired me to write this poem and I thought I would share it with you. Joni's autobiography is a wonderful testimony of how God causes all things to work together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose(Romans 8:28). I would highly recommend anyone struggling with trials medical or otherwise to read this book as it was a great encouragement to me... Keep smiling. He's right there beside you. :)

Proverbs 4

2010-02-27T11:52:00.001-08:00

Proverbs 4:1-9 talks about acquiring wisdom. Listen to the instruction. Pay/give attention that you will gain understanding. He gives sound teaching. Never abandon His instruction. "Let your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments and live." Acquire wisdom and understanding. Do not forget or turn away from the words of His mouth. Do not forsake Wisdom and she will guard you. Love her and she will watch over you. If we acquire wisdom and keep her and listen to her then she will be watching over us. The beginning of wisdom or the first step is to acquire it. And when you finally receive it then you will gain understanding. If you prize her and embrace her then she will exalt and honor you. This is a benefit of wisdom.

Proverbs 4:10-19 talks about avoiding bad company. In verse 10 like before in a previous chapter the reward is the same when listening to wisdom. "The years of your life will be many." In verse 11 and 12, Wisdom's way is an upright path, straight and level where when we walk in wisdom our steps will not be impeded nor will we stumble. "Take hold of instructions, do not let go. Guard her, for she is your live." Don't enter the path of the wicked. Avoid it, do not pass by it. Turn away from it and pass on. The evil man will not and can not sleep unless they have done evil and caused someone to stumble. In verse 18 and 19 it says but the path of the righteousness is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don not know over what they stumble. Another one of wisdom's benefits is that it will be a guidance to us in the way of righteousness when we follow it.

Proverbs 4:20-27 talks about how we should watch ourselves. Solomon keeps saying "Give attention to my words. Incline your ears to my sayings." In every chapter I've read so far he always says a form of this. He wants the son who is listening to pay close attention to what he has to say and to get it through into his head. His sayings don't let them depart from your sight. Keep them in the midst of your heart. Verse 22 says they are life to those who find them, and health to all their body. More benefits of wisdom. "Watch over you heart with all diligence. Put away from your deceitful mouth and devious speech keep far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. This can be hard sometimes. I tend to look back. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

This is what I learned from reading Proverbs 4.

The Lord Gives

2010-01-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

Throughout all of my life
I've seen how the Lord provides
In sickness and in health
His care is always there
For our Lord is not only Healer
But Great Shepherd and Protector

He leads me throughout my days
and shows me the path of the narrow and straight
and how that I may not stray.

For in His Word, in the Book of Proverbs
In the Bible which is ever true
He tell us this very thing
When we acquire wisdom
The Lord will give us in abundance
and so freely.
The amount of wisdom and guidance
That we so desperately need.
Cause we can do nothing without Him indeed.
Because as we see in Philippians 4:13
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens thee.

No strength through yourself
No strength through myself
Only strength through our Lord who gave Himself.

by Michelle Miano

Proverbs 3

2010-01-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

Wisdom and keeping His commandments promises several rewards such as...

1. Longevity (length of days and years of life)
a) Proverbs 3:2a "For length of days and years of life"

2. Peace
a) Proverbs 3:2b "And peace they will add to you."

Proverbs 3:3 says "Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart."

According to this verse kindness and truth should be written on the tablet of our heart. Everything we think, say, and do should be done in kindness and truth. It reminds a little of the think before you act saying. Don't let it ever leave you.

3. Find favor and good repute in God's and man's sight
a) Proverbs 3:4 "So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man."

4. Guidance
a)Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Most people I would hazard to guess have this verse memorized. But do we really listen/believe that this is true? I think we can tend to forget one very small word when we are reading and saying it. This very small word has a great importance. This small word is all. It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." All=all, everything. Not just some trust or some of your heart but all, giving Him everything, every little piece. The same goes with "In all your ways acknowledge Him." Everywhere, every time, and every step of the way. He is there to guide and direct. We need to give it ALL to Him just like this verse says.

5. Healing and refreshment
a)Proverbs 3:7-8 "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones."

Do not be wise in your own eyes. Our eyes and our minds are deceitful. No matter how good it looks to us, God's way is always best. We can think we are being wise but since we are looking through our own eyes we can actually be really foolish and not know it at all. That is why we should always go to the Lord in prayer and ask the Lord what he would have us do. Fear the Lord and turning away from evil. You will be refreshed and your spirit renewed and have more of a yearning to walk closer with Christ.

6. Prosperity
a)Proverbs 3:9-10 "Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine."

Honor the Lord from your wealth and the first of all your produce. Immediately this reminds me of tithing. He should be getting the first of everything. Not our scraps at the end.

7. Proper response to discipline
a)Proverbs 3:11-12 "My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, 12For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights."

Do not reject the discipline of the Lord. Do not loathe His reproof. The Lord loves those He reproves.

Job 5:17 "Behold how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty."

The reason for discipline is shown in Hebrews 12:5-11 "and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,"MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;6FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." 7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Just as a father who corrects his son, whom he loves; it is a means of learning as well as other things.

Wisdom from the Lord is better than anything else we can ever imagine. Better than silver or gold, precious jewels. Nothing we desire can compare to the wisdom that can only come from/given to us by God.

Wisdom will be life to your soul. With wisdom you will be able to walk securely in your way and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down you will not be afraid and your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 3:25-26 "Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; 26For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught."

I wonder what this sudden fear is or what it could mean? (v.25) "For the Lord will be your confidence." (v.26) God provides the confidence we need when facing the enemy and our fears.

Proverbs 3:27-28 "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it.28Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come back,and tomorrow I will give it," When you have it with you."

I think children and even some young adults have problems with this idea of giving just to be nice to the other. They are wondering what they can get in return.

The Lord is intimate with the upright...

Last but not least I learned that those who are wise they will inherit honor but fools display dishonor and shame.

This is what I learned from reading Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 2

2010-01-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

What I've learned....

Proverbs 2:6 says "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

All we have to receive wisdom is to ask of God to give it to us. When we ask God then He will give to us wisdom and give it generously (in abundance)

This is seen in James 1:5 which says "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Proverbs 2:7 says "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,"

Shield of faith--This could be in reference to the same shield of faith in Ephesians.

Proverbs 2:10 "For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;"

This verse sounds like you can't be wise from the start. God must give you wisdom.

Proverbs 2:11-12 "Discretion will (A)guard you, Understanding will watch over you, To deliver you from the way of evil,From the man who speaks perverse things;"

Wisdom, discretion and understanding will be watching over you and help you not to fall into the ways of evil men.

It will also deliver you from the adulteress.

Proverbs 2:16-19 "To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words; 17 That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God; 18 For her house sinks down to death And her tracks lead to the dead; 19 None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life."rer

An adulteress is one who is a flatterer and unfaithful. This is breaking the seventh commandment which is "Do not commit adultery." People will follow her thinking that she will lead to pleasure. It might be pleasure for a while for them at the beginning but when they are caught in doing so... It leads to death.

This is what I've learned from reading Proverbs 2.

A Study in Proverbs.

2009-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well I've decided to read a chapter in Proverbs each day and study on it. I thought I would try to do this every day hopefully and share with you my reflections about the chapter and what I've been learning as I study. Here goes:

Proverbs 1

The purpose of Proverbs is for the reader to know wisdom and instruction. For the naive to know prudence so that they are not easily misled or influenced as well as knowledge and discretion. From this book we should increase in learning and acquire wise counsel from the book of Proverbs.

The theme and/or motto is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7)

It says that fools despise wisdom and instruction. When I think of this it reminds me of a child/teenager who tend to want to do anything their own way as most teenagers often do. They think they know it all and don't need advice. They want to do things their own way and tend to not care about what their parents have said is the right thing to do, being defiant of their parents. The Lord says that these people are fools. We would do better to listen to our parents counsel and would not be considered a fool in the Lord's eyes.

This is just what the Lord has shown me through the first seven verses of Proverbs 1. What a wonderful book of the Bible. Full of wisdom and instruction and good advice. If we all actually read it and not just remember it in our minds but also write it on our hearts through memorization just think how much wiser and better off we would all be if we actually did it.

The first section of verses is talking about how we(the son) should avoid bad company. Sometimes I think we can think we are in good company and end up being misled/led in the wrong direction and end up realizing later on that what we thought was great company was actually bad company. I have seen this play out in one of my sisters life last year and because of that company there was strife in the home. There no longer is that strife as there once was because through certain events she realized that she wasn't in as great group of company that she thought.

Proverbs 1:8 says "Hear my son, your father's instruction, And do not forsake you mother's teaching."

This verse seems to talk a lot about obedience. Always be listening to your parents for they are much wiser than you and have more experience then you've had as well. When I see the word "Hear" in this verse, I think it means listen, pay close attention to, and obey.

Proverbs 1:10 says "My son if sinners entice you, Do not consent."

The way of sinners make look attractive but we should not listen to them because the path they walk on only leads to destruction. We may gain momentary pleasure from it but is that what really matters? To be happy and have pleasure in this life? No of course not!

Mark 8:36 says "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?"

It profits him nothing. He can not profit anything in comparison to eternal life and salvation.

Another thing that Proverbs 1:10 made me think of was that we should never compromise our convictions. Though a lot of times we as followers of Christ can do that. People can compromise their convictions all the time. It isn't that hard to do. People pressured by their friends can be led to compromise their convictions to do something that they would not normally like to do or not feel comfortable or good doing. Stand by your convictions and never compromise your faith and/or convictions for anything.

"My son do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, For their feet run to evil,"

The main thing in verses 20-33 is to always heed wisdom's advice. The first five verses in this section remind me of an open air preacher.

Proverbs 1:20-25 says:
20Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;
21At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
22"How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?
23"Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24"Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
25And you neglected all my counsel
And did not want my reproof;

This reminds me very much of an open air preacher but in this case it is not a man who is called wisdom but a lady who is wisdom. I find this to be interesting because there are some people that would say and think that women shouldn't be preaching in the open air. I disagree and think these verses could be an example to lady's open airing. This is just what I think based off what I see in these five short verses but will have to study about this more for I am growing and maturing in my faith. Only 9 years old in my faith currently.

So this is what I have learned and gleaned in just the first chapter in Proverbs. A total of only 33 verses. I hope this has caused you to think and will spur you on to studying God's Word more.

I can't wait to share with you what I learn and glean from the rest of the chapters in Proverbs.

By Your Side

2009-11-26T23:44:00.001-08:00

God is always by your side
Walking with you through the hard times
Never forget He loves you
And will always be there for you

Through life's uncertain days
Let Him lead you all the way
Try not to worry away
For the Lord knows what He's doing
Every single moment of every single day

Trust in Him
Pray for them
He is your strength
When you are weak
He's your comfort
In Him you can lean
Through every time of need

Praise Him all through the day
Thank the Lord that he saved you
Before the last day

Though you might be walking through the valley right now
Have no doubt of mind that His always with his children
Yes; He is with you, even right now

Never forget He loves you
And will always be there for you
Though friends may drift away
He'll always stay
He'll be by your side
Every step of the way.

by Michelle Miano

A Beating Heart

2009-10-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

A beating heart
A beating heart
full of love for the Lord
for you my friend I implore

A love for you that will..
never die
never go away
but will be with you every step you take
is what He offers you
if you repent of your sins and give your life to Him today

Life is too short
Yes life is too short
To be sullen and gloomy
To be bitter and sad
To the God who gave you
every emotion you've ever had

For you should not be upset at God
No matter whatever happened in your life
either today or yesterday
or even what might happen
just three months away
For to do that would be to sin
and would not be pleasing to Him

We read in the Word how sin is wrong
The punishment for sin...
Oh what a terrible fate
for those eternity not in heaven but in Hell is what awaits
Unless before their final day arrives
They finally realize
and God opens their eyes
and they repent of their bitterness,anger,and their other sins.
Then and only then will God receive them.

For He paid the price
The only one who could be sacrificed
That is Jesus Christ!
For He went to the cross and died
and rose from the grave and is now alive
So that when a person repents and believes
They will be His then and free indeed.

But remember my friend it's not as simple as I believe in my head
but you must turn from your sin
and believe in your heart
and place your faith and trust in the God alone, Jesus Christ,
Who alone is the only one can save you
and He alone is the only one from the start.
No other person can save you on that final day.
Christ alone is the life, the truth, and the way.

So remember life is only a vapor
Your heart could stop beating any minute of any day
Repent, place your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you today.

We've but a minute, a second, and life is gone
and then we enter into His Holy Presence,
receive judgment and answer/give an account for all we've done wrong.

by Michelle Miano (Oct 3,2009)

This is what I would say to my great grandmother and any lost friend or loved one today... I pray that I would be given the opportunity to share this to her as what she is going through right now made me think of this. She is in a drug induced coma and she isn't saved.

The Truth Will Set You Free

2009-09-26T11:40:00.001-07:00

The Word of the Lord

2009-09-16T14:08:00.001-07:00

The Word of the Lord
should be preached to both young and old
and to make the weak, strong and bold.
The Word of the Lord will not return void

There will be those who will be sick of hearing His name
And might try to cause you to be nervous or afraid
To try to stop the proclamation of his name
But do not in the least bit worry that day.
Stand firm, trust in the Lord, and just obey
and He will give you the words to say

Cause you never know who might hear you that day
and you might lead Him to the only way.

Praise the Lord!
You Didn't Quit!
You conquered the fear of man!

The darkness fled away
The light of Christ shined forth that day
and the great news that He came, defeated death,
Rose from the grave and is alive today.
Was even more boldly proclaimed
Maybe you'll see them in heaven one day.
because you shared with them about the only way
And God in His great love, and mercy caused them to come to repentance and faith
and saved them that day.

Praise God that He gave you the strength that day
He alone gives us the word to say
To Him be all honor, glory, and praise!

by Michelle Miano

I wrote this poem as I was thinking about what happened when we were doing evangelism this past Saturday at Glendale. We had a security guard who was sick of hearing the gospel so he started to blast loud music of all sorts at us to drown us out. I had become afraid and was nervous of getting up on the box because I didn't think I would be loud enough for anyone to hear me even with a PA system. Well I became a little upset and decided to get up even though I would be going against some music. As I started to read the music started to become quiet!! I was surprised. I read Isaiah 53. After I read it I paused.. I knew I shouldn't stop there so I took a deep breath and started taking a group of teenage boys through the law and the gospel. Dad said it was my best open air ever. He said I was louder and firm, and gave a lot more eye contact. He compared me to a school teacher.

Here's some photos of that night:

The security guard who was sick of hearing Christ's name.

BE ENCOURAGED MY FRIENDS!!! DON'T QUIT!!!!

Proverbs 31:30

2009-08-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 31:30 says "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

I decided to use this post to discuss some things that are in this passage.

So many times I feel like women in general care too much about their appearance.

Why do we do that?

I think some women can feel insecure in the way they look. They want to appeal to the men. They think that if they don't put enough makeup or this or that on and accessorize that the guys will not look at them. They think it is more of an outward appearance that appeals than what is inside.

I disagree with this point of view. Although I have felt insecure with the way I look at times. I don't think outward appearance is what counts but what is on the inside. The verse above says that beauty is fleeting...

I don't think we should worry about how we look ladies. Oh we can look nice for a special occasion but lets not overdo it shall we???

This is one reason why I have been uncomfortable with the idea of wearing makeup that much and have never worn makeup besides maybe a blush and even that is for very rare occasions.

I think we can fit jewelry into this section as well. If you wear anything, I wouldn't suggest wearing something large and clunky. If you think about it, it can just attract attention to an area where you shouldn't be trying to.. It can cause your Christian brothers to stumble.

Did you ever think about that?

If you really want to wear jewelry I would wear something small and simple not large as to not attract attention there.

So I've talked about beauty. Now I'll discuss what I think we as ladies should really concern ourselves with.....

The verse above says "but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Well my opinion of this section is...

I believe what really matters is what is in the inside. What we look like really shouldn't matter. The heart is what matters not looks.

The guy who will want to marry you one day should really care about how much we are in love with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For Christ should be our number one priority before anyone and anything else. The young guy should care about where you stand in your walk with Christ before he ever thinks about the way you look.

So don't worry about how you look but rather that you have a solid foundation and love for Christ who gave his life for you.

I believe as ladies we should be spending more time with our Abba Father while we are single or even when we become married then wondering if we look good to everyone else. Too often I see young girls whether they are Christians or not flirting with the young guys. I find this sad.

Stop trying to get the guys attention!!!

We should be fearing God. Spending as much time as possible with Him. Meditating on His Word, praying, memorizing scripture.

We should be falling in love with Christ!!!! We shouldn't be like the world.

I'd like to remind you of a few verses ladies

Romans 12:1-2 "1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

1 John 2:15-17 "15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."

Please consider what I say as a sister in Christ. Thanks so very much.

Lord Reign on High

2009-08-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Lord I want you to reign on high
and be sovereign in my life

Although I may not right now see
what your plans are for me
I have your promises and guarantee
that you will never forsake or leave me
and I have to learn to trust thee

There are days that I struggle so
and I don't know which way you want me to go

So I will watch and wait and pray
for you Oh Lord to show me the way

I will follow you with all of my mind, soul, and heart
and from your Word, my guide I shall never depart

For you are my strength when I am weak
In you I put my faith and trust in
In you I believe

Though times be uncertain
and friends may drift away
You will always be there
You will always remain

So Lord I want you to reign in me
in all your sovereignty
Over all my thoughts
My wants, desires and dreams.

Lord reign on high
Over all my life.

by: Michelle Miano

I thought that this poem might encourage us. Sometimes we don't give him everything. But I want this to change for me. I want my precious Savior and Lord to reign in me. I want to give Him everything and every part of my life. Put it all in His hands.

A Legitimate Christian and Sacrifice

2009-07-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to be a legitimate Christian?

I don't remember where I got this quote from. I believe my pastor said it. He said "To be a legitimate Christian -- requires sacrifice -- REAL SACRIFICE!

This comes to what I wanted to really talk about which is the word sacrifice and what that means and what it should look like?

Teenagers and kids these days can be very self centered. I know because I work with teenagers who are courtesy clerks at the grocery store and seen kids as I check out parents groceries.. All about me!! Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. They don't know what it means to sacrifice. They think that they are sacrificing when mom or dad takes their, ipod, cell phone, or computer away for a day because they were being punished for doing something wrong. But those selfish kids have no idea what it really means to sacrifice. Sacrifice in the Merriam Webster Dictionary is described as "The offering of something to deity. Something offered in sacrifice. To offer up or kill as a sacrifice."

These are all good definitions but I think the best one I found was this one: "To accept the loss or destruction of, for an end, cause, or ideal."

We have NO real idea what it means to sacrifice for we have never had to do it ourselves. We must be willing to die for Christ. Dieing for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for the sake of the gospel is the ultimate and real sacrifice.

We have never had to make that sacrifice. Nothing else can come close to that to being sacrifice.

William Tyndale knew what it meant to sacrifice. I found this information on a reliable website. "Tyndale was born in 1490 possibly in one of the villages in Gloucestershire. Tyndale became chaplain in the house of Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury in about 1521, and tutor to his children. His opinions involved him in controversy with his fellow clergymen, and around 1522, he was summoned before the Chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester on a charge of heresy.

Soon afterwards, he determined to translate the Bible into English and was convinced that the way to God was through His word and that scripture should be available even to common people. Foxe describes an argument with a "learned" but "blasphemous" clergyman, who had asserted to Tyndale that, "We had better be without God's laws than the Pope's." In a swelling of emotion, Tyndale made his response: "I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, I will cause the boy that drives the plow in England to know more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself!"

Tyndale left for London in 1523 to seek permission to translate the Bible into English and to request other help from the Church. In particular, he hoped for support from Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, a well-known classicist whom Erasmus had praised after working with him on a Greek New Testament. However, the bishop did not regard Tyndale's scholarly credentials highly, was suspicious of his theology and, like many highly-placed churchmen, was uncomfortable with the idea of the Bible in the vernacular. The Church at this time did not deem that a new English translation of Scripture would be helpful. Tunstall told Tyndale he had no room for him in his household. Tyndale preached and studied "at his book" in London for some time, relying on the help of a cloth merchant, Humphrey Monmouth. He then left England under a pseudonym and landed at Hamburg in 1524 with the work he had done so far on his translation of the New Testament. He completed his translation in 1525, with assistance from Observant friar William Roy.

In 1525, publication of his work by Peter Quentell in Cologne was interrupted by anti-Lutheran influence, and it was not until 1526 that a full edition of the New Testament was produced by the printer Peter Schoeffer in Worms, an imperial free city then in the process of adopting Lutheranism. More copies were soon being printed in Antwerp. The book was smuggled into England and Scotland, and was condemned in October 1526 by Tunstall, who issued warnings to booksellers and had copies burned in public.

Following the publication of Tyndale's New Testament, Cardinal Wolsey condemned Tyndale as a heretic and demanded his arrest.

Tyndale went into hiding, possibly for a time in Hamburg, and carried on working. He revised his New Testament and began translating the Old Testament and writing various treatises. In 1530, he wrote The Practyse of Prelates, opposing Henry VIII's divorce on the grounds that it was unscriptural and was a plot by Cardinal Wolsey to get Henry entangled in the papal courts. This resulted in the king's wrath being directed at him: he asked the emperor Charles V to have Tyndale apprehended and returned to England.

Eventually, Tyndale was betrayed to the authorities. He was seized in Antwerp in 1535, betrayed by Henry Phillips, and held in the castle of Vilvoorde near Brussels.

He was tried on a charge of heresy in 1536 and condemned to death, despite Thomas Cromwell's intercession on his behalf. He "was strangled to death while tied at the stake, and then his dead body was burned".

Tyndale's final words, spoken "at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice", were reported as "Lord! Open the King of England's eyes." In a strange, but well received, rehearsal, the King of England ordered Tyndale's translation of the Bible to be printed in England and made available in every English church, as well as to the public. Thus, Tyndale's Bible translation became a basis for the unification of the English language, and his sacrifice had not been in vain."

That is what I call REAL SACRIFICE!

So fellow believers in Christ who are out here in the U.S.A. when we go out and share the gospel with others let us remember that the worse it can get for us is people being offended and maybe a little embarrassment. We won't be martyred for our faith like William Tyndale and like Christians all over the world who are martyred for their faith everyday. At least not yet. There will come a day when Christians in America will be martyred for their faith. When that day comes if you are the one asked "Will you deny your faith?" What will you say? Are you truly saved? Would you be willing to say "I'll die for Christ." I hope we are all truly willing to say "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

He Is Always There

2009-07-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

The sparrows fly in the air
They seem to have no care
For the Lord is watching everything from above
Reigning over with his judgment, grace, mercy and..
His endless care, and love
So what shall we be afraid of
Or what shall we worry about.
For we should trust Him
That he'll take care of us beyond the shadow of a doubt
For the Lord will always be there.
All we need to do is come to Him with humble hearts in prayer

For the Lord hears and answers us when we pray
Whether it be a no, a yes, or a possibly just wait.
He'll never forget about us
And will always hear our plea
As long as we are born again followers and have repented...
Put our faith and trust in Him and believe

So do not fret my friend about today
or whatever might come your way
Be like the sparrows flying high in the air
Who seem to have no care

For the Lord is watching over you
Yes whether or not you can feel it
He's always right beside you
Yes He is always right there
And He's hearing your every prayer.

by: Michelle Miano

I used Matthew 6:25-34 to help me write this poem.

Matthew 6:25-34 says "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Friendship Evangelism isn't Evangelism

2009-07-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Oh Blessed be the name of the Lord
Who was and is and will be with us forever more
Blessed be the name of the Lord

When we feel alone
We must remember he is with us
Seated in heaven on his throne

We must not waiver
We must not delay
In preaching the good news that He came
For the day is not far away
The Lord will come back one day

Do we want to be on our bended knees?
Asking, begging our friends to repent please
And because we decided "I'll make them my friend first and just wait."

We will wait...

And then that wait could be too long
And then it's too late
For God can instantly take a life away
Death could be at their front door
You'll regret that day and you would have wished
You would have known before
But now your dear friend stands in judgment before the Lord

And eternity has come for them that day
And by you just thinking "I'll wait another day"
You let friend stray from the narrow gate
And now you can't take back the time or day
It's too late... It's too late.

So don't wait.. Don't wait...
For you may not get another day..
To share with your dear friends
The law and the gospel..
The Good News that He came.

Today is the day..
Go out and share your faith.
Don't wait. Please don't wait.
You don't want for it to happen..
And for it to be too late.

by Michelle Miano

I thought I should share that poem I wrote with you. Sometimes we think if we have friends who are not Christians we should wait "for the right time to come" to share our faith with them. We'll become friends with them and when we've been friends for a while then we think we can share our faith with them. This is known sometimes as Friendship Evangelism which is not really evangelism at all. We get so attached to the friend that we don't want to offend them or make them angry with us. Our feelings become more important then making sure we share the law and the gospel with them. This is so sad. Seeing our friends go to heaven and genuinely repent of their sins and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save them should be of the utmost importance. Cause as my poem said you never know when your friend might take their last breath for them and if they are not saved and born again before that time then it will be too late for them. So don't wait for your friendship with someone to grow to share with your friend the most important thing they need to know. Please Don't Wait! Hope this encourages you to share your faith more often.

Praying in the Spirit.

2009-06-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well to set some context, my pastor has been preaching from Ephesians. Yesterday during church he talked about praying in the spirit. I felt like he was speaking directly to me and I got alot from this message that I thought I would share with you.

Ephesians 6:18 says "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,"

Praying at all times in the Spirit. What does this mean and what does it look like?

I remember my pastor saying that sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and it could be the Lord saying "Why don't we spend time together now?" I hadn't thought of it that way before.

My pastor said that we should be making supplication, specific request for our brother and sisters for the cross. We shouldn't say that we will pray for them and then fail them by not doing it or forgetting about it. We should be coming alongside them. This convicted me. Too many times I have said "Sure I'll pray for you." or say on Facebook that I'm going to pray for them and then sometimes forget. I know I shouldn't be doing this. That's not right. Don't say you are going to pray for someone and then forget to do it. I've seen myself do this but now I've changed my ways. Now when I see someone post a prayer request on Facebook I'll stop what I'm doing and pray for them right then and there so I know that I really prayed for them and comment afterwards.

Praying in the spirit means that the Spirit helps us when we pray

Romans 8:26 says "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;"

I remember my pastor saying that if our prayer is a desire of/in the flesh, that the answer if already no. It must be His will and not ours.

Praying in the Spirit means that the Spirit prays on our behalf

Romans 8:27 says "and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

Praying in the Spirit means that the Spirit makes God accessible.

Ephesians 2:18 says "for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father."

Praying in the Spirit means that the Spirit gives us confidence when we pray

Romans 8:15-16 says "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,"

Galations 4:6 says "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

The Spirit moves the truly converted to cry out Abba Father, like a child talking to his or her daddy. There is intimacy and trust with their heavenly Father and it comes from the heart.

Last but not least my pastor talked about the devil trying to thwart this.

He said the devil may not come directly at you but may come to you through someone you know. I've seen this happen to me before. Satan using one of my friends to attack me. Satan will attack you when you least expect it. My pastor said he's really good at guerrilla warfare. We need to be on the alert, aware of our surroundings. He won't stop if he think he's got a good hold of you.

No believer alone can stand alone in this battle. At the end of the sermon he asked the congregation these questions that I now ask you.

Who do you find yourself praying for everywhere and at anytime?

Is there anyone that you do that for?

My pastor said that he hoped that there was someone that you do that for. If you didn't have someone that you were doing that for, pick someone to do that for and start doing it immediately. Please consider what I've said.. Let's start praying more for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. They need all the encouragement and prayers they can get.

In The Blink Of An Eye

2009-06-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well during the trip to Washington D.C I felt like I was in a dream. Somebody pinch me, am I really seeing these things? I couldn't believe I was finally here seeing history right in front of me. :)

There was only one moment that I was snapped back from this dream and into reality and it was in the blink of an eye.

Well we were in D.C for vacation. Everything was going nice and smooth except for that it was too hot for my liking...

We had been walking forever.. Dad sees people crossing the street even though it was a red Don't Walk ahead. So he thinks its alright and tells us to cross with him. Well I was tired so I was a little slower than everyone and was behind them. As I was walking behind them a crazy taxi cab driver decides to zoom up the street and honking his horn at me. He was coming down really fast and I was afraid that he was going to hit me. I made a dash for the curb as he almost nearly ran me over, honking his horn the entire time. Not sure what would have happened if I hadn't made a dash for the curb. He wasn't even going to stop for a pedestrian walking by but thought he had the right of way and everyone needed to get out of the way or else. That's not nice. At least in CA, most if not all people have the decency to wait for the pedestrians to get to the curb or they at least slow down. I have to say that was way to close and it happened but in just the blink of an eye. Now I have to say after that I was most grateful that I had not been struck by that driver that day and something worse had not happened. It wasn't my time yet. Praise God.

But even though I was in that scary experience I have to ask you this most important question..

Do you know what will happen to you if God decides to take your life away from you in a blink of an eye?

I know I will be spending eternity in heaven when that day comes because I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

But do you??

Do you think you are a good person?

Well here's how we can find out if you are a good person.

Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, used God's name in vain, or always obeyed your parents?

Most likely you have done these things and not always obeyed your parents.

In your case according to the Ten Commandments which is God's Law would he find you innocent or guilty of breaking those?

Guilty.

Would you then end up in heaven or hell?

Hell

Does that concern you?

Well if it does... That's good.

Did you know what God did so that you wouldn't have to go to hell?

God sent his son Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man without sin to die on the cross. He paid the fine that we so rightly deserve for breaking his law and then three days later he rose again and forever defeated death.

Isn't that great?

What God requires of us is that we repent of our sins, make a 180 degree turn from them and place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us.

Jesus says "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me."

So repent today. He's your only hope!

Don't wait... You might pass away in just the blink of an eye. You don't want to wait till the last minute to find out. You don't want to be there on judgment day hearing God say "Depart from me I never knew you." Then if he says that you'll be spending the rest of your days in eternity in hell.

Don't miss heaven!

I'll leave you with this song by MercyMe... Thanks for reading this.

A Million Dollar Bill Adventure

2009-06-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from vacation to Washington D.C, VA, and PA. Needless to say it was beautiful there. It's so much bluer up there than our CA and so many trees too. :) But that's not what this post is about.

Now I know a few of you know that I'm not that excited about having one to one conversations with people. Namely because I find them intimidating. Well I remember my dad saying that I might end up sitting next to someone on the plane and then I could have a conversation with them or give them a tract. I said No because then I couldn't get out of my seat and hide till they left and I would have nowhere to go. I would feel trapped. lol. I know that may sound a little silly but that's how I felt.

So we got on the plane and guess what I got the plane ticket that had someone sitting next to me. lol. Guess God just planned it that way.

I sat next to a young couple. The girl sat next to me and she was about my age.

Well we had a nice flight and we just smiled at each other and that was basically it until about 40 minutes I think before we landed. Then she decided to have a conversation with me and with that we were chatting about life in general like we were friends. :D

Well dad saw that I was having a conversation with her and he wasn't going to let me just let the fish go. lol

He handed me a million dollar bill and suggested that I just say "Thanks a million for talking with me."

I shook my head no but dad wasn't going to let me get away with it that easily. He mentioned something to me about that I shouldn't be a chicken and then he said those words...

"Don't Quit."

Grr...

I don't like it when dad uses Don't Quit that way but then again I do like it. He reminds me of Steve Sanchez aka the Pusher during those times. Those words get me every time.

He knows that it's the only way I'll get out of my comfort zone and if he didn't know then now he does. Well I can be stubborn so it doesn't always work. lol.

Well not wanting to disappoint God or my dad and knowing that the Bible says "To Him who knows the right thing to do and does not do it to him it is sin," I took the million dollar bill from him and held it tight. Trying to relax all the nervousness that was dwelling inside of me.

Well I waited just a little while longer, just before landing and handed the girl the million dollar bill.

"Thanks a million for talking to me."

She looked at me and laughed and took the million dollars asking me what it was.

I told her it was a gospel tract. She giggled again a little nervous and said "Oh."

Silence...

And then I heard myself talking to her. What? Was that really me? I couldn't believe it. One more step out of my comfort zone.

I asked her "Do you go to church anywhere?" Wondering if she did since she lived in CA. Maybe if I asked her that then it would give me some background information.

She said "No, I don't." She seemed a little saddened as she said that.

"My husband and I got married 3 years ago and we haven't been going to church since we got married. You see I'm Armenian(I think that's how you spell it) and he's Catholic. We have different beliefs so we don't go to church since we don't agree on things there and don't have the same beliefs."

I said. "Oh. Ok."

I didn't know where to go from there so that's when the conversation stopped. It didn't go any further.

I never got her name but she did keep the million dollar bill that I gave her and put it in her purse. I hope that she will take it out and read the back of it.

We said goodbyes and hope you have a nice vacation and that was that.

Please be praying for her and her husband. That they would both come to repentance. Thank you God that I was able to step out of my comfort zone a little more that day and hand a gospel tract to the lady sitting next to me even if that meant I wouldn't be able to go anywhere to hide after I gave her the million dollar bill with the gospel that is worth more than that. :) May all the praise and glory be given to God.

Guard Your Heart

2009-06-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

Guard your hearts my dear precious one
From the teachings of the foolish and worldly ones
Who like a snapping turtle or hissing snake
Will unbeknownst to you will lead you to an awful state
Away from purity of heart and mind and put it in a dreadful place

For your heart should be like a flower closed and tucked away
Hiding for whoever the Lord would so rightly choose to have to stay
Be not too friendly when a young gentleman or lady decides to look your way
But guard your heart and never give it away
And be patient and wait for when the Lord will have that true love come your way

For one who gives a piece of their heart
Will never get the piece back
and can be even more susceptible in a possible attack
and it might be harder to fight the enemy back.

So precious one come near
Oh please lend me your ear and hear.

Please, Please, listen to your mother and father's wise counsel
Even if it only be but a small ounceful
For they have been in the place you are today
They know what they speak of
They have experience this I can say
And they know how awfully lonely you might feel today
For they too once felt that way.

Better to be wise and listen to your parents
Then to be finding yourself in despair and distress
Since you gave all your heart away
Because you didn't think they knew what they were talking about and decided to be rebellious

Please Please listen to them my dears
For what advice they give will be very clear
They know what's best for they know you better than anyone
No Doubt about that.
Even thought it may not seem like that at first
You got to trust that they have your best in mind
And not your worst.

But even so much more.
You have to be patient and trust in the Lord.

He'll bring the right one someday
Just think you'll be praising God
Thanking him that you weren't foolish to give all your heart away
And that you didn't listen to that snapping turtle or hissing snake
Saying just one piece. Don't worry. Who cares? It's only a little mistake
Lots of others try people on only to just toss them away.
Like it is only a game

No dear No... We can't be that way
For that is how the world around us is
And we must not be like the world the Bible says

So be a light while you are single my dear one
and let the love of Christ shine forth from you
like the radiant sun.

He'll bring the two of you together in His own time
Just be patient and during that time
Guard your heart and your mind
He'll bring the right one in His own time.

Just be patient and wait..
Guard your mind and your heart
And don't ever give it away
Until the Lord brings the right one
And on that very special day
Together you will no longer be considered two but one
Together forever till death will you part
Faithfully serving your Lord and loving Abba Father

Then one day you'll be in your parents shoes and you'll look back
and tell your kids what your parents told you
I know what you're feeling right now.
I've been in your shoes.
and tell them it's better to guard their heart
Keeping it tucked away
Rather than giving it away
Because you need to patient
For true love awaits.

by Michelle Miano

Creation Gives Glory

2009-06-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Waves crashing, Birds soaring
Flowers bowing, Lions roaring
All the earth giving glory

I stand in awe of your majesty
as I survey everything before me

What a precious gift we have been given
for those who are truly living in Him
That precious gift is eternal life
Of whom God's only son Jesus Christ
Gave himself up as a living sacrifice
To pay the price
So that as slaves of bondage we could be set free
And born again as Children of God you see

Then we too could see through...

Waves crashing, the birds soaring
The flower bowing, and lions roaring
All Creation giving you glory.

Breastplate of Righteousness.

2009-05-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

So Pastor Ron Siedel talked about the breastplate of righteousness a few weeks ago and I thought I would share with you what I learned from it.

Ephesians 6:14-15 "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace."

Christ is the might we should walk in.. We can give up arrogance and be humble. He also said that we should practice what we are learning. I really liked when he said we should be an audio visual Christian and not a secret agent for Christ. If we draw near to the Lord throughout the day then the devil will flee.

Shoes-the gospel of peace

Can Satan really destroy your testimony once you are a born again Christian? I don't think he can.

Apart from Christ we can do nothing. Readiness-the general meaning of preparedness. It brings peace.

Ephesians 6:13 says "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

Stand firm, dig in so that you may be unmovable.

Gospel of peace is referring to the good news that you and I enjoy as believers for we are at peace with God. The unsaved person is not at peace with God. They are ungodly, sinful, and at present an enemy of God. In our relationship we stand in the confidence of God's love for us.

Romans 8:37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

How's our faith? Are we still trying to lift up our hands by ourselves or are we doing things in the strength of His might?

I hope we are not trying to do things with our own strength.

Lord Set My Heart on Fire

2009-05-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Loving Abba in heaven above
Thank you for giving us Your love
Your wonderful saving grace
Amazes me each day

Your presence in my life is what I desire
Oh Lord give me a burning passion and set my heart on fire.
To be so bold to share with the lost
How they are dying and therefore need the cross

For we have all broken your commands
And could not ever meet your demands
Of the one who is perfect and just
And we are sinners who lie, steal, blaspheme and lust.

But God made a way
On that awesome and powerful day
So that we who were sinners were once lost might be made free
For God sent his only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you and me

He was the only sacrifice
Who would suffice
So he went to the cross
To pay that price
And three days later rose from the grave
And is alive to this very day

What God requires now from us
Is that we repent, turn away from our sins
Such as lying, blasphemy and lust
And in Him alone put our faith and trust

Then Oh Lord please give us that same burning passion and desire
And set our hearts in love with You and totally on fire
To share with those like you had someone share with me
About the law and the gospel so that we might be set free
And when they die will not see hell but see eternity.

by Michelle Miano

Blasphemy and Movies

2009-05-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

So I was reading from a John Macarthur day to day devotional I received a few weeks ago. The devotion for the other day really struck a nerve.

It said "Everything we do, think, say and communicate is a reflection on the name of God, since we have been called by His name and wear it as our chief identity. When are you most likely to forget that you bear the name of Christ, that you carry the responsibility for doing nothing to defame or discredit it?"

As I thought about that I think most people forget that they bear the name of Christ is when we watch movies that blaspheme our Lord's precious and holy name. They go about watching movies and paying to see movies even though they know it will have the blasphemy in it. Sometimes they don't even care. Entertainment is more important.

Have you ever thought about what our Lord would think if He was here and saw us watching that??

But God is all knowing so he knows you are doing that. You can't hide it from Him. And I'm sure he has a very sad look on His face wondering why in the world would my children give money and take part in something that blasphemes my name which is breaking one of the 10 commandments. Blasphemy is something that God tells us we shouldn't do. So we don't do it. Alright that's good. But how is listening to someone else blaspheme any better. It isn't.

Romans 1:32 says "and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

See even though we don't blaspheme ourselves we are giving hearty approval of the actors and actresses that do blaspheme because we are watching those movies that have it in it, buying the Dvd's, and seeing the movies in the theaters.

Did you ever look at it that way?

Now I've dealt with this issue myself in the past so I'm not saying I'm perfect or I've always had this point of view. But after many times reading that verse and having long conversations with my dad who first felt this way and I am currently not watching any movies that have blasphemy. Although I do struggle with this from time to time with certain movies I used to really enjoy watching when I was younger.

You ask "What about TV?"

Well I don't have an issue with that because we don't have television. No cable or anything at all. We just use a television to watch family movies. We use to have some DVD's with blasphemy in them but those have been thrown away.

Another thing that I feel strongly about is the type of movies believers should watch. I know I might be a rare case but I hold my convictions strongly. It is against my conscience to watch any rated R movie. To watch rated R movies would be sin for me. I've never seen a rated R movie and I never want to. I've only seen 9 PG-13 movies and I don't think I want to see any more PG-13 movies either. Why watch movies that have a stronger rating when they are just going to be filled with more of the things that our Lord would not want us to watch? Again it is our desire to be entertained that is more important than our own Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I have had to stand for my convictions of not watching those movies a couple of times. One time was for a college class. My professor wanted us to watch the movie Crash for our final and it was an English movie. What does a rated R movie like Crash have anything to do with English I would like to know. Nothing. So I told him I could not watch the movie for my final and he's like "Why?" I told him because of my strong beliefs that I shouldn't watch those movies. He said "You shouldn't stick your head in the sand like an ostrich." I told him I wasn't and that I couldn't watch because of my religious beliefs. He saw that I wouldn't be swayed.. He told me that he would have to talk to his boss about what alternative I could do. He came back with an answer to me after I had to ask him again. He said I could write a paper about something if I really didn't want to sit in class and go to the TLC lab to do my paper while they watched the movie. I said "Thank you." I took the paper and left the class. God blessed me that I didn't watch that movie and stood for my convictions. Thankfully my professor gave me an B on the paper and a B for the class. :)

So I strongly ask you my friends to ask yourself this question.

"What is more important to you? Endless hours of pleasing you and most likely blaspheming our Lord or is Christ more important in your life. I hope I am not sounding harsh but I felt that God had laid this on my heart to share with you and I just want you to at least think about it.

Thanks so much.

Blessings and Trials

2009-05-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Blessings can come in all shapes and sizes
And some can come in be in the form of surprises

Everything has a reason for being there
Even though we may not think life is always fair

God always has a purpose for us and a plan
Although we may not always understand
As Christians all we need to do is reach out
For our Lord's loving and caring hands
And he will guide us through the shadow of the land

The Lord gives and takes away
We should be grateful for the friends that are here to stay.

When we struggle with hurt and pain
We need to remember that Christ will only use it for His glory and gain!

The reason why my friends can you see?
What better reason than because he gave us the pain in our life
Is so that we could trust in Him, grow in our faith and maturity.

Great, awesome, and mighty is He.
For He will never leave those
Those who repent, and put our faith and trust in Him and believe.

by Michelle Miano

Single Goodness

2009-05-12T09:45:00.001-07:00

Notes from a workshop I went to about singleness:

Society looks at singleness as a lack of something when it really is not.

Fruit of the Spirit of Goodness-Single

Goodness definition: Moral and spiritual excellence(Eph 5:8-10). Goodness is active not passive. It is kindly aggressive (Romans 15:14). Single and being joyful and at peace about it may not always work hand in hand. Your highest calling is to be a child of God. Marriage is temporary. Redemption is eternal.

God is Good

Psalm 136:1 "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His mercy is everlasting."

Everything else works out when we think God is Good. Goodness=loving kindness. As we grow in Him we grow in goodness

God gives good gifts

James 1:16-18 "Every good thing bestowed and every good gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow."

Trials and testing of believers. Psalm 37:4-Righteousness shine forth. Desire his righteousness.

Singleness is a gift from God and so is marriage

1 Cor 7:7 "I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that."

Singleness is a gift from God given specifically for the purpose of His Eternal Kingdom and Glory

1 Cor 7:35 "I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.. I say these things for your benefit... to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord."

Undistracted devotion to God. Not for me but for the sake of the kingdom to be advanced. Singleness can be a matter of suffering in our lives. Tis better to love and lose then to not love at all.(1 Peter 2:9, 2 Cor 1:6-7) Don't sit and wait for that special person to come, go out and work in the fields (Eph 1:4-5) Gift of being single=gift of grace. We are given unique abilities. When we are single we have more time to use these and to do things for others that we might not be able to do because of the lack of time we would have to do them once we were married.

She asked us if marriage was becoming possibly an idol for us?

God intends for all, married or single--to pursue him alone as the sole source of our soul's satisfaction.

Ephesians 1:4-5 "For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will."

Our Response to Singleness

1. Memorize Scripture

Meditate on the Word instead of spending your time ruminating on your loneliness

2. Chase Contentment

Pursue it. Life a lifestyle of thankfulness for what you have.

3. Develop Boundaries

Be careful with your relationships and your time.

4. Become Accountable to the Family and Church

Keep one another in check.

5. Reject the World's Encroachment

How do you spend your time and money? How do you encourage the church?

6. Go Against the Odds

Don't play marriage poker. God will bring the spouse at the right time. Start serving now. If God really wants you to get married than if even if you were serving in Mongolia among the goats than God could bring you the spouse there in the field.

7. Practice Hospitality

This is not an option. We should practice this in our homes and in our lives. Think "How can I care for people that could just use a little bit of love?"

8. Pursue Families

Watch the families around. Sometimes we can have unrealistic expectations of what a family should look like and sometimes we just need a reality check.

9. Do not be Slothful in Zeal, be Fervent in Spirit, Serve the Lord

Romans 12:11 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

Become passionate for the sake of the kingdom. Take some risks for Jesus. If you are single and you die it really doesn't matter so just go out.

Key Point to Remember:

HEARTS FOCUSED ON ETERNITY!!!!

God's Gracious Guidance: Is Your GPS Turned On?

2009-05-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is still more notes from the womens conference that I went to.

You have received this guidance assistance at salvation:

God's
Personal/Perfect/Precious/Pure and Holy
Salvation/Son/Scripture/Spirit

John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.."

Try the triple A plan for daily guidance and reliable directions

Acknowledge you need for help -Hebrews 4:16, Go to the throne of grace
Ask for directions- James 1:5, John 16:13, Matthew 7:7
Act on the directions or instructions- Matthew 16:24-25

Proverbs 16:9- God owes you nothing.

Your course of life could change by a phone call. Sometimes we think circumstances are sovereignty and its all for your benefit and God's glory. He's the one in charge. He's already working before we get there. He's not only with me now, he's already there ahead of you too. He goes ahead of you, arranging the details. He's at work in the future while we live in the presence. We like shortcuts and sometimes we can be impatient. Sometimes we don't think the guide knows best. When we say no to God we are quenching the Holy Spirit. Be ready to move. God leads those who move on faith and are already moving.

The Red Sea Rules: The Same God Who Led You In Will Lead You Out by Robert J. Morgan

Rule 1- Realize that God means for you to be there where you are. (Exodus 14:1-2)

Lord tests our faith and sometimes leads us through perils for reasons known only by the Lord right now but might tell you later. Sometimes we can cause our own pain by our selfishness and stupidity.

Rule 2- Be more concerned for God's glory than for your relief. (Exodus 14:3-4)

Sometimes we ask the wrong questions like "Why me?" We should ask how can God be glorified in this situation? This is a totally different perspective.

Rule 3- Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord. (Exodus 14:5-9)

Sometimes we feel like we are being pursued by the enemy but we don't need to be intimidated by Him according to 1 John 4:4, and Ephesians 6. Every time we resist temptation we honor God and glorify Him.

Rule 4- Pray! (Exodus 14:10)

Cry out to the Lord. James 5:16. God always makes a way whether prolonged or not.

Rule 5- Stay calm and confident and give God time to work. (Exodus 14:13-14)

Call and wait. Someone will show up. Christians should not be controlled by our emotions but by the Holy Spirit.

Rule 6- When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith (Exodus 14:15)

Just move forward by faith. God as far as you can reach and God will open the rest of the way. Plodding is better than plotting. One step at a time.

Rule 7- Envision God's enveloping presence. (Exodus 14:19-20)

God's presence in the trial is better than exemption from the trial. Difficult times sensitize us to God's nearness.

Rule 8- Trust God to deliver in His own unique way. (Exodus 14:21-22)

Sometimes the Lord doesn't take us out the way we want Him too. He doesn't always view deliverance the way we do.

Rule 9- View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future. (Exodus 14:30-31)

Faith isn't something you can just muster up. Faith is grown and it is tested. The Lord gives you a trial to put what we have been taught into practice. It helps you become stronger and more mature for the next trial.

Rule 10- Don't forget to praise Him. (Exodus 15:1-2)

WHERE HE LEADS ME I WILL FOLLOW!!!!!!!!!!

Intimacy with Others

2009-05-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

More notes from the conference that I went to

Intimacy with Others

Our whole world revolves around relationships. We have to a mandate to obey. It is not an option. We are not to isolate ourselves. We can not be loners. We have to have intimate fellowship with believers.

Mark 12:29-31 says "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

We need to take our natural love for ourselves and put it on others.

Self-esteem is not a biblical view but one that is too often promoted and is very worldly.

2 Timothy 3:2 says People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,"

Too often self-esteem and self actualization is promoted. I've noticed this in all my child development classes I'm taking. They all promote this thought. I never thought that this was actually bad until I went to this conference. But now that I think about it it is wrong. Self esteem and self actualization is all about me, me and oh yeah me. Nothing about others.

There are several essentials to having intimacy with others.

1. Right Attitude

2. Humility (Phil 2:3-4, Rom 12:10)
This is where it all starts. People will be attracted to you and want to be friends with you when you show humility

3. Serving others
One way we can find out what our spiritual gift is by serving. If we go out and serve others most times that spiritual gift will just show itself what it is. We need to develop the mindset to minister to others and not people ministering to you. We need to have a desire to serve others.

4. Communicating with and to others

Why should we speak?

a. To pass on truth and tell others about God(Eph 4:25, Ps 66:16)

b. Minister to others (Eph 4:29, Heb 3:13)

c. Encouragement.

How should we speak?

Proverbs 15:28 says The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

Think before you speak. Speak with restraint, gently, wisely, and at the right time. Speak sweetly and with pleasant words and with wisdom and kindness. Speak quietly, in love, and always with grace.

In other words LOVE

The kind of motive defines our love. True love is motivated by joy not duty. Duty is legalism. Once we invest in them you will then love them. (1 Jn 4:7,11)

Barriers to Intimacy with Others:

1. Pride
Think you are better than someone else. People should be like us. Seeking out people who are just like us. I think I do this a lot. Judging the motives of others.(1 Cor 4:5) We should believe the best of everyone. Lack of forgiveness-can or will not forgive

Romans 12:3 says For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

2. Fear
Of what people think of you will lead to a lack of transcendency. (Prov 29:25)

3. Malice

4. Deceit-craftiness

5. Hypocrisy
Pretending to be what you are not. Concealing true motives

6. Envy

7. Corrupt Communications(Eph 4:29, James 8:6)
Extremely careful about what we say(Math 12:34)

a. Prideful speech-Speaking in an arrogant way. Not listening (Prov 18:2) Self talk- always talking about yourself.

b. Negative-grumbling, complaining(Phil 2:14) Complaining is always directed at God even though we don't mean for it to be. Remember God is sovereign. No one wants to be around someone who is negative.

c. Hasty

d. Caustic- Sarcastic, criticism

e. Injurious- Gossip/slander/lies. Truth not spoken in love. Deception and lies destroys trust and relationships. Go to the person that you are having an issue with and not others about the problem

8. Busyness- Just too busy

In Other Words: SELFISHNESS

Selfishness leads to self focus and lack of concern for others. It is never too late to start doing what is right. You should not be shy or say I don't want or can't get out of my shell.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

The gospel is the wind in our sails that moves us not only to love Him but to love others. The main place that God manifested his grace is in us. Knowing Christ we can be givers and not takers.

Who are you really thinking about??? It shouldn't about ourselves but about our love for Christ and others. :)

Intimacy with God.

2009-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to this amazing women's conference at Grace Community Church. One of the topics we learned about was intimacy with God. For the next couple of posts I will be sharing with you what I learned and I hope it is an encouragement to you.

Intimacy with God

We were created to commune with God. We were made in God's image. Being made in God's image we were given things.

1. Special dignity
2. Dominion over everything
3. Man is a rational being
4. Spiritual being and able to relate to God.

Nothing else was created to have intimacy with God. Adam and Eve died spiritually after eating the fruit. They were not satisfied with the intimacy with God but wanted to be like God. In the first Adam we fail but in the 2nd Adam who is Jesus Christ we are born again. Justification is the opposite of condemnation. When justification happens it allows us to have a relationship with Him.

There are several benefits of intimacy with God

It gives us peace with God.

Romans 5:1-11 says Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Peace with God allows us to have continual access.

We can not only enter his presence but we can stay there. We have open access to his presence. We can go in at any time. He'll never put you on hold. We have continual access. (Romans 5:1-2, Hebrews 4:15-16)

Peace with God gives us confident hope.

Hope in the Bible is an absolute certainty and not wishful thinking which is the way we think hope is like. (Romans 5:3-4, 1 Peter 1:3-5)

Peace with God gives us abounding love.

It is abounding love. God's love is unlimited and unending. (Romans 5:5) Love is lavished upon us. We will not be disappointed because it is about God's love towards us and not about our love for God.

He desires in fellowship with us. Our response should be that we find our contentment, complete enjoyment in Christ. We are in the most intimate relationship with God and we should daily rejoice in that. We have the ability of living far above the circumstance. We can exult in Him. (Romans 5:7)

Flesh never can change but as we can grow in our faith we are able to battle it.

There are however potential barriers for Christian living and intimacy with God.

1. Not seeing God's character rightly.
This is when we doubt God's sovereignty, wisdom and love.

2. Faulty appreciation of the gospel
This is when we minimize the gospel. Some people think that the gospel is only the beginning and then they can work really hard after that. That is not true. The gospel is the beginning to salvation but it is so much more and sanctification.

Parable in Luke about the two prodigal sons was an example she used. Both were far away from the Father. One never knew it (older brother) and one did (younger brother). The older brother obeyed to be accepted (get what we want). It should be I am accepted therefore I obey. Older brother may not be saved. You may have some older brother tendencies such as

a. Your obedience is mechanical or joyless.
You think it is useful to obey. It is a means to an end. You think it is a duty.

b. You are always frustrated with what God is doing in your life.
Don't set limits on what he can ask of you.

c. Lack assurance of God's love.

Another barrier is priorities

1. Favoring task above God.
Let ourselves get too busy. Only one thing really necessary. It is like the story of Mary and Martha. Martha was too busy preparing things. Mary was devoted to listening to Christ and what he was teaching. Are we a room full of Martha's?

2. Elevating man above God.
This is when we delight in other peoples opinion. Our satisfaction should be in Him alone.

3. Treasuring things above God.

When we are too easily pleased we are shallow people because God can give us so much more.

One question she asked was "If God took everything precious away from you is He going to be enough?"

You already have intimacy with God as a true follower of Christ.

She also talked about God's transcendence is his otherness. He doesn't explain everything to us. God's transcendence gives us a high view of God which leads to worship. God's immanence is his mercy, grace, love and his nearness leads to rest. You can not neglect nearness and transcendence. It will not work out.

The last thing she told us was that need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day. Don't look at your own circumstances but instead look at the cross.

This is all the notes I took for the session about intimacy with God. I hope you are all encouraged by this.

Humility

2009-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Quietly and humbly I come
To the one who is the Son

The Creator of everything I see
The one who provides for all I need

The one whom I get my support from
and He is the one I can lean on

To Him alone be all honor, glory, and praise
every solitary second for the rest of my days

Why do I mope and complain,
when I encounter a little pain?

Or when I get down,
do I begin to frown?

I need to remember that I am much better off
than someone who is lost

For they have everything to fear
When judgment day is finally here

Unless we share with everyone
the law and the gospel and about God's only Son

And that our loved ones who once were blind
Once we share with them will hopefully repent
Turn away from their sins
Put their faith and trust in Him
and then they will be born again
and will be able to finally see
and become truly free indeed.

by Michelle Miano

Stubborn and Determined

2009-04-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

I know that this post is sort of off the topic of what I've been talking about mostly on my blog but I thought should put it in.

A couple days ago I just realized something. I can be at times a stubborn person. My sisters and I were talking about Disney movies a while back and I realized something. My favorite Disney movies had girls that were very stubborn and determined. Not sure if I just liked them or if it was because the characters were like me in a way but I thought I would show you just a couple clips from the movies.

Stubborn and determined that's what I see in these characters and that's what I sometimes see in me.. Is this a good thing? I'm not sure. Determined yes but I'm not so sure about the stubborn part.

The Belt of Truth

2009-04-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

So this past Sunday my pastor talked about the Belt of Truth from Ephesians 6. I thought I would just share with you some of the notes I put down from my pastors sermon. I felt like there were a lot of things that my pastor was telling the congregation that he could have been speaking to me personally and challenging me. So here it goes..

What is the belt of truth?

1. Jesus is God's truth. We have to put on Jesus Christ.

Something that my pastor said that really stuck out in my mind was when he said "Jesus is the way because he is the truth and he gives us eternal life." This is in reference to John 14:6. John 14:6 is "Jesus said to him I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." As my pastor told us "We need to put on Jesus Christ just as if you were putting on a clean new shirt each morning and putting your dirty clothes/sins in the hamper to be cleaned.

2. The Word of God is truth.

In this section my pastor talked about how we need to be reading the Word of God more. He used an analogy which was really cool. He said we can't just have 1 or 2 meals a week to survive. We need to eat daily. We need to be in the Word as much as if we need to eat every day. We can't have only 1 meal a week to survive and the same goes with our spiritual state. We can't have a 1 meal a week by going to church and getting our food there. That is unhealthy. We need to be in the Word every day so that we can get the sustenance we need to grow and mature in our faith. So I was challenged to be reading the Word daily so that I am truly putting on the belt of truth.

3. Living a life of truthfulness

In this section I learned that we need to make sure we don't have our own agenda but that we are speaking God's truth alone. Malachi 2:6 says "True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity."

Truth keeps the believer by being confused by deceitful spirits. Ephesians 4:14 says "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;"

Living a life of truthfulness will keep the believer from becoming entangled with the affairs of this life. 2 Timothy 2:2-4 says "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." What I learned from that was seek the supremacy of Jesus in your life. Don't let life entangle you so that you don't have time with Him.

My pastor also quoted someone by the name of Tom Constable. He said "A man with a clear conscience can face the enemy without fear." Too often I think myself included that we fear the enemy more than we really should. My pastor said that the believer who knows the truth will not be deceived. I think all believers should take this to heart and see how much they really are using the belt of truth and putting the belt of truth on and reading God's Word daily. Let us read the Word daily and use it to sustain us and to help us when the enemy(the devil) tries to attack us. Then we will be prepared for anything that the devil might send our way.

So that is what I learned from my pastors sermon on the Belt of Truth. I hope that this encouraged you.

Mighty to Save

2009-04-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

I just felt lead to share this song with those of you that have loved ones who are unsaved.

Know that I am praying for you and your families. If you have someone you would like for me to pray for specifically let me know. You can always post their names here and then everyone else who comments after you can read it and be praying too. So that we can be praying for one another. Or you can send me an email at ltlpianist@aol.com

My Bucket List

2009-04-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

So for anyone who might read this who doesn't know me or anything about me I'll start off by saying that I am currently going to California State University Northridge to major in Child Development. One of the classes I'm taking this semester is called Play and Human Potential. The class is basically to talk about the importance of play across the human lifespan. In more general terms it is to talk about how play, recreation and leisure is very important to have in our lives whether we are little kids, teenagers, adults, or seniors.

So one of the assignments she had us do was to make our own bucket list...

Yes you heard me correctly..

A bucket list of things we would like to do before we die. I had never thought of this before so it was a little hard to think of some things.

So here is my bucket list...

1. Get married

2. Have children

3. Become a child life specialist at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

4. Go on a mission trip to orphanages somewhere.

5. Go on trips to visit my friends in the U.S. and some other countries as well.

6. Start a non profit organization- Possibly having to do with sending cards of encouragement to all people around the world whether they are sick or not. Everyone sometimes just needs a little bit of encouragement to get through the day. :)

7. Start some sort of hospital ministry with my church. (Not sure how to start this)

8. Have my poetry published in some sort of book of a collection of poems I've written and give it out to people for free. Sort of like my dad's book Running Beyond Inspiration.

9. Work at a retirement center or be able to visit with the seniors there and do it often. "They can be so lonely sometimes and I just love talking to them."

10. See 1 person come to faith in Christ before my very eyes.

That's my bucket list.. I know that my bucket list seems small and that my choices might look odd but this is my bucket list. I look at it and wonder if I will ever see these things happen and can I accomplish any of these.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

But we have to remember that we don't know the number of our days. 10 out of 10 people die. We will all die one day. What matters is not what we do here in this life but what happens to you when you pass away?

So what do you think?

I think we all will either end up in heaven or in hell. Let's see where you will end up. We'll use God's law the Ten Commandments as the standard.

Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, taken God's name in vain?

If you have then by your own admission you are a lying, thieving, blasphemer at heart.

That doesn't sound like a good person to you does it?

So would you be innocent or guilty? Guilty.

Would you go to heaven or hell? Hell

But God didn't want for that to happen. So God sent his only son Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man without sin to die a horrible death on the cross for you and me. Three days later he rose again and forever defeated death.

What God requires from us is that if He is drawing you to himself is that you repent, turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone to save you. Jesus says "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6

You can't save yourself. Only Jesus Christ can save you from the wrath which is to come.

If you have any questions please send me an email at ltlpianist@aol.com or post it as a comment and I'll be glad to talk to you about it.

I'll just leave you with this song at the end of the post. I didn't make this youtube video but I love the song and I think it's very fitting to this post. This song is called The Line Between the Two by Mark Harris

Old Rugged Cross

2009-04-16T07:42:00.001-07:00

On that old rugged cross is a song we sometimes sing
A cross we sometimes see on churches, necklaces, and tee's.
But I think we really don't stop to think about what the cross really means.

It is a symbol that we should not take lightly
But that we should regard it very highly

For on a day called Good Friday
The innocent, Son of God on a cross was slain
And the price for us He did pay

He alone could be the sacrifice
He alone could pay the price
For Jesus Christ was God's only begotten Son you see
And He alone could die for sinners, the wretched people like you and me.

Because of the horrible things we had done
Because we had all broken God's law
We could never pay the price
Christ was the only sacrifice that would suffice

But it did not end on that Good Friday
Yes Christ was sacrificed for us and did die for you and me that day
On the old rugged cross
But his death was not a loss
For three days later on that wonderful day
Christ defeated death and arose from the grave.

That day my friends was Easter.

So the next time you sing about the old rugged cross
Or you wear the cross as a necklace or on a tee.
Just remember what the cross symbolizes and what the the cross truly should mean
To sinners saved by grace like you and me
And thank God that He saved thee

You are no longer a slave to sin but are free
To God may all the praise and glory be
Hallelujah! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

by: Michelle Miano

The Clock

2009-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Tick, tock goes the clock
Time is slipping away
We haven't a moment to stray
For we don't know if we will live another day.

Once we have left this earth and passed on
We will have lived this life and moved on

For here on this earth is not the end
It is only just a bend

Once we have gotten to that pearly gate
The Lord has already chosen our fate
He will either say "Welcome into the kingdom my daughter or son."
"Well done good and faithful one."
Or He will say "Depart from me I never knew you."
"You whose god was money and not the one true Son."

So let us choose the narrow way
And not enter the broad gate where people stray.

Remember your dear loved ones today
And let us not watch them stray
But share the gospel with them today.
And give Him all the glory and praise

Because...

Tick tock goes the clock
Time is slipping away
We don't have a moment to stray
For we don't know if we will live another day.

by Michelle Miano

Thank You

2009-04-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

This poem I would like to dedicate to the following people Bart McCurdy, Jessica Kidwell, Josh Wiley, and Jeff Baran. :)

Thank you my dear friends
For being with me to the end

For a time when I felt so weak and small
You raised me up
And made me feel so strong and tall

I broke into tears
Conquering some of my fears

I prayed for the courage that I lack
As I proceeded to get on top of your back.

To open air and share the truth
of the law and the gospel
To the entire group

Thank you for getting on your hands and knees
And being there to support me

As I shook tremendously
Looking a little like Elvis Presley

And thank you to those friends for being by my side.
As I told people of how they had sinned
Because they had stolen and lied.

Thank you my dear friends
For being with me till the very end

Whether you were down on your knees
or encouraging me
as you were standing by my side
I thank God for the backup and friends that the Lord did provide

I don't know how else to say.
How very grateful I was to have you with me on that very special day

I can't tell you enough
That you have blessed me oh so very much

So I say once again
Thank you, Thank you my dear friends
For being with me till the very end.

Don't Quit!

2009-03-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

Every time I fear
God is always near
He provides everything
All I could ever need

He gives me strength
And helps me to be bold
As the time grows old

To share about the cross
With those who are lost.
So those who are blind
God can open up their eyes

So let us proclaim
The wonderful news that he came

Let us not fear
When men scoff and come near
For we have nothing to fear
For the Bible says that God is always near

Just remember "What can mere man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6)
When God is with thee

Don't Quit! Press on!
For when you are weak
Lean on Him
And He will make you strong.

by Michelle Miano

Christmas Morn'

2009-03-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wise men told the stories of old
Of one who is more precious than gold

Who on that Christmas morn'
In a stable He was born

Why was this one who came to earth
Of such special birth?

Because He was to die a death you see.
To pay the punishment for both you and me.

We had done a crime
For what we had done like stolen and lied
And because of that we were given a fine.

A fine that was too great that we could not pay.
We could not even try to work our way.

Our only hope is Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Only he could suffice

So He came to earth to pay the fine
And on the cross He would die.
And on the the third day He would rise
For he defeated death and the grave and is alive

He paid the fine so that we might be free
So we shall be ever grateful and follow Him indeed.

So remember that on that glorious morn'
In a stable your Savior was born.

And spread that same story of old
Of the one who is now more precious to you than gold

So that other people will hear and see
And become free like you and me
And let it all be
For God's awesome glory.

by Michelle Miano

A Poem about Prayer

2009-03-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

I fell asleep praying today.
Oh why does it always happen that way.

In my head thoughts always turning
I'm coming to His Word always yearning

Wanting to get off the shore
And dive into something so much more

To share with everyone from sea to shining sea
How God can set the captives free.
If they just see that they are lost indeed
And turn away from their sins, repent and believe

But Oh Lord, How can I do that?
Lord, What can I say?
When I can't just stay awake to pray

For if I can't spend ten minutes of my day
To pray and give you all the glory and praise

What has my life become?
Nothing but a vapor
A tiny speck in comparison to the sun.

So Lord help to be a flower that blooms
To share your love to a world full of gloom

And help me to be more devoted to you each day
And spend more time in your Word and pray.

by Michelle Miano

A Poem about an Atheist

2009-03-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

Leaves falling slowly, softly
Like teardrops to the ground.

Pitter, Patter, Pitter Patter,
The rain is coming now.

Upon a thirsty land
Coming from a caring hand

Where does that caring hand come from?
From our gracious Lord, our God above
The Creator of everything we know and love

How do you know there is a God the atheists say
Where is the proof you can display?

So we say just look and see
He has created both you and me
and all around us are the wonders of his majesty

And we see the atheists eyes begin to open wide like turning from night to day
As he sees all the wonders that God hath made

We look at the atheist and he is dumbfound.
For he had never heard of anything so profound

How can this be true?
He looks up in despair
For my entire life long
I have been so wrong.

We tell the atheist "Please, Please."
"You must repent and believe."
He cries out "Yes! Yes! I see. I see."
"Oh God forgive a sinner like me."

The man who once was an atheist will be no more
For Christ is in his heart both now and forever more.

The man who was once an atheist will cry out to His father above
For our God is full of justice, grace, mercy, and love.

As we watch the man who once was blind but now can see.
We see him crying and we encourage and comfort thee.

For his crying is like leaves falling slowly, softly to the ground.
Thankful for the gracious God whose love abounds
And gave the living water to his thirsty soul.

Praise be to God that we could be so bold.
To share His gospel with both young and old.

For if we had been fearful and afraid
We would have not shared the gospel that day.
And that young man might have perished on his way.
And if he had, would have gone to the grave.

So Praise God that he would use a sinner like thee
To show others the way so that they too might be free.

by Michelle Miano

Patience: A Poem

2009-03-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

Patience is a virtue some would say
But people don't usually practice it any day.

Patience is part of the Fruit of the Spirit
As well as love, kindness, and all the others
That we should be showing to our sisters and brothers

In living for Christ we should be showing all the fruit
For he is the way, the truth, and the life
Nothing else will suffice
For Christ died for you and me
On the cross at Calvary.

He died because we had sinned
And without Him we could have never lived
So he came to earth and died on Calvary
So that we might be made free

So now if we repent and turn away from sin.
And put our faith and trust in Him
Then Christ will accept us and go within
And we will become born again.

Being born again we will become like a light
Very big and very bright
And as a light people will be able to see
That Christ is living in us indeed.

So believer let your fruit such as patience show and grow
So that others will see
Whether it be by word of mouth or deed.
That Christ is not dead but alive.
He is risen.
He is risen indeed.

by Michelle Miano

I wrote that poem and I just thought I would share it with all of you.

Writing.

2009-03-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

With working in the lobby, I have found that I have been given a wonderful gift. The gift of time. With barely anything to do most nights I find myself writing out a lot of my thoughts on paper and then I end up writing it on my blog. With just a quiet beeping of groceries being scanned through the check stand and the music playing quietly in the background it is the best spot I have found to just write. I know that might sound bizarre, but that just seems to be where I am when the juices flow and I can just write to my hearts content. But now that I've said that I can't think what to write about. How funny is that! One thing I noticed is that I always write things on paper first before typing anything. It's easier for me to know what to say and how to say it if I write it all or at least most of it on paper. Just personal preference I guess. :)

Writing has never been a strong subject for me in school. I feel that I only write really well when I feel that God has laid something on my heart or I am writing about something I am really interested in. I have noticed this with some of my papers at school. With some papers (those that I don't particularly like)such as plain English papers analyzing a story, I really struggle with the placement of everything and I end up writing the minimum requirements for the page length. Although I do try my grade always seem lower for those papers. With papers that I do like or have a interest in I feel like writing non-stop and I end up having to leave things out because professors want it to be a certain length and no longer. I feel like I don't have enough details in the paper and want to put in it as much as I can to support my opinion. These papers though not always seem to get a higher grade.

I also seem to enjoy writing short stories with children in them. One of my stories I actually had to make into a book and present it in front of an entire Early Childhood Education class. My professor liked it so much that she wrote to me saying that she hoped that I would pursue getting the book actually published. lol This I found completely surprising since I've never been good at English or so I thought. Maybe one day I will although I have no clue really how to go about doing that. I have also written one other short story but it is about a girl who was in a hospital and she shared the gospel with the doctors and nurses there. Last but not least I have started writing a fantasy story of some sort. This isn't a short story but a chapter book. This story I have only really just started working on. I'm working currently on chapter 11. I have tried putting some Christian themes in it without literally mentioning them so that when or if I ever show anyone those believers would be able to clearly see them. Sort of in a way that Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis did it. I'm no C.S. Lewis but at least I can try. I just hope that whatever I write whether it be a paper, short story, book, or blog that God would be glorified in all I do. :)

Purity: A Poem and a Message.

2009-02-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

Waiting for true love to come
Hoping that she will find the one
But while she waits for that time to be
She will remain pure for all to see
For her Lord and Savior would want it that way
She will not in the least bit stray
Until she makes her vow one day
To love, cherish, and obey.

That poem I wrote just yesterday. It talks about something very important. It talks about purity.

What does the Bible say about purity and remaining pure? I think the Bible has quite a bit to say about it.

"Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;" 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

"Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body." I Corinthians 6:13

"Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil." Proverbs 4:23-27

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word." Psalm 119:9

The bible speaks about purity and remaining pure. These are only a few verses in regards to this subject. Now that I have written down some Bible verses that talk about purity I will tell you what my thoughts are on the subject.

Well here it goes...

I believe that people should remain pure for their future spouses. Lots of people have their own version of what purity looks like. A lot of people in general think that it is okay to do things as long as it isn't actually sex. I know I said that word and I don't like to hear people say that word either but I don't know what other word to use. As I was saying they think it is okay to be flirtatious and to kiss each other. I don't believe this is staying pure. In my opinion I think that you shouldn't kiss anyone until the day you are married. Not until you say I do on your wedding day. I would even go so far as to say that even if you are engaged you shouldn't kiss your fiancee. This is only my opinion and I can hazard to guess that some will disagree with me. But this is what I plan on doing in my vow to remain pure. My first kiss will be given to my husband at the altar and not before then.

Sometimes people can be stubborn and think that their view is the right way. They think that they are going the right way and doing the right thing. They know what they are doing or so they think? But our mind can become very clouded in what we want to believe and want to happen and not what God has planned for our life. We need to fully lean on Him and surrender everything to Him. Not part of our lives but all of it. Only then can He clear our vision and show us that what we really need to do is focus on Him right now and what he has laid right in front of us.

I'm not saying this to admonish you but rather to ask you to take a look at your life for a second and see if you are walking in a manner that is right before the Lord with your purity and remaining pure as all believers should.

I needed to look at this myself. I learned in the process of writing this post. I know that I'm imperfect too. I struggle with being stubborn and thinking my way is the right way when it comes to things. I struggle sometimes with focusing on what the Lord has for me right now. Sometimes my thoughts drift to the future which isn't always necessarily a bad thing. The part that hit me the hardest was that I was not giving everything to Him in my life. I was not fully relying on God and trusting in Him to take care of it all. Though I struggle with this part I don't want to. I want to give it all to Him and just let Him lead me through it all. I don't want to be in control. I want Christ to be fully in control of my life for both now and forevermore.

Tracts at CSUN

2009-02-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

So last Tuesday one of my classes was canceled so I was given about an hour or so break right around lunch time. Usually I don't get to eat lunch on Tuesday and Thursday because classes are 15 minutes apart and I don't have the time. Well I was given the hour so I was able to have some lunch.

After lunch I went to the bookstore to buy some materials for an exam I would be taking on Thursday. I went up to the register to pay. The lady that I went to saw I was buying test supplies and scantrons.

She told me "Good luck on your exams."

I said "Thanks a million." :)

She looks at it and starts to laugh. She says to her coworkers behind the register "Look what I got" and held it high in the air for everyone to see. I smiled and left.

I also went to a different store to buy a snack. I walked up to the register. A saw that this guy was a new person working the register. You can always tell that a person is new at a job. I was able to tell by the way he was unsure how to do things.

After paying I gave him a million dollar bill. He looks confused on what he should do with it.. He then asked his supervisor or whoever was helping him "Can I keep it?" lol.

He then read the back some and said "Thanks."

What a great day. Hopefully they kept the million dollar bills that I gave them and will read it.

Worship at Church

2009-01-26T10:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday during church our worship pastor talked about worship and about raising our hands in worship. I think he was trying to talking to the youth specifically because he mentioned "How they shouldn't think it is weird if they see others raising their hands in worship." He mentioned that when in war, people would raise their hands in surrender. Pastor Enoch said when you go in worship you are surrendering everything to God, heart, mind, and soul. He then asked the worship team to sing part of a song again and invited all of us to raise our hands in worship if we felt led to do so. As I was worshiping tears came to my eyes. There in front of me, Elyse, who I have mentioned before in some of my previous posts, was in her mom's arms. What I saw next was just beautiful. Elyse started to sing and raised her little left hand in worship like her mom was doing. She then looked behind her mom's shoulder, saw me and waved Hi. :) What a beautiful sight to behold. A little 5 year girl worshiping. :) Praise God. :)

Tracting at Walmart.

2009-01-24T09:11:00.001-08:00

So as I said in my previous post that I joined in Pastor Steve Sanchez's Everyday Club. Here's how my first day went. Well yesterday night Dad and I decided to go out and tract Walmart. We decided that we would hand million dollar bills to people coming in and out of Walmart. I got a couple of interesting comments to the million dollar bills.

I asked one lady.. "Did you get one of these?"

She looks at me and says "Oh." with a big smile on her face. "Is that Way of the Master, Ray Comfort million dollar bills?"

I said "Yes."

She said "I use them all the time. Keep it up!"

I said "Thanks" and she ran into the store.

I also had another lady that I handed a million dollar bill and she was pushing a shopping cart away.. Then she stopped she turned it over and started reading it. She was standing there for a while. She came back a little later asking for another one and began reading it to herself again. That was so cool.

I also had given one lady a tract before she went to the store. Some time had passed and I was about to hand the same lady another tract thinking she was a different person coming out of the store.

She said to me "I tried to cash it. It didn't work." with a smile and a chuckle. Then she said. "But I'll take another one too."

Another lady said "That it was Happy Friday" when I handed her a tract.

I also had my rejections too. One of the men I tried handing it to told me in a very thick accent. "No Good. No Good." I thought that was interesting.

Other times I tried handing people tracts and they said "No thank you." When I told them that it was free they immediately changed their mind and took it.

All in all it was a good first day for me in my pursuit to hand out 2 tracts a day or have a conversation with someone. Last night in about 30 minutes I handed out 34 tracts. Praise God. I can't wait to see what happens today. :)

Everyday Club

2009-01-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I joined the Everyday Club. It is a way for Christians to provide each other with accountability and encouragement in evangelizing. Please read Pastor Steve Sanchez blog post for more info..

Here was my comment on his blog.

Hi Steve,

After much prayer and time to think about it I can’t seem to get the Everyday club out of my mind. So I’m in. I will try to hand out 2 tracts or have 1 conversation a day. I know its small but it is a start.. Maybe after some time has passed I will do more each day but I’ll start off with two. Thanks so much. I look forward to seeing what happens starting today. :)

This should be interesting since I usually don't go outside my house that much unless it is for work, school or for church. We'll see what happens. May it all be for God's Glory!! :)

Elyse and Sin

2009-01-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

So today I taught Sunday School. I teach PreK-2nd grade. Before class started I was looking around and found a black spider hand puppet and tried to think of a way how I can use it in teaching. Today I had two girls Elyse and Sarah. Elyse is 5 and Sarah is 2. I read a story to them about God's love. I then decided to bring out the hand puppet. I asked the girls to guess the name of the spider.

Elyse said the spider's name was Poach. lol. I'm not sure where she came up with that name.

I told them that the spider's name was Sin. So I talked to the girls about the spider and how his name was Sin. He was big and black so I thought of the name Sin. I told the girls what sin was. I said sinning is when your mommy and daddy tell you to do something and you tell them no. This is where it got interesting. I then asked Elyse a question.

"Elyse, have you ever told a lie?"

She said "Yes. I like telling lies."

I said. "No you don't."

She said "Yes I do."

I then asked "What happens to you when you tell a lie?"

She said "I get spanked and sent to my room."

I then asked her if she knew what the Bible says happens to people who lies. She said "No" but I could tell she was curious.

I told her "The Bible says that liars, those who tell lies, will go to Hell. That's not a good place. You don't want to go to Hell. You want to go to Heaven." I then asked her if she knew how to get rid of sin.

She said "Well, my mom kills the spider with a shoe." lol She thought I was still talking about the spider.

I said "When you sin you have to pray to God and ask him to forgive you."

I then told her about how she need to stop sinning and turn away from her sins and put her trust in Jesus alone to save her. I could tell she got a little confused at that point.

But my day wasn't finished.

I put away Sin the spider. I then gave the girls a snack. During that time Elyse asked me to read from her little Gideon Bible she had brought to church.

"WOW!" This doesn't usually happen. I have taught them before and they have never given me that much attention. I took the opportunity and read practically all of John 14 and they listened. Praise God! It was so cool to see how by just using a spider hand puppet and a little thinking I could have this very important conversation with the girls. The seed was planted last month and it was watered some more this month. I can't wait until next month when I see the girls again. Please be praying with me for Elyse and Sarah! :)

Swings, Children and Abortion

2009-01-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

Well I decided to take a walk yesterday. A lot of things had been on my mind lately. As I was walking I passed a playground. There was no one there. I remember playing on the playground when I was a little. So I decided I would take a few minutes aside from walking and go to the playground.

While I was there I remembered how I would like to pretend with the swings. That I would push them as if there was a little kid in there even then no one was. I would sometimes think that maybe one day I would be pushing my own children in those swings or at least swings like them. I always loved being on the swings. They were my favorite. I could just be on the swing for hours.. As I was swinging that swing again those same thoughts popped in my head again but this time they weren't happy thoughts. These thoughts brought tears to my eyes..

I guess this is why. With someone with my medical problems it's hard for them to have children. You can but you have to have medication to help it along and even then you aren't sure if it will work. Now I'm not complaining. I would love to have kids if that would be in God's plan. I guess what really makes me upset is why would someone consider aborting a baby. Every min approximately 2 children are aborted. This saddens me. Why couldn't they just have the child and if they didn't want that little baby boy or girl just have it be adopted? Those that can't have children could then adopt that little boy or girl into their family. As I pushed those empty swings I couldn't help but think there is one little boy or girl that was aborted and they never had the opportunity to be loved and be pushed in a swing.

I thought I would end this post with verses from the Bible that talked about children.

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:13-16).

Yet You brought me out of the womb; You made me trust in You even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother's womb You have been my God (Psalm 22:9-10).

Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? (Job 31:15).

Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3)

This is what the LORD says--He who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you … (Isaiah 44:2)

God is in control. This I know. He had a reason for children to be here on earth. Let's give them the opportunity to be loved and not have them aborted but rather be adopted into a loving family. Let's also support the ladies who have had an abortion and are having a tough time. Let's lift them up in prayer. Let us bring to them the good news of the gospel. They need it as much as anyone else does.

Forgive Me When I Whine

2009-01-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

Forgive Me When I Whine - Author Unknown

Today upon a bus I saw
A lovely maid with golden hair
I envied her - she seemed so gay-
And oh, I wished I were so fair,
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one foot and wore a crutch,
But as she passed, a smile,
Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two feet - the world is mine.

And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who served me had such charm
He seemed to radiate good cheer,
His manner was so kind and warm.
I said, "It's nice to deal with you,
Such courtesy I seldom find."
He turned and said, "Oh, thank you, sir!"
And then I saw that he was blind.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two eyes- the world is mine.

Then when walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue,
He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do;
I stopped a moment, then I said,
"Why don't you join the others, dear?"
He looked ahead without a word,
And then I knew: He could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two ears,- the world is mine.

With feet to take where I'd go,
With eyes to see the sunset's glow,
With ears to hear what I would know,
I'm blessed indeed; the world is mine;
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

I just think I needed to hear that and maybe someone else did too.. So many times we whine and complain about things that are so tiny. We have little problems and we make them out to be much larger than they really are. We need to be blessed for what God has given us. So this poem helps remind me of the great blessings God has given me such as feet, eyes, ears, friends and family and his only Son who died on the cross for a sinner like me. I am forever grateful for that. God has greatly blessed me. I need not worry and complain or whine.

Matthew 6:25-34 says "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will ear or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat? or What shall we drink?' or What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

So when you begin to whine just stop and remember how much God has done for you and ask for forgiveness. I know I will be doing that starting now. :)

Whirling Wheels.

2009-01-04T13:56:00.001-08:00

Whirling Wheels - Author Unknown

This world is like a train of cars
With God as Engineer;
And we are only passengers
Who ride away from here.

The big red sun is the light in front,
The green moon at the rear;
The twinkling stars are the signals true
To show the track is clear

The years they are the whirling wheels
That speed along the track
And often, oh how often we
Have wished they would turn back

This world is like a train of cars
That goes away from here;
And we are only passengers
Who trust the Engineer.

I like this poem very much. It reminds me of how we are not in charge of our lives and that God is. He is in control. In the poem it talks about how we are passengers who trust an Engineer. As passengers on a train we must have faith and trust in an engineer that he will know the right way to go and that he will take us safely home. It is just like us as believers. We are passengers on a train. We put our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ alone who is the Engineer. We are the passengers. The train is our life. We trust Christ, the Engineer to direct our paths.

As I also look at this I think not everyone is aboard the same train that we as believers are. There are those who are on board a long black train. A train of lost souls who are unbelievers. Those who are not saved. They trust a different engineer. That engineer is themselves. They trust in themselves because they think they can do it all by themselves. They think that they don't need God. They say that they can direct their own train. They want to be in charge of their own lives. They want to have all the control.

But we can't. We can't do it by ourselves. We need a Savior. We are all sinners. Filthy rags before a pure and holy God. How do I know this, the fact that we are all sinners? It is through God's word that we know this specifically the Ten Commandments. Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever used God's name in vain? If you have then God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemer at heart. Can't you see now that you are sinners, bound for hell and in need of a Savior? You can't make it to heaven on your own. You need to have faith and trust in the Engineer. That Engineer is Jesus Christ and he alone can save you. How do I know this you ask? Because 4,000 years a go Jesus Christ came to earth, fully God, fully man, without sin and died a horrible death on the cross for you and me. We deserved to be on that cross. We were the ones who had sinned before God. Not Jesus. But John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." That is grace. We deserved to be on that cross every one of us.. But God was gracious to us that He sent His one and only Son to take our place. Isn't that awesome!! What we must do as the filthy sinners that we are is repent, turn away from our sins which means to make a 180 degree turn. We must put our faith in Jesus Christ alone to save us. Once you have done that then you can become a passenger(born again Christian) on the train that leads to life and not the long black train that you were once on that was leading you to destruction. But you must repent, putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ who alone is the only way to save you. He alone is the Engineer. Neither you or I could become an Engineer and save ourselves. Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." So repent put your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you. He's your only hope.

God Hears Our Prayers.

2009-01-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

Recently I have had quite a few people ask me to be praying for them. It seems like everyone needs prayer these days including myself. I know that sometimes we wonder if God hears our prayers. He does! Although it may not be the way we would like Him to answer it. We just need to trust Him. He knows what is best for us and we don't. I thought that I would use this post to write down all the verses that I could find in the Bible that talks about God hearing our prayers as believers to encourage us..

Old Testament:

Psalm 6:9
"The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer."

Psalm 34:15
"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry."

Psalm 145:18&19
"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them."

New Testament:

Matthew 21:22
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

John 9:31
"We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him."

Philippians 4:6&7
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

1 John 5:14&15
"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which have asked from Him."

These are the verses I could find but there may be more that I didn't see. I encourage you all to go look in your Bibles and see if there are any others. If there is I would like to know. If you find one that you think talks about God hearing our prayers than just add it as comment. I know that we could all be encouraged by this. Thanks. :)

The Fisherman

2008-12-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading "The Soul Winner" by Charles Spurgeon. For those of you who haven't read it I would definitely recommend it. It is an awesome book.. :) I was really convicted by a certain paragraph in this book and I thought I would share it with you.

The fisherman is a very hardworking person. It is not at all any easy calling. He does not sit in an armchair and catch fish. He has to go out in rough weathers. If he that regards the clouds will not sow, I am sure that he that regards the clouds will never fish. If we never do any work for Christ except when we feel up to the mark, we shall not do much. If we feel that we will not pray because we cannot pray, we shall never pray. If we say, "I will not preach today because I do not feel that I could preach," we shall never preach any preaching that is worthwhile. We must be always at it until we wear ourselves out, throwing our whole souls into the work for Christ's sake.

So with whom, will you share the gospel with today?

I'm not sure about who God will have me share the gospel with today. But tomorrow I will be teaching Sunday School again and I will be sharing the entire gospel with whomever I have in my class. I teach PreK-2nd grade at Granada Hills Community Church. I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned. :)

My Testimony

2008-11-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

Before I came to Christ:

Well, I was raised in a Christian home. My parents are both Christians and we go to church, regularly. Before I became a Christian I had a major problem with lying. It was a habit that I couldn’t control. It seemed like every time I opened my mouth I would lie about one thing or another, even if I wasn’t going to get into trouble if I told the truth. I am no longer like that. Although I do sin, it isn’t a continuous thing and not something I do daily like it was before I came to Christ. This is a major change in my life since I repented of my sins and put my faith and trust in Christ alone to save me. Before I became a Christian, I only read the Bible and memorized Scripture because I was required to do so for school. Being home-schooled, my parents included the Bible and other Christian books in most of our curriculum. However, I was more interested in history and not really in looking at the world with a Christian perspective. I remember I loved learning about archeology but not from a biblical perspective. This has entirely changed. I love reading my Bible and other books with authors like Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, and John MacArthur on the top of my list. I love learning about Biblical archeology as well.

How I become a Christian:

How I came to faith in Christ is somewhat vague for me because I was fairly young at the time. I remember one day coming into my parents’ bedroom and closing the door. I don’t remember why I went into their room. I started asking my dad several questions, which then led to him having a conversation with me about sin, judgment, and salvation. I seem to remember asking my dad, “Why did God make me this way?” I had asked him this question many times in the past. I had always struggled with that issue. The fact that I had all of these medical problems and my sisters had none to speak of made me wonder. I guess I was questioning God, really.

I remember being upset when I asked my dad the question. The conversation gave my dad the perfect opportunity show me my sins and how I needed to repent and receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I had already known about Christ and the cross so that information wasn’t new to me. But the way he showed me brought it to life. He didn’t use any fancy analogies but just brought it to me straight from God’s Word. He then asked me a couple of questions. I don’t remember the questions, but I remember I started to cry. I remember my dad asking me if I wanted Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. I said yes. My dad had a huge smile on his face. He led me in a prayer and then prayed for me. After that he called my mom in and told her. We all gave each other hugs.

My parents were so happy since I was their eldest daughter and first of us kids to become a born again Christian. My father baptized me the following January. He pastored Pico Canyon Community Church at the time. I’ll always cherish that day.

Today:

Well, since then my walk with Christ has grown tremendously. As I mentioned earlier my problems with lying is no longer an issue. Although I do lie, from time to time, it is nothing like it was before. I also love reading my Bible. I’m not perfect and I don’t read it every day. I use to get bored reading God’s Word. I would have rather read something else. Now, whenever I read God’s Word I am always gleaning something new from it. It seems that some days that God is speaking directly to my heart from His Word. He does this by convicting me of sin. Other times verses and passages seem to leap from the pages and remind me to pray for someone in my family.

Today, I enjoy fellowship with believers more than I do with unbelievers. Even if the unbelievers are people close to me—even members of my extended family—I still enjoy the fellowship more with my Christian brethren.

I also enjoy going out and doing evangelism with my dad and sharing my faith with those who are lost and are bound for Hell. I have attended an Ambassadors Academy where I learned to share my faith in a biblical way. This has significantly changed my life as well. Before attending the Ambassadors’ Academy, I was very timid when distributing gospel tracts. Since then I have handed out a bunch of tracts. I have also open-air preached a few times, which really made me nervous, to say the least. But I had all the back up I needed. Phil 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I have been able to have quite a few 1-2-1 conversations, with various people. I have talked online to one young man in Indonesia and I’ve talked to a heckler that Ray Comfort engaged while open-airing at Huntington Beach. These were two very different conversations. I still get nervous every time I go out to evangelize lost people. This is normal. We should hope that we are a little fearful when we go out and share the good news because it helps us to rely more on God than ourselves. When fear comes, don’t quit.” Press on. God is always with you and you don’t need to be afraid when he is on your side.

As I mentioned before, I use to question God about my medical problems. Sometimes I still struggle with accepting the way that I am and the fact that I am going to have these problems for the rest of my life. But with God’s help I plan to overcome them.

I have a found a way to use my medical problems for the glory of God. I am currently going to college and will soon graduate with my AA degree. I will attend California State University Northridge beginning in the Spring Semester of 2009. I am working toward a degree in Child Development so that I might minister to kids in hospitals, by spending time and interacting with them or, if the opportunity arises, by sharing the gospel with them and other hospital workers. That is my ultimate goal. I have always had a desire to work with kids. When I first started taking classes at our local community college, I thought about being a preschool teacher. I began praying and doing some research online. I discovered that I could work with kids in hospitals as a Child Life Specialist. I have had a lot of experience in hospital room settings, having endured several surgeries and hospital stays. I thought I might be an encouragement to the kids. As I thought about the medical conditions I have and how I could be helpful in that area, I was reminded of a verse. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His pupose" (Rom. 8:28). I finally realized why God gave me so many medical conditions. The reason was so that I could help kids who find themselves in hospitals around the world. To Him be all the glory forevermore. My heart’s desire is for all to come to repentance and put their faith in Jesus Chris alone for salvation. So, I will strive to do all I can to get the gospel to a lost and dying world and to rely fully on Christ no matter what happens.

It Is Well With My Soul

2008-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to write what is on my heart for the time being. I don't know why I decided to put the title as 'It is Well.' Maybe it is because that is the hymn that popped into my head as I was walking earlier. A lot of things popped into my mind. The one thing I didn't like was the sun on my back. I don't like the heat. I would rather have it be cold. That's what I have to say for those of you that it is actually feeling like fall. I wish it was here too. But no I am actually sweating. lol. Feels more like summer. Although the trees are shedding their leaves, laughing at me and saying I'm wrong. Well to get back to the real reason of this journal I guess. As I was saying many things popped into my mind. I thought primarily things about my future. I had ideas/plans for what I thought God had in store for me but now within the past few months I have seen that start to change. I can not give all my reasons why just now. My views and ideas of how my life and my walk with Christ should look like has grown. I have to thank my friends and family who have led me in wanting to grow closer to Christ daily and becoming more of a godly woman. I won't mention you by name but you know who you are.

One idea that has changed were my thoughts about homeschooling. Now don't get me wrong. I loved being home schooled and wouldn't change that for the world. But did I ever think of homeschooling my own children if God ever gave them to me. My answer would be..

No.

My reason for this was because I thought I would be incapable of doing this or never being as good as my mom or some of the other ladies I know that have done it and still continue to do so. They are amazing!!! Well after having conversations with one person about what I had talked to a coworker about I feel quite firm now that I will home school. My friend asked me if I would want my children to have a worldly influence that I saw other children tend to have after being in public school? My answer to him was "No I would not." I do not like all the results and affects that the world has over the children I see nowadays. Now I know that the world will probably influence them in some way but I can hinder that as much as possible. I don't want my children to be influenced by the world but to have them follow in Christ's footsteps. One way I can do this is to teach them myself with the help of my husband whoever that may be and lead them to the Lord as my mom and dad did with me. That is what I will do now if God gives me the blessing of having kids.

I also thought a lot about having children as well. With my medical conditions my endocrinologist has told me that I will need to take medication to help with that. That doesn't mean that if I take medication that I will definitely be able to have children. I have also done some research online and found out that women with some of the medical conditions I have are more likely to have miscarriages. So it's like two strikes in a row which discourages me a little. I have prayed about this alot and even though I may not be able to have children on my own, I have decide that I would most likely would want to adopt if that was the case. That is of course my future husband agrees and is willing to think of adoption as an alternative. Those children need as much love as another child that I could try to have on my own. I have always had a desire to if I could be a missionary and work with orphans. Not many of you know that. Where as of right now it doesn't look like it is in the plans, plans can always change. Whether he calls me to go out and be a missionary and minister to them or he brings them to me to have me adopt I will wait on the Lord to see where he leads.

I also have been thinking about the job I am currently trying to pursue as I am finishing up my degree in the next couple of years with a BA in Child Development at California State University Northridge and hopefully becoming a Child Life Specialist at a Children's Hospital. I think it would be hard for me to have a job like this if I couldn't have children of my own or not being able to adopt any. I would grow to love those children like they were my own. I just don't think my heart as compassionate as my dad says it is could take that. I cry just thinking about that. I couldn't take it knowing that they weren't my own and that I would never be able to have any children to take care of at home.

These thoughts seem to be on my mind continuously but now even more so as I am growing older and thinking a lot more often about what God has in store for me for the future. So whatever God has in store for me all I can do is trust Him and say like the old hymn says "It is well. It is well with my soul."

August Academy (Day 2) God Had Other Plans

2008-10-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

So I just finished my last blog about some 1-2-1 conversations I had during the Ambassadors Academy I went to. I mentioned in the previous blog I told my team leader and mentor that I was only going to be handing out tracts and streelight preaching at Hollywood and then when we went to Glendale I might get on the box and open air preach.

God had another plan than what I thought.

So after the girls and I were done with our conversations we joined the rest of our team in front of the subway station on Hollywood Blvd. Things went well there until we had a regular visitor come and set up some buckets as drums and some long sticks to bang on the buckets to make noise.

I saw my dad and said "Hi."

He then asked "Have you gotten up on the box?" with a little smirk.

"No." I replied.

Dad talked to me some more and one thing led to another and my dad asks a couple of the other guys on my team if I could cut and go up on the box and read Scripture. He would then talk about the Law and Gospel. He knew that if I didn't do it soon then I might not do it later. What do you think their answer was? Of course..

"Yes."

Dad proceeded to go to the drummer and asked if he would politely hold off drumming because I was going on the box for the first time.

The drummer said "No."

I was already on the box and would have to go on with him playing loud. My dad tells me that the drummer is not going to stop. "I was shaking up there on the box with the microphone in my hand and proceeded to read James 4:1-10.

I started crying..

"I can't do it."

I thought like getting down but dad kept encouraging me. I also heard someone clapping. Dad would later tell me the E.Z Zwayne did that. What a sweetheart! I did have my first heckler. A man heard me as he walked by and yelled out.

"That is boring!"

I kept going. I finally finished after what seemed I was standing there forever. I also thought that my microphone wasn't on and everyone said it was.

Hmm...

After that I just listened to my dad follow up with the law and the gospel. We gave each other a hug and dad told me how proud he was of me for just reading Scripture.

So that's how God had other plans for me that day at Hollywood. :)

August Academy (Day 2) Conversations at Hollywood

2008-09-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know. I was able to be apart of an Ambassadors Academy last month. An Ambassadors Academy is like a 3 day boot camp to help you in evangelizing to others and sharing them the law and the gospel. It is done by Living Waters and the Way of the Master. Day 1 is full of teaching from our leaders. Days 2 and 3 we go out and practice what we have learned by way of handing out tracts, 1-2-1 conversations and open-airing. I had a wonderful team leader who's name was Bart McCurdy and lady mentor Liz Ebert.

Well day two got started without a hitch. We prayed first and then got on the bus. We were going to Hollywood Blvd and Glendale to practice. Before today had started I had already made my goals for Hollywood Blvd. At Hollywood I decided I would mostly hand out tracts and doing the streelight preaching. For those of you that don't know streelight preaching is where you time your message of the gospel to the stoplight. You are trying to get the message out before the light turns and all the people walk across the street. Anyways I had told myself and other members on my team that my plan was to possibly open-air out in Glendale and not before that.

They were like "Okay Michelle."

We first decided to go in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theater. I didn't do much there. I just listened as Ray Comfort got up and was heckled by Batman and the Joker. He also took a young man from Cambridge(England) through the law and gospel. His mom came up to the mic for a few minutes after telling Ray how he was wrong of accusing her boy. She also told Ray that her son was very respectful to everyone. She then walked off.

After that the 5 of us girls decided to do some 1-2-1 conversations. Dede, Trish, and I walked up to 2 very tough looking guys. Trish immediately started a conversation and it seemed like she knew everything to say. At one point she asked them if either of them had committed murder or killed anyone. One of them said...

"Yes."

My eyes must of been as wide as saucers and I had to leave to answer a long distance phone call. I don't know what happened after that with the two gentlemen.

After that we talked to a couple of other guys. One's name was Dean. I don't remember his friends name who we could tell was pretty high on something. We asked them how precious were their eyes and then from there transitioned to the gospel. After we handed them the million dollar bill.

"We can't use that. We are hungry. Why don't you feed us instead of giving us these million dollars."

Trish immediately said we would and took them to get them a slice of pizza and a drink. You can see that there was some conviction in Dean's eyes as we continually shared the gospel. He kept apologizing for his friend who he said was "tripping out." He thanked us for the conversation and proceded to give each of us a hug which was a tad uncomfortable for me but I just followed Trish lead. His friend proceded to ask if we had a Bible he could have. Dede had a pocket bible which contains Psalms, Proverbs and the New Testament. The guy looked through it and said he wouldn't take it because it had the book of Revelations in it.

'Okay' I thought to myself. Dean again apologized for his friend and we wished them well and left to go back and join the team again. When we walked back we stopped for a moment and prayed for those young men. It was so sad.

Chinese Fire Drill

2008-07-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I have a funny adventure to share. I visited the Ambassadors Academy on Friday. Well after an eventful day of evangelism on Hollywood my dad asked me to go with Anita to get the van for the mentors. Sure! So we went to the van and hopped in. We picked up the mentors and my dad said I could ride in the van with the mentors on the way to Glendale. Dru would ride in the car with my dad. So we headed to Glendale and followed my dad's car and the bus.

Now since there is traffic in Hollywood, Jaylene, one of the lady mentors says "Hey! Let's do a Chinese Fire Drill." "What?" I ask. Jaylene then explains to me it is when they park the car in traffic and everyone runs out and switches places. "Oh No!" "No way." I say. "Let's see what your dad will do when he sees us." says Jaylene and Leon. I shake my head and say that I'm not doing it.

So we decide to pretend. Anita parks the car in the traffic and we all open our door, pretending we are going to get out. You should of seen the look on my dad's face. We did this several times and he's like shaking his head in amazement. Anita then gets a phone call and he asks her "Are you corrupting my daughter?" lol. We are all in the car busting up a gut. So we stop for a while.

At the next break the rest of the team plan on doing it for real when to our very eyes, Dru jumps out of the car!!! We think he is going to run to us when we see he makes a beeline towards the bus ahead. Woah!!! We are all wondering what's going on now? Well we call my dad and I guess that the bus driver got the wrong directions from Hollywood to Glendale so Dru had to hop out of the car in the middle of traffic and run to the bus to help the bus driver because he knew the directions of how to get there. We all had a wonderful time on that trip fooling around with my dad. What fun that was!!!

Academy #4

2008-07-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know my dad leads an academy every month for Way of the Master. I was able to come out on Friday and do some evangelism out on Hollywood and Glendale. I had the privlege of meeting Winona Huber from Illinois. She is a grandmother with such a tender heart. She came out here for the Academy. I remember hearing her share the law and the gospel and she brought me to tears. It was so neat that she could use her story of her brother becoming ill with a virus and dieing a few days later. She could then tell us how we as unbelievers are ill because of our sins and how Jesus is the cure. It was awesome to see how her variation of sharing the law and the gospel impacted my life and another lady hearing the gospel preached this way for the first time. It was something I'll never forget. I gave her a big hug afterwards and we are keeping in touch.

I have one little prayer request. Just like Winona went through the Academy this month to strengthen her witnessing one-to-one and open-airing, I will be doing the same in the August Academy. I am really nervous and excited. I just pray that when I get there that God will give me the words to say and be able to have the most tender heart like my sister in Christ Winona.

A Conversation with Alex and Manny

2008-05-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was able to have my first full one-2 one conversation with two boys Alex and Manny this past Saturday. I had been giving out a whole bunch of tracts in Glendale and I only had three tracts left. I had met a girl Ashley who came out with the team and we struck a friendship that night. Seeing that we were almost done Ashley asked me if we could see if we could strike up a conversation with someone with the million dollars. At first I kind of hesitated and started to get a little nervous. I told her okay and that I had never really had a full one to one conversation with anyone before. She said that we should start off by praying. I said great. So sat by a water fountain and prayed together. I felt such a peace and comfort surround me that I really hadn't felt before that. So after that we headed off to find someone. She told me she thought it was best if we found someone sitting down at a table by themselves that didn't look like they were in a hurry. I aggreed. We walked up to one lady but when I handed her the million dollars she rejected it and didn't want to talk to us. But we didn't stop, we kept looking.

As we were coming to the end of the pathway Ashley spotted two guys about 15 or 16 years old and said we should talk to them. Okay..

"Hi, Did you get one of these?" I asked handing them a million dollar bill.

"No." they answered.

"Do you know what the million dollar question is?" Ashley asked.

"No."

"Where do you think you will go when you die?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know." Alex and Manny said.

"Do you think you would go to heaven or hell?"

"Heaven?" they replied with hesitation.

"What do you think you would have to do to get into heaven?" Ashley asked

"Have a lot of money." Alex said "Be kind." said Manny

"So be a good person?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah." they replied.

"Do you think you are a good person?" she asked

"Yes." they said.

"Can we take a couple minutes of your time to see if that is true?" she asked.

"Yeah. But only a couple of minutes." said Alex. He looked at his watch as if to time us.

"Well have you ever stolen anything, doesn't matter how small, cheated on a test?" Ashley asked.

"Even something small from Legoland?" Manny chuckled

"Doesn't matter what it was." Ashley said

"Yes."

"And if I were to steal from you, you would call me a..."

"Thief."

I jumped in. "Have you ever told a lie?"

"Yes"

"And if I lied to you I would be called a..." I asked

"Liar."

Ashley then jumped in. "So by your own admission you are liars and thieves."

She told them how they are breaking the Ten Commandments and asked them if they would be innocent or guilty. They tried using the excuse of what if they had done all these other nice things too. She took them through the courtroom analogy and asked them what they would think of the person that paid their fine. They said "Nice."

I jumped in. "That is exactly what God did. God came down to earth, God in the flesh as Jesus Christ. He died a horrible bloody death on the cross to pay for our sins so that we wouldn't have to spend an eternity in hell. But it isn't just enough to believe. We have to repent, turn away from our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ alone to save us.

Alex asked "Where can I read about this?" Ashley told them to get themselves a Bible. Manny kind of chuckled and said "Maybe we should buy ourselves a Bible since they have been telling us this."

Ashley then took them through the parachute analogy. Manny tried to get around it by saying since you are flying over land couldn't you just drive to where you wanted to go. So we took them over water. Who would survive the fall the one with or without the parachute.

"The one with." Alex said. "Yes, we can't just believe in the parachute. We have to put it on and trust that it will open up."

"I see." Alex said.

Ashley suggested that they get a Bible and read it, pray about it. The time to get right with God is now.

Alex then mentioned how "My parents won't like this. They are Jewish." Ashley then told him how it was hard for her when she became a Christian and how she was actually raised in an atheist home and how the rest of her family was Atheist.

Afterwards Alex thanked us and we thanked them and they left. I could see by the conversation that God was working in Alex's heart. I felt an unspeakable joy and had to give Ashley a big hug. We prayed for them as we walked back. I told my dad and gave him a big hug as well. Please be praying with me that God would convict Alex and Manny and that they would repent of their sins and put their faith and trust in Christ alone to save them.

My first one-to-one conversation

2008-05-05T15:04:00.001-07:00

I did it Saturday night around 6pm. I initiated my first one-to-one conversation. Here is my story.

I had been watching a couple of girls sitting beside a fountain down on Brand Boulevard and they were just chatting together. I felt this deep urge inside of me telling me to go and start a conversation with them.

I told myself no. But it kept nagging at me to share with them. So finally I said yes..

My heart was pounding in my chest. I looked to my dad and told him that I want to have a conversation with the girls.

'Oh no, I thought. There is no turning back now...'

My dad asked me if I wanted some spiritual support and back up and if I wanted him to go with me. I nodded my head yes. So we headed over to them.

We walked up to the girls my heart still pounding in my chest. I had a couple million dollar bills with me. "Did you get one of these?" I handed it to them.

"Do you know what the million dollar question is?" "What?" they asked.

"Do you know what happens to somebody when they die?" Silence. She said something that I don't remember. I had no idea what to say next. I looked to my dad for help. "Well what do you think you have to do to go to heaven? Be a good person?" he asked.

One of the girls said "yes." "Would you like to go through a good person test to see if that is true?" he asked.

"Yes." I took it from there. "Have you ever told a lie?" "Yes" she replied.

"If I lied to you what would you call me?"

"I don't know," she replied. I looked up at my dad again for help. He said "It rhymes with fire and starts with an L." She shrugged her shoulders. "Liar."

I asked her "Have you ever stolen anything, even something small, downloaded music that you didn't pay for?"

"No." she said.

"Have you used God's name to express disgust, like saying Oh my g."

"Huh" She wasn't understanding. Her friend standing next to her tried to explain. "Like saying Oh my G--."

"Yes." the other girl said. "That's called blasphemy." I said. The girl still didn't seem to understand. The other girls' phone started to go off. She said "You know what, we have to go. Our ride is here." "Oh Okay." I said. And that was it. That was the conversation I had.

After they left I talked to my dad and he said that he thought there was probably a language barrier between us since the girls were Hispanic. The girls were only 15 years old. After that I was able to hand out about 400-500 tracts that night. When I got back to the car, I broke down in tears. My dad gave me a big hug. I was so sorry that I couldn't really get in a deep conversation and share the gospel with those two girls because I was literally shaking with nervousness, my heart pounding and stuttering my words a lot and they had to leave as well. That was a huge step out of my comfort zone... Never before had I taken so huge a step to share the gospel with someone.

A Day That I Will Always Remember

2008-04-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I had the privlege of getting the day off work. I was able to go with my dad to Hunnington Beach to do some evangelism. My dad was leading the Ambassador's Academy for the past couple of days. Ambassador's Academy is an intensive training course on how to be more effective in evangelizing. It was so awesome to see ladies go up and open-air preach. One girl, Hollie, 20 years old, open-air preached for the first time. It was such an encouragement to me I almost decided to jump on the box and preach too. But fear came over me and I didn't. :(

It was also cool to meet Trish. She and I were together for most of the day. I would listen to her as she would talk to people about Christ. At the end of the day I didn't want to leave her. She would be flying back to Texas the next morning. She gave me a challenge though. She had seen that I was nervous talking to people. She said "Michelle, I want you to by next Saturday have a one-to-one conversation with someone. I want you to email me on Saturday to tell me if you did it or not." I accepted the challenge and we shook hands on it.

Since being there at Hunnington Beach for one day of the Academy I have never been the same. I feel on fire for Christ and I can't wait to tell Trish that I accomplished the challenge that she gave me. Please be praying for me that I do complete the challenge she gave me. I have a challenge for you "Who will you share the gospel this week with?"

A Wonderful Time at Way of the Master

2008-04-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! All I can say is wow. What a neat experience today was. For those of you that don't know, my dad, works for Way of the Master.

Yesterday,since I had the day off I went with him to help him out and spend the day with him. I never knew how much I was going to learn and experience while I was down there.

When we first came in we met a missionary from Nepal which was really neat. I never fully realized until that meeting how blessed we are in this country. This man was missionary from Nepal finishing up his Masters of Theology in the U.S. and then going back to his home country to preach the gospel. Now you might ask how are we blessed compared to people who live in Nepal. Just wait until I tell you more of the story and you will see why.

Harka was a missionary in Nepal, leading a ministry called Jesus Ministries International and led an underground church in Nepal. This means that the church is hiding from the government and the other religious sects in Nepal, which are Buddhism and Hinduism. They literally just celebrated their first Christmas as an official government holiday this past year. Christians in Nepal if they are caught preaching the gospel can be sent to jail for 6 years with the maximum being lifelong depending on the circumstances. He told us you have to be really careful as to who you allow in the church because some people might be spies. The Christians have only been in Nepal for about 17 years which I found fascinating as well. This man has gone to jail at least once and has been persecuted for his faith.

As I think about this I wonder why it is that so many Christians have a hard time sharing their faith including me when we have it so easy compared to the other people around the world like Harka who I just met yesterday. We have no idea what it means to be persecuted for our faith. All we face is man's arrogance and possible arguments. We should be stepping out more in our faith to share the gospel. We don't really have a need to feel intimidated for we have really nothing to fear. It is like the bible verse that says "What can mere man do to me?" Absolutely nothing. Now that doesn't mean you have to open-air preach, or have a one-to-one conversation if that is a little uncomfortable still for you to do. Just handing out a simple gospel tract to someone can make a huge difference. You are planting a seed. If you keep working on it you will eventually find the strength to actually start a conversation. Once you do you will probably feel more joy than you can possibly imagine and I think it will become easier for you. I am still working on this myself. I am working on strengthening my courage to talk to others about Christ in a one-to-one conversation. This is my next step. All I need to remember is that God will always be right by my side no matter what I may face.

Chad Fell Down

2008-04-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I decided to start my own blog. I was thinking I could use this blog to keep some of you informed as to what I am doing these days and also put up possibly some short stories I have written. Well once I had decided to make a blog I had to think of a name. I wanted it to be something sophisticated and smart but I also wanted the name to be something that would immediately tell people that this was my blog and no one else. Maybe a name that was unique. So I asked the rest of my family during dinner if they could help me think of any titles.

The first suggestion from my mom was Michelle's Blog of Whatever. To those of you that do know me I like to use the word whatever quite a bit. Just like my mother and grandmother. :) I wrote that one down as an idea and we kept thinking. Well we decided to talk about things that interested me and try to incorporate that into the title. A few of them being Peanuts, different movies, books, etc...

Another name that my sister Marissa thought of was Darla's Dilemmas. For those of you don't know who Darla is she is the little girl in the movie Finding Nemo with the braces that Nemo is going to become her pet before he luckily escapes. My sisters when I first had gotten braces which I now have off gave me a nickname of Darla. Well that idea didn't stand a chance with me and I immediately shot the idea down.

Well next we thought about one of my favorite movies That Thing You Do. If you haven't seen this movie you'll love it. That is the only commercial for today. Just to warn you there is an instance of blasphemy. : ( After thinking about the movie my entire family and I out of nowhere started quoting lines from the movie to think of some more ideas.

"Got any three's. Looks like Lenny's goin' fishing."

"You mean actually make a record? A record record, record?"

Then came the funniest line of them all. Nothing made us laugh harder.

"Uh, guys. Chad fell down."

I can just see the scene running through my head right now. I still giggle every time I think about it. Well after that was over, we kept thinking about different movies that I liked. Another movie that I absolutely love is A Walk to Remember. It such a sweet romantic movie and the book is even better. I would definitely recommend this movie too. This one I am happy to say doesn't have any blasphemy in it. : )

Well it was between the two. Which one would it be? Michelle's Blog of Whatever or Michelle's Walk to Remember. Although Michelle's Blog of Whatever was unique and it did sort of fit me it was just a little too silly. So that was how I chose "Michelle's Walk to Remember" for the name of my blog. An online journal of my walk through life. Now to finish this post, I decided for those of you that haven't seen the scene where Chad falls down in That Thing You Do, I will put up a video clip of this scene I like so much. It's a short one and I hope you all have fun watching it. : )

Hello Everyone

2008-04-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe that I actually have my own blog now. I hope you all enjoy it.