What I have learned as a Christian!

I couldn't go to sleep because all of these thoughts kept going through my mind and I just had to share them!!!


In no particular order:


A house does NOT make a home! Being jealous of someone who has a huge house with nice furnishings is like being jealous of someone who is chasing the wind! Eventually all the worldly things will fade away, but God is the only Truth that will remain for eternity! He IS, WAS, and ALWAYS WILL BE!!! Put your faith into God instead of a house, or worldly things and your rewards will be great!


Choosing Christ and being a Christian means going against the world. Sometimes you lose the friends or family you used to have, or even bad habits. In the beginning you might see this as a bad thing because you lose your independence, you may not fit in, and people may not understand what you are doing, but Keep On Keepin' On because the goal is to gain Christ!!! If your flesh is suffering, it is a GOOD THING!!! While people are caring about the outward things, you keep caring about the inward! In the end you will win the greatest prize of all! Let those people keep caring about their looks or their "riches," and although they look happy on the outside they are probably empty on the inside, but you will be filled on the inside and the beauty will flow to the outside!!!


No matter what any human being says, ALWAYS follow what God tells you. It's HIS WILL AFTER ALL!!! Don't worry about doing good works because they are good, but instead listen to God and what He tells you to do! It's not about "doing" anything, but rather having a relationship with Him! When you have the relationship, you are close to Him and you know what He wants you to do! Faith without works is not good, but likewise, works without Faith is not good either because it is coming from your self instead of what God wants. You don't have to DO anything for God to Love you! He already loves you!!!


I don't care what anyone says about this... money can NOT buy happiness!!! Fighting over money is seriously fighting over cloth and paper... Well, isn't that what money is made of??? What is truly precious and priceless is the blood of Jesus which was shed for us b/c God loved us so much!


Having a relationship with God is far more important than going to church one day out of the week and ignoring Him the rest of the time.


If you are determined to do something, you will do it. If you want to watch t.v. or go out, you will do it. But, where is the determination to spend time with God? All he wants is for us to have a relationship with Him and rely on Him for everything. He needs us just like we need Him! Make the choice to allow God into your day! It will be worth it, and in return you will gain all that is in Him: Peace, Love, Joy, Happiness, Grace, Mercy, Healing, Knowledge and so on!


We are vessels to contain Christ! That is what we are made for!! Just like a glove is made for a hand, we were made to contain Christ and nothing else!!! This is why when we try to find other things that make us happy besides God, it is like trying to put a foot in a glove... it does NOT work!!! We are supposed to contain Christ so that we can reflect Him and be in His image! God is Love!! Ever heard that saying: "And they'll know we are Christians by our Love"!! It's true!!! When He fills us up, we overflow Him!


This journey with God is little by little, and day by day. It's not something that is going to just happen in a week! You are not going to be perfect in a couple of days! Relax and enjoy God! He IS SO ENJOYABLE!! When I stress about not looking like a good Christian, I start to follow the "LAW" instead of Christ. Jesus came to get rid of the law and bring Himself into us!


We always seem to point out what everyone else is doing wrong, or what we thing they should be doing, but it is more profitable to turn your finger away from others and point it towards yourself! Have faith and God will do the rest to work with the other person. Often I would point out in others about how they always said negative things, not knowing that I was a hypocrite doing the same thing they were!! Remember that we are all sinners and that people are at different stages in their lives. We can learn from each other! It's interesting how God puts an impatient person in a city with tremendous traffic, or gives you a family member that is hateful! It's all for His Will!!


NEVER EVER GIVE UP!!! You have angels rootin' for you! Know that Satan wants you to fail. He wants you to think the worst and feel like there is no hope, but just remember Job. Through all of the turmoil in his life, he said "I KNOW MY REDEEMER LIVES"!!!! Faith in not seeing, but in believing in what you cannot see! Have faith and know that God knows you the best and won't give you any situation that you cannot handle.

Get in, Get out, or Get run over because Jesus is coming through! It's your choice whether you want God in your life. He gave us a free will to choose. Choose wisely because having one foot in and one foot out is not good. Serving two idols means not being faithful to one. Choose life! Choose Christ!!


Share your testimony. That is the way that I found God is through people's testimonies! I wanted what they had, and what they had was the Lord!! I never choose this path for myself. I wanted to be a whole different person, but the person who I was in my past was not a good imitation of Christ. Preaching God's Word while being drunk is not really a good way to bring people in! Trust me, I know from experience!


I can't even begin to describe all of the sins I have made throughout my lifetime. If it wasn't for me asking God for forgiveness and taking the blood of Jesus, I would have sat in condemnation, but instead I have no condemnation!!! I move on because Jesus shed His blood for ALL sins: past, present, and future! God doesn't look back at your sins, so neither should you!!


No one can see your heart but God. Don't worry about what others think of you because you have the one who loves you the most! After all, He created you!!!


Love cures a multitude of sins :)

"Why" and "Half-hearted Christians"

If I sound "preachy," I apologize, but my purpose is not to point fingers at anyone but myself. I have learned all of these through my experiences, and those experiences are what I share. I often find that writing them helps me too when I can look back and remind myself of how far I have come!

I have heard a lot of people asking the question, "Why," as in "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but yet they do not see the point. The point is that we do not have to know the "Why" but that we trust God and know that He loves us. If we knew everything, then we would be God; and, what would be the point in knowing everything? People ask why God let the planes crash into the twin towers, but I would say to them that it wasn't God that did that, but man. God wasn't driving that plane- men were. We have the choice to choose God, but some people don't. I think the hate in this world is caused by the lack of not knowing Christ and His Love. God is Love. This is what happens when people do not know God. I also find it interesting that the people asking the question of "why" proclaim they are Christians, yet openly live in sin.

I am deciding to choose right now. I choose life! I can't tell people how to live their lives if I am not following God. If I am stealing, then I cannot give advice to others not to steal. A lot of people are giving advice, but they themselves are not following it. Do we want to be half-hearted Christians, who have one foot in the world and one foot in heaven? I don't think it works that way. God said that we shall worship no one besides Him. There are so many idols that people wouldn't even consider idols. Feelings can be an idol if you rely on them rather than God. A person can be an idol, or money. Anything that we are consumed by that isn't God is an idol.

God is so enjoyable! He should have the first place in our hearts. Some people shy away from that because they want to be in control of their own life... but look at the mess that happens when they are. Just saying!! The reason I can say all of this is because I am still learning. To see where I was before and where I am now is just amazing, and I know as a fact it was God that did it all! If I say these things like I am judging, I am really NOT! My purpose is to share my testimony! All of the bad in me was caused by not having God in my life and following Him. He has a purpose for us, and we need to open our eyes and see!!! This amazing life I have is all because of the one in me! My life is hidden with Christ!!!! :)

God Gets The Glory!!!

I was thinking why I couldn't just get myself out of depression, or why I couldn't just quit smoking without any help from anyone. Well, the answer is that God wants the Glory!!! We can't do anything without Him, and He doesn't want us to! If I had quit smoking all by myself without God's help, then God would not get the Glory. I tried to quit for over 7 years without God, and the moment I asked for His help, the problem was fixed! He is the one that did it; I was just obedient! GOD GETS THE GLORY!!! It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me! It was nothing that I did; It was all that He did! He is the only one that is able when we are not! Thank you Lord for your faithfulness, and I pray that we can grow closer with you and have an intimate relationship built on faith, hope, trust, and LOVE, and that we can lean on you with EVERY aspect of our lives!!! Let us humble ourselves and allow you to work in us and through us. Jesus is LORD!!! Amen!

I want the world to love me, but God loves me

Who I was and who I am
Are like night and day
One free and crazy
The other obedient to the Maker
But there can't be middle ground
I can't have my cake and eat it too.

I once heard lukewarm is worse
Than not choosing a side.
Too be free and careless is to
Fit in with the world,
But I can't go back
Even if I am hated, I can't go back.

Am I too serious about all of this?
Why is following Love
Such a bad thing to the world?
I want the world to love me,
But GOD LOVES ME.
... sigh ...

Sometimes it feels like it's not enough
But what are feelings anyway
But a passing lie in time.
God is the Truth and the Light and the Way
Why should I be afraid to gain Christ?
...Because I won't be accepted by the world.

Wait. I want the prize so bad
The angels beside me are
Cheering me on
And the Love of God
is with me always
To live is Christ, but to die is gain!

I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be!!!

This is hard to write this because sometimes my mind gets caught up in past memories. I guess I just don't understand how my best friends, when I was younger, are no longer around when I am older. Of course, the person I use to be is not the same person I am now, so why am I so upset? Was I the only one in that group that strayed away, or did they stray away from me? I guess I get upset because I feel like I have done something wrong, when in reality I was just following God. God doesn't want me to drink or smoke anymore along with flirting with men. It seems like when I quit doing that years ago, I lost a lot of "friends." Why would I want to be around those "friends" anyway if they are not going to accept me for who I am now? Maybe God doesn't want me to be around them anyway. What did I do that was so wrong that people just ignore me when they see me? I am not a bad person. People can be so cruel!

Enough of that! These feelings can't be good because they will eventually sink me into a depression which God already saved me from! I have many things to be grateful for, and I don't need the past getting in my way. God is so good to me, my huge family is awesome... not to mention my wonder fiancee who treats me like a princess! And, I am building some awesome friendships that really matter!!! So goodbye to my past once again! All I have to do is turn my mind away from the past and focus on the future and all of the amazing possibilities God has in store for me!! Maybe God has some great friends waiting for me who actually care about my well-being!

Press On!

I'm NOT perfect, but God didn't come for the righteous but rather the weak. I am weak and I need the Lord! I am not where I need to be, but THANK GOD I am not where I use to be! Growth in God is a SLOW process!! No one is going to be perfected over night, but we need to have a heart of compassion, love, and forgiveness because God forgave us first so that we can forgive others! WE ALL MESS UP, NOT JUST SOME OF US! WE ARE ALL HYPOCRITES AT ONE POINT IN TIME, BUT IT'S WHERE YOUR HEART IS, AND TO HAVE THE GOAL OF GAINING CHRIST IS KEY! So Keep On Keepin' On, and don't give up! Forgive yourself for your mistake and press on towards the goal!!! Don't let people stop you, and don't let YOURSELF stop you either!! God Speed!! :)

Trusting Jesus Is The Way!

Wow! I haven't written in a while... probably because I haven't have internet for 4 months and just got it back! God has been doing so much in my life right now. I am in the last year of college, and at the end of the year I am going to marry my best friend and the man that God wanted me to have!!! The wedding plans are going slow because it took a while for Matt and I to realize that we want our wedding to represent God and what He wants instead of what we want for ourselves! We want to glorify God!!! As we put our faith into God, everything just seems to fall into place and it makes us realize that we are on the right path, full of prayer and trust!!!

We are not guaranteed tomorrow, so I am learning to savor every moment of every day, and my attitude towards people and life has changed and is still changing! Slowly I am realizing that there are always going to be people who are against me and the things that I do, but lately my spirit is just telling me to follow my heart! When I quit listening to others and start listening to Christ, I get so much peace! I am excited to get involved in more bible studies and fellowship with the Christians at Texas State who led me to life over 4 years ago. I fell away for a while because I started to do what other people wanted me to do instead of following the true reality, which is Christ! I am set free by the Word of God! The Spirit and the Word are my guide! I know that this is going to be a wonderful semester because I am going to take God with me wherever I go; He is the only person who knows me best!

My mom gave me a book about finding my gift. We all have gifts, and to find it and have peace with it is so key for me! I am going to search for it... and who knows, maybe I am already doing part of it! I can't wait to continue this journey with God, and I know that it took my free-will to choose Him, and by His Grace I was saved!!! I LOVE MY LORD!!!

Hopefully I can write more about my experiences this year. I got a hair cut this morning, and I prayed to have a lady who knew what she was doing... well she has cut hair for 21 years and we got to talking... she was a Christian and we talked about God! I thank God for all of the honest people He puts in my life to show me that there is still justice in this world and how the Lord is going to bring it! I love life and I know God will provide... I just have to trust :)

God Speed!!!