LOST

No not the TV show. When you think about people who are lost, what do you imagine? Is it those people so addicted to their sin, they just can't and have no desire to quit? You've shared Jesus with them, but they roll their eyes, scoff, and otherwise make fun of you and Him. You just throw up your hands and say, "Welp, they're just LOST!" Those kind of people are lost, but they've heard about Jesus. They have a seed planted in their hearts. Whether that seed is going to grow into anything is up to God, You've just gotta keep watering with your life. But those people are not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about the people that live well; people would think they were a Christian if they saw them. They don't go to bars, they're humble, they don't swear or shoot anybody. Whoo! But they have never heard the name JESUS. They wonder, "Is this it? We just be good and die and that's all? Is there something more to this life?" They want to know. They've never been to church - never been invited. You think, "If somebody would tell them JUST ONCE they would listen! They would know that there is more and act accordingly! God would love to have them for his kingdom!" Here's the thing...PEOPLE LIKE THAT DIE EVERY SINGLE DAY! And not just death. It's DEATH. The death of being tortured forever and spending eternity under God's frown - that's AWAY from God. And why is that? Why do they go to hell? BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T KNOW. It talks about it in Ezekiel 33:2-7

"Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.' Son of man, I have made YOU a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning for me."

So whose fault is it that that person, never being told that the sword was coming got slain? YOURS. MINE. Imagine you are a watchman on a big city wall, looking out, enjoying the view, eating your Crispy Cremes, and lookin good in your armor. *Oh, boy! This is the life* Then... wait a minute? What's that over there? Thousands of soldiers with weapons and scary stuff headed right for the city! What do you do? Say "Whoa! Check THAT out! Hey looky there! There's a guy going out of the city, what's HE doing? Whoops, they got him. Guess he didn't know they were out there." Uhh...no. What we do today with our cowardice and chickeness about sharing Christ with people is a thousand times worse. Watchman, you're supposed to leap up (forget about your Crispy Cremes:P), start blowing the little trumpet, and make a lot of noise. "The Sword is coming!!!! Save yourselves!!!" A LOT of noise:O THE SWORD IS COMING!!!! What are you doing about it? God said very clearly to give them warning. You gonna let that awesome chance to share pass by? We need to GET LOUD!!!

Think on These Things...

Philipians 4:8 says, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things."
Oftentimes, in our modern day world, we fill our minds with worthless things, and hence, think worthless thoughts.
We have to consider carefully whatever we "feed" our minds. The movies we watch, the books we read, the TV shows we watch, the music we listen to. Is it true? Is it honorable? Is it just? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it commendable? Is there any moral excellence and praise? If the answer to any of those questions, you probably shouldn't consume it. I love to read. But, I know that if I read the wrong kinds of books, my mind will be filled with the wrong thoughts. Another thing is that is our minds are filled with bad thoughts, we can't think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure and all that. We can't dwell on the things of the Spririt if we dwell on the things of the world. Sure, you might be able to cast an occasional thought towards God during church, but you won't be getting what all he wants you to get from the service. God has so many things for us, but so many times we think only of the world, and miss much of what he wants for us. So, before you read a book, watch a movie, turn on the TV to that one show, ask yourself, "Is this everything good listed in Philipians 4:8?" If not, don't watch it, don't listen to it, don't read it. It may seem boring and stupid at times, and even somewhat useless, but it helps your walk with God, and "feeds" your mind only the good things.

A Fit

Little Annie was running around the house with her doll, happily playing. When she came to the kitchen she saw her mother stirring something over the stove, and dollies became quite a boring play. "Mommy, can I stir it?" she asked.
"No, not right now. Right now it's hot. I don't want you to burn yourself."
Annie pouted and fussed, fumed and pushed, not realizing that her mother knew what was good for her and wanted the best for her.
Similar things have happened in our house with our babies, and it seems ridiculous that they would choose to wail and waller around on the floor because they can't do something that would hurt them. Why don't they just TRUST us?

Do you do that when God denies YOU something? All things work together for the good of those who love him. He ALWAYS has the best plan for you and if He says no do you pitch a fit? It's all a matter of trusting God. Right now we want to sell our house and find a house in Colorado. Nothin. God hasn't given us one. Now do we say, "WaAaAaAaA!!!!! But I WANT a house!!!! Being here without Dad is no good!" In other words, "But I WANNA stir it on the hot stove!!! Playing dollies is no fun!'', or do we say, "Well, alright, just tell me when you're ready to give us one" and go give our dollies a tea party? He has our best interest at heart. God will give us what he wants us to have when He's ready to give them to us. He gives good and perfect gifts.

I'm A Masterpiece!

I went to a retreat this weekend, and the focus of the whole thing was that we are God's masterpiece. When you look at the Mona Lisa everybody thinks of Leonardo da Vinci. When people see you, they should think of God.
But, the question for me was, "Do they?" When people look at me, do they see a work of God, or a thing that the Devil is using? Can they see the radiance of God in my face? Can they tell whether or not I'm saved by my actions? I can't tell you your answers to those questions. You have to deal with that.
Anyway, there were three sessions: The Price of a Masterpiece, All of My Best Friends Are Sinners!!!, and The Purest Place.
The Price of a Masterpiece was about how God has his signature on our life (like Leonardo da Vinci's!), but it comes at a great price. It also talked about how God individually designed each of us, so that no two are quite alike. Just think about that! God made you special, and unique! There isn't another one of you! God has a plan and a purpose for your life, which he reveal in his timing, not ours.
Another thing we talked about is how God is our Prince Charming. You know how in all the Fairy Tales, the Prince rescues the beautiful maiden, and they get married. But, God is our Prince! So many girls look to guys for the things that they think that they "need." But, God created those flowers for you, made that chocolate for you. And all that. But, God made it just for you! That guy might buy it for you, but God made it for you. That is more special than anything else. In a sense, God is your boyfriend.
Here are some scriptures that went with that session:
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. John 10:10

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Romans 12:2

My thoughts are completely different from yours, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Isaiah 55:8

If we have trusted Christ with our salvation, we can say with certainty, "I am completely forgiven and am fully pleasing to God. Romans 5:1

Clean House

Remember when God first moved into your heart? It probably had a lot of dust everywhere, the strawberries were all moldy in your fridge, and all your rated R movies were all over the floor. You probably thought, "This place isn't fit for the King of the whole universe!" You did a lot of house cleaning - getting rid of all the junk and dust that you'd been living in before. But He helped you. You may have actually liked all that bad stuff so the habits were hard to break. I'm sure you're still cleaning up now!
But maybe Christ has lived in your heart a long time or most of your life! You think, "NOW the house of my heart is clean! God can relax in the living room without getting dust all over himself!" The living room maybe. But what about the closet of your heart? You know. The one you shoved some of your little bad things in. The one that has cobwebs in it. The one you don't like Him to go into. Perhaps it's not even a closet, maybe it's more like a drawer. The one you put your rolly-eye attitude in and THAT DRESS that shows a little too much. Your might think, "Well that's OK. Just a closet or a drawer doesn't matter." But...where's God gonna put his shoes? I'm sure you occupy your WHOLE house that you live in right now. I mean, there aren't any rooms that have nothing in them at all! God wants to occupy your WHOLE heart the same way. He wants that closet that you keep all your bad habits in to put his shoes in.
You might have tried to clean it before, but you gave up and said, "no matter how hard I scrub it, it just keeps coming back!" Ask God to help you scrub it. He may not do it right away, but not because he's forgotten. HE WANTS THAT CLOSET! With both of you working together as hard as your can, believe it or not, that closet can be clean! The dust probably will come back after awhile, but stay on top of it so it doesn't build up like it did before. Whether the dust is a lying problem, a temper problem, or just some kind of bad habit, you and God make a great cleaning team!

God, You Couldn't Understand!!!

Have you ever said that? Laugh, if you will, but this is serious. Sometimes we think God just doesn't know about that little thing. "Well, you know. God doesn't want to hear the details of my personal life!" Oh yes he does! God wants you to tell him everything. Everything. If something bothers you, God cares about it, because God cares about you. God wants to hear what that girl said, or what that guy did. Tell him what they did. Repent. But, just pour out your heart to God. God wants to hear what you thought about this or that. Because, God just wants to hear from you. Because, he delights in you. He loves you. He already knows what you're going to say, but he just wants to hear you say it. He loves you that much. He delights in just hearing your voice. So many times we treat God like a person who doesn't really know. He couldn't have know, could he? Well, yes God does. He knows about every little thing going on. And, he knows the answers to life's questions.
However, God is not a spiritual vending machine. God is your Father, and he wants to talk to you. And, he wants you to talk to him. Tell him everything. God truly understands what you're going through. Talk to him, and then listen for what he has to say. For he knows.

Purpose

Do you ever think, "Why was I put on this earth? What needs to be done that God would make ME to do it?" God makes everybody for a reason and believe it or not, you were put here for more than just to take up space.

I got one of mail survey forward things a while back and one of the questions was:"What is your dream?" I filled it out with what I figured I was gonna do when I grew up; get married, have those e-kids, etc. and went on to the next question. But for some reason WHAT IS YOUR DREAM stuck in the back of my mind. I began to think of what that WAS. So now I call my purpose in life "my Dream". I may not know what it is yet, but my dream IS to do what God made me to do.

My mom found her dream. She thinks God put her here to raise nine kids to do what He wants with. My brother's dream is to be a professional soccer player - the one that shares his faith during interviews. I'm still praying about mine. I still don't know what my PURPOSE is. Right now it's to be where I am! But an offering I someday want to make is to make a powerful christian movie I have in mind. (Don't laugh! I know it sounds weird) I want to do my best and hand it up and say, "this is for you God! You can do whatever you want with it!" He can shelf it, He can watch it a couple of times, or He can use it to win thousands for Him and I'll see that WAS my dream. I don't know. I just want to try my best (and get Him to help me!) and give everything I do to Him.

Your purpose in life takes work to achieve. Whether it's raising people that all have purposes of their own, sharing God with other people by the way you juke somebody out and shoot a ball, or making Him full-length films with no experience at all, it takes work. Your purpose, I can promise you IS NOT to be a sofa spud! You have to get up and pray, and honor God with your life and before you know it, your dream will jump out in front of you! My mom had no clue when she had her first baby that 8 more were on the way! My brother didn't know that when he said he wanted to play soccer when he was four, it would maybe be a statement he would say and mean for years and years to come. I don't know what your dream, your purpose is, but just do what God puts in front of you and do it your best so that it's like one of those white little lambs that they sacrificed to God. With no spot or stripes or bad stuff. And trust him. My sister's favorite quote is:"If God is your co-pilot, SWAP SEATS!" He drives you, so let him!

"God can do whatever He wants to do however He wants to do it. He can open what He wants to open and shut what He wants to shut." ~ Coach Grant Taylor

You're here for Him so live for Him.

Meggy T

Hello Ladies!

This is Meggy. God's Grace invited me to do this blog and I think tis a wonderful idea! Keep in mind she is more insightful than me!:) So anyway, I have 8 brothers and sisters and I am a HUGE Jesus Freak!! My other blog site is www.mt-thoughts.blogspot.com Hope you girls will benefit from this blog! God bless!

Meggy T

Emotional Purity

There are essentially three kinds of purity. Today, I want to briefly speak about the most difficult to keep: Emotional Purity.

One of the reasons why emotional purity is hard for so many is that our culture constantly bombards us with images, descriptions, tv shows, movies, songs, news reports, and other things, that honestly, shouldn't be spoken of with such freedom.
Purity is a beautiful gift that we must treasure, and guard. You see, the Devil would like nothing more than to take our purity. We must guard our purity.
But, first you might ask, "What is emotional purity?" Well, emotional purity is remaining pure in your mind. I can't tell you what that would mean for you. That, you have to work out with God, through the Scriptures. But, generally speaking, it means that you don't think romantically about a guy.

Emotional purity is essentially hard as it looks innocent when it comes. Maybe just a little crush on that one guy-it won't hurt anybody, right? Well, before you know anything, it grows. Pretty soon, everytime you see that guy you flirt with him. And, you dream about him at night. You wonder if maybe you'll marry him, and you hope so. Well, that is wrong. Here, you started out thinking, "Hey, if this hurts anybody, it's just going to be me, so, why not?" But, essentially when you start flirting with the guy, you are affecting him. And, you're affecting those watching you and judging Christianity by you. You tell them that Christians aren't any different than the rest of the world, and they don't need what you have.

We need to guard our emotional purity. When you feel yourself be attracted romantically to a guy, pray for him as your brother in Christ. You'll truly see a difference.

Part of the reason we have to deal with this is because all girls long for affirmation. Especially from guys. So, they think if they flirt they'll get that. And when they don't get that, they keep going until they are deep in sin. But, you won't ever find satisfaction in that kind of love. Ever. The only love you will ever find true satisfaction in is God's.