God's major plan: Weird turns.

We all have heard the term, "God's got a plan for you," or, "It's all in God's hands." We all also probably know that there are times in His plan, that times may not seem so good. We could be down in the dumps, or seeing ourselves in a standstill with our faith, or a million other things that could be happening. One thing I know that I have realized that I don't really like about being a part of God's plan, is that there are many times where this walk takes us down a turn we don't like. Think of it like a friend leading you somewhere, and all of a sudden, you get to a creepy part, or there is just something that is bad that you just don't expect at all. Jesus won't lead us to bad things, but sometimes it takes some sacrifice on our part to get the full experience that God has intended for us to receive.

There are sometimes what seem like really twisty roads in God's path, but most of the time, that is where the enemy has put up a distractor, be it in sports, relationships, school, work, whatever it is. There are many roads that will come up that will try to take you off the path that God has laid out for you.

The song, "Going Through Hell" by Rodney Atkins really spells it out for us with saying

"You step off the straight and narrow
And you don't know where you are
Use the needle of your compass
To sew up your broken heart"

This is what happens when you step of that path that God has laid for you. You end up broken hearted, and face down in the dirt.  The next few lines are

"Ask directions from a genie
In a bottle of Jim Beam
And she lies to you."

This is what happens when we look to other things to fill our hearts up. Instead of staying on that path that is set. You will understand that those things do not love you back, and they will only tell you lies about yourself.

I know that for the longest time I let so many different things try and tell me who I was. The truth is that no matter if I agreed with it or not, it made me who I was. I let those things mold me because your heart is molded and shaped by the things you love. Those things that you give your life to will eventually either mold your heart into a heart of stone, making you think that there is no other way for you, or they will totally break your heart, by letting you down. Not taking your life to the level you wanted it to, or just by letting you fall all the way down the rock bottom. That's a pretty bad way to end things. We've all felt it, and none of us really like it.

Here's the good part of God's plan for you though, which is also summed up pretty nicely in the Rodney Atkins song.


"But the good news is there's angels
 Everywhere out on the street
Holdin' out a hand to
Pick you back up on your feet."

This is a very big picture of God's perfect grace. You've all heard it before that God will never leave you or forsake you, and no matter how cliche it is, it is very true. God uses many angels to help you see that you are not alone in this life. Sometimes it doesn't take an angel from heaven to really help you out. Sometimes it's someone as close as a brother or sister in Christ. No matter where the  help comes from, the original place of it was from the Lord. The Lord is the beginning of all help, and His help will get you out of any situation.


Just don't let those down times get you. Shake off the bad times in your life, and step up to the newer things that God is trying to show you. Because surely, when God allows rough times to happen, when you shake them off, and step up to the new light that God has, there too will be a light at the end of your dark tunnels.


I love you guys

TJ


"If you're going through hell,
Keep on going don't slow down
If you're scared don't show it
You might get out
'Fore the devil even knows you're there."

Own the gifts

I just had a conversation with a friend about the less biblical gifts given to us by God. I've come to one conclusion from that one talk

People need to stop selling themselves so short. They need to own the fact that God has given them a special talent to do things. for example: Tim Tebow, one of the NFL's newest rising talents, knows he isn't the best QB out there, but he does know that he has been given a gift by God and he should use it for God's glory, and not be down on himself because of the fact that he's not the best.

This is something like what went through my head about 2 years ago.

It was the summer before my Sophomore year, and we were at weight lifting. I was talking to my football coach about playing nose guard. He was very excited for me and he started to tell me about how he was glad that I lifted so much. He told me that I was going to be the starting nose guard on the JV team, and that I had a chance to be a real player on Varsity. I was trying to be humble, and not let stuff like that get to my head, and I said, "I'm not that good, coach." He looked at me and told me that I wasn't that good. I was GOING to be that good. I figured he had said htis because the season hadn't of started yet, but I didn't think much more than "Well, I'm definitely going to start nose guard this year." Honestly, I hadn't given much thought to the fact that maybe I had gotten THAT much better. Through the work I had to put into it, and the determination to keep a good season backed up by another good season, I just wanted to be a leader for Christ. Honestly, that's the best decision you can make when you realize that you have a real skill.

Here we are the first day of practice, and I knew it was time to start showing people that I may be small, but there was no way that someone was going to take my spot. It probably would have made me mad, but I knew that I had earned a spot, and I wasn't about to let it go. the biggest problem about that on a JV team is that you really have to learn to play as a team, and actually learning that was the hardest thing for us to do as a team.

Christ has given me a few gifts. The ability to do things in sports well is one. Also, it seems that speaking the right words that only God could have given me to say when I need to say something to someone or a group of people is another. I want to be that this year. I want the kids on the football team to know that I want us to be more than a team. We need to literally be so close, that we would enjoy practice, just simply because we get to hang out with each other, and we get to play a game together.

Our coach talks a lot about how a football team is another family. Over the course of looking at the JV team at Cave Spring, I do not think that we have acted like a family. For us to really go and win football games, or even have a successful season, we must drop ourselves out of the equation and come together as a unit. If we are letting ourselves be divided by anything, be it grade level, maturity level, or anything else; We. Will. Fail. We can not hope to have a successful football season if we are torn apart.

Getting back on topic now....

God has given you all many gifts. The reason He gave you those gifts is so that you can glorify His name by the gifts you've been given. I don't want to be the one who knocks off God's gift just because I'm trying to be humble. There's a difference between humility and just not owning who you really are. We need to own who we are, and the abilities that God has given to us. Once we have accomplished this, we will start to see a dramatic change in our lives. The way we carry ourselves would be one of them.

I know that I have a lot of friends who have many talents, but not all of them know how to use them for the Lord, or they might not even want to use them for the Lord. that's the part that really breaks my heart. People need to really think about the reason that they have the gifts that they do. There is nothing I really did to earn being a good lifter. I did nothing to  earn being athletic. Honestly, I want to put a charge to people, that if they gave glory to God for the abilities that they have, they might actually find that success will find its way into their lives. I know that the season I spent playing for the Lord, and His glory, was one of the best seasons of my life. I've never had that successful of a baseball season. The reason for that is because I was playing for myself. I wasn't playing for the team, and I definitely wasn't playing for the Lord. I had a successful soccer season last year, just because I'm not the best soccer player, does not mean that it was not a successful year!

My biggest advice to anyone who is reading this is to just be who you are. Use what you've been given by the grace of God to use, and chase your dreams using those skills.

Don't sell yourself short.


I love you guys
TJ

"In in the process of making my dreams come true... Don't stop me." Chase Brittain

The Parental Effect

Okay, so I have seen recently that people who have very Christian parents (Preachers, or just another person) tend to be the most unreceptive of the gospel. Why is this? I would think that if a kid grows up with literally every day having a way to interact with the life with Christ would be the most likely to want that relationship with them. The problem is, maybe these parents really don't do a great job at doing what their duty as parents who have a relationship with Christ have: Showing their kids the love and joy of Christ. I have always been told that a parent is supposed to show their children the joy of Christ, because they obviously love their child, and what kind of love would it be if they just let their child die the spiritual death? What parent would want their child to have a chance of not having a true and abundant life? I don't know about many of you, but I definitely want my kids to have the ability to decide for themselves, but I want to have a part in showing them what it's like to be in a relationship with Christ.

The guy I live with constantly tells me and my dad that his parents are Christians. He also says he is a Christian. I don't mean to sound judgmental, but it doesn't seem like he was given an accurate picture of what it looks like to be in relationship with Christ. That is something that I am taking on myself, because I know that it will help me and him greatly. My only thing is, why didn't his parents show him Christ's perfect love? Why were they okay with letting him literally die right in front of their eyes? I think that a reason why my friend doesn't have an accurate view of what it really looks like to have a life with Christ is because his parents never took the time to show him what it's about.


I do believe that it was God's will that his parents didn't show him Christ's love, because then I wouldn't be able to really post this. I just also believe that it is the complete duty of a parent to make sure that their child has an accurate picture of who Jesus is, and what it really looks like to have a relationship with Him. I believe that if every believing parent did this, there would be less insecurity among their kids, and also homes would be less broken. So many things that happen in homes nowadays because children don't have an accurate view of Jesus are the reasons that homes in America, and all over the world are splitting at the seams, and breaking apart.

I believe that if all the parents took the time to show their kids that they have the ability to have a relationship with the Lord, instead of saying things relating to "turn or burn" or "repent or die" or something like that, will be able to have a more full relationship not only with their children, but with the Lord. I believe that if parents knew how much of an impact they had on their children's lives, they would be more thoughtful of the things they do and say around their kids. Parents have a huge impact on the way their kids act. A lot of who a child is comes from who their parents are. If a child sees their parent doing something wrong, or hears their parents using dirty words, that child is more likely to do wrong things, or say dirty words.

I think a common problem with some parents is that they believe that just because they are believers that their kids are automatically going to become a believer at some point during their life, and don't want to have an impact on it. They assume it's going to happen, and if that kid were to die before this happens, and before the parent dies, how much more will that group of parents be filled with regret for not showing their kids Christ?

Likewise, if a parent tries too hard to show their kids Christ, like if they over do it by focusing only on telling their kids about Christ, then that kid may just be over cooked, and they won't want any of it because of the fact that their parent over did it with them. Telling someone about the Lord is about building the relationship. Just like if you're trying to talk to your friends about Christ, the same goes for reaching out to your own children. You have to make sure that your child is wanting to have you talk to them about it. The Lord will open that door for you if it is His will. Maybe you child is going to meet Christ through something else, but if you first give him or her an accurate picture of Christ, maybe without trying to tell them anything else, it will help them see that what you have is true. That Christ is more than a set of rules. They can then focus on knowing His love, than seeing a different picture of Him altogether.

My biggest problem when I first started really listening to people about Christ was that I was never given an accurate picture of Christ by anyone. I had to really be shown by everyone who did have that picture what it looked like. I am very thankful that my friend, Zack took the time to show me what it looks like to really have a relationship with Christ. My friend Adam also had a very big part in this, because without him leading a bible study,  I would never have understood the things that I do, and my picture of Christ would be a lot different.

The thing is, you can have a big say in whether or not your children really become believers or not. The best thing you can do is just give them an accurate picture of Christ, and the rest will be done in the Lord's time. Just remember that the Lord will speak through you when needed.

That is all for tonight.

I love you guys.
TJ

Reading Between the Lies.

I don't understand why I feel so adamantly about this situation, but I am tired of people believing the lies that are said about them. Be it by themselves, or the Devil, or other people. Some people in the world have a huge problem with letting people control how they view themselves. They also let random thoughts that they don't have any other worth besides what they have right now limit what they can do in the life that the have been given. I'm sick of letting people let the lies that have been said about them by any power or being.

One reason I think I feel so highly about this is the fact that people have been trying to tell me who I am since I was a little kid. They keep trying to tell me who I am going to be, and though I don't know who I am going to be, they definitely don't have any idea who I am going to be. I have never allowed people to define me, but I am tired of people complaining about their lives when they don't really seem to actually want to take a step to get the heck out of that situation. People tend to want a hand out and they always think that they are entitled to have it easy. Honestly, if you think at one point that life is going to be easy, you have a completely new thing coming. If you think that for one second that life is going to take it easy on you when something isn't really going your way just because you want it to be easier on you, you're going to be rudely awakened.

Honestly, I'm going to say this once: all of us need to grow up. We like to think that we are what everyone sees us as. "I'm only as good as this person sees me" or "I can't have any worth if that person doesn't like me." Honestly, think about it, are those things going to matter in 10 years when you're married and you don't even remember the reason you thought those thoughts. Stop living life trying to get someone to like you. Find your identity in the place when only your real identity can be found, and see yourself as He were to see you. Stop selling yourselves so short. I'm tired of people complaining that they have such a hard life because they aren't being accepted by one person, and honestly, they probably deserve better than that, and God is probably going to give them much better than what they think they are going to get. Stop thinking so little about yourself. You were made for so much more than you're giving yourself credit for!


Basically all I am trying to say is that people need to stop believing the bull crap that people say about them. You are what God made you to be.

Be who you were made to be.



TJ