Why Do I Blog?

Faithful Bloggers wanted to do a group blogging project so I've decided to take part in my very first one(i didn't even know they did these...). So I want to take part in this one and they asked:

Why Do You Blog?

Well my purpose for starting my blog was something totally different than what it is used for now. I had a vision of starting a group of bloggers who will provide evidence and proof that Jesus is really the Christ and to show others the actual truth. 

Here was my first post called "Now's The Time":

I wanted to create a christian group to help me and send in evidence from the bible to prove to others that the Word of God is True. also to prove that Jesus is the Son Of God and the Messiah that the Jews are still waiting for and that he has already come and is coming again. Even though I'm only 13, ever since I was little i have always wanted to do this and i have prayed for years for God to give me the courage and wisdom to do this. And here i am. and i thank him now for this.

Obviously, my blog did not end up how I wanted it to, rather it ended up quite well. I didn't really understand blogging all that much before but now, my blog's sole purpose is to walk through life with other Christians and find out how God wants us to live our lives so that we can be the reflection of His Son.

My blog is kind of like my diary, I could never keep a diary when I was younger, even to this day! I wouldn't make it past the first week and the entries would be years apart, but with my blog, I find that I could stay a bit constant and blog once in a while.

I blog because God put it upon my heart to. If you really want to go far back, I wanted to be a child missionary and travel the world preaching to others at the age of 12, but it was very unrealistic for me. I just couldn't sit still and not do anything with the salvation that God has given me. So I was kind of stubborn when I prayed and prayed and prayed about what was on my heart. I knew that I wanted to do that and nothing else. My sister had already started a blog on which she was writing a Christian story (the blog is called Congaisa) and she occasionally asked me to read her new posts. So when I was reading her post a few days later, God put it upon my heart to start a blog and do my "mission" work on it. I called it "Lost Sheep, Get The Evidence", you can tell that I have changed the name since, for the road God took me on was different than the road I was hoping to travel on. I still don't know for sure what God wanted the main purpose of my blog to be, but it definitely wasn't what I had in mind before. All I want is for him to use me through it and he has. And through it, I have grown in the Lord and uncovered new mysteries about him that I never had before.

My blog is something that keeps me connected to my Brothers and Sisters through my communication on it, and it helps me understand God more and how he wants me to live (the Bible does most of that work, of course). It encourages me to read his Word often and he speaks through me on it. Now, I don't know where he'll take me with it but I know it's worth the patience and wait.

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peace given in the worst of times

Tomorrow, I'll be going to a funeral, for the death of the daughter of my piano teacher. She's the most precious thing, such a little princess. Only 6 months old. When I heard this news, I just balled. My piano teacher is the sweetest woman and she always has such peace and patience especially when I don't do my piano homework. But this was the last thing I would ever think could happen. I thought, "she doesn't deserve this", but we all deserve death but God gave us life because of his great mercy. And what God decided to do with this precious life after he gave her life, was to call her back home. Maybe he missed her too much. ;) ahaha but today, I went to the visitation at the funeral home and I saw her lying in her little casket and she looked like a doll, I couldn't help myself I started crying. I needed peace in my heart even though I wasn't the parent of this little soul. I couldn't look into my teacher's eyes or her husband's, I didn't want to cry even more in front of them. That was probably the last thing they wanted. But what took me by surprise was how calm they were. There seemed to be peace within their hearts. That's the amazing thing about our Lord. He offers peace when you most need it, when it seems nearly impossible to have. And the only thing my piano teacher said to me before I balled again was, "I wish you could've seen her more often." I had never got to see her once, and my family had. So she had promised me in the second week of January that she was going to bring her in for one of the lessons. But the day never came, and it never will. The thought just made me cry even more, I really needed strength. I felt silly because I felt like I was struggling more with keeping myself together and strong than they were. Then one of those awesome moments where God puts that random verse in your mind happened. (ps. I wanted to put that verse on their card, but it was too late)

Colossians 1:11

God will strengthen you with his own

great power so that you will 

not give up when troubles come,

but you will be patient.

My teacher and her husband sure had that verse down because they were very patient and seemed like they had strength provided by God so that they could keep strong. And I think I need some of what they have because I am just breaking down. The thing I love though, is how God designed us. He designed us with feelings for one another, we may not be close to a person, but when they're hurting, we hurt too. We don't have to be identical twins to feel each other. We know how depressing death is and how it could affect one's life. We know that many people's heart were dear to the dead's. Sometimes though, we might need help ourselves, and I'm not just talking about girls (my brother couldn't hold himself either and he's a strong person, we had to leave because he couldn't bear to see her lying there). We sometimes look for things to help us through our sadness like food or friends or music. But there isn't always assurance that it will keep you strong. One thing is sure though. That is the Bible. We could relate to it one way or another no matter what our problems are. In this situation, my teacher, her family and her husband and his family, can relate to David. His son was very ill and was going to die, so he grieved and prayed until the day came when his son was called home. Then David did something remarkable, he got up, cleaned himself and worshiped the Lord then ate for he fasted while the child was alive. Everyone was wondering why he wasn't grieving because of his son's death. He said that what was done is done, he can't do anything about it. But while his son was alive, there was still hope that he could become well. He also said that he will see him one day and will be reunited with him. Just like how all those dear to this precious girl will be reunited with her again one day. So all we could do now is clean ourselves and look towards that day when we shall see her again. My teacher and her family will be in my prayers and thoughts, and I am also motivated to work harder on my piano so I don't give her a hard time with it anymore. She has really encouraged me in the 5 years she's been working with me and she has set great goals for me and so far we have accomplished them and I want to continue to accomplish them for I don't want to let her down. This little girl will always be in my heart and she'll always remind me to stay strong and patient when trials come. I just pray for their peace to continue through the funeral ceremony. 

This post I think really gets the idea about strength in devastating times.

(click on the sentence above to get to it)

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Bragging is Alright With God, Just Do it the Right Way

I was in church today and we sang a song during the Breaking of Bread meeting in the morning. It was "How Deep the Father's Love For Us". And as we were singing, the lyrics just touched me and made me think.

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Verse 5 stood out the most to me. I had come across a verse that mentioned that as well as I was looking through my Bible.

So, as the Scripture says,

"If people want to brag,

they should brag only about the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31

The part of Scripture that was mentioned there came from Jeremiah 9:24, which states

But if people want to brag,

let them brag that they understand and know me.

Let them brag that I am the LORD, 

and that I am kind and fair,

and that I do things that are right on earth.

This kind of bragging pleases me," says the LORD.

Sometimes we find that we want to brag about what we've done to show others how good of a person we are. We always want to brag about earthly things. Things we've accomplished and things we're involved with. But have we ever taken a moment and tell others about how great our God is? Just like how easy it is to brag about ourselves, we need to be able to brag about the LORD that way. It is quite hard since many people reject the LORD. But what is keeping us from bragging about how awesome our creator is? And when we brag about ourselves, do we then take a moment and thank our God for giving us that opportunity or talent in front of everyone? Our God has done more than is comprehendible for us. We've failed him numerous times and dishonoured him. We cursed him and yet he accepted us and forgave us. So why can't we brag about the God who loves us so very extremely much that he rejected his own perfect son just for us to have a way to be with Him? 

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Blogging Prompt.

It's been such a long time since I posted, and I have not been very consistent. It's always the summer. My family is like the family that always travels each summer, we just love traveling!

So Faithful Blogger asked a question as a blogging prompt. It asked: If you had to recommend only one book of the Bible for a person to read, which book would you recommend?


Now I have two different answers for that because it depends on if the person is Christian or not. 

If the person I'm recommending the book to is a Cristian, then I would definitely recommend Ephesians. I picked Ephesians because it talks about how we should live our lives as Christians which I think is extremely important. I really love that book for that reason. One of my favourite verses in Ephesians is: (NCV) I am in prison because I belong to the Lord. Therefore I urge you who have been chosen by God to live up to the life to which God called you. Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.  Ephesians 4:1-2

This is the American Standard version, it's a bit different and I thought I'd add in verse 3 as well. 

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians talks about how we should live in the light and it mentions the unity of the body.
The unity of the body is defined in Ephesians 4: 3-6.

You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, 

so make every effort to continue together in this way.

There is one body and one Spirit,

and God called you to have one hope.

There is one Lord, 

one faith,

and one baptism. 

There is one God and Father of everything.

He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything.

It also speaks of the body in Ephesians 4:16

The whole body depends on Christ,

and all parts of the body

are joined and held together. 

Each part does its own work to make the whole body

grow and be strong with love.

If I were to recommend a book to the unsaved, I would recommend Romans.

Romans is a really good book for the unsaved because it talks about what Christ has done for us and how we are all guilty of sin. It takes the unsaved step by step to being saved. It shows how you can receive eternal life and how to be saved. It helps the reader understand why God sent his son to die for us. It's like a miniature manual for the unsaved.

Romans is divided into 5 different parts:

1. All Men are Guilty Before God (1:18-3:20).
2. God Justifies the Sinner who Believes (3:21-5:21).
3. The Believing Sinner Can Have Victory Over Sin (6:1-8:39).
4. What About the Jew (the past, present and future of Israel)? (9:1-11:36)
5. Principles of Christian Living (12:1-15:33)

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/newtesta/ntesta5.htm

Parts 1-3, and 5 would be of so much guidance to the unsaved. 

In conclusion, I would recommend Ephesians to the saved and Romans to the unsaved.

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Friends

To me, I don't really care about popularity or if my friends aren't popular. I was thinking lately that the reason why I hang around my friends is because of the saying, "You are who you hang around" and I realized that every single person that I hang around has a personality or characteristic that I would like in myself. My best friend is very humble and she never says anything negative about anyone. She does not boast about anything, even if she is proud of what she had accomplished and she doesn't ask for favours from anyone. She agrees with everyone because she doesn't like to argue. I just find her personality overwhelming and I really need some of that myself. She may not realize this, but she is such an amazing example for me. I admit, I speak my mind often and if I don't agree with something someone says, I say my opinion up front and most of the time it results in arguments. Perhaps the reason why I want to be a lawyer is because I like to argue, but I also want to be humble and a peacemaker like my friend. I think that if I were to be friends with my best friend forever, I could end up to be the person I have always dreamed to be and who God wants me to be. Another good thing about hanging around the people that I do is that they are all Christians and encourage me in my daily walk of faith and we even discuss questions about who God wants us to be and what God wants us to do. They also come to me for answers and comfort when they're being troubled. Did you know that YOU have a HUGE impact on the people you hang around? Yeah, I know, scary stuff. So we must also be careful about how we act, because if we do not act the way God wants us to act or if we have made many wrong choices, your friends will soon make the same choices and do the wrong things that you have done. Therefore, the people on whom you rely on to create you, are actually not becoming the role models you have relied on before. When you make them something you did not want to be, you will be stuck in the position that you did not want to be in, unless you change yourself and be the huge impact on your friends. It is just this big circle. You must try to keep it consistent and not change the way it had been functioning before. (I mean when it functions the way God wants it to function).
What type of people do you hang around? Do they affect who you are, and how you act? How much impact do you have on your friends?

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You be the Judge

I believe that we should work on our character before we judge others. We are just like the ones we judge, we are not worthy to judge others whom we think are worse than us because we are sinners just like them. It is like a liar judging another liar saying "Why do you lie to everyone? You are just destroying the trust that those people had in you." The one that said this was also a liar and really should've judged himself before he judged that other liar.
What does God say about judging?

He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.
2Chronicles 19:6 (NIV)


You are judging by appearences. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.
2Corinthians 10:7 (NIV)


Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Matthew 7:1 (NIV)


Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37 (NIV)


"Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?" 
Luke 12:57 (NIV)




Let's go through each verse and understand it's meaning of the type of judging that is presented.

2Chronicles 19:6 states that when you judge, you judge for the Lord and that you do not judge for a human. God will be with you when you present the case, meaning that it will almost be like you're working side by side with God when you judge, so judge carefully.

2Corinthians 10:7 states that some of us judge by how others present themselves to the world and think highly of themselves while judging. You may deny it, but really when you judge others because you feel or think that you are greater for you are Christian or are forgiven of you sins, remember that they are just like you. They have an equal opportunity to believe and before you believed you were just like them. As it says, we belong to christ just as much as they do.


Matthew 7:1 says that if you judge, you will also be judged. This can go many different ways. For instance, If you judge someone, they will eventually judge you back and find some fault in you. It can also mean that when our time has come, you will be standing before the throne of God and you will be judged for all sins that you have committed while you were on Earth. If you have judged before, you will be judged before God.

Luke 6:37 basically states that what you do is what you get. If you judge others, you will be judged, if you curse others, you will too be curse, if you forgive others, you will be forgiven back.

Luke 12:57 says what I think is most important and I think should be taken into action before all the other verses. It asks us to judge our actions and decisions so that we may do what is right. To judge for what is right, not for what we want, for what is the right thing to do. This is the hardest of all to do for our lusts for the world are great and overpower our urgency to do what is right and to do what God says is right.

If you have another opinion or reflection of any of the verses please share, I may be wrong with my interpretation of the verse, but that is why I post these up. To get feedback and to learn. 

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I Find You When I Fall Apart

I was listening to a song called "Fall Apart" by Josh Wilson, my favourite christian singer/song writer, and it was saying in the song

 "Why in the world did I think I could only get to know you when my life was good? When everything just falls in place, the easiest thing is to give you praise. Now it all seems upside down. Cause my whole world is caving in, but I feel you now, more than I did then, I cannot come to the end of me, and somehow still have all I need. God, I want to know you more, maybe this is how it starts, I find you when I fall apart."

I just love the lyrics to this song because they're absolutely true words. I find myself praising the Lord more when I feel blessed and in my time of trouble, I don't praise Him, instead, I call out to Him. I find that I get to know more about how my Lord works, and I find Him better when my life is "falling apart" or when I don't understand why these little problems and troubles keep popping up in my life.

As it also says in his other song, "Before the morning", "The pain that you've been feeling is just the hurt before the healing, just the dark before the morning." The problems that your faced with in your life, they will turn into something better than that, they will help you gain wisdom, confidence, a stronger character, peace, happiness, and many more marvellous things. When you think that your life's about to end, think again, it is just the beginning to greater things.

Here's the song if you want to hear it.

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Josh Wilson - I Refuse

I was just watching this music video. It touched my heart, I have been oblivious to many things and acted as if I hadn't noticed that that person had been hurting or that even my friends needed a hand sometimes, I would be too lazy to help and when my turn came, needing for help, I didn't take time and think that they were being kind and gracious to me.

http://youtu.be/6B1Lv8k5pEc

Sorry,  this video doesn't work if you try and play it on my blog, you'd have to click on the link above to view it.

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Loving others (Behind the Scenes)

I had just started my first year of high school a couple of months ago with excitement and anxiousness.
Not knowing what I was going to face, whether God was going to use me or use others to help me grow strong in character, what adventures he might bring upon me and what troubles and stresses I might go through. All these thoughts were running through my head as I took my first step into the building with my friends.

It looked normal, but what was behind the scenes at my high school? What were the students like?

High School is a major leap from Elementary school. More work, bigger facilities, more students, more studying, gym everyday (I'm not much of an athlete, I just like Thai kickboxing and Brazilian Jujitsu), more rotary, and harder teachers.

But what was so good about high school was that you can find more people who you enjoy to be around, whereas in elementary school, you were practically forced to be friends with the people in your grade since Kindergarten until grade 8 graduation. This was an advantage for me. I figured, the more people who would listen to me, the more I can share God's love, and in a Christian school! So they've already had some background knowledge from chapel.

I would like to share with you a heart changing experience that I've had in my first semester of high school.

My homeroom is science which I have with one of my close friends, I didn't really get to know much people then because we were just settling in and getting to know our teacher, but one person caught my eye right away, and I'm pretty sure he caught everyone's eyes too. You can't miss him. He was a boy about 6"5 and here I am 4"11 or maybe 5"0. About double my height. WOW. I know. All my life I've dreamed of being tall, but I never thought about being that tall. When you think about Goliath, he sounds pretty tall, but you don't actually see his height, you just get a written description. Now, I think that Goliath was massive because the boy is only 6"5 and Goliath was like 9 feet!

See, this boy, I got to know him as the days went by, he is actually the sweetest boy I have ever come across, but what I didn't know about him was all behind those eyes of his.

I was talking to him one day in one of the classes we had together and another girl as well and we were talking about our elementary school years, the girl was telling me about how she wasn't treated properly because she was born in U.S.A.! Isn't that crazy? People will try to find any reason to bring you down and to raise themselves up. The boy on the other hand wasn't treated well either because of how tall he was! That tore my heart away, all the stories I have heard, it was unbelievable! I started to pray for them, for them to find someone whom they can trust and someone who will treat them as a friend, a true friend. I also gave them my link to my blog.

Later I asked the boy if he looked at my blog, he told me that he didn't have time but he always had that piece of paper with him that had the link on it. That brightened up my spirit. It told me that I was doing the right thing.

That night I went on my blog and found that i had a new follower. I took a look at my comments and found one by a person named Tall but small. I laughed, surely this was the boy. I was so happy that he commented. I clicked on his name and on his profile it showed that he had a blog. I decide to read it and follow it because he didn't have anyone following it. What I read in the next 10 minutes broke my heart. It showed me what I was missing. People in the world look like they're having a great time and enjoying their lives, but once you look behind the scenes, its a whole other world that they're living in. But at the end of each post, he wrote about how he could always count on God to help him get through his pain and how He'll always be there for him. This showed me that I had really impacted someone. After he took a look at my blog it inspired him to make one of his own and I think that through this process he was strengthening his faith in God. Before it seemed as if he had given up on God but now he's a whole new person. I feel like God had used this boy in my life to show me that there are many others in the world who need this type of love and understanding, and a friend. He had also recently added a post called  Friends, it was about me and it showed me how much I impacted his life and how much he impacted mine.
If you want to visit his blog, and know more about him, here's the link:
http://goodformegoodforu.blogspot.com/

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Troubles on the Road of Life

The road of life for a Christian will definitely be a challenge but those challenges will have outcome solutions and even the fulfillment of God's plan for us but the hardest thing to get through on the road of life aren't the potholes or the mammoth bumps, the hardest thing on the road of life is the way you react to those potholes or mammoth bumps. So if you have a positive reaction towards the problems and challenges you're being faced with each day in your life, then the road won't be that hard to get through. It will actually give you peace in your heart and joy always and people will be able to see that in you. It may not be easy to always react positively towards every situation you come across but if you try there will still be a difference.

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Have Faith and Watch Your Actions

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things in him that strengthen me.

This past year has been a test to my Faith and courage. I have been faced with many obstacles that questioned me and my Faith. It has been very hard but I had faith that the Lord could give me the confidence and courage to go through them. The Lord has blessed me with a christian family and christian friends of who I am very close to, he has also blessed me with the encouragement of my church as well, and the faith that they have in me. Those who do not know the Lord need someone like all the comforters I have and they need someone to show them the way. If they do not know the way then they will scatter like lost sheep and be like the seeds that had fallen on the thorns, they might hear the word but they will not take it in for they need someone who cares for them to bring it to them. They need the Holy Spirit surrounding them and making sure that they don't wander away, they need our love. They need to see what the Lord has done in our lives, they need to see that they will change their ways and that accepting the Lord will have an impact on how the act, speak, and think. That they will make wiser choices and that they have peace. But if we, as 'born again believers' don't even contain peace and do not  make wise choices then they will not be interested and will think that this God will not change my life. We impact others by our actions, if we show that we make bad choices and do very bad things then we will have a negative impact on others. If we show God's love to others by the way we act then we will have a positive impact on others. People are looking for peace, they are looking for a love like no other and we have to give them what they are looking for. But this is very hard to do when we have people against us, that is why we need to pray together to the Lord in order for him to strengthen us and to give us confidence and faith that we can change many lives. I, myself am not perfect, sometimes the way I act  gives a negative impact on others, I have to watch what I say and how I act and how I think.

So please pray that we, as Christians act the way that God wants us to act and show the world his love through us.

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WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?)

A good tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don't gather figs from thornbushes, and they don't get grapes from bushes. Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts.
Luke 6:43-45

We are like those trees, there are bad people and there are good people. The Christians in the world should produce good fruit for all to collect. We, as Christians should be like the good tree and only do things that are good, we want to tell and show everyone who see us that we are followers of Christ without telling them so. They should be able to walk by and identify that we are born again Christians. Sometimes though we tend to do the wrong things and end up in the wrong crowd that causes us to do the things that God would not like us to do. It all depends on what we are living around and what type of world is surrounding us. The movies we watch for instance, affect the way we think. If our friends use alot of inappropriate language then we might start using the same language as them which will eventually lead us away and farther from God. What we need to do in order to stop us from making the wrong decisions is use the famous saying WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? That way we would know for sure whether or not we are making the right choices. Praying to the God would also help in making the right decision. In conclusion, just imagine Jesus doing what you think you should do and if the picture doesn't fit then know it's the wrong thing to do.

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