Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Only God Knows


So what?!? I stink at poetry. 
This was in memory of a young man my family had prayed for for about 6 years. Riley finally lost his fight with cancer, and I wrote this in his memory. And now, I can say this is for my grandma too. 

ONLY GOD KNOWS

Someone I cared for went to be with the Lord last night.
Why He decided to take him, I don't know.
Only God knows.
He is now in God's arms, at home and free of pain.
Where God's light shines bright,
And I know I shall see him again.
One day soon.

                                                                                                  - Bekah G.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

The Struggle to Surrender

Surrender.
Never.
Right?
Well, it shouldn't be that way. At least not between your Maker and you. It should be more like:
Give Me your heart.
Yes, Lord, I surrender my whole heart, my whole soul, and all my strengths and failures over to You. Please do whatever You want through me and use me to bring glory and honor to You alone.
But is it really that easy?
No, probably not.
You see, Surrendering doesn't come naturally. We were born with a nature that was totally against God. To put that part of us to death and allow God to make us His children is a constant fight.
When you want to surrender, you can't just choose to surrender the easier things. You need to fully surrender to your Savior.
Imagine this picture..  God reaching out. Reaching out to hold your heart. Reaching out to grab your heart. And then all of a sudden, you rip it away from Him. Leaving Him there with His hand outstretched waiting for you to give it to Him - waiting for you to fully Surrender your heart to Him.
The other night, God showed me an area I need to surrender to Him. I didn't want to. And then, God gave me a picture sort of like the one I just described.
You see, God wants each and everyone of our hearts. And He doesn't just want part of our heart. He wants the whole thing. About a week before God gave me that picture, I had told God that I wanted to surrender to Him, I just didn't know exactly what that meant. So, lately He has been showing me a lot of areas that need surrender. My friendships. My unforgiveness. My bitterness. Etc.
So, search yourself. Are there any areas in your heart that you need to surrender over to the Lord? If so, talk to Him about them. He is waiting for you to fully surrender.
And no, it won't be easy.
But yes, it will be worth it. :)

Friday, May 17, 2013

Talking Behind A Back ;)

So, I am what you may call a missionary in the home. Or at least I should be.
My family has hosted exchange students since before I was born. In the last few years, we began to host more. This year, we have been blessed with two students staying with us. I love our students. And they have taught me important things. 
One thing I have really felt convicted about lately is talking bad about people behind their backs. When you live with people, you see their good and bad and they see yours.
Lately, God has shown me that talking behind people's backs is not okay. (I knew that stuff before, but this was more of a conviction.)
Talking bad behind someone's back turns you against them and builds up walls between you and them.
So, don't talk bad behind someone's back. Don't gossip. Etc. Instead, use words that will be encouraging and build them up. :) 

Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Gift of Friendship


“To have a friend be a friend” (Anonymous).  Friendship is such a gift. God has blessed His people with small gifts, and friends are among the greatest of those. Some people take friendship lightly, but friendship is not a thing to be taken lightly.  To become a better friend, a person should know the definition of friendship.  This person should then understand why friendship is important. And then last of all, they need to apply their knowledge to become better friends.   Friendship is one of the greatest gifts a person can be given as long as they take the meaning, understand why it is importantriendship, and put all that into action.
Friendship is the bond between two people.  It is a deeper relationship than an acquaintance.   “A friend is someone we turn to when our spirits need a lift, a friend is someone we treasure for our friendship is a gift, a friend is someone who fills our lives with beauty, joy, and grace and makes the world we live in a better and happier place” (Anonymous).  In the Bible, there is the great example of friendship from David and Jonathan.  They loved each other more than they loved themselves. Samuel 18:1 says, “And it came to pass, when he had finished speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”  They had a bond that was unbreakable. Even when Jonathan’s dad, Saul, turned against David, Jonathan remained just as close to David.   Their friendship lasted till the end.
A friendship is not to be taken lightly.  It isn’t an opportunity; it’s a gift.  “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival” (C.S. Lewis).  Friends make people happy.  Companions help make life worth living.  Also, when a person makes a friend and is a true friend to that person, they can be a great encouragement to the companion and help these friends through the trials and troubles of everyday life.  If a friend is struggling, a true friend will patiently help them through those.  Faithful friends are very valuable.  Not turning on their friends, just as David and Jonathan didn’t turn on each other during the hard times, these people will become treasures worth more than rubies.  
Applying the qualities of friendship is necessary for a successful friendship.  Loving a friend even when they scrape up, faithfully sticking by one’s friends and being truthful in a friendship can make all the difference.  If a person treats a companion lovingly, faithfully, and how God would want them to be treated, this friend will be extremely blessed and uplifted.  Gossiping is not acceptable in a friendship. It builds up walls and tears down a friendship.  A self-controlled friendship will blossom because if words are used with self-control, kind words will overpower the angry, unkind words. Forgiving friends and forgetting what they have done wrong will help that friend feel loved and not feel judged.  Good friends encourage their friends in the Lord, pray for them, and build those friends up.
Friendship will be most successful if friends understand the definition of friendship, understand why friendship is necessary, and put that knowledge into practice.  Friendship is a bond between two people in unity. Friendship is necessary to make life more enjoyable. If the qualities are put into practice, a friendship will be a great, loving bond. “Friends are the flowers in the garden of life. Beginning with the seed of trust, nurtured with laughter and tears, growing into loyalty and love” (Anonymous).