Humble Amish and Denominations...My Thoughts

I watched a documentary on the Amish last night and I really enjoyed it, but it also got me thinking "Are we doing something wrong in the way we live? Are they? Or does God consider all of hearts when they are humble and all of our lives when they actually do follow after Him, a good thing and not sin, etc...?" Cause I want God to guide and move my life to honor Him. I want to do the right thing...As I thought about it, I have realized that God has many colors of worship, many different styles of people who love and honor Him and not one of them is "wrong" necessarily, or within reason, but I believe that He enjoys our lives to reflect Him in the way we live our lives and the way we think and what we do and say-that it does reflect the awesomeness of our Creator! People love God in different ways and to have different denominations and say that ours is "the correct/right way" over another form of love and worship to God, is not our place. Only God can do the judging, we just have to follow where GOD leads us in our lives, not where man or ourselves lead us and then I believe and know that God will honor us as we honor Him and put Him and others above ourselves!

I remember that God does say in His word that He hates it when we bicker and fight and argue with one another. If we are truly humble we wouldn't say we are, because that could be pride if we say "Ya! I'm Humble! I've learned it..." That's the whole point of humility, we are all growing and learning and changing. We are not perfect and in our imperfection and in our pursuit and love towards God and in our daily lives of worship, we can see and know that our lives will be Holy and Pure and Humble as we pursue our God-the God who made us and forgave us even when we fail and mess up, the God who is our Father and still speaks to us even when our righteousness that we try to do is like dirty rags to Him, but He is ALWAYS there and ALWAYS loves us and is pursuing our hearts. He wants all people of all races, of all backgrounds, of all denominations and all non Christians to love Him and to really KNOW HIM! He is a God of love and a God of mercy, but He is also a Righteous God who loves us and corrects us to help and lead us into the right direction for our lives!

So are the Baptist wrong? no, Are the Pentecostals wrong? no. Are the Jews wrong? no. Are the charismatics wrong? no, Are the non-denominational wrong? no. Are the Catholics wrong? no. Are the Presbyterian's wrong? no. Are the denominations of Christianity all wrong but the one you are in (it would take a LONG list and a LONG time to write them all out, so just add yours in your mind that that list..)? I believe that they are not, I think that every denomination and every church has a point where they struggle and are not "perfect" or are not 100% right on all things, but I do know that it is not my place to judge if someone is in the wrong or a denomination is in the wrong, but it is my job to look at the fruit of their lives and be the light that Christ has called me to be based on the Bible! We are in pursuit of GOD, not the pleasing of man. I know we all have our own issues with other denominations or even other church's within our denomination or people group, but we grow and learn and become all that God has planned. Now, I am not saying that ALL of them are right because there are Muslims and Buddhist and even Mormons who I think do not believe and follow after God because they (Muslims, Buddhist's, etc...) worship other gods that is not the TRUE and ONLY God. The Mormons have taken our of the Bible and have added things to it as well and if you read the last few verses of Revelation and several other verses throughout that BIBLE it says "Do not add or subtract...." and if they have, then that means that they have sinned and are not following in the Way, Truth and Life of God's word, but they all need to be reached and as a body and as followers of Jesus, we have to tell all about our marvelous Creator and God and Father! They need to know!

That's just my thoughts, what are your thoughts on this sensitive? Now, I am just learning about this and don't really know a lot and I am interested in what is right and what is true and I want to know what others have learned in this subject and if you have any wisdom or think I might be a little off, post a comment and help me! I want to learn and if I am wrong in this, then please use scripture of GOD'S WORD and show me what I am missing...Thank you! It's much appreciated! :) God Bless!

Money in the Economy

 

Money in the economy right now is not good. It seems the prices just keep going up and people keep buying less. As people buy less, the prices will go up more and as the prices go up more, people will buy less. This is a cycle and I have no idea how our world is going to get out of the mess that they have put themselves in. I do know though that we can find practical ways to save money. It will take time and effort, but if it's something we need and should do, I believe it's worth it. One thing I do to help me save my money is I get the check that I get paid with and put most of it into my savings account, except like some money I use to get gas with for the week or two, then I will later in the next week I will set aside some money I get paid to help me pay for the other things I do, for example: I support a little girl with Compassion International and that's $38 a month, so I set that aside and I pay my phone bill. The rest in my savings I am saving up for my last year in college. After college I will still be saving and save up to buy myself a car, then save for my future home. Now, God can change my "savings account" and He can change my life around and let me save my money for whatever He wants. I only use money that I have to on these things and sometimes food, but I try to eat or bring a little snack with me to school so I don't spend a lot of money on going out to eat and buying things that I don't need and aren't healthy for my body or for my life. 

There are some things that we just have to say no to and as a world, we can pay off our debt if we would set aside money and save it and use a little at a time to pay it off, instead of buying more things that we don't need or don't have to have in our world. I truly believe that we would save a lot of money if we wouldn't put our money to no good of use, on cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, food that is unhealthy for our body's and tried to become a healthy nation physically and how we spend what God has given us-in a wise way, saving and paying what we need to. At this point in our economy people aren't really thinking about the future, they are thinking about how to get out of debt NOW, but that is really unrealistic to get out of debt NOW. We need to save and save and pay off debt, not keep buying and spending on things we don't have to have. We also need to seek God as #1 in our lives and get His wisdom. We need to give up of ourselves to those who are in need and pray for them to do the right thing and make the right decisions. God is our Father and if He ran our country then I believe He would do whatever He wanted and it would be the best decision ever. BUT NO, we as a country are trying to take the name of Jesus and trying to take "God" out of everything. I believe that God is omnipresent and He said that He would never leave nor forsake us-His children, so if our nation would realize that God is not blessing us for the stupidity and unwise decisions we have made that have gotten us into this mess then if we would turn from our wicked ways and repent of our sins, then God would forgive our sins and heal our land. We need to do the right thing, no matter the cost. Going in debt as much as we are in our country is not good debt, we need to save for the future and pay off debt as we go and spend and use the things God has given us wisely, and make Him #1 in our lives! :)

That's just my thoughts, what are your thoughts and why?

Do Hard Things

Everything God ever asks you to do, even if it’s difficult, He asks because He has something great in mind for you. ~Joyce Meyer~

Doing hard things are never easy obviously, but there are times in our lives when they must be done. They are there to help us in some way. When we do things that are difficult, but are right, it will be painful at the time but the reward will be greater. Sometimes pain can feel like it's too much to bear on our own, but that's the thing about being made Holy and pure in the sight of God. We have to be refined like gold and silver, we have to be moldable like clay and we should be easy to use, like water. We should have our foundation in Jesus, knowing that wherever He leads us, we will follow, no matter the cost. Recently this is something I feel like God has been speaking to me about-do hard things! There are things in this life that may even seem hard at the time, but really they aren't, but are instead just character building. 

 I have recently had to make a hard decision about whether or not I should switch my small group for different reasons. Small group is where people from our church of about or around 2,000 or more become members and are to join a small group to help them grow in their walk with God. Well, I had really thought that the small group I was in was what God wanted for me. But things have changed and things are happening and now I had to make a hard decision, even after starting to really feel connected and when I felt like I was growing I, just today had to chose that maybe it's just not what God wanted right now, because my circumstances at this moment are pointing me towards leaving their small group. It's a great group, but sometimes we don't understand why thing happen, we just have to step out in faith, knowing and trusting God to take care of our situations.

 Another hard decision my parents made about a little over a year or so was to switch church's. This was REALLY hard for me especially, I just cried and cried and cried and never stopped crying. See, I had gone to this church for 10 years and switching church's was like leaving my family. It was a hard decision and even though I don't really know everything about it and all of the details, I just have to trust that God will grow me and guide me where He wants me to be. This did not make sense to me and sometimes I still get sad if I think or remember something from this church. I know though that God does things and we as humans do things, but no matter what we do, God is always there. If I make a wrong decision or my family or friends I have to remember that nothing is too big for God and all things will work out for His glory. I am His child and I know that God has things in store for me, I just don't know what they are. Sometimes doing hard things opens doors and windows to things that God wants for our lives that we would have never received if we were at the place we were before.

 There is nothing too big and nothing to hard for God. When I think about my future and if I will ever get married or any wrong thoughts of if I am ugly or stupid, etc...I have to be reminded that God has one very special man for me and he will be beyond my wildest dreams and beyond any person I have ever thought could be the one for me! My King has someone for me and He is preparing him right now for me and to be my lifelong partner. There is nothing I need to worry about! God has everything in His hands, I just need to have childlike faith and believe that every day-God is ruler and I am not. No matter what I do, I can not earn His love and grace and forgiveness, it has already been given before I ask it.

 So I encourage you to step out and obey God in whatever He tells you to do and DO HARD THINGS! :) I am and will not stop-even when I feel like giving up!

Update....

So recently with school and things, I have been pretty busy. Life is really changing for me. I will be 20 years old next year and it seems every day is a little different. I seem to be getting older and it's really a weird feeling. Ya know as a little girl we always dream of what it will be like when we become an adult and wonder how things will change, and I can honestly say that I can feel the difference in my life. Being an adult is interesting and it's all up to you when it comes to making the right decision. I fail at times and sometimes it's "big" things that I fail at making the right decision, but a lot of times in my head I just imagine it bigger than what it really is. I am getting better at not being so dramatic in life, but I still tend to lean towards that at times.

I know that in all of my mistakes I have to remind myself that it's not the end of the world. I over analyze things in life and I make things bigger or smaller than what they really are. When I do that I have to think things back down to a "normal" level and remind myself that it's okay and I will fail and mess up and do things wrong, but I have to not give up and learn more to let Jesus live through me. So in the small and big things in life I will have built a foundation to not rely on myself, but on God to live through me. It's not in my own strength that Christ is glorified, but it's when Christ lives through me that He is glorified.

Ever Wonder?

This is the church I go to. They are GREAT! This is a little thing they put together as a joke to say "this is what the church's staff does when the lead pastor is gone." Take a look and just so you know, this is not REALLY what they do! lol.

Click Here To Watch!