"What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction

What do you think of this song? Have you heard it before?

Psalm 119:1-16

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk  in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in His ways!
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my way may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to Your word.
With my whole heart I seek You;
let me not wander from Your commandments!
I have stored up Your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O Lord;
teach me Your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of Your mouth.
In the way of Your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts 
and fix my eyes on Your ways.
I will delight in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word."

Do you hunger for more of God? Do you let it sink deep within Your spirit? His word is a light in the darkness. It's comfort to those who are hurting! Hid words are life when your life seems dry or dead. His word is health when you are sick and hurting. His word is living and active. God's words are everything we need for life and Godliness. We should grow in Him daily. I am going to make a challenge for myself to grow. I am going to make a commitment from this day forward that I will not eat actual food unless I have "eaten" my spiritual food! I am saying that I am making a commitment from this day on that I will not eat actual food unless I spend time with God and dig and meditate and read and seek God in His word-my spiritual food. We live in a free country and we are able to have the Bible freely. There are many in other countries who yearn and desire just to have a piece of the Bible! Just a piece would make them happy and we take it so lightly in America! We should devour God's word and apply it to our lives DAILY! We should eat it up and digest it in our life! We should share God's food with others and help them taste and see that the Lord is GOOD and He is just and righteous! God cares and He wants the best for our lives! I hope this has encouraged you to devour God's word and make it applicable to your life! It's the greatest gift EVER! 

Seeking Him,

Traci

Trials and Hard Times-You Are More...

We all make mistakes and we all have had something in our lives that has been hard to go through or is currently something difficult to go through, whether it be in our past or what is currently going on in our lives. Every story is different, but every story has trials and difficulties. It's in those weaknesses and trials and hard times that God makes us stronger. These past four days have been pretty tough for me...and it hurts when things don't turn out the way that I would like or that I feel is best. I know that God is faithful even when I don't deserve His goodness and faithfulness-He is still Good anyways!

When we struggle with anything, me must remember that GOD is bigger than our problems and the trials we go through and He has already won the battle for us. We just need to look to Him and give Him all that we got in us and all we are. We can't fight battles alone. The battle is the Lord's and if we try to conquer trials and tough times by ourselves, we will fail miserably. I know though that when we lose faith, God does not lose faith in us. When we don't have the strength, God is stronger. I know that when my friend's and family are hurting or struggling I want to be strong for them, I want to get them through their pain, but I know though that only GOD can do that. That is God's job and not mine. I have to give them over to God and surrender all feelings for the hurt and pain of anyone over to God. In all times in life, I know God is there, even when I don't understand His purpose I plan, I MUST NOT GIVE UP HOPE and faith. When things get hard, I know it's a part of living in this world and my God is bigger and stronger than this world and the trials in it. He has given us everything we need for life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. God gives us everything we need to live this life for Him. Our job is to make it happen-implement it in our own lives-we must rely on God and the wisdom of the Bible when it comes to winning hard things in life. We must look to the Author and Finisher of our faith...we are not our own, we were bought at a HIGH price!

When trials come, where do you turn? Heavenward or Downward, OR do you look to yourself to fix the problem? Do you turn to others? How do you handle trials in this life?

I think it's right and good to seek wisdom and counsel from Godly leaders. We all need guidance and help along the way. We are human and there are many people who go through what we have gone through before and they have learned things from God that maybe we should know to help us in our trials and hard times, we just must remember that they can't meet our needs, only GOD can and will. They are there to help point us to God and see things in a different light and to encourage us in our walk with God. There is nothing that will give us something better that the Bible will not. The Bible is the very breath of God and through His word and the wisdom in it, we can conquer whatever hard things come in life.

I encourage you (and myself) to turn to Jesus in hard times and SEEK out the Bible and how to deal and work through difficult times. Pray. Love others and DO WHAT'S RIGHT with a heart for more or God. We must not settle for any less than God's best!

I love you dear readers and hope my blog has helped you some in your walk with God!

(I AM NOT GIVING UP AND I REFUSE TO LOSE HOPE AND FAITH IN YOU!)
Here is a music video for YOU:

Bible Study

I have started a Bible Study with one of my friends and we are going through the book of Job together. It's kind of a hard one to go through, but it's really good. We just got done with the first three chapters and will continue with the rest of Job and maybe try some other books of the Bible too. It is a way that I can tell that really push's me to really dig into God's word. I have to be ready when we have the Bible Study and it helps me to really read and dig into it-to understand the Bible. Job has an amazing life. He had so many terrible things happen to him, yet in the end and through it all He continues to love God and not sin. It is in the weakest of times that test our faith. Will we still stand and love God in the hardest parts of life or are we going to give up and back down from our faith? It is a serious question. In the trials of life we have to keep pursuing Jesus with all that we are, never losing faith or stop growing in Christ. If we continue to grow in and through all of the trials that this life brings then we know that our faith is strong. So in saying all of this I want to encourage you to spend time with God daily and to talk to Him like you would call up a friend. He is there and listening and has some things HE wants to tell you to. We just have to learn to seek Him in the good, the bad and the ugly-in all seasons and all times! He should be the best friend that we go to to talk to about our good and bad things in life. We should get wisdom from Godly leaders and seek the Bible out. The Bible is our map, our guide to live in this life. Spend time with God and see what kind of AMAZING things start happening in your life! :) I am making this a goal to do everyday-to really dig in and read the Bible at LEAST 2 times every day this summer, plus through out the day I want to have conversations with God and let Him lead me where He wants me to be and go. That is my desire in my heart, therefore I WILL make it happen EVERYDAY! You can help keep me accountable that way too by making comments and we can encourage and build each other up in Christ!

Seeking Him Daily,

Traci

Strongholds

What are strongholds? It's really simple, it's something that has a STRONG hold on your life. It's anything that is SUPER hard for you to work through and get over. Something the Devil uses against you because you are really weak in an area (or more than one area). It's not a good thing to have, but we all have strongholds in our lives somewhere. Strongholds can only be conquered through Jesus. He has broken every stronghold and everything that sets itself against God's Word. In conquering a stronghold I believe that there are some things that one has to do to get through strongholds in their life. The first thing is ADMITTING the stronghold/problem, this is important because without admitting and saying you or I have a stronghold we will never get over it. The second thing I believe is important to get over a stronghold is CONFESS. the stronghold/problem to a strong Christian who can help build you up in your faith, normally talking to someone of the same gender is best unless it's like a serious/legit leader of an opposite gender or something like that, but I believe that it is more safe that way. The third thing I think is important to conquer a stronghold is get PRAYER as much as possible. Get prayer because with prayer and faith that you can conquer the stronghold on your life, it can and will be done. The fourth thing I think that one should do is  CONSCIOUSLY make and effort and decision to NOT do or say or think those things again. FORCE yourself to resist the temptation when it rises. Don't let others or Satan or ANYONE tell you that you can't get over it because it's NOT true. You have the authority to tell it NO. Start making right decisions in the right direction and don't do or think or say those things that you know is wrong. Even when it hurts and is REALLY hard-resist and prove to everyone and yourself that you are an overcomer and you have God on your side and He will help you. Let Him live in you, don't do it on your own or you will fail. Even if you fail-ask God to help you every day. Think on things above, change your thinking, change your thoughts and actions. It's easier said then done, but the more you or I do it, the easier it will get because every time one resists temptation they are conquering the strong hold on their life. The next thing I think should be done is SPEND time with God daily and even multiple times a day. Instead of playing games or watching t.v. or going shopping or other things, spend time with God-it will grow you up. Listen to Godly counsel and walk in obedience out of a heart for Christ and the love He has for you. Realize you are weak and He is strong and without HIM you can do NO thing at all! He is all you have and can live for! He's GREAT and I know you can conquer these strongholds. There are some other steps and if I think of all of them I will make another post on it, but for now I think this is a good start. I am praying for you! :) <3 God is on your side, don't let the Devil lie to you and try to lead you off the track that God has for you! KEEP LIVING FOR JESUS. HAVE A RELATIONSHIP with HIM! IT'S THE GREATEST GIFT EVER!!! :)

The Mark of A True Christian

Have you ever thought-I wonder if so and so is a Christian, or I think this person is a Christian, but I am not sure. One evaluation you can have to determine if someone is a true Christian is if they are continually growing in Christ-there MUST be fruit of a Christian in their lives. Many people can say they are Christians and can even act like they are Christians, but a true lover of Jesus and follower of Christ is evidence throughout time and evidence of what's in the heart of someone. After being around and hanging around people you are able to tell what is in their hearts and what they think about. One is able to determine from relationship and being around someone where they are at in their walk with God.

I personally know and have met people who, it seemed like to everyone that they loved God and was pursuing God, but in the end we found out hidden sins that they never told us. Now everyone will have sins that they really, honestly don't know about but it's in their growth and evidence throughout time that proves where they stand and where their heart is. True repentance is when you have been doing something wrong and you turn the other way and follow after God whole heartily, never turning back-standing firm in faith and love for God. Many people can "walk the walk" and they can "talk the talk" but do they have the fruits of the Spirit, are they applying what they have learned from scripture to their lives? Are they studying the Bible and living it out in their lives? Do they honor others? Look at the character of a person and that also tells a lot. Is that person lieing a lot? Is that person listening to Godly leaders and searching out God in all of His righteousness? Is that person inspiring others to live like Christ? There are so many questions you could ask yourself and another person to see where they are at spiritually.

Evidence of love and faith in Jesus is continual growth and fruit in their lives in all aspects and it can't just be "going through the motions," but a sincere different person change in their lives. The person is different-they have a different spark or light to them that you never noticed before, etc...God is evident and real in their lives. Hidden sin is not hidden-but one is accountable to leaders in their lives for their growth in Christ. There is a difference between "unknown sin" and "hidden sin." Unknown sin is sin that a person doesn't know about sincerely, but hidden sin is sin that a person does know about and no one else knows so they hide it thinking they are getting by with it, but in the end ALL sin will be out in the open and revealed for all to see. Can you see what I'm saying? GROWTH is evident in a TRUE Christian, a RELATIONSHIP with Christ is evident in their lives!

If you have any questions on this, please feel free to talk to me about it! I will do my best to answer them!  Thanks for reading and keep following and keep updated on current posts to learn more! :)

Hand Picked

I think something that I want to share with you that I think is amazing and wonderful is that God knows exactly who you are going to marry or did marry. God made that person JUST for you. I am so amazed at how God does that. It's so amazing and fascinating to me. We don't have to make things happen, they just will and in His timing and hopefully we are wise in hearing His voice and we go to the right one. It is our job to grow in Christ and build and be the kind of person we believe God has made us to be. As we seek God and if our future spouse is seeking God-it's like a triangle and we will meet at the top-in the center of God's will. Everything will work out right and good if we are TRULY seeking Jesus. It's in His hands the outcome of the relationship if we are seeking Him. Our job is just to obey Him in all we do. God really does care VERY much about who we marry and our lives. He cares about our future children and He even cares about what we eat and how we act and everything about our lives. He doesn't want us to be a "fan of Jesus" but a true follower of Jesus! Jesus wants us to take up our cross and our lives and lay them at His feet-trusting Him in all areas and in all things. Our life-once given to Jesus is not our own, but God's. If we are a true follower of Jesus, our lives will be evidence of it and it will show, there will be fruit of that in our lives. We will be set apart and different. We won't casually date because we know that the heart and life of someone is serious-but we do it out of respect and the intention of marriage in mind. We seek God and His plan for our lives without question. We study His words and His life and we do what's right because it's right, not to make someone happy or any other reason. We do what's right because we want to please God and because it's right. Humbleness is a key to all of this. Humility and trust in Christ is important to any follower and child of God! So I encourage you to grow in your faith, grow strong in Jesus and do not give into sin, don't go to the things of this world because they can't satisfy you. It will be hard at times, but the reward in the end is worth it all! Jesus is the best thing and once you really know Him that's all you will want to know-is how to please and honor Him in all you do and say.

Please wait patiently and seek Jesus and His will for your life. That is one thing that I am learning every day and I hope you learn that as well! God will work all things out for your good if you seek Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength! :)

God's Will

So school is pretty much over and a lot of new and exciting things have been happening in my life recently! I have made one very amazing friend and I hope we will always be friends! There are some things in my life though that I wish I knew the answer's to. Do you ever feel like things are falling into place in an amazing way and then wish time would speed up to prove to you if it's good and something God is doing and making wonderful in your life? For example when someone is expecting a baby, they are SO excited and they just can't wait to see that beautiful gift and wonderful treasure come into this world! They have to wait to see what God is doing and what that baby will look like, they just want to see the beautiful gift that they were given!

That's kind of how I feel. I think that something amazing is happening or going to happen in my life, but I feel like only time will tell. I know that God is faithful in ALL things and faithfulness is important, actually VERY important to me and I feel like the only way I can tell what's happening is if this works out and God builds faithfulness into this situation both in my life and the lives around me. I feel like everything will work out because I am REALLY seeking God, I just wish I knew the answer's to all of my questions sometimes!  But then again if I had all of the answer's I probably wouldn't be seeking God either! Trust is what I'm learning continually!

Please pray that I hear God's voice and that His will will be done in my life! Thanks! :)

You're Worth More Than GOLD

This is true, you are worth more than GOLD! Listen to this song, it says it all... :)

You are PRECIOUS in God's Sight! :) You're Worth More than you can imagine! :) You're worth more than GOLD! :) <3