Forever

First off, HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY! I absolutely love this day! I hope you've had a wonderful Sunday!

 

      

Ok, so I know that looks like a ring on a finger, but that's actually a bracelet on my wrist, haha. I got this amazing bracelet this morning for Easter. As soon as I opened up the box I split the eardrums of my entire family. Why was I so excited you ask? This is more than just a simple bracelet that says "Forever". At first glance, that is what it appears to be, but the meaning behind it is so much more. If you've read any of my past blogs you've gathered that I LOVE books, and one of my favorite series is the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn. OK, just stick with me, this isn't just gonna be some kind of nerdy girl, book thing. This bracelet really does have LOTS of meaning! So, stay with me here! Seriously, don't move! Please.

In this book  series, Todd gave Christy the bracelet pictured above and told her that their friendship would last Forever. Whenever Christy looked at her bracelet, it reminded her of an even deeper love. She knew that God was with her at all times, and no matter what happened, His love for her would last Forever.

Since my Mommy & Daddy gave this to me it's a little bit different.  :)  You can probably see where I'm going with this. This bracelet is my reminder that I have an everlasting father who is my FOREVER Friend! Sure, I have lots of friends, and super close besties, but none of those relationships are guaranteed, no matter how sure we are of the depth of the friendship. God's love & promises do not return void. There's no expiration date. His love is FOREVER!

In a world where life is a rush, and the culture is rapidly changing, having that One Thing that you know you can always count on to stay the same gives you a sense of peace that you wouldn't be able to attain on your own. Trust me. I've tried many times to just be at peace without spending time in my Bible, praying, etc. and WOW, IT DOESN'T WORK! Whenever I'm able to get out all the different feelings and emotions that I've been battling with, and just put them out in the open for God, or someone to pray for me, I feel so much better. Letting my problems out makes me feel so much more at peace, because I'm no longer trying to carry all my burdens by myself, God has them. I then don't only feel peace, but an insurmountable joy as well! I feel like I can breathe easier, and I can live again. Sometimes I don't realize how much stuff I've allowed to chain me down and hinder me from living life to God's fullest until I'm free from it.

Last night I was at a worship night with about 10 other people around my age, and I was sitting there with the worship music washing over me, as I looked at my Bible concordance. As I read down the list of topics, one word struck my attention. Freedom. I started thinking, hmmm, freedom, do I feel free? If I'm free why do I always feel hindered? Why am I so shy that sometimes I just want to go hide in a hole at social events when I feel like I'm meant to be a stinkin' on fire for God, bold witness for Christ? Why am I always so stressed to the point where I just want to curl up in a ball, pull my hair out, and cry until my life is over? That doesn't sound like freedom to me. No sir-ree!

I began to look up all the verses that talked about freedom. I figured there had to be some sort of solution that would diminish these feelings and fears that were eating me on the inside. 

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free...so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

John 8:31, 36 

"For FREEDOM in Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yolk of slavery... For you were called to FREEDOM, brothers. Only do not use your FREEDOM as an opportunity for the flesh; but through love serve one another." 

Galations 5:1, 13

"Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM. 

2 Cornithians 3:17

These are some pretty powerful verses! The last one is my favorite. As I looked up each of these verses I wrote them down in my journal. I titled the page, "Freedom In Christ". I'm pointing out the title to you, because I want to make it clear that the key is freedom in CHRIST! Not freedom by the world standards. They think that just because you don't have physical chains binding you that you are FREE! If you live in America, you live in the land of FREEDOM! But by looking at my example that obviously doesn't mean that you are free. NO SIR-REE!

After I wrote these down I began to pace back in forth in the room, praying about a BOATLOAD of stuff. You may be thinking, "Uh yeah, I don't know how you people can go on for ages with seemingly non-stop prayer, because, ya know, I pray for my family, friends, ya know the basics, and then I'm done, I don't know what else to say..." I'm here to tell you that EVERYONE has dealt with this. Even your pastor. Do you know what I do, when I come to a pause in my prayer and can't think of anything else? I either just sit in silence, or I do something that is pretty powerful, I turn those verses that we just read into a prayer. I speak them over myself. YOUR WORDS HAVE POWER!

For example:

"Freedom in You, God, has set me free; I will stand firm and I will not submit to a yolk of slavery. I am called to more than that, I am called to freedom. I will not use my freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love I will serve those around me."
 
It's as simple as that! Sometimes I even repeat it over and over again.

You don't have to continue struggling in slavery. Freedom is just a prayer away. I'm not saying that you won't still struggle with those same things after you pray about it. I'm saying that you won't struggle alone. Like I said at the beginning, God is your Forever Friend! He's always there, whether you feel Him or not!

I will leave you with this verse that's engraved on the back of my bracelet.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love..." Jeremiah 31:3       

                                                                 Love,

Jessie Childs

P.S. Leave comments! 

Especially if you have any questions! :)

Love y'all!

 

Robbed By Pride

I TOOK A RIDE

upon my pride 

it started out real fun

I went fast

and had a blast

and waved at everyone

but down the hill

I took a spill

went spinning

into space

I hit a bump

and took a lump

got mud upon my face

whoooops!

~Melody Carlson

 We can all probably relate to Melody Carlson's poem. We all deal with pride.What exactly is pride? Here's a definition:

Pride:

1.

a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired

Well, that sounds very narcissistic. You might not realize this, but pride robs you from the true riches of life. Are you going to just sit there and let that happen? That's like leaving your front door open with your money piled on the couch! You'd never do that!

So, what do you need to do to get rid of pride? First off, you need to be able to recognize it.

Here's four characteristics that will help you determine if pride has a hold on your life:

A Proud Person....

-Is easily offended & hold grudges

-depends upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not. 

-does not receive correction or counsel easily

- has a bad affect on all relationships(ex. husband-wife, brother-sister, teacher-student)

All of us have been able to say at one time or another that one of the above statements describes us perfectly. The Bible says A LOT about pride. Let's take a look.

"Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice."  Proverbs 13:10

So, this verse tell us that being prideful starts fights. Who wants to fight? Most of us don't enjoy it very much when people criticize us, even if it's done in love. We immediately get offended. It is important to learn to be open to people's opinions. Even if we don't agree with that person, we need to listen to all sides and point of views in every situation. That is the WISE action to take. If you're too prideful to take the advice of others, you have a hardened heart. You won't make it far in any area if you don't learn to work with others. A big part of working with others is taking in their advice, comments, and criticism.

His pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God.

2 Chronicles 26:16

It clearly says what will happen when you choose pride. It WILL lead to your downfall. Why would you willingly choose to entertain something that will only send you plummeting into a dark abyss? 

 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2 

When you notice someone around you who is prideful, what do you think of them? Of course, we shouldn't judge, but let's be honest, we usually have a strong distaste for that person's behavior. Our desire to be around them is pretty low. I wouldn't  want to display a characteristic that I dislike in other people. That's just common sense. Think about that. This is the second verse that we've looked at that talks about wisdom. When you deny pride the right to take reign of you, a spirit of humility is what surfaces. Humility, or being humble, means that you have a modest or low view of your importance. When we truly desire what God desires we will become selfless. Humility comes from being selfless. Humility opens the door for wisdom. When you choose pride you ARE being robbed from the blessings God has for you. Strive to be Humble. That is a trait that is highly admired.

 Your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God. 

Deuteronomy 8:14 

WOAH! That is a BIG cost for choosing pride. "You will forget the Lord..." That is a serious matter. This is the greatest way that pride takes away from your life. We need to guard our hearts. God doesn't want part of our heart. He wants it all! Every last piece. If you let pride slip into your heart, God will slowly be pushed from your heart, and then your mind. Your heart will start to harden because of your pride. You will become stubborn & ignorant to things of God. 

DON'T LET PRIDE ROB YOUR LIFE!

CHOOSE A LIFE OF HUMILITY!

We've looked at the signs of pride. We've analyzed the scriptures, so we know what the Bible says about pride. Take what you have read and apply it. If you don't apply it, then no change will occur. You have to make it happen, but not on your own. If you struggle with pride, ask God to give you grace, patience, humility, and the wisdom to eliminate pride from your life. 

YOU CAN DO IT!

Love,   Jessie

P.S. If you need extra help

 ask a friend, pastor, 

or family member to 

pray for you and help 

remind you to be humble.

When you have someone

holding you accountable

to the change your trying

to make, it gives you more

responsibility.

God's Peace

This weekend I went to a competition in Galveston for a club called FCCLA (Family, Career, & Community Leaders Of America). My friends, Darby, Vanessa, and I entered a community project we did at our school. This all started because we wanted to do something that would make an impact on our school, but we didn't want to start another "no bullying" campaign. The word "bullying" is so overused. It is a word that no longer has a meaning. But, the problem still exists, so we decided to tackle this issue from another angle.

     We decided to come up with an exciting way to get students to be kinder. We came up with the idea to make a video using our preschool class. We are in a block class at school that allows us to run a preschool. We used the kids to make this video:

We knew that if we wanted to get the attention of our peers that it couldn't be us in the video, which is why we took this approach. We showed the video to everyone in our school. We then sat at a table for a full week, at every single lunch. Students came and signed the poster/pledge and got a bracelet that said "One Word One Moment One Life". The challenge is to see how far you can go in a day without saying any mean words. On the first day we ran out of all 500 bracelets & had to order more. We had over 1000 people take the challenge. God was at work for sure.

After all this took place, it was time to get ready for our competition. We made a tri-fold board pictured below & we began to make a script for our presentation. It was hard work. This was one of the hardest & most rewarding thing I've ever done.

So we presented using this tri-fold board & our video. We had two judges. Ok, so you're probably wondering where is the part about God's Peace? Isn't that the title of this post? Yeah, ok, well here it is: About 20 minutes before we went in to the room to present, we sat down and decided to pray. We were really nervous and were afraid of forgetting our lines. So we prayed, and when we were done, we just sat there and looked at each other. Darby said, "Do you feel that?" We all nodded & just sat there in awe at the power of prayer. I have prayed for peace many times before, but never had I felt it so fully. All of my fears rushed from my body, and I was overwhelmed with a spirit of peace. It was amazing. I don't know how else to describe it, except to say that I felt this warmth on my body.

After we prayed, we joined the rest of our friends. These other two girls from our group were about to go in to the judges. Their call time was before us. They were both freaking out, like they were literally having a panic attack. So, I asked my friend Darby to go pray for them, because I was setting up our project. She did, and the same thing happened! As soon as Darby finished praying for them, they looked up at her and said, "Wow, I feel so much better!" How awesome is that? Whether you know it or not, God's peace is real. He will give it to you. All you have to do is ask. Now, you might not feel it as obviously as we did, but regardless it is there.

Remember, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind!

So, don't choose to settle for a constant feeling of fear and anxiety! Choose the peace of God! Nothing else will satisfy you!

In Christ,

Jessie Childs

P.S
We made 1st place in our competition & are heading to state!!! Praise God!!

P.P.S.
We made 2nd place at state and are headed to nationals!! God is so good!

BE "THE ONE"

So Valentine's Day is coming up and if you're anything like me, you're probably single.... even if you're not keep reading. This message is for you too. I'm a seventeen year old girl, who frequently has her head stuck up in the clouds, thinking about all the "Somedays". I love romance movies & am a big fan of Christian fiction. I am just in love with the idea of being in love. I want to find "the one". I've come to find that this is a dangerous mindset. Why? Because we become so focused on finding that special someone that we forget about ourselves.

I recently listened to a sermon by Andy Stanley. He talked about how he gathered a group of singles to talk with them about the things they were struggling with. One woman's story caught my attention the most. She said she used to go out and spend her nights dancing in clubs and hanging out with friends. Her mom would always try to get her to come back to church and live a Godly life, but she never heeded her mother's words. One day she was sitting in a restaurant with some friends, when this handsome guy joins them. He was a Christian, and was polite, compassionate, and a man of integrity. You could see this by the way that he carried himself. God was definitely living in this man's heart. The woman went home to her mom and said, "Wow, mom, I met this guy and he is just perfect! He is the kind of guy I've always been looking for! He's the one" Her mom just looked at her with a sorrow in her eyes and said, "But honey, you're not the kind of girl he's looking for." The woman collapsed to the ground and began to cry, for she knew her mom's words were nothing but the truth. She wasn't the woman of God that that man would want in a wife.

This is what I'm trying to tell you. We focus so much on looking for "the one" that we forget a very important detail.  Are we "the one" for that significant other? Whether you're single or dating someone, you need to be cultivating a godly spirit in your heart. You need to be constantly growing your relationship with the Lord to become the man or woman of God you are destined to be. One of my favorite quotes goes like this:

"A girl should be so lost in God, that a guy has to seek him to find her."

That works both ways, man or woman, you need to be lost in God. He is your first love. He knows the desires of your heart. Devote your life to him & he will bless you with someone who is better than anyone that you could've found apart from God's love. That is how powerful he is. Awesome right?

            So, I encourage you to dig deep into God's word, because that is what will satisfy.

BUT WAIT! I'M NOT DONE YET!

           As you read earlier, I absolutely love to read. This week I re-re-re-reread "The Christy Miller" series by Robin Jones Gunn. She's an amazing Christian author. In these books the main character is obviously Christy and the love interest is Todd. The books follow Christy through high school, college, and her adult years. Christy first meets Todd when the ocean spits her out on the beach at Todd's feet. Romantic right? Todd is a christian, and they become friends. When you're reading from Christy's point of view she is an extremely insecure, typical, teenage girl. Todd is good for her though. He is the type of guy who challenges Christy to be a better Christian and to follow God's will. But Todd's not as perfect as he seems. Over the years Christy always wants their undefined relationship to be more, but she knows that if anything happens the guy needs to be the initiator. Still, this doesn't calm her frustrations with noncommittal Todd.

          Her theme verse over the books is Solomon 8:4"...Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases." Christy looks back over the last 5 years of their relationships and is glad that they took things as slow as they did. She realizes that if they had become more involved with each other emotionally and physically (they hardly ever kissed, and when they did it was always in public) that they would have been blinded from many of God's calls on their life. Todd had always wanted to be a missionary. He finally got a chance a year after him and Christy became "official". He was going to give up his call because he didn't want to leave Christy. She forced him to live up to all his big talk and she let him go. She let him go where God had called him to go. She let him go across the world, thousands of miles from Christy. This is an example of what can happen when you start to arouse love. Christy knew that if Todd had stayed they would've been way too emotionally involved with each other at such a young age, when they needed to be focusing on other plans that God had for them.

  The point of all this, is here, whether you're dating someone or you're single it doesn't matter, this message is important for everyone. For one, if you're younger than eighteen there is really no point in dating anyways, you can't get married right? Secondly, if you do date, dating doesn't mean that you have to KISS! You don't need to kiss on the first date, or week, or even year. I'll leave that to your discretion.... but the point is that you don't need to be physical in a dating relationship. That's not what it's about. Dating can simply just be talking, getting to know that person's likes & dislikes, your similarities and differences, and things like that. You might be thinking that sounds more like hanging out with a friend than a boyfriend or girlfriend. Well, who doesn't want to marry their bestfriend? What is better than that? Cultivate a strong heart connection, that's what lasts in a marriage. Most importantly, make sure that God is always at the center. Make choices that will honor Him. Don't arouse love before it's time. One of my favorite things my mom has always told me is that whenever you date someone that's like giving away a piece of your heart. Then when you get married you won't have your whole heart to give to your spouse. How sad is that? So, don't just date to date. Be wise. Save your heart. You're a gift. Whenever you get lonely thinking about "the one", pray to God and ask him to quite those desires in your heart until the time is right. Also, pray for "the one". I've heard so many testimonies where spouses find out that they prayed for their future spouse at a time when they really needed it. It's not silly, pray for them. I even write letters to him. How awesome of a gift would it be to give that to your future spouse when you get marrried, and to be able to tell them that you waited for them. That you saved you're heart for them. That even before you knew them, you prayed for them and were thinking about them. 

 

Save you're heart & remember

BE "THE ONE"!

Peculiar Treasures

pe·cu·liar [pi-kyool-yer]  

adjective

1.strange; queer; odd:

2.uncommon; unusual:

3.distinctive in nature or character from others.

4.belonging characteristically (usually followed by to ):

5.belonging exclusively to some person, group, or thing

  
treas·ure [trezh-er]

noun

1.wealth or riches stored or accumulated, especially in the form of precious metals, money, jewels, or plate.

2.wealth, rich materials, or valuable things.

3.any thing or person greatly valued or highly prized: This book was his chief treasure.

Peculiar Treasures- What does that mean? 

Exodus 19:5 says, 
"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant then ye shall be a Peculiar Treasure unto me above all people: for all the Earth is mine." 
  
So a Peculiar Treasure is someone who obeys Gods voice and keeps His commandments even when the world is doing the exact opposite. Ask yourself this: "Can I be defined as a Peculiar Treasure?" So look at this--are you obeying God's voice? Some of you may be thinking, "God's voice? huh? How do I 'hear' God's voice?" Am I right? The following is Karen Wolff's (founder of Christian-Books-for-Women.com) answer to How to Hear from God:

How to Hear from God

"Wouldn't it be great if God decided to use billboards to talk to us? Just think, we could drive down the road and God would simply choose one of a zillion billboards to get our attention. There we'd be with a mapped out message straight from God. Pretty cool, huh?

I've often thought that method would certainly work for me! On the other hand, he could use something more subtle. Like a gentle rap on the side of the head whenever we veer off the course. Yup, there's a thought. God smacking people whenever they don't listen. I'm afraid we'd all be walking around in a daze from all that rapping "activity."

Hearing from God is a learned skill.

Of course, you could be one of the lucky ones like Moses, who was walking up the mountain, minding his own business, when he stumbled upon the burning bush. Most of us don't have those kinds of encounters so we find ourselves looking for skills to help us hear from God.

How Can I Tell if God is Talking to Me?

Here are some common ways God talks to us:

• His Word
  In order to actually "hear" from God, we have to know some things about God's character. We have to develop an understanding of who God is, and the way he does things. Fortunately for us, all that information is available in the Bible. The Book goes into a lot of detail about how you can expect God to react, what kinds of expectations he has for us, and most specifically, how he expects us to treat other people. It's actually a pretty good book, given its age.
• Other People
  Many times God will use other people to try to get through to us. It's possible for God to use anyone at any time, but I find more messages coming from people who are practicing Christians than non-practicing ones.
• Our Circumstances
  Sometimes the only way God can teach us something is to allow circumstances in our life to lead us to and through the very thing we need to discover. One of my favorite authors, Joyce Meyer, says, "There's no such thing as a drive-through break-through."
• The Still Small Voice
  Most of the time God uses a tiny voice inside us to let us know when we're not on the right path. Some people call it "the voice of peace." Whenever we're contemplating something and we don't have peace about it, it's a very good idea to stop and carefully look at the options. There's a reason you don't feel peace about it.
• The Actual Voice
  Sometimes we're able to "hear" something in our spirit that sounds to us like an actual audible voice. Or all of a sudden, you just know you heard something. Pay attention to those occasions because it is very likely God trying to tell you something.

When God Talks, Shut Up and Listen

Let me give you an example. A couple years ago I signed up to become a hospital visitor for my church. When I first saw the notice in our church bulletin, I immediately felt that I should respond. But, I let it pass. Over the next couple of weeks, the thought occurred to me off and on so I said to myself, "If I see the notice in the bulletin this coming Sunday, I'll sign up."

Of course, it was in there. But this time when I saw it, there was no getting away from it. I finally had to say, "Okay, okay God, I'm going!"

So there I was doing hospital visits for the first time. I was nervous, but I prayed a lot before I went, and I was doing okay. But on my way to the second hospital, I prayed again that God would use me to represent Him to all the sick people, giving comfort, etc.

Right in front of the hospital was a crosswalk with a traffic light. As I stood at the corner I kept praying, starting to cross, even though the light was red. I mean, I was in a hurry trying to get to all those sick people!

Right in the middle of the street I heard, "So you want to represent Me, and you can't even make it across the street without breaking the law?"

I was so shocked by this, I said the most spiritual thing I could think of, "Oops."

God uses lots of things to talk to us. But actually hearing from God isn't so much a matter of if he's talking, but rather, whether we're listening. 

 So that covers the first part: Listening to God's Voice. Now how about the second part "Keeping God's commandments"? What does that mean exactly? It means to follow the rules that God has set for us. Read what Exodus 20 says:

Exodus 20

 ^1-2 "God spoke all these words: I am God, your God,
   who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
   out of a life of slavery.
³ No other gods, only me.
 ^4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don't bow down to them and don't serve them because I am God, your God, and I'm a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I'm unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
 ⁷ No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverent use of his name.
 ^8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
 ¹² Honor your father and mother so that you'll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.  ¹³ No murder.
 ¹⁴ No adultery.
 ¹⁵ No stealing.
 ¹⁶ No lies about your neighbor.
 ¹⁷ No lusting after your neighbor's house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's."

Okay, so now we know how to hear God's voice and we know what His commandments are let's take a step back and get some perspective. Ask yourself this question again, "Can I be defined as a Peculiar Treasure?" I want to challenge you to go out this week and be a Peculiar Treasure. Listen for God's voice and follow the rules He's blessed us with. Strive to be the person God has destined for you to be! I pray you'll encounter many Peculiar Treasures this week!