Day 41

    "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"  

 

-Dr. Seuss

     When I came across this quote earlier this week, it really stood out to me because isn't this exactly what believers should be doing, standing out? God calls us to stand out from unbelievers, being kinder, less judgemental, and so on.
     The thing is, once we accept Christ, we will never fit in. For some of us, that may be scary, but think about it this way; If you fit in, you will not make a difference. Not fitting in should be something to be happy about, because we have given our lives to God. We want to be standing out for God, changing, and saving, lives. We will not be like other people because before God, we didn't have a purpose, but once God comes into our life, we are given a purpose.
     If everyone fit in, then no one would ever be saved. No one would ever have the courage to tell anyone about God because they only wanted to be like everyone else. So, thank God we have people willing to stand out.
     Standing out for God comes at a price, though. You will have people who dislike you, don't understand you. There will be obstacles. But God calls us all to do it. He wants us to be bold, take a leap of faith, and see what we can do.
     Maybe for you that means moving across the world, leaving everything behind, to help fill a need that has been laid on your heart. Maybe it means speaking to your high school sports team about God. Maybe it's just talking to that awkward kid that everyone avoids.
     You might lose a few friends, but following God comes at a cost, a cost that not everyone understands. But, you will be doing what God has called you to do, therefore fulfilling your purpose in life. Wouldn't it be great to get to heaven and have God slap you on the back and say, "You did good, kid." That sounds a lot better than having to make up an excuse for not doing it like, "My friends would laugh at me."
     Standing out for God is a hard choice to make, but there's no confusion on what the right choice is. I have made my choice. What will you choose?

-N
We've passed the $700 mark!
    

Day 40

    If the world ended today, would you be ready? Do you know where you would go, what would happen next? What would happen to your family and friends? Are you prepared?
    A lot of times we forget that the end of the world could be tomorrow, or even today! A lot of times that's reflected in our lifestyle.
    If we really lived like tomorrow isn't guaranteed, you would really be able to tell the difference between the people living for themselves and the people living for God. But the thing is, we as Christians are supposed to live our lives that way. We are supposed to be prepared for the end of the world and prepare others for it too. We really are supposed to live like there's no tomorrow.
    So why don't we try to. This week, I challenge you to live like there's no tomorrow. After all, that's how we should be living anyway.

                                                                                         -T
   

Day 39

    If we don't praise God, the rocks will cry out. Think about that.
    Imagine it's just a normal day, not much is going on, and your kind of bored. Then, all of a sudden, the rocks outside the window start singing. Singing rocks! How amazing it is that God can make the rocks cry out!
    We are made to glorify God. That's why we are here. That is our purpose. That's why God created mankind. If we aren't fulfilling our purpose, the rocks are going to do our job. That to me is both amazing and a little scary.
    I find it amazing that God can do that. How cool would it be to see and hear the rocks singing! But it scares me too. If Jesus said this, does that mean that there will be a time in the future when no one will be praising God?
    We as Christians are God's children. We are the people who have realized that we are not our own, we can't be good enough to reach God, We need Jesus and are here not for ourselves but to praise Him! If we aren't doing that, what good are we? It is our job to praise Jesus Christ because He died for our sins on the cross so we can be with Him when we are done in this world and we were created to praise Him.
    Even if that wasn't the reason we were created, that doesn't mean we can be silent! What Jesus has done for us is so great that we should never stop singing about what He's done, never stop praising and glorifying Him.
    We as Christians know our purpose. There are so many people out there looking for exactly that, purpose. We have purpose, so why should we ever stop living it out? Why should we ever stop sharing our knowledge of our purpose? There is no reason!
    I will never let the rocks sing while I can do anything about it. I know my purpose, I know why I'm here, I know what Jesus has done for me, so I will not be silent. None of us should be. So let's shout out God's praise every second of every minute that we can, whether through our actions or our words, and never, ever be silent. Never let the rocks cry out.

                                                                                           -T

Day 38

     Death. Maybe you've experienced it personally, maybe not, but we're all familiar with the concept.
     I recently learned of a girl my age dying. She didn't die of a disease or an attack, she died of a fluke accident. No warning, no preparation. She passed out at her school, and never woke up.
     This really got me thinking. What if I died today? What do I have to show for my life? What if God asked me when I was going to tell that one girl about Him, and I told Him I was going to get to it next week?
     You see, life is precious because it can end at any time, so we can't wait to start making a difference, we have to start now.
     What if that one friend died? You know, the one who you never told about Jesus. For the rest of your life, you would have to live with the fact that you didn't tell them, and now they are stuck in Hell, forever. Suffering in endless, eternal pain, because of you.
     Maybe it made sense to you at the time. You didn't want to ruin the friendship, make it awkward. You wanted everything to be okay between the two of you, nothing tense.
     But in the end does it really matter? Is God going to judge you by all the awkward moments you cause? No, God is going to judge you by all the lives you did or didn't save.
     So reach out to that one friend, not tomorrow, but today, it might be your last chance to save them.
     Also, if God sent His only, perfect son to die for us so that everyone could be saved, do we get to pick and choose who deserves to go? Should we not tell someone just because they're a little strange?
     Everyone on this earth is God's child, and He wants them all to be in Heaven with Him. So, it's our job to tell everyone, not just the people we think will listen. Everyone. That means that girl that no one will talk to. That means that guy that everyone is scared to talk to. EVERYONE!!!
     Jesus talked to the outcasts, and loved them when no one else would. That means we should too. You may be the only friend that outcast has, and you may be the one who leads them to Jesus. But it's your choice. What will you choose?

-N

Day 37

    There are times in life when we wonder if it's worth it, we question what we believe in, we don't know what the point is anymore. We want to escape, to shut out the stress and the pressure. We want out of our situation.
    We wonder why we're here at all, if it's all a lie, what you can trust, who you can trust. We feel insecure, unsure of ourselves, alone.
    I don't know what you're going through personally, but I know that there are people out there who need help. Need an escape. Need hope.
    I know where you can find it.
    You can find it in Jesus.
    He says it's okay to wonder if it's worth it, okay to question what we believe, okay to question what the point is, that's how we find our purpose. It's natural to want an escape from the pressure and stress, God will provide it.
    We're here to serve God, for He created us in His own image, and glorify Him for all He's done. Sometimes we are told lies, but Jesus will reveal the truth. You don't have to feel insecure or alone, Jesus is always with you, even when you don't feel Him there.
    Serving God is worth it, believing in Jesus is the best thing that can ever happen to you. Our purpose is to glorify God in everything we do. He is our escape.
    We all want hope deep inside, hope for a better place, for love. We all need hope, and find it in Jesus, for Heaven is our better place and Jesus our greatest companion, pouring out love like He did that day on the cross. There's no greater love than His love for us. That gives me hope. It's your choice whether or not you will let it do the same for you.

                                                                                           -T

Day 36: What If

    What if you had the opportunity to save a life. Would you? What if someone told you that you do have that opportunity. Because you do, more than you would think.
    What if you tried to bring a friend to church every Sunday, or maybe every month. What if you tried to tell three people a year about Jesus, or maybe just one. What if you lived a life that was so different from everyone else, a life that Jesus shines through, every day. Imagine what could happen. Imagine how many lives we could save.
    What if you put aside a bit of money every month for charities or missions. What if you set aside a little bit of time for service projects, maybe just one a year. Imagine the things we could do.
    You can save a life with a little bit of money, you can save a life with a few words, you can save a life with an invitation, you can save a life with your lifestyle. It doesn't take much.
    A lot of times we think we can't do much to save a life. A lot of times we think we're too small or insignificant to be of much help, if any. A lot of times we think we can't impact the world. A lot of times we're right. But that's only because we tell ourselves we can't. We feel alone, but we're not. God is always there. We think we can't do it because it's true, we can't.
    God can.
    Too many times we forget that. We tell ourselves we're alone, so we believe it. We let the devil take a grip on our lives. A lot of times, we are our biggest obstacle. We think we can't be forgiven for what we've done or feel alone and deserted. But it's not true. And while we focus on that, we can't focus on others. We can't focus on serving. We can't focus on God.
    What if we believed in God instead of trying to believe in ourselves. What if we told ourselves we're not alone. What if we told ourselves, I can't, God can. What if we looked for chances to save a life, and acted on them. Imagine what we could do. What God could do.

                                                                                         -T

REMINDER!!

Be sure to look back at previous posts. Sometimes we add to each others posts or change them. Sometimes you might miss some. Thank you for reading! God bless!

Day 35: Hands and Feet

   
    If you're reading this, you have a decision to make. We're starting a movement, and we want you to be a part of it.
    The movement is called Hands and Feet. Our mission/motto is "Working to fulfill our purpose as the Body of Christ". Under that are three main goals:

1. To serve others.
2. To reach out to everyone that we have the chance to.
3. To share Jesus' love with everyone.

    There are so many opportunities out there that we allow to pass by. As part of the Body of Christ, we should seize every opportunity that comes our way, whether it's helping to build wells in Africa to doing the dishes without being asked, from serving overseas to sitting next to that lonely kid at lunch. There are so many chances out there to show God's love, to serve others, to reach out, to make a difference. No matter how small it is, it matters. And if it matters, we need to do it to the best of our ability.
    I sometimes struggle with that, as I'm sure all of us do. I feel like the little things don't really matter. They don't always feel as rewarding as other things, but that shouldn't matter! We aren't supposed to do it just so we can feel good about ourselves or earn bragging rights, we're supposed to do it because it's what God commands us to do.
    Just because you don't feel called to do a certain thing doesn't mean you shouldn't do it! It's not about that! If you feel called by God to do something, don't ignore it (but don't do it if it goes against the Bible or tells you to do something crazy that could hurt you or someone else in some way, that isn't God), but that's not the reason you should or shouldn't do something that that you have the chance to do.
    That's what Hands and Feet is about, serving God by serving others, never letting an opportunity to serve and/or glorify Him pass by. Jesus said in Matthew 9, "The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few." We are the workers. The harvest is all the opportunities to serve and lead others to Christ. There are more workers now than when Jesus said that, but there are workers that don't do much to bring in the harvest.
    There's a song by Casting Crowns called If We Are the Body. It says "If we are the Body, why aren't His arms reaching, why aren't His hands healing, why aren't His words teaching". The song goes on to say more about how the body isn't doing what it should be doing. It gives examples of opportunities some Christians have to reach out and serve and share God's love, and how they instead are being judgemental and mean, or just ignoring those opportunities.
    We are commanded to be different. We are the Body of Christ, The Children of God, The Kingdom of Heaven. So we need to show it. And we need to show it in everything we do.
    Join our movement. Tell other people about it, do whatever you can to serve, to reach out, and to share Jesus' love with everyone. Never let an opportunity pass you by. Do everything to the Glory of God, no matter how big or how small, as we work to fulfill our purpose as the Body of Christ.
    So will you join?

                                                                                             -T