shame

Shame.
Just the word makes me feel this over whelming sense of belittlement. Feeling shame looks is like a wilted flower. The person feeling shame may be a beautiful person but he/she does not feel beautiful. All one feels is embarrassment, dishonor, humiliation, alienation, inferiority, and inadequacy. It’s like being caught in quicksand. Shame and sin make quite the pair. Normally after one sins shame quickly follows. This is because, I believe, that we can only feel shame when we are outside the will of God. God’s perfect will is there that we may live life and live it to the fullest.
I suppose some people get confused when Jesus said “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest.” They get confused because perhaps they are a Christian but they don’t feel like they are living life to the fullest. You see the key word in that verse is “may”. He came that we may have life to the fullest. It’s not that God is saying that there is only a possibility that we will have life to the fullest. It’s that He’s saying we may take it. He is offering us life to the fullest. However, we don’t always take it. You see “life to the fullest” doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. It means that if we draw near to God he will draw near to us. We will have ups and downs but God is going to be there so that we can get the most out of life. He promises that he will fulfill the desires of our hearts. But first we must receive life to the fullest through loving Jesus Christ. As long as we love the Lord our God we will benefit from everything we do in his name.
To me this means that it’s ok if my life isn’t easy today. BUT (and that’s a big but) when it is hard, God is going to be right there with us and if we walk away he will wait patiently for us to come back.
God Bless
Haley Kate

My Quiet Time from Today

All of what is quoted can be found in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

"I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible."
=>A slave is a servant-what Paul means is that there is a universal way to appeal to anyone, serve them. Pretty much everyone can appriciate someone humbly serving them. Servitude is key to being a Christian. Truely serving one another is probably one of the best ways to love one another.

Paul goes on to say, "To the Jews I vecome like a Jew, to win the Jews. TO those under the law I become like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law." and so on.
=>What Paul is saying here is that he only becomes like the people he's trying to reach. He does not change his beliefs in any drastic ways. I think Paul simply took an interest in them-he loved them where they were.

How does this apply to our everyday life? To me it means that when I want to reach a person or group of people, I don't need to take them away from their "culture", I don't need to take them to church or speak about how church is important. I first need to respect their "culture" and interests-just be their friend. Then if church comes up in a conversation great, I can invite them if I want to. What I must not do is go in to those types of relationships with an agenda. Loving someone with an agenda is not loving them at all. What I mean by agenda is when we make a decision that we need to reach some one for christ and then we start to push our religion on them. I've seen so many people shy away from church because it was shoved at them by some one with good intentions. I've done it, I know. People don't need church! People need Christ and the love and freedom that comes with him. I think it is our job to love and let the Father, Son and Holy Spirit do the rest.
God doesn't need us to do his ministry. He chooses to use us and we must remember that that is a gift.

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
=>Paul is reminding us that none of this should be done for oneself. All of it should be done to further God's kingdom.

So I leave with this, all we got to do is love people and our Heavenly Father will take care of the rest!

God Bless
Haley Kate

a rough start

To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. I know I type faster then I write so here is where my thoughts are going.
I am at a loss as I sit here wondering what to type. I don't know what I hope to accomplish except that I need to write these things down before I go crazy.

I was reading Blus Like Jazz today by Donald Miller. God really spoke to me about my pride and how I judge other Christians. This is all good because I prayed and asked God to speak to me and tell me what he wants me to hear. The problem is that when he did, I cringed. I hated hearing about my own faults. I need to go to a friend of mine and appologize for something.
You see my pride gets in the way of pretty much everything I do. Especially when that action could possibly glorify God. Pride is defiently Satan's gift to humanity. Just think what the world would look like if pride didn't exsist. I would not have to think twice about what I thought others thought of me. How freeing would that be? Oh, if only I could not care what others thought of me. I would never struggle with self worth. I think I would be so much more free to bask in God's love for me and I also think that I would be able to love people so much better!

I have decided that from now on, I am going to try and find what Jesus did in different situations. I don't think the bible was written just so we could skim over it and think, "Hmm, that's interesting." I think that in order to find what I need to think and do in different situations, I need to find what Jesus would do. I want to read the gospels in a new way. Not just as a story but as an example. I want to pick apart what was really happening in each little chapter. So bare with me as I try to find the heart of Jesus.
God, show me what exatly you want me to do in each moment. Soften my heart and ears that I might hear you and percieve you better. I want to react to you not just listen. Please humble me when my pride gets in the way. I know I wont like it in the moment but "pride comes before a fall" and I think that after a fall comes you. So break me and mold into your will not mine or the will of this fallen world. Lord, help me to be a vessel but if there is something I must learn before you can use me, do whatever it takes that I might learn it. I know that I am probably asking for more then I realize but I know you'll be with me through every step I take. God, I freakin love you! I can't put to words what you mean to me and that is a beautiful thing! It's in your Son's name I pray, Amen!!