~The Gospel~

    Hello!

  Merry Christmas :) I know its already to late and I am quite aware that its after Christmas BUT I just figured better late than never.
  Anyways, I've realized I haven't been blogging a lot. MAYBE I'm not blogging to anyone and the only people looking at it is my family. HA! What a possibility. But So many times, I remind myself that this is partly my journal. About God and about life. I've been very busy, but I've found that I always come back to journaling, even after months. :) Hopefully I'll have time in the next coming year...probably not. xD

   NOW. "
  I want to get to my major topic. As you can see my title is 'The Gospel'. Lately, I've been reading a book called 'The Gospel' (who would have thought) and so I decided to share my discoveries. There are times in everyones spiritual life that they hit these horrible mind-boggaling questions. That happened to me, BUT thanks to the grace of God. I found some answers in this book. I would recommend this book to everyone, because it essentially outlines the gospel. I haven't read it all yet, but just the first four chapters have opened my mind. So I encourage you to purchase the book AND read (:)) the book 'The Gospel' by JD Greear.
   I'll start with a few quotes and then talk about them. More posts should follow this one (hopefully) :D
  
   The first thing I stumbled upon in this book was The missing Gospel. That is the first chapter. Truthfully at that point I was ready to assume this was like all other books I've read. I am usually wrong about that type of thing though.
   The first thing that I highlighted in that chapter was the phrase "having the truth captivate your soul is quite another thing." In the book he was talking about being able to articulate the gospel vs. the phrase above. Why did I outline this? Why did it catch my eye? Because of this: having the truth captivate your soul is probably what is preached EVERYWHERE. Preachers will say this in 100 different forms. I think the problem is, is that when Christians hear that they get thirsty for the Word. They WANT the truth of the gospel to captivate their soul. That was what I felt. I thought to myself "Thats such a beautiful phrase. I don't feel like that, I don't know whether I ever have.  How can I feel like that?" Ever felt that way? I did. In past experiences I would just walk away saying, "great. Lovely message. but I didn't understand HOW to get that. He never outlined that." Yet, as I went on the truth was yet to come. :)
    The next quote that I highlighted was "The goal of the gospel is to produce a type of people consumed with a passion for God and love for others." Wow. Another beautiful quote. I believe this statement truly and I'm glad the writer outlined that for me. How might this connect to the previous statement thought? Well, how can we 'feel' that our soul has been captivated by the gospel? BY having a passion for God! and a love for others. THATS THE ANSWER! The way that the gospel can captivate the soul is by having a passion for God. BECAUSE by having that passion for God, the gospel will have succeeded in captivating your soul. Wonderful!
     Although the answer was an excellent one, it took my hyped-up self right back to another road-block. That road block was another question. Great.
     How do we get a passion for God and a love of others? Hard question. I'll tell you now, I've been bothered with this question for a LONG time. Half the time I ignored it, half the time I toiled in vain to try and get it. Remember my post about how we can't love humanly love God? It was once of my first spiritual posts. You should read it again and perhaps come back to this one. It basically outlined that because we are human we CAN'T love God. You'll hear that forever. We are SO sinfully we can possibly love God. God doesn't need us. God chose us. It's all out of our hands. Well then, how do we love God? How do we get a burning passion for him?
     I'll tell you how-not-to. This came out of my own experience. As a human, we are naturally by-works-oriented. Stating that we think that what we do can earn us exactly what we need. It wasn't intentional, my doing this. And till now, I didn't even know I was doing it. Well I believed that if I read my bible and prayed I'd magically get a passion for God. Isn't that the right way? I do believe that ultimately spending time with God IS the way to get a passion for God. But not the way I was doing it. Why? Because I was doing it without a loving heart or a desire. I'm TELLING you, its SOOOO EASY to think your doing your spiritual disciplines for the right reasons. But OUR HEARTS or DECEIVING. You may learn something from your bible, you may talk to God, but without A TRUE DESIRE, it's all in vain. So, for a long time I thought I was fine. But I figured it out. And the moment I did. BAM! EUREKA! I KNEEEEEWWWWWWWW NOW! My heart wasn't in it. Why? Because I didn't LOVE GOD. So I couldn't get a burning passion for Him! DUH!
    It's hard to realize that you don't love God. Most people should feel that all the time. Because every time we sin we are declaring our hatred for God. SO, we repent.
     So. Now we know how-not-to get a burning passion for God. NOT by spiritual disciplines. Thats the easiest to fall into. "works" usually is put in the bad light. But spiritual discplines? Reading your Bible? Praying? Are these works? YES. Who would have thought. The devil is very clever.
     How though? How do we love God? Because if we love God we will have a passion for him? This question has put me in despair a lot of times. I just don't understand. I can't love God humanly. Nothing that I do will ever get me there. So...I waited for God to show up. Just waited... continued with my life. He has to give me an answer if I keep praying and doing bible reading? I was praying for an answer? HOW CAN I LOVE GOD?
     Then I stumbled right to this book. And who would have thought it would have a section called "How do we learn to love God." .....
      The first Eureka moment I found was not even talking about God. It was the man talking about it wife. Human example, for a human mind. God works in such wonderful ways. Ways we can understand. The quote was this "Being commanded to love someone you have no natural affection for becomes wearisome. True love grows as a response to lovliness. The first time I saw my wife, I felt the beginnings of love for her. The more I've gotten to know her over the years, and the more I've seen of her beauty, the more I've grown to love her."
      What a wonderful story! When I read this I almost screamed! I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT! 2 points stuck out to me. 1. that when I was commanded to love God it became wearisome. My routine was wearisome. That was the old me. 2. TRUE LOVE GROWS AT A RESPONSE TO LOVLIENESS. I never thought of it that way! That example opened my mind a good bit so I could see clearer. I wasn't aprreciating the love of God and focusing on his lovileness. I was focusing on the fact that God wants me to repent or else damnation. BUT NO! Its his loviness I need to focus on.
    "...the command can only truly be fulfilled as our eyes are opened to see God's beauty revealed in the Gospel. The Spirit of God uses the beauty of the gospel to awaken in our hears a desire for God."
    Wow. It stunned me. I hope it stunned you to. THIS, my friends, IS TRUTH. Everyone should hear it. Everyone should know. THIS IS LOVE. GOD'S LOVE FOR US IS OUR LOVE FOR HIM.
   
    I hope today you will thank God for loving you, and honestly appreciate his lovliness. Then Repent, be forgiven and live as his child.
 
  
    "In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes me love you less." 
     ~hannah   

~Recent happenings~

 
   So.
   I haven't posted for a REALLLY LONGGGG time. Now, we must look at that in a positive view because then I'll have more to tell, right? Thats...one..way... :D
  
   Well. Here I am. In Michigan, and LOVING>>>>>it. The fall was so beautiful here, I wish I could have taken pictures. The trees were vibrant. :) We already made leaf decorations for the house, and have all of our fall stuff out. I have found Michigan, above all peaceful, and I've probably said that a LOT. But if I ever told the truth, its that. PEACE MAN! Just being outside in the quiet, in the country. Looking to your left and seeing horses, straight forward and seeing forests. Very inspirational. :)
   I've been doing a lot of things, and a lot of things have been done, so I couldn't name everything that's happened to me. Awana, (yes, Awana) is still a huge part in my life. I'm getting my meritorious award at the end of this year, and that really exciting for me. One step closer to my citation award. I have NO worries at all of getting it. Also, I'm composing a song for my summit awana competition in march, getting a great head start. I'm going for gold or judges choice, last year I got silver, so I'm shooting higher. I think the song has potential to be gold, I just have to play it perfectly. You'd think I'd be able to play a song I wrote perfect... guess again ;) Lia, Sophia, and Isaac are all in club with me this year. Its been so much fun. Issac is a verse killer as his sisters, which I was REALLY surprised at. I thought I'd be grinding my teeth getting him to memorize his book. Well, he's finished, and they're telling me he's going to fast (who woulda thought? :). So...I have slow down. Lia, is doing amazing to, really stepping it up from last year. She's finishing her book within two weeks. Sophie is well on her way to! So, yeah, thats been amazing for me to be apart of it. :D
   Donna is gone with life action. And I miss her so much. Yep. BUT, she is having a great time. Right now she's at disney world for her free day. She saw two stray alligators while in florida too! She's making great friends and having a great time working in the ministry. She loves singing there and loves the people she meets. Me...I'm at home. Obviously. But me and my mom have been having fun. ;) And we've all had a new experience through this.
   Two weeks ago, I had a very brief visit to chicago, three days or so. We got to stay with my aunt and uncle. That was fun, and it was the first time I got to be with the young children all by myself (with aunt and uncle). It was interesting. I also got to see my sam friend and that was SO awesome :)
   Here are some photos from our recent adventures :) 

{In Chicago, we went to the Chicago Botanical Garden. Beautiful!}

{BONSAI!}

{This is part of my room. Quite messy and not the best photo, but the colors work. I love those colors. xD xD Honestly, my room is amazing. Like MAJORLY }

{She'll kill me for putting this on. UNDERWATER SUMMER FUNNNN!!!}

{Last family picture before she left :) Pretty? I thinks so :) } 

    
          So thats it for now.
   {Have an awesome day, and may everything you do be for HIS glory}

 ~hannah

~Surrendering to God~

  Greetings!

 Like that beginning? Haha I was thinking of my old latin lessons, and thought that its funny how they used to say 'greetings' as their normal 'hello'. It was really random, but 'hello' just seems so boring when you say it every single post. So yes, greetings on the sabbath day! {LOL!}

 Anywhoo, I thought, I should blog. So here I am, and I was just thinking about what it means to surrender yourself to God. Then I thought, well what happens if you don't? And I found interesting answer that I'll share with you today.
  So in the post about Luke Nineteen, I talked about how we are Gods enemies, and about surrendering to God, repenting, turning up your white flag and just really leaving your sin army. I encourage you to read that post again, and just think about the concept. Because the Bible says, " "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We know God doesn't 'just say things'. Really, it could come anytime, especially with the state of this world. We don't want to be enemies of God when he comes. So lets prepare our hearts so we're not his enemies when he comes.
   In this post I'll really be talking about what happens we don't listen to God. As you can imagine the condition your left in is devastating. So lets no waste time!
   I'll begin with a scripture verse that is our answer for today. I found this in Psalm 81:11-12, "But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices." 
   The bible can't be more clear than this! What happens when we don't listen? He says MY PEOPLE did not listen to MY VOICE. We can hear God's word everyday, but are we truly listening? I'm guilty of not listening. In my sin, I zone out all to easily. Most of us can, AND THAT is what SATAN wants. For us NOT to listen to God calling us, because he is. BECAUSE he LOVES us. Praise God now and give thanks to him because he loves us. 
    Here is the horrible part. This is WHAT WILL and HAS happened to those who ignore the Holy God Of The Universe. We'll look at this in two parts. First, "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart" The LORD GOD gives us Over to our FLESH. How much more sobering does this get? This is where we need to listen! We've seen what happens when we are given into our own FLESH. Look at the culture! Look at our Spiritual state! Do we even have a spiritual state? Or are we Godless? We ALL know the HEART is deceitful. The bible tells us that. In a message by Tim Keller he gives us an example of how the heart is deceitful. "My mind says 'I just did that!' my Pride says, 'I couldn't have done that.' When that happens, we succumb to pride, because no one wants to be bad. Its the worst part. Giving us over to that sin is horrible, because TO US, IN OUR SINFUL NATURE, that feels good. While we are repelled by the thought of hurting our God, there is a reason we still sin. And thats because of our sin nature. WE LOVE the SINFUL PART of us. Being Children of God, we have to defeat that. With Christ we can defeat that. Secondly, this SHOULD scare us. "To walk in their own devices." We are living examples of what happens when you live to your own devices. Look at the world today. Their is Hate, Anger, Bitterness, Immorality. You know why? Because each of us has CHOSEN to walk alone. HERE GOD SAYS HE WOULD LEAVE THEM to WALK their OWN devices. There can be nothing scarier than walking ALONE in this sinful earth. THINK about that. 
    Also, this is IN NO WAY, God's fault. He says in verses 13 and 14, "Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in my ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies, And turn my hand against their adversaries." God Offers us this, but clearly WE DONT LISTEN. 
   So this is one example of what happens to us when we don't listen to God. This is scary, and real, it happens to everyone! I know I experienced this! Its called backsliding. We sin when we don't listen to God. I don't know about you, but there have been times when I've known my heart was being stubborn and I didn't listen. When that happens, my life changes. I'm more Impatient, I don't want to do what Gods saying, I'm not kind. Maybe no ones else notices, but I notice. Why am I acting like this? Because I have a broken relationship with God right now, and I need to fix it. You have to tell yourself, maybe Gods letting me walk alone, and maybe I'm realizing that when I walk alone, I fail. Everything changes. WE NEED TO SURRENDER TO GOD. If we call ourselves God's children, we have to do everything possible to surrender to God. Surrendering to God make us humble. So lets SURRENDER to God today.
     I'll close with this quote. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly who quoted it. But here it is:

    "You Can Not Enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless you surrender the part of yourself that you don't want to give up. For the Lord must be Lord of ALL, for you to enter into His Gates." 

    Each of us struggles with different sins. You KNOW your sin. God KNOWS your sin. Whether its just you two, or its obvious, ITS STILL SIN. Let us surrender our secret sins that we cling to and let Jesus Christ be LORD of all. AMEN? 

   "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"

~Hannah
  Hope your day is awesome, and may everything you do be for HIS glory.  
     

~Person Life Verse~

Hello,
Well since I'm actually blogging, I figured, I should get in a short spiritual blog post in before I decide I'm not going to post for awhile. Here it goes :)

So lately I've been reading Psalms for my devos. Most people look at Psalms as a praise book, which it is. But personally I found its a repentance book. How? Well throughout Psalms, at least up to about fifty, you'll see the praise psalms. While pretty much every book tells of his greatness, there are different ways in telling of his greatness. For example, of course, when you are blessed, you will rejoice. But also when you are in great despair, you well proclaim the majesty of God. But what you will notice is that in Psalms they aren't all blessing Psalms. Many times David cries in despair and in agony, begging for God to forgive him.
    Psalm 5:1-2 "Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to Thee I do pray."
    As you can see here, David is praising God, (my King and my God, For to Thee I do pray), but also begging God to hear him. What is repentance other than begging for forgiveness? Other than being sorry for our sins? Other than asking him to hear us? Other than admitting we are weak? David was OUR example. He was the man after God's heart! In psalms we are basically getting examples of how to repent! We are seeing how a distressed man calls to God when's he's sinned and begs for forgiveness!
    All this reading of Psalms led me to another life verse. Right now, I have three. Isaiah 59:1which gives you hope when your in Repentance! Mark 2:17 That Jesus came to call the sinners to Repentance, and not the righteous. And now this: Psalm 30:5.

      PSALM 30:5
"For His anger is but for a moment, His favor for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning." 

    A verse of hope. Hope in life and in repentance. 

When you are repenting, when you are contrite, you feel as if you don't have hope. When you despair, you feel like, why try? But THIS VERSE COVERS THAT. It is a comforting verse to the Children of God. We are supposed to FEEL his ANGER for our sin. That feeling humbles us. But Guess what? HIS ANGER IS BUT FOR A MOMENT. THAT MOMENT. that moment when we are supposed to feel everything! His wrath! Hopelessness! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL THAT! But just FOR A MOMENT. And then: His Favor is for a lifetime. A lifetime guys. Our little span of maybe 90 years. His FAVOR is forever. HE IS FAITHFUL. Our God is SO faithful. No matter how down we feel, if we've won his favor- trusting and inviting him into our hearts-, he PROMISES its for a lifetime.  Do you hear that? The God of this universe, promised YOU his favor. Thats the great things about our Holy God. As his children we are promised favor. We may WEEP when he punishes us, but then he promises us something else. He promises us JOY. Not petty joy, you got a present. REAL JOY that only can be found in him.
   Is this not great news? If you are a Child of God, troubled by your sins, know this: His anger is but for a moment, you may cry and struggle, you may feel helpless! But His favor, His LOVE is forever. As long as you live. TILL your last breath. YOU HAVE his FAVOR.

   Hope in God. Trust in God. Rejoice in God. Thank God, for He has given us the gift we don't deserve!

    Hope you have an awesome day, and may everything you do be for HIS glory.

~Hannah

~Filling Summer Up~

 Hello everyone :)
Recently I've been busy, but its a good kind of busy. For me, Summer has not been wasted. I think that everyone's summer should be filled with something :) Whether its friendship, work, hobbies, or anything else like that.
I'll give you a small update on what my summers been filled up with! :)
First of all, I got my first summer job! I work at the house next door to me, and they have six horses. Its been so much fun learning how to keep stalls, and finding out all the work that goes into taking care of that many animals. I go there everyday for an hour, cleaning stalls and buckets. I take Lia and Sophie and they also help me. So yes, this summer I've become a Country girl. Workin' at one of them farms ;)
Secondly, recently, I've been getting to painting my room. I've probably mentioned the colors, but seriously, everything's turned out perfect. Picturing colors? Just think bright pink and green stripes on the long walls, with little stripes of white down the middle, and stencils on those stripes. The stencil is like a vine with little flowers. It's PRETTY cool. I'm very happy with how all of this has turned out. AND OMWORDY. I went to hobby lobby. Guys, thats my store. I wish my birthday was right now, because my room was like in that store. They had EVERYTHING. Goodness, who thought I could be so happy with a store. So... I'm like saving money... :D I'll try to put up a picture sometime to show ya'll :)
I'd love to hear how you all are filling up your summers! Hope everythings great!

Have an awesome day (and May EVERYTHING you do be for HIS glory) :D

~Hannah

~Update~

WOW. Its been a long time since I've posted. I really do miss and yes, I've been intending to post sooner. BUT, life just got busier. Ohhh, goodness. Last post...May! And that wasn't even an update. LOL. So what have I been doing? I think I'll start from what I'm currently doing because reaching in my memory to find out what I did in the last month seems quite impossible. ITS JUST SO MUCH WORK! Hahahaha. Anyways...
I'M OFFICIALLY PERMIT DRIVING {with my parents} Yes, I'm in DRIVERS ED. And yesterday, be proud, I went to the video store. Very very happy about that...not so much my parking job though tehehe xD How do I like driving? Its fun. I go the speed limit most of the time...if not under. Yep, still at that stage. SO its been fun. I have a quirky drivers teacher. She's fun though, so its been a fun class. I'm doing class with two of my friends, Lisa from soccer, and Holly Loveing whose room I was in for nine months xD And its been so much fun! LOL But yes, I'm driving and I'm VERY proud of myself MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ANNDDDDD I can get my license in mid-January! YES! Thats right!!! SIX MONTHS AND I'M DRIVING!!! SO nervous. But happy. And my luck! DEAD WINTER. heh... can't wait to post about that.
I'M IN THE NOTRE DAME SUMMER BAND! Yes. thats right. I'm like in a college-adult band and its been soooooo much. First of all, signed up, didn't know anyone....except the director if that counts. So first day. BAD. Yeahhh...so I didn't not know anything and so I found my chair. I was last chair, but I didn't care, because I'm new and its a college band. haha. SO luckily, I got a highschool girl as my stand partner {YES! Go celia x} I was seriously looking around and some people were not so fortunate as I xD xD Anywhoo, the music is SOOO SOOO SOOO SOOO SOOO beautiful. BUT its SUPER hard. Not anymore. but the first day. horrible. First of all its like all in CUT TIME. WHICH is NUMBER ONE: MY PET PEEVE. I HATTTTEEEEEE CUTTT TIME! WITH A PASSION! yeah Im over it, but i still hate it. Anyways, all the music is wonderful. To name a few: Sound of Music!, How to train you dragon, Washington post, Circus Bee, {all the patriot-type songs:national anthem, stars and stripes forever, etc.}, and Bugler Holiday and more. We have so much! Buts its worth it! Its been going well since the first day. Concerts this wednesday and friday, so i'm super nervous, but I'm so blessed to be apart of this. if anything its good experience, but its really magical for me :)
I'M OFFICIALLY A FISH! Yeah, it sounds weird, but I swear I've been swimming in our pool every day. I LOVEEEE SWIMMING. This was a change of preference, by the way, because for the longest time, I hated swimming. That's changed, and now I like it. I swim a lot. Especially hot days. :) :) :) Having a pool is amazing!
I'M SUPER-PAINTER-WOMAN! Yes, I've been painting and watching painting. Our basement is getting re-done, and I've been busy workin'. I primed my whole room, which was a big thing for me. (just don't look up :) and my dad and mom did a great job on the painting stripes. You'll have to see it to believe it. Just think Retro-watermelon. xD xD


And thats a short update. I'll hopefully update with pics and everything.

Have an awesome day and may everything you do be for {HIS} glory~

~Hannah

~Personal Devotions Study: Job: A verse that helps all circumstances~

  So recently I've moved on to the chapter of Job. Job is amazing in itself. I will admit, for the longest time, and still even now, I don't understand a lot of Job. The conversations that go often escape me because they use many words to get their point out. That's not bad, it's just for me personally sometimes its hard to understand.
  Anyways, while Job is hard to understand, it has these stand out verses that are so clear. Jobs faith was undeniably incredible. God boasted to satan about his faith, did he not? Job had the worst things thrown to him, yet he did not waver. If we could have that faith, there would be less of a curse in this country. but we don't. We don't...
   As you can see the half of this very long title is "the verse that helps in all circumstances." Truly, I found a remarkable verse that again points out the greatness of Jobs faith.
        "Though he slay me, I will hope in him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before him." Job 13:15
  Is that not an amazing verse? I found to be beautiful! THIS IS OUR HOPE in all circumstances. I'll give you four places in our lives where this verse HAS TO BE our RESPONSE. THIS IS OUR RESPONSE GUYS. It is our responsibility as mature Christians to know how to respond to anything that may come our way. God says that there will be stumbling blocks, ESPECIALLY NOW. Our world couldn't get worse. THIS is our VERSE!
   First of all, emotionally, this verse must be base. In situations of grief it is very easy to loose sight of God's faithfulness. I've never lost anyone close to me, I'll be the first to admit that. But no matter how much people argue 'you've never felt this way', NO ONE can deny Gods word. This is it! Road ends there! I will probably feel that way one day, and the only response we should have is hope in God. Our ability to show our Hope in God during trials shows our faith in Him. Another way it can hit us emotionally is through struggles of life. Bad things happen. People hurt us. They are either mean to us, or they betray us. That may very well be our stumbling block. But we can't let it fall apart there! NO, we have to HOPE in GOD. That is the only way. You put your hope in people or things, the result will be complete failure. Maybe even death. No, God is the only thing we can put our hope in. Emotional times can be the most difficult. But this is where we have to stay strong. We MUST tell our MIND that even though he slay me, even though these bad things happen, WE WILL hope in GOD.
    That's two reasons I've covered. The third one is physically. This world is full of physical accidents. Many times its hard to avoid. Most of you probably will never experience a fatal injury or a life-physical restraining injury. But some people do. We must be prepared for that. Maybe we'll fall off somewhere high and break our neck or sever a nerve. Maybe we'll get cancer. This verse can be applied literally. In Jobs case it was literally. satan struck him with boils. Those hurt him, and probably meant hardship or death. In these cases the verse is literal. "Though he slay me..." WE MUST find hope in God. Even when we feel so much pain, so much heartache. Its easier said then done. If everything was easy, we would be perfect at it and wouldn't strive for anything. We must remember in the event that if these things happened, the only thing that could cure our heartache is God. God can cure your heartache.
     Last reason, spiritually. How does this verse apply there? Well it does. I didn't have trouble thinking about this, because personally I experience it. How can we be slayed spiritually? By Conviction. Yes. CONVICTION. Guys, as you know I've said, Repentance NEVER stops. Right? ITS NEVER STOPS. But guess what goes with repentance? CONVICTION. How can we repent if we aren't sorry for anything? We must be convicted by the Holy Spirit first, and therein lies our struggle. I believe that every Christian person should struggle with this. There should never be a point in our lives where we are not sorry for our sin, where we are not convicted of our sin. I will be the first to say, that doesn't happen with me. Am I sorry every time I sin? No. A lot of sin is by CHOICE. THIS is where we struggle. When we see the gravity and weight of our sin we can truly be sorry. After that? Well sometimes its hard to go on. Why keep going when you know that for the rest of your life you will sin? After all you are a sinful creature right? Well that is where our faith shakes and we loose sight of God. In this culture, its hard to have that real faith. The kind of faith that Job had. Often times there are so many temptations. How are we going to ever stop being tempted? We won't. The only hope we have is GOD. God may slay us with conviction, but we must continue to hope in him. KNOW that your faith in God isn't shown when you are having the time of your life free of struggles. Your FAITH is most shown in your weakness. Because when you are weak, you know that you need God, and you will find hope in him. Even if you have been slayed, you have to stand tall and have hope in God. Many Christians today stay dead. Many Christians today refuse to die. Are you one of them?
     In quiet today, when you are alone with God, pray this verse Job said. "Teach me, and I will be silent. And show me how I have erred." -Job 6:24. Be silent. Let God show you. Job knew conviction was right. He wanted to know where he messed up so that he could repent and have hope in God. There isn't hope for the unrepentant.
    And know, Job was human! He felt despair! He had the right responses to his trials, but it didn't make it easier. He says in this next verse "How painful are honest words!" Conviction is painful. Its not easy. But our faith will be shown by how we respond. 
    Today I encourage you to ask God to search your heart. Are you finding hope in him emotionally, physically, and spiritually? And ask God to search you heart. The heart is deceitful. If you check it yourself, you'll deny yourself. Let GOD check it. Let him convict you. Repent and be forgiven. 

    Have an awesome day and may everything you do be for HIS glory. 
~Hannah 

~Personal Devotions Study: Luke 19~

  Well, today I was reading Luke Nineteen, and again some verses stuck out to me. I really love the fact that with Luke you can always find something that sticks out.

    "But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence." vs.27

   This comes from the parable about the Master who gave ten minas to one slave, five to another, and one to the other. He went away and two of the slaves doubled their, but one didn't. Obviously this parable is an example of whats going to happen in the future when we come before God. He will ask us what we did with the gifts he gave us to further his kingdom. We will either have doubled our gifts, therefore furthering his kingdom, or we would have kept them to ourselves. Which one will you be? 
    Surprisingly, that's not my main point. It has to do with my main point, which is what will happen if you are the slave who kept their gift for themselves and didn't further the kingdom of God. The verse says it all, but I'll point out a few things. 
    First, notice there is a definition of enemies here. Who are God's enemies? Those who did not want him to reign over them. THIS is a very important VERSE. So pay close attention to it. Why? Because OUR SIN NATURE always points to the words "me or I". We sin because we think we are better than God. And Guess what Guys? OUR SIN NATURE DOESN'T WANT GOD TO REIGN OVER US! Therefore our SIN NATURE makes us ENEMIES of God. THAT should leave everyone speechless. Have we conquered are sin nature? With God, we have the possibility. But any part of us that God DOES NOT reign over in our lives is SINFUL. And answer this: Can we have part of us be enemies with God, and part of us be friends with God. NOOOOO! As Paul would say MAY IT NEVER BE! MAY WE NEVER THINK THAT. Everyone knows that bible says that WE CANNOT, AT ALL, Serve TWO Masters. So where does that leave us today guys? It leaves us LOST. Writing this, I realize a lot more. Getting things out on paper makes you realize more. I will be the first to say that I am an enemy of God. Yes. I am. Why? Because God doesn't control every area of MY life. WHAT ON EARTH CAN I DO? REPENT. Yes. It brings me back to that. Guys, we are enemies of God. WE NEED TO REPENT FOR THIS. Don't wait. Don't wait until God asks you what you did to further his kingdom, how you used the talents he gave and you doubled it. Because if you procrastinate, you'll end up TO LATE. NO. REPENTANCE IS IN THE NOW. WE MUST DO IT NOW. WE HAVE TO BEG FOR GOD BECAUSE WE ARE LOST. We are ALONE. We ARE ENEMIES. I will tell you now, you have two choices. Choice number one: You can try to fight God, you can not want to surrender your control, and the result is eternal death. Choice number two: You can send the white flag of Repentance to God today. Say that your sorry for building up your army of sins, and SURRENDER CONTROL IN YOUR LIFE, and live. Those are your only two choices. Unfortunately we can't do anything else. You can't say you haven't sinned against God. You can't sit in wait for Jesus said, "Repent for the kingdom of God is NEAR" You either SURRENDER and REPENT, or DIE. What will you choose today?
   And lastly, a word of encouragement. 
   Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man came to seek and to save what is lost." 
   Mark 2:17 "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.   
  Jesus came to SEEK and SAVE the lost. WE the SINNERS are the LOST. Jesus didn't come to save those who stand proud knowing their going to heaven. He came NOT to call the righteous. HE CAME TO CALL THE SINNERS. TO WHAT? REPENTANCE! Jesus is seeking for you to find him THROUGH Repentance. He's coming to find the needy, the helpless, the lost, the contrite, and people who NEED him. 
   Maybe you've been fighting God today. Maybe you know that it's a waste of effort, but you just don't want to pull the white flag and surrender. Your sin Nature, your pride, doesn't want to give up control. We WERE BORN to think we are in control of ourselves, this happens when we are born into sin. But in reality we are slaves to our sin and in the end we will regret it. I encourage you to KILL your PRIDE today and REPENT. SEND GOD YOUR WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER, ASK FOR HIS FORGIVENESS, AND SEEK HIM. He knows its the broken who need him. 
     LET'S NEED HIM TODAY. LET'S BE THE BROKEN. LETS BE THE REPENTANT.  


Hope your day is awesome, and may EVERYTHING you do be for HIS Glory! 
~Hannah  

~Personal Devotions Study~

 So I was reading devotions again tonight and WOW the gospel of Luke is quite something! (In a good way!) Man, Repentance is prominent and every passage, the need for it is everywhere, and it has to do with everything! Anyways, I wanted to share it with you, because it was beautiful!

 Often times when we hear the message of repentance, or we should hear it. When we do hear it, how do we respond? Well, the passage of Luke tells us how to respond! It's awesome how God is so clear :)

 In this passage, Jesus is talking about forgiveness. We are all familiar with this passage, the one about forgiving your brother seventy-times-seven. After the apostles heard this message they were amazed. This is the verse, verse 5: "And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith'." This verse really stuck out to me. THIS IS HOW WE SHOULD RESPOND TO JESUS' TEACHING! The way we need to respond this is 'increase our faith.' Learning these truths, learning things that are challenging, THIS is what we do. WE BEG for JESUS to INCREASE OUR FAITH. This should be your only answer, your one answer, your one goal. When we hear about Repentance, Forgiveness, Grace, or anything else, we must say to Jesus, 'increase our faith.' OUR FAITH CANNOT REMAIN DEAD. WE CANNOT WANT OUR FAITH TO REMAIN DEAD. We must increase it, and we must ask God to increase it. SO today, pray to God, and ask him to Increase your FAITH!

 Another way to respond to this was in verse 10. Its a way to respond with a truth attached. "....We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done." What does this verse say? First that we are UNWORTHY SLAVES. THIS ALONE should make us repent and fall back to God. This is how we must respond to God though. The first thing we should do, especially when we have accomplished something, is say 'we are unworthy slaves'. To harsh? NO. TO REPENT you have to start with ground zero. WE ARE UNWORTHY. We don't even deserve to be called slaves. We have to feel contrite about our sins and for that to happen we need to be ground zero all the time. Repentance is humility. 
  The Second point in this passage can be found in 7-10. But the sentence is enough to know. "we have done only that which we ought to have done." Keep it fresh in your mind all the time. We as Christians only do what we ought to do. What can we personally give to God? What we do everyday, is what we ought to do anyways. And guess what? We don't even do A FOURTH of what we ought to do. NO EXCUSES HERE! Unfortunately with our sin nature we can't be what we were intended to be. We can't be even close. How can we give to God, when we can't even do what we ought to do? We HAVE TO REPENT. It's what its ALL ABOUT! Everything leads there. 

   Lastly, I just wanted to point out something. It doesn't necessarily have to do with Repentance, but it was an interesting find. We as Christians, know that there is a narrow road that leads to righteousness and a broad road that leads to destruction. We often ask ourselves who is saved? How many? With all this truth, all this sin, all this failure, how can we be saved? Unfortunately I don't have that answer for you. I can tell you now that no one does. But the bible often has clues that we don't see. Well in the passage there is the story about the lepers who sought Jesus, but only one of them gave glory to God.  vs. 17-18"And Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine-where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" Notice the numbers. 1 of 10 came back. These aren't exact statistics, but just think about it. One came back...only one. I fear that today there are only few 'ones'. I believe the statistics have risen...more like 1 in 500. I do not believe that is exaggerating either. Think about it though. Would you be the one to come back? What would make you the one God chose to be the one who would give glory to him? Think about it.. 
   
  Anyways, I wanted to share that with you. Just those thoughts. We ARE slaves doing only what we ought to do. Today I encourage you, lets go the extra mile! Lets do what we are supposed do, ALONG with whatever else we can do! LET US BE THE ONES WHO TURNED BACK and gave GLORY to GOD. Lets give glory to the MIGHTY COUNCILOR, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE for he deserves it!!!

    And I urge you to REPENT. Because in humility and broken hearts we allow God to come in. Why? Because when we are broken, we have the feeling of emptiness. "I've sinned so much. I can't get out of it.. what hope is there?" There is hope in God. When we have that emptiness, we need to ask God to fill it. And as John Piper said, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him." Be satisfied in him in these next days. LET HIM FILL THE VOID THAT SIN LEAVES. You'll find God's peace when you do that. SO REPENT AND BE FORGIVEN. REJOICE FOR THE GIFT OF REPENTANCE AND LIVE YOUR LIFE TO GLORIFY GOD! 

    Have an awesome day and may everything you do be for his glory! 

~Hannah 

 

~An internet study~

  So I blogged again, within like 24 hours of eachother! Don't get your hopes up just yet...I'm usually free on Wednesday nights, hopefully I will continue though. Its nice blogging.

  Well I just wanted to quickly share a few verses from my bible study online tonight. I'm at my Grandmas so I forgot my bible. SO i did an online study. Anyways, these verses caught me off guard. From Luke 18! :)

   Often times we don't know how to Repent. But Repentance is a key part of our lives that never EVER stops. I was reading these verses and I just was blown away by the examples here. You want to know how to repent? God tells us here.
   ....He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ vs.13
  He would not even look up to heaven he was ashamed. He beat his breast begging for mercy. Is this how we Repent? Do we have the urgent need to be contrite before God? WE NEED TO HAVE THIS PASSION in our REPENTANCE. I'm telling you, this is how we do it. Literally! Never look at a passage and think 'that isn't for today. no one does that today'. The man was chosen for his humble repentant spirit. Will we be? 

    ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  
  
  This is another example of Repentance. Pay attention this is VERY clear. GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE WILL CRY!OUT!TO!HIM!DAY!AND!NIGHT! Is that us? He meant this literally and since we probably don't do this there IS SOMETHING WRONG. And let me tell you this, it would be most shameful if we realized this truth,  and we realized that we can and HAVE to change,  WHEN the door was already shut. THE BIBLE CAN'T BE MORE CLEARER! If we aren't repenting DAY AND NIGHT there is something wrong. WE have to fix it. WE have to urge ourselves forward and really think about this. Because let me tell you, it will be a cold, cruel, and very alone world, knowing that you realized what life was about, what life's requirements were, what your sole purpose in living was...when it was to late. Yes. REPENTANCE is a requirement. Its a relationship. Its HUMILITY. That is Repentance. Thats what we need. Thats what could make the difference between eternal life and death. 
    
     Lastly, I want to close with this verse.  
  ....However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” vs.7 

  This should shake us and make us tremble. Why? Guys, that our Heavenly Father would doubt us should leave us humiliated. Its so DEEPLY true. If Jesus came to earth, seeking faith of HIS standard, would he find it? Its a question we can't answer. It's up to you and God to answer that. Would you have the faith of GOD'S STANDARDS? I don't know. I don't have that faith. I want it. I'm desperately trying to get it. WANT it WITH ME. WANT THAT KIND OF FAITH. We can have nothing short of it. And as the question was asked in this passage. "Then who can be saved?"

     Ponder it with me. It's worth thinking about. It's more important to think about if you haven't thought about it. 

   Hope YOUR day is awesome and may everything you do be for his glory! :D 

~Hannah   

~events of late~

                        Once upon a time there was an awkward silence. It was awkward. Finally someone stopped that silence. Its me. *awkward*

So what on earth to say. Nothing. Guess what? This was a part of the plan. We fail so we pick ourselves back up. Sadly, I haven't been blogging. But guess what? I am now. 

   Anyways to quit this awkward silence I will talk. Unfortunately, there is so much to say, and not enough time nor energy to relay it. So hopefully in the next days I can get back to my blogging self. Well..where to start. What have I been doing? Lots.
   First of all, thanks for the prayers on the house. WE FOUND ONE :) I like it. Its a ranch with ten acres!! {the yay was for the acres not the ranch lol} yes bitter that uh... its a ranch. A NICE ranch, but a ranch all the same. My room WILL BE in the basement. a.k.a. its not made yet. First things we're doing though. SO, i have that to look forward to. And it has an in ground pool plus room for a trampoline. Yes, I'm excited. However mowing the lawn till be CREEPY. So I'm really excited about that, and being able to have a house is awesome. When are we moving? I don't know. The date is hopefully within a week or two so I hope we get ready in time :) haha, but praise the LORD. we.have.a.house.
    Secondly, basketball is over. Re-posting these picture <3 It was a wonderful first basketball season. I don't know if I'm going to be able to join them next year, but God-willing I will :) What a fun and memorable season. Love them all! 

       Thirdly, SOCCER.

Remember these ladies? As soccer goes on, I miss them. My Jr. High years of soccer :) As for how soccer is going now? Really well actually. My dream is that my old team can play my team. Oh what fun it would be. Honestly, I don't know who'd win. But I'd say we're even. Anyways, conditioning season is OVER, now we just dribbling, passing, scrimige (sp?), little shooting, passing, dribbling, passing, dribbling, and....passing. Yep. That sums up our season. Haha. And no, if your wondering, I'm not a starter. God is teaching me humility! Hahahahahahaha jk and not jk. I respect my coaches decision. This year, we're like a HUGELY offensive team. All the girls have like really big kicks. My kicks are very much improved since last year, but these girls kicks are pretty big. Funny how we don't work on shooting all that much....hehehehe. Anyways. Soccer is going really well. We creamed the team we played Thursday which was awesome. Everyone played, I scored, it was one of those games. But it was good. We needed a practice round. We have games Thursday, Friday, and Monday, so fingers are crossed <3
   Writing is going really well for me. NO not the writing class, if thats what you are thinking, my personal novel writing. My story in which I've been ranting about for years to myself, is coming together. Its dramatically changed since when I was eleven, but its finally coming together. My Uncle Michael, who is a really technical writer is REALLY helping me. Like without his help, it wouldn't be the way it is. He's a very as I said technical writer and notices things that I don't. He always ask great questions and really helps with the story. Right now I have an almost done Plot summary and character bios. Doesn't seem like a lot? IT IS! With all of what he's been teaching me about writing, things are more complicated. But he said something to me, that just really has surged me forward, he said, "It's not by mistake that you've been writing novels since you were eight" and THAT was really encouraging. Because he's write, I think I have a gift in writing and I can't wait to see where it goes.
     Now for the OTHER writing. well, we'll throw spanish in there to. Its been going well....till now. JUST KIDDING...well not really. You see this week I was given like 30 vocab to memorize and needless to say...there not perfect. SO we'll see how I do tomorrow.
     AWANA, wow. Awana. Sophia and Lia are AMAZING. Lia is finishing her book in the next two weeks, which was really an amazing feat, because about half way through she was behind, you know, and she's finally picked it up. I'm really proud of her <3. SOPHIE...sophie is quite the story. For the first 10 weeks of awana she did book one... then she found this power within her (haha) and finished book two in FIVE WEEKS. amazzzzingggg.... and now she has found the strength to pull off one more. its been Five weeks and she should finish next week. I'm so proud of her. Three books in one year has not been accomplished ordinarily, and I am just so proud that she has pulled it together. With a little prodding on my side...I must admit, but methods work! SO SHE IS DONE *clap* *clap* *clap* and...me in Awana? uhhhh..I'm getting my timothy. Enough said...well I actually have to attend a seminar, say a verse or two and THEN i'm getting my timothy. I'll be working through my trek this summer, and then continuing on and on and on.
     And I'm DONE FOR NOW! HA! NOW I'M NOT TALKING FOREVER!
   TTFN!
Have an awesome day and May everything you do be for HIS glory.
~Hannah

~3/22/12~

   Okay, so videos? Wondering yet? Well it turned out that they were big files, and we have to minimize them or something before I can post. I'm not going to say that I won't post them, but for now we will just uh...wait contented..LOL :D
    Anyways, update on the Azcunas? OKAY, so biggest thing, I think is house hunting. Yes, it is that time of year, where the rent is almost over and we have to buy a house. We've been looking at a bunch of houses. Unfortunately finding a big house on a lot of land, isn't a common thing evidently. So we're still looking. Definitely pray for us, because we need to find a house soon. We have two that we have our eye on, as of now, but we still go see houses occasionally.

{Changing the Ending: How Malachi Dads Impact the Future. By Lyndon Azcuna. With Contributions from Malachi Dads of Angola Prison, Jack Crans, R.C Sproul Jr. and Others} 

    As far as my dad. Well right now he's at TURN. Which is an assembly of men coming together and repenting at Angola prison. I am so excited to see how God works there and how this will bring about Revival in all of their lives! It's gonna be awesome! And Mr. Roberts is one of the guest speakers there, and last year he did a phenomenal message. So the picture up there is a book mark that I just edited the words only. My Dad, in case you didn't know, has been writing a book for a long time. And now its coming out. This SPRING! BUY IT! :D I can't wait! she will   
   I've been really busy lately. After my busy week at Summit and Regionals, I thought I'd rest but it didn't turn out that way. For writing class, I have a ten page report on Thomas Jefferson. And that's just evil...so pray that I can do that. Soccer comes next.  And guess what? Soccers monday through friday. Yes. That is five days a week. Which I don't normally mind, I like busy schedules. It just that it's conditioning season. We have to run like a miles before practice, than even more running. We did stations the first week. Ab workout, ball hopping, running, and sprinting. Yes, we did that for a whole week. How....fun. And now we're just getting into other stuff. Dribbling first, of course. We barely did any shooting and they tested us yesterday. BLAH! Anyways, I'm hoping that I'll be starter. I don't know yet. Either way, I'm leaving that up to God and just doing my best. They are timing our mile today...yeah. PRAY. hahahahaha. no seriously....I think I'm going to die.
   So yes, if you could pray that I don't die....JUST KIDDING. But really, pray for me that I'll have the endurance. Also, pray for me because soccer bible study, and spanish are clashing. I love them both. I had this idea to talk about Repentance at one of the studies, but I don't know what to do now, because they are clashing. So just pray that I'll make a good decision, or a miracle would happen. And if theres anything that you need prayer for, comment, or email me. I love praying and I will keep you in my prayers if you need anything <3 
   
    Lastly, I've been missing my Repentance series. I just love it so much! AND I MISS IT. So, following this post, sometime today, maybe...if I'm not dead from soccer, I will continue in our series. I may do it now even....well anyways, it's my full intention to start up repentance again.
     And just think of this for awhile, in case I don't post again.

    We can't come to God's throne of Grace, if our hands are full. 

  I'm not entirely sure where the quote came from. Probably Mr. Roberts, but I'm not sure. BUT ISN'T it BEAUTIFUL? We can't come to GOD's THRONE of Grace with our hands full. Hands full of what? IDOLS. WE ALL HAVE IDOLS. "I would say anything you value, anything you talk about more than God is an idol." That was the saying my either Mr. Roberts, or Mr. Ravenhill. I've said it before. WE ALL have idols. We can't receive God's grace with idols in our hands. We have to let go, and seek God. In the end, God is all that matters. So I encourage you to seek him first, repent and pray. 
    
   Hope your day is awesome and may everything you do be for His glory. 
 ~hannah
    
    

~preview~

  SO YES, i'm kinda doing like a preview of whats been happening in my life. After not blogging, I am going to do a picture post.
   Here goes nothing :D

{My AMAZING summit TEAM :D }

{To GOD be the GLORY}

{REGIONALS} 

         SO THERES YOUR SNEAK PEEK :D
  I will update with a post following right after, or the next day. I want to post videos of summit games and fine arts and stuff. If I can't, I'll talk about it :D
  Hope your day is awesome and may everything you do be for his glory. :D
~Hannah

~Repentance: Myth four [pagan repentance?]~

   so, a little lax on the blogging lately? *Awkward* no comment. xD

  Anyways,
 Continuing on in the myths of Repentance. They are each so beautiful.
 Myth four: Reformation is Repentance. 
  He begins like his: Anyone can turn over a new leaf. It does not require the help of God to sin less of to sin differently. All of us are worse than we need to be, and at anytime it is possible to drop some of our worst habits and to do better than ever before. Because self-improvement, including moral reformation, is at least occasionally practiced by millions of persons with or without religious inclinations, it has been called "pagan repentance." 
   In the repentant life, this is a scary situation. Often times, when we repent, we think that any change in our lives is of God. As Mr. Roberts just said, it doesn't require Gods help to sin less. When we sin less, we think, "Oh maybe we just REALLY repented and now we know how to Repent." It has been in my experience that for Repentance, there is no 'real' way to Repent. There is only the change of heart. One of my struggles is the definition of a change of heart. Can a change of heart still be a change of heart if you felt it once? Is it not a change of heart if you fail to meet the standards of what you once felt? Those are questions I'm trying to figure out.
    But we need to consider carefully what this means for our Repentant life. Because it is true, people improve themselves all the time and it take great self-control, but it doesn't need God. You can change your whole life around and it doesn't need God! For example many people have reformed from smoking. Even if they are smoking addicts, they do turn around. It's a great accomplishment for them, and it takes a lot of self-control, but they didn't need God. You can repent for wrong deeds, like smoking, and totally leave God out of it. That's what we call 'pagan' repentance. So think about it. What IS true repentance? How do we know what true repentance it? Have we been using 'pagan' repentance?
      So I encourage you search God tonight, repent. We NEED to ask God to show us TRUE repentance. Because Repentance is BEFORE salvation. How can we have Salvation while we are using 'pagan' repentance? 
     
   Hope your day is awesome and may everything you do be for His glory.

~Hannah
   
 

~Repentance: Myth two and three~

      As I said, today we will continue in chapter four, the myths of Repentance. I think this chapter is SO beautiful! Many times, we'll hear 'Repent'. The preachers may tell all about Repentance and what  it is, but often times we fail to understand the meaning. I am a culprit of this. I've heard about Repentance for four or five years now, and I still am amazed by it. I don't understand it perfectly, but I do understand it. What better thing to do, then read the book Repentance? Repentance is my calling. And so I urge you to read with care. For many believers don't know the myths of Repentance.
      SO myths two and three. Beautiful!
      I'll begin with myth three and then go to two. I like myth two better, so I want to spend more time on it. But myth three is important to.
      Myth Three: Penance and Repentance are the same. 
 Most of you reading this, are probably not from a church that practices "penance." In case you are, this is important. But it still has some truth for those who don't practice penance, and that is why I decided not to skip it.
     The concept of penance is by no means limited to those who view it as a sacrament. The idea of earning God's favor has a very broad appeal. Thus penance has become a widely practiced religious dogma. Multitudes erroneously believe that in acts of self-castigation and devotion they are repenting. 
     Penance falls short of repentance in many ways. It tends to focus on the external or outward issue of what the sinner has done rather on what the sinner is. It is frequently aimed toward the ecclesiastical body rather than toward God....
    ....Penance, at best, is only a theory. It has no biblical foundation. 
   To summarize these statements is this: Penance is a stumbling point for everyone. We tend to believe that if we do good it will atone for our sin. The church, many times, believes that we can earn God's favor. If we have repenting people, how many people go up to the alter and cry, how much money we can earn through prayer, even through false repentance do we believe we can earn God's favor. HOW FOOLISH! It is like thinking that we can put the ocean into a bottle! If we do not believe in God's grace then we are LOST. Just because we read God's word every day, just because we 'Repent', just because we serve our families, just because were are kind to others, just because we pray, just because we are diligent, just because we tithe, DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. We can't earn our favor with God. Until we REPENT and realize that penance doesn't exist, our works are nothing. You can live a life where you know the bible inside out, where you pray everyday, where you are the kindest person, where people respect you, BUT we must ask this: How are we different than pharisees? The religious leaders were respected, they knew everything there was to know about God's world, they went to the temple, but Jesus will say to them 'depart from me'. We can't know God without having a relationship with him. And we can't have a relationship with him without true repentance. It IS an urgent matter. 
   While the practice of godliness may very well include acts of abstinence and self-control, such acts must never be confused with biblical repentance. 
     
     Myth two: Self-preservation is Repentance. 
  How many of you can already relate to this? I'll tell you I can. Definitely at first, I thought that maybe if I repented the 'right way' I might not go to hell. I think we often think that when we first hear of repentance. It is foolish to think that way, and we must quickly adapt the RIGHT view of Repentance. Because then we would look at Repentance as what I just talked about: penance. Repentance is not a work that will save you. IT'S NOT A WORK. We must never think that. IT CAN'T SAVE US. Just because we repent doesn't mean that we're not going to hell. 
    While it is possible to be moved toward repentance through fear and self-preservation, they are not one and the same, and only infrequently does one lead to the other. It is highly dangerous to confuse either fear or self-protection with Christian repentance. 
    Well there we have it. It HIGHLY DANGEROUS to confuse or meld the two. Because, of course, everyone wants to escape hell. It we use God just as a pass not to go to hell, we have greatly subjected ourselves to death unless the grace of God intervened. Fear may and often does provoke sudden and earnest changes in people's lives without repentance. He goes on to tell a story of a woman he visited. He got an urgent call to visit a woman in the hospital who was dying. He talked to the woman about faith and repentance, but the woman assured him that she was going to die, but that if God would spare her she would repent. She tried to convince him that she would go to church every week and never miss a Sunday. It turned out that God spared her life. But she got used to being alive and reverted to her old ways. He never saw her in church again. It's a very sad story, but it only proves that she was only repenting for self-preservation. That she didn't want to go to hell. BUT what else is wrong in this story? What's wrong is that she also looked at it as a work. She thought repentance would save her soul. She also thought that going to church would somehow mean something. Does going to church mean anything? Not it your not saved. Because then it's only a work. And that begs the question, who's saved? think about it. 
    It is not without consequence that neither John the Baptist nor Christ preached, "Repent for the kingdom of hell is at hand." God's purpose in demanding our repentance is not that we might escape the damnation of hell but that we might experience that "change of mind" which characterizes the citizens of the kingdom of heaven. 
    Exactly, God said, "The kingdom of HEAVEN is at hand." He didn't want you to repent because you thought that you were going to hell. The change of mind is what we need to have. 
   SO what's this change of mind? How do we know we have the change of mind? Everyone is different. We need to ask God what he wants us to. It's feels so hopeless sometime, because you struggle with questions like: Am I repenting? What can I change? What would God have me do? Should I pray for something different? Should I change? 
    Well, we must seek God's word. We have to look for God. We have to seek him. We must fall on our faces in shame and cry to him for forgiveness. For if we truly look at it, WE ARE the woman who went back to her sinful ways, WE ARE the man who accused Mr. Roberts of telling a lie, WE ARE SINFUL. Ask God what he wants you to do. He spoke to me and told me what I should do. LET him speak to you. MEDITATE in his WORD if anything. NOT FOR WORKS, but so that you may stumble across the free gift of grace, that you may repent true repentance, and that you may become a TRUE child of God. 

    I hope your day is awesome and may everything you do be for His glory. 

~Hannah 

~Repentance: Myths of Repentance~

   Today, we're skipping chapter three and going to chapter four. It's really sad, because chapter three is beautiful, but I decided that four is very Beautiful :) I might go back, but for now, we're going to chapter four.
   So weird title? Well it sounds funny, because you don't usually get to see the word "Repentance" and the word "Myth" in the same sentence. BUT I am going to explain it.
    Please read carefully, because REPENTANCE is the first step and there are many misconceptions. Here are some myths of Repentance. 
   {Taken from the book: Repentance. By Richard Owen Roberts.}
 
    It is evident that the repentance with which many persons are content is not the repentance that God Himself requires. The apostle Paul made this clear in insisting that the repentant must perform deeds appropriate to repentance. He warned that there is a repentance that leads to death as well as a repentance that leads to eternal life. To stake one's eternal well-being on an error that could be readily avoided is the ultimate in human tragedy. Please do not let this be you. 

   It begins with a very sincere warning and I think we ought to take this into consideration. The statement is self-explanatory. But I just want to re-quote this, He warned that there is a repentance that leads to death as well as a repentance that leads to life. THIS is a very serious statement. I'll admit, I didn't even know this till I read it. WHAT REPENTANCE LEADS TO DEATH? Well these myths about Repentance might help. 
    Myth One: Sorrow equals Repentance. 
  People often think that they have come to repentance because they have been overwhelmed with sorrow for their sins. Others are fearful that possibly they have not repented sufficiently because they see persons around them weeping profusely and they worry, thinking, "I have never wept like that; perhaps I don't know true repentance." We are all in danger of misunderstanding the relationship between sorrow and Repentance. 
   I don't know about you, but I'm guilty on this point. I've known that there is a wrong kind of repentance. AND I know that tears don't equal repentance. But I was never really sure. There are times where I said just what the worrying people said. "I haven't wept enough, have I repented?" And really I think that's something most people think about in repenting. But there is a separation. Mr. Roberts makes some great points. He tells a story in the next pages or so about a man. It's fascinating actually. While Mr. Roberts was a in church office, a man opened the door (he had met him the previous day and listened to Mr. Roberts teachings) , slammed the door and came and sat by Mr. Roberts. He was weeping and crying and could barely speak. Slowly Mr. Roberts asked him what was the matter and the man told a horrifying story of his immoral life. He was sorry and ashamed he could barely tell the story. Then he asked what he should do. Mr. Roberts said, of course, first Repent, and then go tell your pastor what you just told me. He went to the pastor but it was later confirmed (When Mr.Roberts and the pastor talked) that he hadn't told the pastor the same story. SO, the pastor was worried and asked Mr. Roberts if he thought the man had repented. Mr. Roberts said he hoped so, but he didn't think so. He thought that the man had just been sorry he had been caught by God. And so they prayed to see what would happen. A few weeks later the pastor called Mr. Roberts and asked him if he remembered that same man. Mr. Roberts said "Yes, of course!" And so the Pastor asked him to refresh him memory on the story about the mans life and his confession. Mr. Roberts did exactly that. The Pastor told him he was calling because he had gotten a call from one of the most prominent evangelists in the country rejoicing that he had just added this very same musician to his worship team. The pastor was unsure what do about this and asked Mr. Roberts. Had the man repented? Well, Mr. Roberts said to talk to the evangelist pastor and ask him if the man had told him the same story. And so the Evangelist asked the man about this and the man replied, "Mr. Roberts made all of that up. He was confused, because I told him a story of a different person, not myself." And the story goes on, BUT WAIT A MINUTE. 
   Did you just read that? THE MAN LIED.  And he obviously didn't repent. But he was so overcome by his sin. He WEPT. HE CRIED. BUT HE WASN'T REPENTANT. He was shown his sin by God, but he wasn't REPENTANT. It's actually a rather terrible story. Weeping didn't equal Repentance, it actually equaled deceit and lying. So, we can learn from this. 
    Repentance isn't Sorrow. IT ISN'T SORROW. It's the truth. 
    Mr. Roberts asks this: I ask in tender sympathy, have you personally learned to distinguish between the sorrow of the world and the sorrow of God? Have you felt the horrible possibility of your eternal soul being lost because you cling to a myth? 
    Ponder those questions. 

   Closing with this:
  Let me insist again how urgent it is that we learn to distinguish between sorrow of the world that leads to death and the sorrow that is from God that leads to repentance and eternal life. There is a genuine sorrow that accompanies true repentance, but many who have known flood if tears and racking sobs have never come anywhere near repentance and faith. 


   There are seven myths in chapter four. To be continued. 

   Hope your day is awesome, and May everything you do be for His Glory. 

~Hannah     

~The LOVE of GOD: 1 Corinthians 13~

   Well I'm back! Not as soon as I'd hoped, but let's focus on the now. :D

   Anyways, I know I said I was going to do a Repentance or Spiritual Drunkenness post, which I still will, but I think that with today being Valentines day, I would speak on the LOVE of GOD. God's love is such a vast and beautiful thing, and as humans we can't understand it. We're not made to. But we can be thankful. Surely, not thankful enough, but we can try.
    I chose the passage of 1 Corinthians 13, because it's the bibles portrayal of LOVE. There are many passages that portray love, because {GOD IS LOVE} YET, I think that this is A WAY to look at it.

1 Corinthians 13

 ¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

 It's really a beautiful passage I think. Mr. Ravenhill talked about this passage to. He brought up GREAT POINTS. Now, I'm going to repeat this passage, but change it. Say...substituting words. Alright? And this makes a great point. 

 

1 Corinthians 13

 ¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have God, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have God, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have God I gain nothing.

 ⁴ God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. ⁵ He does not dishonor others, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ God never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and God. But the greatest of these is God. 

  Ever looked at it that way? It really holds true to the verse GOD IS LOVE. Now, we'd never change it that way, for we do not change the bible, but look at it in that way. Now, substitute yourself with that at verse 4. Except but a 'does not, do not' etc. "I am not patient, I am not kind, I am self serving." YOU SEE? Character is SHOWN HERE! And half of the world probably has never heard of this passage, much less studied it. Yet, it's so beautiful. If we could only just see our sin. If we could only see, truly see that GOD IS LOVE. 

   This passage shows what love is. How many people do we really love? Well, with this kind of love, probably not many. Probably not ANY. I mean if we really took an honest moment to think about this, do we really love people like this? The real question is do we love GOD THIS WAY? If we don't, then we don't love anyone this way. If we can't love God with the love in this passage, than we don't love our family or friends with the love in this passage. It's a hard truth. But on this day that our culture has deemed as the "love day" we think of who we love right? So Who do we love? 

    Since we have failed to love, God's way, what can we do? 

   REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! 

   How can we show we love God? 

    REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT! REPENT!  

  Yes, the heart of my post is REPENTANCE. REPENT. And if the topic has bored you to death, then REPENT. For REPENTANCE should be proclaimed throughout the world. When you have a heart cry about something that's all people should define you by. IF it were to tell you one thing, and never see you again it would be, "Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." 

   SO, let's us REPENT today, and show our love for God. Let's build our relationship with him and make it deeper and wider. Let him know today that on THIS day YOU TRULY LOVE HIM. 

   So repent, and be forgiven. 

   ~Hope your day is awesome and may everything YOU do be for HIS Glory!~ 

----HANNAH------