Comments

Many of you e-mail me your wonderful comments about my blog. I really appreciate that but please leave your comments on this blog as well. Your comments may help and encourage someone else. Thank you.

Erase The Dividing Line

There are many issues Christians have over non-Christians such as abortion, politics, homosexuality, how to raise your family etc. Most Christians are so bent over proving their issues and snubbing their noses at non-Christians that they forget the ultimate goal of God. He loves all His children and He wants us to come to Him. We can not lead others to Christ by telling someone what they believe is stupid or shaming them for it. What they believe is apart of the sin that is still within them. Which is the same sin that was in you before you became saved. Which is also the same sin you still need to repent for in your walk with Christ. It may not be that specific sin but God sees sin the same so your sin is equal to their sin. "The wages of sin is death" All sin. We need to stop judging and start loving one another. If we lead others to Christ in a loving manner then everything else will come after.

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Galatians 5:14-15

Confession is everyday

My husband was raised catholic and he was telling me today how the one thing he did like about it was how he could talk about everything he did wrong (in confession) and not get in trouble for it. It's interesting how he felt that way and yet didn't realize all these years we have been Christian with no denomination that he had his own personal confession. He could confess to the king of kings and not be in trouble. Because of Jesus Christ we are not condemned for our sins. Because of Jesus, it's okay for people to come straight to God and confess their sins. There is no need for a imperfect human mediator. Jesus is the mediator. Jesus can be our mediator because He came to earth as the only perfect person and took on all our sins.

It's easy to forget that when you felt as if you done something terrible. You want to hide and hope God didn't see. But He did see, and if you ask, He will forgive.

Romans 8
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Get a Life

The phrase "Get a Life" is used to be hurtful to someone who doesn't do the things of the world. The person who is home on the weekends instead of out partying, the person who is not boozing, cursing or what the world calls "having fun" But those who give up their life receives a much better one in return. Jesus said, " everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."(matthew 19:29-30) I don't believe Jesus means to forsake your family but He is saying those who put Him first in their life will have so much more meaning and blessing in their lives. Jesus also talks about the opposite of "getting a life" in matthew 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." As a Christian we need to learn to reach for what God wants us to do first in our relationships, money, family etc.

So how do we do this? It seems so hard to reject what is going on around us. But actually it is very simple. "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."(Galatians 5:16) When you live by the fruit of the spirit which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith the strong desires of sin, the sin you struggle with, will begin to disappear. It will no longer be a battle. When you have love pouring out of you, you won't be able to help changing your life for Christ.

Following Jesus/MLK DAY

I know I am behind but I wanted to blog about Martin Luther King Jr. His birthday just passed and I was thinking about all the things he did to change the world. Martin Luther King is a respected and revered man all because he simply followed the words of Jesus. He was the epitome of WWJD (what would Jesus do) From his spiritually motivated speeches to his non-violent approach He followed the words of the king of kings and changed the world. So simply put we can all change the world in some way by reading the Bible and following the commandments of God, and His son Jesus Christ. Amen!

1 Peter 2:21+23 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

Attacked on Every Side

I have been attacked every since I started this magazine. It is complete but because of constant technical difficulty and financial difficulty it will have to be put on hold. I was promised a certain amount of money and I never received it . Also the money I did have set aside was stolen from someone I thought I could trust. Am I crying about this? Am I screaming and yelling why? No. I am holding on to my faith that God is a good God and He will come through on His plan. His time is the right time and all I have to do is wait on Him. I praise God now and thank HIm for what is going to do with Beyond It All Magazine. It will touch millions of teens lives and bring them to the love of Jesus Christ. This magazine will be successful and will glorify God. I am not afraid.

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" 2nd corinthinas 4:8-10

The Miners

I had to repent for my stubborness this morning. I didn't want to blog about the tragic mining story. What was I going to write? was what I asked God after the third or fourth time it was put on my heart to blog about The Miners who were trapped and then killed in the mines of West Virginia. After seeing so many pray for the miners the tragic ending is baffling. But after persistence I let go and allow God to give me the words to write.

We should all pray for the comfort of those people and that they have faith that their tragedy will be used. God always has a plan and it's good. In 2nd Corinthians 1:3-7 it says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

Suffering is sometimes something a believer can not avoid. But we can always trust that if we keep out faith that our lives are enriched by our pain and that God will bring us through and use us to glorify the kingdom.

Staying in 2nd Corinthians let's also focus on the passage in chapter 6:4-10, "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; thinhaving nothing, and yet possessing everything."

As we can see the scripture above states a long list of tragic things that can happen and test our faith and love of God. Instead of questioning why things happen, pray that those suffering will be used and continually blessed.

The Christians Contradiction

So many of us as Christians contradict ourselves. We believe God is capable to do all things and that He loves us and yet we doubt when receive the bills or we turn away from what we truly desire to do because it won't bring in enough money. Most of our goals in life our money oriented. We see that the world requires money so we spend our lives trying to acquire more of it. We complain when the government don't give us enough or make us pay too much. If we truly believe that God loves us and desires the best for us why are we so obsessed?

So you say, C'mon not worry about getting money? There are too many things I need, That's just impossible. Luke 18:27 says that "things which are impossible with men are possible with God." So why can't we believe in awesome things when we have an awesome God? Why is it so hard to believe that if we truly seek Him he will gi ve us the desires of our heart" (Psalm 37:4)

As most of you know, I am a mother of four, I am also young. Me and my husband had to live off of faith many times. We had to truly believe God's word, "be content with such things as you have, I will never leave the nor forsake thee," (Hebrews 13:5.) even if it meant that we had to be happy with our small rabbit ear television and our tiny apartment. I can't tell you how many times money would just appear. Once someone jsut came and dropped off 500.00 in an envelope before with just our names on the front. Now I am a college graduate and we live in a large home. I refused to worry myself grey over money and how we were going to get taken care of. Not that I never worried, and I believe the times I did lose faith were the times that we struggled the most until I remembered to reach back toward God again. Thank God He never turned away.

Now I'm not saying to never work or that it's wrong to desire to gain. But when you do make sure you do it for the Lord. Seek his guide and counsel. Make sure what you do pleases Him and do good works for others. It says in 1 Timouthy 6:17-19,
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is eternal."

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I want to take this blog to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday and I hope you all do too. Wish Him a happy birthday by witnessing to your worst enemy or someone you don't particularly like. Wish Him a happy birthday by trying your best to change a bad habit just to please Him and His Father more. Wish Him a happy birthday by not fighting, being sarcastic or cynical. Wish Him a happy birthday by tolerating your family members. Wish Him a happy birthday by exercising your faith that He will take care of you instead of worrying about money or gifts and exercising your faith that the unbelievers in this world will eventually bow and worship His name! Wish Him a Happy Birthday by praying, and praising His name! Glory be to God!

Two Gods?

The biggest division amongst Christians seemed to be the punishment factor of God. In the Bible there seemed to be two different Gods. One, a punishing vengeful God who strikes down those who turn from Him and the forgiving, always loving God who sent His son Jesus to die for the sinner. Out of this came two kinds of Christians, the condemning Christian who feels anyone who leads a life of sin should be reprimanded and deeply punished and the kind Christian who teaches others to welcome sinners with open arms.

There is only one Great God who does love us as a Father, but will punish us like a loving father would punish His wayward children. But I believe that the decisions of people's punishments should be left up to God. I'm thinking of the story of Paul. Paul killed many people just because they were Christian. If it was decided that he was to be put to death then God wouldn't have had His chance to change Paul they way he had. He struck Paul with a blinding light (literally blinding) and told him that He was real and the He was persecuting Him. After God forgave Paul, He didn't put Paul to death but put him to use. Paul was given the ability to teach, heal and cast out demons! Paul is one of the profits in the Bible who we still learn from today. This is an awesome thought that many condemning Christians don't think about!

So what is my point? I believe that people should not condemn one another but leave the decision of punishment or redemption up to God. Also, even if someone is put to death, if they accept Jesus Christ and truly desire Him in their heart, they will go to heaven no matter how bad a crime they committed.

No Big Deal

Everyone's all abuzz about the recent backlash against Christmas. Certian politicians are telling people to say Happy Holidays and to take Christian elements out of a holday that was meant for Jesus Christ. I think as Christians instead of fighting about it and telling people that it's our way or the highway, we should be sharing the love of Christ EVEN MORE by loving each other. No one can close our mouths. So go out and tell people Jesus loves them! Don't let anyone spoil this season by causing anger and strife. I believe that is exactly what Satan wants. He is not trying to stop Christmas from non-believers, he is trying to distract Christians from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Don't let a few opinions, stop you!

Destiny?

The question of destiny. That's what came up when I was speaking with my sister. So many believe the way she does. That our lives are already set and there's nothing you can do about changing it. What does God say? Does He have our lives already planned out, or do we have control?

In Romans 8:29-30 it says, ^"For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified."

I believe this to mean that before we were born God had a destiny for us to be like Jesus and that He has a plan for each one of us in our lives.

However, it also says in Philippians 3:18-20, "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. "

I believe this to say that people do have the choice to not believe and to turn away from God and change their destiny to destroy themselves.

So, is my sister and so many others right about destiny? Can we party hard since we are all going to die anyway? No. God has given each one of us a choice of paths in life. It's that proverbial "fork in the road" in front of us all the time. We can choose His way which leads to blessings and peace and the fulfillment of His calling on our lives or we can turn away and make things hopeless and hard for ourselves. Don't get me wrong, you will make mistakes as you travel the right path toward God but His forgiveness and love is there for you. Just don't give up and allow the devil to make you feel like you are meant to be a sinner.
We are all destined to be loved by God.

Donations

My magazine process is going really great God's hand is on the process. I was looking for anyone who would like to make a monetary donation toward the production. If you would please contact me by e-mail. I will send you a full synopsis of the magazine detailing all that I plan for it to accomplish as well as a detailed budget. If you can help it will be greatly appreciated. I am also in the process of filling out a 501c3 application so that the magazine will be deemed non-profit and your gifts will be tax deductible. Thank you. Contact me telika8@elitemail.org copy telika@tidni.com just in case. Call me 815-477-7358 leave a message if I'm not home.

Everyone's Dirty Little Secrets

I was watching the Today show and there was a segment about a man who asked for people to send him their secrets. He received thousands of secrets on postcards and in letters just from that simple request. He put the secrets on his website which received thousands of hits. He has a book published from the secrets and there was even a song spawned from it. I was wondering why so many people felt the need to share their secrets with a total stranger. Were they bound up with them and glad to let them go? The anchor on the show said that everyone has a dirty little secret. I disagree, no one does. Because God knows. You can't hide from God. He knows what you done, He knows all of your shame, hurt and guilt. He wants to take all of those secrets and not make money off of them but eliminate them. His love for you is so strong that He sent His son to die and take on all of your sins. Yes, all those dirty secrets that you may feel that you have locked inside preventing you from leading a happy and fulfilling life. You don't have to be condemned anymore!

"He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him" Daniel 2:22

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

Sorry I've been away!

Hello everyone,
I'm sorry there hasn't been an entry in awhile besides the fact that I have been on vacation and busy with a few projects I also have been having problems with my computer. I couldn't load certain pages on my computer such as the blogger site! Now that's resolved, I should be blogging more often.

Techinical Difficultes

Really quick, I am having techinical difficulties as far as my email so if anyone is trying to get in touch with me at telika8@elitemail.org please e-mail me at telika@tidni.com Thank you.

Old and New all for You

I found that there are many Christians who disregard the Old Testament. They say that the New Testament is the important part because that's where Jesus came to set everyone straight. I disagree. I believe that God wants us to take in account the whole Bible. The first laws and the first people of God are important to know. We all know that Jesus quoted the old testament in His teaching and when He was being tempted. So that means He found all the words of God in the Bible important. In fact, He felt that was how we should live. In Matthew 4:4 He says, "It is written, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The Old Testament is made up of the words that proceeded from the mouth of God!

However, I also believe that God has changed the way His people used to live. By sacrificing His son, he made things less complicated to be with Him. In the Old Testament, His people had to sacrifice animals to make atonement, we no longer have to do that. In the Old Testament they had to live strictly to every law and found that they couldn't because man was made imperfect through the sins of Adam and Eve. The demands to live out every law perfectly is gone. You will no longer go to Hell if you sin, if you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. There are also religions who do the opposite. They put too much emphasis on the Old Testament laws and make people feel too inadequate for God. They tell people that they are condemned until they live a life of solitude. Obedience is the result of being saved not the basis on which we are saved. Once we accept Christ, His love in us will cause us to become obedient to His word and Laws. If we try to do everything in the Bible perfectly without Him in our lives, we will fail and then become discouraged. That discouragement is what causes many Christians to turn astray.

Turn Off The Stereo

How many of us look at the certain way some one dresses, talks, walks or their race, family, religion and judge? Before you say, "no definitely not me" think about all those times you assumed negatively about someone. What did you base that assumption on? Your eyes. It had to be your eyes because you don't truly know that person. Know one truly knows anyone like God knows us and yet He loves us despite it all. He sees us all as His children and desires for all of us to be with Him. Does God look at someone and say, "He is a thug so that means He has no hope and therefore I won't bless him." No, Thank Him that he doesn't! Does He look at people who come over to America from other countries and say, Go back where you came from you don't belong to blessed America? No way! He loves the whole world! He sees people sins in other countries the same way He sees the sins of people in America. He sees His children fallen away from Him. He sees His children that He sent His perfect son to die for. He sees the ones He desires to bless, and help and teach. The time we spend judging because of someone's differences, the time we spend arguing because of someone's politics, we could be leading them to Christ. No one knows when Jesus will come back. Wouldn't it be better to lead immigrants to Christ, then shake your head and complain about them being in America? Wouldn't it be better to save someone who feels like life is hopeless then tell them that they ought to be ashamed for being a democrat, or republican or whatever?

How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24)

Therefore as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men(mankind) to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One (Jesus) the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. Romans 5:18

Blog Favorites

I was checking my site statistics (http://www.sitemeter.com) and it said that I have had over 1000 visitors! That's not too shabby for a blog that's been out for only 6 months! I thank God for being with me and blessing me through my keyboard. I know my blog isn't the most edited in the world, but that is because I get an idea from the Holy Spirit in the middle of whatever I'm doing and I just type it up. I try to scan over it for any major errors but the small ones usually get through. Anyway, below is a list of my favorite blogs in no particular order. Please try to visit them all they are interesting and close to my heart. Thank you all for coming to visit! (To the right, is a recent picture of me.)

http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/06/teens-view.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/06/all-of-us.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/05/two-sides-of-same-mirror.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/06/faith-vs-fear.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/07/religiousreligionrelationship.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/07/religiousreligionrelationship.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/07/greatest-commandment.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/08/my-confessions.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/08/talk-and-teach.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/09/inevitably-insignificant-actionspoem.html
http://matthew1236.blogspot.com/2005/09/in-morning.html

Praise Session

I just want to take this blog and give God the glory and praise He is due. I am so humbled by all my blessings right now. Obedience is the key. Not questions. Lately, I have been giving my problems completely to God. Which has been hard for me because I am the type that has to always have a back up plan. Praise be to God that He has shown me the right way. I completely let go. I no longer wonder, if I give this amount away, how will I get my bills paid? I no longer wonder, if I take on this large project Lord how will things come together? Instead I say thank you God for this opportunity. Thank you Lord that you have blessed me without me having to do a thing but believe. My family needed a new stove. I prayed to God for it. I gave to church my tithe when I could've been saving. But I believe in what the Bible says. Over the course of a few weeks, I was given a new stove, new furniture, new clothes and coats for my kids, new microwave, lamps, blankets and bunkbeds! Believe me when I say, this woman came to me and my husband and asked us to write a list of things we needed. I didn't indicate that I needed anything to anyone but the Lord and neither did my husband. I know now never to worry whether me or my family will be taken care of. If I truly believe the love God has for us I will not doubt again. Hallelujah!

He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to His works in us! (Ephesians 3:20-21)