Commitment and Sacrifice.

Being a Christian involves a lot of commitment and sacrifice. Accepting Jesus into your heart is one of the biggest commitments you could possibly make, as I've stated before, but with that is sacrifice and greater commitment attached. Not the bad kind of attached, where you have to lug it around with you, but the sort that is always on your mind. Like, every Tuesday my wonderful friends, fellow peers, and a teacher gives up their lunch break so we can all come together in prayer. Now, we all know how crazy highschool is and to be able to give up an hour of socializing or doing homework so we can come together in the presence of God, now that is both sacrifice and commitment. When you're in highschool sometimes you may feel alone but you know you're not alone. Not only do you have God but everyone else is most likely feeling the same way you do.

Christians make sacrifices a lot and there are a lot of different kinds of sacrifice these days. Whether it be your social status, because people don't like your strong passion for Jesus Christ (Witnessing Opps! ;) ). Whether it be some TV time, because you have a little Bible study, or an hour lost of sleep so you can start your day off by being filled with the love of God from reading your Bible, or whether it be giving up a lunch for Prayer Group. But sometimes what we don't see is that these losses are ACTUALLY gains in disguise. By reading your Bible for even an hour extra a day, you get filled with the knowledge coming from the Bible as well as being built up so when you go through your day, it's like you have a shield over you, not letting anyone or anything get you down. Also, by losing out on friends who weren't really your friends you could either tell them about the Love of God, witnessing to them, or find friends who also have that passion for Jesus. But really, the first option I would think is a way better choice.

And honestly, being able to pray at school is great! During lunch you go into this classroom upset or hurt, and you come out of it just feeling good and better about yourself because you've just spent the past hour building yourself up, therefore you can go into your last blocks of the day just feeling great and loving everyone around you, as God does.

Now, Commitment. Like I said, accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour is the number one commitment. But there is also a lot of commitment that follows after it. Like, committing to reading your Bible every morning, or committing to going to Prayer group, just committing to Jesus. He died for US you guys, and the way people openly bash Him in public these days is both disgraceful and disheartening. It's disrespectful and it isn't right. He was so selfless as to bare the sins of the entire human race upon Himself and this is how people treat Him? Commitment is a big thing, even as a Christian it's hard to commit sometimes. I remember this one time, it was during just after summer when for the entire two months almost, I had been sleeping in until 10 or so. But for some reason I was woken up earlier, say... 6am or so. And I believe it was God waking me up and telling me "Kat, read your Bible." And I didn't. I feel bad now, but what's done is done and God has forgiven me.

But as the hour passed and I woke up at my regular school day time, and went on through the day I thought, 'What could I have learned and applied to my day? What could I have read that would have changed the course of my day?' And that's something I'm not going to risk losing anymore. When I feel the urge to read my Bible I will. The Bible is somewhat like a complex and colorful painting. You look at it once and you see something cool, and when you come back to it, every single time you see something new and exciting. Which is like the Bible, some of the scriptures have different meanings for different people but every time you go to a scripture, whether it be the same one or a new one, it's like God's telling you something every time you read it.

So, as a Christian I am encouraging you all as well as myself that everyday I will stay committed to the things I said I would do, whether it have to do with God, or daily things. And make sacrifices! It's okay to make sacrifices for God, I'm sure that's what He wants, to know that He is our top priority, because let me tell you, He's number one on my list.

God sacrificed his One and Only Son so that we might be saved and living our life all for Him. So ask yourself this;

What are you sacrificing for our God and what are you committing to?

Torch.

A Little Late Night Inspiration.

Hey everyone, here's a little rap/poem/tobyMac inspiration that I wrote last night.
Enjoy! :)


Dear God,

I see all these lost faces,
They livin' life at their own paces,

Don't they see You're all they need?

They don't know where to go,
They don't know how to just say no,

God,
They need You now,
before they take their final bow.

They'll see You were there all along
waitin' for them to hear Your song.

So let's get them to see our Saviour,
So they change their behaviour,

God You're so sublime,
but they're just killing time.

They don't hear that beautiful voice,
They think there ain't no other choice,

Than to live like they are,
But they need to know that You're not far.

'Cause God, they're just looking for someone,
And You're that someone

Who can help them get on track,
They'll take it all back

Sayin' "God please for give me,
Because now I see that You're all I need,
I'm hearing Your song,
I'm sorry it took so long."

Then they find the right way,
Livin' for You night and day.

Preaching the Word,
They makin' their voice heard.

Old, Little, Young,
God Your song shall be sung.

Prepare Yourself.

So, we had our first prayer meeting today, in Mr. Beigel's room, it was awesome! We sat in a big circle and just prayed. Mr. Biegel is awesome :) It was definately a lunch well-spent. We prayed for various things, but mostly for the light to shine through us at Sardis and light up someone else's darkness with the love of God, which is what my plans have been all along. I prayed for all of Sardis to just feel the love of God, His presence, and I just want them all to know, students and teachers, that there is a different way. That there is mercy and forgiveness and Someone is always there for them when they feel alone and sad. This is the end! Let me tell you! I know everyone at prayer group is just as excited as I am! We are going to go out into Sardis Secondary and just share the Good News, God's mercy, His grace. We aren't going to be afraid or nervous to talk to anyone when God's saying "Hey, go talk to them. Tell them about Jesus." That we won't doubt ourselves or say "You know, God, they're just going to shun us.." Because honestly, if they do, at least you were doing what God wanted you to do, He'll do the rest.

That one person you talk to, that's one life you could save.. One life you could introduce to Jesus, and pray for them and pray for them. Right now, I'm praying for all of Sardis' kids to just open their eyes and HEARTS to God and just know that He is always there, and He promises eternal happiness. Life may not be so awesome right now, but know that with God, things are going to start a heck of a lot better because God will help you through it all; all the pain, all the hurt, all the dissapointment, He makes up for that! With His love, I know I just feel alive!

Psalms 9:9 "The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble."

And there's no reason no one else at Sardis shouldn't feel that too! Could you just fathom, being in a school with kid's who's hearts were just BURNING for Jesus? CAN YOU IMAGINE?

We could do so much!!!! I know that Sardis Prayer Group is a great thing and I know that every member of it is going to go out and just be the light, because that's what God wants us to do! I can't wait until the day that everyone has heard of Him, felt His love, His mercy, I'm pumped!! We can change the world, and I fully plan on doing just that! And it starts with a group like we have at Sardis. When He returns, I know He's going to tell everyone who stood up for Him and His Word "Good job, my good and faithful servant." This is going to be the epitome of epic success for Jesus Christ.

Heaven is a specially prepared Place for specially prepared people.
Prepare yourself.

Torch.

He, Him, God, ... Jesus Culture!

The other day as well as today I was reading some people's statuses as well as various posts on other sites, and I noticed, that when they were referring to God, they didn't use capitals, and some don't even capitilize His Name. (ex. they wrote he, instead of He. etc.) Now, I don't extremely frustrated or mad at the people who do this, I just think that the Creator of all things, the Man who can work miracles, deserves the honour of capital letters, don't you? He is almighty and powerful, my God is a big God, and he deserves the praise we give Him, no? I just think it shows Him more of a respect. When capitlizing (Him, He, etc) in a sentence, it just makes it more... Holy? I don't know. Powerful, maybe? Ex: "our god is so good, isn't he?" or "our God is so good, isn't He?" To me, I just think it shows respect and of His worthiness to us believers. Maybe it's just me, but I thought I would post my opinion. Maybe it didn't make sense, I don't know, but to me, capitilizing His Name is the proper way to do it.

On another note, if you haven't heard of or listened to any songs by Jesus Culture, I really think you should do so! It's a band of people; Chris Quilala, Melissa How, and my favourite, Kim Walker. Their songs are so full of truth, it's amazing. My favourite song by Kim Walker is "Sing My Love". I reaaallllly think you all should listen to it, it's just.. amazing.. Oh, and if you're downloading them from iTunes or Limewire or wherever, I prefer the live versions because sometimes they add good messages in between the songs. So yeah, go listen to them! :)


xo,
Torch.

Praise God.

Wow, God is so good! Tonight at the soccer party I really bonded with three of my 'teammates'. You guys know who you are :) And I am just so thankful to have them, to connect with them on a deeper level. Praise God! I'm so blessed to have met them and connected with them like this. I feel so close to them for only knowing them for about.. 2 (?) weeks. You guys are awesome and I looked forward to Bible Study Tuesday's! It's gonna be good. I can really see God's plans being set in motion now. Even though it's just the 4 of us, we can seriosuly change some lives and I can see it happening! An unstoppable group. You're not going to be able to ignore the Presence of God storming through SSS, so be ready to encounter God!

Also, after starting Prayer Group/Bible study at school, I've decided I'm going to start taking prayer requests on here! You can message me, facebook me (if you have me on your page), whatever, I'm happy to pray for you. So whenever you need it, please don't hesitate!


Love you all soo much,
Torch.


p.s. Emily, if you're reading this, special shout out to you. I love you so much, and am thankful to have met you. You're amazing. xo.

Highschool.

Wow, so High school has been... Okay, so far. On the first day of classes I spent close to 15 minutes trying to find a clasroom that didn't even exist! Typical, though. It's been good regardless. I've already met some cool people. While I was in Planning this morning, we were doing a poll on Values and the top four were Freedom, Friendship, Family, and Success. I was the only one who voted for Religion. Well, really. GOD can give us all that. Package deal. Later on, when we were drawing pictures of our values, I looked over and saw THREE people writing Jesus and drawing a cross on their paper. Why they didn't raise their hand when asked if Religion was important to them, I don't know. On a good friend of mine's status, she had a quote by Alex Harris and part of it said " Our world cannot last another generation of Christian young people who fit in." Which I think is SO true!! So, I was curious as to why they didn't put up their hand; not that I'm judging them for it, because I'm not. Also, I'm not saying they aren't a true Christian, I was just wondering WHY. Because they're afraid they won't fit in? Because they don't want to be labeled a Jesus Freak? Well, I think that's the best label that can be given.

If we want people to hear the Word of God, we gotta do something! If we want people to feel the way we feel when we hear His voice, WE have to speak up. Like, it's time to wake up people. No one's going to hear if we don't tell them. Honestly, a lot of 'youth' or 'adolescent' people are so inspiring! We aren't doing this for ourselves, we're doing it for our Savior; Jesus Christ because to me, that's the LEAST I could do for Him after what He did for me, for all of you! But don't force it on them, it's not us who is going to save them, it's Jesus. He's the only one who can truly capture their hearts and transform them into what they were put on this earth to be. My Aunty Jenn told me, when I was struggling with someone who was so set on not believing that "You've done all you can, now let Jesus do the rest." This also applies to SO many other things!! If you ask God for something, say, a job promotion, He's not just going to give it to you like that, you've gotta work for it. Just like YOU can't save someone, only Jesus can, and just like YOU have to work for something you want even after praying about it.

Of course, we can lay all of our problems on God, because He can totally help us, but what I'm trying to say is you can't just pass all of your needs and desires to Him and say 'here ya go, hook me up!' You've gotta put some effort into it. And of course, have FAITH in Him and everything else!! Faith is so important. SO important.

2 Peter 1:3-9 - "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."


Ponder that thought! He has everything we need! EVERYTHING. Love, compassion, friendship, mercy, grace, forgivness, discipline, successfulness, and the list goes on; but I think you get my point. Without God, we are nothing.


Love you all,
Torch.

A Little Side-Note and Thought

Hey everyone!



So, when I started this blogging site I made a promise to myself that I would post a new blogpost everyday. But then I got to thinking... This blog isn't for me, it's for everyone else out there. I may have one follower, I may have thousands. I may not even help save someone, but God is writing this through me, and He's not going to have something for me every single day. Like the Twitter thing, He may not tweet me every day, and sometimes He might just 'send' me a DM (direct message) that I need to hear.



I guess, I'm just saying that I won't be posting everyday, plus school, piano, and soccer will keep me pretty busy too. But when I do post, I'm sure it'll be good because 99% of it is coming from Him for you to read.



I also wanted to share this picture with you all, it's one of my favourites.
There's just something about it. Jesus is so happy to see her, and then you look at her expression. She looks relieved, happy too, but relieved. I look at this picture if I'm having a rough day or need a little encouragement. To me this picture just says "Reward". The girl, perhaps had a hard life, but when she got to hug Jesus when it was her time, it's just... It's kind of hard to explain, but I can tell you, I greatly look forward to the day I get to hug my Saviour, and just thank Him and praise Him for the goodness He brought me in life. So yeah, maybe that made no sense to you or maybe it made all the sense in the world, but all I know is that you live for Him, and you get awarded a beautiful life of eternity with Him and our Maker. But don't get me wrong, it's not just when you're dead that you get rewarded or blessed from Him. He brings you blessings all throughout your life, whether you notice them or not. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers!

Numbers 6:24-26 "The LORD blesses you and keeps you; the LORD makes His face shine upon you and is gracious to you; the LORD turns His face toward you and gives you peace."

Goodnight everyone!

xo,
Torch

OMG(oodness)

So, just chillin' with the fam and stuff when I realized how many times I'd used the Lord's name in vain these past couple of days... You know what? I don't like it, I hate it, actually. I feel bad, 'cause I hate saying Oh My God, it's rude... I don't like it when other people say it but I especially don't like it when I say it. So I'm gonna stop! Easy solution, right? Well, this also brought to my attention to the couple of things I have done in the past couple weeks that weren't very Christian-like, stuff that I don't usually do/say. I'm not happy about it, lemme tell you, but I asked for forgiveness so it's all good. It's been about three weeks since the epic 24:6 ended, it was epic, no? Yesh, it was. But that's not what I'm writing on here to talk about.

What I'm saying to all you 24:6ers and all you believers, be strong, stay true to your faith. I think I may have mentioned this in another note, but ever since the conferance ended, I hear that little voice in my head 'Katlen, you know you shouldn't be doing that..' or 'Katlen, that's not right..' and yeah, I realized then what I'm doing is bad and should stop, and I do. I know all of you 24:6ers are so STOKED about changing people's lives and doing stuff for Jesus, I was actually just talking about it to someone very special :) I remember, also after the conferance ended people were still excited, not saying they arent now.. But I see the 24:6 'afterglow' kind of fading a bit, even on myself, so, I'm just really gonna work on staying strong in my faith.

Also, I'm not gonna let that fire burn out, you guys, don't let that fire burn out!! I see it burning SO SO SO bright in all of you and I would not like to see it die out, at all. I'll be praying for you all to be strong and walk in faith and strength and not be tempted by Earthly things. My rad aunt and I were talking about how our citizenship is in Heaven, not on Earth so why do we get so tempted and sucked in to earthly things? Like, saying you're sick, an example she provided, well not in Heaven my friends! We're so much more than society has to offer, especially these days.

I guess the point of this note was just to tell all you believer to rise above, stay strong, and that I'll be praying for you all, and anyone who needs it.

xo,

Torch

He is real.

So, today I was on Google searching for a location of a store so I put in 'is there a Wet Seal anywhere in Canada?' But you know how it has most searched results for what you've put in so far? Well for 'is there' the first, number one most searched thing with 73.6 million results is "Is there a God?"

Is there a God.

Thousands upon thousands of people have searched that, maybe even millions! That's a lot especially if there over 70 million results! It's also, in a way, very disheartening. People should be going to a church or reading a book (the Bible specifically) or praying, to see for themselves that there IS a God, the Alpha and Omega. The One who sent His son to DIE for us.The One who created the universe and all things on it. The One who through Him, His son made the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead to rise from the dead, and so many other miracles. Instead, these people are waiting for someone to post an answer on Yahoo Questions! or on some other kind of question-answer site.

So you guys, if you're reading this and you don't know that you believe in Him, maybe you've seen or heard of some kind of miracle and think 'Okay, so there must be a God for that to happen' but don't really do anything after that, or maybe you're the girl in Blockbuster who asked if 'Passion of The Christ' was a true story, it doesn't matter because then you'll always have a little bit of curiosity in the back of your mind going 'why isn't He doing anything in my life?' Go to church or read a Bible or pray, accept Jesus into your heart. Experience the love of God and you will KNOW that there is a God. You will know that He is real more than ever because you will see for yourself that Jesus lives! Then, you will be more certain about that than anything! God wants everyone to have more than just a knowing of Him and His Kingdom, more than an awareness of His existence. He wants everyone to encounter a very personal relationship with Him.

In 1 Timothy 2 it says that God our Savior wants EVERYONE to be saved and come unto a knowledge of truth for there is one God and one mediator between God and everyone - the man Jesus Christ who gave himself as a ransom for all of everyone - EVERYONE - to ever live on this Earth!!And don't wait until you're older to say "Well, I should start going to church now." No one is ever too young for God!!1 Timothy 1:17 says "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever." Amen?! AMEN! God also says He wants people everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger and disputing. So go ahead, getcha worship on! Remember; you don't have to be at church to worship God. If you don't have a car or can't get a ride to church, don't worry! You can just put on some 106.5 or some praise and worship music and have at'ter!

I hope that you guys encounter God and if you do or have already I look forward to hearing some of the stuff God is doing in your life!

Little side-note: When someone asked me if He was real I said "Yeah, duh! You know that place called Israel? It means He 'Is real' they just didn't know how to spell! Good one, eh? ;)

xo
Torch

Patience.

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about going to public school and God's plans for me there, etc. At church you heard me say I could barely contain my excitement and I just wanted school to be back in already!! But, then I got to thinking and realized I have to be patient. I can't just walk into the school and just expect things to happen, which is what my mind was set on before. Patience, patience is key!

Psalms 37:7-9 "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."

So, I'm not going to get upset when I see something I don't like or think God should have told me to fix or whatever. I won't just go into the school and start preachin' (as much as I'd love to!), I'm gonna wait for Him to tell me to go and do something, because without God, I am nothing! I need Him and He needs me to listen to Him. So I shall!Well, that's all for now :)Just remember, patience IS in fact a virtue!