A little bit of everything.

Hey everyone :)

(this blog is going to kind of be about everything right now.. :P)

I know, it's been so long since I posted something new and fresh! And I'm sorry! So, let me catch you up on a few things, in the past month (?) or so, a lot has happened. On September 24th, my good friend passed away, which was really hard for me, for everyone, really. But I know that he's up There and I know he's going to be waiting for me There when it's my time. I miss him a lot, of course, he was an awesome kid. He was someone everyone could go to about their problems.

But since then, God has blessed me with such amazing people, the best a person could ask for. Today, I had a spare so I went to the library and met up with my friend. We got into talking about Heaven and death (still kind of hard to talk about) and we were wondering if Hitler was in Heaven, which is quite possible, he could have repented and chosen to live his eternal life for Christ. And, I mean, we are no one to judge on who went to Heaven and who went to hell, but one day I guess we'll find out! Then I got to thinking, later on in the day, that I want to spread the love of God so badly throughout my shcool, my community, my province! Because on that final judgement day, what are we all going to have to say for ourselves? We are going to stand before our Almight Creator and be judged. It can be a scary thought. But I am kind of excited for the day our Savior comes back to take us to Heaven (if I'm not already there when He does).

There's a song that says:
"There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears. There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face but until that day, we'll hold onto You always."

And there WILL be a day that these earthly things we grasp onto will mean nothing next to our God and Heaven. These earthly things are nothing compared to what God has waiting for us. We rely on these earthly things, thinking they define us, that they are our identity. Jesus is our identity, Jesus lives through US! Through you, through me.

My friend recently put her status as "I may be a fool, but I'm a fool for Christ and I'll take that any day." which is so true! Call me a fool, I don't care because I am a Jesus freak and proud of it. It's just the point of realizing that our citizenship is in fact held in Heaven, not on earth! So we should not be fixated on earthly things, because this is all temporary, my friends. :)


Later on, we started talking about Martin Luther, because I started to recite his speech :P And it's amazing, isn't it? One man who had a dream for something, something that he so strongly believed in! I have a dream too, a dream that our generation and future generations to come will come to know God on a personal and intimate level. What a day this would be, that would bring joy to people's hearts to see so many reaching out to Christ. What joy it would bring to Christ, to see so many people reaching out to Him.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are the generation! Join the revolution. :)

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."


Torch

Realizations

So you say you don't need God anymore,
Well lemme tell you something before you slam that door.

Don't you remember the days,
Where you'd stand there and Praise?

You say you've seen other side,
And by what laws do you now abide?

You do what you want, and what you please,
But don't get you get that that will cease?

It only lasts a little while,
Until on your face there is no smile.

The cheap thrills don't stick around,
Soon enough you'll be the on the ground

Beggin' God for His grace,
When all along He's kept up with you,
Pace to pace.

He never left, and never will,
You just gotta realize that these habits you gotta kill.

Get on that path walking with our Saviour
'Cause He doesn't appreciate your behavior.

He'll welcome you with open arms,
Then you'll be out of all your harms.

Don't you see,
You're living out of reality.

He'll forgive you,
Because He loves you.

You're His precious child,
The life you been living is much too wild.

He loves you the same,
Just gotta shout out His glorious Name.

He misses you, and He wants you back,
So get yourself back on the right track.

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.