To Please Him

        I wonder how many times a day, week or year do we give thought to when we stand before God. The Bible says in Romans 14: 10c, 12 "...for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." The judgment seat of Christ is where a believer will stand before God and give an account based on the things they have done for Christ. For me this is a very sobering thought! If God were to say (insert name) what did you do on October 31st to please me? My hope is that we would have a list of things we did for Him; but honestly if I don't plan on doing things for Christ they just don't get accomplished in a busy day! The Bible says we will ALL be judged on what we have done FOR Christ, by the Lord's standards, not by ours. There are many areas we can and should please God, I will just mention a few that stand out to me in my life:

1. Bible Reading & Prayer
I hope everyone has a set time to read your Bible and pray. How can we know how to please God, if we don't read what He says? I encourage you if you don't already have a set time to read your Bible every day, that you make one. God is to be the center of our lives, and not just when we can get around to Him. My parents taught me this from a very young age. When I was about 6 on up, my Mom would wake me and my sister up every morning, and we would come downstairs to the table and all read our Bible. When I was young it seemed like a chore, but as I started growing up to today, it is such a sweet time of fellowship with my Lord. That pattern carried on, and the morning is still my favorite time to spend with the Lord. Probably because it is the only relatively quiet time in our house! ;) If you don't read your Bible at all, I encourage you to start reading a little at a specific time each day and ask the Lord to speak to you.

2. Standards & Convictions.
Is there anything you are not willing to do in life because YOU know it's wrong? Convictions are principles found in the Bible, standards are what we build around our convictions to keep us from being tempted. These standards are a safeguard from getting close to breaking those convictions that are Bible based. I strongly recommend, if you have not already, to search the Bible for yourself and find what the Lord commands; then place a standard around them that will keep those convictions strong.

3. Friends
Proverbs 27:17 Do your friends please God? Do they allow you to please God, or do they try to get you away from anything to do with God? Write down the 5 people who are closest to you. These are probably the 5 people you try to please more than anyone else. They are also 5 people you are most influenced by. Now write "God" at the top, and look at your list again. Ask yourself, "If I please God will I still be able to please these people? Or will they laugh at me?". If you can please both, then you have good influences around you; if not, then you need to find some different friends who will HELP you please God. There is nothing like having a friend who will talk to you about the things of God, and encourage you to love God. Someone you can tell walks with God, without them having to tell you. I have also had the opposite, and felt like an outcast if I even mentioned God's name. Believe me, these are people you can do without. As it says in Proverbs 27:17, find a friend that will truly sharpen you for the Lord.

4. Attitude Psalm 51:10
How is your attitude? Does it seek to please God? Our spirit says a lot about what's in our hearts. If we have a sour attitude eventually everyone else will know it too! Matt 12:34b "...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Does our attitude reflect we have a sweet caring spirit that makes people want to be around us? Or do we think of only doing something if it will make ourselves look better? God gives us grace every day. Are we as quick to give that person that always seems to rub us wrong, that same grace? Activities we are engaged in...how is our spirit while we are serving? I LOVE to be around other Christians who enjoy serving. It seems I am always at the church doing something, and I so enjoy working with other adults or even kids who want to be there. That's one reason why I love my 3-6 yr old class. Those kids LOVE to be at church. They are so excited that they GET to come to church. I get just as excited when they bound in with all that energy! Please don't complain or have a bad spirit serving wherever you are. A bad spirit is contagious, if you have one you will most definitely spread it. That is definitely not a picture of Jesus' love toward us! I don't remember Him complaining when He had to go to the cross.

                                                                                               



**There are so many other areas that we can and should please our Heavenly Father! I so desire to please God with my life. So many of my friends have went away from serving the Lord, and it breaks my heart. It also gives me a stronger desire to stay in the Bible, lean on my standards and keep my attitude in check so on that day when I stand before my Savior, I will be found pleasing in His sight!




Note to all my readers: Thank you for reading my blog. I tried to convince my Mom that no one would read them if I decided to start a blog. You readers have once again proven Mom is always right! These blogs I type are things the Lord works/is working on me about, and hope maybe they will help you also. I have definitely not mastered this life yet, not even close!;)

Strength In My Weakness

         2 Cor. 12:9 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." This is one of my favorite verses, especially in my own life. One of the things I inherited from one of my parents is something that has embarrassed me as long as I can remember. I have this very minor condition called 'action tremors'. This is a purely pride 'weakness' for me. Action tremors is defined as a tremor that increases when the hand (or leg) is in motion. Sometimes my hands will shake for no reason, other times it is intensified if I am nervous. I have been asked countless times if I am cold or nervous, when in reality I am neither, just trembling! When I have to hold hands with someone other than family (for prayer), I just know they are going to think I am a freak! ;) This can be VERY embarrassing, and is a reason I tend to like to be behind the scenes! I say this is a pride weakness, because it doesn't hurt or make me lose grip on things, it just makes me shake on the outside. I know without a shadow of a doubt the Lord gave me, and not any of my other siblings, this because He knew I would need to learn humility that only this could teach me. I sing in choir at my church, and my sister knows if I reach over and tap her foot it means share your book with me because I can't turn the page, for fear of dropping it because of my trembling hands. Getting up in front of anyone makes me nervous, which intensifies the trembling and anything I do with my hands looks like an earthquake is happening. For someone who is a control freak, not being able to control my own hands, and sometimes legs is a very humbling thing! God is so good, and knew I needed these lessons in humility.
          Honestly this is the least of my weaknesses, and lest you think I have a body full of sickness, I'm talking about in my spirit. I have SO many weaknesses that I see everyday, in my own strength I will never be able to win. As embarrassing as it is to shake uncontrollably, I am so much more embarrassed when I allow my weakness of my pride, discontentment, and many others to be seen to others. Because that means I chose to not allow the Lord to show His strength through me. I can't take a pill or do some remedy to stop my physical weakness,  but God has given me and you the best tools to win this battle every time. We so seldom decide to use His strength in our weaknesses every day. When you face the battle of discontentment, where do you run? Is it first to the TV, music, a friend or food to drown your sorrows? Or is it on your knees, or to the Bible? In every situation of life whether you have physical ailments, or just spiritual/emotional, God should be our source of comfort in each situation! He will give us the RIGHT answer, not just the one we want to hear! When the Lord becomes our strength, someone can say something unkind to us and we can sweetly respond. Knowing that if I was in my own strength I would have come back with something unkind. We have such a powerful God, and He wants to help us. When we choose to let Him be our strength, we avoid sin that we become that light of Jesus' power to the world.
            Now the rest of 2 Cor 12:9b & 10 "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." Wow even as I type this blog, I don't know that I have ever thanked God or taken pleasure for my action tremors, I'm quite sure I have not. I need to remember when I get up there and play the piano, or simply hold my song book in choir I am doing it through His strength, because I know on my own I would be quaking (literally ;)! I also don't know that I have thanked God for the times of discontentment, because they teach me to rely on God, even when I can't see the whole picture! I for sure haven't taken pleasure in them! There is so much instruction packed in these few verses! Maybe you have this under control and this is not really up your alley, I promise that it will be one day. You will come to a time when your life, physically and/or spiritually will become full of weaknesses. You can choose to live in your weaknesses and be depressed, or thank God for them knowing that His strength is what you will rely on, and learning the lessons He will teach you through each of them.



I know I need to work on being thankful for both my physical and spiritual weaknesses. Thanking God for His presence in my life, and for also teaching me through each weakness just how much I need Him more everyday.

**Disclaimer: I am in no way saying that my 'weakness' is the same as someone who has one or many physically painful conditions, but I believe the principle in these verses are the same if you have a physical weakness or spiritual/emotional weakness. The Lord doesn't specify what type of weaknesses He will be our strength in, it's all encompassing! :)

Is It Delightful?

         In my morning devotions a couple days ago I was in Psalms 119. As I was reading over and over the same phrase kept being repeated again and again. David was talking, and these phrases kept jumping out at me: "I will delight myself in thy commandments", "thy law is my delight", "thy testimonies are my delight". Then I realized, THIS is one of the reasons why David was called 'the man after God's own heart' in Acts 13:22b "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." I believe one of the reasons David was known as 'a man after God's own heart' was because David delighted to obey God's commandments, and loved His law (Bible). To delight is defined as 'something that gives great pleasure'. It gave David great pleasure to simply obey the Lord. Why? Because David had such a close walk with God, that when He displeased the Lord it broke his own heart. How sad it is when we obey God because it is our duty, and not because it is our pleasure to obey Him!
          As a parent, when you give your child something to do, it makes you very happy if they jump up with a smile on their face, and quickly go and do what you tell them to do with a pleasant attitude. In my mind I see this as the same way.
          Delighting in the Lord's commandments was a way of life, not just an occasional thing when he was in a good mood. Psalm 119:143 "Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights."  When David was running from Saul, he still delighted to obey the Lord. Oh how I desire to please my Savior and not just obey because it's what I'm supposed to do, but to delight in doing what He commands. There is a difference. You can obey God without taking pleasure in what He commands you to do. God wants all of us, including our hearts, just obeying with our bodies and leaving our hearts out of it is not what God desires.
         Does our love for the Lord go deep enough to delight, or take pleasure, in obeying Him? I Jn 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." Does it break your heart when you displease the Lord, or even just do what you are supposed to do with the wrong attitude? Another thing that impressed me was Psalm 119:136 "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law." How do you feel when someone hurts your husband, children, sibling? David had such a close walk with the Lord that he knew how much it hurt the Lord when others chose to disobey him, that he actually cried for the Lord. Does it break our hearts to see others disobey, or walk away from the Lord?


     

         

**This post goes along with my last post, but reading this chapter this past week in my devotions, made me see just with how much emotion David spoke with in these words. He understood just how important Gods Word was, and had a deep relationship with the Lord! David has always been one of my favorite characters in the Bible, because of his sincere devotion for the Lord. Yes David seemed to fall away at the end of his life, but the Lord still thought enough of Him to inspire Paul to call him 'a man after his own heart'. I have so much work to do in my own life, but I SO desire for the Lord to look down on my life and to be pleased with what He sees. I encourage you to read Psalms 119 sometime, and pay attention to David's emotion in this chapter. See how much He loved the Lord, and how many times he talks about loving and delighting in the Lord's commandments. I hope it touches and convicts you as much as it did me! :)

The Needful Wall

          My Dad started pastoring his first church when I was 9. So I have now been a Pastor's daughter longer than I have not, that is so neat to me! It has been a great privilege, but also comes with heartache. Life, no matter if you are in a position of responsibility or not, comes with times of heartache.
          When I was a teenager I became very hurt by different situations in the church. During different pastorates my Dad had, I would make friends and then lose them through different reasons in the ministry. I became very hurt and bitter. I realized I was becoming very bitter, and knew that would not end well! Through my parents and my daily devotion, God taught me many things. One of them being, unless I wanted to be a hermit, I needed to learn how to handle people. People are people, and they are not perfect and I am going to continually be hurt. The Bible says in Phil 3:3c ".... have no confidence in the flesh." Also it says in Prov 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." So I decided I must build a wall around my heart, to protect it. The Lord is warning us to guard our heart, so we are not a Christian who is easily discouraged, and not of use to our Lord. So I started strengthening my walk with God at this time, knowing the Lord was the only one who could help me do what felt impossible at the time. I wrote a poem for me to put up and remember that this wall must stay strong. (I am not a great poet, but this really helped me at that time.)

                 

      Every day of our lives people disappoint us: husbands, siblings, friends, pastors, and those you meet everyday. This wall was built in my life as a buffer against bitterness. This does not stop everything, sometimes there becomes a hole in the wall because of my lack of vigilance. This wall is built for things that may hurt me emotionally/physically and most importantly spiritually.
     This wall is not built to shut people out of our lives, but to shut out the hurt that is caused by them. So when we are confronted by an unkind person, or act we can respond as the Lord has taught us. This wall is built by the time we invest in reading His Word. The building of the wall consists of learning all we can from the Lord. Some of the lessons are: If we hang out with those we see are not living for the Lord we also will become like them; and when someone says something unkind, they really have a sick heart. These are just a few, but as you read His Word, the Lord will help you build this wall up tall. So when an attack is made against the wall it will stand as strong as ever, because it is built by principles from the Bible! When an attack is made it doesn't hurt me, because it hits the wall and doesn't affect me.
      This is such a simple truth, but so important. Keep your heart soft and pliable for the Lord to speak to you. If you have a hard heart, because you are harboring things done to you, or at you; you are unusable to Him. Get in His Word, and don't ever stop reading. There are attacks everyday and without the wall you have built, you will never survive the battle!

About Me

Hello all! I'm Jessica! I am a 23 year old piano teacher. God has blessed me so much! I am a Pastors' daughter, and love every minute of it. I am patiently (sometimes :D) waiting on God's will to be revealed in my life! My life centers around my service to my church, and most importantly my God! I actively serve in many capacities in my church!

 I am a girly girl through and through! I enjoy playing the piano, the color pink, shopping and watching sports! I hope through this blog I can help other Christians have a joyful Christian life, and gather any ideas to help make your life easier and fun! I've known no other life than the Christian life, but I can honestly say there is no better joy than to serve God with your life!
** I was encouraged by a few people to start a blog to share some ideas along with other things, so good or bad, here it is! :)

What Is Fabulously Living?

       In my opinion living the Christian Life is absolutely fabulous! As I've said before, it's all I have ever known and I could never thank my parents enough for following the Lord, and never wavering when things changed around them! This life is fabulous, after all the Lord lives in our hearts, and should be a daily companion throughout our day. I hope you have a daily relationship with Him, He so loves to hear from us to the very small matter to the biggest one! The Lord shouldn't be confined to when you read your Bible and meal time prayers! If Him living in our hearts is not enough to put a smile on your face, we also get to spend eternity with Him! That is just exciting to me!!!
        I sadly see so many Christians whether old or young who go through life with a frown on their face, and an overall negative attitude.This should not be said of a Child of God! (I tend to have a hard look, so I have to work hard at this part daily!)
        Whether you think (or feel) so or not, the Christian life is a fabulous life. However, living like it's fabulous is a daily, and sometimes hourly, choice! It does not just happen. We ALL have those days where everything is going wrong and it seems any minute the sky will fall on us, and we probably wouldn't mind! ;) These obviously are the hardest days to put a smile on our face and sweetly respond to the grouchy cashier, or whoever it may be! Those are the very days when we have to give all we have to be pleasant. One of my greatest examples in my life, my Mom, shows me this everyday! Recently I saw this happen before my eyes. At a store we frequent, there is a lady who bags groceries. A while back my Mom invited her to church and received a very cold response from her. However, my Mom every time we would go to the store, still would be happy and cheerful to this lady, no matter how she felt. Now every time we go in there, this lady looks for her just to talk to her. Why? Because this lady sees something different in my Mom that she can't quite figure out. My prayer is that one day another opportunity will come to witness to her.
       
     ***Here are some things that help me when I have those days that I just can't seem to get my attitude where it should be:
~ Read the Bible extra. 
     We can never get too much of the Bible!
~ Listen to God honoring music.
      Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;"
~Try to limit social media and tv shows.
     When your spirit is already having trouble, don't feed it something that's going to help that negative attitude grow.
~ Find a key word and find verses containing that word.
      When you are having a hard time with circumstances in life, find words like faith, trust, wait, etc... and look up the verses that have those words in them. Write them down, and memorize them if you can. This helps me immensely.
~ Do something for someone else.
     When you are discouraged and self focused, try focusing on someone else. When you see someone else's problems, it will most likely make you see just how little yours are!
~ Pray!
      Tell God what you're feeling and thinking, ask Him to help you. After all He loves you more than anyone! 1 Thess 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." James 5:13 "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms."
~ Quotes.
      After the Bible, I love quotes. I like to put quotes up where I can see them. They help me put my situation in perspective. Put different quotes or verses up where you can see them!

**We all have bad days, but we must have a consistent testimony to those around us!

**Please don't let your negative attitude hurt the cause of Christ. We are His ambassadors, an ambassador proudly represents their King!! I love to be around happy people, they make me happy! Whether you are a teen or older, put a smile on your face and represent our King proudly. Make the world wonder why you are so happy!
     So 'Fabulously Living' is a blog that I hope helps others to fabulously live as a Christian. Whether that be through encouragement, or just to laugh, I hope it helps you to see just how fabulous this life really is!!
    **** I certainly do not know it all, and welcome any ideas you may have. What helps you to fabulously live? Please comment below! :)    

Purposeful Opportunities

        This week has been a crazy busy week for us, as our church gets ready for Old Fashioned Sunday! So in the week leading up to this big Sunday, we put everything in high gear to get ready. Normal things still need to be done added with helping getting outfits ready, decorating, cleaning, prepping 6 different dishes for the lunch for Sunday........and praying, praying, praying for hearts to be open and that the Lord would bless!
        Earlier this week the Lord had impressed me to just go an extra mile, to personally give the Lord something to bless on Sunday. My commitment was to go out 2 times other than normally scheduled soulwinning events, to go pass out fliers inviting people to our big day! So my awesome siblings and I went out Wednesday and passed out fliers, and then decided we would do it again Friday. I am convinced the Devil was listening.....by that night I could feel a serious head cold coming in full force. Boy did it ever, I don't remember much of Thursday except I felt horrible. So today (Friday), I was better, but still didn't feel very well. So in my mind I had dismissed going out again, trying to pacify myself that one time was enough and I really shouldn't be out in the heat. Then the verse Eccl 5:5 ("Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?") popped in my head. Through the Lord's prompting, I had told Him I would go out twice. The Lord knew I was going to get sick, and still had impressed on me to do it.
        Could it possibly have been a little test from the Lord to see how far I would go to keep my vow to Him? (After all He went the farthest to keep His vow to me!) Or could it have been the devil trying to discourage me from my commitment? Either way I sure didn't want to let my Lord down! So, I jumped off that couch (so as to tell my cold who was in charge ;) ) and rounded up my sibling,s and away we went! I put a little treat in it for them and we worked down one street to the store grabbed some candy and drinks, and worked  back up another! Once we got finished, as any soulwinner knows, we were hot and sweaty....but there's no better feeling than obeying the Lord.
         This is not to tell everyone how great I am; because honestly I fail the Lord more than not! Most nights I sadly lay in bed and realize just how many opportunities God placed before me, that I just shrugged off! Thankfully His grace reaches down and comforts me, and reminds me to be aware of His guidance each and every day, instead of what "I" need to get accomplished that day! My small sacrifices each day are nothing compared to the ultimate sacrifice He gave in my place!
         This is probably a rambling post ( I'm blaming it on the cold ;)) but I really want to live this 'Fabulous Life' with purpose; accomplishing what God wants me to do each day, whatever it may be!  Passing each test He gives me each day, with flying colors; not succumbing to the road blocks the devil places in the path to stop me! You never know what excuse is an obstacle the Devil placed before your path, to keep you from the opportunity God placed before you!
  *1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"


    

This is my desire, that I would be so accustomed to listening to the Lords direction that other's would see Jesus!

You Believe What?!!

          I think at one time in every Christians life, we all must decide how God wants us to live, or what our convictions are. The Lord gives us His Word to show us what to believe, and why. Then we must be ready, because the devil is alive, and someone will come along to try to shake us from our belief.
         Since I was very young, my family has only worn skirts. So growing up, every activity we have done has been done in a skirt. I realize most people are shocked, but it isn't hard at all! It's all I have ever known. ;) My parents also taught us that wearing a skirt, doesn't make us a better Christian than anyone else, it is just simply a way they felt we could please God more.
        There came a time in my life when I was a teenager, being homeschooled at one time and also in a Christian school, that God impressed on my heart to search the Bible and see what God wanted me to believe. I tend to be a very visual person, If I see it, it will be stuck in my mind. So I sat down and as I would read Gods Word I would write down what God commanded me to do, and also the things that said "pleased Him". Those became my convictions. One of those decisions was concerning modesty, the decision to continue to wear only skirts throughout my life. This was my CHOICE that I believe would best please God, for me. (This is a personal decision between each person and God.) I remember after I made this decision, more people asked me why I had a skirt on  then I ever remember hearing. The answer had changed from "because my parents said so" to "because I believe this is how God wants me to dress". I believe in this very time God was putting me through a little testing to see if those decisions I had made to only Him, were going to be the same when confronted with the question.
         As I watch my younger sisters getting closer to adult age, I see God putting them through the same testing to see if the convictions they have been taught also, are going to be their own beliefs.They must start deciding what they will believe and why. Today was a time of testing for one of them. As we were shopping in a store today one of my sisters had wandered over to another section. There was a lady beside her shopping also, she looked at my sister and asked her how old she was. When she told her, the lady looked at my sister again and told her her clothes were too old for her, she needed to wear something fresh. My sister was a little saddened/embarrassed by this, growing up she's not had to deal with questions like this much. I believe just like the Lord did to me, He is also beginning to impress on my sister the need to settle what she believes. She will also have to answer this question: Is she dressing like this to obey rules, or because SHE believes this is what God wants her to do?
        This can be applied to any convcition in our lives, not just dress. Do you have convictions/beliefs that you do to please the Lord?
        Even if you've been a Christian many years, I encourage you to reaffirm your convictions; and know why! When you least expect it, someone will question them. You can look at that 2 ways: You can get mad that someone is asking you why, or you can look at it as a nudge from the Lord to make sure those beliefs are sure-footed in the Bible.
        If you are a new Christian and aren't sure what you believe, I encourage you to read God's Word and find out what, with an open heart. He will show you!
   **1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"

***The ultimate goal for every believer no matter what we do, is to please our Savior in everything we do.  I Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Homemade Pore Strips

      Today I am going to do a "girly post"! I love to do things that make me feel or look more like a girl! :) I am a Pinterest addict, and love getting ideas on there! So, last week I saw a homemade pore strip recipe I wanted to try. I was already making a trip to Publix for an ice cream run for the family, so I picked up what I needed for this while I was there!
      I don't have a flawless face, and so am always looking for ideas to help! This recipe is supposed to be like the Biore pore strips, but this is much cheaper, which I am always looking for! ;) This actually turned out really well, although I learned a few things NOT to do! So I am going to share this with you, with my own added helps that I found out!:)


Making Your Own Pore Strips 



I actually didn't used the glass bowl, I just did it all in the disposable cup! Less dishes is always great!:)

Pore Strip Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Unflavored Gelatin
- 1-2 Tablespoons Milk (any kind)


 

1. Place 1 Tablespoon of Unflavored Gelatin into a disposable container.
2. Add 1-2 Tablespoon milk into gelatin. (FYI, mixture smells horrible :D )
3. Mix this up quickly until it is a chunky consistency.
4. Microwave mixture for 10-15 seconds. Test temperature, and apply immediately to your face. This hardens fast!
5. Once mixture has dried, peel it off.

~ You can put the paste all over your face, or in sections. I personally, after trying this suggest to put the mixture on a section of your face at a time. I put the mixture all over my face, and oh my, that was horrible! The gelatin mixture dries so fast. Once it has dried on your face, you can't move your face at all without feeling like your face is breaking off. Also, the peeling off can be quite painful. So I highly suggest doing it by sections, or you may be sorry! :) My face was so hot and red after peeling this off, I was rubbing ice on my face! So PLEASE do sections! ;)
~ I would definitely recommend these pore strips to clear your face of blackheads and dirt. I will definitely be doing this again, but just mainly on my nose and chin! Your skin will feel just like a baby's skin!:)

My Piano Lesson

        Wednesday nights during the school year, I usually play the piano for the services. So tonight like every other Wednesday night, I started playing the song, and went through it a couple of times, and then I started looking around at everyone in the auditorium, as I was playing. I was looking at who was there, where they were sitting, who was in charge of the sound booth....and away my thoughts ran. Then suddenly I couldn't remember what part of the song I was on, was it the verse or chorus!? I was starting to panic and searching the music, but couldn't remember. So I picked a place and started playing where I hoped was right......it definitely was NOT! The sound was chaotic! Anyone listening knew I wasn't paying attention, and it sure didn't help to prepare hearts to worship the Lord!
         As I kept thinking about this later, and chiding myself; the Lord gently reminded me how closely this relates to life! Specifically what has been on my mind lately. Social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, pinterest and others keep us in touch with what is happening in everyone else's life. Since I don't have a facebook or twitter, for me it was a close friend that is getting married this weekend, and another one younger than me married and pregnant! A lot of times these happenings in others' lives leads to discouragement in our own lives, or bitterness against God for giving someone else a "better" or "easier" life than us! We get so worried about what others are doing, that we aren't focused on the life God has placed before us! When I look at others lives I am not paying attention to the tasks God has placed before me, and if I am doing them, it's definitely not to His glory. God has given us each a different path to follow. If I am not married at 19, like friends are, doesn't mean I'm backwards or even that they are wrong, it simply means God's will is different for each us!
          Psalms 40:8a, "I delight to do thy will, O my God:..... Do I "delight" to do His will? When His will is to simply play a song for service, scrub toilets, or to just patiently wait on Him; am I delightful, or happy about these things? Hmmm I will have to work on this! :)
         As I am supposed to focus on the song I am playing, and not on what is happening around me; so also in my life I need to focus on the tasks for the day, and doing each to the best of my ability to the glory of the Lord!  This is such a simple "lesson", but a lesson that the Lord is still working on me daily, to be content in His will!

Philippians 4:11 "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."


               
I love this quote! So my task ahead of me is to focus on the jobs God has placed before me each day, and to praise God while I am in the "hallway" doing them!

Faith

In order to live fabulously in Christ, we must be a part of His family! I was saved as a 13 year old girl at my house in Crowley, LA. I realized my lost condition and accepted Christ as my Savior! That was the happiest day of my life! Since then I have graduated high school and now currently serve in the church my dad pastor's, Victory Baptist Church. There is no greater joy than to serve the Lord every day of my life! I pray that if you don't know Jesus as your Savior, please read this simple plan of salvation!

1. Recognize your condition - know that you are a sinner.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
No person is good enough to go to Heaven on his own merit. No matter how good you are, you will still fall short.

2. Know that there is a penalty for your sin.
“For the wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23)
Just as there are wages for good, there is a punishment for wrong. The penalty for our sin is eternal death in a place called Hell. 

3. Know that Christ paid the penalty.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Christ’s love for us was shown when He died on the cross to pay our debt. He alone could do that.

4. Trust Jesus Christ as your Savior.
“...But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
"That is thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9 and13)
Everlasting life is a gift that was purchased by the blood of Jesus and offered freely to those who call upon Him by faith. 

Let me help you in a word of prayer. (Realize it’s not mere words that save you, but it is your faith in Jesus Christ.)

Dear Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner and i deserve Hell, but right now by faith, I trust You as my Savior and my only hope for Heaven. Please forgive me for my sins. Jesus, come into my heart and save my soul from Hell. I’m trusting in You and You alone to take me to Heaven when I die. Thank you for saving me. Amen!

If you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, I would be happy to know! Email me at jesshall90@gmail.com