Prayer

I honestly didn't know what I was going to write about, until about 7:00 PM on Sunday evening! I felt like I had nothing, nothing that was important enough o share with you all. Nothing that would make a difference, or impact anyone. I felt desperate! I thought about it for about a quarter of a second, and I came to these conclusions. Here I was, stressing out about writing something...what was I supposed to be writing about? God, and what he has been teaching me! What was I doing right now? Stressing out, and relying on myself to figure out what to write about...even though this is all supposed to be about God! Wake up call! I immediately sent up a small prayer asking for forgiveness and guidance on what God wanted me to write about. A split second after I opened my eyes, a thought came to my mind, “The power of prayer is so amazing!”. Bingo! God answered immediately!

What Is Prayer?

Prayer: In worship, a solemn address to the Supreme Being, consisting of adoration, or an expression of our sense of God's glorious perfections, confession of our sins, supplication for mercy and forgiveness, intercession for blessings on others, and thanksgiving, or an expression of gratitude to God for his mercies and benefits. A prayer however may consist of a single petition, and it may be extemporaneous*, written or printed. (Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary).

When I think of prayer, usually I think of asking for something from God. But Prayer is supposed to be so much more then that. Prayer talking to God, praising Him, asking for forgiveness from him, asking for blessings on yourself and others, and giving Him thanks for everything. I was taught the acronym ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Notice that the asking for things part comes last. First praising God, confessing your sin to him, giving him thanks for what amazing things he has done in your life, and then asking him for blessings, etc. When we first praise, confess, and thank Him, we get a better mindset before we go asking for things. If when we pray, all we do is ask for things, that can't build our relationship with God that much! Imagine if you had a friend, and all they did was ask for stuff all the time. They never said thank you, they never wanted to have any kind of conversation, other then asking for things...How would that make you feel? It would make me feel used, and annoyed! I wouldn't feel appreciated at all! Think of how God must feel when all we do is ask for things all the time. He is the creator of the universe, he made all these things for us to enjoy, and we're always asking for more, and never thanking him for what he's given us already, never praising him for who he is, and never getting real with him about how we have sinned. Yet he stills loves us despite our lack of appreciation for him! Unlike us, who wouldn't stay friends with someone like ourselves very long, God not only listens and answers our prayers, but he also loves us, despite our selfish attitude!

God Answers Prayer

There was this time when I was about 10, that we (we meaning, Mom and us 6 kids) were driving in the van, and Dad was in his car. I remember mom answering her phone, and sighing heavily as she heard that Dad had just been pulled over for speeding. There was no hope of just getting a warning, because he had gotten a few tickets for the same problem recently. We were in a tough financial position, and a ticket was not something we needed at that point! After mom got off the phone, she told us that we were going to meet Dad, so that they could talk. I knew that it wasn't good that Dad was getting another ticket. I had been testing God a lot at that point, and I wanted proof that he did answer prayers, so I told him that if I was going to believe that he did answer prayers, that Dad wouldn't get this ticket. When we got the place where Mom and Dad were meeting up, Dad was leaning up against his car waiting. Dad got into the passenger seat, and before he could say anything, Mom asked, “How much is it?”. Dad then said something remarkable, “I didn't get a ticket!”. I wish I could relay the amount of surprise that was on both of their faces at that moment. Dad went on to say he didn't know why the officer had not given him a ticket, he said maybe she had been touched by his telling her that he was pushing the speed so that he could go and see his wife sooner. I of course knew why she hadn't, it was because God was proving to me that he does answer prayer. Though I did not accept Christ as my personal savior until I was 14, I always remembered that as a proof of God's faithfulness to us. God does answers prayers, though, that doesn't mean that he always answers how we want, or expect him to, but he always will answer prayer!

2Corinthians 12:8-9

“8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.'...”

Paul, begged God to remove the thorn in his flesh, but God said no. God will not always answer yes to our prayers, sometimes it wont make sense to us, but the answer is still no. We may not understand then, but we will in a future day, on this earth, or in heaven. God told Paul, that His strength was made perfect through Paul's weakness. We may not understand fully why the answer is no, but it is for the best, even if it doesn't feel like it right then. God is all knowing, and though from our point of view we may not understand completely why things happen the way they do, God does, and he knows what is best for us! God sees the big picture, we don't.

And God, of course, will not always say no! Take this example from Acts 12.

Acts 12:5 12-16

“5Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him....12And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. 13And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 14And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15And they said unto her, 'Thou art mad'. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, 'It is his angel.'. 16But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.”

For background, King Herod had imprisoned Peter, within four quaternions of solders. There was no way he was getting out! Yet the Christians kept praying, asking for the release of Peter. An Angel of the Lord came while Peter was sleeping, and broke his chains, and led him out without any fuss. Peter thought it must have been a vision, but he soon realized that it was true, he was free! Peter immediately went to the place where the Christians were gathered, and knocked on the gate, to tell them the good news. The girl Rhoda who came the the gate, was so excited to see Peter, that instead of opening the gate for him, she ran inside and told everyone that he was standing outside! Now here is where it gets really interesting, the Christians wouldn't believe her! They called her mad, and said that it must be Peter's angel. They wouldn't believe that God had actually answered their prayer, and released Peter! When they finally came out to the gate and saw him, they were astonished! They were surprised at God's faithfulness! God reminded them of the power of prayer; he reminded them that he does answer prayer, and he reminded them of his love for them, all by rescuing Peter from King Herod.

*I am including the definition of extemporaneous because I didn't know what it meant until I had looked it up, so I thought it might be helpful for you too.

Extemporaneous: Composed, performed or uttered at the time the subject occurs, without previous study; unpremeditated; as an extemporaneous address; an extemporaneous production; an extemporaneous prescription. (Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

To Be Continued Next Week....

Asking for help

Asking for help

Recently a very sad piece of news has reached our home... my great aunt passed away. She had pancreatic cancer and had been struggling with it for 3 years before the Lord took her home. I remember hearing about it 3 years ago when she was given 6 months to live... I remember our whole family praying for her. I remember hearing results from test after test saying things were getting better, then worse, then better, then worse again... I remember having a hard time realizing that God can take anyone at any time, but I also remember knowing that my Aunt Nancy had the one thing she needed to have before she could die, she had Jesus living in her heart and she was prepared to see Him in glory. Thinking back just 2 years ago when she posted on facebook how surprised she was that she had lived 6 months longer than the doctors had anticipated I remember what she was saying... she kept saying how she was hoping she could live to the next family reunion... 6 more months away, she was praying that she would get to see her family again before she died and would get to say goodbye... well, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and slowly but surely family reunion came. Oh how happy our entire family was to see our dearly loved and treasured aunt there with us! We were all so happy to see her there, and on the weekend of her birthday too! We made a HUGE card and all 110 of us signed it, we made cake and sung to her, she had her last wish, to make it to family reunion. She told us she was ready to go home and be with Jesus. But there was no way she was leaving without us praying for her, our entire family got in the same room and put her in a chair in the middle, then we all reached out our arms and held her, everyone was praying, some prayed out loud, some quietly, we prayed for a long time, probably 20-30 minutes, praying for her healing, but that God'd will would be done. It was hard, there were many tears, and hugs. I have attached a picture below of a close up on the group, Aunt Nancy is the one in the middle. :') 
Ever since family reunion Ruthie in particular at our house is always praying for Aunt Nancy... her death has caused Ruthie alot of tears... while we were driving home from Sunriver today we heard crying in the back of the car, and there was little Ruthie bawling... While the rest of us remembered how excited Aunt Nancy was to be with Jesus Ruthie was having a particularly hard time grasping the fact that she was gone. 
There is a facebook group used mainly for prayer requests that I am a part of... I found myself getting ready to post a prayer request for my family on there but kept stopping myself... It seems we are alot faster to ask for help for someone other than ourselves, when my brother broke his leg, I posted asking for prayer for him, but when I'm the one hurting for some reason we seem to not want other people to know we are in pain so we keep out hurt inside of us... Sometimes we feel like we can deal with it on our own, or maybe we feel like we're being selfish to ask for help... I don't know, whatever it is, I have rarely seen people post about problems they're having. But we should not feel guilty for asking for help... I guess it's hard to realize other people will want to help. 
On that note, please be praying for my family and all of Nancy's friends. She was excited to see Jesus and we are trying to rejoice with her. :)

A small piece of a MUCH bigger picture

A small piece of a MUCH bigger picture

What have you done in the past 7 days? I've gone to the beach with friends, gone to church, worked at VBS and had a few water wars with siblings... along with the beach came preparation for that, I had to take an hour to organize the things I needed to take with me, discuss plans of getting to and from our meeting place... it took planning and time. Imagine for a second going on a 1 month cruise, it'd be great, right? Now think about all the work you'd have to put into getting ready for it! Yikes! That would take forever! Now imagine just speaking all those details and having it all done. When God made the world He didn't have to prepare for a long time before making everything, he didn't have to make a last minute stop at lowes to make sure he had all the potting soil to put on the earth, he didn't have to make sure the pluming was working so that the oceans would exist, all He had to do was speak and things were made. This is our powerful, powerful God. 
Try to think about this as we dig into God's word... 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
King of Glory, Divine majesty,
Every perfection adorns thy nature and sustains thy throne;
the heavens and earth are thine,
the world is thine in it's fullness.
they power created the universe from nothing;
the wisdom has managed all its multiple concerns, presiding over nations, families, and individuals.
Thy goodness is boundless;
All creatures wait on thee, are supplied by thee, are satisfied through thee.
How precious are the thoughts of thy mercy and grace!
How excellent thy loving-kindness that draws men to thee!
Blessed be thy name!
- Arthur Bennet, The Valley of Vision
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 1: Genesis 1:3-5
On day 1 God creates the light and dark... I was thinking about this and realizing that my mental image of this was ALL WRONG! 
You see when we imagine nothing, we imagine big dark nothing-ness! like a black hole or something... Suddenly I remembered that dark nothing-ness wouldn't make any sense, because there was no darkness yet! But there wasn't light either, so it's not even imaginable what it would've been like! Our God is so powerful, He created light and darkness for our WHOLE world, He had it all planned out so that everything would fit together, he was getting the world prepared for what was going to happen over the next 6 days. 

Day 2: Genesis 1:6-8
On the second day God creates the skies and the waters... I was reading through Genesis and I realized that is never says that the earth had been made yet, so any insight on this would be appreciated! As far as I can understand, day 1 was dark and light (no earth) day 2, is water and sky... so was the earth made on day 2? Or was there a big water bubble floating around in the non existent space? (no sun moon and stars yet) And somehow the sky and water is being separated, its seems crazy! It IS impossible... but not for our God! 

Day 3: Genesis 1:9-13
Now is when God creates the land, everything seems to be falling into place, God has created water for the plants, so they can live, but wait, they have no sunlight yet! Plants need oxygen (check!), water (check!), and sunlight (no check..) hmmm... How was this all possible? It's amazing the way everything fits together, even though at first, it seems crazy... 

Day 4: Genesis 1:14-19
When God creates the sun he knows exactly where to put it so it won't burn us to a crisp, but we also won't freeze to death! And to think some people believe its made by a big BANG!  So day 4 God makes the sun, now the plants from day 3 will be able to survive! Perfect timing! God also places the moon in the sky and that helps to balance out the waters. Now there is a bright light to help us see during the day, and another light to help us during the night! Isn't God so creative?!?!?!

Day 5: Genesis 1:20-23
On day five God creates creatures that fly, and creatures that swim... now, these creatures need somewhere to live, right? Good thing God thought ahead! He made a place for the birds to fly, and the fish to swim just 3 days before He actually made them! Isn't that amazing? I've thought before about getting a fish, and one day I was actually standing in front of the fish tank looking inside at those little creatures... I was standing there, getting ready to pick one out when my mom came up to me and said "you'll need a tank to put that, you know..." I had completely forgotten that my new pet would need somewhere to live! I couldn't put him in the dog's house, he had to have a tank to swim in, or else he would die! Without my mom reminding me of the importance of a tank for my fish Jack would've come home without a home to go into! I needed someone to remind me that what I was about to get needed a place to live, but did God need anyone to remind him? Nope! He knew it all on his own!

Day 6: Genesis 1:24-31
"Then God said 'let the earth bring forth the living creature according to it's kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to it's kind'" close your eyes for a moment, imagine a big empty parking lot, now imagine a cow standing in the middle of it... can you imagine that? Of course you can! Cause it's all in your head! You can imagine it, but can you make that happen? can you make a cow come out of nowhere and land in the middle of a parking lot? It's hard to imagine what it must've been like, out of nowhere, cows, horses, pigs, dogs, lizards, rabbits and dinosaurs popping up out of nowhere! :O Mind boggling! But that's not the end of day 6, I'm sure we can all agree what God had done so far was amazing, but God wasn't done yet... He still had one very important thing to do, He created man in HIS image, it says in the Bible he gave man (Adam) dominion over all the living things, he gave Adam control and authority of all that was on the earth. He asked Adam to name that animals... I'm sure that would've been a sight to see! Since there was no set of what animals were he could've called the small quiet bunny a cougar! or the lion a mouse. how funny would that be? haha! Adam was given a huge responsibility, God was putting in Adam's hands the world, giving him control of all the animals and plants... this may seem like a HUGE responsibility now... but think for a second, if you had to babyist your siblings for 1 year, but there were never any problems (sin) no one could get kidnapped, no one could choke on a grape, no one could fall and hurt themself, they couldn't fight, would that be a huge problem? it woulnt be a problem at all! you could sit back and KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were all safe. Adam was given a perfect world, there should've been no problems... right? 

I should have the next part to this post up in a week or so. :)

Forgiveness

Sometimes it's just so hard to accept someones forgiveness. We feel like we need to do something to prove that we should be forgiven! Do we think that we have something to prove? Like we need to show everyone we're worthy of God's forgiveness? When in reality, we can't prove that we're worthy of it, 'cause we're not! How do we get the mentality that we have to be good enough? We can never be good enough, we as humans, are inherently sinful! Nothing we can do is enough to make us worthy of God's forgiveness! That would be like saying God is obligated to forgive us! We need to realize that nothing we do will ever make us good enough for heaven. Only God can do that! We by ourselves will never be good enough, strong enough, smart enough, anything enough to make our way into heaven. The forgiveness that God offers to us is absolutely free. He doesn't want us to prove something to him or anyone else. God only wants us to look to his son, Jesus, with faith, and thanksgiving. He doesn't want us to work for it, the work has already been done!

Ephesians 2:8-9

“8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God:9not of works, lest any man should boast.”

If this was because of something we did, we would be prideful, and full of ourselves. Where is God in that? If forgiveness was given to us because we were good enough...it wouldn't be forgiveness! The definition of forgive: To pardon; to remit an offense or debt: to overlook an offense, and treat the offender as not guilty.

And forgiveness: The act of forgiving; the pardon of an offender, by which he is considered and treated as not guilty. (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).

Do either of these definitions say anything about you having to do something to gain forgiveness? No! They say that the offended (God) overlooks, treats us as if it had never happened! What about the part where it says “To remit an offense or debt”? That indicates (and rightfully so) that an offense was made (sin), and that we owe something to God. So, if we owe something to God, can't we just pay it off like any other debt?

Matthew 18:23-27

“23Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying,. 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all'. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.”

This king saw that his servant couldn't pay him off, and he ordered his servant to pay the price for that. The servant, his wife, children, and all his things, were to be sold off to help pay this enormous debt of 10,000 talents (back then that was millions and millions of dollars). It was an unpayable debt for the servant, he would never have been able to pay it off not matter what he did, and the king knew that. This servant got on his knees and begged for patience from the king. But the king gave him more then that, he gave him forgiveness. The king forgave this unpayable debt his servant owed him! Imagine it...that is like China just forgiving the U.S.'s debt to them of about 1.6 Trillion dollars! This king, forgave the debt, and saw his servant as debt free! That is what Christ has done for us. We have a unpayable debt to him because of our sin, something that we can never pay off it is so huge, but God in mercy payed the debt himself, and forgave us, all we have to do is accept it! That is right, God wont see a spot of sin on us if we just accept the fact that he has forgiven us!

Luke 11:4

“And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us...”

Ephesians 4:32

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

Colossians 3:13

“Forbearing on another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”

We are told to forgive others. Now, when we forgive someone, well, a lot of the time wesay that we've forgiven them, but in our hearts we really haven't. Maybe we treat them differently then we did before because of what we were supposed to forgive them for. Does that seem like the same kind of forgiveness that God has shown us? He treats us as if we had never done anything wrong! When we treat someone differently after we've “forgiven” them, then we haven't actually forgiven them. You're still holding on to some of your hurt. Now lots of people will tell you that you have every right to hold a grudge, but God says you don't. Anything anyone could ever do to you can't compare to what we did to Jesus. If God can forgive us completely for our grievous offense against him, how is it that we can hold on to the hurt?

Matthew 18:28-33

“28But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me that thou owest'. 29And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.'. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, 'till he should pay the debt. 31So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, 'O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?”

When I read this account of the servant, who was forgiven by his king for 10,000 talents, and then he went and threw his fellow servant into prison for owing him 100 pence, I feel rather angry at him. Here he was, forgiven of a enormous debt, and then he turns around the next second and throws this other man in prison, over 100 pence? Looking at that I see how unrighteous this action was after what his master had done for him. But thinking about it more, that is exactly what we do when we don't forgive each other. Our unpayable debt was forgiven, but we turn around and can't forgive tiny things in comparison that we find in each other. We're no better then this servant was!

Matthew 18:21-22

“21Then came Peter to him, and said, 'Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? 'Til seven times?' 22Jesus saith unto him, 'I say not unto thee, until seven times: but until seventy times seven.'”

Zachariah 7:9

“Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts , saying, 'Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:'”

7X70 = 490. We are asked to forgive every person 490 times, per day. Even when it feels impossible, keep forgiving. God forgave the unforgivable, us. We as his people are to forgive everyone their trespasses against us also. Not for our glory, to show off how “good” we are, but for God's glory, to show how good he is. When you let something go, when you forgive someone, sometimes it just feels like you're losing the battle against that person, and you can't see how it glorifies God. We need to get passed our fleshly response that tells us that forgiving is for quitters. We forgive because God forgave us. We didn't deserve forgiveness, but God gave it to us anyway. We are the picture of Christ to this world, if we don't forgive, we are not showing them a very pleasing picture of God, we give him a bad name through our unforgivness. Forgive, it shows God's love in us, and shows others that God is indeed a forgiving and gracious God to all. If we as humans are able to forgive, what wonders God is able to do! Forgive because God first forgave us.
~Bekah

Character VS. Charisma

We all want to do something that inspires others. We want to add something to our world. What we don't realize is that a lot of people don't have to recognize you, for this to happen.

"It's amazing what you can accomplish, if you don't care who gets the credit.”

-Unknown. Commonly attributed to Ronald Reagen, Harry S Truman, Ralph Waldo Emmerson, John Wooden, and others.

I love that quote. It's so true! Notice something, anyone of these men might have coined this phrase, but no one actually knows who said it. No one got the credit!

We all have influence, we all effect to world around us. Every one of us touch people everyday, and those people touch other people, and those people touch other people! Just because we might not be able to see everything that we change, doesn't mean there isn't a lot happening because of us. The people we touch, touch others, these people probably don't even know who you are, but by your influence on your friends, and their influence on their friends, you have influenced your friends friends...that sounded slightly confusing, hopefully you followed me there! You have influenced so many people that you don't even know exist! Now, we can have good, or bad, influence, it's up to you. Not sure about you, but I've noticed that when I'm grumpy, other people react to my grumpiness, they get grumpy too most of the time. I influenced them by my attitude. So, now that person is now grumpy, because they reacted to my grumpiness. And then, others will react to their grumpiness, now you have a chain effect. When we have a bad attitude, it effects more people then we realize.

I personally am an optimist, I tend to see the good in things, and try to lessen the bad side of things. (Not that I'm saying I'm always a bright ray of sunshine or something!). When I walk through a store, I randomly make eye contact with people, and give them a big smile! I love to watch the expression on their faces when they realize that I was actually smiling at them. It's a novel idea to them...a random girl smiling at you? Sometimes they just stare for a second, and then turn away. Other times they can't help but smile back, and I will see them a little later in a different part of the store, and they'll be the one to smile at me first! I influenced them, I made their day better! I actually have a specific instance, that just happened a few days ago.

As some of you know, my family and I, are house sitting in Warrenton (which is close to Astoria...it's on the coast) until Wednesday. On Thursday we went to this store called Deals Only (fitting name btw!). While we were there, I saw a little Hispanic girl, I smiled at her of course, and her eyes got big and she went and hid behind a stand. A little while later I saw her again, peaking her head out behind a corner, looking at me. I smiled again. This time she ran off to her mom. I don't know much spanish, but I know enough (thanks to my friend Tasha!) to understand most of what the little girl said to her mom. She said something like “Mama, bonita sonrisa senora!”. Those are just the words I caught...grammatically that doesn't make much sense, because translated that says “Mother, pretty smile Woman”. But, because of how much I understood, I knew that because I had smiled at this little girl, she was telling her mother about me, telling her that I had a pretty smile. The little girls mom looked over where the girl was pointing at me, and gave me a curious look, and a smile.

For those of you who went to WorldView, this wont be new, but I want to share some of what I learned there with you all, these are my notes from the last lecture, I hope you all enjoy!

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The Driven Leader

Leadership is influence.

Charisma- Charming or inspiring quality.

Character- Moral nature or strength; reputation.

King Saul and King David

King Saul had great charisma, he was charming, good-looking, the best looking guy in all of Israel!

1 Samuel 9:2 “And he had a son, who's name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel and goodlier person then he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher then any of the people”.

King David was also good-looking.

1 Samuel 16:12 “And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, 'Arise, anoint him: for this is he.'”

In the bible, when God has something described, it's worth noting. Jewish people didn't care about what things looked like, they cared about what it meant to you. So when something is noted for what it looks like, it has to be spectacular. Both of these men had both great Charisma, and great Character, but one of them was the greater.

The “Affected Field” around an individual which includes relationships, institutions, environment, and resources. Leadership is just strait influence. You don't have to be outgoing to be a great leader, everyone is a leader, because leadership, is influence, and we all have influence. Your sphere of influence makes a big difference.

God ordered Saul to destroy the Amalekites, not to save anything, destroy it all. There were no exceptions made, and Saul knew that, but his men made the killer argument... “Aw, come on!”. So Saul took live stock to improve his animals, and took the King of the Amalekites captive. And he lied to Samuel saying that he took nothing.

1 Samuel 15:24 “And Saul said unto Samuel, 'I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.'”

King Saul had all the influence, he didn't have to listen to his men, but he did listen to them. He let his people influence his decision, when he was to follow the Lord's commandment first.

Skip ahead a little to when King Saul is chasing David around. King Saul hated David, because the people love him, and he believed the lies that David wanted over rule him, and cast him off the throne. King Saul right after a battle against the Philistines, was told that where he could find David. So Saul took 3,000 chosen men, out of all Israel, to go and find David. King Saul and his 3,000 men were approaching the place where David and his men were, there was no where for them to go, except the caves, so that's what David and his men did, they hid in a cave. The King and his men stop, they don't know that David and his men are up in the caves, so the King went up to one of the caves to “relieve” himself (being in armor all day, riding horses non stop, caves were a welcome place to go for some privacy). But the cave that King Saul went to, was the cave that David and his men were hidden in! David's men urged David to kill the King, saying that God had delivered him into his hand to do what seemed fit to him. David crept up behind the King, but instead of killing him, he just cut off a piece of his robe, and then slunk back into the shadows with his men. David immediately started to feel bad about what he had done, he had harkened to the voice of his men, and though he had not killed the King, he had stretched his hand and touched his master, the Lord's anointed one, King Saul. David held his men back from attacking Saul with these words, that Saul was still the Lord's anointed, and their King. Saul left the cave and went down to the 3,000 men, and as he reached the bottom, David came out of the cave and called to him “My lord the King!”. The King turned and looked to see David bow himself to the ground. Then David said these words to Saul

1 Samuel 24:9 “9And David said to Saul, 'wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold David seeketh thy hurt? 10Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee, but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put froth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed. 11Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of they robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 12The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.14 After whom is the King Of Israel come out? After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after flea. 15The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.”

King Saul, a Charisma driven leader, was influenced by the sphere, King David, a Character driven leader, influenced the sphere by not killing King Saul. (Read the rest of the story in 1 Samuel 24:16-22, or read the whole chapter!).

Charisma driven leader has realities, their reality is constantly changing to fit what others want, they have no real truth, and no integrity.

A Character driven leader has one reality, they get on board with the real, reality.

“Christianity is not just a series of truths, but Truth. Truth about all reality.”-Francis Schaffer

Charisma seeks popularity, they will go with what the people want. And they care who gets the credit. Like when you have a brilliant idea, and someone tells another person, but doesn't tell that person where they got the idea, and then that person tells someone else, who tells the entire class, but they don't know who came up with the idea. But you do...so you say, “Oh, yeah, well, that was my idea, no biggie though. Great idea right?”. Charisma wants everyone to know that they're smart, who they are, what they've done. Charisma seeks recognition.

Character seeks righteousness. Character seeks to have justice, they don't care who gets the credit, they care about what is right.

Righteousness and Recognition. Righteousness might come with recognition, but it doesn't need to.

Charisma seeks rights. They want their rights, not to do things, to do what they want, they seek rights.

Character seeks responsibility, they don't have to do the right thing, they have the right not to, but they seek responsibility. Character, seeks to serve.

Charisma burns up resources, it's is constantly taking things in, eating everything up that comes their way.

Character gives out, it is constantly pouring out to others.

Charisma seek relations. To be acquainted with as many people as they can.

Character seeks relationships. Relationships take work, they involve getting to really know people, they involve truth, and responsibility.

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We are all a bit of both Charisma and Character. But we should try to be a Character driven leader, not a Charisma driven leader, who is self serving. As Christians we are to called to be selfless, to love others more then ourselves, Charisma does exactly the opposite of that.

Love in Christ,

~Bekah

It's so Easy to go

Lately the Eddy family has been in my heart and prayers...

They lost 19 year old Joshua at the Rogue River on May 5th, just 3 weeks ago... Joshua was brother and friend to lots of people and was loved by his family and friends dearly, although I never met the young man I was inspired by his blog posts and decided to create my own. I've been thinking about how we can all go so quickly. God can call us home at any given day and though there will be mourning on earth there will be happiness in heaven.

I was watching Josh's memorial service online tonight on http://joshuaeddymemorial.com/ and I couldn't stop the tears from falling as I saw the bittersweet words his sister wrote in the song for him. I was thinking to myself, "Just as easily as Josh went, one of my own brothers could go, Caleb, Ben, Isaac or even little Valor..." then came the sudden thought, losing one of my brothers would be traumatizing, but what about losing my dad?  Where would I be without these people who have impacted my life so greatly? Would I have the strength God gave 15 year old Mariah? Or would I sulk in my room all day? I could easily list 15 people who, if even ONE of them were to go would make me feel empty. But, now I must ask myself, Are these people around me what I need to feel whole? Or should I feel whole in the Only One who can truly make me whole? I suppose we are all blinded by the world in our belief that we need each other to be something in life when, in reality all we need is Christ, and through Christ we will have what we truly need. 

Phillipians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. So why is it that we search out earthly things instead of pursuing Christ in our daily life?

I will not lie, I do not read my Bible every day, unless you count the occasional posting of scripture on social networking sites, Christ is not the center of my life but he SHOULD be. I, like many people "get busy" we are so preoccupied by our simple daily lives that we forget about God, and the fact that He gives us each and every day. He gives us each day so why don't we use them to glorify Him? If you knew Christ was coming to take you home today would you still act the same way? If God was watching you this very second would you take that last brownie? Would you click on that webpage? Well guess what? He is watching you right now, so do you want to have to account for those things someday, since he knows when we lie there is no way to get around the wrong things we've done in God's eyes. We should account for each moment of each day so that someday when we see God face to face He will say "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" We can go any day, any minute, any second,  Just as easy as it was for God to take Joshua home He can take you and me, Are you prepared to account for every moment of your life? Are you pleased with what God is seeing? Right now, one of the best things we can do to account for that time is spend it growing closer to God. Taking every thought captive for Christ.
I have attached a picture of Josh below... 

- Emma

Where should I put my trust?

Psalm 62: 5-8 (KJV)

"5My soul, wait though only upon God: for my expectation is from him. 6He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah."

I "Discovered" this psalm 8 weeks ago on Thursday morning...I read it, and wrote down what the verses meant to me (you'll see that below). What is super duper cool, is that on the following Sunday, one of the men from our church (Mr. Keastner) spoke on it!! I was totally floored when I heard him stand up and say "Turn with me to Psalm chapter 62 please..." And then proceed to read exactly those verses which I have up there...and then to even go as far as to say almost the same exact things as I had written down for them myself! Talk about God moving!! I just think it was super cool that I had just been reading it, and enjoying it, and then Mr. Keastner stood up and shared my exact thoughts with everyone!...and now for what I have to say about these verses ;-)

Verse 5: Don't put your trust-expectation-into anyone, or thing, but God. Only God is sure, and faithful. Only in God can you be sure that the promises he makes will be fulfilled. Anything in this world can go away in a instant, Money, People, Things, so don't invest in things of this world, but only in the things of God! God says that if you trust in him he will bless you. 1 Timothy 6: 18-19 says "That they do good, that they be rich

in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."  This I believe is saying that by our good works for God, we lay up a foundation (or treasure) for ourselves. We have assurance of Heaven through Jesus Christ, but what will there be in Heaven waiting for us if we don't work for God on this earth? God will bless us in heaven for what we do for him here.

Verses 6-7: I personally love these verses because they are telling us we have a sure foundation. God is our salvation, not ourselves, he is the rock of our strength. We don't have to depend on anyone or anything, other then him for strength! He is our defence, we can lean on him in the hard times, he will defend us against our enemy's, if we stand upon God, we will not be moved! Our God can not be moved, and when we stand upon him we can't be moved either. Our refuge is in God, he is our steadfast father, willing to listen, our resting place. He is our refuge.

Verse 8: God wants us to trust in him, always. Not just when we agree with him, always. Through the hard times, through the good times, always. Follow him, no matter where. Abraham left his home and went where God told him to, and God blessed him. We seem to think we know what's best for us, and when we mess up, and wonder what went wrong! If you will fully put your trust in God, he will bless you in ways unimaginable. Pour our your heart to him! God wants to hear from us, talk to him! Get to know him better, tell him all your troubles, desires, struggles, happinesses, God loves to listen to us! God does know everything in our hearts, but he wants us to talk to him, so that we will grow closer to him. It's not the knowledge he wants, he already has that, he wants us to come to him! Pour your heart out before the Lord. And again, God is a refuge! A safe place, someone who you can always talk to, someone you understands, he is our refuge.
- Bekah

Poem: Dear Lord (a prayer)

Dear Lord...

I am weak, and can not be alone,

I need you Lord, for I am to sin so prone!

I need you to help me through the trials,

As all around me my sin piles.

Lord I need you to be with me always,

Not only just on the bad days,

Every day and every hour I want to be with you,

I have no strangth without you, what alone can I do?

I need you Jesus to be my guide,

And who is more trustworthy then one who for me died?
None, oh God, you're the only one,

Without you my life would be done.

I alone am nothing of worth,

Without you I would regret the very day of my birth,

Let me be just for your use Lord,

Let me be a vessel to share your word.

Oh Lord please take my reins,

Being in control is not worth this worlds "gains",

Work through me to my best potential,

God in my life you are the most essential.

Send me where you can use me most,

Leave my plans, for of tomorrow I can not boast,

Dear Lord help me to be more like you,

Every day to do as you would have me to do.

I know, oh Lord, that I will fail,

I will wander off on some rabbit trail,

I depend on you to bring me back again,

To lead me back to the Fathers "Den".

Dear Lord catch me when I start to fall,

Oh God, you are my all in all,

Dwell in my through night and day,

Help me not to let the world hold any sway.

Help me to shine for you where ever I go,

Even when the winds of temptations blow,

Help me to stand up for you with all I say,

With my deeds and works everyday.

Avert my eyes from every evil thing,

That I might glory to you bring,

Help me to see when I deserve your righteous wrath,

God, keep me on your narrow path!

Don't let me be distracted from your goals,

Work through me to the procuring of souls,

Dear Lord you want all I can give,

Help me for you, only you, to live.

I know, oh Lord, you have a plan for me,

Help me my pathway to clearly see,

Your plan is greater then I can imagine,

Let me hear your voice, again and again.

You know my every thought,

So help me not in sin to be caught,

Let me as a lamp for you glow,

A light ray in darkness let me show.

Help me to show you to others,

Whether strangers, or my sister and brothers,

Make me a witness to all around,

Fill me with your joyful sound!

All for the glory of you, my savior,

Let be all you in my behavior,

Don't let them see me, only you in me,

Lock me away, and throw away the key.

Dear Lord, hear my prayer,

To help me bear this worlds glare,

To shine for you through thick and thin,

And thank you for washing away my every sin.

- Bekah

I'm Totally Fine!.... NOT!

This week I've had quite a few incomplete ideas bouncing around in my head on what to write about. But between cramming in as much school as I possibly could, bruising a bone in my foot (making it rather painful to walk for a few days...still hurts now, but not to bad), having a headache most of the week because I got glasses and I'm not used to it all the way yet, making a wedding present, shopping for wedding presents with mom, having my state testing done on Saturday morning, going to Gillian's wedding shower on Saturday afternoon, church, some kind of stomach bug that makes it so whenever I eat it feels like my stomach is being pulled into pieces, almost no sleep last night, and just not writing...I just haven't got around to it until now. And then all my ideas were incomplete, half thoughts that left me with almost nothing to work with! You might say I was slightly freaking out about what I was going to write. That is when I recalled something I had written to one of my friends during the week when they asked me how I was. I said “Good! How about you?”. When, I wasn't really good. I wasn't even really fine. I was stressed out and tired.

When someone asks us how we are, no matter how we actually are, we almost always say we're fine, or good. At least, that's the case for me. My life can be going upside down, all around, and jumping through a hoop, all at the same time, but if someone asks me how I am, my automated response is, “I'm good! How about you?!”. Doesn't matter if I've had a dreadful day, week, or month, when someone asks me that questions, I just say that I'm fine. I'm good. I mean, don't want to give the impression that anything ever goes wrong in my life! Yeah, you guys really don't need to know that I struggle with stuff, so I'll just pretend I don't! Smart right?

Do we honestly believe that we're the only ones hurting? I mean, are we actually selfish enough, to think “I'm the only one who has problems! No one understands!”? Well, for me, the the answer is definitely yes. I can get so caught up in my own problems, that I start thinking I am the only one who has problems....wait...seriously? I am the only one who has problems getting along with my siblings. I am the only one who has problems getting along with my parents. I am the only one who has problems with some of my closest friends. I am the only one who was super close to one of my siblings, and then somehow we weren't anymore (they get a boyfriend/girlfriend, they move away, etc). I am the only one who has lost a best friend over a stupid rumor. I am the only one who has been betrayed by a best friend. I am the only one who has had mean things said about me. I am the only one who gets misunderstood. I am the only one that has problems with self worth. I am the only one who doesn't always do well in school. My parents are the only ones who fight. My family is the only one with financial struggles. My family is the only one who's had to make major adjustments in the last couple years. I can relate to all of the above, and more!

I get so caught up in feeling sorry for myself, I forget that I'm not the only one who is hurting. I think part of the reason we start thinking we are the only ones with problems is that we tend to try to hide our problems from each other. It looks like we are the only ones hurting because everyone else thinks the same thing, and tries to hide their hurting from everyone else! We seem to be ashamed of the fact that we have problems! We all do struggle with things, big, or small, everyone has some kind of disturbance, a ripple, on their pool of life. It just depends on how big the rock that was thrown in is! And honestly, we shouldn't even be feeling sorry for ourselves, even though that seems like the thing to do.

James 1:2-4

“2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

“And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Romans 5:3-5

“3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4and patience, experience' and experience hope: 5and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

These verses tell us to rejoice, glory, joy, in our tribulations, infirmities, weaknesses, and temptations. To me that doesn't sound like they're say to be ashamed of them, to try and hide them. Instead of hiding the things we struggle with, we should be open about them. Knowing that others have gone through exactly what you're going through, or just even knowing that other Christians do struggle, can be such a comfort! Not only can it be a comfort to someone else, but as a general rule, it really isn't that healthy to hold all the sadness, heartache, and pain inside of you. Talking so someone does help. Even when we are being bogged down by things, that doesn't mean that we can't also be thankful that we're going through a tough time because it will bring us closer to God!

What is even worse then trying to hide the fact we're hurting from other people, is trying to hide it from God. Not that we can, but that doesn't mean that sometimes we wont try. It's almost as if we feel...guilty...about having struggles. God allows these struggles to make us stronger! Of course he knows all about them, and he doesn't think any less of you for having them! Do we actually allow ourselves to think that God will think less of us for struggling? Uh, God has already seen us in our most vile and weak state of sin, and he still loved us! He died for us! And now we are thinking that he will look down upon us because we're going through something that is hard for us? He has already forgiven all our sins. God has never looked down on you, he has, and will continue to, always love you! Trials we have are meant to bring us closer to God. If we try to hide what we're going through from him, that wont bring us closer to him at all! He wants us to fully depend on him for strength! God will never give us more then we can take.

1 Corinthians 10:13

“13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

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I'm attaching a YouTube video to this one. Some of you may not be able to access YouTube, but those of you who can, you should watch it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNK2sqFEY4I

- Bekah