Passing gas in the car is like trapping yourself in a steel cocoon of terror.
11.14.11 ♥ 1
I haven’t laughed until I cried or until my stomach hurts in a very long time. BUT THIS.
Anyone up for a game of Family? Come on it’ll be fun. I can play the sister and you guys can act like you’re my loving counterparts. No, no, trust me, it’ll be great! Look here, we can eat dinner together every night at the same time. We can even talk about our day and how excited we are to finally be back home to enjoy one another’s presence.Are you not sold on the idea yet? How about this. We can plan outings with one another and act like it isn’t awkward. Yeah, yeah. That’ll be the best part. Oh! And we can discuss what we learned in church on Sundays and talk about what God is doing in our life. No? Too much? Okay, but check this out. Remember those words…um, those words. Ah, they slip my mind. I haven’t heard them, or used them, for that matter, in such a long time now. Oh goodness, what are those words? Ah ha! I love you. Those words! How about we try using those words and actually mean them? And not only mean them, we can actually act on it. Ya know, actually act like we love one another. Not buyin’ it? Hm. Me either.
Asked by aspiringeverything
Today.
A few weeks ago, I was having a tough time with some things. My thoughts and actions were straying from God and I was more focused on self. I was giving into my flesh and not paying attention to the urges of the Spirit. I began to feel conflicted and convicted. My Spirit and sin nature were fighting with one another (Galatians 5:17). Through prayer and reading Scripture, God revived me and brought my focus back. He became my center again. One of the verses God brought to my attention was Romans 8:12, “So dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it [put it to death] and its evil deeds, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” So often we give into our own desires and wants. We do this for a number of reasons: 1. We think we know best. 2. We don’t trust God enough to work things out and fix them. 3. We are impatient and do not wish to wait on God. 4. We want absolute control over our lives. 5. Simply, because we want to. 6. We feel like we HAVE TO. I’m sure there are more reasons, but these can generally cover it. Listen, children of God. We are not called to do whatever we please whenever we want. We are not called to make the shots for our own lives. The second God changed your heart, allowed you to believe in Him, and the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you, you gave up the right to live your life in the way you wanted. The urges that arise in us to do bad things and to live a life focused on self are not of God. Though it may be appealing at the time to just give into these urges, in the long run, it will eventually ruin us. We give into our flesh because sometimes we can feel pressure from the world. We want to do as the world does, live their lifestyle, be accepted by them, but still have our “Jesus stamp” at the end of the day—our “get out of Hell free pass.” I personally find it very comforting to know that I have no obligation to my sin nature. Though we are born in this body, live in this world, and have carnal minds, I have no commitment to it! THAT IS SUCH A FREEING THOUGHT! We have this battle in our mind over right vs. wrong, faith vs. sin and we give in to the negative because we feel like we HAVE to. But no! Remember what Scripture says, “…for if you keep on following it [sinful nature], you will perish…” So don’t give in! You don’t have to give into that urge to drink and get drunk, you don’t have to give into that urge to have sex with that person, you don’t have to give into that urge to always want to voice your opinion to your parents or whomever, you don’t have to give into that urge to cuss, you don’t have to give into that urge to watch porn, you don’t have to give into that urge to gossip about someone, you don’t have to give into that urge of acting out in your anger, you don’t have to give into that urge to smoke, you don’t have to give into stress and worry, you don’t have to give into that urge to make and laugh at coarse jokes, you don’t have to give into that urge to steal, you don’t have to give into that urge to hold a grudge, you don’t have to give into that urge of having the last word, you don’t have to give into the urge of not spending time with God and reading your Bible. Listen, Jesus was not brutally beaten, mocked, died on the cross and rose again so that we can keep on knowingly sinning and not repent. Instead we should intentionally train our mind to give in to what God wants us to do. We should die to ourselves, form new habits, and let the Holy Spirit take control. 1 C o r i n t h i a n s 1 0 : 2 3 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is helpful. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. E p h e s i a n s 4 : 3 0 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has indentified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. H e b r e w s 1 2 : 1 - 2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off EVERY weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. G a l a t i a n s 5 : 1 3 For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.
—-S C R I P T U R E—-
HILARIOUS!!! lmbooooo
By now we all know about the tragedy that recently took place in Japan. I couldn’t help but feel sorrow as I watched the news reports of huge waves overtaking cities and neighborhoods. I watched cars attempting to drive away from the impending doom but with no prevail. There is so much destruction, it seems unimaginable how it will all be repaired. It almost appears as though things will never be the same for Japan again.
As helicopter cameras panned over the catastrophe, I saw that almost everything was gone, leveled out, or ruined. Nothing remained. This got me thinking. Everything that these people invested in and put energy into was gone. There were no more businesses, jobs, cars, houses—it was all destroyed. So what do they have left? Now where can they place their confidence? Where is their hope? It almost made me realize how trivial those things can be, because within a couple minutes they were all gone. We spend so much time working to make a name for ourselves, to have the newest car, the best job, the biggest house. But what will we have left if all those things were suddenly snatched from us? A wealthy, well known person in Japan is now probably sitting next to someone right now, in a sort of shelter, who is considered lower class. Someone who spent years making advances at their job probably had to sleep next to someone who has never even seen inside of an office building.
We put a lot of pride in our clothes, money, and other material items. I am not saying it is bad to have these things, but what will happen when all of them go away. Where will your pride go? What about your happiness? It’s time to focus on things that will be eternal.
“But you shouldn’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Son of Man, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose.” John 6:27
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of Heaven…Let Heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about these things down here on earth.” Colossians 3:1-2
