A Desolate Place

"The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate." Psalm 34:22

This verse simply mean that is if you trust and take guidance from God, He will not desert you and leave you feeling lonely. Remember, the Lord is always there even when you feel forlorn or without anyone to talk to. God is your friend, and He is more than enough. He will give you the hope you need to keep running this race.

Bust Cool!

“If you want to live in this lousy world, play it cool.” That line starts the song “Cool” from "West Side Story".  West Side Story is a musical that was on Broadway in 1957 then it became so popular they created a movie of it. My most favorite song in the movie is "Cool". The question is <dramatic pause> what makes this song so cool (pun intended)? I think, the reason I like "Cool" is because, at that moment everything was going wrong. Riff was dead, Tony was no where to be found, the cops were after both of the gangs, the Jets had absolutely no one keeping the gang together and everything that was familiar was falling apart. The song "Cool" is what finally brought them all back together in some sort of sane mind. After this song the Jets were finally able to start picking up the pieces. It cooled them down, and they were able to think straight.

Many times the same thing happens with us. We have a horrible day (or days), everything goes wrong, and we just don't know where to start. We freak and get upset (like Action in "West Side Story"). We start acting out and struggle knowing where to go for help. Sometimes, I find myself wishing that Ice would come ambling in, snapping his fingers, and start singing "Cool" to help me calm down.

Truthfully though, even if Ice was here he couldn't really help me cool down. The only person who will ever be able to give me peace, is JESUS. All we have to do is go to His Word. There, we have hundreds of verses that will cool us down and get us back on track with God. As Christians, we don't have to struggle in darkness, and try to use worldly devices to get relief, because we've got God living inside of us. We can go to him whenever things get heated.

If you're like me, sometimes I get so upset that I can't even think straight and talk to Jesus. I become like Action in the movie. He was so upset his emotions were way beyond his own control. He couldn't cool himself down even if he wanted to. That's when Ice took Action by his side and helped him see how the way he was thinking was all wrong. He needed to get out of his own head and start to see what was going on around him.

We need to do the same thing. Trying to do it alone sometimes just isn't possible.  We might be so caught up in our own world that we can't get into God's. That's when it's time to go to another person and ask them to help you see Jesus in what you're going through. Maybe you just need to say, "OMGoodness! I'm really upset! I can't handle this anymore, I need your help!" They then become the bridge that you use to reach God. Some days you might even find yourself being that bridge for someone else.

  1 John 2:14b NLV-I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.

How's Your Vision?

Hey All! This is a picture of me, while being abducted by aliens. These little green scaly creatures captured me at the mall in they're little hovercraft, and took me too their command space ship and performed many painful eye scans to study the human teen. Just kidding!!

Actually, today I was at the optomitrisist's office getting an eye exam. My eyes have worsen as per normal. While I was there I had a chance to think about my spiritual eyes. I wonder how well I'm seeing through them. Only a few times have I gone to the eye doctor and my eyes have gotten better. I hope my spiritual eyes are getting clearer each day.

I often pray that God will give me His eyes but the question is, do I really try to have God's eyes? With my physical eyes, if I want them to get better I would have to decide not to sit too close to the computer, or not read in the dark. I would have to make up my mind that I would no longer put my eyes through all that misery. Snuggling under my big comforter until one in the morning, while reading with a flashlight, would no longer be wise.

Many times we make the same types of mistakes with our spiritual eyes, or we simply stop using them at all. We strain them by trying to see God's will, without going to His Word for support and guidance. Soon without guidance from God our eyes become blurry and we can't see what's in front of us. We think that He isn't there even though He's right beside us, just waiting for us to look up to his light instead of searching in the darkness.

We need to stop straining and use our spiritual eyes to study God's Word and look to Him for clarity. He will give us direction, and then we won't have those blurry eyes anymore. If we want to have 20/20 vision we have to make spending time with God more important than seeing our own vision in the dark.

Proverbs 29:18- Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. 

You've Got Talent

When I heard this song it really spoke to me. This is Jotta A, a young Brazillian boy, who sings Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone( by Chris Tomlin) on Britian's Got Talent. As you can see he has a God-given talent for singing. At a young age this boy has dedicated his life to God, and is being used by Him to touch people around the world.

Often times we forget to step out and be used by God. You may not be able to sing like Jotta, but maybe you have the gift of Encouragement. Why don't you pray today that God gives you at least one opportunity every day to use your talents or abilites to touch someone.

You Never Know What You've Got 'Til Its Gone

Ugh, some days just aren't good days, and today was one of those days. This Saturday was my first ballet/tap/pointe' class in a really long time. It was terrible. First of all tap class was way over my head. After about 5 minutes of not knowing a single thing, I decided to sit down and just watch. Then came "ballet". Ballet was exactly five minutes long, because the teacher went overtime for tap. Plus everything in ballet was super easy, and the teacher gave us really bland and uncomplicated combinations. Next was Pointe' Class, which I don't have pointe' shoes for and never been on pointe' (I was trying it out to see if it was too hard for me). So I sat and watched. Yea, real fun all I got to see was girls almost crying for the pain of tip toesing across the stage.

Sorry for venting on you. But the problem is, my last teacher was the bomb! I mean she seriously was an awesome teacher. She not only had us work with our bodies, but also with our minds. We had to use tons of brain power just to remember the creative and tricky combinations. Also for a break in the middle of class we would sit and she would give us French ballet words to try to spell (man, those words were really tough). To top all that off, our classes were at least and 1 hour and 15 minutes, if not more.

Here's the deal though, how did I not thank my former ballet teacher for being so awesome. How could I go years without realizing her God-given talent for teaching ballet? There was once a saying that said, "You never know what you've got, until it's gone," (okay, this was actually said by TobyMac in his song, "Gone" and somebody else famous). But please, friends let us not forget to thank the people who affect us and mold us into the people we are today. Many times we pass them by, day after day, and never thank them for all they've done in our lives. Take a moment today and tell those special people in your life, thank you, before its too late. The person we forget to thank most often, is God, and He has done the most for us.

I Chron. 16:34- Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Godly Shoes

This photo is a picture of the tops of my Converses (I absolutely love these shoes). I wrote Proverbs 15:30 on my left toes of my shoes. Which basically talks about having the "light in the eyes", which means that there is always that sparkle in your eye that gives people the feeling, you are really happy. Sometimes I forget to smile. So this is a way to remind myself to always have a joyful countenance even when I'm having a bad day.

On my other foot I wrote John 12:43, which says how the Pharisees looked for the praises from men instead of the praises from God. This little note on my Converses just reminds me that often times I search for people (mostly guys) to be impressed by the way I look or act. Sometimes I strive to much for human praises. I'm using this method to try to get my mind to focus on how God thinks of the way I act or look. This is an awesome idea that I use to remind myself of God's promises. You can always try out the idea, too!

Under His Wings

This picture touched me and reminded of this verse: Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers,

   and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

God will never leave you. He will always be there with you protecting and guiding you.

Hey! Things are coming!

Hey its me Pure in Heart! I just started this blog, and will soon be posting! I think God has led me to start this blog, to encourage other Christian teens. I will try to post at least one devotional a week, and hopefully will keep encouraging you throughout the year. God Bless!!
Pure in Heart