Living in the Sonrise

A few weeks ago, something crazy happened. A bunch of teens and young adults left the comfort of their homes and walked for hours carrying heavy bags on their shoulders, ringing doorbells and knocking at the houses of strangers, not knowing if anyone would accept what they had to offer. Crazy, right? More than 2,000 years ago, the Son of God left the glory and comforts of heaven and walked the road of pain and toil for 33 years, ministering to people who sometimes didn't even thank Him, then walked the road to Calvary alone with the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders, not knowing if anyone would accept it. He gave His very life to save the ones who didn't care. It wasn't crazy- it was Love. Those "crazy" young adults? They were canvassing- selling Christian books door to door to raise money to further their education, and to spread the light of Christ. I  was one of them. On my own, I can't canvass. It's hard. It's exhausting. I mess up ...

 Hi friend! :) This post is the fourth and last part in the blog post series "Come Home" based on the sermon I did at our church last month. To read the first three parts, click  here ,  here,  and  here ! The first three parts covered three false statements that we often believe about ourselves and God: Part One: "God could never want to be with me, I'm such a sinner." In this part, we discovered that Jesus came to be with sinners, and to lift them up to joy and peace in being with Him! Part Two: "I'm too far gone for God to love me." Here we looked at the story of the lost sheep, and how Jesus loves us no matter how far we've wandered away.    Part Three: "I'm not good enough, I'm just worthless." In this part, we looked at the parable of the lost coin and discovered that "the value of an object is determined by the price paid for it, and God gave everything for you. You are of infinite worth, because He paid an infini...

Hi, friend! :) Have you ever felt like you are too small for God to care about? Maybe you feel like God is too big to be concerned with your life, that you are not as important as all the other things and people in the world. My friend, this couldn't be further from the truth!  The other week, I was laying on the grass in my backyard, admiring the tiny purple flowers that were growing in the grass. Upon taking a closer look, I discovered that they were actually clusters of even smaller flowers! I was amazed as I picked one of the flowers from the cluster, and as I thought about how tiny the flower was, a song came on the playlist I was listening to: "Why should I feel discouraged, Why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely, And long for heav’n and home; When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me. Refrain: I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m...

 Hello friend! :)  Have you ever struggled to trust God?  I know I have. Sometimes our human nature wants to know what the outcome of something will be, rather than trusting our Heavenly Father to take care of it. Sometimes we want to take things into our own hands, thinking we know what is best. Perhaps one of the most popular Bible verses about trust is Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.   In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  Trust is more than a feeling. Trusting in God is a conscious decision to place ourselves- all that we are, all that we desire, all that concerns us- in His hands. Trust involves surrender.  When a child puts their hand into the hand of their father or mother, the child is allowing their parent to lead them where they choose, trusting that they know best. In the same way, when we surrender to God, we are allowing Him to lead us in...

Good morning, friends! :) It's a brand new day, and whether or not the sun is shining where you are, I pray the Son is shining in your heart.  One morning last week,  I woke up and remembered that, during the night, a Bible verse had popped into my head. It wasn't a common one, but it was one I had read before and been intrigued by. I thought it was cool that God had given me that verse, though I wasn't totally sure what it meant. The verse was Psalm 84:6, which says, "Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools." What I got from it that day, was that even in the valleys of life, when we are connected with Christ we can make them a well!  But this wasn't the end of what I would gain from that verse... This past Sabbath, I decided to look up the verse on the website Bible Tools ( https://bibletools.info/Ps_84.6 ) and I was astonished with what I found! The part about the "valley of Baca" intrigued me- what wa...