Starting today, I am finally a Senior in high-school. I can't believe it! Ha! Wow... I made it! Why is the first day of school actually....enjoyable?! I like just about all of my subjects this year. I don't have to take a math or a science course which is kind of nice. Most of my subjects are one semester long, so I'm planning on doing all of my courses this semester in order to just get it all over with. I could be done by Christmas! Hopefully!
My cousin, Riley, is a married man as of last Saturday. He married his beautiful bride, Lori, in a pretty little church in Winchester TN. Amber, Autumn, and Jeremy were all in the wedding. They looked precious!
On Sunday, my dad bought Amber, Autumn, and Jeremy their own little bunnies. They're so fluffy and soft...I LOVE them! I have always loved rabbits :). Dad also picked up two little guineas (a type of bird). But they didn't make it. I found them this morning already gone. I guess they weren't strong enough for the trip home from my grandparents. Poor little things :(
Brooke is leaving for Pensacola on September 5th. I'm dreading her departure very much! I'm trying to not think about it right now. Life will not be the same without her around!
“When you get to the end of your life, are you going to be full, or empty? Glancing at your fuel gauge- do you have enough of God to get through life? Do you have enough in your spiritual tank?”
Full indicates empty - Half full + half empty? Could mean you have some sort of sin that is keeping you from being full.
- To be full of the Holy Spirit you must be empty of the flesh. They cannot coexist.
- Full of good works --> empty of self
- If you’re going to be filled, you have to be emptied.
- Perhaps God wants to take some things out
- Put off the old man
Full indicates entry - An entry point for God to get things in your heart
- Allow the Word of God to enter your life….Open your heart.
- Refusal of entry leads to emptiness….like the door to a fuel tank that won’t open. No fuel-->empty tank.
Full indicates enlargement - God wants to add to your faith--> Growth!
- Expand, don’t stay the same! God should always be changing you.
- God doesn’t want you to do the “same old same old”.
“How far are you going to be able to go for God? Are you full, or empty?”
Pastor John Goetsch--The Wilds Camp NC. June 15th, 2009
The common philosophy for a happy life: be $uccessful in your career, be in love, and be popular on facebook. The secret to the self-confidence you have always wanted is: have a perfect weight, perfect hair, and wear the latest styles from Hollister and Abercrombie. To sum it up- what you need to look like is someone who just jumped out of the latest fad magazine. You look great! You should be happy! Take it, run with it, and live your life to the fullest.
In this present age, nothing is more valued and sought after than the things that "make you happy". And is there ever an endless amount of things out there that seemingly make us happy. Whether its money, materials, people, food, drugs... all of these things do bring us some amount of pleasure. But maintaining the euphoria of any of these pleasures is something that is quite hard to do. Not long after we relish in our limited state of delight, we find that it is over and all we can do is seek after something else to fulfill our quest for happiness. So the search continues.
Going from one delight to another to sustain your enjoyment is not only a continuous pursuit, it is an endless one. There is no such thing as nirvana.
You might be thinking, "That's just life!” After all, aren't we all seeking to be happy anyways? Isn't that the American Dream? But what's the point if this objective doesn't last. Shouldn't a prize worth fighting for be at least something that endures? Well, let me let you in on a little secret: your happiness does not last because the things making you happy do not last. Money, materials, people, food, drugs, and whatever else has fooled you into thinking you have discovered happiness- will not give you an enduring gratification because they can't. Everything in the earth grows old like a piece of clothing. Nothing that can be grasped will last. All things tangible will cease to be, and in like manner the enjoyment that comes from them.
In short, happiness that comes from outside sources is not worth fighting for. It's a waste of time and that is something you have very little of. However, there is something much greater than that fleeting happiness that is worth fighting for. In a lot of ways, it's similar the happiness we have been discussing. From it you get pleasure, enjoyment, excitement, fulfillment, and contentment. It runs deep within you and flourishes. It's called joy. Unlike false happiness, joy does not come from anything you do on your own. Only the One True God can give you this everlasting joy. Once you are freed from the pain, guilt, and condemnation of sin, a joy that surpasses all understanding is given to you. You become alive! Even when trials and tribulations come upon you, you still possess an overflowing and abundance of joy.Psalms 16:11- "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Jesus gives to us what we need that our "joy may be full". And what we need is forgiveness. There is nothing we have done that is good before the eyes of a holy God. "I cursed His name, He called me child. I was to blame, He went to trial." He bore on Himself all of my iniquities- sins that I have committed against Him- and He has washed them all away! Because of that I am so joyful! My heart is overflowing with an unspeakable amount of joy! Even when I am mourning, I still have joy. Joy is always there because my Lord is always near.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon wrote that "all is vanity". He had everything he ever wanted, and still he recognized that it was all worthless. The world will pass away and all the lusts thereof. Until you trust in Christ to redeem you, you will have no true happiness and no joy.
"Lift your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall never be abolished." Isaiah 51:6
