Being the Clay

In my morning Bible study, the potter and the clay has been coming up a lot lately. I started thinking about Isaiah 64:8, "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." I think we sometimes try to reverse it. We want to be the potter and mold God into whatever fits our needs. We try to control God and put Him in a box and take Him out whenever we feel like it. That's not right. We need to let God mold us into what He wants us to be. If we try to mold ourselves, or God, He can't use us in our best way. He won't be able to minister through us to other people. We wouldn't have the right attitude towards life. We would be acting like we were in control all the time. If we are focusing on how to mold each other and ourselves, we would be blind to God working around us. We would be deaf to God asking us to work with Him. We need to stop trying to be the potter and let God do it. That's His job, not ours. Our job is to let Him mold us into the person we ought to be. And to let you know, I'm not trying to be high and mighty about anything I talk about, (not at all!) because I do everything that I talk about too. I'm only human, I doing the best I can. I'm just writing my thoughts down as one person to another.

Here is the love verse of the day:
"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

Love isn't an Emotion, it's a Will

Today in my morning Bible study I was reading Mere Christianity. C.S. Lewis was talking about charity; he said that 'charity means love in the Christian sense'. My favorite quote of the chapter was this: "It [love] is a state not of the feeling but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people." So many people say that they don't want charity, they don't want help. I think though, charity isn't giving money to people or being nice to them, it's genuinely loving others as you would love your best friend. There are so many people in this world that hate or dislike others for petty reasons; granted, there are some people who have done horrible things that have been hated rightly so. But at the same time, shouldn't we love the sinner and hate the sin? I know, it's way easier said than done, and to be honest I'm horrible at it. (I'm trying to work on it) I think we need to pray that God gives us the strength to love the sinner and hate the sin; it will take a long time to develop that skill, probably your entire life. But even if we are working on it it would make a difference. "The smallest work of kindness to someone you dislike will help you dislike them just a little bit less." ~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. I think if we start being kind to the people we dislike (not kind to where you adore them as your best friend or family, because frankly that would be ridiculous) it will help us love them just a little bit more and dislike them just a little bit less. Well, I hope all of you are having a fabulous day! Here is your love verse of the day:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love on another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." ~John 13:34-35

Today is the Day

Well, a lot has happened since I have updated. I changed the name of my blog because I have been trying to focus on God more and to love. Not just help people and be nice to them, but genuinely love them as Jesus did. (Sounds easier than it is) I'm doing my best but as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. This summer my mom and I are going to Romania. I am so excited to go, I have wanted to go since I was ten. I think it will really change me. I would like to invite all of my readers (ha, all two of you) to join me on April 8 to walk a day with no shoes. It's in association with TOMS shoes, which is an organization that every time you buy a pair of their shoes they give a pair to a child in need. It's called One Day with No Shoes, and it's to raise awareness for children, who in developing countries grow up with no shoes, barefoot. TOMS is working to change that, so they are going to be walking a day with no shoes. It doesn't have to be the whole day (I will be trying to go the whole day) it can be for a few hours or even a few minutes, but it's up to us to make a difference. Go to onedaywithoutshoes.com for more info. That's all for now.

By the way, my mom and I just finished watching Julie and Julia and it was really good! I loved it, although as a warning there was language, but other than that it was a great movie. Here is your love verse of the day:

Romans 12:9-13
"Love MUST be sincere! Hate what is evil; cling to what is good! Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord!"