Showing posts with label eternal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eternal. Show all posts

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Choosing the Eternal Over the Temporal

Oh no!  I just found this in my drafts, but I don't know why it never got posted!  It is all the way from a Sunday in April!
This is one of my favorite passages in all of the Bible, probably because I need reminding of it so often, and it is so applicable to my life.  Here are some highlights from the sermon my preacher did on it a while back.

Pastor Dean's sermon:  Sunday, April 6th, 2014.  Series:  The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached
Scripture Text:  Matthew 6:19-34
First Baptist Church Morristown, TN

1 Timothy 6:6-The key to happiness is contentment.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21
-When I truly love something/someone, I won't mind spending my money on it/him/her.
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other."  Matthew 6:24
-Love God; despise the rest for taking away from my relationship with and service to Him.

I will sacrifice for my god.  Is this god of mine God?  When I sacrifice things for God, though, it doesn't have to feel like a sacrifice.  I can delight in the fact that I have such things to give to God.

Worry is a lack of trust in God.  It is a senseless, useless, ridiculous, sin.  It'll give me something to do, but it will never get me anywhere.

"But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow..."  Matthew 6:33-34

"We should be seen doing good, but not doing good to be seen." -Pastor Dean Haun

"Too often, we buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people that we don't even like."

Every time I read this passage of scripture, it makes me go back and reevaluate many parts of my life, heart, and attitude.  I am truly blessed and have nothing I should be worrying about but bringing glory to God.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Finally Spring Break!


Shew, after those last snow days, it felt like spring break would never come.  Finally, I got a week of break, though, but it never seems long enough!  We had a track meet on Saturday, but then I finally got to spend some time at home.
One of my favorite verses appeared on my Peanuts daily calendar.
I made another delicious dessert!  This time it was apple cobbler.  I used honey vanilla greek Yoplait frozen yogurt, honey caramel Greek Gods yogurt, an apple pie yogurt, apple cinnamon Newtons, granola, Honey Nut Cheerios, honey, cinnamon, apple butter, and apples of course!
We had quite a variety of weather over spring break.  As it always works out, the weeks before and after were both beautiful and warm.
This was on Tuesday on my way to meet a friend at school to do a speed workout on the track.  It was sunny when I left home, but decided to dump snow again 5 minutes later.  Don't worry; I was practically stopped.  No one on the roads could see where they were going.
For the workout, I wore some bright, very coordinating clothes to help keep me warm!  The wind was awful even when the sun came out every few minutes, but I actually wasn't too cold.
Candy bar coffee creamer:  pretty good! It is just hard to beat the actual chocolate, though.
While Mom and I took a shopping trip to Knoxville, I got a  new dress for this summer at
American Eagle, one of my favorites.
One of my other favorites, Target, always has fancy things for me to try.  This is a pasta sauce made from mainly squash and pumpkins.  It was fantastic!  I used it to make pasta and pizza sauce.
At Walmart, I found a quick way to get garlic flavor in my Italian foods, like pizza.  Just buy it in paste.
Peanut butter is just one of those things....yum. 
 I picked up some Ben & Jerry's greek frozen yogurt that is peanut butter banana and found a cool  Justin's peanut butter cup that is dark chocolate on the outside at Target.  I also picked up a portable pack of that brand's maple almond butter.
Ya know, bananas are cool, too.
Sam's is a great place for bulk, and sometimes you can find original things that you wouldn't expect, too.  This is a big box of Kimberly's Bakeshoppe granola with all kinds of seeds, nuts, and dried fruit.
On Thursday, the weather was much warmer!  I wore shorts and a t shirt to the track for my workout.  I met a friend and another one showed up towards the end, too.  It was a fantastic workout, and it helped that the weather was nice.
Nothing too fancy here, just chocolate Bear Naked granola and cereal with vanilla greek yogurt with dark chocolate bits.
The Saturday at the end of spring break had a track meet scheduled on it, too, this time at
Hardin Valley Academy, a very nice and newer high school in Knoxville.  It was a cold and ugly, rainy, windy day, all my least favorite weathers in one.  My first race, the 1600, was not a very good one for me.  I placed 7th and ran a decent time, but I still was not happy.  Weather didn't help that.  I sat in the car for a while to try and thaw out.  I was shivering on the start line, then still cold when I finished and just miserable.  After a while of sitting in the car, the rain stopped, but the wind blew hard.  I warmed up for my second event, hoping to redeem myself, if only for my own peace of mind.  The temperature outside had dropped about 15 degrees from the start of races, too.  Of course, as we got ready to line up for the 3200, the rain started again.  One of my best friends was such a trooper, and she and her dad stayed to cheer me on!  I told her that she did not have to, and I wouldn't have wanted to do that at all, but they said that they wanted to.  I started out in front, but got passed by a great runner from Beech Senior High School that I had gotten to race and talk to her and her twin at many cross country meets over the years.  I had not had much track experience at this point, but at the last 100 meters of the 7th lap, I decided that I felt good, so I picked it up and passed her about 10 meters or so ahead of me and kept pulling it out in that final lap.  I needed that boost to end my day!  After my cool down, I was still freezing, but it didn't seem so cold now that I was finished and could go inside. 
I had told Mom earlier that if I made it through that day all I wanted was some coffee.  Luckily, a McDonald's down the road made that dream come true.  We also went out to eat after that of course, too.
I follow a blog that I try to look at on my phone every day called 365 Promises.  How perfect that this would come up on a race day.  In the race of life, I know that I can persevere through every trial and struggle because my Savior has a better reward for me when I am finished with life than anything here on earth could ever promise.
After the race, we went to my absolute favorite, Salsarita's!  I always get a large burrito bowl with chicken, guacamole, black and pinto beans, and all the salsas and some veggies.
Foursquare is a handy little app where you can see nearby locations, deals, pictures, and reviews.  At some places, you can get free stuff or coupons when you check in!  This one was for free chips and salsa.  Chili's has one for this appetizer, too, each time you check in.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Matthew 5: Beatitudes, Salt, and Light

I've been reading in Matthew since the end of Christmas break, and chapter 5 has been blowing me away!  Sunday morning at church, Pastor Dean's sermon was even on chapter 5 (which I had no idea was coming in his messages), and I was thrilled!  I love learning more and more about my Lord.  When things happen, I don't call it "coincidence" but God's divine appointment.  He controls it all anyways.
In Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, The Beatitudes (or Be-Attitudes, as I like to think of them) are one of His beautiful messages.  Being blessed isn't just being happy, because happiness comes from the world.  Being blessed comes from the joy and peace experienced by those who have accepted Christ because that is what He gives.  Here Jesus mentions those who are humble and know their sins, the meek (not weak, but know they must depend on God and not themselves), those who desire to know Him, those who show mercy, those pure in heart, those who look to be at peace with all people, and those who a persecuted because they live for Him.  The end of this section says,
"Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven..."  (verse 12)
Through every circumstance, thick or thin, sky-high or valley-low, God blesses His children.  We can always be optimistic because He is saving a place for us in heaven.
In John 14:1-2, Jesus also says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father's house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would not have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you."
The only way to personally be able to experience and understand these blessings, joy, and peace, and to have your eternal home in heaven is through a relationship with Christ.  "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  John 14:6
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
 
The next section of Matthew 5 is more of Jesus teaching from the Sermon on the Mount.  To many people this would not make much sense.  --Why is He talking about salt and light?  That's food flavoring and light.--There is so much deeper meaning to it than that! 
 
When other things are added to salt, it makes it less salty, loses its flavor.  This same thing happens when Christians let impurities come into their lives.  They are less useful for the Lord; they lose their purpose for being "salty."  God is the shaker, and we are the salt He uses to go into the world.
 
When we accept Christ, He puts a light inside our souls.  Not a light to be covered, but a light to be shined into the darkness!  This isn't to shine our light so people can see "Makenzie's light," but so that they may see "God's light shining through Makenzie" and desire that same relationship with Christ.  The joy of the Lord can uplift anyone's spirit at any time, in any circumstance if you just allow Him into your heart!