Hot, Cold, and Opening the Door

     Revelation 3:15-16; I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm -neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  Knowing whether I am on fire for God or just lukewarm has always been something I have struggled with. I feel that since I am a teenager, I cannot really do anything. I serve at church every Sunday and Wednesday. I try to live up to my title as being a Christian, but I feel like it is not good enough. I certainly do not want to get spat out of God's mouth. I want to please him. I try to be different than my peers, but I feel like I have this calling to travel far away and preach the gospel. How can I as a teenager do that though? I was talking with my mother about this. I was waking her why it was that people assumed that in order to do anything great, you had to go to school and then college. (not that I have anything wrong with school or college. In fact, I have known what college I am going to go to since I was in eighth grade) My mom asked me this. "Was Jesus on fire for God." I answered yes. "Jesus did not do any miracles until he was thirty. After Joseph died, he had the responsibility as the oldest son to take care of the family. He did that until he was thirty which -according to their tradition- was when the son could be released of his responsibilities. Jesus went through school and took care of his family, and then he went around preaching the gospel." This made me feel a lot better. I can be on fire for God without abandoning my family and traveling around the world. The people around me that I see everyday need to here the gospel, so why go around the world when those that are right here need help?
     Revelations 3:20; Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.  Jesus is just waiting at the door to people's hearts. He is a gentleman, so he will not barge in. He patiently waits for the door to be opened. Once it is opened, he will come in and comfort, strengthen, and give peace to that person, but he needs you to say yes first. What will you say to him?

~Daughter of the Light

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

     Revelation 3:7-8; What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  God knows that we have sinned and fallen short of his Glory, but he still gives us the chance to repent and turn back to him. He still has a plan for us. He is just waiting for us to say, "Okay God, you take hold of my life. Tell me what your plan is for me and I will obey." He is our perfect father. He loves us more than anything else. He sees when we stumble, but he does not turn away and reject us when we do. NO, he waits there with arms open wide for us to run back to him. Since he is the perfect father, would he plan something bad for us? No. In fact, when other people mess life up, God turns the bad into good. It does not always seem like it at the time, but he does. He opens a door in our lives.  Other people may try to close it, but they cannot. Only he can close it, and that will be in his own, perfect timing.
     To give an example of when something went wrong but God turned it out for good, I will tell you a story about my grandfather. This is a true story, and it has often helped me get through whatever I was having trouble with. I hope it helps you.
     My grandfather was in the military. He was good at what he did. Really good. He was the best in his platoon. He had metals and won awards. He was at the top, and people respected him. Then, his platoon was going to be sent to a different location, when... he got sick. Very sick. He was so ill that he could not go with his group. So, they stripped away all his metals, all his awards and gave them to the next best man. My grandfather sat there in his bed, furious at God. He had worked so hard to get all of that, only to have it ripped away from him because he got sick. How was that God's will? Why would God do that to him? Well, when he got better, he was put in a different group. Of course he did not get any of his metals back, it was like he had to start all over. And, he did not find out toll way later in his life how wonderful it was for him to have gotten ill. He found out way later that his platoon that had been moved was sent off to war, and every single man in that platoon was killed. Why it was that God allowed all those men to die and had my grandfather survive, I don't know. Maybe it was so that I -his granddaughter- could tell you this story, of how God is looking after us in ways that we have no idea. It could be something very small, like locking your keys in your car and making you be late for something you had really been looking forward to. You may be mad at God for that. But have you ever wondered if there was more to it than that you locked your keys in your car? Maybe, if you had not locked your keys in the car, if you had driven out of that driveway and onto the highway at that time, you would have gotten in a car wreck. Instead, God made you wait until it was safe for you to drive.
     You may think that this is crazy, but I believe in a supernatural power. I believe that God could and has turned things that were bad into good. Maybe what you are going through is bigger than locking your keys in your car. Maybe, someone very close to you just died. How was that God's will? Why do bad things happen to good people?  Let me tell you this. My grandfather did not find out for a while why all that happened to him, and maybe you will never find out why bad things have happened to you, but God is asking you to trust him.  Will you put your trust in someone who loves you so much? Someone who created you for great things. You are never too far away to come back to him. The door is still open for you. God is just waiting there with an open door. He is calling, waiting for you to come back to him. What will your answer be?

~Daughter of the Light 

You are Alive for a Purpose

     1 John 4:16; Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Why do I encourage you to obey God by loving others? 2 John 1:3; Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.  God loves his children and will protect and provide for them. Yes, we still endure hardships, but we have God with us to get us through. I feel bad for those who go through distressing times and do not have God with them. I wish I could just go to everyone of those people, give them a hug, and tell them that their creator loves them.  When they tell me that they feel like they cannot do anything, I'll tell them. 1 John 5:4; Everyone born of God overcomes the world. We just have to believe and ask for his help.
     I encourage you -my readers- to love others as Christ loves you. I pray for you that he will give you strength to overcome the barricades in your lives. May God be with you. Have a great day, and keep in mind this: You are here for a purpose. If you were not, you would not be alive. Everyday you wake up, think to yourself: "I am alive. Thank you God. You must want me to do something. Help me to accomplish your will."  I use to think suicidal thoughts, but now I know better than that. I would not be on this planet, in this age if it were not God's will. Who am I to remove myself from here? That is for God to do.  So, live today -live everyday- as if you were not going to live then next.  And when you do wake up in the morning the next day, praise God for thinking of you and giving you a purpose.

~Daughter of the Light

Death and Life

     John 19:16-18; So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull. 18 Here they crucified him. Jesus let them beat, tease, and murder him in order that he could save his people from sin.  If that is not love, I do not know what is.  John 19:26-27; When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Jesus, being the oldest son with no father, was responsible for taking care of his mother. When he turned thirty, he was released of that responsibility, but obviously he loved his mom dearly and wanted her to be taken care of.
     Even though it was hard, Jesus kept his promise to the world, and he followed through with everything he said he would do. He died on a cross and then three days later rose from the dead.  He appeared to his disciples to give them strength and encouragement.  John 20:19-23 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit."  Jesus did not only mean for his 11 disciples to tell the world about him, but everyone who calls himself a follower of Christ.  I shall tell the world about what Christ did for us all too.  It is the least I can do, but I cannot do it on my own. I have to ask God of wisdom and the Holy Spirit.
     Dear God, I thank you for sending your son to this earth to save us.  I thank you for giving him the wisdom to speak to the world about you and for giving him strength to complete what he was put on this earth to do. I pray that you would fill me with what I need to accomplish the purpose you have placed in my life. I ask for joy, peace, wisdom, patience, and the ability to love like your son loved.  Not my will but yours be done. In Jesus name, Amen.

~Daughter of the Light

Tell the World

     John 15:9-13; As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commandments and remained in his love.   11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  What a good Father! He wants us to be filled with complete joy.  He wants the best for us, and he tells us -his children- what we need to do to remain in his everlasting love. He asks that we obey him by loving others.  The thing that is so beautiful about God, is that he does not ask more of us than he asked of his own son.  Jesus came to the earth and loved all.  Jesus wants us to love all as well.
     But, he warns us that that does not mean everything will be hunky-dory.  Since the world is corrupt and full of people that Satan has gotten a hold of, bad things happen to good people. John 15:20-21; If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teachings, they will obey yours also.    21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. Our job as Christians is to love like Christ loved and teach like Christ taught.  People may hate us, but we have God with us.  I would rather have the Lord on my side and be persecuted by humans and demons, than suffer God's wrath because I turned away from him and would not tell the world of his love. John 16:33; In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  Everyone has problems. But I put my trust in someone who has the ultimate power. He left his throne in heaven, came to earth, suffered the worst death possible, all for the sake of his people. He loves us so much that he would do that.  The least I can do in return is to follow what he asked and love the people he died for.
     When the soldiers came to take Jesus, it was not as though he did not have the power to resist them.  He still had the power to health the sick and raise people from the grave, but because he loved his people so much, he went with the soldiers. John 18:4-6; Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"   5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they [the soldiers] replied.   "I am he," Jesus said.  6 When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.  I love this verse because here Jesus is not shouting, yet when he gently says those powerful words, "I am he," the soldiers go flying back.  I would be pretty scared if I were one of them.  No one even touched me, yet I fell to the ground after some man I am about to arrest spoke to me! Jesus had the power to snap his fingers and have the angels come and defend him. John 18:11; "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"  Jesus was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for those he loved.  He was prepared to lay down his life just to prove to sinful people that he loved them.
     I have sometimes heard teenage girls talk about boy bands, and they say that from the words that the boys sing, they know that they are loved. They feel like they can get through the day because a boy that has not even met them says that he loves them.  Well, I am not very wise, but I have heard from wise people that actions speak louder than words.  Jesus loves the people in the world. He may not like there sin, but he loves the people.  It is up to us to tell others about Jesus and what he did to prove that he really does love us. A girl may feel loved by a boy she has never met because he sings about how he loves her. How much more could we change the world if we told about the abounding love of Jesus Christ?  He died on a cross for us all and gave us his word, the Bible, to tell us that he loves us.  All we have to do is read and tell the world what we read.
     I do not know about you, but I cannot keep my mouth shut up. That someone would die for a sinner like me is absolutely incredible. When I see a movie or read a good book, I can hardly wait to tell people the exciting news about what I just learned. How could I keep quiet about this even greater gift God has given me. He died so that I might live. He died so that you might live. I shall tell the world of his love, despite the troubles I may endure. God loves me, and all I can do is forever praise and obey him. I do not want to stray from someone so indescribably amazing. I will remain in him.  I will tell the world full of darkness about the light that I have, so that they too can become children of the light.

~Daughter of the Light 

Teen for the Light

     35 You are going to have the light just a little while longer.  Walk while you have the light, before the darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you still have it, so that you may become sons of light.  In John 12:35-36, Jesus tried to encourage the people to trust and believe in him, so the they did not have to continue walking in the darkness.  He wanted his people to know him, to know his love for them, and to love others so that they knew Christ loved them too. John 13:34-35; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  As a Christian, I am guilty of not being loving.  I admit that I do get angry and sin.  Thank you God for forgiving me! As a daughter of the Christ, I shall try everyday of my life to show love to people more than I did the day before. I shall encourage you -my reader- daily on how the Lord is blessing me, and how he loves and wants to bless you.  I shall live a life worthy of the calling I have received. 29 I will not let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  Ephesians 4:1+29
     I speak in faith, for without God, I can do nothing. In my strength alone, I am weak.  I trust in him, that he will supply me with all the strength and support I need to complete the tasks assigned to me. John 14:12 says, Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.
     I want to tell the world how God loves them.  I want to go to the poor and the hurting and tell them about what Christ did for them. How he loved them so much that he would die the most horrible death in order that we could be saved.  I want to tell the broken that he loves them.  I want to tell the orphans that they are not fatherless, because they have a heavenly father who very much cares for them. I want to be God's servant and tell them that he wants to give them peace, and that through him is the only way they can get it.  One cannot get peace from the world but only through Jesus Christ. John 14:27; Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. In order to encourage others, I have created this blog.  Everyday, after I read my daily devotions, I shall type out what I learned or what God wishes me to share with you. I shall tell how I am walking in the light, hopefully to build you up. God bless you.

~Daughter of the Light