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I had a friend who once compared being a Christian to jumping on a trampoline. His point was that most people view Christians as quite boring people. All they ever do is stand on their wall, and yell at you trying to make you believe the same thing as them. Those boring Christians never have any fun. Christianity isn’t boring though. Like my friend was trying to say, it is like jumping on a trampoline. Instead of treating Christianity as a dull monotonous experience, look at it as a fun, invigorating, lovely, happy one. One can hardly resists the invitation to jump. That is what Christianity should be like! A bunch of us jumping, and then inviting someone to join us. (o: The joy that comes from being a christian is quite real…just like the feeling you get when you are sprung quite high in the air. 
-alex♥
Things I learned today:
1. If you try hard enough and long enough, you are very likely to succeed.
2. The best time is in the morning when the sun is just coming up.
3. Time wasted is time lost.
4. You can never give too much love.
5. Doing the dishes without grumbling can be a happy experience, if you don’t grumble.
6. Homemade apple sauce is better than store bought.
7. Playing the piano is hard when you have short fingers and little hands.
8. A child will always want a puppy.
9. Running 4 miles at once isn’t really hard.
10. And Jesus will always love me. No matter what.
-alex
My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
Psalm 119:25-32
Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.
Psalm 119:17-24
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his ways? by taking thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all thy judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Psalm 119:9-16
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently . O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
~Psalm 119:1-8
The other day I happened to open up my Bible to Mark 10. I felt compelled to read the chapter, so I did. As I came to the end of the chapter, the light came on. It became apparent to me that God’s plan of salvation never changes. It is perfect, and He knows exactly what is going to happen, and what He is doing. Jehovah can see the beginning and the end. He knew what would happen in the garden, and He knows right this very moment what your heart is longing for. The LORD is near to them that cry unto Him, and He will never forsake those that seek Him. Salvation is threaded throughout the entire Scriptures. Those who call on the LORD will not be ignored.
“And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging…”
- This first verse struck a huge analogy in my mind. This blind beggar is just like we were when we didn’t know God. When we were lonely, and our lives seemed so incomplete, and hurting. We couldn’t see truth.
“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.”
- So, we are that broken blind beggar. Then all of the sudden we hear of Jesus. We learn that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for the sins of whole world, and at our very sorry state, salvation seems so beautiful to us.
“And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.”
- Many times in the course of the Holy Spirit pressing on a sinner’s heart, satan begins to throw obstacles in their paths. Friends, co-workers, and family can all play a part in swaying a person from truly crying out to God. God is more powerful than that though, and satan has no chance. When our loving LORD truly wants to win over a soul, He presses hard. It is our emptiness that longs for His fulness, and nothing can stop the hand of God.
“And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying into him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.”
- When we cry out, Jesus bids us come.
“And he casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.”
- This was the most exciting and real verse for me. The picture of us casting off our old man is right there. We need to cast it off before we can come to Jesus. That old man is no more, we were made a new creation in Christ Jesus! It is when we remove that dirty garment, and rise up and walk to the cross, that Jesus invites us to come. Oh joy that fills the new man’s soul!
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.”
- When we come to Jesus, He opens our eyes. Before salvation, we are blind, and stumbling around with no place to go. We are abandoned, orphaned, and the loveless. When one cries out to Jesus though, we are made free, and all our joy is complete.
“And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”
Mark 10:46-52
- This is a sweet promise to me. Those that call upon the name of the LORD and believe on Him, will be saved. Their eyes will be opened, and they will be made whole. There is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him alone can one be saved. Let Him open your eyes. Follow the truth..follow love.
-alex
“Let’s imagine I am holding up a painting. When you see a painting, what proof do you need to establish the fact that a painter exists? Nothing else besides the painting itself. The painting is absolute truth that there was a painter. You do not need to see the painter to believe that he or she exists. The painting is all the evidence you need. It would not be there if the painter did not exist, and so it is with the universe. The existence of the universe itself proves absolutely that there is a creator.”
~Charlie H.Campbell
(from “One minute Answers to Skeptics’ Top Forty Questions”)
–Psalm 100–
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD
all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with
gladness: come before his presence
with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD
he is God: it is he that hath made us,
and not we ourselves; we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter
into his gates with thanksgiving, and
into his courts with praise: be
thankful unto him, and bless his
name. 5 For the LORD he is good; his
mercy is everlasting; and his truth
endureth to all generations.
“Now on whom dost thou trust?”—Isaiah 36:5.
EADER, this is an important question. Listen to the Christian’s answer, and see if it is yours. “On whom dost thou trust?” “I trust,” says the Christian, “in a triune God. I trust the Father, believing that He has chosen me from before the foundations of the world; I trust Him to provide for me in providence, to teach me, to guide me, to correct me if need be, and to bring me home to His own house where the many mansions are. I trust the Son. Very God of very God is He—the man Christ Jesus. I trust in Him to take away all my sins by His own sacrifice, and to adorn me with His perfect righteousness. I trust Him to be my Intercessor, to present my prayers and desires before His Father’s throne, and I trust Him to be my Advocate at the last great day, to plead my cause, and to justify me. I trust Him for what He is, for what He has done, and for what He has promised yet to do. And I trust the Holy Spirit—He has begun to save me from my inbred sins; I trust Him to drive them all out; I trust Him to curb my temper, to subdue my will, to enlighten my understanding, to check my passions, to comfort my despondency, to help my weakness, to illuminate my darkness; I trust Him to dwell in me as my life, to reign in me as my King, to sanctify me wholly, spirit, soul, and body, and then to take me up to dwell with the saints in light for ever.”
Oh, blessed trust! To trust Him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never wane, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never fail, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed, and whose perfect goodness can never know a diminution! Happy art thou, reader, if this trust is thine! So trusting, thou shalt enjoy sweet peace now, and glory hereafter, and the foundation of thy trust shall never be removed.
~C.H Spurgeon
