Truth or lie?

Truth will stay for a long time but lies are soon discovered. Nobody likes to be lied about. It hurts really badly. Plus it's not fair to them. It is like being talked about behing your back or it feels like your best friends has back-stabbed you. What do you do when you hear these lies? SPEAK UP! Don't be mean about it or hurt them back with more gossip but instead talk to them, tell them the truth, and then change the subject. It is a very good way to get the truth about someone goin! Same thing goes if it's one of your friends and not you. Stand up for them and be a leader. God wants us to be the head and not the tail. So be known for your truthfulness. It will come a time when you have friends cause they trust you. It's worth it!

Proverbs 12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

The tounge

Don't you just love to share a secret, other wise, known as gossip? If you do, you need to tame that tounge! Don't get me wrong, it is okay to tell secrets to your best friends about yourself but it is wrong to be spreading things about other people. Proverbs 17:9 says " He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter seperates even close friends." So see? Think about this....how would you feel if someone was talking behind your back? Say that you just got into a fight with a friend and all kinds of people are talking about it. How would you react to that? Next time you are tempted to share something about someone else, put yourself in the other persons shoes. Prevent from even hearing gossip that way you won't be sinning when you spread it. And if you have sinned by doing that, God is a forgiving God. Just ask him.

Proverbs 16:28
A troublemaker plants a seed of strife; gossip seperates the best of friends.

How Much He Cares

It says in the bible that even God cares for the sparrows that are only worth a couple pennies.....so just think about that. Then think about how much more he cares for you. God says you are precious and priceless and of great worth. He even knows the amount of hairs on your head! WOW! Sometimes life gets you down....you feel like your unloved and not cared for anymore. Like when you get a new baby sister and you feel like she is replacing you and that your parents love her more. Or if your an adult, you don't have a good relationship with a family member and they are always letting you down. These are ways that you feel neglected at times. So here is the answer to your problems. Talk to God. Tell him you feel uncared for. He knows you feel that way and in his special ways he will tell and show you that he loves and cares for you. He will never leave your side and he is always there for you. So when you get let down, turn to him. He is always there.

Luke 12:6-7
What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet god does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a flock of sparrows.

Sorry

On the bottom post i forgot to put a scripture. Here it is.

Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

The green-eyed monster

A peaceful heart is easy and not very tense. Sometimes when you have envy and jeaulousy inside, you don't have a peaceful heart. Envy and jealously can take you totally by suprise! The bible says it can even rot your bones! NOT HEALTHY! The stab of jealousy can jab hard. There is different types of jealously, and when i think about it, for adults and kids. ADULTS: Say a fellow colleauge got a better pay-check than you or you see the beautiful 2-3 story houses and look at your own in disgust. KIDS: You see other people wearing the latest fashions while you are stuck in hand-me-downs. Or you see that one of your peers got a brand new toy while you still play with your old ones.
These are all forms of envy. Some are large and some are mild. It depends on what it is. Anyway, on of the commandments in the bible says not to covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. So when you see your friends or family getting blessings, be glad for them...and then think of the wonderful things God has blessed you with. It will put that envy in its place, out of your life!

Healing

God can heal. It is just a fact. There are many stories in the bible where it talks about Jesus healing people of his time. Like the man of leprosy story......(Matthew 8:3) " Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing ", he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy."
There is also a story where it says Jesus came to Peter's house and found his mother-in-law lying in the bed with a fever. Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her. He also drove out the spirits of the demon-possed that were brought to him.
All these stories prove that Jesus can heal both you and me. So just ask him. Nothing is too big or small for Jesus.

Matthew 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: He took our infirmaties and carried our diseases.

"The narrow and wide gates"

The bible says, in Matthew chapter 7, there are two gates: The narrow and wide gates. It says to enter the narrow one for it leads to life. That means it is the gate to heaven and you will have eternal life there. Also the bible says not to enter the wide gate with broad roads for it leads to destruction. That means it is the gate to hell and if you enter that one you will burn in fire forever. This is talking about something very simple actually....it talks about how we need to accept Christ as Savior. That is the defition of the narrow gate. If we ask the Lord to come into our hearts and forgive us of our sins....we enter through the narrow gate, the gate to heaven. If we do not ask him this and live for our own ways, we enter through the wide gate, the gate to hell. It is your choice. Simple.

Matthew 7:13-14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

"A tree and its fruit" (from the bible)

The bible says in Matthew 7:16 " By their fruit you will reconize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?" Today I want to talk about how you can tell people by their fruit. Fruit, in life, are doings or sayings of other people. In that chapter it says that every good tree bears good fruit. That means if the fruit of a person is good, they are good people. It also says in that chapter that bad trees will bear bad fruit. That means that is the fruit of people is bad, they are bad people. Verse 18 says " A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." That means that bad people cannot have good fruit and good people cannot have bad fruit. The lesson here is that you can always tell the person by their fruit!

Judging others

God was giving me something to write on my blog today when I realized that a lot of people now these days are beginning to judge other people by the way they look or act or if they have a special need. In the bible there is a paragraph under the words JUDGING OTHERS and I suggest you read it. It is a really good thing to work on. God took me back in the bible to where it says that God created us in his likeness and he told me that if we judge others, we are basically judging God because god created them. Do you get what I am aying? I think all people need to work on this and I hope all that read this got something important out of it.

Letting your light shine

Jesus wants us to let his light shine so that we can let other people know that Jesus cares about them. I know I need to do a little better in my life as a christian and I bet some other people do too. By showing Jesus' light through you, you can help God lead people to Salvation. Even if you do not know how to show that light that God gives you just ask him to speak to people in his ways. Just put a smile on your face and that is one way to show Jesus' light in you. Just by doing that you are making a difference in people lives. They might wonder what makes you so happy or what has gotten into you and then that is your chance to tell others about how Jesus died for them. From now on one of my goals in life is to be a help to God in leading people to him. I want to let him use me and you too. Just ask him and you will recieve.

Psalm 119:101 thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
(Thank you miss kim for saying this scripture and talking about it in Kid's Church today.)

What a day!

Don't you just love having a good time with your family? Well, if you do your gonna be kinda jealous when I tell you that's exactly what I did today. This morning a litlle after nine we left to drop me off at my aunt's house to babysit my little cousins, Ellie and Silas. In fact, they are at my house right now and are having so much fun! Anyway, I am so glad they had a lot of fun and for the first time by myself, I had a great time too!

Then after lunch I went fishing with my dad and little sister Holly. Even though we didn't catch any fish and it was blazing hot outside, I still had a good time.

This proves that my goal today was to let the light of Jesus shine out of me. I want to show the love of Christ to people everyday, even if it's just my family. I hope you had a good day too and that the scripture I will put on here for today will be within your heart for the rest of your life.

Pslam 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
(Pslam 150 is a great chapter and not that long so grab out your bibles and read!)

VROOM! VROOM!

Race cars are really fast and really loud! The reason I am saying that is because we went to a race car race 2 nights ago with my dad! It was a lot of fun! We saw a few friends of his from work and we got to have snacks and dinner there and watch the race cars. The funny part is all through out the thing, every 5 minutes I would have to take someone to the bathroom! LOL. I think I looked like a total weirdo out there. Anyhow, I had a lot of fun and so did my dad and the other kids! Mom had a lot of fun too at her girls' night that night. I thought that I wouldn't like it at the beginning and I wouldn't have any fun but I was wrong! I learned that you'll never know if you like something til' you try it. (That goes with veggies too! LOL).

Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

fireworks! BOOM! BOOM!

Who enjoyed the Fourth of July? I sure did! We invited more than 50 people over to our house for a big cookout and firework show outside. It was awesome!!! First we talked and played for a little while. ( we had a bounce house set up and we have a swing set and my dad set up some games to play. ) And then we ate and roasted hot dogs. And after we played and talked and chatted some more we had roasted smores. Then a few familys stayed until after midnight chatting, roasting, and telling stories. We had a lot of fun and if you came I hope you did too! I thank God for the day we celebrate indeendence and all those men who fought for our freedom and are still fighting to this day. I would like to know what you did for The Fourth of July. please comment and tell me all about it!

Galatians 6:12 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

Focus on horses

For the past few weeks we have been doing riding and showmanship on different kinds of horses, expesially me. The week of June 20th was our horse camp and that Sunday was the horse show. Then for the past week I have been practicing with Renetta for a horse festival tomorrow after church. I get to wear a fancy outfit while riding a horse named Dodger. In the festival, i am suppose to ride the horse to music. (BTW: The festival is called: The Fresians and Friends Festival.) Then after the festival, not the next week but the following week, I am taking horse back riding lessons ,once a week, again from Renetta just for fun! I totally cannot wait for next year and I just pray that God will help me remember the order and dance moves i am suppose to do tomorrow and that he will minister to the people there.

(This was my devotion for today)
Proverbs 28:14 Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

CHURCH

Fact: Church is a great way to grow close to god. some people say that you dont have to go to church to be a christian and they are right. But still, going to church will not only keep you in the right relationship you need with god, but also you can learn more aboput him from the preacher and worship freely with other christians. i feel sorry for the people who cant worship god freely or they cant have a church. not only are church leaders and people your church family but they are also there to encourage you in your relationship with jesus. that is why you need church. Thank you for listening and please post what your opinion is on this subject of the matter.

2 Chronicles 6:10
The Lord has kept the promise he made.

Growing Closer

There are many ways to grow even close to God in your relationship. Like.....reading your bible, going to church, praying, and worshiping the Lord. I have grown even closer to God just using these things in my daily lives. Try to find a special place with God, a place where you can talk to him privately. i hope you all grow closer to the Lord each and every day.

Proverbs 1:21 For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Already 10

Okay. So today is Nick's 10th birthday party. i cannot believe that he is 10 years old already! I love him very much and I hope he has fun today. and here is a secret: im gonna tell you what i got him for his bday. It is not that big but he will like it. I made him a homemade card and gave him one of my silly band pkgs.

Ok, this saturday we are going to Holiday world! WOOOOHOOOO! I love that place! My favorite rides are the water slides! Whats your favorite ride? Tell me on your comments!

I better go, i am watching some tv and watching the girls for a little bit. SEE YA L8er!

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Stay-cation

Hola! Mi numbra es hailey! (sp) (Hello, my name is Hailey). Anyway, I am on my way to indy to go to a place called Incredible Pizza and later we are going to the Indiana State Mueseum and an Indians Baseball game. And guess what this week is...... its a stay-cation week! And we are going to do so many fun things like, go on a family bike ride, spend the night at a hotel on Saturday in ( I dont know where), and stuff like that. These are great ways to spend time with family this summer! So comment on this blog and tell me what you are doing this summer that is going to be a blast! PS: since we are in the car right now, i dont have a bible with me, so i have to list a scripture on the top of my head.

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
For the Lord, himself, will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together, with them, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.

Idolship

Who,that is reading this, loves to watch tv, hang out with friends/family, get on the computer, anything like that. But do you ever think you are taking up so much time with that and so little time for little God stuff like reading your bible, talking to him, and praising and adoring him! Spending time with God is way more important than any of that. And if you put things before God in your life it is called idolship. I realize a lot of people do that in life and also realize it is really wrong to do. I am going to list a scripture now that might help out with your daily lives. (BTW: it is one of the ten commandments.)

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.

Starting up a blog

Hi. IMPORTANT NOTICE: my bro nick is starting up a new blog for himself and is starting to post on it like me. The website you type is this: faithsfortitude.blogspot.com

*Gotta go eat dinner! Sorry! BYE!

Psalm 101:3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing.