Don't Take the Name of the Lord in Vain!

Thou Shalt Not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain:

Deuteronomy 5:11 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."(KJV)

From the past few posts (and probably some of the future posts), I think that one (of the many common themes) is that these laws almost always seem "easy to keep" but Satan has a way of deceiving us. He makes it seem like we can do these things and break these commandments in a way that seems "okay", but is compromising our conscience and breaking Gods law. This commandment is no different!

When I started writing this post, me and my pride had me thinking that I had kept this commandment pretty well. I mean, I had never sworn or anything! But the more I thought about it the more I realized that swearing might not be exactly what this verse is talking about. Have I ever said things like, "God Bless You" (or something like that) when I don't really mean it? Do I ever talk about God in a way that is bringing me more glory than it will Him? I have always thought of this commandment as "do not swear", but I realize that it is saying more than just that! The new meaning that it has for me is it is also saying is that the Lords name is Holy and Sacred, and should NEVER be misused because of how holy and powerful it is!

The first thing that came to my mind when I started to write this post was a video I had seen a long time ago. It was about a man who's name was Sean and how when things where going wrong around him, people would say, "Oh, Sean!" and he would run to them and say, "What?"! the people would say, "I don't want you." and walk away. All through out his day, that kept on happening, and he got super frustrated! The "moral" of the story was that when you say the Lord's name, you are "calling" Him!

As many of you know (or have discovered by reading my blog) is that music is a big part of my life. So of course, I have to incorporate a song into this post. I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard a song called "Your Name". It would be too long to put it in this post, so I decided to just put the chorus in it. It goes like this:


Your name is a strong and mighty tower
Your name is a shelter like no other
Your name, let the nations sing it louder
'Cause nothing has the power to save
But Your Name


Thank's for reading!

God Bless,
Gracie

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

It's needs to be God

Hello,
Have you ever heard a song that was cool, but didn't really mean that much to you at that time? Have you ever hear that song again, in a different time in your life, and it seems to totally change it? That has just happened to me! I have been very frustrated lately about my inability to be "good" at sharing the gospel with people for three reasons. First of all, I am a fifteen year old girl! its not like I can (or should) go out and witness to the homeless man on the street corner. Number two, when ever I get the chance, it seems like I get flustered and do a bad job. And number three, I am afraid that that person will think that Christians are all "weird" like me and be closed minded about it all. So I usually just skip it, and hope that someone who is better at it will get the chance! But recently I feel like God has been teaching me to "get out of my comfort zone", and do the right thing, whether it is "good" or "comfortable" or "easy". Which is, as you can probably tell, really stretching for me! Now, here is the story I have to tell...

...The other day, I was given an opportunity to talk to a girl about what I believe, who Christ is in me, and how He has changed my life. She was full of questions, some of which I couldn't answer! It was really a challenge for me. I mean, I had trusted, and obeyed God! Why didn't He help answer her (and my) questions? I felt like a fool! I started to pray and ask God for direction, wisdom, and the words to answer her questions. I asked several people that I trusted how they would answer her! I was very blessed to be given so much help (especially one person) to answer the questions, and clear up my mind. Sometimes, you just need to hear the truth, even if you already "know" it. But I still had the excuse that I didn't have the "confidence" and "resolve" to talk to her ( what a LAME excuse, I was almost to embarrassed to tell you guys)! But God gave me grace, and a song. ;D

For me, as you can see, it was my pride that needed to be changed. I needed my mindset of "I can't do this" to " God can, and is doing this THROUGH me". But I realized it is not me, its HIM, and ONLY HIM that can truly answer, forgive, and live in her.
Thank you for reading, and God bless,
Gracie

Gullible

Hello Everyone!!

Have any of you seen the thing that has been going around? It is now a proven fact! If you say oranges really slowly it sounds like gullible. (You may have to say it a few times!)


OK, so I'm pretty sure that I said it about five times before I got it! But it might be that I am just very gullible person. I am always wanting to believe the best in others and not to judge them, which can be a good or bad thing, because at times it may not be the truth. But how do you do you know when you need to judge or not? I will try to answer that question as well as I can.

Well, I looked it up in the bible and found five verses that I thought were pretty relevant.

Psalms 43:3
Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle.

Psalms 25:4-5
Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
⁵ Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.

Psalms 51:6
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

John 8:31-32
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

James 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

So if you lack wisdom, or judgment (like me) " let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him"

So, I know I am hitting on a lot of topics, but I just have one more that I think is very important.

First I want to share a verse!
2 Timothy 3: 1-7
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"

It is crazy to me how specific these are, yet how many people I know that have these exact issues! I mean, how many people do you know are disrespectful to their authority's/parents (proud, disobedient to parents, headstrong, haughty,), or people who spend all their time of Facebook (slanderers, without self-control) or video games. (lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, brutal, despisers of good,) Another thing that is very important to acknowledge is that if you love something (or someone) more than God, you are sinning. It (or they) are an idol that needs to be removed, even if it is not a "bad" thing in the first place.


And continued:


"For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. " (NKJV)

Again, the woman reminded me of the "Feminist" woman now days. Not by the fact that she was gullible, but that she "Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." A woman is given so many gifts, yet many of them throw them away. I mean a woman is given the gift of protection, and guidance, whether it is from her dad or her husband; yet so many women are "fighting" for "independence and freedom." I believe God made women with a more trusting and submissive mind, heart and judgment, and that is a gift. But that is because it is to be protected my Men. Not because they are any less than a man, but because they are have a different part to play.


Thank you for reading and God Bless,
Gracie