A Generation the Seeks Your Face

First, I apolagize for my sporatic posting this week. I was out of the hous efor two whole days this week. So, i’m sorry things have been odd this time around.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah -Psalm 24:3-6 (ESV)

Graduation is growing close, and with it I”ve been thinking more about next year, which will be my Senior year. I’ve been thinking, if there was one thing I could tell this years graduating class and my own, what would it be? Yesterday my dad read Psalm 24 to us. And this passage in particualr struck me. Have you ever heard the song Give us Clean Hands? It’s based of this Psalm and the wording of it turns the psalm into a prayer.

So give us clean hands
and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh give us clean hands
and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh God let this be
a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be
a generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob

This is my prayer for the classes of 2010 and 2011, and all those to follow. Oh God let US be a generation that seeks your face! AS we graduate and go out into the world, we will be faced with so many trials to our faith. The world does not believe as we do and we must remember that. I encourage yall to all write the words of this Psalm on your hearts. And pray to God and ask that he keep you hands and hearts clean, that he let us be a generation that seeks His face. And let me tell yall this, if we truly are a generation seeking the face of God, He will bless us and the world through us.

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Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Ok so I looked up these verses looking for verse 17 which says, pray without ceasing, but when I read them all together I realized that you just cannot pull verse 17 out from the others. really this is a passage I would encourage yall to put to memory. It’s not very long, and man does it pack a punch. Verse 16 says, Rejoice always, so no matter what happens in life, rejoice! We can rejoice in a long test (I just took the ACT, lol.) becuase that tst score can get into college or even pay for college via scholarships. We can rejoice in sharing a room with a younger sibling, cause we’re prepared for sharing a dorm room with another college student. We can rejoice in a crappy dorm room for that matter, cause it means we’re at college. We can rejoice in anything, no matter what the circumstances. Verse 17 says, pray without ceasing, I REALLY wanted to emphasize this one today. I have done a LOT of praying over college, ACT scores, scholarship money etc. and I have come to the conclusion that you really shouldn’t set out to do anything without praying. (Like when the Isrealites made peace with their neighbors on accident cause they didn’t consult with God first. (See the Book of Judges)) So pray over EVERYTHING! No matter how trivial it seems. And really you should be in prayer ALL the time. Finally verse 18 starts out give thanks in all circumstances. Did you catch that ALL? WE should be thankful in want God has given us, no matter how bad the circumstances seem at the time.

So that’s all I have right now on looking to the future. If you have any questions, let me know! ANd again, I encourage yall to memorize those verses!

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Don’t Be Afraid

Ok, so the biggest thing I want yall to understand about the future, is that it’s not something to be afraid of. Fot those who are younger and have just started or are getting ready to start highschool, trust the thought terrified me too. (and I was homeschooled) But it’s not as bad as your imagination makes it out to be. For those of us who are embarking out on college adventures in the near future, yeah I’m scared of that too, but I have some awesome college students who come to our church who assure me it’s not that bad either. Anyways, no matter what you are getting ready to do, there’s no reason to be afraid.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9 (ESV)

God is with us! He is always woith us! No matter what the future holds, we need not fear for  God is with us! So don’t let the future frighten you becuase ono matter what comes your way God will always be there by your side.

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What’s Done is Done

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. -Ecclesiastes 7:10 (ESV)

The teenage years are transition years. It is during these years that we cease being children and begin to make the disicions that will affect the rest of our lives. And quite frankly, that thought is terrifying. Now I don’t now about yall but sometimes I just want to go back to to being a little girl again. I want to go back to when I had no worries, except over really stupid stuff, back to when mom and dad made desicions for me. But guess, what I can’t. In me head though I want to idolize the past, make it seem like everything was perfect back then, even though I know it wasn’t. Ecclesiastes 7:10 says “do not say, why were the former days better than these?” Now, at first glance this seems like something that only adults who dwell on the “good old days” would deal with this. Not so. I often have the same problem. Butya know what? The verse goes on to say “it is not out of wisdom that you ask this.” It is foolishness to want to go back to the psast. What’s done is done, the past is the past. Along those lines let me share with you a quoat from one of my favorite SciFi TV shows, “You have nothing to gain by second guessing yourself. You can’t rewrite the past, so look ahead. Or be left behind.” (Vala in Stargate AG-1 Season 10)

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