It's been a few days...

I thought maybe now I should update. I have come to a decision about something.

I stopped reading my Bible on day 3. I didn't have time/just didn't make the time. So I will not be doing the Bible in 90 days challenge anymore. But I will continue to read through the Bible, just not in 90 days. I encourage those who are doing it to keep on track and keep going! I'm praying for those who are doing the challenge. Remember that you can do it but only with the Lord's help.

Work has been fun. Everyone there is nice and we just have a good time. Today I have to work from 11-5. I plan on posting later if I get time or make time.

But I just thought I'd update you all on how my life has been.

~Emily

New Year

Well, happy new year everyone!! I have my resolutions for the year, a.k.a. goals. You can see them when you scroll down on the right hand side. I just finished my devotions for the day. I decided to do the devotional book that my mom got me for the year instead of the other one. And then I read my Bible in 90 days challenge. It took me a little over an hour and I stayed decently focused. I was surprised. In the devotional book I did it has a hymn and then a little bit about the hymn and a verse. Today was really good. It talked about how at the beginning of a new year we can be thankful that we have another whole year to be with God, whether we live the whole year or die, we will still be with God. It was just really good. The hymn talked about another year being a servant for God and the way it was laid out was soo great!

Well, I am sorry that this is late...But I was traveling and doing my devotions when I got home.

Today's Bible reading is Genesis 1:1-Genesis16:16 if you are doing the Bible challenge.

I'll do better tomorrow now that I'm home!

~Emily

P.S. --I will post the Reader's Pick tomorrow because of lack of time. And I will put up the new poll as well.

Quick Reminder

Hey everyone,

Please let me know if you would like to do the Bible in 90 days with me! I'll write you on a list and we can do accountability...

~Emily

Very Blessed

In December 25th's Our Daily Bread [find the link under Devotion Sites] the story is about a couple going through some really hard trials with money.

They decided to have a party and invite all their friends. For a tree they had what they called a "Blessing Tree". It had pieces of paper tied on as ornaments and each paper had a blessing on it that the Lord had provided through the year.

Instead of getting upset because they didn't have much money to spend, they stayed focused on God and remembered to praise Him for their blessings.

Starting January 1st, every time something happens that is blessing, I'm going to write it on a piece of paper. Then in December I will start hanging them on my little Christmas tree. The ones that don't fit I will hang elsewhere in my room. What a great way to remember what God has done for you! I hope that you may try the same thing and write all your blessings down!

~Emily

Thoughts

Hi everyone...

I have been thinking a LOT lately about how I know LOTS of Scripture and principles...But do I really truly apply them????? I've been working on applying them. Sometimes I just feel that I'm two-faced. And the Scripture says a that we should not be that way. I often feel as though I tell myself one thing and do the other. It's a constant battle. And it's getting harder and harder for me as I find new trials that the Lord puts me in.

But He will give me strength to get through them. I love the verse that talks about the Lord not giving us more than we can handle...If you know that verse please give me the reference...It's a GREAT reminder that we CAN do things, as long as we have surrendered all to God. One thing that always gets me is His death on the cross. He DIED for me. He SUFFERED for me. I owe Him EVERYTHING in my life...Not just a few things here and there, but EVERYTHING! By Him only am I able to get to Heaven and it was a great sacrifice on His part for a stuggling, unworthy girl like me. We are all unworthy because of our sin, but because He paid the price that we could not pay, we can be forgiven and saved. It's challenging when I think I can do this or that, even though I KNOW it doesn't please the Lord. Then I realize, it's only by Him that I am here and I need to do what DOES please Him.

~Emily

Doubting God

Last night I didn't get to bed late cause it was so hot in my room and I couldn't get comfortable. I got to sleep a little after 11 o'clock thinking, "I'm NEVER going to get up at 5am!" I was just so upset...

Little did I know when I woke up and looked at my clock it was 5:06. 5 o'clock. I got up. And I was refreshed, and ready to start my day. [For the most part.]

Later as I was doing some school and thinking about other stuff, I realized...Saying that I could NOT get up was doubting that God would not give me the strength to get up. I pray every night that He would help me to get up every morning ready to serve Him. And I had... At that moment of realizing that I had doubted God, I prayed to Him and asked forgiveness.

How often do we pray about something, and often we have little or no faith that God will actually do it. Rick taught in Sunday School about it...

James 1:5-6 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

Matthew 21:22 says, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

What a great reminder that we need to have true faith when we ask God for help and to know that He CAN help us. I feel that God was teaching me a little lesson this morning...And my day went great too. I was happier, and felt refreshed all day. It's amazing what we often don't think about things like that when we need to.

And of course, following our answered pray of receiving help, we need to praise and thank God for the power to get through things.

~Emily

New Year

Hi everyone,

I just figured I'd give you all a little peek into what I'm planning in my devotional life for the new year.

I'm starting off January 1st with reading the Bible in 90 days. [See link on right -way down there-] That will last until March 30th. I am inviting whoever wants to to join with me. I will be posting what you need to read, or you can print the schedule. So far Molly is joining with me. I will be keeping tabs if you want to join me, meaning e-mails or another form of finding out if you're reading it...Then I will post everyone's name that completed it on March 31st, along with a certificate that you can print out and sign.

That's 1/4 of the year already. I MAY do another devotional book at that time, but I'm not sure. I will of course be reading those 'inspiring' type books. Just not a daily devotional unless I find I can handle it.

I just remembered...ALL of the year I'll be doing a short devotional every day out of a book called "God & I Time Treasures Volume 2". It gives you Scripture to read every day and then a small space to record what you learn.

Then starting March 31st, Molly and I are doing a devotional book together called "Beyond the Sun" and that is going to last 7 weeks. During that time I MAY do a different devotional as well, but like I said, I don't want to overwhelm myself and then quit.

Following that I am going to do a deep devotion time with the book "Seeking Him" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It is 12 weeks long. I listened to some of the recordings that go along with it and I think it will be VERY good for me. I MAY try and do it during the 90 days through the Bible, but like I said, I don't want to overwhelm myself...

Following that I am going to do another 12 week study in a book called "Up".

So far that is all I have, along with all of the books I would LIKE to read in my reading list.

Well, that's all for today,

~Em

P.S. --I will also be working on my binder more next year. I'll be posting about my binder tomorrow...

Praying

I want to apologize one last time. I'm sorry that I haven't been getting great things out. BUT, I finally got something to post and time to post. So I'm going to post it...Haha

It's on prayer. Praying is a vital part in a Christian life. God can do great things when we pray. But there are a few things I've been learning about prayer lately and I thought I'd share them with you. I have been cautious when I tell someone that I'll pray for them. I read an article in "Today's Christian Woman" about praying for one another. Of course it's GREAT to pray for other people. But don't say you'll pray for them unless you can commit to truly praying for them. I have started a prayer journal that I write all my prayer requests in. I have my committed prayers and ones I thought of that I need to pray for when I think about them.

We often feel so sorry for another person that it's just a 'second-nature' to say, I'll pray for you. It does help, but only if you REALLY are going to commit to praying for them. I have recently started commiting in my prayer time. I have a few friends who are going through a rough time in their life and have told them I would pray for them. Even if they think it's just going to be a 'when ever she remembers' thing, their wrong. If I have commited to praying for someone I truly do now. I used to always say "I'll pray for you", but did I really pray for them? No. Only occasionally would I remember and actually pray for them. I'm doing MUCH better now. And have read that article it really opened my eyes to what my prayer life should really consist of.

I hope you have been encouraged and will change your ways of praying if need be.

~Emily

Looking Back {We're all grown up!}

Yesterday my friend Erin got her license!! So today after Church we went to town, ate lunch, and shopped a little bit. No parents.

It really got me to thinking, you wait allll those years wanting to get to that age where you don't have to be under your parents full authority. You wanna make decisions on your own and do what you wanna do. As kids not being raised in a 'strong' Christian home, you don't really see the value of just 'enjoy what you have while you have it'. I look back, I don't regret feeling that way, but I think when you get to this age [for some its older or younger] you really see what you kinda missed. You see what your parents were talking about.

Being 16, I sometimes feel like I 'know everything' but I have been working on not acting that way. I know older people are MUCH wiser than me and can give me great advice. I often cut people off when they are giving me advice I have heard. "Yes, I know! You don't need to tell me I've heard it a million times!!!" I can respond that way. But it is not the proper way to respond. I need to humbly be told the advice because the more I hear it, the more of a chance I will remember it later on.

Titus 2:3-5 is one of my favorite passages. I encourage you to read it. As younger women need to look up to the older women, and set a good example of the girls that are young then us. Someone is always watching...

~Em

Just a Reminder

I just wanted to leave a small reminder for everyone. It's because of what happened last night...I gave into the temptation of music, and when I got up this morning I felt horrible.

We all fail sometimes, but God will forgive us if we ask. But instead of going right back into doing it, we need to endure the temptations.

Yes, it is a hard battle to overcome sin. The devil puts thoughts in our minds, and stumbling blocks. What we need to do is pray that the thoughts would be removed and try to focus on other things. For those stumbling blocks, again, pray and 'step over' them without falling. Sure, sometimes we do fall, but God will pick us back up.

What I want to remind you all is that if we strive to be more Christ-like, endure those hard times and trials, and keep strong in God, take time to do devotions and take time to pray, we will be well blessed in the end.

Be thankful for the days you have, the victories you win, and the trails you face. Because in the end it will be WELL worth it.

I hope that all made sense. And that your day would be blessed!

~Emily

Initmacy with God

I signed up for a e-devotion on crosswalk. Actually a few of them. Today's, "In Touch with Charles Stanley" was about intimacy with God. And how many of us don't have an intimate relationship with God. It talks about how God loves us and how He knows us intimately, we just don't know HIM intimately.

It kind of just renewed and reminded me of what Christ did for me and EVERYONE on the cross. He died for OUR sins, and we owe Him our lives.

Dedicate your life to the Lord and do everything in Him and with His help.

When you do something, make sure God is involved.
~Em

Why do we carry these burdens?

I receive the blog posts of Revive Our Hearts daily...The other days really got me thinking...

She said how that if we are going to move to say...a desert, we would not want to burden ourselves with snowsuits. So why as Christians do we burden ourselves with behaviors, lifestyles, and habits that we will regret when we stand before God?? We should embrace holiness to prepare us for eternity. We should act godly, not worldly. We need to be diligent to be without spot or blemish when we get to Heaven. Now obviously we can't be perfect, but if we are diligent and continue to try and be more Christ-like, it will be all worth it.
Nancy always includes a personal question at the end of the blog post, and it said,
"Is there an ongoing habit or choice in your life that you'd be ashamed of when you get to heaven? Why not repent? Take another step in preparing for your eternal home."

What a challenging thing. We if we will be ashamed of it when we get to Heaven, why are we not ashamed of it here? Think about the music you listen to, clothes you wear, things you say, things you think, the list goes on and on. Repent of your sins and strive to be better. We need to be preparing for our eternal home, what is here does not matter.

~Em

Ugh...

I failed...I went out to get something to eat, and I stayed in front of the TV. I didn't just sit at the table the whole time, no. I went IN the living room and SAT on the chair and CHOSE to watch TV. And it were the shows that are definitely ones I really shouldn't watch. They are those ones that just 'get' you and you have to watch it until it finally answers the questions...I feel horrible and ugh. Please continue to pray for me everyone!!!! I need it greatly!!

~Em

75 Ways I Am Selfish

In 'The Girl in the Mirror' book I am just about finished, there are two more sections but just for extra reading. Sunday's was challenging. It talked about all of the things and how we are all selfish. Michelle said about a teacher in college who gave everyone a paper and they had to write at least 75 ways they are selfish and some of them had to get 1 or 2 more papers. She gives a chart in the book and challenges her readers to write down 75 ways we are selfish.

I am currently working on my list. I challenge you to do one as well. When I finish I will post my list and I will tell you which ones I am working on.

~~Em