Faith & Deeds

Have you ever said or done something you knew wasn't right and thought, "I won't do that next time", but when that next time comes, you don't make any sort of effort to do the right thing?  I know I struggle with this because I have a tendancy to forget, but I don't do anything to remember at times.

In James 2:14-17 it says, "14What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (NKJV)  So, we can say all day long, "I'm going to change" or "I'm sorry", but if we don't do anything about it, it doesn't do any good.

Same with our faith.  We can profess to be Christians and put on a good face for people, but if we turn around and act just like everyone else... what good is our faith?  If we are professed Christians we need to just not profess it, but ACT like it.

It can be so easy to act like our peers at school (or wherever) who are not Christians or following God's way.  But we need to step into our role as Christians and become a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.")

We are to shine God's light in a world of darkness...not blend in.  This can be so hard and sometimes we don't know what the right thing to do so, we need to be in tune with the Holy Spirit within us and be in God's Word every day (next week we will talk about quiet times with God and how important it is). 

So, next time you hear your friends backstabbing someone, politely say, "You know, I don't think that's very nice and you don't need to say that."  And if they keep it up, walk away.  It's the best thing you can do because you can't change them and you're not going to gain anything from listening to their gossip (this goes for just about any situation).

Just remember that we are to shine God's light and people should tell that there is something different about us when they meet us because we have a light that cannot be hidden!

Challenge!

This week when you're confronted with a decision that you can either choose to give in to your fleshly desires or follow what God teaches, try to hear what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do.  The more you listen, the better you'll hear Him.

Prayer

-that we would not fall into the temptations of the world, but show our faith by following Christ's Word

Idols... What are they???

If you're like me, you like music and TV a lot.  And if you don't like music, chances are you like TV or vice versa.  These two things have taken over our culture big time.  It seems this is how we relate to what happens in our lives.  Songs that seem to express exactly how we feel at a point in our lives or watch someone on TV who is going through exactly what we are going through and watch to see how they handle it. 

Do some things seem to overtake your life sometimes?  Maybe you have to look at your phone every time it beeps for a new text message or constantly need to be checking your Facebook for updates.  Whatever it is, being obsessed with things more than God can become a problem.  A good way to find if you have idols is to see where your time is most spent.  Is a lot of your time spent in prayer with God and reading His Word or texting, chatting, watching TV, etc.? 

Have you ever looked up the defintion for the word "idol"?  One defintion says that an idol is "any person or thing regarded with high admiration, adoration, or devotion".  Do you put your stuff as a higher priority than God?   If so, do you realize that that item is your idol?  Now we all know that you don't pray to it or bow down to it, but is your focus directed towards that or God?

God says in 1 John 5:21, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."  Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the meaning behind this passage.  God clearly doesn't want us to have idols.  Now does this mean to sell anything that you are obsessed with?  Well, I'm not saying you should, but if it causes that much of a distraction from God you probably should.  What is probably a good idea is to hide or stay away from (if it's too big to hide like the TV) whatever it is that is hindering your relationship with God. 

Challenge!

Stay away from "your idol" for a couple weeks and use that time to strengthen your relationship with God.  Spend your time every morning or every evening reading His Word or reading a good devotion.  See how much easier it is to focus on that instead of having your idol constantly in your way. 

Prayer

-to make God my highest priority

Modesty

I think as girls we all love clothes in our own way.  Some of us are more into it than others, but overall, we like clothes.  The clothes magazines are fun to flip through and to get ideas on how to improve our wardrobes.

Unfortunately, the styles are getting worse for us girls who are trying to stay modest.  Everything, it seems, is either getting lower or shorter.  What makes it worse is that they make the clothes look so cute.  So, what does the Bible say about modesty?

In 1 Timothy 2:9-10 it tells us, "9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decensy and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God." (NIV)

Now verse 9 can be confusing.  Paul isn't saying that we should go around with a potato sack and show our beauty through our good deeds (verse 10), but instead we are much more beautiful if we dress modestly than if we give in to the world's way of dressing.  We are also so much more beautiful through the good things we do and our hearts for Christ.  In the International Standard Version verse 9 it states it this way, which pretty much sums it all up, "Women, for their part, should display their beauty by dressing modestly and decently in appropriate clothes, not by braiding their hair or by wearing gold, pearls, or expensive clothes,". 

So, Paul's basic message out of these verses is that we should not think that braiding our hair or wearing jewelry makes us beautiful because just dressing modestly and living for Christ gives us the greatest beauty anyone could ever have. 

I really like what verse 10 says (look back if you need to).  What are our clothes saying about us?  Do your clothes say, "I care about myself and I'm living for the Lord" or "I care way too much about looking gorgeous and being accepted by the world"?   

Staying modest is hard to do in today's society.  But it is possible.  It's just a little harder to find clothes.  Just throwing a cute tank under a shirt that comes a little low or a pair of leggings under a little, too short of a skirt is dressing modestly and looking nice.  I mean, you don't have to look like a hillbilly.  You can be modest and still look cute at the same time.  Trust me, it's possible.

One last note, modesty really help the guys out a lot.  They (I'm really talking more about the Christian guys because I don't think the non-Christian guys have a problem with it) are really appreciative when girls dress modestly because they have a whole lot harder time controlling their thoughts when a girl dresses immodestly where as a girl probably just thinks,"Gross!" when a guy's pants are down too far.  So, girls, please dress modestly because not only are you respecting God and guys, but you're respecting yourself also.

Challenge!

Go through your closet this week and see if there's anything you need to get rid of that is too tight, too short, or too low.  And if there are any of these things, can you use them in a way that you can still wear them, but still look modest? (ex. putting a leggings under a skirt, a top underneath a low neckline shirt, etc.)

Prayer

-that I can have the courage to stand up against peer pressure and the world's ways to shine Christ's light through my clothes

Outward Beauty - How obsessed are we with it?

Ever walk down the check-out aisle in a store and see all those magazines sitting there?  Pictures of women with their hair, make-up, and skin all done up just right.  How would you describe those women?  Perfectly beautiful?  More like perfectly fake.

There is no one in the world that looks that great.  So, why do they paint them and shove them in our faces?  The answer is simple: to make us think we are ugly and need a product(s) to make ourselves beautiful.  So, basically, we don’t look good enough.  This culture is lowering girls’ self esteems all the time.

Maybe that isn’t your weak point when it comes to feeling insecure about your looks.  Maybe it’s when your friend always seems to be wearing the cutest outfit that looks so cute on her slim body and it makes you feel really…how should I say it?... ugly?

Whether you can relate to these scenarios or not, I’m sure there is something in your life that is causing you to think poorly of yourself.

God doesn’t want us to feel badly about ourselves.  He made us exactly the way He intended to.  In Psalm 139: 13-14 it says, “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

So, you see God knew what He was exactly what He doing when He created you.  We are beautiful.  We look differently from everyone else.  Wouldn’t you rather look like a beautiful you than a million other people who all look the same?  God’s works are wonderful, but how badly some of us miss it.

So, instead of wanting curly, shiny, or longer hair, why not you use the hair God gave you and make the most of it?  For some of us, it’s easier said than done, but dwelling on something you don’t have will only make you bitter. 

Beauty isn’t just physical, it’s also spiritual.  But in this first series we’re going to do we will be talking about our outward appearance.  The rest of the time will be focused on our character… and, girls, that’s where the real beauty lies.

Challenge!

When you look in the mirror this week, don’t look at yourself through the world’s eyes, but through God’s.  Can you see His perfect beauty in you?

Prayer Ideas

-To not be focused at what I don’t look like, but what you do and glorify God for that!

Introduction

Hello, girls!  I would like to give you an introduction to what this blog is all about...

Life is Christ is a blog for teen girls to read and encourage them to lead a life for Christ (we are based on Phillipians 1:21 which states, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.").  Today’s society puts a ridiculous amount of pressure on girls to give into the world’s ways and we need to have firm ground in Christ to stand against the peer pressure. 

Each blog will have a memory verse and then a sort of devotion.  There will be a memory challenge for that month that girls can memorize to help them secure the Word into their lives (located on the bottom of the page). 

At the bottom of each blog will be prayer time and some ideas about what to pray for, but no written prayers.  I believe that prayer is a personal time with God and you should be the one to determine what you would and would not like to tell Him.

My prayers are with you!

Jess

P.S. I encourage you to take the poll on the left-hand side of the screen! :D