Jesus Christ VS. Santa Claus

As this Christmas season is drawing nearer, I see more and more people worrying over the best sales and the must have toy of the season. It's pretty sad if you ask me. You turn on the TV and all you see is Santa this and Santa that. Since when did this society forget the true meaning? I admit that with all the tinsel and lights and decked out Christmas trees, it's sometimes difficult to hold on to that lowly and humble manger scene. However, for the time being I want to compare these two cultures and see if, in the end, you believe what you say you believe. Let's determine which occasion is most worthy of a celebration. I'm going to do this by comparing the two icons of the season: Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. 


I'm going to begin with the more published person of this day and time: Santa. As we all know, Santa goes by many names. There's St. Nick, Chris Kringle, Father Christmas, and, well, you get the point. He wears a red suit  with a red hat, lives up in the North Pole, and has elves that help him make presents each year for all the boys and girls of the world. He has a white beard, drives a sleigh pulled by reindeer, and has all kinds of magical qualities. "He sees when you are sleeping and he knows when you're awake." He seems like a pretty amazing character doesn't he? Well, unfortunately, that's what a lot of people see nowadays, the red suit and presents in stockings. They rarely stop to think about the manger scene. 


Now, let's talk about Jesus. Just like Santa, Jesus goes by many names: Son of God, Lilly of the Valley, Bright and Morning Star, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Hope, Rose of Sharon. I could go on and on, but you get it. However, this icon didn't wear a red suit and hat. He wore swaddling clothes and a crown of thorns. Angels follow him and do as he commands, and, yes, he will have a white beard too. He has performed many miracles through healing. He doesn't ride in a sleigh, no. But, he is coming back on a cloud. He doesn't live in some barren waste land, but he lives, or can live, in your heart. You don't have to write a letter to him, because he's already wrote one to you (aka the Holy Bible). You can get in touch with him through prayer though. 


Isn't this sounding a lot better? That's what I thought. But, the most important thing about this is one thing. Santa didn't die for your sins, he didn't raise from the dead, and he's not up in Heaven making intersessions for you and I and controlling everything that keeps us living. Jesus did and is still doing that. That's my Christmas! What's yours? 


**In the words of Linus.........**

Tim Hawkins: The Food Prayer

New Siding

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." -II Corinthians 5:17    

      Within the past week or so, my papaw has had to redo the siding of his house to fit the insurance companies satisfaction. You know because apparently they discovered that wood is flammable. Who knew right? It's kind of crazy if you ask me, but some vinyl siding will perk up the outside of his wooden house. So far it's coming along great and meeting all expectations. It's a good thing too because I'm pretty sure insurance is necessary. This make over will defiantly look pretty great. Well, thinking about this situation earlier, God gave me something. And, I just love it when that happens.

     Do you remember what God did to you the moment he saved you? Yeah, that's right. He gave you a new spirit alive in him. Well, it's kind of like what we are doing to papaw's house. You see, the wooden siding was all beaten and worn because of time and encounters with each passing storm. Basically, it was ragged and unsafe (according to the insurance company). Well, that's like we were before we got saved. Ragged, beat up, good for nothing sinners. We had been beaten by the storms of the world and was regarded as unsafe. If we didn't find some way of fixing ourselves up, we would continue to have no insurance. So, that's when we called the Contractor. we didn't as for new siding, we asked for a new spirit. And that's just what he gave us.

     I wondered what was so good about my papaw switching to vinyl siding, so I researched its benefits. It turns out, vinyl siding is easy to install, affordable, offers better protection, has less maintenance, is more durable, and increases the value of your home. Now, let me relate that to our lives. Our new spirit is easy to install. All you have to do is ask. It's also affordable because it's free. We have better protection and durability to face anything life throws at us. There's less maintenance because our spirit is perfect, and it's value is unreachable and un-tradeable.

     Well, since my papaw is fixing up his house, the insurance company will hopefully show mercy on him and let him keep his policy. Aren't you glad that one day God didn't cancel your policy and send you to Hell but had mercy on you and gave you eternal life insurance. I know I am. And, even better yet, he thought the new siding made such a difference, he decided to move in the transformed house to abide forever. It's really amazing to know we have a God this good.

Grace Exceeds

Baby Christians

Have you ever had a time when you don't intend for something to happen, but it happens anyway? I'm sure you have. Well recently we've had one of those instances: our dog had puppies. We were all surprised because we never intended on waking up to find two little baby puppies. But we did. Anyway, I got to looking at how small and hopeless they were, and it got me to thinking. There's a lot of Christians like that today: babes in Christ. You know, the kind that decide they are not going to grow up.

"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  -Hebrews 5:12-14 

When babies are born, they are hopeless in the fact that they can't care for themselves. They may be living and breathing, but they have no means of surviving on their own. They rely on the mother, father, friends, and family members to basically keep them alive and going. It may take them a while to develop skills as simple as opening their eyes, talking, and walking. These things come through time and maturity. Also, when a baby is first born and even up until they are several months old, they can't stomach real food. They can only have the mother's milk. Otherwise, their system goes into shock and causes sickness. They just can't take it.

Christians are the same way. When we first get saved, we don't know what to do or how to go about doing anything. We have gained eternal life, we just don't know where to go from there. Often times, we rely on others to help us in knowing right from wrong. I'm not saying that in a bad way because it's great to look up to others and model yourself after Godly Christians. But, that seems to be all that baby Christians depend on is the life of others like their parents, grandparents, friends, and family to do things like take them to church and keep them from wrong doings. It may take us a while to see things differently than we once did, talk the right kind of talk, and walk in God's will. That too comes with maturity in the word. God may not even be able to feed us all the good food because we wouldn't be able to contain it or know how to react to it.

HOWEVER.....

There does come a time in a Christians life when they need to start growing up. I'm not saying to jump right in and do it, because that's nearly impossible. With maturity, we eventually see, walk, and talk better. It just takes baby steps. But, a lot of Christians will choose not to grow up. They are just satisfied with what little filling the milk gives them. They enjoy being taken care of with just about no responsibilities. They get to the place where they become satisfied with the life God's given them and won't strive for anything bigger. God wants to give them meat. That's what we need to strive for is the meat. The meat fills you up more and does much better in supplying energy and developing a more efficient Christian. I know that after eating meat for so long, there's no way i would go back to surviving solely on my mother's milk. Many will miss out on the meat and the joy that comes with being a "grown-up." God can't use babies like he can adults. Just think about it: you wouldn't want a baby to be in charge of something like building your house would you? I figured not. Babies can't get as much done. It's as simple as that. They are limited. Adults, on the other hand, have the wisdom and maturity to get more done for God. They also have the capability of having a stronger, closer relationship with God.

So, how do you line up? It doesn't matter how old you are spiritually or physically. You can have a closer walk with God. Have you decided to grow up and mature in your Christian walk, or have you decided to stay a baby? There's a big difference and a bigger out come to your decision. Are you going after the milk or the steak?

That's What Friends Are For

I don't know about all ya'll out there, but I certainly feel blessed to have the friends I have. You know the kind I'm talking about: real friends. Not these people that will call you their best friend and then talk about you behind your back, not treat you right, or leave you when you need them most. Good friends, on the other hand, will stay with you through thick and thin no matter the circumstance. Yeah, I'm a pretty lucky girl, and I hope you can speak from the same point of view as me. Sometimes, keeping up a healthy friendship isn't easy. We may disappoint the other sometimes, get our feelings hurt, and just get plain mad at them. Like any other relationship, a friendship isn't going to be perfect. Trust me. There are always going to be places of improvement. So, for this entry today, that's what I'm going to deal with: true friendship.

Now, when you think of a group of friends in the Bible, who comes to mind? David and Johnathan? Paul and Silas? The disciples? Yeah, that's what generally comes to my mind too. However, lately I've found other friendship that's not really noticed. At least, I had never noticed it before. It's in Daniel Chapter 3. Yeah, that's right: the Three Hebrew Children. Often times we get our mind set on the miracle of Jesus walking in the fiery furnace and the children coming out unharmed, and that's good!! Don't forget that! To me, it's one of the most powerful stories in the Bible. But for a moment, I would like to focus on their friendship.

I encourage you to open your Bible to this story, but if it's not handy, I will summarize it for you. I'm sure we all know the story. King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue and told everyone to worship it. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to do so. So, as a punishment, the king order them to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. The King even order them to heat it seven times hotter than usual. So, they threw the children down bound into the furnace. Well, a little time goes by and Nebuchadnezzar looks down into the furnace to find, not three men, but four men loose and walking around, and one is likened unto the son of God. The King let's them out and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come out unharmed.

As I said earlier, this is a huge miracle, and we often just set our minds on that and nothing else. However, once you think about it, look at the friendship these Hebrew children must have had! I discovered a few similarities about these three men.

Number One: They stood out. "There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:12. They were the only ones not worshiping the golden image. Others might have looked at them like they were strange. The truth was, there wasn't many like them. They were noticed, and not always in a good way. But, God was saw in their lives. When you find a real friend, you'll notice how they stick out. You'll see that their beliefs are practically the same as yours and notice the power of God in their lives. You might even stick out together to where the world may see the power of God in your lives.

Number Two: They stuck together. Daniel 3:12. When you see these men mentioned, they are always as a group: Shadrach, Meshach, AND Abednego. They stayed together and didn't leave even when they faced judgement and the threat of the fire. It wasn't just Shadrach, or it wasn't just Abednego who got thrown in. It was all three. When you are faced with the troubles and the trails of this life, it's good to have a real friend by your side. They won't leave you in the fire, in fact, that's when it seems they're there the most. They don't worry about themselves and won't abandon you because of the treat to them. They'll stay no matter what.

Number Three: They stood their ground. "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's idol. They set in their minds that they would not betray their God no matter the cost. We all need to have this kind of friendship. We need to all stand for God no matter what the world may say. Our friends will stand for God no matter what, and won't go after the "new," "popular" things the world puts out.

Number Four: They survived the fire. "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth and come hither. Then, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire." Daniel 3:26. The three Hebrew children all when into the fire together and all came out together. I'm sure the fire got really hot, but they didn't leave each other. We may h ave certain friends that will say they'll go with you all the way, but when the going gets tough, they'll leave you to basically fend for yourself. You need to have a friend that won't leave you in the midst of the fire, and you need to be the kind of friend that won't let them give up and quit. We need to be there for each other, to encourage one another, and keep running the race.

Number Five: They were surrounded by God. "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Daniel 3:25. When the Hebrews were in the fire, God was with them. They weren't alone. Your friendship should be so strong because of the fact that God is ruling in your lives. You don't have to only rely on your friends, because, as I said, they may fail you sometimes. None of us are perfect. However, God is someone you can always depend on. He is our truest friend, and nobody can steal him away. But, he does decide to send certain individuals in our life. I've heard it said before: When God puts friends together, they stay friends forever. A real friendship is one built on the Lord, and it will never work unless you allow God to be in control. A lot of friendships nowadays are built upon wealth, popularity, etc. But, only a friendship on the things of God will survive the fire.

So, how about it? What kind of friends are you surrounding yourself with? What kind of friend have you been lately? Most importantly, what kind of role does God play in your friendship?

Didn't I Walk

Not For Sale

Yes, I realize I haven't posted an entry in a while. I'm sorry. That's my own fault. It just seems that lately, the devil has been putting everything in my way in order to tear me down and distract me from God and his work. I know none of you have ever felt like that, right? Yeah, that's what I thought. He does that to everyone both young and old. And, for some reason, we tend to follow him a lot. Am I right? He's starts dragging us back out into the world hoping we will throw our sword down and give up on God, and, being the humans we are, don't usually notice until we've strayed really far away. That's how I have felt anyway. However, this morning I was on the computer and ended up on YouTube, and I came across this song that really encouraged me.

You see what I mean? A part of this song says that the devil will come at us with everything he's got in order to tear us down. Well, that's when we tell him we aren't for sale. When we got saved, Jesus bought us with his blood. If he bought us, we belong to the Lord, not the world, and certainly not the devil. If God owns us, who is the devil to think he can take us back? Well, he can't. 

"For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be ye not the servants of men." -I Corinthians 7:22-23

Today, so many people  have sold out and given up on God. Some to more extremes than others, but even churches nowadays have compromised. The devil has beaten them down to where they sell out their beliefs and try to fit the world in every spot possible. Things just aren't what they use to be. Christians have lost their backbones. They will negotiate and compromise in order to please those who don't want anything to do with the Christian walk and Christian life.  I believe we need to reach out to those who don't know Christ, but we need to get them in with the old old fashion way of doing things. We've given up hope that the old time way still works, but, friend, I'm here to say it still does. We just need to be studied and prayed up in order to ensure that when the devil come our way trying to break us that we will have enough faith and trust in God to see us through. I know I'm not one to talk because that's been my struggle lately. But, I challenge you. Leave no room to negotiate, deal, or compromise with the devil. The next time he starts beating you down, just turn and say you not for sale!   

It's Been Worth Every Mile

The Dixon's 

Rooted

Lately we have been experiencing alot of storms in our town. These storms would consist of anything from large rain downfalls, hail, and wind. Well, one morning after one of our big storms, I rode  through town and I saw several disasters caused mainly by the winds of the previous night. There were several trees on the ground, limbs missing, a building missing half its roof, and a fallen billboard. Yes, a billboard was down for the count. But as I was on the road, God gave me a thought. I wonder why all of those things fell, came apart, etc.? The conclusion... they weren't rooted well enough. Also, the aftermath of the storm reminded me that we don't only go through natural storms, but we go through spiritual storms too. And if you haven't, you will. Trust me on that. So, God gave me this verse:

"As ye have therefore recieved Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." -Colossians 2:6-7

In this day in time, we as Christians seem to be becoming few and far between. So many people will get saved and be on fire for God, but, when the first storm comes, they fall down and give up. We need to make sure that this doesn't happen to us. We need to be rooted in Jesus for he is the true foundation. If we aren't, then when a storm comes along, we will fall over and never get back up.

Sometimes, in a storm, we will see the trees swaying back and forth. I don't know about you, but that makes me a little uneasy no matter how big the tree may be, and it's never a pretty sight. It's never good for Christians either. When the storms of life come our way, we get down and defeated, and we just feel like throwing in the towel. During this time in our lives, we may begin to sway back and forth on some things. There are many things involved with this statement, but, for example, the things that would convict us or the things that bothered us wouldn't bother us as much as they would without the storm. It happens to the best of us. But, the Bible says:

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." -Galatians 5:1

We need to stand fast and stand firm to the best of our abilities given to us by Christ. Those are the only abilities capible of withstanding the storms. Because under our own power, we would fall. We need to dig our roots down deep so that we can stand in the midst of the storm. I'm not saying that the storms will stop coming because they won't. They may even seem to get worse at some times. But, be of good cheer. If we are rooted in Jesus Christ our Lord, we will stand. Oh, and don't forget your umbrella!

Cloudy With a Chance of Fog

A couple of weeks ago, me and a few family members went to a chicken sale. Yes, a chicken sale. Well, we did really good with our sales and stuff. However, on our way home we ran into a bit of fog. Well, now that I think about it, that's an understatement. It was a bunch of fog. This huge blanket of fog was also on a mountain that I'm not too familiar with, so that in itself made me quite uneasy. But, that's besides the point. Finally, we toppped the mountain and the fog cleared causing me to breath a sigh of relief. However, as we travelled down the mountain, I looked a little ahead and saw a deer crossing the road. Don't worry. The deer made it, and we didn't even come close to hitting it. But, it made me think. What would have happened if that fog on the other side of the mountain hadn't have been there? Here I was really wanting to hurry and get home while complaining about how terrible and unnessesary the fog was. However, it could have been there to protect us from the dangers we could have faced by hitting the deer. The fog had slowed us down just enough to avoid a collision. Well, have you ever wondered what God has sent our way that has kept us out of trouble, and all we have done is saw the bad?

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"   
-Ecclesiastes 3:1

Sometimes we get in such a hurry to do or go somewhere. Then all of a sudden something comes up to hender us from the task. It may frustrate us and make us wonder why. Well, do you ever think that this thing that you consider a burden could really be a blessing? Sometimes, God will send us through vallys because there very well could be a danger (deer) up ahead that he's protecting us from. At the time, we may look at the problem and think of it as unnessesary and bothersom. But if we just stop and look ahead, we may see that it was for the best. God knows what he's doing, and he has our best interest at hand. Plus, just think how much damage that deer could do to a car!

A Greater Yes

The Dixon's ~ A Greater Yes 

Really Inspiring Song :)

Bright Blush

Ok. It's time for the final item of makeup in the count down: Blush. You can have a little more fun with this item. When you generally think of blush, what do you picture? Do the words bright, radient, or happy come to mind? Well they do for me. When you put blush on your cheaks, it seems to add a bit of character to your apperance. The blush brightens up your face and gives you the look of overall cheer and gladness. Well, I have decided to related this one last product to our spiritual lives. I know the past ones have included the more major and probably more difficult tasks that we should do as Christians. But, I believe that blush should represent just being happy because we serve the Lord. The Bible says:

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:24

Is there any other better reason to be happy that you can come up with? I don't think so. This verse simply says to be happy just because God has created this day for us to live. It sounds like a simple thing. Then why don't we do it. We take so many things that God gives us for granted. We should instead be rejoicing for all that he has done for each of us. Hopefully we all have clothes on our back, shoes on our feet, a roof above our heads, food to eat, etc. And even if you still can't think of a reason to be happy, just think harder. Well here's the best one for you.... Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of the world! That includes you. And hopefully you have excepted his gift of salvation. To me, that is worth praising him and being happy as we live our day to day lives.

"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are the partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." -I Peter 4:13

I know we as Christians, myself included, do not have a happy look about us most of the day. And we wonder why there doesn't seem to be as many of us around anymore. Well here's an idea...Nobody wants to be like anybody who looks like they hate life all the time and never seem to crack a smile. So instead, we should go around wearing a smile and showing the world that we are happy serving Jesus. Without us, how will they ever see the true joy of surrendering your life to God?

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." -Proverbs 15:13

So, don't worry. Be happy! You'll never know who's life you can touch with this one simple task.

Maximum Mascara

Now it's time for number three in our makeup line-up: Mascara. Amoung many other products, I seem to see alot of commercials, ads, etc. advertising mascara. Well, it's important in our daily makeup routine, so why shouldn't it be in our daily walk with God. To me, mascara is a big indicator that somebody is wearing makeup. I have related this product to something we should be doing every day: Standing. We all know mascara makes our eye lashes stand up bold and tall. Well, we should have some of it in our Christian walk to help us stand up and be bold. As the Bible says:

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." -Galations 5:1

We all need to stand up proud and unashamed of the Gospel of Christ. We need to be bold and let everyone know where we stand and who we stand for.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it: to the Jew first and also to the Greek." - Romans 1:16

Mascara also serves the purpose of seperating your lashes and preventing them from clumping. This symbolizes that we as Christians need to be seperated from worldly matters and not clump up with the wrong crowd. Sometimes that part of it seems so hard to do. But, once you think about it, it pays off in the long run and gives you a closer walk with God. Here's some encouragement:

"Wherefore come out from amoung them, and be ye seperate saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will recieve you, " - II Corintians: 6:17

So, if we wear our Spiritual mascara, we will be bold, tall, and seperated. By doing this, God will recieve us or be proud of us. What would be better than making God our Father happy? So, will you wear your mascara today?

Everlasting Eyeshadow

So on to the next item in the makeup group: eye shadow. This one was a little more difficult for me to associate with God. But God, amazing as always, gave me this thought. "Keep your eyes set upon God and the things of the Lord." When it came to my mind I was like, "Duh!" It was one of those 'shoula had a V8' moments for me. This statement seems so simple doesn't it. I mean we've heard it all our lives. "Live for God no matter what." And, "Do God's will." We say it like its something that just naturally happens. However, in reality, it's really not that simple. It should be easy for a Christian to live for God, but, somehow, we always seem to let our flesh get in the way and hender the task. Here are some verses I found about setting your eyes upon God:

"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wonderous things out of thy law." -Psalm 119:18

"Blessed are the pure at heart: for they shall see God." -Matthew 5:8

Sure, there is much more scripture to cover this subject. But I just chose a few. Basically, we should set our eyes upon God and the things concerning him. So many times, we will set our eyes on what is going on in the world around us, and we will completly miss little signs sent from God. How often does that happen. My answer: a bunch! Once you think about it though, look at all the little things God does for us. It can be as simply as allowing us to breath this very second, telling the birds to sing us a song in the calm of the morning, or even just keeping us safe from harm and danger when we are driving down the road. God does so much for us every second of every day, and we don't seem to give him the time of day. I know I fall into that category. When our eyes are fixated on the things of this world, they can't be set on God. It's either one or the other. We arn't Spritually cross-eyed! If our eyes are fixed on him, we will be more apt to see blessings and miricles that he's performing all around us. And the more we look to God, the more we notice his love toward us and begin to fall deeper in love with him. So, make sure you apply your eyeshadow today!

Flawless Foundation

I have decided to start a series of entries based on one topic. I entitled it "Spiritual Makeup." I will cover things like eyeliner, foundation, blush, etc. So, today, I will be focusing on foundation. As we start our Spiritual walk for Christ, we must first build upon a strong foundation. I have a couple of verse to help get the point across.

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have layed the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Christ Jesus." -I Corinthians 3: 10-11

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." -II Timothy 2:19

"He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon the rock." -Luke 6: 48

Generally, when we apply our makeup, the foundation is the first thing we put on. It sets the stage and wipes the slate clean, giving us a good starting point. Likewise, when we got saved, we trusted God, and our slate was wiped clean. We need to continue building our lives upon Jesus before we even think about doing his work, or else it will fall apart and create a huge mess. Without the foundation, the house can't stand. If we don't start with the right foundation, what good are the works we do? They will never stand up to the test. We wouldn't be doing it out of love but rather out of habit or even selfishness. And,when the storms of life come our way, we won't have a strong foundation to keep us safe and grounded. Foundation also covers up blemishess and gives our face a clean, even tone. When we build upon the foundation of God, we will develop a desire to do God's will. When we have a change in our life, our spiritual walk becomes greater, thus making some of our blemishes dissappear as we go. We could get so much of God that, when our spirit is full, our flesh will benifit, and we will serve God on the outside rather than just on the inside. This foundation will be just the begining of the greater features to come.

Hidden Away

Well I might as well go ahead and tell yall that my favorite movie of all time is Disney's Tangled. Yes, a 17 year old loves a Disney Princess movie. It may sound odd ,but it's true. So, I was thinking about it yesterday for some reason or another, and I couldn't seem to let go of the fact concerning Rapunzel's castle. And believe it or not, God actually gave me a thought from it.

In case you haven't seen it, I will give you a brief summary of the film. Tangled is Disney's modern day twist on the story of Rapunzel. She was born a princess with magic healing hair. Mother Gothel, the evil stepmother, is centuries old and needs Rapunzel's hair to keep her looking young. So, after she is born, Mother Gothel steals Rapunzel from the kingdom. She hides her away in a castle out in the middle of nowhere and raises her as her own. Mother Gothel refuses to let Rapunzel go. She comes to the castle everyday and climbs up Rapunzel's hair to visit and get her daily dose of magic. The movie picks up on her 18th birthday. She really wants to leave the castle, so, when Mother Gothel won't let her leave, she teams up with Flynn Rider, an outlaw and her prince-to-be, and travels to the kingdom to see the lanterns. These lanterns were released every year by the people of the kingdom on Rapunzel's birthday in hopes that one day the lost princess would return. In the end, she returns to the kingdom, Mother Gothel is defeated, and Rapunzel and Flynn live happily ever after. But, for now, I want to deal with Rapunzel's castle. But just so you can get a better mental picture, here's the featurette for Tangled.

So many times, we as Christians have problems with acting the same way out of church that we do in church. Most of us will praise God in church on Sunday and then go back to living our normal lives Monday through Friday. I would say we are keeping God locked up in a far away castle. We will visit him when we go to church and try to have a good time with him, and he loves it when we visit. However, like Rapunzel, God wants out. We just won't let him be known to the world. He wants to come out of the castle and visit with others in the world. Many times there are signs that the world wants to hear from God again, and we are possibly the only way many will ever hear from him. But, we are selfish and want to keep God all to ourselves. Just by reading this summary on the movie, I pretty sure we can tell that's not good. The Bible even tells us so:

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to those that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." - II Corinthians 4:3-4 

With that said, what good is keeping God hidden away for nobody to see? We should enjoy God by ourselves and desire for him to touch us, but we also need to be spreading his word and letting the world see him through our lives. Someone's spiritual life could be at stake. Do you want to be the one to help decide their fate based upon your selfishness? It is up to us as Christians to show this lost and dying world that Jesus still saves and he still changes lives. So, please, let him leave the castle today!

The Skit Guys

These guys are hilarious... but they do have really good points! This has to be one of my absolute favorites :-)

Soak Up the Son

Since it's been winter, I have noticed just how white my skin has been, and, like everyone else, I like a good tan. So, I've been using this lotion that gradually gives you a little color. Well I was thinking the other day about things to post on here and my eyes wandered over to the bottle of lotion. I got to thinking and this is what I came up with.

Many of us, especially girls, will work all summer to get a tan. Trust me, I'm guilty of it too. But, why do we do it? To make us look better, healthier, etc. So, we will lay out in the sun and get burnt to a crisp in order to perfect our summer glow. With that said, I have a question for you. What are we doing in order to obtain our Christian glow? Are we soaking up God's son? If we are so concerned about our physical beauty, why aren't we much more diligent about gaining spiritual beauty? In my eyes, we need to be more concerned about that appearance than anything else.  We need to be soaking up as much God as we possibly can. This will help us to obtain a better Christian glow. When we walk or talk a little different, people will begin to wonder what has caused this transformation. Then this gives us the opportunity to spread the son. We need to soak up Jesus as often as we can. We don't need false tans from lotions or sprays. All it takes is things like reading our Bibles, praying, and loving God with all our hearts. This will give us a better appearance (aka- a spiritual tan), and it won't even leave any tan lines! 

Carrying Your Cross

So, this morning while I was driving to school, I passed by this man walking on the side of the road. At first I thought, "Ok, this man is just getting his morning walk in." But as I continued to draw closer, I could see he was carrying a huge wooden cross on his back.... no literally, he had a cross on his shoulders. Why was he doing this? Well the honest truth is that I have no clue. But, for whatever the reason, I couldn't help but think of Matthew 16:24.

Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

This got me thinking. How many of us are actually carrying our cross? Many of us will say we are, and some may very well be, don't get me wrong, but, in this verse it says let him deny himself.  You can also pull this idea from what Paul says over in 1 Corintains 15:31- I die daily. Are we actually dying daily? Are we truly living our lives to serve God? Well, I can tell you one thing; I havn't been holding up my end of the bargain as well as I should. We all need to fully submit our lives to God. Some troubles may come and we may be afraid of what he may do, but we serve a God who holds the whole world in his hands. He never has nor ever will forsake us. He has our best intrest in hand. There may be times when the cross gets so heavy we can't hardly bare it. But, God's grace is always sufficient.


So, what do you say? God's handing you your cross? Will you take it?

Here We Go!

Well here we are. My first post! I am just going to use this time to introduce myself. As you've proabaly seen, my name is Samantha Thomas. I live in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. I guess you could say I'm an ameture at this whole thing seeing as this is my very first blog. But I hope and pray that this will reach out one of you readers. Maybe it will draw you closer to God, because in my book, that's the best place to be. There is no better life to live than that one that is living for God. So, as the title says: THIS IS LIVING!!