The 5 O'Clock Club

The 5 O'Clock Club is group of believers from all over the US who get up at a set time each morning to have time with their Savior and Lord. The 5 O'Clock Club wants to encourage you to put God first and spend time with Him each morning before you start the day. It can be 5am, but it doesn't have to be. Just as long as you're spending time with Him each morning. Why? Because it's the quiet times when He really speaks to you. When you spend that time with the Lord first thing in the morning, He gives you the wisdom and encouragement you need for that day.

 

Here's just one of the wonderful testimonies-

"Well, being 15 and still in school, life can be pretty hectic for me. I want to have a quiet time every day, but sometimes I sleep in, due to staying up late the night before doing homework. The Lord convicted me that I needed to put my time with Him first. Before anything else, even making my bed. So, I'm doing the 6 o'clock club (because 5, well that's a little early. :) because I know that I need to give my first fruits to the Lord and not anything else."
Ellie Berry

 

 

So, check it out here: http://www.girltalkhome.com/clubs/5oclock

"City on the Hill" by Casting Crowns

"City on the Hill" by Casting Crowns is a fantastic song. It reminds me of Ephesians 4:3-6 which says, "Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all." 

Jiffy N' Lou Comic Strip #102

http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2005/09/jiffy-n-lou-installment-102/

       This link is to a comic strip created by homeschoolers! It explains that our call to be a light in this world should not be taken lightly; we are ambassadors for Jesus! Matthew 5:14-15 says, "You are the light of the world--like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house."

Shine for His Glory Not Our Own

       Dwight L. Moody once wrote, "Lighthouses don't fire guns or ring bells to call attention to their light; they just shine." Matthew 5:14 says that we are called to be a city on a hill. However, our goal should not be to point others to our good deeds. Rather, our deeds should point them to the one true Light, Jesus. Sometimes we do good things for selfish reasons; we often do right because we know it will bring us praise. Let's look at an example: there is one chocolate chip cookie left at your house. Every one of your family members knows that you adore chocolate chip cookies. However, there is a problem. Your brother just got home from basketball practice, and he is really hungry. Instead of grabbing the cookie for yourself, you offer it to him. That's great, right? Well, it depends. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, "People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." If you gave your brother that cookie just because you knew your parents would go on and on about how generous you are, that was just as bad as snatching that cookie for yourself. On the other hand, if you let him have the cookie because that's what Jesus would do, your kind act helped point your family to Jesus. We should not call attention to our light; if we do, we are promoting ourselves instead of Jesus.
       Matthew 6:1-5 says, "Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."
       If you have a hard time being a light if you don't get recognition, think about Jesus. When He ate dinner with tax collectors and fishermen, there was no one telling Him how thoughtful He was. When He spent hours and hours healing people and teaching them about His Kingdom, there was no party for Him at the end of the day. Jesus died for the sins of the entire world, yet He was mocked, and they spat upon Him. He still was Light, even if people didn't treat Him right. When we act like Jesus instead of the world, we should act out of pure love for Jesus. When we serve others, we should serve out of adoration for Him. When we shine our light, we should shine with joy; not because of the praise we hope to get, but because the King of kings laid down His life for us.

"Be the moon. Reflect the SON."

You may have seen the phrase, "Be the moon. Reflect the SON." before. (I've seen it on t-shirts.) Anyways, I thought it would be a great title for this weeks post as we are talking about being lights for Jesus. We are commanded to reflect Jesus! "“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.  I will keep   you and will make you to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,  ⁷ to open eyes that are blind,  to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42:6-7 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 We are told to show Him to the world! What an awesome job!!! We are to show Jesus off to the world. How? By acting as He would have us to and proclaiming His Holy Name! While this is an amazing job it's not easy. At least not for me. Some days I'm in a bad mood (ask my younger siblings...) and I react with anger. (I'm not proud of it, but it's the truth.) Is that reflecting Jesus? Nope! Some days I just want to have fun and do whatever I want weather or not it reflects Christ. Yup, it's hard, but (get ready for my favorite saying) it's the hard things that are worth it! What do you think is more pleasing to God? You serving Him joyfully when you're having a great day or serving Him joyfully on those days when nothing is going right? You got it! The bad days! Obviously anytime you glorify and reflect Him it brings Him joy, but it's the bad days when it's hard that bring the most! It's the days when I decide to be joyful and give praise even though things aren't going my way. Some thing tells me that the day Jesus died on the cross for all of us He wasn't having a great day. Had I been the one on the cross,I would have been angry , angry at the people who were doing that to me! Jesus on the other hand says,"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34 So, how can we reflect HIM? By forgiving, loving, being joyful, and giving all glory to HIM! Will we have bad days? Yes! Do we have to let bad days stop us from reflecting Him? No! With Him we can do all things! We can shine in the rain!

Richard Owen Roberts: Seek My Face

Seek the Lord, and His strength: seek His face evermore.

Psalm 105:4

God is ALWAYS There!

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

Psalm 23:4

The 23rd Psalm is familiar to most of us. We have heard it quoted many times, but have we ever really taken in the importance of it?

Psalm 23:4 is telling us that even when we are at our lowest point, when we are near death, when we are in danger and darkness, when we are giving up our Heavanly Father is still with us. He is guiding, protecting, and conforting us. We do not need to fear anying! We should have no fear of evil, because God is there with us!

He never ever leaves us! We may go through times when we feel like He is not there. We may even go so far as to ask Him, "Where have you gone? Why have you left me?" ,but He is there. When we feel like that it is not Him. It's us. We are the ones who are not there. We are not seeking Him. When we seek Him we will find Him! He is always there!

 ^"But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Deuteronomy 4:29

Let's Get Rid of Our Sin!

God loves to teach me things when I am working in our garden. Today, our tiller would not work. Consequently, my mom, my friend, and I pulled the weeds out of our garden by hand. As we were working, God said, "I am going to tell you something in a minute." Unaware of what He could possibly tell me, I agreed. A few minutes after God said that, His promise was fulfilled. My mom said, "Let's look on the bright side. If we would have used the tiller, it would have just turned up the weeds and then let them go back where they were. Now that we are pulling them out by hand, we are doing a much more thorough job." I smiled and whispered, "Thank you, Lord." Let's take this thought about the tiller and weeds and apply it to our lives. It is so much easier to just use a tiller to get weeds out of the garden, just as it is so much easier to just apologize to God for our sins and then promptly forget about it. However, it is better to pull the weeds out by hand. We can then make sure all of the roots are pulled up and that they never grow back, and we can even get the weeds on the edges of the garden (We have a fence around which they like to grow.) We can do the same thing with our sin. Yes, it is hard to get rid of each sin individually, but it is so worth it. After we pull out our sin (pride, selfishness, self-pity, etc.), we may enjoy the fruits of our labor (gentleness, peace, joy, and many more!). However, those weeds of sin keep coming back. Since their primary goal is to attack our fruit, we must continue to get rid of them. Until the day our Lord Jesus comes back for us, we must keep pulling the weeds of sin from our life. Only we do not have to do this alone. He longs to pour His strength, mercy, faithfulness, and love onto His children. He delights in standing by our side and helping us pull up our sin.

"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:22-27)

 "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." (1 Thessalonians 4:7)

I realize that getting rid of our sin is way harder than just telling God our sins and then forgetting. However, our fruits of the Spirit will grow much more abundantly and beautifully if our life is not overgrown with sin. As you go about your week, I encourage you to ask God to show you the areas of sin in your life. Then, with His tremendous strength and wisdom, start removing those areas! Our Lord promises that, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:17-18) Let us be separate from this world!

Living for Jesus or letting Jesus live through us?

We are taught to live for Jesus, but what if instead of trying to live for Jesus we let Jesus live through us. We are called to be His hands and feet! We are called to care for those who are  hurting, alone, sick, lost, and unknowing of the Creator of the Universe. We are called to teach them who Jesus Christ is through our actions. We are called to show them Jesus, because telling them isn't good enough! We are called to be His hands and feet! How are we as meer humans to be Jesus? We let Jesus LIVE in us and through us! We let Him make our decisions and our reactions. We put Him first and He puts others first! We simple give Him control instead of taking control ourselves. We listend and listen hard for His voice! Then, when we hear His "still small" voice we do not ignore it! We act apone HIS Word and HIS will! Not our own! That is what we as Christians are called to do! We are called to let Him live in us! He will fill us with "unspeakable joy"! 

What  is the first step to leting Jesus live in you?

^"36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off —for all whom the Lord our God will call.”"
Acts 2:36-39

^"16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”"
Matthew 28:16-20


Repent (admit your sin to your Heavenly Father and ask for His unfailing grace and forgivness) and be baptised in the name of the Father (God), Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. Then, you will receive the Holy Spirit (God's Spirit) to guide you! You will hear the "still small voice". He will guide you and you will recieve eturnal life! God is so very very good!
To HIM alone be the glory!
Praise His Holy Name!!!

Do we put our trust in Jesus or in this world?

A few days ago, I read Faith by John Wycliffe in school and was so inspired. Here is an excerpt:

"While Peter had true faith, he went upon the sea as upon dry land; but when the firmness of his faith failed, he began to sink, and therefore Christ reproved him as of little faith. Thus it fares with us, who are staggering and unsteadfast with the wind of each temptation or fear. Therefore, brethren, let us set all our belief and full trust on Him, Who is Almighty, and not in any vain thing may fail in any time. Trust we steadfastly that nothing may grieve us farther than He will suffer it, and all things which He sendeth come for the best. And let no wealth of this failing world, neither tribulation, draw our hearts from firm belief in God. Let us not put our belief or trust in charms, or in dreams, or any other fantasies, but only in Almighty God."

As I was thinking whether I put my faith and trust only on my perfect Savior and not on the things of this world, I thought of the hymn The Solid Rock:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

This hymn is one of my favorites; it is so beautiful! It makes me ask myself, "Do I built my hope on anything other than Jesus?" He is always faithful, and I want to encourage you all not to put your faith and trust on anything other than Him. Psalm 37:3 says, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness." The world says it has all we need: money, fame, possessions, entertainment, "happiness," popularity, success, and the list goes on. However, do you notice Someone who is missing? Jesus! Do you know what Jesus promises? He promises: eternal life, joy, peace, strength, mercy, grace, His constant guidance and power, and so much more! What the world promises pales in comparison to what Jesus promises. As we go about our day today, let's put our entire trust in our perfect Savior!

When God says, "Love."

A few nights ago, I was really upset with my family. I knew that I was not behaving the way Jesus wanted me to, but I just felt hopeless, like I did not have the strength to do what He wanted me to do. I was talking to Him and telling Him that it was no use to try to be nice because I was too tired, but He just said, "Love." I was silent for a minute. "What do You mean, Lord?" I said, even though I thought I knew the answer. "Just love them," He replied. So I began with my mom. "She has sacrificed so much to homeschool me. And she helps me take care of all of my pets. And I can talk to her about anything and trust her with everything." I was beginning to feel better already. Now for my brother. "He is my best friend. He is hilarious and can make me laugh even when I am so mad at him. He is so kind to other people and can make friends really easily." I stopped. I was in awe; I was not really mad any more! Still, I wanted to continue. This time, however, I began to pray for people I knew who did not know Jesus as their Savior. I completely forgot what I was so upset about; it was amazing. Now that I look back on it, I have a pretty good idea what the world would have told me to do. "You are mad at your family? Well, you just stay mad at them until they apologize. You don't need to be nice to them or even think nice thoughts about them." Not surprisingly, Jesus told me to do the exact opposite of what the world tells me.

The world says, "Hate." God says, "Love."

The world says, "Put you first." God says, "Put others first."

The world says, "Seek money and fame." God says, "Seek Me."

The world says, "Get revenge on your enemies." God says, "Turn the other cheek and love them."

The list goes on and on. Most of the time, what God tells us doesn't make sense to us. In our minds, it's not rational. Let's take His command: Love your enemies. It's easy for us (me included!) to talk ourselves out of obeying God. "Okay God. I know You said love your enemies, but what good does that do? Nobody else is loving their enemies! You don't want me to be an outcast, do You?" I can just see Him smiling and shaking His head. He doesn't want us to fit in with the world.

"But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him." (Psalm 4:3)

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19)

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)

Jesus is instructing us to be different from the world. He knows very well that it will be hard and difficult, but His way is always best. Also, since our Lord was/is wholly different from the world, and we are His followers, shouldn't we be different, too?

We were made for so much more!

You know that feeling, the urge to do something great? That part of you that says I'm gonna be famous, or I'm gonna win that award, or I'm gonna travel the world! The "I'm gonna be the best ______ in the whole world!" We tell ourselves that these are a child's dreams, that they are unrealistic, that we do not or should not have these feelings because we know better. The truth is everyone has that urge somewhere inside them. Everyone wants to do something great. Everyone gets restless. Everyone wants to do something! Have you ever wondered why we all have that urge and yet very few of us actually succeed at our "great thing"? Why most people just live their life never doing anything the world considers "great"? There is an answer to that question, but first, we need to ask ourselves what measuring stick we're using. Are we using the world's or God's? The world says that fame and money is "great". But, what does God say? "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to act justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) Does that sound like the rich and famous to you? Now, I realize there are some who have used their fame and money for the glory of God, but those who have are few and far between! Jesus says, "... For he who is least among you all will be great." (Luke 9:48) The truth is we were made for so much more than what we as a culture, and more importantly what we as people claiming to be Christians are. We live for ourselves. We plan what we want to do and when we want to do it. We live our lives how we want to. We control or try to control every part of our lives. That sounds great, right? Wrong! Because what that really means is that we have settled for far less than what we could be. That is, what Christ could be in and through us! God is not interested in money, or fame, or awards, or scholarships, or any other accomplishments other than furthering His Kingdom! He is interested in radical abandonment to Jesus Christ! He is interested in the mother who gives up her personal wants to spend every moment teaching her children how to be more like Christ! He is interested those who live with the lost and needy to show them Christ! He is interested in the little boy who washes the bare feet of the child without shoes and tells them the Good News of Jesus! He is interested in the little girl who stands up and says "I believe in Jesus!" even if it costs her her life! He is interested in the man who is passionate about leading his family in the ways of the Lord. He is interested in the person who prays, the person who recognizes their sin and says "God, change me!" He is interested in the person who says "God, send me!", the person who says "God, use me in whatever small or great way you so desire! My only goal is to please You! I don't care what the world thinks of me! I only care what You think!" He is interested in a living sacrifice! "For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9) You have that urge for a reason! That feeling is a call to be so much more than what we are. Right now, most of us are what Jesus calls lukewarm Christians. We go to church. We pray from time to time. We know the gospels. We're pretty decent people. However, if we were to truly dive-in to the scriptures we would find that we are far from what Jesus considers a true Christian. We would find that we are lukewarm. Jesus says, "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."(Revelation 3:16) We are call do be so much more! We don't have to stay lukewarm! With Christ living through us we as a generation, as Believers, can change nations! "Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:38) Let's take up our cross and get about following Him!