Radiant Girls of God

Well, we are starting up girls' group again! This time, we have a whole new resource blog for all the girls to use! On this blog, I have added the tab "Girls' Group," which leads directly to the girls' group blog.

Also, I would like members to contribute; I don't want to be the only one that contributes. Therefore, members will be able to access the blog as a writer and become a coordinator of a certain department.

We will be following the curriculum The Choice Is Yours by Terrie Chapell. This curriculum includes workbooks, and you can get one at www.strivingtogether.com. {They only cost like three dollars, excluding tax and shipping.}

Our first meeting will be {God-willing} on Tuesday, January 8th. We are utilizing our webcams, so more people can participate.

If you would like to join in, contact me at medaho831@gmail.com with the subject line "Girls' Group." Hope to talk to you soon!!!

A New Year?!?

A whole new year... Thinking about it almost makes me wince.

What if i mess it all up?

What if some drastic change happens, like last year?

What if I realize some great truth that I've been missing out on for fifteen years?

What if my sixteenth birthday party isn't what I expect?

What if I don't mature?

What if I do mature? Will life ever be the same?

What if... and I am sure you can fill in whatever your anxiety is.

You've probably seen where I've gone wrong. First off, every one of the above questions started with "What if..." I was just building off of an assumption! And secondly, I was getting all worked up about it!!!

Hmmm... I'm spotting another area for improvement. A certain verse comes to mind:

"Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you."

Yeah, that verse kinda says it all. I don't have to be anxious about the year coming up. Because HE knows what lies ahead, and He cares for me. That means I don't have to worry. It's a circle, see? A wonderful circle of comfort that takes a load off my and your shoulders. Take your anxiety to God! There's really no reason to be worried about this next year when you're close to a Guy like Him.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

A knock on my door tells me it's time to wake up.

I scurry upstairs with my brother, hoping he'll like my gift.

We each grab a Reese's peanut butter cup from the days til Christmas chart.

We wake our parents up.

We sit down around the Christmas tree.

There's not much under there; we already got our gift-the trampoline.

My Dad cracks open his Bible.

We read Luke 1:68-79,

then Luke 2.

We pray.

We start with the gifts.

Everything goes well, so far.

~And the day continues, following tradition. Soon we will be at my grandparents' house. Who knows what could happen??? :-)

All through this Christmas season,

I mostly thought I knew the reason.

Christ came to save us sinful men,

And so was born in Bethlehem.

Only something was different this Christmas;

There was that feeling deep in my heart,

That I was missing something.

Indeed I was.

It was just this past weekend,

When I realized where I had been

Wrong.

When I understood, I wished to break out in song!

For I understood this truth:

The story is not to be misused

As a long-ago tale

Or, by some, a humble fail.

No, Christ did not fail,

When He chose to be so frail.

After leaving His heavenly home,

He didn't even moan.

No, the reason He came

Was not to be born

But to die.

For you and I.

And He never failed,

For out of love He prevailed!

And He chose this way:

To change lives.

For He knew this whole plan

Before we began;

He knew what would happen

Before our ugly sin.

But the point of the story

Is that we are not lonely!

For He loved us so,

To the cross we need not go.

I am understanding love

Not a lot,

But a little.

And it's so hard to put into words.

If you've experienced it,

You know what I say;

If you've not,

For your knowledge I pray.

The 'leventh day of Christmas: The Gift

It's my dad's b-day today. I know, right? Christmas Eve! Well, we will be holding a little celebration for him later this evening. For the next paragraph, I want you to clear your mind of all the "Christmas buzz" in there and think about what I am about to say.

Let's say it's your birthday. Let's say it's the day of your birthday party. Picture all your friends around you, smiling and laughing with you. Your parent, who's running the party, announces "Present time!" Everyone scurries to get their gift, but surprisingly, they don't look like they are about to give any to you. Instead, they are giving them among  themselves. Okay, something's wrong with this picture.

Do you think that might be how Jesus feels on Christmas Day? Sure, we know it's about Him, and celebrating His "birthday," but,

in the midst of His "birthday party," we are giving gifts among ourselves, and not really giving gifts to Him.

Let me ask you this question:

What are you giving Christ for Christmas???

There are plenty of options. Just remember, what would He like? Something like an ipod, or something like your heart?

I challenge you to give something to Him this Christmas. Something meaningful. Something that will better your relationship with Him. Something special!

The Tenth Day of Christmas: The Christmas Carol

I was sitting there in the third pew from the back. The Christmas program was beautiful. Next up were the Patch kids. I knew that they were very rambunctious from past experiences. They scrambled up onto the stage, in a loose single-file line. The lines were said and acted, and the song began to play. The kids started singing. Well, I was surprised at how loud seven kids could be! {Of course, one in particular belted out the words the best he could.} The first verse rolled along quite quickly, and the kids invaded on the chorus.

"LOVE REACHED DOWN TO ME!!!"

My mind started racing. What? I had heard many patch the pirate songs before, but this one struck me in the heart. Do those kids even know what love is? Here it came again:

"LOVE REACHED DOWN TO ME!!!"

They didn't write that song; I thought. Ron Hamilton did. And I'm sure he understands what love is. But, these kids???

And again,

''LOVE REACHED DOWN TO ME!!!''

But they seem so persuaded of it... And then a cracked note interrupted my thoughts. I smiled remembering being up there myself.

Next, my friend sang a solo. If you've never heard "A Breath of Heaven," you should find it and listen to it. Her voice, void of background soundtrack due to technical difficulties, attracted my mind. I listened to the lyrics... describing how Mary may have felt... wow. I don't think I ever realized how much her and I have in common. But then again, she was favored of God. I didn't think that I was as special as she.

The pastor started his message. About the Christmas story, of course. But not in Luke 2. In Luke 1. Luke 1 is like the prequel. About what happened during those nine months that Mary was pregnant. You know what? She praised God for His goodness and mercy. But then again, she was favored of God.

After the message, we sang a Christmas carol out of the thick maroon hymnals that had the word "Majesty" printed on them in gold letters.

"Hark, the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King!

Peace on earth, and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful, all ye nations rise!

Join the triumph of the skies!

With th'angelic host proclaim

Christ is born in Bethlehem!

Hark! the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King.

Well, sounds familiar, right?

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the Virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Hark, the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King.

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Risen with healing in his wings,
Light and life to all he brings,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace.

Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.

Come, Desire of nations come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the Woman's conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the Serpent's head.
Adam's likeness now efface:
Stamp Thine image in its place;
Second Adam, from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.

Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.

{~Charles Wesley}

If you just skimmed through those lyrics, read over them slowly and carefully; the words are powerful! And so they were while I stood there singing. What a message I was receiving! At this point, I felt like belting out the words like that one particular kid in the patch group. Only the song was over, and I may have sounded crazy with my mix of sobs, bad key, and loud voice. :-)

The Ninth Day of Christmas: The Star

The star. The star that shone so brightly that wise men followed it. The star that led these wise men to Jesus and his family. The star that, well, plays a big part in the modern retelling of the Christmas story.

Does it really have to do with us? I mean, the thing did shine, like, over two thousand years ago! Can it really affect our lives two thousand years later??? These were kinda my thoughts when I felt God lay this post on my heart. I mean, what am I supposed to write about?

Well, yes, the star does apply to our lives. It applies to our attitude and actions, as a matter of fact.

The star can help us examine our attitude. While the star was not a living object, I think we can apply it. You see, if we want to shine radiantly like the star, we have to have the right attitude. We must be filled with the Spirit to shine for the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit, which we already talked about this Christmas season, are listed in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. What we haven't talked about yet are the stuff we gotta get outta the way to shine. We must avoid the fruit of the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 says,

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Long list! And we can't do it on our own. We must do it through Him.

I've been focusing alot on this subject in my posts. But it's important.

The star also helps reveal what actions we must take. The star didn't just shine in a one-mile radius! No, the star had to reach pretty far. Even uncomfortably far. Even so, we must reach out, and not stay in our little bubble. Reaching out means we must act. We must act out of the Spirit, and act out of love. If we act out of strife, our actions will be pointless. Literally. When we act out of the Spirit, we share the gospel with others. God's Word is like a double-edged sword, and it will do its job! But when we act out of strife, we are basically throwing a plunger at a brick wall. Not gonna work!

The star also led people to Christ. When our attitude and actions are in line, people notice. And what's better than leading someone to Christ? That should be our goal, to glorify God by helping others who are blinded and deceived. If they choose to accept the light of the truth, then they will secure their eternal life. What a great thing to lead someone to do!

So, as we think of the star, we should remember how it relates to us, and how it relates to our relationships to others.

The Seventh and Eighth Days of Christmas: The Deal with gift-giving

Sorry about not posting yesterday.... Things just get so busy, especially around Christmas. Why? good question. Maybe it's because we spend so much time making, buying, sending, and giving gifts for others.

Or so we think.

Maybe the last part of that isn't exactly true. Maybe we're not doing it out of the spirit of giving.

Maybe we're actually doing it out of the spirit of selfishness.

You may be thinking I'm nuts. How is it selfish to sacrifice tons of time out of my life to get these great gifts and cards ready for all these people? How is it selfish? It's all but selfish! It's considerate!

And maybe you are being considerate! However, many times, I find myself in that yucky mode of selfishness, even during Christmas-time. And, honestly, I think others struggle with it, too. 

When we get so caught up in making the gifts and cards perfect, many times we are not focusing on the details for the good of the other person, but we want to receive credit for doing "such a good job." Sometimes we focus on what others will think of us when they open the gift, not the happiness they might receive when they recognize that we have put time, effort, and thought into their gift.

It's not wrong to put nice detail into a gift; that's great! What's wrong is when our focus shifts.

Our focus should always be on Christ; when our focus is on Christ,we will bear fruit.  I already posted on bearing fruit this Christmas, and on e of the fruits of the Spirit is kindness. I think that includes giving gifts. But we must remember Hosea 10:1. Israel chose the wrong option, and bore fruit to herself. Her focus shifted from God to herself, and therefore she bore fruit to herself. We have to be careful to not let this be our motive.

So happy gift-giving! And, keep guard against selfish motives.