Last night in youth group, we talked about James 3 - Taming the Tongue. My youth pastor said something that really stuck with me.
"You can start a war with one word."
It's so true. I can remember things that have been said to me from when I was really little that stuck with me all through my life. There have been stories of people who were verbally abused so much they killed themselves! And even the ones who are the leaders, the ones who are suppose to protect people, say things that can scar their reputation forever.
It's crazy how powerful we don't realize we are.
When I was in 5th grade, my lovely cousin decided to inform me that I was a dork. Wasn't that sweet of her? Now I'll admit that as far as stereotypes go, I kinda was a dork. But that's not the point. I went through a few years of my life thinking that I actually was a dork, and no one really wanted to be my friend. Whenever that word was aimed at me, even if it was just in a joke, I would feel myself heat up all over again! Thankfully, I had a loving family that encouraged me and a loving God who brought me through that phase of my life. Now I'll willingly admit to being a dork...that is, a Daughter Of the Risen King. 
Isn't it amazing how God can take something that is meant to hurt you and turn it into something wonderful?
There's another interesting thing about our words. We can stop wars with them, too. When we tell someone they look nice, or that we enjoy being around them, or even just saying hello and asking how someone's day was can make a bigger difference than we realize! Encouraging people, making the conversation about them instead of about us, and pushing people towards their dreams are ways that we love others as we love ourselves.
I've been thinking a lot about what I believe in. See, people say they believe in things all the time that they don't show that they believe in. For instance, if someone believes lying is wrong but lies continually, then they must not believe too strongly that it's wrong. If I believe that my words have power, I'm going to be very careful about what I say. If I don't want to cuss, I'm not going to watch movies or listen to music that have cussing in them. If I don't want to speak negatively about someone, I'm not even going to think about them negatively, for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. If I can surrender my thoughts and words to Jesus, then I can do anything. James says that if a man can tame his tongue, he can keep his whole body in check! In other words...it's hard! But if we can surrender it, we'll be amazed at what God can do in our lives. :)
Last night, I surrendered a few different words and thoughts to Jesus. I decided not to say some things I wanted to and not to think some things I wanted to. I told Him I'd be okay with whatever happened. And as I was driving home last night...I felt more peaceful and content than I have in a long time. :)
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart (feelings), with all your mind (thoughts), and with all your strength (actions)."
- Danya <><
I miss writing. lol. My best friend Randi sat down and read through every one of these blogs when she first met me. She got to know me very quickly. I guess I just spill out my heart when I write. I like talking, too. But that gets me into trouble a LOT! It's easier for me to sit down and think out what I want to say and how I want to say it. But don't think that I'm a quiet person. I'm not. And I'll admit there are some things I'd rather talk about. I like face to face more than anything! But there's just something about sitting in a comfy chair with a cup of tea, a laptop, and writing. :)
...there is a random bug stuck between the glass part and the screen part of the window in our kitchen. HOW DO BUGS EVEN GET IN THERE????? ...oh wait...there's a hole. Ok. I feel better about it now.
So Randi has informed me that I need to write a book.
I dunno.
Could be fun, I guess.
Especially after that whole spill on how I love writing.
We'll see.
The Pre-release of my new album "In a Heartbeat" is
now on ITUNES and AMAZON.COM!
Hi!
I got a new blog.... again! LOL This one is just a new account here at HSB. So add SmilesandSunshine, (Yes, I realize it's cheesy. But I liked it, and since I try to be a happy person, it seemed good. And plus, Mama just read this and told me that that's what I am, smiles and sunshine. So my choice was a good one, apparently!)
So go add me. Now! :D
Farewell,
GiftedGirl
Hola!
Seeing as how Facebook now consumes my former blogging time, I have neglected my Blogger blog just like this one. Bad me! So, for the fun of it, I'm posting here now! But don't take my word on that, because it's always entirely possible that Ill switch back to Blogger. :)
xoxo,
Rebecca
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountians, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13
...If I could speak every language in the world - not only of there, but even the languages of heaven, the ones the angels speak - but I did not speak in love... a real genuine love for the ones I was speaking to...I would only be making a lot of noise. If I really knew as much as I think I do, and I could understand the mysteries that surround the world, and if I had a faith - that real faith that Jesus said could move mountains - but I don't act in love or exercise it in how I used that knowledge, I would be no greater than I was before. If I gave away all I have to the poor and saved the starving children in Africa, or if I was martyred for what I believe in, but I didn't give in love and I didn't die in love...I would not gain anything. ...Love...unconditional, selfless love...love that Jesus pours down upon us and wants to fill us with so we can fill others...that love...
That love is patient with the most annoying person or in the most difficult situation. That love is kind to the mean girl. That love isn't jealous when someone else gets the position you wanted, gets to go to the place you didn't, or gets to spend time with who you wanted to spend time with. That love doesn't brag when you know you did better than someone else and it doesn't rationalize away the wrong you did. That love is humble. That love doesn't backtalk the parents or snap at the little brother or ignore someone trying to talk to you. That love doesn't always look for how you can come out on top in a situation. That love doesn't blow up everytime something in your plans get changed or when someone messes up again. And it doesn't bring up the mess-up over and over again, it forgives. Even when it's hard. That love doesn't get happy when that jerk at school gets in big trouble, it prays for him. It doesn't go behind that person's back to get what it wants. It doesn't break the rules to please it's own desires. That love is so excited when someone else receives a blessing! It feels joy when it hears of someone's salvation or repentence. It loves hearing other peoples' stories. That love protects others' integrity, purity, faith, and innocence. It doesn't cause any brother to stumble. That loves trusts. That loves hopes for the promised salvation and always looks forward, knowing that even when times get complicated and hard, that there is a better way and a better place. That loves never, ever, ever gives up.
That love will never stop, or be replaced, or fail. I can talk and preach and teach and learn but eventually everything will pass away to the next discovery, the next scientific breakthrough. We only know a little. But when perfection, completion, comes into the picture, everything we thought we knew before...just kinda fades away. When I was little, I thought pretty simply. I made decisions based on what color the toy was, how high that shelf was, and if that door was unlocked or locked. But when I got older, I made decisions based on bigger variables and I understood more. Now, we're only kids. We don't know that the reason the green ball bounces higher than the blue is because the green ball is made of rubber and the blue ball is actually a ball of yarn! We see a reflection in the mirror, but when we get older...when our great God reveals His glory to us...if we are actually able to even try to look at it!...We will see all we need to know face to face. We will understand. We will know to the boundaries of our created capabilities, just like God knows us fully.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Danya <><
start.a.fire.
WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What are you doing? Don't you get it???
Don't you see????
It's all right here. You can have everything. EVERYTHING. And it's been so far off, it's felt like He's been so far away, but don't you see what you could have? It's Jesus! It's all about Jesus, it's always been all about Jesus. He is before all things, in all things, and in Him all things hold together! He is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, and the ONLY life - life to the fullest, life everlasting, life without hindrance. We are untouchable, we are inseparable, we are singing, flying, dancing, running, laughing, and we are FILLED TO COMPLETION only - only - only in HIM.
It's so simple. It seems hard and sometimes it will be, but it's so worth it. I promise it is so worth it. I felt far from Him. But I'm running back. I'm running back with all I have. I'm making the effort, and... it's working. IT'S WORKING.
"Test me in this," says the Lord, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven!"
It's putting Him first, trusting Him with everything, knowing that His plan is better, and He will provide everything I need. It's knowing not to dwell on the past and not to stress about all the future details, but just going wherever He calls, whenever He calls me there. It's so simple. It's a child-like faith. You tell a little kid in Sunday School that Jesus is God's Son, He died on the cross, and He rose again because we had sinned, but He took our punishment. Tell them He loves them and He wants them to live with Him forever, and all they have to do is believe. And the little kid doesn't say "that's not scientifically possible" or "are you sure" or "how did He do that?" or "why did He do that?" or "what is this gonna cost me?" or "well i'll have to think about it" or "let me live my life then I'll get right with God", the kid simply says...
OK.
Why don't we do that? Why can't we do that? Why can't we grasp on to that child-like faith, why do we hold so tight to the world, to what we fear to lose? NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN JESUS. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul? NO. We have got to get that through our little, limited, brains!
NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is bigger, better, more, or even remotely comparable to being in a relationship with Jesus, than knowing that nothing can separately you from His love, than being filled to an overflowing point with His peace, power, love, strength, and Spirit.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING???
We are not who we were so grow up and stop acting like you're ignorant of what's going on! It's time to be more than we are, it's time to realize God is bigger than our doubts, our feelings, and our fears. It's time to wake up and see that we're losing our generation! GET A GRIP GUYS! How come Hannah Montana has more teenage fans, sells more merchandise, and makes more of an impact on the media, television, and radio than CHRISTIANS? You know, the ones God specifically called to spread HIS NAME, HIS GLORY, AND HIS GOSPEL TO THE WORLD!
How come a pair of shoes cost $165 just because they have Michael Jordan's jersey number on them - and kids are BEGGING their parents for them, but the BIBLE which IS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD - HIS REVELATION TO MANKIND, costs much less and you don't see any teenagers asking their moms and dads to go buy them a Bible for Christmas?
WAKE UP PEOPLE!
We're not fighting a losing battle, oh no, it's actually much worse than that -
WE'RE NOT FIGHTING AT ALL.
So.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
READ THIS AND PONDER IT...
OR GO.
So are you shocked and amazed? An actual post! ☺ Actually, I would be really surprised if anyone reads this blog anymore so that they could be surprised.
For some nostalgic reason, I want to post on my HSB blog again. I don't have time for a good post right now, but I will later, hopefully. ☺ (Oh, and if I do start posting regularly, I promise I'll change this background! Me, with a boring background! That must be fixed.)
Hugs,
Rebecca
Anyway.
So I haven't been doing many concerts since school started. It's really busy being a junior. Yes, a junior. I feel old. Except when I say that my mom looks at me with that you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me face. haha. We took a break from the band and lately I've felt like God's been calling me to take a little different direction with my music and writing. Who knows what's gonna happen? I've been writing a lot lately, and I've been really excited because of some new stuff we found out that my keyboard can do because it's just awesome like that! I've got like a 16 track recording studio programmed into it and yes, I can spend hours on it without getting bored. Although sometimes I do come out slightly deaf...lol.
I do have a concert this weekend though in Portland. It's just me and my keyboard, which I haven't done since like July, so it should be interesting. haha. But hey, it'll be fun. I'm really excited beyond belief about church tonight. I haven't led worship for my own youth group in a really long time. I miss it a lot. But I'm either too busy or they just don't want me to, which can be annoying, but it just hasn't worked out a lot lately. So I'm super stoked for tonight. I can actually worship better when I get to play, too. It's true! I feel nearly incomplete if I don't have a keyboard or piano in front of me. Yet, the reverse is NOT true. I can play the piano forever and it doesn't matter if I'm singing or not. It's kinda strange, but at the same time, it's how I worship, so...I guess it's not that strange to God!
I LOVE THAT IT'S FALL!!! I love fall. Autumn. The colors, the wind, the COLDNESS. I love the cold. This is my favorite season. I think. Who knows. I might say the same thing next season. But I love it, I really do. The Five Project (www.thefiveproject.blogspot.com), you remember, that ministry we started in my co-op? Yeah that's going awesome. I've gotten so much closer to my friends. I mean, it's one thing to be friends and go hang out and talk about ice cream and clothes and music, but it's a whole other thing when you're with your friends having Bible Studies and praying and encouraging each other to be all you can be for Jesus. THAT is an amazing friendship.
Of course, as always, it's dramadramadrama mixed into all that. Basketball season is starting again, and I'll admit, this year it's sinking in. It's my second year away from it. And I've pretty much played ball since I can remember. I guess the withdraw was a little delayed cause I played so many shows last year around this time. But it's hitting me now. I'll get over it, for sure, because I wouldn't trade who I am for who I was. It's just a memory that is really sweet to me. :) We're also dealing with some stuff within our Tutorials and at church and all that stuff. No surprise. But as always, prayer is the most powerful weapon we have. Suffice it to say, we're using it dilligently. :)
Anyways...working on the blog template a little. Patience is nice.
Loves,
Danya <><