..for it is God who is working in youuu

"I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content -- whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:12-13

I'll be the first to say I am pretty hard to please. In a world where getting getting getting is number one in most peoples' lives, it's hard to remember why we're here and what this whole life thing is all about. Lately I've been reading some of Paul's letters. Today I read Philippians, and it strikes me over and over and over how incredibly at peace and content with his situation (which was being imprisoned at least 4 times and put to death by the Romans for his faith) he is. You never read about Paul complaining to his people about being in jail, being hungry or tired. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 7:4, he even goes so far to say that he is overjoyed. "I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement. I am filled with joy in all our afflictions." If you were in jail, hungry, surrounded by people that hated you because of what you believe, and wrongly accused, do you think you would be happy? Ehhhh, probably not. Paul's undying faith and contentment would of been a HUGE boost of confidence for me if I had been one receiving his letters. I mean.. geez! He says in verse 11 of chapter 4 of Philippians, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." Contentment.. in any situation..

Confidence - trust or faith in a person or thing; a trusting relationship.

holy moly, it's been a while. haha. I just have a little something to say.

2 Corinthians 7:4 - I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged. In all our troubles, my joy knows no bounds.

Julie Armstrong gave me this verse this week to kind of focus on. This book is from Paul writing to the church at Corinth, but I found myself reading this verse a little differently. This verse, although written to Corinth, made me stop and think. Lately I've had some trouble with confidence. (don't act like it hasn't happened to you). Mostly in basketball. The other night the thought occured to me, hey Jo, maybe you ought to pray about it. So I did. I fell asleep praying. The next day Julie gave me this verse, and although it's from Paul and not exactly in the context of my situation, it made me think "hey, if Paul felt this towards the Corinthians, how much more does GOD feel it for ME? I mean, God cares 100909850293847 times more about people than we ever could, so doesn't that mean God must have a whole lot of confidence in us? In me? It's kind of nice to think about how much God really does love us and how much he's rooting for us. He's just up there saying Jo, I'm right here. I made you in my image, and I'm here to help you. I have confidence in you.

praise

Tonight I was at youth, and I LOVE singing! Worship is like my FAVORITE thing to do at church. Better than dodgeball :) Unfortunately, out of maybe 30 kids, about 5 were singing. I kept getting weird looks because I was one of the odd ones out. Shouldn't it be the other way around? The MAJORITY should be PRAISING and WORSHIPING Him! Not the minority! Psalm 98:4 says "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the Earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise!". God mentioned the word "PRAISE [the Lord]" around 200+ times in the whole Bible; wouldn't you think it's pretty important? God created the world, sent his son to die for us, forgave us of our sins, not to mention the fact that he promised He would KEEP forgiving us, and PROMISED to come back. Isn't that a little incentive to praise Him?! God is AMAZING. He is PERFECT. There is NONE.LIKE.HIM! What more do you need?! My dad is in our church choir, and he's told me times of when he's up there and praising, singin out to God, and it's unlike anything. Just him and God. Sure, he may not exactly be opera material, but he BLESSES the Lord with his voice. And lemme tell ya one thing; my dad couldn't care less if you think he's weird for singin loud, because for him, he is kneeling at the feet of Jesus, in his [presence]. Guys, I can't stress to you enough how incredibly important worship is! You may hear me belting the songs out in the back, and think, man she's kind of a freak. But man guys, if you could only experience it. The feeling that you're doing something that honors God. It's unreal. People say there's nothing like the feeling you get from being saved, and I agree, being saved is... well there's no word to describe it. But worshiping? It's right up there with it. To me, it's special. It's personal.

Maybe all this is just me, but guys, if you couldn't care less about anything I've said until now, care about this;

God loves you. He loves me. He saved you. He saved us all from a fate worse than death, and He LONGS for you. He is JEALOUS for you!

Isn't that enough to give up a few minutes of your texting/social life/boyfriend/girlfriend/favorite-song-on-the-radio time? Man, it's enough for me..

peace and blessings.

People warned me about how my friends would change in highschool. How the people I thought I'd had all figured out would completely change. I couldn't count the amount of times my friends told me. And even now that it happens, man it hurts like junk. No matter how prepared you are for it, you can never fully prepare for that kinda thing. it's hard. real hard.
Guess that's all I really had to say.

Oh praise him all his mighty works, there is no language where you can't be heard.

Highschool can be a drag. I'll be the first to admit that. But something I've realized stands out to me the most, is the sad, sad faces of those kids wandering the halls in my school. It's like they're really, truly, completely lost. It breaks my heart when I see those kids sitting by themselves over in the corner during lunch. But believe me, those aren't the only unhappy people. You see "popular" kids all over the place, happy and enjoying their lunch. But have you ever stopped to wonder if they're really, truly happy? They probably don't have any real friends they can trust, maybe their parents demand way to much out of them. There are hundreds of things that could be running through their mind. We walk along, some of us (like me) avoiding all contact with the kids we don't know and happy to stay with the few actual friends I can count on. But I see those kids walking alone, sitting alone, never talking, and lets be honest, if a kid never gets in trouble for talking in class, there's a problem; ESPECIALLY if it's a girl ;)

This week, look around at the kids in your school. Think about that new kid sitting in your class, looking hopelessly lost. Here's a problem for me: instead of smarting off to the popular kid that thinks waaaay too highly of themselves, smile and offer a hand when they drop their stuff in the hall. The tiniest things can make a difference in someone's day. One time last week, I dropped some stuff out of my locker and someone walked by and snorted at me, laughing "That's gay." and walked away. Never offered a hand. I was mad about it all day. Some people are real inconsiderate, but you gotta learn to just wave it off. Most of em are just too obsessed with themselves to worry about someone else. When that person drops their stuff sometime, I'll bend down and help em out, all 6 feet of me, without making a jerkish remark. Am I gonna like it? No, but it proves who the bigger person is. You can't stoop to their level. That kid might have just spilled coffee on them, broken up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, and then lost all their homework. That'd be a pretty bad day to me, and if someone bent down to help me out on a day like that, I'd be pretty happy. "Do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good." "Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, and in purity." This week I challenge you to help that person you really don't like out, or sit with the kid who's by himself at lunch. You can do it, I believe in you :)

>:(

If there's ANYTHING I hate it's jerks that make fun of my friends. I can take teasing, whatever, but you mess with my friends, you're in for it. I don't understand how on earth someone could feel SO insecure that they need to make fun of others to compensate for it. Some people really just don't get it.

I would write more on this PARTICULAR subject but seeing how if I do I'll probably say something I regret, I'll leave it at this:

Get over your petty insecurities. Nobody likes gossip, name-calling, and all that other junk. It makes you look even more immature and stupid and I REALLY can't stand it so just stop and get over yourselves.

AGH.

I want more than just ok

In my life I've definitely settled for just "ok" on some things. Like, an "OK" grade instead of an A. Or Just having an OK practice instead of 100%. The list goes on. Lately my family has been trying to find an affordable house to buy, and it's getting REAL stressful REAL fast. I worry about it a lot, but the worst thing I've been doing is having and OK relationship with God. In times like these, we need to step up and push through TRUSTING that God will provide; but when you have an "OK" relationship with God, you can't possibly trust him completely. God tells us in the bible he'd rather we not be a Christian at all than a lukewarm Christian. That's where I've been these past few months, and the feeling of finally getting stuff right with God is unlike anything else.
If a 15 year old kid came up and challenged you to do something, I know plenty of people that would pat my head, smile and shake their head, and walk off thinking how silly that little kid is. If I said to you "I've been through this. I know what it's like to not be on track. Let me challenge you to fight to be right with God EVEN when it HURTS. Even when you just want to give up. Because if you don't, Satan will find his way through your fake smile you have during Church. You can count on it; unless you make yourself right with God," would you pat my head and walk away? Because believe me I've met my fair share of people that have. Don't walk away. Wanna know why? Because Christ NEVER walked away from us and he NEVER will.

God wants SO much more for you than just "ok".