My Top 10 Favorite Bible Verses

     Lately I have been getting into the habit of writing on my blog. I am super happy that I am getting more use out of it now. I love being able to write and express my thoughts and feelings to you guys.  

So, here are a list of my top 10 favorite Bible verses...so far. It is way too hard to just pick 10, so these are ones that I have been thinking about lately that apply to myself. Maybe some of your favorites will be in my list. I hope you all enjoy them and find them useful like I do.

1. Psalms 34:18- "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." -----God will be with you during the good times and bad times, but it is when we are in our darkest hours that we truly need God to show us the light. 
2. Colossians 3:23- "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not human masters."----- A lot of the times I will get frustrated doing school assignments and at work, but this reminds me who I am REALLY working for. If we could all adjust our mindset to this, the world would be a better place. 
3. 1 Peter 3:3- "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes."----- I get it, it is hard not to want to look/ feel beautiful by people the around us. Of course we all get tied up into ourselves sometimes, but you just have to remember that beauty fades, but what's in the heart does not. 
4. Proverbs 12:26- "The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." -----Many teenagers are looking for a way to fit in, including myself. No one wants to feel unwanted.This just reminds me that even if I do choose my friends carefully, the Devil knows how to sneak his way into my life. If I feel that a certain person is no good for me, then I have to distance myself from them, even if it is hard to do. 
5. Romans 8:5- "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit has their mind set on what the Spirit desires."----- Everything on earth is a human desire. People want fame and fortune, but the Spirit craves God. If you are too focused on your fleshly desires then how can your spirit grow? It is time to focus on the real picture. 
6. Proverbs 3:5-6- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding; in all ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."----- When in doubt, pray it out. You cannot solve all of your problems by yourself. If you trust in him and you are obedient to him, then he will help you through your difficult times.  
7. Ephesians 4:29- "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is only helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." ----- This is especially important for teenagers all around the globe to remember, especially myself! I think we all need to remember the golden rule, "treat others the way you would want to be treated." Is that a hard task to do sometimes?- Yes. But is it impossible?- No! 
8. 1 Samuel 16:7- "But the Lord said to Samuel "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."----- I love this one! It does not matter what you look like to God. If you are not the person you let others perceive you as, then you will not gain God's approval. A lot of the times people get caught up in the way someone looks, rather than their true character. The only difference is that you can't fool God. 
9. Mathew 7:11- "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."-----Amen. We all do it though, right? (If you said no, you are just lying to yourself.) I believe it is part of human nature to judge others, but does that make it right? No. It is just something we will have to learn to control. 
10. Mathew 6:19- "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal."----- In the end, all of the valuable things you own will mean nothing. They will not buy you a spot in heaven. So, with that being said, why do we all think money will buy happiness. (Although a million dollars doesn't seem too bad right now...) But why have earthly treasures, when you can have eternal life and things far better than what the world can give you? 

     Did your list expand like mine did? I hope so! It is always good to have a couple of Bible verses in handy for when you need an extra reminder. With that being said, always remember to keep calm and love God. :)  

Decisions

     My senior year in high school is all about making final decisions. Decisions about college, decisions about friends, decisions about work, decisions, decisions, decisions! It is a huge overload for a 17 year old girl to make on her own! In my life right now, it is very important to know that God knows his plans for me, even if I do not even know them yet. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know that plans I have for you," Declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." This verse gives me so much comfort as I get ready to take the ACT and apply to colleges. I am scared of what the future holds for me, because I am afraid of failure. Every now and then, I need to remind myself that the Lord knows my future and I should not fear possible failures.
     Even though failure is scary, it is a great way to show you that your life needs a change. No matter what you fall short of, it is a time to make things better.Right now, I and so many others, are afraid of not getting into their top college choices.It is hard not to be scared of the possibility of being rejected from your favorite college. I will be devastated if I do not get into College of Charleston, but the Lord has everything mapped out for me. Your future might be not getting accepted into your favorite school, but it will not be the end of the world. God planned out all your success, failures, hardships, triumphs and relationships. Nothing God does in your life is a mistake, it was meant to be, all it takes is just a leap of faith.

   

     Not only am I making decisions about my future right now, I am also making decisions on how I live my daily life. It is my decision to be mean or nice, it is my decision on if I will forgive or forget, it is my decision on if I will study or not, and it is my decision on if I will show acts of love. When making conscious decisions in a conversation, it is important to ask yourself if the words that are about to come out of your mouth are helpful, uplifting, or important; if it is not, then you probably should not say it out loud. In other words, your mouth should have a filter.
     Making decisions can sometimes be easy or sometimes be extremely hard to make. Just know that when you have to make a decision, God is with you every step of the way. What ever you choose is not a mistake, because God has already made that decision for you. Lastly, if you are having difficulty with making a decision, you should always pray to God for wisdom.

    James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

To Gossip or Not To Gossip...That is the Question

     Every now and then in youth and church, my pastors or youth pastor mention how everyone gossips. Of course they tell us it is a sin, but we are only human. On one particular day, they explained to me how there is so much negativity in the world- I must say I agree.We encounter negativity almost every single day, from poverty, hunger, war and even gossiping. Shouldn't we want to be a positive force in the world? The answer to my title is to NOT gossip! I hope you will agree with me and understand why. 

     In high school, all anyone ever does is gossip. Us girls especially like to gossip about the juiciest thing that happened during school, who got into trouble over the weekend, and mostly other girls. We constantly tear each other down without any mercy. We are crazy. I want to know what would happen if we would just stop our foolish ways. How would our lives change? How would we feel? How would we impact the people around us? 

     Today I decided to try my very best to not gossip or say anything negative about anyone. Did I fail to do so? YES! At first it was going good, I went to my first class at 8:00 am and I was too tired to interact with anyone. It went by smoothly, but then a guy walked into class about 40 minutes late, and of course I gave my friends next to me a "look." They laughed quietly and I shook my head. I then realized what I had done. It was not even an hour into class and I was already not being very Christian. By the end of the class, he of course was confused about something, so I decided to help him.  It felt good to help him- actually, it felt way better than making snide remarks. 

     This happened to be my pattern throughout the whole day. I had to make a conscious effort not to do or say anything negative. It was a struggle, I can't help it. It takes a great deal of inner strength not to make a comment, a look, or a gesture. 

     I want to change our negative attitudes into positive ones. I know you have probably heard everyone say that, but this time it is for real. I want to challenge the youth to stand up for what is right, talk to those who don't "fit in," and I want others to stop talking badly about others, but most importantly about themselves. It is natural to feel like you aren't good enough, but once you know you are good enough, and then you are happy with yourself, it will radiate off of you. There will be no need to put others down or to gossip. 

     I will continue this experiment, and hopefully see how it changes myself and possibly others. I will encourage others instead of tearing them down and see where it goes. I hope that you will also take initiative to be a positive force and test your strength. In closing, I want to leave you with this Bible verse from Psalm 97:10,  "Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked."