random thoughts!

heyy y'all!
today was good. its sunday. i love sunday. church was good this morning. tonight bleh, not so much. the singing was wonderful but theres a few girls that are kind of causing some drama and its just making me super upset. but i had fun with mitchell & everyone afterwards. oh && eric is back till wednesday! i was excited. i missed him. haha. it seems like everyone left, so it was really nice to see a farmliar face.
well anwyay, my devotion last night was really redundent from the one from the night before, so im not gunna write about it today so this is one of my random thoughts bullitens.
first of all, people really shouldnt judge. the bible says its up to God to judge people, not people. and i really dont like it whenever people judge me and they dont know me, recently i've been called ditzy, dingey, self-absorbed, that i think im better than everyone else and that they hate me. and i havent even ever hardly talked to these girls, and when i have, i've always been nice. and they're saying that they want to beat me up, and its kind of really affecting me. i just dont like it whenever people dont like me for no reason. i dont understand what i did. bleh. pray for me.
i have amazing friends. and i thank God everyday for everyone that was there for me today. i lovee my friends. :]
well sorry its a short post tonight
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

follow him!

hey y'all!
today was alright. i went to rickys band competition, they did really good, & then came home & watched the tigers lose. my goodness. i mean c'mon Georgia Tech is horrible. absolutely horrible. and the tigers STILL lost. wanna know why? b/c CULLEN HARPER CANT THROW A FOOTBALL! Clemson has two of the best running backs in the NATION and they would not give James Davis the ball. i mean c'mon. James Davis is a BEAST. and our recievers are pretty amazing too. Jacoby Ford & Aaron Kelly. plus my dads 'white boy' Tyler Grisham. grr. sorry as you can see, i am not excited my tigers lost. but if they'd have just run the football, we could have won!! i am def saying...PUT WILLY KORN IN.
mk sorry. enough ranting about the football loss. haha. & then my dad cooked dinner, which was really good.
mk so i did my devotion following God. John 12:26 says, "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant must also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." As Christians we need to be walking with Jesus every day. we need to stray from the ways of the world, and pick up our cross, and follow God. Jesus has called us to follow in his footsteps and spread & study God's wonderful, living, word. we need not be worried about the day ahead, we just need to let Jesus lead us and follow in his mighty footsteps. we have to realize that he will NEVER desert us, and he will NEVER lead us astray. when we're in times of trouble, we need to call upon God. when your not sure about your future, call upon God. he will reveal his plan to you if you just listen for us powerful, quiet voice. if we talk with God, and we listen to him...we will be following in his path, and that is exactly where we need to be-following Gods son. our Savior. its a matter of obedience. we have to obey Gods word, and when we do that, we will be walking with him. so i ask you...Jesus is walking with you...who will you walk with?
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

thankful?

hey y'all!!
today was okay. school, bleh. b/c it was b-day. but its friday night & i dont have school tomorrow. i went and watched the marching band b.c they had this thing tonight & ricky wanted me to go, they did good. & i talked to mitchell for awhile :]. im extremely bored right now. i didnt make plans tonight, & i dont think i have any tomorrow, haha. but idk.
so i did my devotion on being thankful, James 5:13 says, "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise." Gods word tells us a wise heart is a thankful heart. and the bible stresses being wise. think of all the wonderful things God has blessed us with that we dont even deserve, we owe him everything, & we should thank him every single day for everything he has given us. God is ALWAYS listening so, are you willing to tell him thank you for everything he has done for you? God has given us everything. he sent his only son to die for us so that we can spend eternity with him in heaven, he blesses our lives with wonderful opportunites to serve him and with wonderful things. hes always there for us to ask him to help us & to give us whatever, hes always listening. he has given us much much more than we could ever repay him, so he def. deserves our thanks. true & heartfelt thanks. God is ready to hear from you. so what are you waiting for?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

be a cheerful Christian!

hey y'all!
today was alright. b-day and dance class, bleh. but otherwise it was good. i have no homework, so im excited about that. haha. im talkin to candace right now, b/c we're bored & yeah. haha. shes a cool kid. haha :]
well i did my devotion on being a cheerful Christian! Proverbs 15:15 says, The cheerful heart has a continual feast." the weirdest thing ever is a grumpy Christian. Christ promises us lives of abundance and & joy but he doesnt force this on us. we have to claim his joy ourselves when we do Jesus will fill our spirts with his power & his love. to recieve Christs joy we need to give him our hearts & our souls. when we commit ourselves to Jesus & place him in the center of our lives & turst him he will transform us so that we can share his joy with the entire world!! do you need cheering up? well make someone else happy! b/c that will brighten your day too. next time your sad, just remember, Jesus is there! and he died for you! to give you an eternal life in heaven with him. when you know that, you have absolutely NOTHING to be sad about!! so my question tonight is...are you going to give Jesus your heart and experience the joy only He can bring?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

memior

hey y'all!
today was good...after school. haha. at school it was, of course, b-day. bleh. but after school i came home & got ready & stuff & then went to band practice that went really well, our new music director is cool. and i LOVE the songs we're singing. and after that i sat out in the parkin lot & talked to mitchell for awhile wihle our moms talked. :]
well i want to tell y'all about my memior. we had to write about a time in our life where we changed alot, and why. i wrote about when i first came to New Hope because it changed me a TON! i became a much stronger Christian and got a lot closer to God and a lot more into my bible & stuff. and about the leaders there that i look up too and stuff. i also wrote about how it changed my friends. i got alot closer to candace & ashley & rachel and of course, mitchell. and i just met some amazing people. so yeah, i am really happy God lead me to new hope :]
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

be patient and trust God

hey y'all!
today was pretty good. it was a-day. and i had dance and did a little hiphop with london, it was pretty cool. and i felt like a retard b/c that "you are my world" song we sang at church sunday morning [i love that song] but i'd never heard it before, and i found out i had the cd sitting on my computer desk. hahaha. oh boy am i sore from ridin on the fourwheeler yesterday.
so i did my devotion on being patient and trusting God. Psalm 62:8 says, "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge" awesome verse. and something that really helps me. we have to be patient because sometimes we're faced with challenges. Psalm 37:7 says, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him" but thats really hard for a lot of people. the human race is a very impatient people. i, of course, included. i am a verryy impatient person, and im trying to work on that. we want to manage are lives in our own time, not Gods. but what we have to realize, is that Gods time is always going to be better than our time. instead of being impatient, we should trust God, and know that when the time comes, he will answer us, and that it will be at the best time, because God always knows best. his timing is always perfect. waiting will strengthen us, and strengthen our relationship with God. we need to depend on him, give him our lives. and realize that he will always answer our prayers, we just have to pray fervently, trust him, study his word and wait for his answer. the most important thing to remember is that the only person that will NEVER let you down is Jesus Christ. and that his timing is perfect timing. so heres my question for tonight...will you put your trust in an imperfect human...or are you going to put your trust in almighty God?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

be a practical Christian

hey y'all!
today was greattt. got up, went to church, praiseband sang great songs, after church me & mitchell went to kodys w/ candace & watched a movie & then i went to mitchells and hung out there, then we went back to church at night, and attempted to play music but had serious vocal problems. haha. but thats okay.
so i did my devotion on being a practical Christian. James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." As Christians, we have to live our faith out loud. we have to show what we believe through not just our words, but our actions ans well. we have to be practical believers, and act quickly when we see an oppourtunity to serve God! God wants believers who will work for him, and do whatever he asks. we can tell people what we believe all day, but the best way to show others what we believe, and how God has changed us, is to act it. not just on sunday, we need to live out loud everyday, showing others what God can do. Christians are supposed to be kind & compassionate toward other people, and forgive everyone.
so...are you willing to work for Gods glory?
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

be humble!!

hey y'all!
today was good. lazy day. haha. i pretty much layed around and did nothing until 4 where i went to band practice & met our interim music minister! he was pretty awesome i must say! he picked great songs, & i am happy to say we will be singing songs that I, and y'all, actually know tomorrow morning! and im really excited!
so i did my devotion last night on being humble. 1 Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." as Christians, we have to realize that pride is a major blockage between you & God. its harder to know God when your prideful. whenever we experiance success we need not to take the praise for ourselves, but give it to God. because he is the only reason we do well in antying. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements." they're not our achievements, they're Gods achievements & thats what makes it important. whenever we achieve something we dont need to take pride in it for ourselves, we need to give the glory to God! Humilty pleases God. pride does not. so heres my question...are you gunna be humble, and please God? or prideful, & dissapoint him??
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

seek strength from God

hey y'all!!
so of course im doing this for yesterday, so yesterday was great. i love a day fridays! then i went & hung out with candace & we went to the mauldin game...yeah i know we're traitors. and i talked to mitch for a little while :] and omgoodness i have a story to tell y'all. mk at the mauldin game they played gaffney. well they have those flags that spell out g-a-f-f-n-e-y and well they were kind of backwards, or atleast they were to me & candace & we soo thought it said yenffag. it was soo funny b/c we're like "yenffag? whats a yenffag??" haha and then we're like "ohhh it says gaffney!" i felt like a loser. haha. but it was really funny.
well anyway my devotion was on seeking strength from God. Exodus 15:2 says, "the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and i will praise him, my fathers God, and i will exalt him." where do you go to find strength? i'd most def say the best place to go find strength is in God. b/c he can help you through anything. if you turn your life & heart over to God, you will have his strength and you will be abled to make it through anything and you can do absolutely anything God asks you to do. God is most def. the ultimate source of strength and in anything you need to be strong in, hes there. let his strength shine through you!! turn all of your troubles over to God, you have to realize, we dont need to be strong, we just need to let God take over and we will 'tap in' as my devotion book says, to his strength. so...are you ready to show everyone God's strength?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

forgive!

hey y'all!
so yesterday was bleh. b-day. i dislike thursdays alot. haha.
well anyway
i did my devotion on forgiving everybody! Matthew 6:14-15 says, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." sometimes its difficult to forgive & forget things, but its not impossible. wouldnt life be much simpler if you could forgive everyone? you wouldnt have to worry about what happened and you could just forget it. you can say you forgive someone, and not mean it. forgivness requires time, perserverance, and most of all, prayer. people do bad things. and its not in human nature to want to forgive them for it, but if you have Jesus Christ in your heart & you sincerely pray to God about it, you can forgive anybody for anything they've done. because that is what Jesus would do. if theres even one person you havent forgiven you need to forgive them. grudges and bitterness only put up a wall between you & God. regret and grudges arent part of Gods plan for your life. Forgiveness, however, is. look at the example Jesus set. he forgave us of our sins and died for us just so that we can spend eternity with him in heaven. remember...Jesus forgave you...so you need to forgive others!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

walking in the light!

hey y'all!
today was greatt. it was church day. a-day. and church was neat. we talked about why we believe what is in the bible, and i already knew everything in the bible was true, but it def. helped me with what to tell a lost person if they asked me how i know the bible is true. i accidently poked mitchell in the eye, and kneed him in the mouth =( haha i feel bad for that. poor mitch. me & candace so broke a chair today. and danced around her room while singing marvelous light. haha we're dorks. but thats okay.
so i did my devotion last night on walking in the light. John 8:12 says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have to light of life." an farmiliar song to everyone, "one way Jesus" tells us that Jesus is "the way the truth & the life" [this comes from John 14:6-7] without Christ, we have no salvation, and we are stuck in the dark. without him, we never know the real truth, Gods truth. if we seek to feel Gods presence, and expriance his peace...we must walk in his light. the only way to do this, is to accept his son. we need to walk in Jesus's light and let everyone around us know it! show the world the light that shines on us through Jesus Christ and let everyone see it! so i ask y'all this...are you walking in Jesus light?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

worry less.

hey y'all!
today was good. b-day. bleh. but it was alright. im just excited about tomorrow. wednesday. church day. a-day. i lovee me some wednesdays. youth band is tryin' but i've got no promises for awhile y'all. just pray for what God wants us to do.
so i did my devotion on worrying less. Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." when your worried. first take your concerns to God and also to those who care about you and that you know you can trust. it helps to talk your problems out, because bottling them up is never a good soloution. we also need to talk to God about it through prayer, because he can help us through anything. Gods always here, always listening, waiting for us to come to him. we need to talk about our problems and our worries openly to the people who care for us and that we trust and we need to give our worries over to God, because hes always here for us. we need to learn to walk by faith. and worry less because God is here. and through is son, Jesus Christ, everything is going to be okay. we have no reason to worry because if we turn our troubles to God...EVERYTHING will turn out okay in the end :]
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

when the path is dark

hey y'all!
today was good. A-day. A-day is always good. haha. i had dance tonight but i didnt do much dancin' b/c they mostly didn hip-hop tonight. im excited, i made a good grade on my english paper :].
so anyway, my devotion last night was on when the path gets dark. Micah 7:8 says, "Do not gload over me, my enemy! Though i have fallen, i will rise, Though i sit in the darkness, the Lord will be my light" people have doubts all the time and about all different kinds of things. but we have to remember, God never everr leaves our side. hes always with us, and always here to help us through things. hes always prepared to reach our hearts, calm our fears and doubts and restore confidence. we dont have to doubt things if we remember that God is in control. he will take care of us, and pull us off of whatever dark path we may have stumbled down. Sheila Walsh observed, "To wrestle with God does not mean that we have lost faith, but that we are fighting for it." when doubts creep in we just have to let God stay in control of our lives and fight for us. remember, he always wants what is best for us, even if we dont think its best for ourselves, God knows best. Joni Eareckson Tada said, "In heaven, we will see that nothing, absolutely nothing, was wasted, and that every tear counted, and that every cry was heard." and if we seek God, he will always be there. always protecting us from the dark. so my question for y'all tonight...are you willing to let God be the light of your life??
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

be silent

hey y'all!!
today was great. got up & went to church in the morning & the interim pastor did a good job preaching. after church i just kinda lazed around the house until i went to get candace & went up to the church around 4:30 and met the youth band up there [btw we're working on getting things together so maybe we'll have some music again soon in the youth service!] & then after church i went to zaxbys with mitchell & megan & ricky & mrs rhonda & lyle. it was fun :]]
well anyway my devotion was on being silent so you can hear God speak. Psalm 37:7 says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." sometimes God speaks loudly and clearly, but a lot of times his voice is going to be very soft and your going to have to stop all the commotion thats going on around you and spend some time with God so that you can hear his wonderful voice. we must set aside quiet times to spend with God in His Word. when we pray sincerely for something, God WILL answer. but we have to be quiet enough and willing enough to hear his answer. and remember its not going to be on our time, its going to be on his. and remember...you dont listen to God with your ears...you listen to him with your heart.
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

contagious Christianity!

hey y'all!
today was good. i went to the mall with chelsea and on the way home we saw mitchell pullin out of his works road haha it was cool. and then i went to candaces & we walked for 4 miles to cvs it was cool & then we went to aldi and wal*mart at like 9 at nightt!
so if we live our faith out loud, it can sure be contagious! Matthew 10:32 says, " Whoever acknowledges me before men, i will also acknoweldge him before my father in heaven." if your a genuine Christian & you live your faith out loud, others will def. notice and it can impact them in great ways. we should be really excited about our relationships with Christ and show it to the otehrs around us. God wants us to tell the entire world everything he has done for us. Christianity is really contagious because everyone wants to be a part of something bigger, and those that see how much fun we have fellowshiping together as Christians and worshiping our Lord and going to church, they'll want to be part of it too. and the amazing things we get to see God do!! its pretty much really amazing. we shouldnt be ashamed of God, and we should want to show everyone. i know im excited to talk about him, and i know it annoys some people, but if even a little peice of it gets through to them and grows it was all worth it. we shouldnt be afraid that our friends will 'get mad' at us, because you can always make new friends. but they may only have one chance to hear God's amazing grace, and thats through you. not sharing could be giving them a one-way ticket to hell...and you shouldnt want that for anyone, no matter how mad they get at you!
so my question for y'all is...are you living your loud enough for the whole world to hear?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

Mark part 2 :]

hey y'all!
today was good, b/c it was friday. but it was still icky b-day. goodness. thank goodness monday is a-day. but i am just happy it is the WEEKEND! haha. i did nothing tonight. big surprise. haha. fridays are usually boring. tomorrow ill probably hang out with candace. b/c thats what i do on saturdays. haha. and its fun. haha. i've been listening to barlowgirl, i love love them. haha.
well ima finish talkin' to y'all about Mark tonight :] and my blog tomorrow will be on 'contagious Christianity' which is something im excited about.
anywho, back to Mark.
Mark 12:29-31, "The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: Hear, O Isreal, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and wit all your idn and with all of your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." so. 2 things we need to know as Christians: 1. we need to love God with everything we have. and we should nave NO other Gods. we need to give our lives to God. and 2. we need to loves others as we love ourselves. it is not our place to judge people and we should not hate anyone. we need to love, and to forgive & forget.
Mark 12:43-44, "Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on." i love this story. all the rich people may have put in tons of money, but they still have tons left over, the widow gave God what we should all give God, absolutey everything we have.
Mark 14:38, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." we need to pray to God to keep us out of temptation. as Christians, our spirits long to serve God but our bodies are weak and easily persuaded into all types of temptation by desires and other things.
Mark 16:15-16, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but wheoever does not believe will be condemned." this ones pretty much self-explanitory. we need to tell people about Gods word! and if other sincerly and truly believe in God, they will be saved :]

so my question to y'all tonight is, what are you willing to do for God?
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

Mark!

hey y'all!
today was alright. b-day. bleh. i dont like b-day. and chorus had a-lunch. so i didnt really have anyone to eat lunch with. haha. b/c candace & ashley both are in chours 3rd on b-day. y'all pray for my grades. b/c im a little scared about my progress report grades. haha im not doin so hott in ap pshyc and ap us history. mk so i just got home from dance. it was fun. i like our dance.
okay so for the past week or so i've been readin in Mark like mister allen said too. and so i figured i'd share some of the verses in Mark that stood out to me with y'all tonight!
Mark 2:17 says, "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but its the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" which is something most churches need to understand, Chad talked about this a good bit, and allen does too. that Jesus didnt come here to save the righteous, but the sinners, churches are here to spread Gods word as well as for Christians to learn. but each church can only grow if it invites unsaved people into its house. isnt that our mission? to reach the unchurched, and lost people? so when somebody walks in to church and they're not exactly 'the best' type of person, dont judge. just pray. they're in church, with Jesus. and hes ready to speak to them. all we gotta do is accept them, and get 'em there.
next verse, Mark 4:30-32, "Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when paltned, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." which means we only need to plant Gods word and it only takes a little bit but once you do that its in Gods hands and it will grow to an enormus size!
Mark 7:14-15, "Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this, Nothing oustide a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man taht makes him 'unclean' which is totally true. its not the things that go into us, such as foods, that make us unclean. what makes us dirty is the things that come out. such as bad words, and derogatory statements.
Mark 8:34, "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." love this verse. im sure you've heard it before. but to follow Jesus we must deny ourselves and give our lifes to him. in other words we need to die in our sin and be reborn again in a new life, forgiven by Jesus Christ. and then we can live for him.
Mark 10:27, i love this verse, "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." this verse means exactly what it says. through man, and trying to do things yourself, tasks may seem impossible. but no task is to difficult or large for God to handle. everything is impossible with God. so when he asks you to do some impossible thing, just know that he'll be right there with you, helping you the whole time.
Mark 10:43-45, "Not so with you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be salve of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to sevre, and to give his life as a ransom for many." which is true. if we want to be great for God, we have to humble ourselves and serve others. we must be kind and help others. because even Jesus, our Lord, Creator, the Son of God, came to earth not for us to serve him, but so that he might die for us and save us.
Mark 11:22-25, "Have faith in God. Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to the mountain Go throw yourself into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but belives that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore i tell you, what ever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have recieved it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying if you hold anything against anyone forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins" this verse says two things. 1. if we have complete faith that God will answer what we have prayed for, he will. we just must believe him. and 2. to have a good relationship with God and be close to him, we must always forgive others and not hold grudges so that God can forgive us.
well this devotion is pretty much a novel.
i will write the other few vereses in my blog tomorrow.
that way y'all dont have to read for hours. haha.
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

continue to grow!

hey y'all!
today was good. its church day. i love church day. haha. i think i beasted my english test this morning, but i didnt too hott on my history tests. bleh. thats okay though. just need to study better next time. so today, went to school, was the usual school day, then rode home with candace & we lazed around & goofed off at her house until 6:30 & then we went up to the church. candace proceeded to draw all over my foot haha, it was so green & said "Jesus loves yew!" haha. and mitchell well he stuck his nastay foot on my forehead. goodness gracious. y'all know i dont like feet. haha. so there is a lot of sick people at hillcrest right now, rachel candace & myself included, so please pray that everyone gets well soon because we all feel icky. and pray i stay relatively healthy like i am, im not near a sick as poor rachel. pray for herrr. oh & pray for my gpa whos in WV & my nana who most of you know, is in Germany.
so my devotion was on continuing to grow in your faith. 1 Peter 2:2 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spritiual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation" God doesnt want 'stagnant' believers. as we continue in our spiritual walk with God we need to grow in him through prayer, bible study, fellowship, church and other things as well. we must obey his commandments and stay in the center of his will. and thats what Gods plan for us is, not for us to become saved & stay the same, but for us to become saved & never stop growing in our faith from that point on. Leighton Ford said, "God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way." & i really like that quote. yeah he loves us how we are, but he wants to watch us grow in Him and help others grow in Him. as you become a stronger believer you'll be able to tell people more about things when they ask you questions. like mister allen always asks us these really hard i'd call them 'critical thinking' questions that really get you thinkin about what you actually know and what you'd say if a lost person asked you this question, would you know how to respond? like his tonight, have you seen God? well, this is what i believe: physically? no. none of us have seen God. not in this day & age. but we can see God in the things he does. the wonderful planet he made for us to live on with mountains & oceans and such. and then the miracles & other tasks he performs. like healing, saving, and just being there when we go through difficult times. i've seen God many times. when i pray to him for something, & he answers me, thats seeing him. seeing him through what he does. so my question for you tonight is the same as mister allens...have you seen God? and if not...are you looking for Him?? because sometimes we can miss things that are right infront of our eyes.
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

hes waiting at the door!

hey y'all!
sorry i didnt post yesterday. i had dance till late & then i had to take a shower & get ready for bed & such. i just got home from band practice. y'all pray for rachel b/c she really doesnt feel good. and bleh i dont feel great right now either, but i think its my sinuses. they're always actin up. yesterday was a really good day. it was A day. and i love A day. today- B-day. bleh. b-day. haha. but band practice was alright. i dont really know the songs that well but i think i'll do okay, ima just trust in Jesus.
so i have two things i want to talk about tonight.
first i'll talk about school, & then ill talk about my devotion.
so i just have been noticing lately the huge number of unsaved people at hillcrest. i never thought it was this bad, but it really is. but i have seen two people get saved in the last two weeks. and thats really exciting. hillcrest is going to change. God can do it! some guy told me he was going to call me "ms. Christian" and when i said "okay!" with an excited attitude he looked at me, shocked. he said he wanted to call me something i wouldnt like. and i told him i liked being labled, as long as it was for Jesus. so newsflash hillcrest high school...i AM a Jesus Freak.
so my devotion was on God waiting at the door for us. Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask and it will be gien to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks recieves; he who seeks finds; and him who knocks, the door will be opened" God is never too far away to hear our requests. hes always right here, right now. if we're in need we need to ask God to fufill us. if we're troubled, ask him to take away our troubles. we always need to take our worries to him because we cant handle them ourselves. we need not our strength, but the strength of our wonderful Lord! if we need to know what our future holds, we can ask God about it. in everything, we need to seek God. in wisdom & will. he will always hear us, & always answer us. D.L. Moody observed, "Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant asking. But, the way to trouble God is not to come at all." if we have a true & sincere relationship with God we should be able to talk to him about anything. if we're not going to Him with our troubles, where are we taking them? we're taking them into our own hands. and remember, your plan is NEVER better than Gods plan. we need to just keep on asking and waiting for him to answer us. hes always here. always waiting. so my question to you is...God is ready to hear from you...are you ready to talk to him?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

your thoughts

hey y'all!!
sorry i didnt do this yesterday, i had to rush on a history paper. but anyway i had such a good time. church was good in the morning & then me & candace whent fourwheelin with mitchell & kody. we got really muddy, and really wet from the creek water. but thats okay. haha it was super fun. and then we went to church that night & listened to lyle preach [great job lyle] and then we went out to subway & then to hang at heritage park. that was really fun too. i went to pull candace up a slide & she ended up pulling me down and i went flying off the slide into the mulch. i have a nasty i guess it would be, dirt burn, on my elbow now. & im super sore from that fourwheeler haha.
well i did my devotion on being careful how you direct your thoughts. the passage used for this, of course, was Philippians 4:8 which i've written about more than once before, and it says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is ture, whatever is nobel, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admiriable-if anything is execellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." if we really wanna be close to God, we have to take control of our thoughts. we need not think on worldy things because once the world gets control of our things, we really need to repent. things the world deem acceptable and things that God deems acceptable are two totally different things. we need to keep our thoughts pure and optimistic and not let them get "'hijacked' by negativity" as my devotion book says. we need to be enthusiastic and have great hope & faith and show the world that us Christians have something that they dont. Gods not going to force us to do this though, we have to choose to live & think like this ourselves. we need to think on the blessings God has given us, and think about things that would please him! remember...Godly thoughts lead to Godly deeds. bad thoughts...well you can guess the rest!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

hang out with wise people!

hey y'all!
TGIF!! HILLCREST WON! GO RAMS!! i cant believe we won! again! YAY! 20-14 against Wade Hampton! i just got off the phone with mitchell, he is soooo one-track minded. hes worried about his drivers test and he interrogated me about it for an hour and a half. haha. but thats okay, im happy to help :] please pray for his driving test, i have faith that he'll pass. and pray for weston, hes new in his faith but hes really gettin it. i cant wait to see God work through him. i see the changes in him already!
i did my devotion on hanging out with wise people. Proverbs 13:20 says, "He who walks with the wise grows wise..." which is true. if we're hanging around unwise people, it isnt going to benefit us in our walk with God. we need to strive to help eachother become wiser everyday. all of us want to be wise, but to do that we all have to be willing to do the work it requires to become wise. it takes time && effort. we have to learn the lessons of the Christian life & also live by them. what good is learning something if you dont put it to use?? if we sincerly desire to become wise and share it with others our actions must parallel our words. the best way to share our wisdom is not by words, but by our actions. the secret to success with wisdom is consistency. we need to seek wisdom and we need to seek it everyday, and in the right place. which is Gods word. we need to seek friends that consistently encourage us to become better people. also, today at solid rock AJ said some things i wanted to share w/ y'all.
first of all, when God gives us an opportunity he will use is & he will speak through us so we dont have to be afraid to take the opportunity. so tonight, i want y'all to think about this...does your faith & actions impact others???
i love y'all!
God Bless!
-crystal jade

worship together!

hey y'all!
today was alright. it was the usual thursday. B-day. dance class. bleh. but candace did ride home with me and hung out here for a little while, & that was fun. but tomorrow is friday, thank goodness. i must say, i am ready for the weekend. y'all please keep our hiphop teacher London in your prayers b/c he was in a car accident and he broke 3 ribs and messed up his face pretty bad.
so i did my devotion on worshiping together! Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the day approaching." every believer should be party of a community of faith. we should all associate with fellow Christians & it should be uplifting, enlightening, encouraging, and most of all, consistent. we need to be active members of our churches! God gave us talents for a reason, and that reason is to use them to glorify him. and what better way to do that than to get involved with fellow Christians in programs and ministries at your church! the fellowship of believes is intented to be a powerful tool in spreading the word of God. God wants us to be a fully contributing member of that fellowship. if the lost see us having a great time and worshiping with others, it will make them want to be a part of that as well! worship reminds us of the amazing power of God. we all need to worship him daily...and worship him together! so...are you ready to be an active member of your church & show others how much fun worshiping our amazing Lord can be?!?!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

spritiual maturity

hey y'all!
its wednesday. i love wednesdays. me & candace have named it "church day" haha. and its great. candace is now known as my sister. haha. mitchells a goofball, as always. he had me laughin so hard when my hairband whent flying across the yotuh room and his face. it was soo funny. hes like "...oops..." haha.
so i did my devotion on gaining spritual maturity. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, "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." the path to spritual maturity unfolds each and every day. and each day offers the oportunity to worship God or to rebel against him. when we worship him in all that we do we are blessed by our relationship with God. if we ignore him, we rob ourselves of his blessings. everyday offers the opportunity for spritiual growth. we can do this by obeying his word, seeking his will, and walking with his Son. Billy Graham said, "The born-again Christian sees life not as a blurred, confused, meaningless mass, but as something planned and purposeful." and i agree. when we accept Jesus, life makes sense. we all have a purpose in life that Jesus wants us to fufill. and we do that by following his plan. and my devotion book says something i really liked, it said, "Spiritual maturity is a journey, not a destination." which is true. b/c can we ever stop growing spiritually? i think not. the Bible teaches us lots of wonderful things, and we can never stop leaning from it. God always has something new that he wants us to learn. all we have to do is seek it.
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

God can handle it!!

hey y'all!!
today was good. school was bleh, as usual haha. it was B-day...again. my goodness i am sick of B-day. i am always sick of B-day. haha but praiseband practice was good :] and i got to talk to mitchell for a good bit bc my mom & mrs rhonda were talkin. :]
so i did my devotion on how God can handle anything. Hebrews 11:6 [one of my favoriteee verses] says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that rewards those who earnestly seek him." everyones life is a series of wins & losses. every step of the way, God is walking with you. whether it be through triumph or defeat. and he is ready & willing to strengthen us. if your courage is tested, remember to take your fears to God. if you call upon him, he WILL answer. and he will comfort you. when you place your faith, your trust, & your life in the hands of God, you'll be amazed by the marvelous things he accomplishes through you. so you need to strengthen your faith...this is key. a few ways to do this is through praise & worship, prayer, and through bible study. someone said, "The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us." and that power behind is is God. remember whenever you live in the center of God's will, your also in the center of his protection. with God everything is possible. whatever your challenge or trouble is, God can handle it. so ask yourself this...Hes ready to use you...are you ready to be used??
i love y'all!!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

GO TIGERS!

GO TIGERS!!
they're up 24-11 right now against the seminoles.
c'monn!

i'll post tomorrow b/c its late. we just got home from mitchells like 30 minutes ago. haha.
God Bless!

great day :]

hey y'all!
today was amazing. i LOVE sundays. sundays are always amazing. our guest speaker did a good job this morning preaching!! then me & candace hung outside with mitchell & kody for awhile & then went to my gpas and then it was off to her house, to take a nap. haha. and tonight we went to church & then went to see a Christian concert at simpsonville park. it was good. i ran around with mitchell while we walked back &forth like 500 times b/c he couldnt figure out what he wanted to eat. haha. and then mrs rhonda took us home & of course my mom talked for like...20 minutes haha. but thats okay. mk so Weston, has found God :] & came to Christ. and i am VERY proud of him. so please pray for him. God finally gave me the strength to witness, well, actually, idk, i didnt say those things i said to weston when i witnessed the other night. God did. it just kind of popped out. i cant even believe i said it. but then i realized, i didnt. Jesus did. :]]] wow. and i was just talking about how i wanted someone i witnessed too, to see them come to God. oh my it is amazing. goodness i LOVE to see the amazing things God does. i've watched this boy change drastically over the last three years. oh its just great :]]] i cant wait to see it again. Hillcrest High School, get ready. b/c change is commin.
so mister allen asked us a question today. and it really made me think. so your a Christian. but if you were asked, "who is Jesus?" could you answer? i mean could you give an honest definite answer? because i got to thinkin and if a non-believer walked up to you, and asked, "whos Jesus?" and you claim to follow him, but reply "i dont know" its not gunna look real good since thats bascially saying you have no idea who your following. Peter hit the nail on the head whenever in Mark 8:29, "...Who do you say I am?" & Peter replied "You are the Christ." and thats exactly it. so who is Jesus. well this is who he is. He is our Savior. our Messiah. our Redeemer. our Friend. [like the song You are Holy says] and like the song I am says, our Creator. Maker. Comforter. Healer. Lord and King. Beginning and the End. I Am. and thats right He is. hes everything. and so next time someone asks you "who is Jesus?" what will you say?? b/c mister allen really got me thinkin about that.

oh && HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTER DAVID!! WE MISS YOU!!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade

purpose!

hey y'all!
today was greatt! candace came & got me around 11ish and we went back to her house & hung out & then we went & got her moms car and drove around simpsonville/mauldin & went to woodruff road & to kohls in search of a clemson shirt for candace and then to this Christian store. i love Christian stores. and then we called this guy and screamed in his ear & then hung up. it was sooo funny. kody & mitchell went fourwheelin today. i was a little scared, them two plus two fourwheelers just sounds dangerous. but they're okay. haha.

welp i did my devotion on living on purpose. Ephesians 4:1 says, "As a prisoner of the Lord, then, i urge you to live a life worth of the calling you have recieved." life is best lived on purpose. and that purpose, begins with God. God has a plan for every single one of us. we each have a divine calling, a direction in whicch God is leading us. when we welcome God into our hearts & have a relationship with him, he will begin to reveal his purposes for our lives to us. sometimes his intentions will be totally clear to us, other times, they'll be a little cloudy. but we just have to put our trust in him completely that he will reveal his plan for us. we never need to lose sight of the fact that God created us for a reason. he has important work for each & everyone of us to do and hes waiting on us. it just up to us to do it. Angela Tomas said, "You can believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, make heaven and miss hell, but never realize the power God intened for you to know in this life." now do you really want to go through life like that? missing out on the awesome things that God wanted you to do for his glory?!! but discovering God's purposes for us requires us to be open. Gods plan unfolds day by day but we have to keep our heart & eyes open so he can reveal his plans to us. he may have a few lessons to teach us before we can do his will and fufill his purpose. so remember. dont miss out on the awesome power of God!
i love y'all!
God Bless!
- crystal jade