Baptism

    Sunday was the day. The day I stood up in front of my whole church congregation to profess my love for my Savior Jesus Christ. To some it might seem scary or just it of the box which it is. I remember thinking that this means something and I should take time to think about. When I thought back to when I originally was to be baptized. My family had been talking about me and my sister getting baptized at our home in our pool and it would be just a nice get together there after the baptisim. But it was that last Wednesday that really hit me. My one friend was talking about getting dunked but things came up that she didn't feel it was right. This was when my youth pastor went on a conversation about baptism and to not wait. Some people could I looked at it as it was being forced. But it gave me a whole new idea...and I ran with it.

    That night I was just on fire for God and I was singing and praying on my way home. I asked God to open and clear any obstacles for me to get baptized that Sunday on such short notice. Yeah sure I wouldn't have the big house celebration that my family planned but better. I called my grandparents in hopes of them being free in a few days. I explained to them that this was something I needed to do in my faith. And they were in! Here I got my grandparents ready to come and everything was panning out. This journey was an unexpected start of my new leaf.

    So I'll answer some questions that might be stirring up in your mind. I'm sure the number one question is...how could you jump into a huge step of your life just like that? I definitely asked myself that question right off the bat but God shot down those fears. I have always wanted to have that radical faith. I dream of leading a worship team and jumping up and down singing about Jesus. Just to be on fire for Him constantly! To take things by the horns and trust that God has the rest. I had that fire I had always wanted...I told myself that I loved my God and my life is to be lived for his glory so why am I holding back in my baptism? Now this makes me sound like some out going extremist that does anything off the fly. Ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you that I am a reserved person that needs to warm up to everyone I get to know.

    Baptism is no doubt something that needs to be thought over. But it is also something that shouldn't be put to the side. It is a part of your life that you transition from being a follower of Christ but it isn't exactly professed to the world. It is coming out saying "Hey I love Jesus Christ and I am going to follow Him for the rest of my life and I want the world to know."

"For in one Spirit we are all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and all were made to drink of one spirit."
                ~1 Corinthians 12:13

    When we are all into to take that dunk...we are committing ourselves to become one with Christ. It doesn't matter who we are or the degree of which we live, we can all be born again and one with Christ. This is no separation meant to happen in a relationship with Christ. Even if a homesless man is a strong believer in Christ and wants to be baptized he can be because once he asked to be one with Christ he always will be.

    Baptism is such a wonderful thing to be a part of and I am glad I made that transition. I felt renewed and freshed. Of course I still appeared the same bit my heart will never be the same and my love will Christ will only continue to grow. If you or someone you know is contemplating baptism tell them to seriously think about it and you think about it as well. It takes everyone a different amount of time but God will poi t it out when he see's it as fit.

Word of the Day: " Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned."
              ~John 15:5-6

Well Done

    It is kind of crazy how it is the week before Thanksgiving and Christmas music is all over the place. As a matter of fact, I am listening to it as I write this. Of course that does not really help my point...but holiday cheer is forced so much more than it should be. The festive music is played to pretty much get people to open their wallets. We have all been through the fight of holidays not being about presents, and that is another issue in it's self. But let us hone in on the matter of timing. Next week as we all gather around the table with are family from all over we can smell the seasoned turkey soon brought out by our grandmothers, fathers, mothers which will soon fill the stomach's for a satisfying night with family. But let's all go back in time for a couple moments.

    Whoever is the designated meal preparer in your family for the holidays clearly has a lot of work and plan. My dad's side of the family four families alone plus friends of my grandparents that join for the dinner and my grandmother makes the majority of it happen. I couldn't imagine my mom's mom or my dad's mom never put in the turkey for the feast. When everyone would arrive we could have a whole spread of nice and yummy warm festive food but the center of the event wouldn't be ready. There would just be one cold turkey on Thanksgiving day. Of course our family members wouldn't go home and be upset for the rest of the holiday, but it sure wouldn't be the same without a turkey!

    Often we do this in life. Beyond the turkey analogy...this happens with our relationship with Christ daily. I'm sure you have heard the saying "In time God will give you to what he sees fit" or "Trust God he knows what he is doing." And I think a darn good majority of those around us including ourselves do not buy into this. There were so many people in the bible that waited for Christ to show his salvation. Sarah and Abraham waited several years for a child before God gave them their son. Joesph was in PRISON and remained faithful to Christ for 3 years! And even God himself endured the process of waiting until his death on the cross. I think the biggest mistake we make here is thinking that the actual thing we work towards is more important than the actually journey. Of course whatever you have earned has wonderful significance but how you got there describes all about it.

    Waiting is actually a wonderful thing because we learn and grow so much. In just about very journey there are steps in which we go through that can be exciting or just challenging. Aren't these the times that we grow the most? I mean really...think back to a time where you went through a challenge and waiting and then you got the thing you worked hard for. Through that time of waiting, did you grow more then approaching the thing you worked for? Or once you achieved? For me I found that I grew into someone new when I was going through any period of waiting. What God had shown me and what I showed myself changed the way I thought as well as acted. That change might come off as being a bad thing because we can change so drastically. But it was those times that I became ready to face what God so carefully put into my life.

    Just like the Thanksgiving turkey. If we never experience the waiting and struggles through our life we can never truly develop. In other words...we have to cook just right so we can be in the final stage for the potential we are made for. Of course it's hard and of course people will tell you it is worth it along the way. That is where the words faith, hope, and perseverance really come to life in our relationship with Christ. Things that really matter take time because they are done right. Have you ever cooked your Thanksgiving frozen turkey in a microwave? Of course not because it would never be done! As easy as things are to do the easy way doesn't pay off. You can do a lot more things when you go the easy way but why have a bunch of poorly done things than have a few things done right.

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."    ~Romans 8:24-30

     This week find the hope in which you were saved and account that into the relationship you have with Christ. Hope for things that you do not have already and God will see as it is fit to you. Embrace the waiting and know that great things come out of long enduring times. Let yourself grow and not hinder then take that to allow yourself to become more like Christ daily.


Word of the Day: "But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" 
                  ~1 Corinthians 2:9

Centered

    The other week I received one of those typical forwarded emails about God's glory. It had a bunch of pictures on it with little unique facts about the bible which made me really think. I have personally never thought of the simple things like what the longest or shortest book in the bible is. Of course that might not carry to much importance to it but what about which verse is in the center of the bible. You might see where this is going or already know the center verse of the bible. I am sure you know it is in the book of Psalms because well it is the longest book! Now you must be wondering what importance this lesson is really leading to because there seems to be none. Well let's read Psalms 118:8...

                             "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans."  

    
    If you remember way back to when I first started this Rooted blog wrote a lesson about trusting God before trusting others. Now I don't mean for this to be a recap of that one. We are to look deeper into the irony of this verse. It's main point is to if we want to live the perfect will God has sent for our lives then we need to place him at the center of our will. I feel as if I have talked about this several times but this is one thing that can be talked about more than once. Let's put this into actual practice and take the most important thing to you and imagine if that was all did and thought about 24/7 (this might already be the case!). If you picture that thing at the center of a web that has branches coming off that hold other things in your life. In one bubble might be school, work, friends, family, and sadly....God. We tend to section of things in our lives that should go together and this becomes even more messed up when God isn't centered in it. It is just like taking  a picture but not centering it up, there would be not point to the picture because it wouldn't truly capture what we wanted in the first place.

    The thing that is going to make this not sound repetitive is the telling of an I Am Second story. If you are not familiar with these stories they can shortly be heard on word FM. But they actually have a website that is filled with these testimonies of people that found out that just putting God as one of the bubbles off of their webs wasn't enough. I think we wonder why things don't go our way or see themselves through fully. But I think we look at the wrong aspect to fix in our lives.

    For the longest time in my high school career I put my cheerleading and marching band career at the center of my life. Most people would look at that and say that that is normal because I only go through high school once but I also only get once chance at life with Christ. I would find myself staying up late to get homework done, get home real late, oversleep, feel stressed, and even injury myself from the weight of these things I loved so much. I would always wonder why praying to God never made these things better but that is when I realized I had God as a bubble off of the web. Today I still struggle with this and I feel that I always will but I know now that I can still be just as involved and lead in those things I love by having them off in a bubble to God being centered in my life.

    Those connections between the center and bubbles will be as strong as we make them. But the center root is what sets the stage of our lives and we should want to get that correct right off the bat. This week challenge yourself to look at your past, present, and future. Make the changes in order to have Christ as the strongest center of your life. Record your process through the good and the bad and you will be amazed at your transformation.





Word of the Day:  "Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth."
                                                                            ~Colossians 3:2

Not Goodbye

     The air was filled with tears of all the years passed. Letters of live and dedication were read aloud to bring on even more emotions. We knew deep down inside that this wasn't the last time we would see each other but goodbye for now and we will see each other later. This was the emotional reality for the senior that my cheer squad gave me and the other seniors. It was a time of happy and overwhelming tears that were long over due. This groups of girls have been together as a team over a span of several years through the good and bad. We got through harmful rants against the sport that we love and a team that dwindled due to lack of a agreement. Not matter what it was we stuck together and this is what made us so attached to the fact that this was it.

    Well it wasn't exactly the end due to the fact that our football team went undefeated for the season so we continue to cheer. I will always remember the Friday night though as of it was our last. I never noticed how funny it actually was though. We would look around the circle to see everyone blubbering but yet having a laughter that couldn't be controlled. It sounds crazy to say we found such laughter in this because little did everyone put into consideration...we are going to see each other throughout the whole winter season for winter cheer. But it was the ending of an amazing season that would never be forgotten but we all know that we must move on.

    In our life time we all have to move on from things that we love whether we like it or not. And of course we have gone over the aspect that God starts and ends things at the right time for our specific journey through him. But what really matters is what we do when we are in that journey. If I would of never put as much love into my cheerleading career throughout grade school then that senior night wouldn't of been as emotional. The hardest thing about letting go of something is the matter of leaving relationships. But if we really ruminate on this matter we would realize that those built relationships can continue. We often see this with Christ in our relationship with Christ. Ever since Christ left us by leaving his body on that cross but that was destined to be. 

    It might be the hardest thing you have to do saying goodbye to something that seems so right. Think about how people feel when their husband or wife or child goes into the military and says goodbye for a year. Do you think they come back and their loved ones aren't excited to see them and their relationship isn't as strong? Or does their relationship get stronger through the distance? I think that if your relationship is strong to begin with its gonna be unstoppable once they reunite over a period of time. Of course each relationship is different but God calls us to keep searching. When things stop right in their path we need to embrace where it is taking us. Yes good things comes to an end but only so they can continue on to something even better. If things never moved on then there would be no such thing as growing into a better person. 

    God calls us to not hold onto the good ole days because it isn't wise. That is because God calls us to dwell in the present and to keep running with that. Of course we can be sad at times but that is natural to come at these types of times. We need to reflect more on those times though because those are the times that shape us and that can be applied to our life daily. 

Word of the Day: " Consecrate yourselves, therefore, be holy,  for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statues and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you." 

             ~Leviticus 20:7-8