Weekly Devotional- Hope

     “Why Kids Kill.”  

     That was the news headline I read as I jogged around the gym track.  Instantly I was filled with shock, surprise, and sadness.  

     What kind of world are we living in?  You know something is not right when the nightly news headline is, “Why Kids Kill.”  

     Even though I couldn’t hear what the reporters were saying, I pieced together that a young baseball player from Australia had been killed, presumably by kids .  Later, I read the whole story online.  

     Australian born Christopher Lane came to America to pursue his baseball passion.  He had received a baseball scholarship at the East Central University in Oklahoma.   

     Christopher was visiting his girlfriend in Duncan, Oklahoma, when he decided to go on a jog.  He passed by a house that had three bored boys inside.  One of the boys said, “There’s our target.”

     The three boys took of in their car and shot Christopher in the back.  Christopher stumbled, collapsed, and and died shortly thereafter.    

     When the boys were caught and asked why they would do such a thing, they said that they were bored and killed Christopher for, “the fun of it.”  

     For the fun of it.  

     When Jesus talked about the End Times, he said, “Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.”  (Matthew 24:12)  I can’t think of many more lawless acts than shooting someone just because you were bored and wanted to see someone die.  

     Sadly, this is just one of the many instances of recent shootings: the shooting at the theatre in Aurora, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the shooting at the Boston Marathon.  The list goes on and on.  

     The love of so many has grown cold.  Our nation seems to be tumbling rapidly in deeper and deeper depravity.    

     Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?  Is there any hope?

     The answer is “Yes” to both of the questions.  

     Today I want to talk about the second aspect of real Christianity, HOPE.  

     Here are three reasons why we should have hope:

1. Jesus is still in control
2. Hardships produce character
3. This is not our home

     The first reason why we should have hope is because Jesus is still on the throne.  One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  He was God in eternity past, He is God today, and He will be God for eternity.  Though people change and sway, our God is the unchanging Rock.  

     The Psalmist said, “Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed...He who sits in the heavens shall laugh...”  (Psalm 2:1-2a, 4)  

     God isn’t worried when things in this world seem to go wrong!  He has all the power.  The only reason man has any power is because God gave it to him.  (John 19:11)  

     We know that God brings rulers up and brings rulers down.  In Daniel 4:32b it is said that, “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”  

     We can still have hope because Jesus hasn’t lost control of anything.  When everything seems to fall apart in this world, we can have peace that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and the kingdom of Heaven.

     Secondly, we can know that hardships produce character, and character produces hope.  Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

     Exult means to show or feel elation or jubilation.  So, Paul is saying that when we experience hardships, we should rejoice!  Why?  Because those hardships make us stronger and bring us hope and hope does not disappoint.    

     We can also live with the hope that when hardships happen, God will work all things out for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  

     Lastly, as Christians, we can have the hope that this is not our home.  This is not where we belong.  Our lives here are just a vapor, a blink of an eye.  James says, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  (James 4:14)  

     We know that we are going to a place where, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain...”  (Revelation 21:4)

     One day Jesus will come back and bring us home.  Until then, we must cling on to the hope and know that the sorrows of this life will last a moment, but joy will come in the morning.  (Psalm 30:5)

   As I conclude, I want to encourage you that there is hope even is this world of darkness.  That hope is found in Jesus Christ alone.  So next time when you hear of shootings, bombings, unrest in the nations, remember to still have hope because God is still in control, He can work it out for good, and He is coming back soon to take us to our real home.

Weekly Devotional - Faith

    The Christian walk can be a difficult thing to define, but I think, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, it all comes down to three words: Faith, Hope and Love. This week, we're breaking down the first aspect of real Christianity: 

     Christians aren't known as "Believers" for nothing. We're not only called to trust that God exists, but also to surrender our entire lives to Christ, and, sometimes, to take a huge leap of faith, being sure of nothing except that God will catch us.

     Whenever I think about Faith, the story at the end of Matthew 14 (starting at verse 22) comes to mind, when Jesus calls Peter to walk on the water with Him. When Peter first sees Jesus walking on the lake, his heart is full of faith, and he can hardly suppress his excitement to step out of the boat. He follows the call, and sets foot on the water. But he's barely taken two steps when he sees the waves and the wind, and loses heart. Jesus is standing right in front of him, but somehow, the waves seem bigger than God, and the creation seems stronger than the Creator. At that moment, Peter begins to sink.

      This reminds me so much of me. When I feel God moving in my heart, I can't wait for that call to walk on the water. But when life takes hold again, I begin to think about all that could go wrong, and it's so much easier to just stay in the boat.

      Jesus had a lot to say about walking by faith, and not by sight. Instead of living in light of the waves that we can see, God calls us to walk in the Light that we can't see. When we do, He can work miracles.....

Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'"

Matthew 21:21
Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to this fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.'"

     I think it's interesting that Matthew mentions these words twice. Jesus put a huge emphasis on how Christians are to walk in God's strength and not their own. By ourselves, we are never going to be able to move mountains. The waves will overtake us, and we will drown. But when we walk in God's strength, the impossible can happen. As David writes continually in Psalms, God is the source of our strength. I think that another important part of faith is acknowledging that, in our own strength, we are not good enough. The waves will knock us down, and we will never be able to recover. But when we genuinely put our trust in God, we can let go of our own strength, and rely completely on God's. And His strength will NEVER disappoint us. 

     God calls us to walk a difficult path, but He says, I will be right there with you. What I'm calling you to do is going to hurt, but I will be by your side. You may be walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but I will never leave you. This world may hate you. It may tear you down, take away everything you treasure, and it may even destroy you because of me, but fear not; I have overcome the world, and I took the full force of the blows this world throws at you, when I was hanging on the cross for your sake. I love you, and I am calling you to come walk out on the water with me, you of little faith. I know you're scared. I know you can't do it by yourself, but you are never alone, because I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. Just put your trust me. I will never fail you.

      So why stay in our boats, when we could be moving mountains?

   "And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love..."  -1 Corinthians 13:13

The Only Approval That Matters

Do you remember that feeling when you’re young, maybe 4 or 5, when the latest clothes don’t matter, being just like everybody else isn’t a priority, and the only thing you care about is running in the grass outside? I remember times where I would play for hours with my older cousins. We would play dress up and I truly didn’t care if my hair looked good.  Maybe those years are glamorized by hindsight, but I loved those years of care-free play time.  Around 9 or 10 years of age, the years of not caring were coming to an end, however. Slowly, I began to care more and more what others thought of me. By the time I was 12 or 13 there were times where it consumed me.  I wish I could say I’m completely over that, but I’m not. I still struggle all the time with my insecurities. Over the last year or two, God is starting to show me that, although I’ve searched hard for approval in others, I’m not always going to get it.   

           
             About a year and half ago, I ran across this verse:

                Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galations 1:10 (NIV)

This verse hit home for me.  As soon as I accepted this verse with an open heart, God began to  really work in my life. He showed me that if I live everyday to gain His approval, great things can happen. You can make more of a difference in this world than you thought possible with His help. Striving only for God’s approval is hard. It’s a daily struggle.  I fail at all the time, but I’m so grateful that God gives us second chances.  

It’s okay to want to improve yourself…just make sure you want to change for the right reasons. Don’t change because it’ll make you more like everybody else. God made us with differences and special gifts that He wants us to use for Him. If we constantly change ourselves in the name of trying to fit in, then we can’t give God our all.  

 Don’t let your insecurities build up in you, instead give them to God. I know, without a doubt, you won’t regret it.  Let having God's approval be what consumes you.  It's the only approval that matters. :) 

~Emily

Welcome to Real Christianity!

I love Region 5.  I always thought it would be neat to have a Bible study for some girls in Region 5, where we could just openly talk about stuff, and have a sort of "anchor group" where we could go to if we ever needed to talk about anything. 

That's the idea behind this blog!  Here's a quick overview of what's set up so far:

       -Home:  Each Sunday, there'll be a new weekly devotional post that you can read, if you want!  The first one will be up on August 18th!  Comments under the post are always great starters for discussion and thoughts, and that's what turns a blog post into an actual Bible study, so please don't hesitate at all to start conversations with that!  :)

       -Purity:  At first, I thought purity might be a cool topic to post as one of the weekly devotionals, but God has really been speaking to my heart about how important this topic is, so I decided to make a whole page for it. This is also where most of the things from Eric and Leslie Ludy's website will be!!  :) More about the focus of that page can be found under the purity tab.

       -The Real Us:  As teenagers, there are all kinds of things that we struggle with, that we don't really talk about. One of the big ones seems to be insecurity. Insecurity is discouraging, and sometimes just plain annoying, but, either way, it's real. Sometimes, it just feels good to talk about it, or to hear that other people are struggling with it, too. This was +Emily Hollaway's great idea, and I'm really excited to see what God does with it!

"Real Christianity" is registered under my G+ account, but this is not designed to be my blog. That said, if you have any interesting in being an author on the blog, or have any ideas for new tabs, weekly devotional topics (or ideas for month-long devotional series!), or anything else, please feel free to email me!!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Love you guys, and can't wait to hopefully connect with you on here!

~Hannah ♥