My life or His life...

A lot has gone on in my life recently. I feeling torn in two different directions. Should I live life for God or for myself? 

On Saturday I went to a thing called Mission Connexion and I walked around and seen all the different booths; each one promoting some kind of missionary work. I felt drawn most to the ministries involving orphans. Those who know me well, know that I love to work with kids. I got a bunch of information about the different ministries and the whole day I just had this very strong feeling. Does God want me in orphan missions? A verse one of the speakers reminded us of was Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!". The whole day I just prayed for that verse to be true in my life.

The day before I went to this missions conference, my CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) director, Julie had asked me if I wanted to take TCE (Teaching Children Effectively). She told me to pray about it and than tell her my decision when I was ready. She also wanted to know if I would go to Good News Across America in Utah with her this summer. It is a summer missionary camp type thing. The only thing is, it costs 600$. In the summer I will also be going to CYIA (Christian Youth In Action) which is also a children's mission camp. It costs 300$. 

I just got off the phone with Julie and I was feeling a little stressed. How am I suppose to raise 900$ in six months? 

In my heart I know that God wants me to serve Him with my life but my flesh says that I should do whatever I want and not what God wants. It's a tough battle. But I have to choose. 

Please pray for me, that I make the right decision in my life. 

In His Name,

Karis

Set free!

Yesterday I got home late or around 6 pm. So it was already dark. As I walked toward the house in the dark, I called the family dog, Scout because I didn't want to walk to the house alone in the dark (silly, I know) but she did not come. I called for her several more times but she did not come. My younger brother, Klement must have heard the car drive up and so he opened the door and looked out. The minute he opened the door, I saw Scout come out of her dog house as if she wanted to be petted by him. He goes back in and shuts the door leaving just me and Scout outside. I'm about fifty feet from the house, and seeing Scout I call for her again. She comes forward a few feet and stops.
It puzzles everyone as to why she does that. We have only had her about 8 months and whenever we get home from something she acts like she does not know us. Until you touch her, than it is like she has been "set free." She can now run about greeting everyone happily.
Anyways I call her and talk softly to her, each time she comes just a few more feet forward. Soon she is only about ten feet away and I say "come, Scout" she knows this command but she only walks about a foot. I repeat the command several times until she is close enough to touch. I than pet her and tell her she is a good dog,she has been set free from her fear and she wags her tail cheerfully with contentment. We walk to the house together, now both happy to have a companion. 
This morning when I was doing dishes, I thought more about what had happened and it reminded me off God and how he treats us when we have sinned. 

• He stands there and waits for us to come to Him. Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
• We have sinned and are afraid of what the consequences will be, afraid that He wont take us back.
• As soon as we go forward and accept His love and forgiveness, we are set free! 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Have you been set free? Or are you still afraid to accept Him? 

Please think about this :)

In His Name,

Karis

Music for the heart, songs for the soul?

Yesterday morning my sister and I had quite an argument about music. It got me wondering though what does the bible say about music? 
If the song is morally right but the artist isn't, is it still okay to listen too? 
If the song is morally wrong but the artist lives a decent life is it okay to listen too? 
Where should we Christian draw the line when it comes to music? 


I would very much like your input on this. But here is what I have concluded.

• Music was created by God and is very special. With music we can praise God and bring him glory! Habakkuk 3:19 "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments."     I Chronicles 15:16 "David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs accompanied by musical instruments, lyres, harps and cymbals."
• Does the music you listen to cause you to stumble? Or others to stumble? We should always be on the look out for things that could harm our relationship with God. And also with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."
• Does it glorify God? As His creation every breath we breathe and every song we sing should be for Him. Psalm 150:6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"

I would love to hear what you think on this subject! Please leave a comment below with what you think on the subject :)

In His Name,

Karis