Standing Out by Rachel Joy

Precious and I have a bit of a morning routine. Every morning she wakes me up--at a time I don’t see the purpose of waking up at--followed by me sassing her through the door.

After I bant* with her for about 15 minutes, I get out of bed and stumble, proceed, stagger walk to the kitchen where I start the coffee, whilst saying a lot of snarky things to Precious. I then feed her and mostly just stare at the coffee pot, waiting in desperation for it to be ready for my consumption. (The struggle is real. Just saying.) 

When she gets done eating (and the coffee is done) she heads to the front doors and meows relentlessly until I open the door for her.

Yesterday morning as I was letting her out (to get my peace and quiet) I noticed these two black crows sitting at the end of the front… cement thing.

Precious noticed them too.

Now, before I tell this story I want to say something. Precious has a beautiful coat. I literally want to take her with me to Home Depot or something and be like, “Hello, can I have two buckets of paint in these colours?” And then pull her out of her cage and be like, “Yeah. These colours.”

She’s a beautiful cat! But she is not good colours to hunt. I can literally see her all the way across the lawn.

She also has the grace of a hippo. Those two factors have saved the life of many birds, mice and large insects.

So when Precious saw these crows and decided that one of them was going to be breakfast, the crows also saw her. They were like, “Ha, look at that thing trying to eat us. Maybe I’ll let her… Just kidding! *Flies away crowing sarcastically*” 

After watching her futilely trying to get those birds, I sat  down on the stairs with my coffee, and I started to think.

So often we have these goals that we set and we are like, “I’m just gonna rule the world! Come on everyone let’s do this!” There is nothing wrong with that, I have a lot of outlandish goals that I want to do with as many people as I can. But sometimes people see us coming and are like, “Ah… you know. Doing that is great and I applaud you for that, but it’s a Netflix and pizza night. I’ll like your pictures on Facebook! Good luck!” And they fly away. (Or walk. Most people walk.)

This can lead to disappointment, discouragement and other forms of depression.

We can be like, “What’s wrong with me that I can’t do *whatever your amazing goal is*” and we just get so frustrated with ourselves.

First of all, you are amazing. Keep pressing on toward the goal that God has laid on your heart! Because with him by your side, you can do it. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.)

Second of all, don’t try to change the colour of your coat to make it blend in. Because you stand out, and it’s beautiful when you do so. There are so many people that match, and when you stand out in the way that God has created you, it’s absolutely stunning. 

It's priceless when you stand out. Don't try to stick a price tag on your self, because you are so valuable that a King laid down his life for you. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, Precious is meowing to be let in, so I should do that...

“ Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect” – Romans 12:2

~Rachel Joy

*My mother, Google and spellcheck say “Bant” is not a word, but I’m pretty sure it is, so I’m just gonna make it a word. Bant is now a word. It means “Sass sarcastically” and is basically short for ‘banter.’ 

The Fruit of the Heart by Sarah P.

The Fruit of the Heart 

“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit…Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” –Matthew 7:16-18, 20 NLT 

I don't know about you, but I’m definitely a fruit person! There's nothing quite like ripe strawberries or freshly-picked peaches. The awesome thing about fruit is that it is naturally sweet and flavorful; it not only tastes good, it’s also good for you! 

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus compares our actions to fruit. He tells us that how we live shows what our hearts are like, much how the fruit that a tree produces shows what kind of tree it is. If a tree produces figs, you can conclude that it's a fig tree. Similarly, if a person produces good actions and loves God, you can conclude that they’re a Christian.  

Jesus also says that the condition of our hearts will always determine our actions. A sinful heart full of bad attitudes, fear, and doubt won't produce charitable actions, good attitudes, and godliness, just like a patch of brambles won't produce apples.  

Yet sometimes Christians fall. We revert back to our old sinful ways instead of relying on God’s grace. Like even good fruit can rot and get old, our actions can change from good to bad very quickly. In Romans 6:15-16, Paul tells us, “Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”  

When we become Christians, we commit to following God’s will instead of sin. If we fall, we can ask God for a new heart—one that will lead us to good things instead of sin. It is our duty to make sure our hearts are right with God. In order to keep producing good actions, we have to rely on His grace and His power to renew our hearts.  

What do your actions say about you?

How do I know if God is telling me something? by Maryann Y.

How do I know if God is telling me something? 

  I used to ask myself a lot, “How do I know if God wants me to {insert life choice or situation}?”  

I finally found these things. 

• God speaks to us through his word. I recently experienced a very scary situation, and the only thing going through my head the entire time was, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life…..” (Romans 8:38-39) 

• God can speak to us through other people.  Ever had that feeling when you don’t know what to do {insert person} walks up and says something that takes the Pilgrim’s Progress Burden of your back? Yeah. What a good feeling! 

• God can speak to you through experiences and incidents. Something happens in your life which opens * THE BIG DOOR * of golden opportunity.  

 These are only a few things that our All Mighty Creator can use to tell you something. Remember, He can use ANYTHING. 

One word of warning. Don’t pick a random experience and say, “Oh. God just told me something.” Or do something you know you shouldn’t even though you say, “He must approve because of such and such.” NO. If you doubt it’s God talking to you, pray about it. It gets you somewhere!

The Story of Wise Lips

The Story of Wise Lips

By Emily M.

Once upon time in a little village by the banks of Chania river lived a little boy. This little boy was called Mwangi and he lived in a little tin house with his mother. You see, Mwangi loved to talk about everything to his friends and neighbors  until nothing could be done in their house and the neighbors were not told about it. One day the mother decided that enough was enough. Taking a stick to beat the boy would not work as it had failed on one too many occasions.

I know it is cruel to play a trick on a child but mama had to be wise otherwise the sayings of the wise “one who is not taught by the mother will be taught by the world”. Mama Mwangi had seen enough times this happening to her neighbors to want her son to be part of an old saying.

So one morning very early in the morning mother woke up and prepared herself to go the market. it was such a rare occasion to see mother go to the market that everyone in the house knew this must be a very special occasion. The last time this had happened there was a feast in the house and relatives from distant ridges had come to visit. So as was usual for Mwangi, he left the house in a hurry and started informing all the neighbor hood children and soon there was a little crowd of eager children waiting for whatever feast Mwangi’s mother would bring home. Morning turned into noon, noon turned into evening and just as the sun was setting Mwangi’s mother appeared in the horizon with a few friends of hers and no feast.

Mwangi was so disappointed and so embarrassed that he never talked about things so freely ever again.

THE LESSON

The bible cautions us against too much speaking. Proverbs 10:19  says, “He who holds his tongue is wise.” To “hold tongue” means to be quiet. Why would God say to hold you tongue?” Because every time you speak, it is possible you will say something untrue, unkind or unimportant. Also, when you talk so much, people may stop listening. Ecclesiastes 5:2 says ,” let your words be few”

In conclusion, Psalm 141:3 says “ Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord”. It should a daily prayer upon our lives.

Heaven

Heaven: Eden Restored 

By Millie H.

If you’re anything like me you’ve probably, at one point of your life, wondered what Heaven must be like. I have yet to visit, but I certainly without a doubt can tell you that heaven looks more beautiful than any place you have ever seen in your entire life. FYI- sorry to disappoint you but there won’t be any tiny chubby cherub angels playing on harps! 

                               What Heaven Looks Like 

This city is made of pure gold and all kinds of precious stones. There are twelve gates that lead into the city and the Bible says that each gate is “of one pearl”. There will be twelve angels at the gates and on the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Three gates will be on the east, three on the west, three in the north and three on the south. Imagine having no sun or moon because this place shines only with the glory of God. John describes it’s brilliance to a very precious jewel, like a jasper and clear as crystal. There is a pure, crystal clear river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God and Jesus Christ. On each side of the river there will be a tree of life, yielding twelve kinds of fruits every month. The foundation of the city walls will be of great height and embellished with every kind of jewel you could possible think of and more.  In Heaven pain, sickness, sadness, death, mourning or crying will be nonexistent because God will personally wipe away each tear from our eyes.  

We will see and recognize loved ones that accepted and believed in Christ before they died and best of all we will see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ the Creator of this masterpiece. In Heaven everyone will be one mind regardless of race, gender, age weight, height etc.… all differences will be ignored and everyone will be focused on worshiping and praising the Lord Jesus. There will be Holy angels that continually chant Holy, holy, holy over the throne of God. The Mercy seat where God sits is enclosed by majestic angels that proclaim and bless God’s holy name without fail.  

Next month we will discuss where Heaven is. Until then I will leave you with this powerful closing passage. 

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5 NIV