Until The Whole World Hears

While I was putting my clean clothes away today, I was listening to (blasting) Air1. Which is a pretty regular thing for me, especially since I need something to motivate me to do my laundry. (I really dislike doing laundry.)

I was listening to Air1, and singing along, of course, and the song "Until The Whole World Hears" by Casting Crowns came on. Naturally, I started singing, but today it felt like I was really singing the words to the song with all my heart. Listen to the song then we'll come back to this.

The at the beginning of the song, it starts as a prayer to God to change you into the person you want to be. Then it's telling the people of this earth to be ready! I really love this part because I feel like it's so true for our Generation.

We have so many things at our finger tips that we can use to our advantage. Think about all the technology that we didn't have even five years ago that's common now. As the words "Lord let Your sleeping giant rise," I just think of how much we can do. As teenagers and young adults, no one thinks of us as the ones who will change the world RIGHT NOW. I always here we're the future but never the present!

In so many places this song says exactly what I'm thinking. It conveys the message that I feel every second of the day! Besides the sleeping giant rising, when it says shining the light of Jesus I just say in my head, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Exactly!" Everywhere I go I see things that are terrible and show evidence of how dark our world is. If we never go out and shine the light, then how will they see? A few nights ago, all of the lights were off in my house so I had to go from the office on the first floor to my room on the second floor. It was so hard to see anything. I felt so lost and disoriented! Think about how the people without God in their lives feel! Without the light they too feel lost and disoriented.

Besides this song, when I'm just praising God and singing the song Hosanna I just get that same anointing. It's like God has pressed upon my heart that we really can and should be the generation to rise up and take our place (as it says in Hosanna by Hillsong United). There is no better time to reach our peers than at this very moment. My youth pastor told our youth group before that he saw one of his friends from high school when they bumped into each other at the airport. They caught up with what they were doing and his old friend said to him, "Why didn't you tell me before of Jesus? I made so many mistakes! Why didn't you tell me anything?" I don't want to have that happen to me when I'm older. There are so many ways to "sing until the whole world hears" and to "rise up to take our place with selfless faith!" Who says we have to wait until we're older? We can shine our light for Jesus and reach people unlike any other generation that has been before us!!

-Janae 

Godly Friends

Lately I have really come to appreciate my godly friends more than ever! And I have always loved and valued them, it has just been even more so recently.

Since it's summer, which is so wonderful and amazing, I have been staying up really late. So, what do girls love to do? Talk of course! Including me, I am no exception to that. I have been chatting with one of my wonderful girlfriends a lot recently also. We talk about everything; college, school, boys, church, shopping, etc. I mean, we can and do talk about everything, and it's so wonderful to be able to bounce my Bible-based ideas/views off of some one else. Also it's even better since she understands and agrees with me! I love it! To me, there's nothing better than talking with a good friend late at night. It's just a good experience. Late night it when I'm pretty alert/awake anyways and that's when I do a lot of my thinking, so why not share with someone while in the midst of that you know?

Anyways, I just really love being able to have a group of solid Christian friends that understand what I'm going through and can give me advice or feedback and I can do the same for them. Whatever I'm going through, it's wonderful and gives me a certain peace to know that there are girls that will listen to me about what it is.

As a girl, friendship is super important; well it's important for guys too I guess, but I'm not one so I won't say anything regarding the value of friendship and for what reasons. Okay, but with girls, talking in of itself is just relaxing and relieving! When I just vent a little to my mom or close friends I immediately feel better. And also when I'm really excited, it's nice to tell my friends about that too! There's just this sister-ship that Sisters in Christ share that's so wonderful and exciting!

Well, I'd just like to say that I appreciate my close godly friends because you mean so much to me! Make sure to tell your friends how much you love them and definitely, realize what a true gift they are in your life! (:

-Janae

Bible Study & Staying Strong

I decided to start a girl's Bible Study in my youth group and our first official meeting is on Tuesday! I'm pretty excited and a little nervous at the same time. It's the first time I've LEAD a Bible Study so that's what I am a little nervous for. What if I mess up or it's boring and no one comes?! God will lead me through it as I'm leading everyone else though.

One of the main reasons that I'm really excited to start this Bible Study is because this summer we're not going to be having youth group. To me, it's really important for us to have strong relationships with the other people in our church or youth group because 1) you need accountability, 2) it's important to have good influences, 3) it gives you people to talk to about our faith and struggles, 4) and then we can build each other up and help one another. Plus, I love the girls in my youth group too. They're super fun and I'm definitely myself around them!

Being a Christian is a personal thing and a communal thing.

Here's what I mean by personal. It's NOT, NOT, NOT, something to keep to yourself at all and it's important to talk with others about your faith, BUT you have to take responsibility for your relationship with God. You can't rely on others to get you to Heaven. I love the community that Christianity has with it but just community alone won't get you where you need to be. Christianity is all about YOUR relationship with God and YOU yourself have to read The Bible and talk with God daily.

And once you yourself have a solid relationship with Jesus it's time to gain some accountability! So many times in the Bible it talks about The Church! Do you know why? It's because it's important. Jesus wants Christians to have others that are strong in their faith to lead us and make sure that we're growing closer and not drifting farther. In my home Church, there's a place for everyone! Which is so wonderful! In a church there is always more room for leaders and followers. And without other Christians to bounce things off of and get feed back or advice, it's harder to grow when you're going at it alone; especially because you are so NOT alone!

-Janae

Devos so far

so here's my first devotional I wrote but I'll need to change it some.

17^th

The end of the school year is getting closer and closer for most of us, and that means summer! Who doesn’t love summer break? No school, camp, swimming, sunny warm weather, sleepovers, sunglasses, shorts, flip-flops, and no worries all equal summer to me. Summer is a great way to relax and get away from all the stress of school. For most of the summer months I’m sitting around my house waiting for the two things that Minnesota’s known for in the summer to dissipate; humidity and mosquitoes. Watching TV and lounging around comes naturally, along with not thinking about, well pretty much anything except for the weather and your plans for the next few days. It’s definitely not difficult to let your mind wander and your relationship with God to slowly become weakened.

One of the things that most people I know use as an excuse is, “Hey, I’ll just wait until church camp. It’s only a few weeks away and once it gets over, I promise that I will start reading my Bible. Then I can just reconnect with Him then!”

Psalm 78:37 talks about what will happen if we’re not consistently following God closely. The farther away from God we are, the harder it is to be faithful and close to him. When we back away from God or take a break, it becomes harder to go back to being a strong disciple of Him. If you go the whole summer up until camp without cracking open your Bible or talking with God, won’t it be more difficult to gain that close relationship back?

Verse 37 also talks of how those who weren’t invariably seeking after God were no longer faithful and went away from the covenant of God. I would hate to go away from God and no longer be in on the biggest thing that has ever happened to me! God covenant is a big deal! On the occasion that I would stop reading my Bible and talking daily and deeply with my Heavenly Father, I could and would lose out on having Jesus in my heart and with me everywhere I go, and that means on my way to Heaven. Without Jesus, there’s no way that I could possibly get in.

Summer is sneaking up fast and don’t be pulled in to the usual slump. With all of the extra time we have in these next few months, if should be taken advantage of in a wonderful way. Praying continually and breaking out for Bible for some one on one with our Lord won’t take up that much of your TV or shopping time so I challenge you to make a plan to do it!

Read: Psalm 18:37, Proverbs 20:6, John 14:6, 1 Corinthians 4:2, Galatians 3:9

Pray

Talk to God about anything and everything and make a renewed pledge to keep faithful to him over these summer months!

second.

A few weeks ago I was in the Fine Arts Festival. It is a Christian arts competition where you can do a sermon, play your instrument, write a poem, sing, or dance to glorify God and possibly place high enough to make it to the National Festival later that year. I deciding to play my violin and preach. I unfortunately got very nervous so neither went as well as planned. But, it was really fun and next year I know what to work on. The risk of getting a terrible score was worth the experience.

Sometimes it feels like God is calling you in a confusing direction. It’s scary and extremely uncertain! “How can I do this?” or “I have no idea what I’m doing and there are so many things that could go wrong!” might be crossing your mind in a moment of concern and stress. Both thoughts are completely normal but there’s something that you might be forgetting here! If no one has told you before now, you are a child of God! As the daughter of the King of Kings you have extraordinary things as your disposal. For example, the power of God, his comfort and his unfailing direction!

God tells his children to go and it’s not always so easy. Remember my story about Fine Arts? During my sermon, I clung to the podium like a helpless child because I was so scared but now I know what I have to work on and I also know another huge thing. I have God on my side. When you reach out of your comfort zone, God will help you through it! He will never leave us hanging there and if we are faithful He is too.

God should be the ultimate authority in our life in the way that what he says goes (which includes listening to our teachers, parents, aunts and uncles, and the government). So, then of course our reaction to his commands should be obeying and seeking out a way to pursue the orders he has given. However, our Lord doesn’t leave us by ourselves whatsoever! He seeks out a way to help us pursue His goals when we do. Many times in the Bible God has helped out those who seek His will because we cannot do anything without his help. A few examples are of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14), Ruth (the whole book of Ruth), and Daniel and the lion’s den (Daniel 1, 2, and 6).

The really important thing I want you to know is that God will lead you through anything that you can think of! One of the biggest comforts in my life is the fact that all things work together for my and God’s good. No matter what’s going on in your life, God is working it to strengthen you and use it to bring others closer to Him.

Read: Psalm 9:10, Psalm 22:4-5, Psalm 118:6-9,

Pray

Ask God to comfort you in your times of need and confirm you knowledge of His wonderful plans!

And this is my new start

I don’t really know how else to write this devotional other than writing as if I was talking to my friends. So, this will be informal and each word is coming from my heart. You’re getting 100% Janae and I hope you’ll love reading this devotional and God’s Word!

Devo

A few weeks ago I was at youth group and we sang the song “Hosanna” by Hillsong United. I love singing this song because I feel like it really speaks to me and our generation. I especially love the part that says,

I see a generation

Rising up to take their place

With selfless faith

With selfless faith

I see a near revival

Stirring as we pray and seek

We’re on our knees

We’re on our knees

I felt God’s presence in my heart and in the room. I went up to the front and asked my youth pastor if I could say something to everyone because I was positive it was from God. I can usually tell when it is because I start crying and I’m so overcome with emotion I can barely talk, all I do is cry. But, I still feel that same longing and knowledge that I’ve known for a long time that we are the generation to rise up and take our place with selfless faith. When you take a stand for your faith and speak what you believe, people will notice God in you. We can’t be scared to share the wonderful news that we have! God’s Word and Jesus’ precious (or presh as I’ve been saying lately) gift, is all we have. Nothing else comes with us to Heaven with us. No money, clothes, awards, medals, or report cards. School, your job, family, sports, and friends are important but if those things are getting in the way of stepping out in selfless faith then something needs to change.

Read: Deuteronomy 31:6, 23; Ezra 10:4; Isaiah 49:6, Romans 10:14-15

Talk: Talk to God about how you’re feeling with being a messenger of selfless faith.

Devos

Do you ever just feel so overwhelmed? I do, actually quite a bit. And most of the time it’s been with public speaking. I really don’t know why, but I just get so nervous! I definitely feel like God has helped me more and more with it though. Whenever I’m talking about Jesus, almost all the nervousness leaves me immediately! It helps to know that God is always there. This morning I had to give a speech in my Communications class about the fabulous and famous author Jane Austen. It was a little stressful but God helped me through it all.

I'm still finishing this last one.

-Janae

Devotional

I'm writing this devotional for teen girls and it's been kind of a rough start. I'm trying to sound like myself without just not talking about God and rambling on about random things! Sometimes I just don't know where to begin. I think I need a writing buddy. Like one of my Christian friends that I can bounce ideas off of so I'm not just procrastinating. I'm pretty good at procrastinating which is a terrible thing. Besides putting it off, I feel bad about putting it off? How lame is that? Well, that's just Janae for you!

I'm kind of blanking on topics to write about, like, I'd like to write about one of my favorite songs "Hosanna" but I'm not sure how to fit that in. Hopefully this will turn out well! Wish me luck!

Church

If you didn't know, I love going to church! I think it's one of my favorite things to do, besides swimming and trying on fancy dresses at the big department stores; well it's still above those but I really love to do them also. Tonight I have church and I'm really excited. I'm not sure if I've said this before but I love my Youth Group so much and probably because it just feels so wonderful and comfortable. Here's some reasons why I love it and why you should come!

1. It's like a family. I have a pretty small youth group and it's kind of nice because when we go somewhere it's not a giant ordeal and we can all fit in like two cars and a van/SUV. You really get to know everyone and what's going on in their life and you know their names! At my youth group in Oregon, sadly, I didn't even know half the people's names. Which is really sad since I'd been in the middle school youth group for two years. Yeah, that's just too big for my liking.

2. You can feel God's presence. During worship you can really feel God in the room where we meet. It's not just singing, it's entering in and meeting with God, crying out to Him and becoming close with him. So many times it's easy for Youth Groups to just have fun/popular music to sing and play but what's the use if you're not really singing to God and worshiping with your whole heart with all you have? It doesn't really seem like much to me if that's not happening.

3. Godly Friends. Oh, I really like going to Wayzata but it's just so big and sometimes that's terrible. I know that there's Christians in the high school, but the thing is that I don't know any of the devoted Christians! Uhh, yeah so I just love and look forward to hanging out, laughing, and talking with some Godly teenagers that know what I'm talking about and that I can relate with. Just being with other Christians that are serious about God is so comfortable and refreshing. They're so real and honest and I just feel like myself around the people in my Youth Group. They know what I'm talking about and agree with me, not laugh and think it's a joke when I say that I don't swear and think that couples shouldn't live and sleep together outside of marriage. Uhh.

4. I learn. At school you learn about history and chemistry but not about the Bible and what God can/ is doing in you life! It's just a whole new kind of learning and in my opinion is much more interesting than any class at school. It's applicable and I can use it right away. It's really cool!

Well, I suppose I ought to go to my homework, but hey, only five more school days left until Summer Break!! Yessss!!!