Not everyone is going to like you! (Word of encouragement)

I am not perfect but I think sometimes  as believers its easy to play the 'I'm perfect' card which I know I am guilty of. When people see you they think you have no issues or problems and that life is all fine and dandy. But they don't see behind the scenes we need to be careful that we are being genuine as Christians but at the same time we are not to be of the world (see Romans 12:2) which can be hard but not impossible (see Phillipians 4:13). I know for myself I find it difficult to express myself because I know my opinions will not be popular. But I am learning that no matter how much you try and fit in and no matter how much you keep in your opinions there is always someone who will dislike you. There will be always someone who hates you. I remind myself of the weather - it may be a beautiful sunny day yet there will be always someone who complains and doesn't like it. As the body of Christ we all need to get over this, and i'm not being harsh because I include myself. Even if everyone hates you just know that Jesus loves you and as the body of Christ we love you we are called to love one another. All these things are so temporary compared to what Jesus has promised and remember Jesus was talking about the pharisees popularity so don't be fooled into thinking it makes you right with God (see Luke 6:26) and also (see James 4:4). Jesus understands us he faced every temptation we face yet he didn't sin, He is totally able to relate with us so roll you cares to Him, and praise Him today remember His beautiful promise (see John 16:33).
God bless you, 
Jaleen :)

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Don't get distracted but endure

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12

As believers we must be continuing in our faith so that we may grow and mature in it (see my blog on maturing here). To continue in our faith we must endure temptation which means we may suffer and it may be long suffering but whatever it is we must endure, we must not get distracted by the temptation, we must not give into the temptation but we must endure it. It may be hard but there is a reward for enduring the temptation which surpasses the hardship of the endurance. This reward is the crown of life and it is promised to those who love him.

As believers who love Christ this verse can be helpful in times of suffering which requires endurance - just imagine receiving the crown of life promised by the Lord to you because you love him and endured temptation for His name's sake. Let us pray the to the Lord that we will not fall into temptation but rather we would endure it for His name's sake. Take time out to understand this prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and then when you're ready pray it to God who will hear you in Heaven do not pray it as a repetition but pray it out of a genuine heart to do His will.

God bless you,

Jaleen :)

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Good news: yes, YOU can be saved too!

THE FALL (sin separates man from God)

1. Adam was the first human being and together with his wife Eve they sinned against God by going against God's command and we all were born into sin from this point. (see Genesis 3:6)

2. We are all sinners and we all willingly sinned we loved it (see John 3:19)

3. Our sin separates us from the loving God (Romans 3:23)

            

 THE GOSPEL (the good news)

1. God because He is full of love gave his only begotten Son who payed the price for every sin that we ever committed and will ever commit.

2. If you repent (turn away from pursuing sin and start pursuing Jesus) and believe in Jesus by faith you will be saved. (see John 3:16)

3. And to them who receive Him, Jesus gave you the right to become sons of God! (see John 1:12)

There was no other way for us to be saved no way and God did not have to provide a way rather out of his love and his abundant grace and mercy gave His own son for us.You have been given a free ticket to life will you accept it or reject it?

The choice is yours.

God bless you,

Jaleen :)

The storm of life

24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. Luke 8:22-25

In Luke 8:22-25 the disciples encounter a storm, despite the fact that some of them were  fishermen which means they had been at sea many times, the disciples were described as being in jeopardy. (see Luke 8:23) See it doesn't matter how experienced we are at things sometimes experience doesn't cut it. We cannot control the waves and turn of every point of our lives as much as we think we can or as experienced as we think we are we will always fall short. For example, if you have an athlete who is competing in a sport lets say racing, they are experienced in this area, they train, they eat well, they get enough sleep and then the big day comes it only takes one unfortunate event such as an injury to destroy all their efforts and the situation becomes a disaster. You see no-one can plan the direction of their life. No one can eliminate all their weaknesses likewise no-one can control the storms of life only Jesus can, its not about us controlling the storm our way no matter how much we know or think we know by experience (i.e. to remove the injury) Jesus brings calm in a completely different way and by a different approach and that is by faith in Him not what we see and it is only Jesus who is capable of producing a great calm from a raging storm. (Luke 8:24)

When we trust Jesus through whatever we are going through (life) by faith and give Him our all, He will produce a great calm even if the way does not seem most favorable, remember as believers we live by faith and not sight. (see 2 Corinthians 5:7)

God bless you

Jaleen :) 

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Consistency

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 

Matthew 4:1-2

I know something that I struggle with is consistency and its not good to be inconsistent. As believers we are called to be consistent in our faith to endure trials, resist temptations, to be fervent in prayer and to continuously rejoicing.

Jesus demonstrates the perfect example of consistency in Matthew 4:1-11.

Throughout His life, Jesus is consistent in prayer, teaching, love, perseverance and faith just to name a few. Even though He came to earth fully human He was perfect and consistent in every way. This passage shows that He was consistent in overcoming temptation, consistent in God and consistent in faith. He was not overcome by evil but consistently overcame evil with good, as we are called to do (see Romans 12:2). When you feel inconsistent or as if you are not worth enough there is only one person we need to look to and that is Jesus. Maybe you are thinking but how? In a world jam-packed with all its evil wordly desires that are the opposite of what God requires how can we keep our eyes focused on Jesus. By prayer and spending time rooted in his word. Instead of seeking all the wordly desires which will never fill you spend time with God. Read devotions, listen to sermons that truly preach the Gospel and have thier foundation in the Bible, but most importantly pray God is full of grace and mercy waiting for you to come with loving arms but don't take this for granted there comes a time when He is coming back to judge, he is loving and has been patient with you. (see 2 Peter 3:9) Its your choice let Jesus in, believe in Him today. Time is running out.

God bless, Jaleen.  

 Please make time to watch this youtube sermon 

 God speaking through His servant I was really convicted by it and God wants you to be saved from the wrath to come.

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Are you Maturing?

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:11-14

To grow and mature in our faith and our walk with Christ as believers in Jesus we need to be actively practicing what we have learnt from God's word and applying it to our lives. The first stage we make is to accept the foundations of God's word to become a believer and that is the great Gospel (see John 3:16) in doing this we then live to serve God. The Holy Spirit guides us and shows us our need for Christ and shows us truths about Him. To grow as believers we need to feed of the word and keep applying it to each and every area of our lives. An analogy which helped me was this: Imagine a new born baby it must keep feeding off its milk to grow and as it does so it gets an appetite for the milk. This principle can be applied to us as believers, the more we read and feed of the word applying it to our lives the more we will grow and get a spiritual appetite for God's word. (see 1 Peter 2:2-3) We need to replace worldly desires (jealousy, malice,lying etc) that stunt our growth (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-3) with God's word and the application of it to our lives. Discernment is key for distinguishing between what is right and wrong and if you feel you don't have this quality then pray to God to give you wisdom and discernment. Let us come to God for forgiveness confessing our sins and asking him for wisdom and discernment so that we can use them to bring glory to God in our lives and fulfill his will. (James 5:16)

Be blessed,

Jaleen :)

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Lessons from a dream

I had a dream today (16th Sept 2014) and I just felt the LORD showed me a lot of things. God told me to share this so I jotted some of the things down and then backed it up with Scripture as led by God.

1. Bad company will ruin your walk with God which can make you backslide and hinder your walk with God and if you are not moving forward in your walk with God you are treading a dangerous path so pray about striving towards God and for any obstacles to be removed from your life.

1 Corinthians 15:33 
Do not be misled. "Bad company corrupts good character."
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2. Don't take for granted what you have been given it can all be taken away in a matter of seconds. Make up in your mind you will serve God because He is the only one who doesn't change. I know this can be hard, but our circumstances and emotions should not determine our walk with God. (This one convicts me so much!)

2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be prepared in and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
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3. Test all things and use God's word to guide you. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you and to convict you of the things that don't please Him and follow His leading as it is true and sincere and derived from the word of God.

Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Galatians 5:16
So I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
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4. Read and remain in the word of God because all God's laws are true and sincere.

2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in all righteousness
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5. Stand up for Jesus even if you are standing alone, do not try to please the crowd because this leads to idolatry and leads to putting people before God. Evil days are among us but reject evil and stay firm in the faith.

Ephesians 5:16
making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.

Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
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6. Flee from lust and useful passions. This isn't easy because it seems as the majority of the world are promoting lust and engaging in sexual activity and it can be hard for teens and young adults especially but we are called to be different. And I want you to be encouraged by the verse below and the fact that this world is SO temporary and God is so faithful He will keep you if you let Him keep striving to Him and keep praying to Him, He hears every one of them.

Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and only few find it.
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Jaleen :)
P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more