When you're down.

   The enemy knows how to get at you when you're down, when you're already struggling. He's right there to keep pushing you down and away from the Lord. He see you having a tough time and decides to keep shoving until you break.

   This is when you have to get up and push forward. God is not going to give us more than we can handle: "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) Get up and start refocusing your attention onto the Lord and away from the circumstances you find yourself in.

   In case anyone needs some ideas, here is a short list of a couple of the things I do to help in these types of situations:

• Read my Bible and write out Bible verses. 
• Walk around with my Bible in my hand and pray Bible verses over people and/or situations.
• (Joshua 1:5-9, Nehemiah 8: 9-10, Psalm 25, 34, 66, 91, 123, 124, 141, John 16:25-33, Ephesians 6:10-20, James 1:12-18, 1 John 4:1-6 are some of my favorites.)
• Put on some hymns or praise music.
• Get on my knees and pray.
• Talk to the Lord wherever I am.

   The point is for you to connect with God; this is not the time to sit back and let the devil win. Don't give up the fight because it feels too hard. The Lord will be on your side. He does not change. Lean on Him every step of the way.

Abby

Meditate.

   Happy Thursday everyone! I read these two verses this morning during my Bible time and just wanted to share them with you:

"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. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4: 8-9

   Meditate today on thoughts of Jesus. Worship Him throughout the day, read your Bible on your lunch hour, listen to some praise music on the way home from work, encourage someone in Christ, take extra time to pray this evening. Keep focusing on the Lord and He will be faithful through the day. 

Blessings, 

~ Abby

P.S. - I have an exciting interview with one of my best friends coming up talking about the subject of God's grace! Keep your eyes open for that!

A song & a prayer

CHRISTMAS!!! IT'S HERE!!!!! FINALLYYYY!!!!!!

Now that I got that out of the way, a post on Christmas. I wanted to share a Christmas Carol today and I couldn't pick one... then I got it. 

"Away in a Manger"

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes;
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray;
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there.

It tells the Christmas story so simply, a child can understand. But it also has meaning for us older ones too, the children in heart! ;)

The third verse, especially the last line, contains a simple, yet wonderful prayer! Something we should ask on a daily basis: "Fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there."

I'm not going to talk about it because it is self-explanatory, but maybe in your own heart, ask that of the Lord today. Jesus, fit me for heaven so that I can live with You there!

Pray more!

A short post about prayer. Do you pray every day? What do you pray for? Who do you pray for? Is it all for yourself? Your family, friends, neighbors, church? This is wonderful and we should continue to pray for theses but there are plenty of people out there who need your prayer too! Find a site online, like this prayer wall and read through some of these people's needs. Pray for one or two if you feel like you should.

Don't take this the wrong way. I am positive that you all have so much to pray for but as part of the world-wide Body of Christ, let's not forget the other people in this world who need help and prayer too!

Blessings,
Abby

PS: I am not associated with the site I linked to. It's part of a website for Max Lucado's new book coming out entitled "You'll Get Through This." I found it and felt greatly admonished by the Lord to begin praying for these people and to share it with all of my readers. God Bless!

A little prayer.

   Last night, while I was sitting in prayer meeting, I opened up my journal and decided to write a short, small letter to Jesus.

Dear Jesus,

Thanks.

Amen.

 

   Short & sweet that was the point. Sometimes, that's all we need to do. Try it. Just stop for 10 seconds, and say, "Thanks, Jesus."

 

   Believe me. Your day will be different.

 

Blessings!

~Abby

Pure

      A dear friend had sent me this picture via social media and I asked if I could take the picture and write something up about it and post it on my blog. She graciously said yes so here it is!

     We live in a culture where purity is a thing almost unheard of! "You're waiting? Why?""Get it over with!" "You will most likely not be with this person when you're old enough to get married, so just do it." "It doesn't matter what other people say, it's okay." "Other people have done it. What's the harm?"

     Maybe you've heard some of these statements from coworkers, friends, or even family members. It's discouraging, right? You have made a decision and others don't understand it. You may feel like no one has the same conviction. You are at a lose. Should I just go ahead? Should I just do it? 

     Let me tell you a quick story: there was a girl, let's call her Brenda. She and her boyfriend had been careful, never allowing themselves to be a situation where they could make a bad choice. They were content where they were because they were waiting. But doubts began to form in Brenda's head because people at her job had made fun of her and her choice. "Why are you waiting? Just do it and get it over with." Some of them even said that if she didn't sleep with her boyfriend, he might leave her. She was terrified. I can't lose him! she thought. We are doing the right thing by waiting. Without realizing it, she had let Satan get into her head. No matter what she did, she had these nagging thoughts telling her to "do it." She finally had enough. Brenda called her boyfriend, let's call him Sam. She began to tell her what had been going on, everything that people had said, the thoughts that had been going through her head, etc. She was crying hysterically. "You and I both know that we can't. I have an idea," he said. They agreed to meet the next day and talk in person. Sam sat her down, grabbed her hands, looked into her eyes and said, "We are going to make a promise, first to God, to each other, then ourselves. We are not going to let other people get into our heads. We know it's wrong. With God's help, we are going to resist the temptations that our culture lays before us and be pure in the sight of God."

       Because of the promise and commitment that these two made to God, each other, and themselves, they resisted the temptations. And, they are married today!

      The point I was making by telling you that story was that you can resist. You can be pure. You can be faithful and true. Whether you are in a relationship or not, God will help you to control yourself and not cross that line. God is saving the perfect person for you. Our Father has something very special for you. He loves you so much and wants the bests for you! 

     Make the promise today. If you have fallen into that temptation, made that bad choice, ask for forgiveness. We are not perfect. God will forgive. He's awesome like that! Then determine in your heart to become who you are to be. If you have not crossed that line, make the choice now, today! Stay pure and true! In fact, if you make your decision today, if reading through this has helped you to make up your mind, then leave me a comment and tell me so! I would love to hear from you! And, if you are struggling with this, please let me know. I will be glad to pray for you!!!

     So, the "moral of the story" is to make the choice for yourself. Stand tall and proud because you are God's creation and you can be true and faithful! Resist it now, and God will reward you!

Blessings! ~Abby 

PS: Thank you Julie for the picture!

Time flies! It's the holidays!

Well, I have not posted anything for over a month! It is now the first of December! Christmas is around the corner. What are your upcoming plans for the holidays? How have you been, my readers?

Since I last posted, Hurricane Sandy came through and destroyed most of the East Coast. There has been much damage here in Jersey. We were safe, thank God, but I have a few friends who were affected. I would appreciate prayer for them. There are so many people who were affected and lost so much and many lost everything. It's a time for Christians to step up and help others. Don't just read about it or watch the news. Prayer is always good, but sometime, we need to get up and do something for others. God is faithful!


Thanksgiving arrived with full force. We had a full house: nine of us around the table! It was enough, believe me! But it was a great time! Two days before Thanksgiving however, my family and others from our church put together and delivered our Thanksgiving baskets. We filled up boxes with food for the holiday, including a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pies, and delivered it to families in our church and in the area to people who were suffering financially. It was such a great blessing to us to be able to help them at this time.

Our Thanksgiving, as I said, was great! We had the works: turkey, rice dressing, stuffing, sweet potatoes, veggies, cranberries, pies, cake, cookies, ice cream, etc! After the majority of our company left, we had a number of teenagers and young adults at the house to have some desserts with us, play some games, and just be together at the holidays!

Two friends slept over from Thanksgiving and we went shopping on Black Friday! Unlike the people who were on line at 3am, we slept then went to the mall around 10. It was busy and crowded, but not too bad. We got a lot of Christmas shopping done! It's always more fun to do things around the holidays with other people than by yourself. At least that's my opinion.

The majority of my Christmas shopping is done!!! So happy! Aside from ordering a few things here and there, I have all my presents done! Now I just have to wrap them all... the joys of the season!

Well, I promise to post soon about Christmas!

Merry Christmas! ~Abby

Need Prayer? (Read through it first to understand)

The following is rant. Please bear with me.

 

So here is my problem with people. Why do they have to be so down all the time? They talk about how terrible their jobs are, how they hate people, how they don't have people to celebrate things with, etc. They won't smile, laugh, sing, or just plain get excited! It aggravates me! But it then also reminds me how sad their lives really are. I believe that they only reason they are like that is because they don't have the Joy of Jesus like I do. I mean, let's face it: if you don't have Christ living inside of you, what would make you happy? It certainly would not be the things going on in this world today. Just watch the news- how depressing! I refrain from watching the news as much as possible.

If you haven't figured it out already, I am a professing believer of Jesus Christ and I am not ashamed of that fact! I will not conform to this world. I will stand for my Savior. I will not back down. Let me get back to my main point.

People in this world make me sad. I feel bad for them. I can't imagine my life without having that sacred relationship with God. I can talk to Him when I need to, I worship Him because I know He is worthy, I can know that He is with me at all times. How can people go through this life without that assurance? Things get thrown at us that, many times, we can't control- death of friends and family, loss of a job, failed marriage, etc. What I can't understand is people who go through this kind of stuff without having the Lord there for them. He gives guidance, wisdom, hope, and peace. Has anyone figured this out? Can anyone give me an answer?

Thanks for bearing with me. I hope that if anyone is reading this and they are going through that type of a situation, please remember that there is someone who is there for you. All you need to do is turn your head up and ask Him for His amazing help. And if you just need pray, leave your name in the comments and any specifics you want to leave (you don't have to) and please know that I will be praying for you and your situation!

Blessings to you in Jesus Christ.

Abby

Update! - Growth & Upcoming Announcements!

So, I haven't been on here since May. It has been so crazy! I have started working on a lot of projects, started working on my Journalism degree. :) I am super excited for this new path! I would love to become a travel journalist! To begin on that journey, I'll be starting a journalism blog in the next few days to chronicle different trips that I take, places I go, people I meet, and just to practice my writing more. So I will post a link to that blog once I have it all set up and I begin to post on it.

I have been really absent from this site for a while. The summer was SUPER nuts! I went to camp for almost a month- that was great! I met a few interesting people and learned so much about myself and how I need God so much more! He has been so good to me lately. I feel so close to Him and I can't help but worship and praise Him with everything I do! I have been cleaning out my life of things that I know He doesn't want there anymore. It's a slow, long, and at times, hard, but I feel like I am becoming a stronger Christian and more confident in myself as I begin to find myself and who I am supposed to be in Christ.

My church had Vacation Bible School in August- that was a success! We have a few new people coming to church that I hungry for God to become real in their lives.

A woman in my church, Sis Pat. and I went this past Saturday to visit some of the kids from Bible School and some others that we have been missing from church. Driving around the town, we didn't talk to a lot of them, but we left them flyers and just prayed for them. We have a dear family in the church who is really going through a hard time. Financially, they are struggling, and they have a lot of other things going on in their lives. So right now, if you, my reader, don't mind, please say a quick prayer for them? It would be a blessing to them, and to me.

I think that's it. I'll be posting information on the new journalism blog as soon as I get it all set up.

God Bless,
Abby

It's days like these that make me want to just...

Today was, is... just keep reading. 


  I sometimes feel like maybe none of it is worth all the effort that I put into it. There's an unknown quote that says "Before you give up, think of the reason why you held on for so long." My problem is that I don't remember what I've been holding onto. I can't remember the reason behind anything. Sometimes I feel like I've been doing it all just because. Lately, I've been studying Humanities for school and because I only do what subject at a time, I get so focused on doing well in that one thing that I can't remember why I'm doing it in the first place. I get stressed out about one little thing and I can't seem to follow up on any of it. I'm sinking, drowning, going down, deeper into something that I don't understand.


   This song has been playing lately over the radio, my iPod, and even in my head. But it's not "touching" me at all. But I'll share it with you anyway and maybe it will bless you.


"You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

'Cause this is not about what you've done, 
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been, 
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel, 
But what He felt to forgive you, 
And what He felt to make you loved. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade." You are More by Tenth Avenue North

   There is a pressure to do different things and I feel like I'm drowning in it all. I think I am, drowning in the pressure and stress. I don't know. I don't understand. I want to know why. I want answers, but I'm not getting any.

 Why God, Why? Why do You give me these situations to go through but there does not seem to be anyway out? Why am I drowning? Why do I feel like it's all been in vain? Why do I feel like I'm doing it "just because?" WHY GOD, WHY?!?!? GIVE ME ANSWERS! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight---

I'm hoping tonight to get to sleep like a normal person at a reasonable hour, but considering that it's already 10:30 and I'm still up-and-about, I don't think that it's going to happen. Today was really a lot of fun! I had only a couple hours at work, then I had dinner with some old friends catching up, and then, I Skyped with some friends from Minnesota!!! So much fun in one day!!! :)

But tonight as I attempt some sleep, I'm going to be praying for all the different needs in my church, my family, and my friends who are struggling with so many things- There are various people in my church who really need a healing touch from God; family members who need to know Him as their Savior; and friends who are tackling many life-altering choices and could use a LOT of prayer! But what I can remember for myself and to remind them is that- "Our God is an Awesome God!" We can believe in the power of prayer because of who we believe in!

That's what I'm doing tonight- as I go to sleep, to prayer for those who really need it.

I shall say good night all (hopefully I will not be on here again today :/)
Abby

2 am and counting...

It is now 2 am on Tuesday as I sit here typing this. I hate when I can't sleep for no real reason... I don't know why, but it's giving me time to listen the Handel's Messiah. The words seem to calm my heart as I listen to it. "O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, and be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" 
This reminds me that what I really need to is worship Him. He will guide and calm. That is my prayer for myself and others.

I promised a picture of dinner- the red potatoes I made. If anyone is interested, I can post the recipe on here. It's really simple and very scrumptious! But we had this with a tasteful roast pork tip that I could in the slow cooker. I'm not sure what I put in there considering that it had "a little of everything!" But over all it was a successful meal! :)


I am hoping to make a stew on Friday, which I have made before and it is a winter favorite! 


So now it is 2:10 am and I am still awake- I'm really rambling right now because I am tired but I can not fall asleep. Sometimes I am afraid to fall asleep because of these awful nightmares that I often get. They vary a bit, but they always have something happen. My family and friends are sick, hurt, or worse; yet, the worse is when I dream that I am all alone in the world. No one to talk to, sing with, cook for, take care of, pray for, worship together, etc. It's a very terrible feeling, to feel helpless I mean. But what I do, is pray. And sing. Singing helps :]


I have a friend who is going through a "personal crisis" of sorts. I would appreciate your prayers for her very much. Also for me- I'm going to attempt some sleep now at 2:20 am and I do have a lot to accomplish tomorrow (today). Your prayers are coveted greatly!




May God bless you richly as you delight in His word, live in His will, and love Him with all that is within you!