Today is my 20th Birthday and I have something to share!

                I just wanted to write and show you how blessed I have been by an ever faithful God. Today is my 20^th birthday.  Today actually marks a pretty huge day for me.  Today marks the day that I am an adult. My career choice and what I know where Christ is leading to me demands me to take on full time job as a CNA and be in the adult world now. Looking back in the past and all I have been through it’s been so clear, that God was preparing me for this step, he has given me the advice I need to hear and the “ experience”.

                My 19^th year  of age was probably the hardest year I have ever faced. I use to blame it on how things went and that was my portion in life and God was testing. When I now know the events and the trials that went on… were there to help prepare me for this big step into the adult work and claiming adult things, not just to test me. That God has higher plan then the right now! I In my 19 year learning experience, I handled thing very immaturely at times ( a lot of times). I have great parent who expect the best of me and want the best of me, my parents dealt  a lot with the immature me and pressed on expecting the best for me and of me cuz they knew I was able, I wasn’t doing that part and owning up. So they kept on me and labored like great parent are supposed to.

                I had a lot of learning to do last year and looking back at it….. I overcame it with Christ help. Not that everything today is answer perfectly but everywhere I see how God worked by matching this small thing with that etc. He has given me and reminded me that waiting on the Lord is the most important thing but not just waiting but as we are waiting for God, to grow more in Him, not to sit back and wait for and answer but to follow hard after God.  This is one truth I have kept close to my heart, because I listen to sermons that pointed this out over and over again during my 19^th year! God works in GREAT ways! That is the main thing I am taking with me as I struggle and make my way into this world.

                I have gotten a lot of input on my decision on taking full time as a Certified Nursing Assistant and mostly possible not go back to college.  I have defiantly let what other people say, affect my decisions. My dad has been the most helpful in this big decision! He said something that I will always keep close to my heart! He said (paraphrasing)”” that if you believe this is what God wants you to do then do it with all you have. I don’t want you to do anything that God doesn’t call you to do! If he has called you to serve then serve and follow God with all your might! Don’t let anyone lead you away from what God has called you to do and be.””” I keep that close to me, because it’s so true and reminded me of God faithfulness to those who are faithful to him!

                My dear mother was a huge help for me, (in the physical sense) realizing what I needed to Do: to get to where I want to be. She kept telling me you can pray to God and trust him (the first thing of course not to less the value) but you have to GO AND DO IT ( see again the following hard after God)! I was praying and waiting and not DOING! One day she said to me: (Paraphrasing).”” Monique, you have decided  go  right into the work field so that means you are now entering into the adult world and need to do adult things and act like such. You have a job and bills and much more than people in your high school class because they are not choosing the path that you are. They are in school and don’t have steady job and will work later. Stop comparing yourself to them and do what you need to do, and act like an adult, which you are allowed to because that is the road you have chosen.””” That in itself just made me realize that is it in my power to do, to go and trust God. I can say I trust Him but if I don’t go and do then what faith is that? I need to throw myself into the work I believe he has called me into.

                In my conclusion, I want you to learn from my mistakes and follow HARD after Christ like it says in the Psalm 63! You defiantly can pray and wait on God but even while you wait, follow hard after God!   God can’t use you unless your willing to follow no matter what!

                This is what I have learned and I feel so prepared and safe in God and can go and do, what He is calling me to!

The reality is that even if you are following the ""wrong"" path ( I use that very lose because God will have you where He wants you to be at the time, so it's not nesesarrly wrong path, if you are a Child of the King) you are on, God will direct no matter what! Think of all the missionaries that thought God was calling them here and they worked hard where they thought God wanted them to be and things fell through and didn’t work out and God called them elsewhere and guess what they did… They were confused at first but the followed hard and strong anyway on the new path God put them on!  Even Paul in the New Testament is a great example to!  Missionaries I was thinking of were George Muller and Amy Carmichael! So, don’t be afraid of choosing the wrong path, God will direct your path if you trust in Him with your WHOLE heart, no matter where He puts you!
 

Part 1- Sin and Continual Prayer

Hi! I am excited to write so I am going to jump in, but one thing is that I am going to do this in parts. I will explain to you what God has taught me though some of my trials.
        So, Part one is about dealing with sin and God; one on one. Sometime we think," I need to to hear a good sermon to realise my sin".  Maybe even we might think God will have something bad happen and then I will know what sins to get ride of. Whatever the case may be we need to understand that the Bible COMMANDS us to search out and put to death our sins. My favorite verses to use and think about is James 4:8 and Matthew 6:13.
                James 4:8- Draw night to God and he will draw nigh to you, CLEANSE your hands, ye sinners: and purify your hearts ye double minded
            Matthew 6:13- Watch and pray, that ye enter not in to temptation:the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak

   I think this applys well. James tells us that we need to cleanse our and purify. Verse 7 before that talks about how we must submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from us. We are not a perfect people yet, we as christian need to daily cleanse and purify AND draw near to God. Everyday we need to be in full pursuit of dying to sin and self. We defiantly have times where God is blessing us and such. Still we need to draw night to God, so He can show us the things HE hates and hate them. So He can show us the things He loves and loves them. Don't be slack with your soul anytime. God says in Matthew we need to watch and pray to NOT to enter into temptation... and temptation is the act before we sin. Jesus was tempted but He didn't fall of course because He is God, but Christ is a GREAT example of watching and PRAYING. So many time it mentions Jesus going to a place to pray and be there for hours. He was able to face the Satan because He watched: knew all scriptures to us against Satan and He Prayed: He was lead by the Spirit meaning He was in communion with the Spirit. That is the example He set and is showing us we need to be in continually prayer agains sin. Some people say " Oh how long should I pray and when?"  God says watch and pray, I can't give you an answer to you but I can leave you with a thought. The most important thing in this world, the one thing that really matters in this world is your soul. God commands us to live lives separate from the world, meaning that our main focus is GOD and loving our neighbor and our souls and renewing our minds like Christ as He has commanded; dying to self because we as christian are being formed like Christ. Do what is necessary to keep close to our Dear and Precious Saviour ( that might be giving up a few things to spend more time in prayer) Of course we do not want to go into extremes but let watch and pray against temptation.
             It says at the later end of Matthew the spirit is INDEED ( meaning " of course" or "  it defiantly is" willing but the flesh is weak. We may have good intentions for doing this and that for God but let us watch and PRAY. Let us kneel before our Maker that He may show us our sin and that we can PLUCK it out! We need to continue in prayer. I believe our flesh is weak part applys alot to prayer. We may start out well praying for a week but then we die away and just LET it fail . A Preacher named Paul Washer put it so well ( paraphrasing here) He said, ""that it is easy to start in prayer but to continue in prayer is another thing. We need not to stop praying when we feel defeated at prayers, we need to wrestle and fight to continue in prayer. We are to easy to give up, but God commands us to pray with out ceasing even when it feel we are cold against God."""  Pray with out ceasing is not just continually praying for someone but when we don't feel like praying to wrestle with ourselves and tell God we want to pray but can't. God wants to see his Children call out to Him in their weak state, we don't need to come to God with everything going right with us or even when we are struggling some things.  Come to God with the deepest darkest things in your heart.. ROOT out that evil sin and confess it to God. Well, I will leave you with this verse to part one....  (  Part two will be up next week )!

                Ecclesiastes 12:13-Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, FOR THIS IS THE WH0LE DUTY OF MAN.
May God Bless you,
Monique