Christmas

This Christmas, the one lesson that I was constantly reminded of, be it through devotionals or church sermons was that a) Jesus was born and lived for 30 years as a HUMAN. That's about twice my age, and this is especially poignant to me because I constantly feel that no one (including Jesus) can ever understand what I'm going through. Well for starters, he certainly wasn't a girl. But there's one thing that I always forget, first being he created all humans including girls so how would he not understand us? The next thing being having lived for 3 decades means that he would have experienced so much, and we can see from the Bible that it was true. He experienced extreme temptation, great influence, betrayal, all things that we face or will face in our daily lives. He's been through all of that and has come out blameless, making him our perfect role model. The next thing that I was reminded of so many times this Christmas, was that He is the greatest and most important present we will ever receive. He came to shoulder all our sins and to redeem us, to give us salvation and eternal life with the Father. His amazing love for us is the warmest and most fulfilling gift you and I will ever receive. Blessed Christmas everyone! :)

Let Go Let God

Let Go Let God is such a common phrase, seen in whatsapp statuses and all over tumblr, but it wasn't until this teens camp that I truly understood how important this lesson was for everybody. The devotions from the camp booklet in particular spoke to me. Making reference to the movie the Godfather, it states the example of a stone that has been lying in the water for a long time but remaimed perfectly dry. Being a second generation Christian, I've been in church all my life, but this analogy caused me to truly reflect on my life thus far. Have I allowed God to step in and change my life or did I remain dry, not allowing Him to penetrate me? The answer that I regretfully came up with was that I did let him change me, but not in the areas where it really mattered. In some areas, pride was what was  hindering me, and through this camp I learnt that this pride would kill me if I didn't let go of it quickly. My pride and my stubbornness, times where I refused to admit that I was wrong, where I try to kid myself and tell me that my mistakes are insignificant, I vow to change it. I do not have confidence in myself yet, but I'm 200% sure that God can transform me, if ill just let Him. There are also some areas where fear and uncertainty hinder me. I mean, I still struggle with doubt, late at night when I can't sleep, I constantly find myself wondering what will happen to me when i die? What if the God that I have been trusting and believing in turns out to be a lie? And then I wake up every morning, looking around me at all the clear signs that my fears were groundless. From the miracle of the morning sky to his constant presence around me every moment of the day, I know that I can trust in Him completely. Of course, according to Proverbs 3:5-6, I'll need to submit to Him and let God first.
This camp brought a new understanding of this phrase to me, and while I may not be as eager to set it as my new whatsapp status, im extremely thankful for the message that God has given me.