Words of Encouragement

Today's Verse

from the New Living Translation

"God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.…

"'You have heard that our ancestors were told, "You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment." But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

"'So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God."

Matthew 5:8, 21-24
view in context

encouragement for today

Sin begins in the heart, Jesus says. In our hearts, we either love or hate a brother or sister. In our hearts, we look down on others and murder their character. Guard your heart, confess any sin lurking there, even if you never acted on it. It's a tough thing to do, which is why Jesus died for us. If you trust in him, you then possess his power to have a pure heart that only desires the things of God. Only Jesus had a truly pure heart.

—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions

http://www.christianitytoday.com/lyris/encouragingwords/archives/01-26-2011.html

Daily Words of Encouragement

So I signed up for Daily Words of Encouragement from Christianitytoday.com. (it's really great...you should try it!) I most likely wont be reposting these everyday or anything...but any I find particularly inspiring, I will share! :) I am also including the web address from the emails I get! Good Friday Friends! :)

Today's Verse

from the New Living Translation

"But the godly will flourish like palm trees
and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
For they are transplanted to the LORD's own house.
They flourish in the courts of our God.
Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
they will remain vital and green.
They will declare, 'The LORD is just!
He is my rock!
There is no evil in him!'"

Psalm 92:12-15
view in context

encouragement for today

God's intent is for us to flourish. As we depend on his character—his justice, unchangeable nature (rock), and his utter goodness—we become like a tree planted in God's own courtyard. He supplies the sun and nutrients for the tree to remain healthy, and the tree gets to witness the doings of God's household.

—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions

http://www.christianitytoday.com/lyris/encouragingwords/archives/01-21-2011.html

New Age Balonga

Something that particularly Irks me (i know...a lot of things of irk me when it comes to Religion...But I just don't understand sometimes how people can reject something so true and powerful) is the new age movement! Let me rephrase...i Despise the teachings of the new age movement. And I believe many leaders of the new age movement are going to be in trouble one day when they stand before God at judgement day and are forced to take responsibility for teaching crap and leading so many people astray. I know that sounds harsh...but its biblical. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." Matthew 18:6 Not that the millions who turn to New age Movement are not responsible for their decisions as well (they are) but the Bible is clear through many passages (read these verses: http://www.openbible.info/topics/judging_false_teachers ) That false teachers will be dealt with harshly.
Anyway, I know most people say "the new age movement is harmless" and that "they are not pushing beliefs on anybody" and "there are a lot of similarities to Christianity." But The problem here is we don't need beliefs that are similar to Christianity that don't teach strictly that Jesus is the one and ONLY son of God and is the ONLY way to God! We don't need a movement saying You are God...and God lives within you. What is that? Ridiculous...that's what it is.
You see the new Age movement is all about connecting with your inner self and meditating. They are all about having spirit guides and believing there are many paths to God. Some of them believe that all world religions are true (sometime I will post about my "irk" with religious tolerance...). They CANT all be true folks. That doesn't even make sense. It's just people too scared to make somebody mad...so they've said "oh alright...we will just add that to our list of beliefs to make more people happy!" Religious tolerance and New Age movement are both just (for lack of better words) coward movements trying to please everybody.
The reason all this is bad is because...

1. God is a jealous God and we are to fear him. One of his commandments is "thou shall have no other gods before me." When we decide that we are our own God...we are indeed putting ourselves BEFORE God...and that is wrong. When we decide that we are going to make everybody happy and believe that all god's and ancient prophets are true and equal...we are then failing to acknowledge that God is the most high, which is not any worse than just ignoring God completely. So my point is...New Age Movement tend to Fail to put God First...because many of them don't care...or believe him...or believe he should be first.
2. God sent his son into the world to die for the world...so that through him the world may be Saved. (read John 3:16-18). There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ! (read my blog post "A misconception Of Faith" for proof on this matter...there is a lot). New Age Movement leaders fail to understand this. They usually believe in multiple ways to God...But that is completely against everything we are taught through scripture. And to be quite honest...To reject Jesus as your Savior is quite disrespectful to both God and Jesus. I mean...God did sacrifice his son...and Jesus DIED for you...and not just died...he carried the weight of your sins upon his back. He took the punishment...and Because God is Holy...Jesus' own father had to look away and turn his back because Jesus carried YOUR and MY sin. THAT is love my friends...A Love nobody could ever give but God and his only Son.
3. My preacher once said that the teachings of these type pf movements are a bunch of Bologna and mumbo jumbo. He said this after explaining to us about meditation. We should be using meditation to connect with God and strengthen our relationship with him. All this nonsense about connecting with the inner self and spirit or whatever...is exactly that...nonsense. It's actually kind of dangerous. Why would you want to empty your mind and thoughts?...That just opens the door for the devil to come in. People who meditate/communicate with spirits that are not of God and the Holy Spirit...may be trespassing in places they don't really want to be in...creepy much?
4. I don't think New Age Movement leaders understand that we are sinners. this is a HUGE problem. The Bible is clear that we are worthless...sinners. Without redemption from God alone...then all we will ever be is worthless. We CANNOT work our way to heaven...its not possible. For more on this subject read my blog post "A Misconception of Faith."
5. Christians are not "pushing" our beliefs on others. Christians are trying to warn and witness to people. We are the ones put here to tell the world about Jesus. This is our purpose...a commandment from Jesus himself! We are not suppose to just worship quietly to ourselves...that is not how it works. People who believe they will and can someday change this by the whole separation of church and State stuff is only kidding themselves. Christians will NEVER stop telling the good news. We are held accountable...it's our fault when we fail to whitness to somebody...so we continue to do so everyday. You think I'm joking...but it's true. Jesus died for me...So I am willing to put myself out there for his sake. Fortunately...we don't have much to worry about in the US right now about this...but if that day ever came...i know the Christians will only get louder. It's our job!

Anyway...I can't stand religions and movements that go on about how they are similar to us and are not hurting anything (don't get me started on the ones who think we just hate people who pose a threat and so on...gr). I mean seriously...Don't say you are similar to us when you don't believe in the most important beliefs we have. In short...you cant be a Christian if you don't believe God is the one and only God...and Jesus is God's one and only son...AND..he died for you. You cant be a christian if you don't believe you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and redemption. And you cant be a christian if you don't accept God's gift to you of forgiveness. It's that strict...but it's simple...you Admit (you are a sinner)..Believe (In God and that Jesus died for you)..and Confess (your Faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord Forever). THAT is Christianity...anything else added or taken away from those basics...is not and cannot be considered Christianity.

I say this not to scare you...but just to warn you (as my Christian duty to whiteness...remember?). Don't let false teachers steer you in the wrong direction away from the God who loves you more than you will ever know! And most importantly remember...Your past..is your past...no matter what you believed in your past...God ALWAYS welcomes new believers to his kingdom...no matter their sins...and no matter their previous faults. This is the great thing about God...he is forgiving...and his arms are ALWAYS open wide!

God Bless,

Morgan

Global Flood? Yes...Yes indeed!

First: Let me just say that I have fallen in Love with reading articles from ICR.org (Institute For Creation Research). They get a whole lot of criticism (a big bowl of ugly from a never ending parade of stupid...HA...hairspray quote:) But I think most of their critics are just annoyed that these scientist (all of which Have PhD's and diplomas from high end schools like Harvard!) continually reject the Theory of evolution and just about anything associated with Darwin. Like I have said before...Some people will go to great lengths to try to disapprove creationism and people like the ICR scientist are their worst nightmare!

Second: I have been reading about the flood A LOT lately. And something that irks me about people who disapprove of the idea of a Global flood is their (like before) quickness to throw out a bunch of random facts and assumptions even about the Bible and scripture. (I love how people who most likely have never stepped foot in a church or read the Bible in a spiritual frame of mind go off on tangents about what the scriptures are saying...most of the time they fail to read the whole story and focus in on one verse...) Anyway I read an article about Why the ICR scientists were not credible and the Flood was not Global and so forth. He attempted to counter one of ICR arguments from scripture about the flood. But in doing so...he only looked at one or two verses and I feel like he misinterpreted them altogether! He talked about how the Bible is never clear on weather the flood was a regional flood or a global flood so therefore it is not relevant. But the verses he talked about in Genesis 6 are nothing but God explaing the flood to come to Noah and repeating himslef multiple times that "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish"(vs. 6:17). He also says he will "blot out man" and that the "end of all flesh has come before me." I dont think there is a question here on a Scriptual reference that God is talking about a global flood. Think about it. When is God ever Vauge when giving directions in the Bible? He always tells them exactly what he wants them to know and exactly what he wants them to know. He even tells Noah EXACTLY what type of wood to use on the ark and EXACTLY how big the ark will be (wich in our measuring system is roughly 500 feet long, 74 feet wide and 44 feet high...BIG boat) AND...EXACTLY where a window on the ark should be. None of this "maybe he meant something else...or is using metaphors" nonsense...We need to learn to take God's word literally for what it is!

20 Things You DONT know about me

1.) I Watch… The Office, CSI:NY, That 70's Show, The Nanny, and sometimes Disney
2.)My pet peeve is…Soggy Cereal. Im the person who pours a tad bit of milk and eats mostly dry crunchy cereal with a splash of milk because i cant stand it when it gets soggy. Im also the person who drinks whats left at the end :P i may in fact be YOUR pet peeve! HA!
3.) I Play…My Clarinet every sunday Morning in the church orchestra at Sevier Heights Baptist Church. I feel blessed to use my God given talents to Glorify His name and lead people to him every sunday! I know God works through our orchestra and choir in many ways and Im blessed to be a part of it!
4.) My Favorite movie is…I'll Be home for Christmas, Gettysburg, Goofy movie, Anastasia, The Proposal, October Sky
5.)My Perfect Match is…A Man who loves Christ more than he will ever love me but is willing to be my best friend. :)
6.)My Favorite number is…47, the number of the football player I high fived in 8th grade at the vol walk :)
7.)I read…Alot of Christian Novels, The Scarlet Pimpernel, some Romance, left Behind,
8.)My favorite Disney/child’s movie is…Beauty and The Beast
9.) I Listen to…Christian music, TobyMac, Hawk Nelson, My Church Cd's, Chris Tomlin, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, jonas brothers, Movie soundtracks (hairspray!)
10.) I Love… My family so much! I am blessed to be a part of a close-knit, christian, and fun family! I look up to both my parents and Could never ask for anything more! My sister is my BEST friend! I can just about count on her for anything. I love all my Grandparents...aunts uncles, and first cousins! I am blessed to be a part of such a great family! I love God, he did send his son to die for me! (I love his son, Jesus, too! ) :)
11.) My Favorite Color is…Orange, because its bright and cherrful, and it reminds me of the UT Vols...Which has a lot of Meaning to me.
12.) My Hobby is…Art, I am An Artist. I am super creative and i like to draw, paint, pottery, make jewlry, scrapbook, ect.
13.) My favorite sport team is…VOLS! I Know everybody knows this about me, but they dont know the reasons. I grew up going to every single home game. My parents had season tickets 2 or 3 years before I was born and we still have them (although the location of them in the stadium has changed a few times). I grew Up going to the games with my family and football became just that for me, a family thing. It was a time when My mom, Dad, Sister, and Grandparents would meet up, ride to knoxville (we lived 2 hours away at the time), and spend the saturday together. No matter if they won or lost...(we like them to win...but we are not fair weather fans...we support through and through), we still had each other at the end of the game! We still had that 2 hour ride back home with the people we still loved most in the World! We also had the chance to travel to the national championship game in 98' in Arizona, what a wonderful trip that was! I will never forget it...especailly with my grandmother now in Heaven. So that, is why I love UT Football...It brings my family together for a special family time.
14.)I want to be…i am not 100% sure...But I am thinking about Law School after I Graduate from UTK
15.) My favorite snack is…Starbucks and menchies for SURE!
16.) I Miss…My Grandmother...She went to be with Jesus December 6, 2003 and I still think about her everyday. She is very dear to my heart and to my whole family! She is a brave courageous Christian woman and I admireher very much! Sometimes God uses her influence in my life to remind me my Life is in his control. I know without any doubt My family will be reunited with my sweet Meme someday in the future when we go to be with Jesus! What A grand day that will be!
17.) My stress reliever is… Art! Whenever things get crazy...i pull out my pencil and sketch pad and at the VERY least...doodle! many sketches you see on here on Facebook are results of my hectic life! of Course...I also always know I can go to God as My Ultimate stress reliever! No problem is too big to talk to my Lord and savior about! And on that note...i am blessed to have wonderful christian Parents that I can go to whenever I need guidance! I know without a Doubt that both My Mom and Dad are always there for me and for that I am truly thankful!
18.) My Passion is… Man, Do I Have alot of Those! I am Passionate about My Family, and friends and My art! However, recently I just havt been able to get enough of Jesus! (i know that sounds corny ). But in all seriousness, Ever since I joined my church orchestra I have seen more lives change (including my own in some ways) than ever before! I love the high you feel when At A revival or screaming the lyrics of your favorite Praise song! i Love the goosebumps you get when you are thrilled to see God Working in so many ways! Lately I just cant get enough worship and Christian music...I am excited for what is to come...I want to be able to give all of myself someday and i am working in that direction!
19.) I Want to Go... TO Scotland and ireland, becuase that is my family heritage and Isreal, because i want to walk the footsteps of jesus and experience my Faith in a way I have never experience it before!
20.) My Life verse is… Ephesians 2:8-10 "For By grace you Have Been Saved through Faith, and that not of yoursleves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for Good Works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." This verse Reminds me of 4 important things! 1.) I have Been Saved! God sent his son to die for me...My sins have been paid for! As my new favorite Church song goes.."It feels Like Redemption!" :) 2.) I did NOT earn my salvation! I acepted my Salvation in the form of a generous gift! If It was left up to me to earn my salvation on my own...i would never make it. Thats why God sent his son, so we dont have to try to earn his love...we just need to accept it and ask God for forgiveness! 3.) God has specifically created each and every one of us! We each have unique talents, traits, desires, hobbys, ect. These things were created to use for his glory! We are here to spread his word and communicate the good news! We are his Messengers to the unreached and the skeptics! 4.) God is and always will be in control! he has prepared "beforehand" so we should seek his guidance and allow him to pilot our lives!
God Bless,
Love, Morgan Nicole :)

New Discovery

I Love to read...a lot! My favorite books to read are Historical Fiction, Romance, and Christian Books. Recently i have made a new Discovery on A Christian Author. Tracie Peterson is a best selling author who writes christian, Historic Fiction Romances...all I have to say to that is... 8D...excitement! He He! I have been reading her "ladies of Liberty" series and I am in LOVE with her writing style and the way all her characters rely on their relationship with God to get them through their struggles. I love Historical Fiction and the American 1800's are one of my favorite times in History to study and read about. And Most of all...I Love the romance in her stories. It's more genuine than Nicholas Sparks in my opinion. Anybody can write about how two people are attracted to each other and have sex and so on. But it takes a great person to write about how two people fall in love because of their Love for God and continue to have a Godly and Christian relationship (the ONLY way it should be done folks!) This is the kind of Love Story I want to be a part of some day soon! Forget everything our world teaches us about romance...true Love comes from God and God alone. I want a husband who will love God more than he will ever love me. This, despite what the modern world tells us, should be the most important and attractive feature in somebody of the opposite sex. Anyway...Thanks to Tracie Peterson for writing such lovely and heart warming stories!

Nifty Things (Romantic Comedies)

Yes...I prefer Romantic Comedies to Chick-flicks for one main reason...I like to laugh instead of cry! =P There are a good number of Chick flicks I LOVE though...I just love to laugh...so here are my favorite Romantic Comedies I have seen so far. (in no particular order). You know How I am too...these are decent rated movies :P

1.) Failure To Launch (2006)

2.) How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days (2003)

3.) She's the Man (2006)

4.) 27 Dresses (2008)

5.) Just Friends (2005)

6.) The Proposal (2009)

7.) Fever Pitch (2005)

8.) 50 First Dates (2004)

9.) My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

10.) Knight and Day (its also an Action type Movie) (2010)

11.) One Fine Day (1996)

12.) the Wedding Singer (1998)

13.) 13 Going On 30 (2004)

14.) Music and Lyrics (2007)

15.) A Cinderella Story (2004)

16.) Another Cinderella Story (2008)

17.) Leap Year (2010)

18.) When In Rome (2010)

19.) Love Happens (2009)

20.) The Bounty Hunter (2010)

21.) Killers (2010)

22.) Life As We Know It (2010)

Just because...

So...I am Insanely Obsessed with The Smoky Mountains...Ever since my Family and i moved to A town super close to The Great Smoky Mountain National Park (you can see them from our house...) I have been completely infatuated with mountains! And yeah...I LOVE all Mountains (check out the Mountains episode of the Planet Earth series!...SO Awesome!), but there is just something cool to me about the Smokys. They are rounded and covered with trees, unlike the Rockies, so the whole moutain changes color in the fall! (Dont get me started on how much I LOVE the fall leaves! HA!) Anyway...I am convinced that if God can create something as gorgeous as the sunrise above the smoky's I see every morning on my way to school...Then heaven must be sooo outrageously beautiful...i might just faint of happiness! I am afterall...an artist and beauty just amuses me! At any rate, here is my new favorite picture of the smokys! We got some snow a few weeks ago...and THIS was the result! :)

Photo Courtesy of < http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmcam/grsmcam.cfm >

Look Rock Webcam in the Great Smoky Mountains :)

The Check List

Are you A Check List Christian? You know what I mean...The type of Christian who has a list of thiongs to do in order to feel good? The type of Christian who wants everybody else to percieve them as a christian? The Type that is more concerned about theier reputation than they really are thier relationship?
I Too Often fall into this routine myself. My reasons for doing or not doing something are often because how I want others to percieve me...Not for God's glory. I often find myself being the type of person who says to myself... "Bible Read...check...Prayer...check...worship Music...check...honored mother and father...check..." and so on.
We shouldnt treat our relationship with God as if it's something to just check off the to-do list every day.
This is something we Should all Think about :)