Agape

In Luke chapter 6 verse 31, the Lord says "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Many like to refer to this scripture, or it's similar paraphrasing, as "The Golden Rule." Although we've heard it so many times, we often overlook it's overall meaning. Jesus didn't say "Do good only to those who are good to you" or "Do good to only the people that you like" When he said "Do unto OTHERS as you would have them do to you," He meant everyone. That being said, we ought to treat everyone with love and sincerity. For example, do you know the feeling when someone compliments you, or tells you that you did a good job at something, whether it be playing a sport, singing, or speaking in front of others? Or when someone tells you that you're beautiful/handsome and that they love you and are proud of you? Give others compliments as well and tell them these things. You may not even understand how easy it is to make someone...

“Strength and  honour  are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She  openeth  her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”   (Proverbs 31:25-26) If I asked you, “Do you want to become a woman of God?” What would you say? Would you “take up your cross and follow Jesus?” Or would you be hesitant because of fear of making sacrificial decisoins  and conforming to the will of God? Unfortunately, many will answer with the latter option. Living for God is not the most popular thing, and it isn’t easy doing so.  It’s difficult having a desire to do things for God when many of your friends do not. It’s difficult being set apart when the world demands similarity and enforces accept ance. Being seventeen, I’m in the middle of the stage where I’m about to make some pretty significant and important decisions. Graduation is in a few months, college is soon after that, and before I know it, I’ll be eighteen. Being in this stage...

We hear all the time "prayer still works" and "all good things come to those who wait." And the above statements are very true, but the difficulty comes when we're in the midst of praying and waiting. Sometimes it feels like God isn't there, and you don't feel Him. Just because you can't feel Him doesn't mean that He's not right there beside You, because He undoubtedly is, but it's still hard. It's hard to be in the middle of praying and waiting and everything feels...stagnant. It's easy to give up, and it almost seems worthless to keep on fighting. Impatience becomes your closest companion and confusion becomes your neighbor, and nothing seems to be going the way you'd like. In the midst of our heartache, confusion, impatience and immobilization, God is right there. He's with us every step of the way, and He hears every word that we pray. There isn't one action, thought, or thing we do that the Lord doesn't know a...

Society distorts just about everything. Value, worth, character, beliefs, and most prominently, beauty. Something that often bothers young adults, and even simply adults, in this day and age, especially women, is society's view on beauty. Beauty, through the eyes of society, is a small waist, flat stomach, curvy figure, long hair, colored eyes, height, structure, persona, and the list could go on. This is society's view of a "perfect" woman. We see it every day, the typical 5'9, size 2 lady walking towards the cinematographer with the latest trends, or the woman flipping her luscious brown silky, shiny hair advertising for a shampoo commercial. Perfect. Right? We, especially those of us who are women have a desire to feel beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with that. God made us that way. We're supposed to be beautiful, but society's view of "beautiful" is flawless, faux, and unauthentic. It's 1,000 pounds of makeup, the perfect lightin...

new - n. recent, fresh We all love new things. New shoes, new clothes, new hairstyles, new electronics, new movies, you name it. The list could go on. The funny thing about new things is that they're only new temporarily. Things will break, deteriorate, tear, rip, crack, shatter. Material objects will not stay perfect. They fade, they pass away, the lose their purpose once used to their specified intent. They have a limit. They can only be used so much, then, they will need to be repaired or even replaced. Even then, they still won't last forever. We all greatly dislike when our new things begin to possess imperfections because of their usage and other factors. Seam rips, ink stains, cracked phone screens, chips. There's nothing enjoyable about things becoming imperfect and unusable. When you were born, you were pure. Couldn't speak, walk, do things on your own, you depended on your mother to cherish you. As you grew older, you'd begin to gain independence. You l...

Wait - v. to be inactive, to pause, or to be in a state of repose until something happens Waiting. It's never fun, neither enjoyable. It's not something that people react positively to. We want results as soon as possible, especially those who are living in a western society. We've created things such as fast food restaurants, drive thru windows, microwave meals, and fast passes at amusement parks because of our impatience and demand to receive things the instant that we request them. We have to wait in lines, wait at stop lights, and wait in life because everything can't go at the pace we wish them to, and there are people, just like us, who have things to accomplish. People often refer to waiting as a "waste of time" but in fact, it isn't. For example, if you go to an amusement park, and the wait for a ride you've been yearning to go on is two hours long, you'll most likely be willing to wait because you know that in the end, once you've got...

Hello, my name is Micah James, I am 16 years old, and I created this blog, hoping that I will inspire others, especially Christian teen s, to live for The Lord, be confident in who they are, and recognize their self-worth. My blog posts may range from modest fashion ideas, music suggestions, and original poems, to the reflections of certian biblical topics and theological concepts. I have consistently found writing appealing, and I concluded that it would be adequate for me to start blogging. I was born, and have been raised Apostolic my entire life. My heritage of the Apostolic faith goes back as far as six generations. I have attended The Apostolic Church of Auburn Hills since birth, and remain attending there, being actively involved in the church choir, praise team, youth ministry, children's ministry and music ministry. I enjoy being involved in my church and having many opportunities to serve the Lord. Enjoymets and hobbies of mine include playing volleyball, writing music, s...