An Unnamed Poem

One day I was writing different things, and at that particular moment I was kind of fed up with the internet and just the world, so I wrote this "poem":

Devouring and delusional, it entices you

It calls your name out, whispering,

“I will satisfy you; I will give you everything.”

And so now you are diverted,

Your path is twisted into misery, yet

You are caught in oblivion.

It is subtle, slowly obliterating your

Memories of old, replacing it all with superficial joy.

“I will promise you long-lasting happiness,” it says,

And slowly but surely, you cannot be torn from it.

It is now your everything, your source of life.

“I am now your god,” it tells you.

As soon as you feel its barrier, its smooth and

Vile ways catch hold of you once more,

Forever keeping you in its trance.

I think many things are like this. Anything can take over our lives if we let it, and this happens when we place something else at the center of our lives instead of God. Nothing can truly give us happiness except for our Maker.

Outbreakband has this one song that goes like this:

Sei Du der Mittelpunkt in meinem Herzen,

Der Mittelpunkt in meinem Leben,

Ich gehöre Dir.

Sei Du der Mittelpunkt in meiner Schwäche,

Der Mittelpunkt in meiner Stärke,

Ich gehöre Dir.

The translation is (if you translate it slightly different than the LITERAL translation),

You are the center of my heart,

The center of my life,

I belong to You.

You are the center in my weakness,

The center in my strength,

I belong to You.

Instead of putting other things in the center of our hearts, we need to put God first. He only deserves that place.

-Viviana

*the picture is from Pinterest

There's No Great Love Than This

At some point or another, we've all felt unloved or unimportant, and I think we've all said,"Oh, yeah, God loves me..." as if it was somehow so much less than being loved by someone else. One day I happened to feel this way, and I thought,"Well, at least God loves me." And then I thought about it for a second - The God of the universe loves ME! It's the most amazing thing ever. Somehow we put it into our heads that God loving us is expected and is the lowest form of love, when it really is the greatest love of all. He didn't have to love us at all, and I wonder how He does even love us. As 1 John 4:10 says - In this love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We are sinful and He is perfect. We are nothing and He is the Creator of the world. We don't deserve it, but He loves us beyond what anyone can imagine, beyond the way anyone else could ever love you.

Think about this: Jesus died for you. He died on the cross so that one day you could know Him, so that you could have eternal life. He even died for those who might never choose to know Him. That was a painful death, yet He still did it for us. C.S. Lewis once said,"He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is love."  If Jesus died to know you, then you must be pretty special to Him. His love is the most true love there ever was or will be. And it's the only love that can satisfy our ever-longing hearts.

Letting Go Isn't Easy

Lately I've been thinking far too much about things that are far away (okay, maybe not the farthest away, but still...). Things like: Once I graduate, should I even go to college? Is it worth it? And if I do, what do I even major in?! Psychology? Linguistics? Or should I become a missionary? With all of these thoughts flowing through my mind, I then remembered something: God has this all planned. I don't need to worry. He knows better than me, and all I need to do is trust Him. Of course, that's easier said than done, but I feel like He's slowly revealing to me what He wants me to do in the future. He's revealing the gifts and talents He has given me. It's pretty hard to be patient, but I know that I would so much rather do what He will call me to do, than to just choose what I think is best, and I know it probably would not turn out well. Giving God everything, all your worries, is not something that's easy to do. But we don't need to worry. Like Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34:
'25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.'

We should focus on what we're doing now, and the future will come in its time. We can be sure God will make things clear. It might not be right now, but He will when He feels it's best. 

Psalm 32:8 - I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 

-Viviana

It's Time To Grow Up

I get so tired of all those annoying Pinterest quotes about being "different" and "crazy." It's all so cliché. It's like everyone believes they're different, when in reality they are JUST. LIKE. EVERYONE. ELSE. Society says everyone should "be themselves," but when you are yourself it's so "weird," because everyone wants to fit in.

 It seems like it all just gets worse and worse. No one cares about what matters anymore, like serving God or about morals or family life. No one can have their own opinions because it's considered offensive. You can't stand for what you KNOW is right, because other people are offended by what they know is also wrong. What's the point of "being yourself" when you can't even be yourself?

 This generation of people is making me so disappointed. I don't even want to be considered part of this generation. All that anyone cares about is their phone, writing ridiculous, unnecessary things on Facebook or Twitter. Or other material things. I mean, look at this following image of something from Teenager Posts:

That's right. How are you supposed to make life choices when YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE 5 YEARS OLD?! It's time to grow up! Why do you think adults sometimes look down on teens? It's because some of us still act like we're 8 years old. If you want to be treated like an adult, then start acting like one. I'm not saying you can't have any fun. I'm totally a supporter of having fun! But there is a difference between fun and being way too childish. At the same time, I think in order for teens to start acting more mature, parents need to start giving some more responsibilities. Well, that's something to write about another time. 

Anyway - What happened to caring about what YOU could do for others? Or what God wants you to do with your life? Life is short, and why waste it on things that won't even matter in a year or two? It's time to give up yourself to God and ask Him what He wants you to do. We need to become people who are willing to serve God no matter what. And you know what? I'm pretty much writing this to myself. I need to become less selfish and more selfless.  It is so hard. But whoever said living a life devoted to Christ would be easy? It isn't, but we have received the best thing that we possibly could ever get, and that is eternal life. Let's stop being like everyone else, and instead let's be the light that the world needs! They need to know Jesus. Let's show them who He is. But first, we need to love those people. We need to love them like Jesus would, and not criticize them  since they do not know God. We will be known by our love.

-V

Welcome

Hello! Welcome to my blog. After having a few blogs, I finally wanted one where I wrote about my thoughts and feelings, or something encouraging for others. I guess I will write a little about myself.

-Well...my name starts with a V. ;)
-I am 17 years old.
-I am a Christian.
-I like to write, but I'm not exactly great at creative writing. I'm best at just getting my uncreative thoughts down on paper.
-I am homeschooled, and have been most of my life (yes, I do get to socialize, and I'm pretty sure I'm not socially awkward).

You will find out more about me soon. :D

-V