Getting To Know Our God

This entry was written by Emily Sadowski, a junior in our Amp'd Youth Ministries. To learn more about Amp'd Youth Ministries please visit us at http://hs.mabcmd.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/AMPD/128529207198340

 

Laziness is so prevalent in our society today. Many days we, as teenagers, sit around and do nothing. We put little effort into our work at school. We go to church and listen half-heartedly and by the time we leave, forget what the message was about. So often, Christians wonder why God feels so far away and why we can't seem to know what He wants us to do. Perhaps if we studied more about Him, reading his Word and spending time in prayer and simple conversation with God, we would come closer to Him.

When we do our part, we will understand and see what we have been missing. Having a relationship with God is the most rewarding and exciting journey of this life. I read in a book once, that said, "He passionately pursues you and me to sweep us off our feet and convince us of his incredible love." We serve an amazing God. He wants us to get to know Him; so do it! When we realize how incredible God really is, and I don't think we can even understand that fully, we will wonder why it took us so long to get to know Him more.

Never stop getting to know God; there is always more to learn. :)

A Reason To Hope

This week I have struggled to come up with something to write about. Life has been so usually. There has been nothing extraordinary happen, no "A-ha" moments, no special revelations.

Don't you know that God has a sense of humor.

As I sit here writing that nothing special has happened, something special happened... I took a breath. I blinked my eyes. I had a thought. I heard Asher playing. Those are all extraordinary moments. Everyday that God chooses to let me wake up is an extraordinary moment. So often we get caught up in the day, in the ordinary, in the usually and we forget that everyday is a gift that could be gone in the blink of an eye. We get caught up in the what's next instead of living in the now. We look for fireworks and forget to appreciate the normal. Just imagine if things turned bad, would you long for the days when things were normal? Would you long for the usual days you took for granted?

I get caught up in my list of things to do, in my normal daily activities and sometimes forget to be thankful. In everything we have a reason to be thankful, a reason to give praise and even when things are extraordinary or even if they're less than desirable we have a reason to hope.

Psalm 52:9

⁹ For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.