~Verse of the day~

Psalms 139:13-14
“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.”

~Dani

~What is my face saying to them?~

We don't realize sometimes just how careful we need to be when being around people, for instance..
They say "a pictures worth a thousand words.."
So what is your face saying?
You don't always have to say a word, there are plenty of ways to tell what you're thinking about someone else just by the mere expression on your face!
Let me ask you this.. Is your face expressing kindness to others?
Or is your face expressing judgement to others?
If you have problems judging others and you show it in your expressions, it's almost the same as just saying it out loud to them!
For example, If you cannot learn to be kind at church then you certainly shouldn't be going out into the world with an attitude like that! That doesn't say.. "I'm a follower of Christ"
instead that makes the unsaved view church as a bunch of people who are judgmental toward them!
I truly believe that is the reason why so many people are choosing to stay home on Sunday's instead of attending church, even they know how Christians should be acting..which to me speaks volumes of the attitude that we are putting out by even our facial expressions!

If you do anything out in the world..have a good attitude to contribute to others so that they will have a good day and more than that, that they will begin to view "church goers" as "friendly" not as "critical" because in these last days IT IS CRUCIAL for us to reach them for Christ and if our attitudes aren't backing that up..then what does it mean to be saved? What then is the difference between "a Christian" and "a sinner" if you can no longer see the light of Christ glowing on your face?
Think about that today..What is my face saying to them?
Smile, show kindness and perhaps come Sunday, they might be sitting next to you in church with a smile on their face that they can take into the world as well!

Matthew 5:16
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

~Dani

~How to be compassionate~

What does it really mean to be compassionate? Most would consider compassion to be a form of kindness that you use toward your neighbor when they need a helping hand, But really to be compassionate is so much more than that..to show compassion is also putting your neighbors need above your own when you are having a hard time as well, for example..If you need a friend..Be a friend to someone! If you are in pain..comfort someone who is hurting! If you are sad..make someone else smile!

You see, compassion can also be when you reach out in kindness when the world hasn't been as kind to you, when you are struggling but still find an opportunity to help others, when you have had your heart broken but you still are able to love unconditionally to those who really need a chance from a caring soul..so when you think about compassion it really has much more of a meaning to it than some may believe..It's a word packed with purpose that this world could really use right now and when it comes down to it we have all been at a point in our lives before when we needed a little extra compassion much like the compassion that Jesus once showed to us, we didn't deserve it but still He came to show us the meaning of the word "compassion" and we could all come to learn from his actions and start applying it to our own lives. 

Be compassionate today and reach out to someone who clearly needs that kind of love..through that kindness you may even help save their soul! Think about it.

~Dani

~Don't waste your time..~

Have you ever stopped and wondered what your purpose was?
The fact is that if you have to stop and wonder about it..you probably haven't discovered what that is yet.

First of all, We were made to worship.. so if we aren't worshipping our very creator..then what are we doing?
The answer is..we are wasting our time, precious time.

Second, We have a wonderful imagination..but we are filling it up with things like porn and things that we see with our eyes instead of seeing with our hearts!
We try to satisfy ourselves with temporary pleasures that only feel good or look good for a season but when they fade away we wonder what we are missing in our lives..But what do we do? We go back to the porn and all the temporary fills that brought us to that place more than once in our lives and instead of changing..we remain the same and we refuse to admit that it's us that's the problem and that our hearts need to change!

What is wrong with us? We are starting to waste away, we no longer apply the bible to how our lives should be, but instead we go on reading the verses that we are "okay" with and refuse to apply the whole word of God toward changing our lives for the better simply because we are afraid to be different and to be separated from the ideals and temporary fills of this world!

What would happen if we gave God our all? How many more people would we help! If only we'd admit that we want to change into something better..we would also understand that we can do anything with God and we could benefit others around us by walking in His truth! We could shake this world and wake it up to realize that they need Jesus!
Our vision would be clearer and we would start to dream beautiful dreams again, if only we would surrender our minds and our eyes to God again!

Let's surrender our everything to God! Our every thought and dream so we can strive to be something better for the world to see and along the way we will bring others to salvation just from seeing our faith turned into actions!
Don't waste today, choose today to make a difference in the world by showing them the love of Christ and by showing them the difference that He's made in your life!

~Dani

~Weekly Thoughts~

They say to keep your friends close but your enemies closer but upon thinking of this I've realized that if we do that we are pushing away precious time we could be spending with our family and our friends, not only that but we are losing our peace of mind because we are giving our enemies power by allowing them to remain tied to us!
If you are constantly thinking different scenarios of how you could seek revenge against them then not only are they consuming your thoughts..they are also taking away other things like..our joy, our peace, and not only that but they are also holding us back from completing our dreams!
Satan wants us to think evil upon our enemies because that will prevent us from doing good in this world and it will also put off what you're purposed for!
I don't know about you but I don't want to give my enemies that kind of power! I won't allow them to control my life like that! I want joy and I won't have that constantly wishing destruction upon them!
I want peace but I won't have it if I allow my thoughts to be consumed with worry of what plans my enemies might have!
And I certainly won't allow them to hold me back from completing what only I can do because I know that I'm needed to shine my light upon this world, whether if that's a smile to a stranger or an encouraging word to a friend or family member in need!
Don't allow your enemies to control any area of your life!
Have joy! Have peace! Go out there and do what you're meant to do no matter what!
God's ways are higher ways and his thoughts are so much better for your life than anything that the enemy might be planning but it's not our job to worry..it's our job to trust in God to deal with that situation for us!
And don't you worry because..God's got this too!

Isaiah 55:7-9
“let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

~Dani

~Deception~

John 10:10-11

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

I talked to the kids in children's church this past Sunday about the way Satan deceives us and tries to put constant fear in us, how he wants us to become weak from that fear so he can have control over us and cause our minds to become clouded with fear!

All Satan wants for us is to take us down with him but we don't have to settle for that fate, we have authority over him in Jesus name! There is power in that name!

Halloween is just a few days away and there are a lot of things out there that are scary, I don't know about you but I've never been too crazy about being scared out of my mind!
But lucky for us because of Jesus..we don't have to be afraid of anything!
I want you to remember that this week and realize that because of Jesus..we don't have to surrender to that fear, it has no hold on us! Because of Jesus we don't have to allow that fear to cripple us anymore!

Psalms 23:4

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”

~Dani

~To Love and To Be Loved~

There are many in this world nowadays who have misconceptions of what it means to love someone.
For some reason many are receiving instead of giving like they should be doing, it seems like there are too many around these days who want to know what's in it for them instead of wondering what they can do for the person beside them.

The reason why so many relationships end in this day in age is because we have lost our love for people, we no longer use our social skills and we don't have meaningful conversation but instead we think only about gaining things for our own selfish pleasure and we don't develop a deeper relationship but want to skip past getting to know someone from the inside out..now all that is desired is to get to know someone by skipping the bases and making it all the way to third base but we no longer make it to the home plate  because in this world it's not about making a beautiful family life in a lovely home anymore..it's about getting everything you can out of someone and then walking away when you think they are getting "Too Serious" or they are getting "Too Close" and that scares many nowadays!
The American Dream isn't the same anymore and our world isn't safe like it once was because we have put so much sin and evil into it!
We have done it to this world, we have corrupted it with sin and now the innocent children are having to deal with it! But what do we do? Nothing.
We just close our eyes to the fact that we are the problem and if we only realized it..we could change this world for the better!
Unless we surrender and admit that we have sinned and unless we turn to God once more.. our society, our schools and yes, even our churches will continue to dig deeper into the things of this world and instead of changing..we have suddenly decided to accept things of sinful nature in our homes, schools and even behind church walls and that means that we have welcomed it into our sanctuaries and that means that there isn't a refuge to run to if we don't stop it from happening! Without that refuge..there can be no peace and one thing is for certain..sin causes us to lose our peace and not only that..it also causes us to lose sight of our dreams as well!
We have to return to God, we have to get on our knees again in prayer, we have to remember where we came from, not only for ourselves but think about the innocent children out there who are having to live inside the world that you have shaped around them!
Do it for the benefit of a better world for your future family, because like it or not..what you do today will effect them also, if you don't realize that what you're doing is wrong and start getting involved in church again!
Take control of your life now so something bad doesn't take root in your heart and control your life for you!
If you'll surrender everything to God..Then God will give you everything that you'll ever need and most of all you'll have peace in your life and a smile on your face even when bad days come..because you'll have the joy from the Lord that no one can ever take away!
This verse reminded me of the world we live in and how we need to choose God once more because we know that we cannot survive without him leading us in every area of our lives!

Joshua 24:14-16
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods!”

~Dani