The Way to Heaven

I have written many blog posts with high hopes of inspiring others; I have shared my most personal life tales; times that have upset me and experiences that have made me laugh. My greatest life moment is not a moment of self glory, but of the night I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior during Vacation Bible School after a Thursday night lesson at my sister's church as a twelve year old. A moment that changed the course of my life; since that night, I have embarked on a journey full of twists and turns that I never could have imagined. Jesus has proven to be my very dearest friend; experiences have continued to mold me and strengthen my faith and sole trust in Him. I am thankful for my salvation and for His promise of eternal life in Heaven that awaits me. My heart feels so heavy as I watch the state of the world deteriorate every day. Every soul who reads my blog is precious to me; I thank the Lord for giving me this platform and a chance to share my life with you all and most importantly, a place to share the Gospel to lost souls and the steps I take as I'm walking with Him. You may wonder "How can I be sure I'm going to Heaven?" "How can I be saved?" Today, I am here to share with you how you can have eternal life and a personal relationship with the Lord. We all die and there are two places you could go: Heaven or Hell. Do you know where you would go if you died tonight?

The first step to being sure you're going to Heaven is to know and realize that we are all sinners. You, me, and everybody. Saving yourself is impossible and no amount of good deeds or good moral sense will get you into Heaven. Salvation is ALWAYS by grace through faith. Where exactly does the Bible tell us that we're sinners? I have found two verses that let us know:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 KJV)

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one". (Romans 3:10 KJV)

The good news is that we were sent a Savior. Christ died for us and paid the debt for ALL of our sins, so that we may have eternal life in Heaven with Him and avoid spending eternity in the Lake of Fire, away from Him forever. Hell is not a fairy tale; it is a very real and torturous place that exists. What a friend He is to have taken punishment for your sins so that you don't HAVE to go there. What a great friend that gives you a chance and a choice. I cannot think of a better friend to have.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". (Romans 5:8 KJV)

I'm continuing on from the previous statements as I state once again that salvation is a gift from God; it is not something you work to achieve, and works do not determine our eternal home. Free will gives us the power to make our own choices. He loves all of us, and He does not want to see anyone perish. As a child of God, your life becomes filled with purpose, lessons to learn, and the best part is you'll always have a friend you can count on. He's never too busy. He'll supply you with everything you could possibly need. He continues watching over you when times get tough, and when you make a mistake, He will not turn His back; in fact, sometimes He'll use situations to cleanse your life of things that don't need to be there, to bring you closer to Him, and to make you better than you might have been before. Failure is not final with Him; He will never ever leave you. He'll listen to every word you say, and He'll dry every tear that falls. Life as a Christian is the ultimate challenge; living in complete faith is much harder than living in sin, simply because we are human. The course is rough, but in the end the Christian will be rewarded with eternal life free from the wages of sin. I promise you if you accept Him into your life it will be so worth it. The way I like to think of myself these days is I'm not Molly with cerebral palsy. I'm just Molly. I'm not a body with a soul, I'm a soul with a body; I have found that it has helped me to put things in the proper perspective and has strengthened my walk and has heightened my desire to serve Him so much. 

"For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23 KJV)

The things I have written today may have left you with a lot of questions and thoughts; that can be a good thing. You may wonder just who could be saved? The Bible says whosover. He can save anyone, anywhere, and at any time and it only takes one time. All you need to do is place your faith in Him by confessing with your mouth that you're a sinner, and that you need a Savior, ask Him for forgiveness for all of your sins, and to save you;  tell Him you would like to accept Him into your heart and into your life ; also, believe in Him with all your heart. It's that simple. It's immediate. It's forever. You CANNOT lose it. Whosoever.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". (Romans 10;9 KJV)

"For whosover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13 KJV

Life as a Daughter & A Dog Mom

What a busy day! My life is certainly filled to the brim these days! This week was a rare twist for the blog; this is the first time I have ever featured two posts in one week. I hope everybody enjoyed them. How can I describe life? Blessed and super busy. I am so tired, and should probably be asleep right now, but I just want to say how much I am thankful for. One question I would love to ask my old self is: how on Earth did you ever get so bored?! I'm never bored, and with Ollie here during the day, I am never lonely. I love my house and there is always so much to do! Late nights are always a good thinking and writing time for me. I really am so blessed. I am so glad I got over needing excitement in my day, because the most exciting thing now to me is when I am getting ready for bed. I have become boring and I love it!

I am so happy that my mom is doing so well. Lupus is really scary. I am so thankful to the Lord for helping her to go into a remission of sorts; of course it's never going to go away and is still causing an issue with her skin, but I am so thankful that she is not physically sick anymore. I love her so very much, and it killed me to see her so sick; 2014 was a bad year on all accounts. 2015 started out rocky but ended up great, and 2016 has been amazing so far. The Lord has put both of us in such a great place. Mom is well, and even though I'm tired most of the time, I am completely fulfilled and happier than ever. I think the tiredness is supposed to last. I've heard that is common in adulthood. Yay! I think...

I love housework. I really do. My favorite thing to do is laundry. I'm weird and I love to smell the laundry detergent pods and the dryer sheets. The little things in life are what is important. I love coffee. I love YouTube videos. I am enjoying listening to the rain as I type. I can't wait until it gets cooler so  I can wear my fall clothes. I'm actually sick of short sleeve shirts and shorts at this point, which is odd for me because I love summer; I'm just sick of the heat. 

I dealt with a depressed dog today. Ollie dearly loves my mom and he considers her his mommy too. The morning started off rather differently, and he acted so weird all day. He is a creature of habit. He kept pouting and clung to me at times. He's never like that with me;  he only cuddles with Mom.  He usually stays to himself unless I'm eating food or he wants outside; his hang out spot during the day is under my Mom's bed. I  happily welcomed the attention, and we shared pizza for lunch today. I love my Ollie. He is a handful at times, but I love being a dog mom. Ollie is nearly 6 years old, and understands so much...it's scary sometimes. I have had fun watching him grow. 

My post tonight was short, but I just wanted to pop in tonight and say hello! I will be back on the blog Tuesday. I have one topic in mind, and will be doing some topic hunting for future posts this weekend. Thank you for reading! Good night!

God's Purpose In Your Mistakes

Everything that God allows to come our way always has a purpose. He uses our worst mistakes and deepest pain to mold us into the person He created us to be. What a statement of truth. After being at a standstill as far as writing goes for the past couple of weeks, I came across this statement and felt led to examine my own life. The past week or so, I hadn't been feeling well and I of course took a week or so off from writing because I just didn't have it in me to do anything and no inspiration. The saying "idle hands are the devil's play thing" couldn't be further from the truth. The busier I am the better; when I stop is when I start thinking of every hurt, every pain, every mistake, every bad choice; all of the negative things that have transpired throughout my life so far. As I was in my thoughts, I just so happened to find this statement and at church this past Wednesday night I was reminded that evening that even though my salvation means I am a finished work in Christ, I still have work on this Earth to do and He is not done molding me yet. I was so inspired. I knew what my next topic had to be: His plan behind your mistakes. Have you ever thought, "Why did I make 'X' choice?" Have you ever pondered over the hurt you may have caused yourself and others due to some of the choices in your past? Has God ever woken you up using  painful circumstances  in order to get it through your head that you need to take your faith and your Christian walk seriously? I know all of these things mentioned have occurred with me. I can prove how and why. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28 KJV: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to His purpose". Yes, He uses EVERYTHING in your life, and I love that verse. I know I include that a lot in the blog; it's my favorite and one I continue to cling to since I came back to the Lord in 2015 (I got saved June 24, 2004). However, I would like to dig deeper tonight and show you the benefits of some of your deepest heartache. My message tonight is, wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, it will be okay and He will see you through. No matter what you lose, He will be there.  I encourage anyone who is not saved, to get saved and receive Him as your personal Savior before it is eternally too late; it will be the best day of your life and you will begin a journey you could never have imagined full of purpose. We are all sinners and in need of a Savior. 

I am so glad I have a Savior who can let me know if He is not happy with my life. I am thankful for His love and his correction. I am glad for wake-up calls. A lot of Christians today live their life as if this world is all they'll ever know. The best part about a wake up call from the Lord is the correction you receive because of it; some of my deepest pain has in reality changed my life for the better; when we are children of God, consequences are used to  lovingly correct us and to bring us back to Him. Hebrews 12:6-7 KJV tells us, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

What can be some signs of chastening? In doing some web browsing I found these on multiple sites. 

-Depression

-Relationship fractures

-Broken friendships

-Illness (self or loved one)

These four are the major signs I found. Let me be clear, I'm not saying that anyone who is sick or depressed or experiencing friend problems is being chastened, I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that if you know you are  truly saved BUT you are actively indulging in sin and yet have experienced some relentless problems and feel it just can't get any worse, it may be the Lord trying to get through to you and He may be letting you know things need to change. He knows all. Listen to Him. His goal is to bring you back to Him, so He can bless your life and use you; often times, He uses our very worst mistakes to help someone else when we least expect it. 

I have so much more on my mind that I want to include in this post, and I may write more in future posts on this subject, I'm not sure yet. All I'm sure of is that I know the Lord loves me. I am thankful for all that I have been through, all of the pain that I've experienced. I have questioned so much in my time on this Earth, and shamefully I have often thought "Why Lord?" or "Really?" Honestly, without my past I would not be where I am today; because of some of my pain I have a deeper desire to serve the Lord now, not just with my words but with how I live my life; as I said earlier, it is a way of life. The Bible tells us in Romans 5;1- "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". Even though we are justified by faith, we are also plainly told not to let sin have control over our lives, but to let God have control. (Romans 6;14-15)

I know tonight's post is long, and I don't know if this will help anyone, but I hope it does. Pain is not the end. God is not done with you yet. That's my point. We must obey His word and do our best to serve Him. No one is perfect, but the mistakes we make can even be used for His glory. As Christians, we are a finished work in Christ, but He is not finished with us. Remember Romans 8:28, and Phillipians 1:6 KJV. Don't let the devil steal your joy, or let him make you think it's over, because it's not. God has a plan and a purpose. I have things in my life that I wish would have worked out how I'd hoped, but I am working on accepting that things turned out for God's good. I can tell you for certain that I am  really happy to be where I'm at. Healthier than I've ever been. Depression free for over a year now. Don't quit. I just want to keep going for the Lord, and even though I was really slow and careful to put this out here and I prayed and prayed, I'm still nervous and I just hope it helped someone tonight. I really do. 

The Power of New Experiences

Hey everyone! I apologize for posting so late today, but life stays busy at my house and I just haven't been quite sure how to go about writing this week; sometimes it's hard to get started in the writing process. I am proud to say I can now mark camping off of my life to do list. I just want to say how much of a blessing the overnight trip to Pipe Stem with my Sunday school class was. I had so much fun! I had not had a smore in 13 years, and it was as tasty as I remembered. I even ventured out of my comfort zone and braved a 3000 feet hike to the top of a tower overlooking beautiful landscape. My legs got some much welcomed exercise. 

I came home Saturday evening and on Sunday morning, my mother showed me a video about how much it doesn't matter who you are or who you think you are, God can still use you and can still bless your life. The video talked about all of the things that many people are concerned with, and those things are aspects of life that won't make a bit of difference in the end. The video talked about how in each of us there is a strong person on the inside who the devil doesn't want to come out. I thought, how true. The devil is after all Christians. He doesn't want us to have any joy or any victories in life and he will use what he can to tear us down. While watching and listening to the video, I realized he has been after me too; I was reminded of the "I'm different and it's not a good thing" song that has been on repeat in my head since I was a little kid and still is today even though I'm a grown woman. I don't do enough to give the Lord enough praise but I am so thankful for Him. I've failed Him many times, but He has not once left my side. 

The trip and the video were both eye openers to me; I am still in so much shock that I even attempted a hike. Truth be told, I was very nervous about the entire trip. The biggest obstacle that Satan has put in front of me has been a nasty fear of social situations and up until this past weekend, I hadn't really fought back. I've given in so many times and I let it destroy me. I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm not perfect. Every time I am faced with meeting someone new or doing something new, I feel as if I have this huge boulder on my chest and I start over analyzing everything about myself; it might seem ridiculous, and I know it is but it is very real. Every thing I have been through has shown me just how loyal God is. I've had times where I've been foolish and I don't have as much faith as I should; it has increased lately, but I'm still not where I'd like to be. I know I'll get there, it's just going to take some time. The hike was a huge accomplishment for me, and I don't know how I felt so fearless when walking, but I just felt like I didn't mind for some reason; I thank God for that experience because it showed me that if He can see me through a hike, then He can get me through anything, including my social fear; it's going to just take some effort on my part which I am happy to try; it was exhilarating, and most surely renewed my inner strength. I was so proud too. I've come a long way. Thank you Lord. During my time on this Earth, I have learned that I won't ever have a greater friend than Jesus; no one will stick by your side like He does; that goes for every Christian. There's no point in putting your faith and happiness in people or worrying about what others say; it took me a while to commit that to my heart; it only matters what the Lord says about you. As for the devil, all I want to say to him is yes, I've messed up before but my story isn't over yet. 

I would love to be able to overcome this obstacle once and for all. I would love to be able to open up more around people my own age. I want to thank everyone that I went on the trip with for being so kind. I've always felt like an outsider in life, and even though I am young myself, this is a very new experience for me. I've spent the majority of my life running away from myself and my disability, and I've tried everything just to try to fit in in this world. I thank God for placing me in this class and I just want to say what a blessing it was to be in the presence of fellow Christians. I enjoyed hearing all of the testimonies Friday night, and they really encouraged me too. I was so glad to be able to share my own. 

I am thankful for each and every person in the Young Adult class at my church (Teays Valley Baptist) and I wanted to tell you all I love you; even though, I don't talk that much, every time you all say hello or ask me how I'm doing, it means so much. I am so happy that you have welcomed me with open arms. I'm going to fight my battle. God has really blessed my life in the past year, and the desire of my heart lately has been to do more for Him, because He deserves every bit of the rest of my life. I don't want my journey to just be about some victories and a lot of defeats. I want it to be a lot of victories and a few defeats. I'm not going to be perfect, I know that. I'm going to mess up still, but I refuse to stand half defeated any longer. My God is my rock, and nothing can take me away from Him. I will do my best to live as close to Him as I can, and everyone please pray that God would use me in some way.  I want Him to. I'm ready and willing. I feel like writing is just the start...There's so much more for me to do.