The best advice our teacher gave us was to become comfortable talking about how God is working in our lives. He said everyday to reflect and write down how God has worked in our life that day. This helps to make our beliefs more concrete in our own minds, making it easier to share with others. Our teacher also suggested we know what we believe and why we believe it. He said it has to be personal. It has to be real. It has to be unique to each person. I must be able to say with all sincerity and conviction here is what I believe and here is why I believe it.
What I believe:
I believe God created this amazing world for us, His children, to live in.
I believe He created us with desire to know Him and serve Him, whether we choose to accept that or not.
I believe He sent His only Son to die as a sacrifice for our selfish sins.
I believe my sin hung Jesus on the dreadful cross.
I believe that I am unworthy of forgiveness, but...
I believe that I am forgiven, saved, and redeemed because...
I believe God provides unending grace and mercy when I fail.
I believe that I fail constantly, but...
I believe that God loves me unconditionally.
I believe that God knew me before I was formed in the womb.
I believe that God has a special and unique plan for me, my life, and my service to Him.
I believe that God's divine plan will include His guidance, protection, love, and mercy as long as I am willing to follow Him.
I believe that I am so amazingly blessed to know the Lord and trust in His plan for me, even when I am scared of what the future my hold.
I believe that in the crazy storms of life, He is my rock, my shelter, and my safety.
I believe God provides daily blessings in my life.
I believe God allows me to be tested and tried for the furtherance of the gospel and the growth of my faith and relationship with Him.
I believe that if I follow Him, I will receive rewards and blessings here in this life, but more importantly in the next.
I believe that one day I will live with Him eternally, singing His praises, dancing around His throne, and laughing with unending joy and happiness.
I believe Heaven is real.
I believe God is great, God is love, God is mine. And I am His.
Why I believe:
The WHAT is easy, but the WHY can be a bit tricky... Yes, history provides very real records and accounts of Jesus' earthly mission and the following of His apostles and other believers. While that confirms my beliefs and provides me with more confidence to spread that news to others, it isn't why. That isn't what's real to me. That isn't what has personally affected my life. That isn't what helps me through my daily life. That isn't who I pray to. That isn't who I cry to. That isn't who saved me. What I believe may seem irrational or illogical to some people. I believe because of what I see every day in my life. I believe because of my circumstances. I believe because it's my faith. It's my story. Just me and God.
I believe because I learned about Jesus before I could talk.
I believe because I sang the B-I-B-L-E in nursery class when I was two years old.
I believe because mommy and daddy taught me to pray.
I believe because of the 'salt lady' story in our old, musty, Bible story book that still sits on the family bookcase.
I believe because I watched many people come to Christ and be baptized when all I knew was that there was a small pool at the front of the audotorium.
I believe because of the examples of family, love, and living a God-centered life from my parents.
I believe because I had a strong conscience from the time I was 8, when I remeber crying over the first lie I ever told.
I believe because when I was scared, I prayed, and God calmed my spirit.
I believe because of the Bible verse book that is inscripted, "To my sweet Stacie... Love Grandma".
I believe because I watched my daddy baptize my big sister when I was six.
I believe because after years of prayer from my family, my Grandad was saved during his fifties and has been forever changed.
I believe because after seeing so many wonderful examples my faith became my own...
I believe because at 11:30 pm on August 23, 2007, I was baptized with my closest friends and family surrounding me and singing "Sing and Be Happy".
I believe because I've been through many trials through which God never left my side.
I believe because I suffer from medical conditions that would leave someone without God questioning their existence and sanity, but I don't because I have found peace in Jesus.
I believe because God speaks to me through music, books, His word, and those around me.
I believe because I have the kind of friends who pray with me and for me.
I believe because my heart is still beating and my limbs are still attached.
I believe because God has removed people from life who didn't have the same ultimate goal as me.
I believe because God brings people into my life who do have the same ultimate goal as me.
I believe because God uses my parents, my sister, my friends, and church family to strengthen my faith.
I believe because God has guardian angels all around me - I am convinced.
I believe because even though I continually fail, God forgives me and brings me peace.
I believe because though I ache daily, God tells me He has something planned that will make all of this suffering more than worth it.
I believe because when I am weak, He lifts me up.
I believe because when I feel as though I can't get any lower, He shows me a verse, a song, an encouraging word, or a friend to be my strength.
I believe because He has put great desires in my heart to work for Him and help His children.
I believe because He has brought me to a wonderful church family, where I have never been happier.
I believe because things I perceived as bad at the time, He later revealed that He was protecting me from something much worse.
I believe because He dries my tears when I cry over and over and over again.
I believe because though I have turned my back on him countless times, He has never turned His back on me.
I believe because of the little things he does every day to show me that he loves me.
I believe because of the family he has blessed me with, the friends he has sent into my life, and the love they have for me.
I believe because I see that He allows my suffering to be an encouragement to others.
I believe because he gave a lot of people the calling to be doctors and surgeons... the same doctors and surgeons who aid in giving me a better quality of life.
I believe because I have faith that someday I will live with Him in Heaven... in a brand new body.
I believe because every single day of my life, God holds my hand and my heart.
I believe because in Christ, I have an inexpressible joy... Not always happiness, but joy that just can't be replaced by anything else.
I believe because when I think of surgery, my future, or death, I now feel peace.
I believe because I feel freedom in Christ.
I believe because I'm not perfect, but He loves me anyway.
I believe because although I don't always choose Him, He always chooses me. Over and over and over again.
I believe.
I believe.
I believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment