Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget

Today (or maybe yesterday/tomorrow for other time zones), we remember the fallen soldiers, of whom bravely fought for our freedom. 

Ecclesiastes 3:8

A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.

Nations were shattered by war, families split, take a moment today, and count your blessings. Remember the fallen, wear a poppy.

Take a look at John McCrae's poem. In Flander's Field. Every year, when this is read at my school's Remembrance Day Ceremony, something touches my heart, that chilling feeling when you'r deeply moved.

Lest We Forget.

God Bless!

You See...

I have a few very important people in my life that don't know Christ yet, in the Bible, it states in Matthew (18:20), that when two or more, gather in Christ's name, He is with those who are praying. 

I (and hopefully you) pray that those who don't know Christ, will soon get to know, understand, and worship Him. 

In His Name We Pray,

Amen.

God Bless you all!

-Akili

In Response to Ampharos92

Hio! Thanks for bringing up the topic!

So, first, as I stated in my "popularity" post, you being "not so popular", is not true. True popularity, is if you have a kind heart, willing to help others, generous, etc. Sure, you may not have the "big name brands" of clothing they wear, or you might not know about all the "hottest celebrities", but really, that's what Satan wants for us, to have a "big ego". Caring about others is important, slowly, people will start to like you for who you are, and being you is very important, if you follow all the things that the popular kids do, you're really just turning into someone that you won't be able to recognize soon. At my school, popular kids gossip a lot, they don't do the things that would apply to common sense, and so on. Being popular isn't a great thing in life, necessarily.

Second, you stated that you have a friend that only pays attention to you after school, there are certain situations surrounding that topic.
1) Does your friend only want to be friends with you for attention, and drama? A situation like this would be if she rants, and rants about how terrible her day was, and doesn't listen to what you have to say about your day, she fights for no reason-- and not just normal fighting, I'm saying fighting daily, and so on.
2) Perhaps you just need to see each other more often! Maybe during lunch break if she attends the same school as you, or perhaps if she lives in your neighbourhood, stop by her house at a reasonable time, and just visit with each other. A true friend is one who can help you when you're feeling down, stand up for you when you're bullied, and so on.

Third, you stated that you were really shy, and wouldn't talk to people unless they were your friends, I have a few tips.
1) If you have a few good friends, try making a few new friendships! Get to know the people in your class.
2) Become a confident person, stand up tall, with pride, if you walk around the place with a negative attitude, you can only expect to be treated that way, if you walk around with a smile, positive outlook, you'll be spreading happiness in no time! :)
3) Don't bring yourself down, if you didn't do so well on a test, or had a bad day, making yourself feel bad is also going to damage your self-esteem, for example, "Oh, I'm terrible at math.", will only make you feel worse, try this, "I'll do better next time!", will help a lot.
4) Smile! Even if you're having a rough time, fake it 'till you make it! Smiling will make you feel confident in yourself.

Hope this helps, God bless!

Swearing

The Bible says to keep your mind clean, and pure. Using God's name in vain is not. For example: saying OMG, would stand for "Oh my [insert God here]", that would be using God's name as a swear. There are other cusses that are not appropriate for this site that use the Lord's name as a form of a swear.

Exodus 20:7

New International Version (NIV)

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Another example would be to use God's name to lay a curse, doing something that would be against the Word of God, and claiming it is the Lord's will.

Keep your language pure.

God's Creations (The Wolf)

94% of people think that wolves are vicious, evil animals. Copy and paste this into your mini log/log if you're one of the 6% who love wolves and think they are shy and amazing creatures.

Many movies portray these creatures as flesh-eating monsters, but really, they're just animals that won't hurt you if you won't hurt them.

Heaven is For Real

So, many people in this world doubt that Heaven exists, here's one family's spectacular story:

Picture Found At This Website

There are debates about the place, is it really real?

Here's Colton Burpo's story:

“...when I was angry at God because I couldn't go to my son, hold him, and comfort him, God's son was holding my son in his lap.” 

― Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

“You might as well tell God what you think. He already knows it anyway.” 

― Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back 

“Jesus told me that he died on the cross so we could go see his Dad” - Colton Burpo” 

― Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

Good Reads- Heaven is for Real Quotes 

Solution to Rough Times

Everyone has their rough days, what do you do when you have those times?

Picture Found At This Website

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.

 

Animal Jam

Okay, so some of you may know that I once played Animal Jam, where I was known as (______), I worked for a popular Jammer, helping to answer questions about the virtual world on her blog. When I realized that I was so attached to Animal Jam, I deleted my account, stopped working for the Jammer, and stopped going on any AJ related blogs. I was so addicted to that virtual game, that I spent all of my computer time on it, something that I now regret, I could've done more meaningful things.

Psalm 34:4,5,8 NLTI prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

I'm not saying that everyone who's playing AJ should quit, if you enjoy the game, then feel free to keep on playing, but some things on the game that weren't once there, are now visibly apparent:

1. Online "dating"- when I was on AJ, there was a hearts icon, a face with two hearts for eyes, my friend and I thought it could be used as saying something like "I love reading", or "I love cheese", but many misused it, they treated the icon as a dating symbol, something that they used to show that they really loved that person. I have a younger sibling, and she witnessed some of that disgusting behaviour going on, AJ is a children's site, helping with education about the wondrous things in our world, but now? Now it's turned into some online dating site.
2. Swearing- many users have a free chat option, something that allows them to say whatever they want, not exactly everything, but most. You weren't allowed to cuss, but some have found ways to, for example, a swear word may be replaced with a rhyming word, or a word that sounded similar to the cuss, a rhyming word would do the trick.
3. Scamming- some may say, "if you give me a rare item, I'll give you something rare back!", but really, they'll just take your rare, and keep it, for nothing in exchange.
4. Cyber bullying- this occurs everyday, on any website, and it sometimes can occur on AJ, someone may say to someone else, "You're ugly.", if someone is bullying you, report the user immediately. Animal Jam needs to be a safe world for everyone.

Romans 12: 2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Again, I'm not saying just because I posted about this, means that you can't play AJ anymore, Animal Jam can be a safe world if everyone helps out a little bit.

Popularity

Soon, many of us will be facing school, whether that would be middle school, high school, elementary, or university! There's one thing that always claims some of us as victims:

It's large,

It's terrible, 

and it's called....

Popularity 

You see, from my experience, popularity is just a group of people, claiming to be the "cool kids", or the "popular" ones, but really, I think they just want attention, to be liked, to be praised, and so on. Well, some kids have a desire to be "popular", but the true, from the heart meaning of popular is the person that treats his or her friends well, is generous, and is humble, and etc. Just because some people have "big-name" fashions, or have a phone, doesn't mean they're popular. They can have as many expensive things, and they still aren't truly popular if they have a cruel heart.

Hope this helps!

A Few Verses to Share...

Psalm 27:4
"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." (NIV)

Proverbs 17:17A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (NIV) 

Romans 8:31If God is for us, who can ever be against us? (NLT) 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (NIV)