waiting on the world to change

you know when youre a kid, your parents took you to american adventures foam factory or six flags skull island? do you remember standing underneath that basket or bucket full of foam balls or water?? do you remember how anxious and excited you were when you heard the siren or when you waited underneath it, watching the basket or bucket getting fuller and fuller???

that's where ATLANTA is! the basket is getting fuller and fuller; people are making a change gradually; people are lost and broken; people are hopeless and weak; the church is just a building; people are ready for a healer, people are ready for strength and hope, the church is ready for repurpose.

okay...maybe not so much the foam balls but the water hits you hard as will this revival...so might as well keep building, praying, encouraging, challenging, persevering, loving, forgiving, embracing.

"On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."
Matthew 9:12

"'Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does is look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, O ATLANTA,' declares the Lord. 'Be strong, O ________, Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the Lord, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'

'This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. And in thes place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty.'"
Haggai 2: 3-9

blessed

must read: haggai chapters 1-3

life

every life is given breath to breathe

never give UP on God, give IN...

Proverbs 7: 8-10, 13-14
"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.....Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future."

Reading this might get you to think about your past and whether it was better or not...for me, I couldn't see straight...I've never thought about it like that...No one can straighten what God has already made crooked....

Can you imagine? Have you imagined?
everything...EVERYTHING is brought upon you for a purpose....good or bad, you just have to learn how to overcome your pride when times are good and overcome your doubts when times are bad because God will always be your provider....

What's the point in giving up, when you can give in?
Is it really worth it to just give up the simple joys you had for a time of sorrow?
GOD ALWAYS HAS A BACKUP PLAN FOR YOU, so why give up?
just hang in there and God will provide.

Don't dwell on the past, what good will it be for the future? More or less for the present?
Focus and be grateful for the present, it's a gift..hence the name "present."
It's the gift God gives us in order to correct and build on our past in order to help us in the future.

I'm guilty of "wanting" the "good old days" to come back...to Hanin, to my family, to my school...to me...but hey...I'm human...
People tend to look back at the past because the present doesn't look bright enough...but we humans are too blind to see...we need to PAUSE and think.....see beyond the shadow...What is exactly the CAUSE of the shadow?

Exactly, the sunshine...I think switchfoot or another band had a song out called "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" or something like that? It's SO true...

Here is the devotional in my Bible that went along with it...

It's easy to think the past was better than today. Most of us have selective memories. We only remember what we want to remember....
You could make the case that it's good to forget the bad. However, when we look at the pasthrough rose-colored glasses, we run the risk of being ungrateful for what we have right now. Rather than seeing today's gifts, we yearn for yesterday's fun and games, conveniently glossing over the past's difficulties.
Our days, months and years are made up of both good times and bad. The tapestry of life's events makes up the veryssence of who we are...
Thank God for all your wonderful memories. Take the difficult things to God in prayer. Ask him what he wants you to learn from your present situation. God doesn't waste any of our experiences. He can use the good ol' days, as well as the no-so-good days, to benefit us, if we let him. The key is to remember things as they really were, to be content with things as they really are and to trust God to take care of the furture.

I realy hope this helped some of you guys, please let me know if there's any way I can help you.

thanks....your sister in Christ,
Yuri

The Glory of It All...

For some of us, there is a mysterious, unexpected sinking feeling when we encounter discipline, discouragement, fear, injustice, pain....For some of us, there is a bittersweet numbness after so many falls and failures....

For some of us, the uneasy feeling creeps down our arms and spreads through our fingers, pressing our hearts to beat faster and faster....the cool relief of sweat forms drops on our already damp foreheads... Is there more to this life than disappointment? Is there more to this heart than fear?

For some of us, we just stand and watch; "oh that doesn't happen to me much" "oh that person can handle it" "oh it's not my business" "oh my life isn't like that" "oh im glad it's not me"....

but HOW? How can we just stand watch when so many of us are beginning to fall apart? How can we, as brothers and sisters, leave another brother or sister to suffer? to feel uneasy? secluded? burdened?

There is much more to this life, brothers and sisters, much much more than ourselves....a sister who thinks she is overweight because some kids cracked a joke or two and later stops eating altogether...a brother bullied by his peers and later secludes himself into a lonely, miserable, jealous isolation...

Maybe you are the hurt, the lost, the hopeless, the burdened, the waiting...

Brothers and Sisters, our father, our savior, our ever present God gives hope to the hopeless, strength to the weak, company to the lonely, freedom to the burdened, peace to the restless, the overwhelming satisfaction to the waiting....this is the glory of it all...the gift of a savior...not only a life...but hope, dreams, a friend, laughter, patience, understanding...he did not stop giving after showing that sacrificial love on that tree...He only begins to give...

Maybe you are those who watch..the bystanders of people in this world, your borthers and sisters, who think about suicide or apathy toward life everyday....anyone can become comfortable with a blessed life...friends, a good and caring family, an amazing youth group, loving mentors....who can complain with a life like that? In the Bible, God speaks through a parable, saying "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" -Luke 12:48....."Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" -Matthew 29:40

So act, brothers and sisters, God has given you a conviction before you were even in your mother's womb...a pastor once told me that our blessings are like wine pouring into a glass cup...once you are full...will you not lett it overflow? No, let it overflow and fill the cups of those around you...for God's gifts to us are prayers answered...no heavenly music will play while it is being answered...a simple smile or a helping hand answers the prayers of so many around us...because the glory of it all....the answered prayers, spontaneous outbreaks of the ever so contagious smiles, a life saved, strength to face another day...comes from God, and as devoted children, we, too, must keep the "spirit of giving" alive in our day-to-day lives...so, act...there are so many people who need our hope, our savior...so many....one life saved is another celebration in heaven....

Psalm 31

In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.

Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.

Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.

I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the Lord.

I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.

You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.

My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.

I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.

Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave.

Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.

In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.

Praise be to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.

In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Psalm 31

A Promise for the Desperate

"Be STRONG and COURAGEOUS. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes WITH you; he will NEVER leave you NOR forsake you."
-Deuteronomy 31:6

...wow...powerful, huh?
This past week...was a mess for me and giving up didn't sound so bad...
I wanted the easy way out for once, to just drop everything and run away.
Just when I just about had enough, God gave me this verse...I thought to myself; why can't I just trust God?

I'm sure most of u know about the story about the footprints in the sand...Jesus and a man is walking on a beach side-by-side; their spiritual walk together. However, the man did not always walk straight...he would stumble and fall....right when he got frustrated, he looked behind him and only saw one set of footprints..."How could you leave me when I was struggling the most? Why did you leave me when I needed you the most?"...Jesus replied, "Son, friend, the footprints you see behind you are mine...I was the one who carried you."

HOW CRAZY IS THAT?
I was like that this week...frustrated, dry, desperate....I started to question God's promise to me he once made...He promised to always be there..right by my side...he promised to use me...he promised to use this youth group...he promised...he PROMISED! All his promises seemed like lies...empty and abandoned...hollow....and then my little flock of angels helped me remember...helped me remember he was by my side the whole time...

I guess this is a...SHOUT OUT to all who are thirsty, desperate....Listen, those of you who want to give up...DON'T! God has already picked you up! Look behind you, only one set of footprints! Trust God, guys! The thought of leaving Hanin rang through my head...I lost hope, patience, endurance....BUT GOD IS EVER FAITHFUL, AMEN? (: Our youth group is going to fall apart...but those who are faithful will keep the faith, finish the race! WE ARE NOT AN AVERAGE, ORDINARY YOUTH GROUP! WE ARE SHINING THE....
LIGHT OF SALVATION!

So, LET'S SHINE LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW! PRAISE LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORRW! PRAY LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW! Let's do this, guys (;