just christianity

-

 JUST CHRISTIANITY

"FORWARD IN FAITH & NOT BY SIGHT"

Witten and Published : Lydia Rees

___________________________________________________________________________________

Talofa, hunnies & welcome to another blog with your favourite chubby bunny Lia! This week we are running through the life of a Christian in this day and age. Grab a SNACK, grab a DRINK, and perhaps even your bible if need be, and sit back, relax, and read.

Google defines Christianity as a religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ, or its beliefs and practices. Among the many other religions that flood the earth, I am happy to be Christian or like one of my sisters , Adrianna, mentioned in one of her sermons, A Child of God. Not only does "child of God" is easier to understand but it is straight forward where as "Christian" can have various definitions.

Being a Christian in this day and age is ... Scary. I'm aware that there are other religious groups that have it worse than we do but being Christian alone in todays society is just unbearable on some days. I am 20 this year which is very young, but I have had battles with my beliefs since i was able to understand sin and temptation. Moving into adulthood, as a Christian, the more we try and draw closer to God, its like, the more temptations come our way.

Christianity in the workplace

The work place is one place that i know people are embarrassed or even hesitant to bring up the subject of Religion. Why? Because of the judgment, the controversy, because of the lack of understanding. Judgement, admit it, sometimes we want to bring up our religion during a conversation but we are hesitant because we don't want to be judged. We don't want to be THAT kid who is all "godly" on Sundays and not every other day. Controversy, as mentioned earlier, we have different religions now more than ever and so we hold back on talking about Jesus Christ due to the fact that those around you may not have the same beliefs. And lastly, a lack of understanding. You would be naïve to argue with someone about cars if you don't even know how to do an oil change, change a tyre, let alone know where to out blinker fluid right? So in order for us to bring up God in a conversation and also defend and educate, we must first understand what we are preaching. Our Christianity doesn't even need to be spoken about, sometimes its something as simple as reading our bibles in the lunchroom when we have the chance. To display the attitude of someone who is grateful, humble etc. Our Christianity isn't always shown through verbal conversation, but visual observation as well.

Christianity in Schools

We have recently seen in Florida, the high school shooting that has occurred. I came across a post on Facebook that said:
- the world - "God where were you when this shooting was happening""
- God - "they don't allow me in the schools..."
This spoke volume and truth on a whole different level. Schools seems to "ask for prayers" when something bad has occurred, but at the same time, wont accept any talk of God or Jesus Christ. I was lucky enough to have attended Campbelltown Performing Arts, a school which had and has the privilege of running a lunch time - recess time JAS (Jesus At School) group. Although the attendees all attend in their own time, its fantastic to know that the school is welcoming these kind of groups to bond over a common point of interest being Jesus Christ. Having these groups introduced in schools will educate our young not only on who God is, but also the manner in which we need to conduct ourselves.

In this day

In this day and age, being a teen has become a battle between choices. One of my favourite sayings from Tokyo Drift "life is simple, you make choices and you don't look back". You make choices and you don't look back. You always have a choice. I am not saying that your life will be easier as a Christian because it isn't when you're trying to uphold a social status as well as one with God. You will make mistakes and that's okay, as long as you learn from those mistakes and are willing to move forward.

Some of my absolute favourite sermons were by 3of our youth member...

Christina - are you a part time, full time or casual Christian. Are you part time, do you have a scheduled time of the week where you are Christian and when you're not? Casual, just like casual employment, do you choose when you want to be religious when its beneficial for you? And fulltime - self explanatory.

B - How many masters do you serve. You can not have two different masters. You can not live for the world and live for God. In saying this, don't be confused that people who live for God, are not involved in worldly activities, no. Living for God means putting him first in all that you do and trying to prioritise him at all costs. How many masters do you serve?

Junior Alex - Talent. Gifts. Are we using the gifts that God has given us to praise him, to spread his word, to spread his name for good? Because after all, these talents were given to us, and with some hard work, we are able to develop and improve so why not use it for God. You play in instrument? Play for God. You sing? Sing for God. At the end of the day, its up to you, but at the same time, don't be surprise at the result.

Being a Christian isn't casual employment. You do not get to pick and choose when you uphold you duties as a child of God. You do not serve God on some days and return to sinful pleasure other times, no. Being Christian is keeping the promises that you made with God because God has never broken  a promise that has made to mankind. Furthermore, when you offer yourself to things like a role in the church community or your talent to join a worship team or your leader ship skills to lead a youth group, you are making a promise to God. For me personally, joining the worship team at a young age was expected because almost every sunday leading up to the day I joined, my parents had me sing in front of the church. When I finally joined the church band, my initial meeting with our Pastor consisted of him reminding us that we are offering our selves to the work of God and that everything that we do from here on in, will not only affect ourselves, but affect the promise we have made with God.

I have to be honest, there are days where I don't want to go to church and sing in the band because I don't want to see a specific person. Or days where I want to go to an event that clashes with church. But thankfully, by the grace of God, I was able to overcome temptation and take my booty to church. I made a promise to God that I will always try and put him first. And I will never not go to church because of someone else, because I have made a commitment to GOD and not the PEOPLE of the church.

Life is about choices. promises. duties.
and it all about making the right ones. Its essential that we realise that NOW is the time for better change. We are not promised tomorrow and so little by little we can start NOW. As the years go by, the devil becomes more and more creative in luring Gods people to sin. But we must remain firm, educated in the word of God and rely not only by sight but by faith.

My brothers and sisters, when ever you feel like giving up on church or giving up in Christianity in general, please have a read of my favourite bible verse of all time Philippians chapter 3 verse 16. I have those very words tattoos on my ribs to ensure that I am carrying my reminder everywhere I go.

God Bless and shakkas up for the believers.

.><><><><><.
________________________________________________________________________________
 
cya x
________________________________________________________________________________
 
Follow the links below to read some previous blogs.
 
Also feel free to head over to - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPhm20F1W3s and stay up to date with my amateur vlogs and travel posts.
 
Otherwise, Catch me on your other social media!
Snapchat - Lydia_rees11
Instagram - Lydia_rees
Facebook - Lydia Rees
Twitter - Lydia.rees3
Gmail - lydiarees05@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Transitions

-
Transitions – Rees “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.” Just A Church Girl Posted by lydiarees From young it’s always been about fitting in. And as much as we all try to deny it, it’s true, you don’t fit in unless you dress, & walk, & talk & act like everyone else.  We try so hard to satisfy the needs of people we don’t even like, we spend precious, time over thinking situations that don’t even matter; we modify, adjust, alter & re-create ourselves so we are almost identical to the individuals who may not even know we exist. And if I’m being completely honest,  even after reading so many other inspiring blogs on Edmodo, I still feel like I couldn’t  relate to any of them because, well, I’m not them, I’m not in their situation, and most of all, I probably wont ever experience what they experience which is hard when trying to steal someone else’s blog. “We don’t want people to...
Read more

Tufuga's Mat - Part 1

-
Image
TUFUGA'S MAT - PART 1 UNITED THROUGH BLOOD AND PAIN f o r   c u l t u r e  ~  f o r   m e  Written & Published : Lydia Rees   . . .  I anxiously sit watching and waiting for when the tufuga arrives and every little bit of movement around me makes me grow a little more weary. In the distance I can hear the sea crashing, the wind passing through the trees, the lady in the field sweeping up what used to be luscious green leaves which have now fallen to their resting place, I wait. My ankles press against the falas (mat) , imprinting the weaving crafts, folded legs that sat to make these mats for folded legs to rest on, lay on, sleep on, cry on. Flies fly back and forth, touching my skin, flying away, touching the mats, flying away, touching my back pack, flying away, heading in the direction a nearby group of onlookers , flying away, imitating the direction of my thoughts wondering aimlessly here and t...
Read more

Heads or Tails Uce?

-
Image
HEADS OR TAILS UCE? Written and Publish by : Lydia Rees Talofa and welcome to another rant aka ugly excuse of a blog. More often than not, when you flip a coin, you have very very very high chances of it landing on HEADS or TAILS, true? For a moment, lets ignore the fact that there is a very slight possibility that it would land on its side *rolls eyes*. The other day when I was enjoying a fresh chicken Caesar wrap at McDonald's, I overheard a conversation between two Polynesian BOYS behind me that had me ready to throw hands. ÿeah so there's this girl that I'm following on instagram and she is f***** sexy man" "did you hit her up uce" ÿeah I sent her a dm and asked her if she wanted to kick it" ähhaha mah uce" "bro every time we plan to meet up or something, she always has a family event or church aye" "but that's the thing with girls of our kind aye, Samoan girls are cool until they decide to put everything else b...
Read more