in every victory, let it be said of me; my source of strength and my source of hope is Christ alone.

Without God, Man cannot.
Without Man, God will not.
When God and Man work together, you get Miracles.

God's there no matter what, and everything happens for a reason. You need to go through something to really understand this, and it shows when people raise their hands during a worship and know how to use the word "amen". God has various plans for us, and whatever turns out we need to see it in the light that "Thy will has been done". Your will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.

my friend wrote this,

when things don't turn out my way and i get frustrated, God is always there
to remind me that things didn't go my way because someone else out there needed
it to go theirs. and its okay. its okay if things don't go my way, because
sometimes i benefit from it. i learn to be a better person and ultimately a
better friend/daughter/sister. and in his unfailing guidance, i remember why i'm
here and what is right. it was never about me, it's about all of us, and how we
love Him so. thank you, and i hope that this will be enough to pull me
through.

You gotta believe it to see it. No matter what it is, God's there. Your friends are there, and just knowing of their love and willingness to give their all for you is all you need. Even when it seems like the worst day, like this is the end, you really really need to see the big picture, you need to reform this into one experience that's going to be remembered and the pride that you will soon take in gaining triumphance in the eventual stage.

And with their love, love others. Teach others. At the end of the day we're the children of God.

and let the world know that someone out there actually cared enough to die for me.

When Adam ate the stupid apple right, which would have been easier for God: To wipe out the whole earth -all the sinful people- and start over OR to send his only Son to suffer and then die so that the people could be forgiven?

First of all, that's the ONLY son he has.
Second of all, that's his son. The one he loves more than anything else in the world, something you'd understand once you have your own. Even if he had two, isn't letting one suffer to death hurting enough?

So shouldn't he have tried it out a second time, made sure Adam and Eve got it right? Being God he'd have every right over the world, and everything would have been perfect: There'd be no sinners, no hurt, no shame, no regret, no agony. Compared to the first option, which consists of less than 6 days, the second requires sacrifice, planning and 33 years of Jesus's lifetime on earth. On top of all the suffering, it's just so hard and painful.

There was this story our principal shared with us during devotion, it was about
this guy who had a daughter with spinal problems. One day, he went to the
hospital to learn that his daughter would have to have an immediate surgery on
her backbone. He stayed with her. He buried his face with hers and held her
hands, as the doctor injected into her backbone and she cried "Daddy, daddy
please make it stop. Please. It hurts." His daughter, probably the most precious
thing in his life. Then his own tears started to come as he gripped her hand
tighter. But he knew that this would help her, and out of love let her continue
to bear the pain while sharing it.

This was the kind of hurt God was going through when Jesus was being pierced to the cross, when he was being insulted, when he was being killed.

God had known this would come, and still he chose it to be this way. He made his own son (who was made human when he's God) live a mortal life and be tempted, then suffer and die for us so we couold be forgiven. It was this sacrifice that has made it possible for you and God to build a relationship together.
Building is always harder than destroying- but it was worth it.

God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright

Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud our freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It's gonna be alright'

Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here ♥

I think we all know that we have the gift of forgiveness from God, that our sins are no longer counted against us.

Paul has this to say in Romans 6,

The good news is, repenting is not hard - 1 Jn 1:9 - 'if we confess our sins before Him, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness'. The hard part is what comes after - living lives that go against the temptations that we once gave in to; but remember, 'if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed' (Jn 8:36) - and we know that Jesus has set us free.

We are no longer slaves to sin, nor do we stand condemned. :) Now the question is, are we living that out - and how do we do it?

A lot of adults make fun of lawyers, primarily because it seems that they work more for the money than for the good of people. But the fact is that lawyers play an important role in the justice system. They study the law, they know the rules, and most try to get the right thing done. If there weren’t such people, you wouldn’t know if someone in trouble was actually rigt. They’d probably be confused in court, and end up saying the wrong thing.

Even when the jobs of lawyers are misunderstood, Jesus takes this job up in heaven and fights for you. While Satan tells God about all the bad stuff you've done and goes, "This kid's no match for your kingdom. He just keeps messing up", Jesus is telling God, "It's true. But I died for that person. That person is now blameless."

Just so you know, God has every right to believe Satan. But Jesus's death for us proved a love far greater than the gravity of what we've done. The fact that God created Jesus and sent him to die for us shows that he is willing to forgive us.

But that doesn't give us the right to sin, nor does it give us the right to go like, "It's okay, he's probably gonna forgive me anyway." On the contrary, it should make us more cautious of what we do. In a world of sin, we are bound to sin. Hence, we have to be aware of our actions, and own up to the consequences, and if they're wrong, work hard to repent.


I hope you guys understand what I'm talking about and that you'll apply this! :D
"Faith without deed is nothing."
Love you all, especially when we come together.