Featuring Rachael O'Neil

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Table of Contents

Monthly Grub 3MOV Column 4FiTAVIi GIrls 5AWaCk Update 6 Psalmist Quarters 7Cont..... 8Whats the Agenda 9Pics 10Updates from around The Globe 11

Thanks for checking out the AWaCk’s Newsletter! We chose to name it the BE247 because Jeremiah 24:7 says “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” We are a youth group striving to have a heart that knows God, an ear tuned into His voice and passion for His work - 24 hours a day - 7 days a week! We hope this motivates you to do great things for His Kingdom! God Bless you as you live for Him 24/7!!

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Deceptively Simple by Rachael O’Neil

We all know the story. It was just a sim-ple fruit, perhaps an apple? Really, what harm could it cause? It surely wouldn’t change the fate of the world. Or so Eve thought. The setting of our story takes place in Genesis chapter three. While reading through this story again the other day, I was stuck with how this ap-plies to our lives today. You see, Eve had been informe not to eat of this tree, or she would surely die. She knew it was wrong, yet she did not understand why. She allowed herself to be lured in, and she justified her actions, changing her life forever. Eve did not understand the importance of obeying the word of God. She did not understand why she wasn’t supposed to eat from this tree. This tree was pleasant to the eyes, and surely the fruit had to be delicious! Plus, by eating of the fruit, it just might make her wise. There were hundreds of other trees she could eat from, but the unknown and forbidden lured her in. If she only knew what dan-gers awaited her and her family by eat-

ing of that fruit! Yes, her eyes would be opened. Yes, she would be wiser to the things of this world! The world may tell you differently, but it is okay to be in-nocent! To not fully comprehend a dirty joke, or understand the sin around you is a good thing. I do not doubt that Eve forever mourned, and longed for the innocent and peaceful days back in the garden.We’ve been informed what is right, and what is wrong, just like Eve was. Yet, do we understand why we do what we do? We must dive into the word of God, and search out the answers ourselves. We must see for our-selves why God established cer-tain boundaries and regulations in our garden of life. We must un-derstand that the Bible is more than just words on a page. We need to fall deeply in love with our Creator, and the words He has given us. If we do not understand, and believe in this truth with our whole hearts, we will fall into the same trap Eve did.

At first, Eve did not eat of the forbid-den fruit. She ate from every tree near-by it, but she dare not touch the for-bidden tree. I can imagine her looking at it with longing as she passed by, but

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Hello gentlemen good to be able to speak to you again,

I don’t know how many of you have heard of the book “Do Hard thing “, but it’s a book I would definitely suggest that you take the time to read. In this book is basi-cally explains why going out of your comfort zone to do something amaz-ing is completely and totally worth it. This is something that I’m constantly finding myself confronting in my own life, to do something not but because I want to but because I know that the end result will be very much worth it.

It’s very interesting to see how different laws that God has told us about really do come to pass in our everyday lives. You reap what you sow; Actions speak louder than words, and so on. But another law that I’m start-ing to learn about in life is this “hard work and sacrifice now, reaps greater rewards later “. We will all pay the price for

the things we take part in, either now or later. Whether its time or money or conse-quences for actions we take part in, we all will pay some kind of price for the things we want and desire. Think about it, you go to college so that later you can have a better job. Going to college is hard work but you’ll definitely thank yourself later for it. Just

whatever it is in life you want to accom-plish to be successful it will require two things of you, Sacrifice and hard work.

So basically what I’m saying is don’t be afraid to give up some things right now in the present if you know that in the future you will be rewarded for your sacrifice. Even as we live our lives to fol-low after Christ, giving up

pleasures that are sinful and human nature, we have a future goal in our focus. A heavenly home and fu-ture of eternity with our

loving Father. So what’s 80 years or so of some sacri-fices in life for an eternity

in paradise? It’s nothing. So in closing I would encourage you all to take that step out of your norm and one step towards that career, ministry, and life that you

aspire to, you will definitely thank yourself later for it. God bless you guys.

Samuel D. Orazio

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Hey FITAVII Girls!

I read an article today that hit home with me! It was titled, “If Clothes Could Talk.” One part of the article said:

“If clothes could talk, what would they say about you?

I’m insecureI’m easyI’m coolI’m hidingI need loveI’m pretty importantI need your attentionI’m proudI spend a lot of money...”

So think about it! Would your clothes speak volumes about the kind of person you are? We are all made in the image of God! God made each of us beautiful.

Different, but beautiful! We don’t have to try to impress the world with the way “they” think we should dress. Style and fashion are both great things. But let’s remember that while we are fearfully and wonderfully made, our Creator didn’t make us to show off everything He created. He created us to be a peculiar people and to be set apart.

Let’s dress for godly suc-cess!

Love you all!Sarah B.

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A time for everything!

By Amber Sirstad

We are all well aware that life throws things our way that we never thought would happen. Whether it be sickness, losing a loved one, getting fired from a job, or per-haps getting a great promotion that you didn’t expect. The Bible warns us that things like this will happen. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, “To every-thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from em-bracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of

war, and a time of peace.” If we didn’t have tests and tri-als in our life, it would be a smoothly paved road to…nowhere. Every single day we are being taught lessons

in life, whether we realize it or not. If somebody hurts you, forgive them. Will it be easy? Nope. But in them hurting you, you are learning a lesson about trust. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally. Don’t put

conditions on whether you love them or not. They are teaching you to open your heart and

eyes to seeing things and feeling certain emotions that you would have never felt without them. Whether a good person or not-so-good person is so strategically placed in our lives, pay attention, because there is a lesson

to be learned. Perhaps at the end of the day before you go to bed,

sit down and go back in your mind through the day.

Did any hard obstacles arise? How did you respond to them? I think that you might just be surprised about the little things you can learn. Always remember there is a time for everything.

By Mary Portwood

It seems like we are always wanting more of something. More dessert, more money,more Facebook friends. Unfor-tunately, those things have their lim-its. You can only have 5,000 Facebook friends. Mom’s cake will be gone after the last piece is finished. Did you know that there are no limits with God? He truly is an infinite, omnipresent God. To me, the best part about this is that when I want more of Him, I can’t be disappointed. There is always another level to His greatness for us to learn. His mercies are new every morning, and that means that our experiences with Him can be new every day. He has plans for us that He can’t wait to fulfill for our lives. He loves our worship, and He loves our prayers. He loves to commune with His children. When we open our hearts to Him and say, “God, I want more of you!” He hon-ors that desire. Psalm 37:4 says, Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires

of your heart. This is a fool-proof prom-ise from God. If you delight yourself in Him, He will take you to new levels in Him.Will Regan & United Pursuit Band re-cently released a song called, “Set A Fire,” which you can find by clicking here. This song is such a beautiful prayer that sim-ply asks for more of God:

No place I would rather beNo place I would rather beNo place I would rather beThan here in Your love, here in Your loveSo set a fire down in my soulThat I can’t contain and I can’t controlI want more of You, GodI want more of You, God

Let’s dedicate this month to truly seek-ing new levels in our relationships with Jesus. He liter-ally cannot wait to do something great in you. Remember, it’s a promise!

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holding out against the temptation. Then one day, all it took was another voice telling her she should eat the fruit. This voice offered what sounded like good reasoning, and since she was already on shaky ground in her be-liefs, she gave in. I’m sure a still small voice had been screaming, “THIS IS WRONG, DON’T DO THIS” in the back of her mind. In order to quite that voice, she created excuses and justified it to herself so her wrongs ap-peared right. “Oh it’s just an apple, it’s not like I don’t need to eat it. Adam doesn’t know what he’s talk-ing about, this is just a little thing. Why would God even care?” What seemed like just a little thing added up,

and before she knew it, she no longer lived in the wonderful garden God had created just for her and Adam.God has a plan for each and every one of you. Each plan is different and wonderful, and if you follow it you will lead a very happy and fulfilled life. Yet, God will not force us to choose

Him, or His plan. He gives us the power to choose whether

we stay in the paradise he specifically created for us, or whether we live out-side it. Little choices you make each day will add

up and affect your overall choice and path. So be vigilant. Understand what you be-

lieve and why. Be careful whom you listen to. Do

not justify your actions. Always be honest with yourself. Most important-ly, fall in love with God, and His word.

Monthly Grub Continued....

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Updates from around the Globe!By Jordan Orazio

Greetings from Riga Latvia!

Wow, God has been doing some amaz-ing things while we have been here so far! We have just finished 2 weeks of intense training, and now are moving into a week of prayer walks and evange-lism which will mostly continue into the summer. I’m excited to see what God is going to do! Even after we leave the work here will still continue and even pick up momentum with a Holy Ghost rally later in August. Bro and Sis Shutes are some of the most sold out missionaries/people I’ve ever met. God has already done great things through them and they are continuing to reach hundreds of people even now. Today we sat down prayed and asked for God’s direction for evangelism then made a plan! One thing I have been taught is that we do not make a plan and try to “fit” God in that plan, but we 1st seek His direction and do it His way, we are working together WITH God. Some people are comfortable sit-

ting around till Jesus comes, but that will not be me! He did not call us to just sit around till He comes but there is such a great harvest and millions to reach for Him. Remember, God will not call you without equipping and helping you. Is. 43:10 “Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have cho-sen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me, I even I am the Lord and beside me there is no Savior.

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