"The Strength To Do God's Will." That is what my dad always says at the end of his prayers and always have since I was growing up. It didn't really hit me until around Father's Day this year and that is maybe because I needed it at that time. As I have been writing, things were and still are a little bit confusing for me at this moment in my life. Yes, they are getting easier day by day and moment by moment but it will never be easy here on the earth.
For me, I always need the strength to do God's Will, whether it is at my job or with my friends or other things. I cannot do life alone. That one phase covers how I feel and what I need at the same time. The needing part is "the strength" and the feeling part is "to do God's Will". I need the strength so bad. I have so many weaknesses that I can't even count all of them. I have to turn to God and stay strong in every moment. My job calls for it with the children and co-workers and even parents. My friends call for it, especially the ones I really care about. My family calls for it when they are sick or in need of some help.
All of those little things, especially if they are all happening at the same time, I need strength to get through them and not just my own strength because that will get me nowhere. I couldn't last a day on my own strength. Trust me. This past month was the worst I had in awhile and I was just about ready to die (figure of speech). I just wanted to give up on everything. If I need the strength to do my own will, then I will, of course, need the strength to do God's Will because it can be even harder at times.
It never fails that if we want to do God's Will that it is always the hardest way. Why you might ask. Well, it is because God is with us so it can be hard. We just can't forget to ask Him for the strength that we need here on earth. It is also hard to tell what is your will and what is God's Will but I look at it this way. Sometimes I try to back down from it because it scares me but at the same time I know that's not right to back away. If we are going through a hard time, there has to be a reason for it, whether it is for is or for the other person involved. Sometimes having God by our side while doing His Will will teach us something in the long run.
Maybe not right away but maybe in the long run when we look back at the situation. Like I said, June was a hard month for me but just in those four weeks I can say that I was in God's Will. Why? Because I felt God growing me as a person and He still is. He is opening my eyes in a lot of new ways to understanding people better and just teaching me how to be humble again. God is also working on my anger, which I need a lot of work on. The Strength is the one thing we really need if we are going to be doing God's Will. Then, I, personally, think Love is the other thing that we need.
It is more like give me the strength to do God's Will and to Love it and the people involved while I am doing it. You can look at it like: Strength in Love, Strength in Hope, Strength in Wisdom, Strength in Actions, or so on. There is always going to be that strength of some kind and in something else that you need to do God's Will. I could, along with you, add on to that phase in my prayers what I need the strength for.
I also like how my dad says it because the phase is the last thing he always says in his prayers. I don't know if it is just a habit or if he is meaning to but either way I think it is pretty neat and here is why. When the prayer is done, that phase is something good to remember and to take with you throughout the day or back to your home. I say back to your home because I only now here it during holiday dinners for the most part. That is a good note to end on but at the same time you really have to mean it. By you, I mean me if I am going to start praying that.
It has a lot of meaning behind it and I know that especially coming from my dad because he has been through a lot in his lifetime. There are times where he need God's strength to even keep alive and going. If that was the only Will that God has given him at that time then so be it. At least, he would be following God's Will with strength from God. Think about it: "How can you follow God's Will when it is so big, when you won't do something as small as just breathing?" Most of us want God's Will to be something big for us but how does God know if He can trust us with that kind of Will, when we don't do the small Wills He has for us first.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
God Took That Doubt Away
I will be the first to admit that I doubt a lot and I know that is bad. I'm a Christian and I should trust in God but it is not as easy as it sounds especially when it involves someone that you care about. You want to trust Him but you don't want to let go. I have had a lot going on lately where I just need to let go and let God. It is like every area of my life right now is just letting go and being free while God is working behind everything. There is one or maybe a few situations that made total sense to me after last night but I didn't know until this morning.
I won't go into deep detail because I don't want to embarrass a friend of mine but I will try to explain it to where it gets my point across. I have been in this negative situation with a friend of mine for about a month now. I won't tell you how it started but I can tell you that I asked to do something and my friend told me "not to" and that is ok because it is a line they don't want crossed yet. I respect that all the way. After my friend wrote me the letter back, I didn't respond the best way that I could and the deal was that I don't write anymore emails to that friend so I didn't until last week.
Here is the reason: First, I felt really bad about how I responded because no matter what I want to be open and honest to my friend and I want my friend to feel the same way around me. Then God showed me something in my life at work and just with everything in my life and that was that I have a problem with being jealous of people and things. I never thought about it bothering me until one night last week. Yes, I was jealous and I would say that to myself every so often but I would just shove it to the side like no big deal but my friend put up a video on Facebook that really was what I needed to hear last week.
Because of that video, I said sorry for what I said before and told my friend I was honestly jealous of what my friend had in life. It was to that point where I just didn't know what else to do. Of course, I did encourage my friend on what they were doing after I told them how I felt. A few days after like always, I started to doubt myself about writing the email. I'm one of those people where I need to stay away from it for a few days and then look back on it or need a response right away. Well, I knew I wouldn't get a response right away and that is even if my friend would like at the email. I waited a few days and looked back on it and everything seemed prefect. Just what I wanted to say and in a way that was understandable.
Just to put in here I still pray for my friend because that is something that no one can stop me from doing. If I need to support my friend in the way of pray instead of anything else, so be it, that is what I will do. I will tell you that I have prayed more this past month for my friend then any other time. I don't mean just a list of prayers of what my friend needs help with but deep down from the heart prayers because I don't know the exact things to pray for for my friend.
Apparently, I still had a little doubt in my heart because God did something last night that made it known today that it was His Prefect Timing. My friend and the family was driving home from another part of the family when they got hit in the back on the bumper of their car by a drunk driver. My friend had a gun in the car so they were ready for anything. As brave and heroic as my friend might of been, he stayed on this driver's tail and got him over on a side street until the police got there. The police had been looking for this drunk driver all night. My friend said that the concealed gun was out but the police got there just in time.
After that story and situation all my doubt about doing the right thing a week before was gone. I knew I had done the right thing when I found out what happened. When it is one of the first things in the morning, it is not very pleasant. Makes you worried about them all day and I did. I kept playing this thought over in my mind all day: "What if I didn't tell my friend what I did almost a week ago?" and "What if it was a lot worse then it was?" All of these what if questions ran through my mind all day. It could have been a lot worse and a lot more could have happened.
I will admit I even played each and every situation in my head: "What if my friend had to shoot?" "What if someone, be it my friend or someone in the family, got hurt? Then what?" "What if the driver did a full on crash into the car instead of a "bump" on the back on the bumper?" But then, I went to my "happy place" and just thanked God that no one was hurt and that everyone was safe. I also thanked God for showing me that He does answer the prayers I send up His Way. God was, for sure, with them. There was no doubt about that because you hear so many stories about drunk drivers and other drivers that just makes you shut your eyes.
I don't know what I would have done if it was one of those stories. I talked to 3 out of 6 of them but I have seen every one of them. Oddly enough, whether they want to admit it or not, they are part of my church family so they do mean a lot to me. It was just another everyday miracle here on the earth because they really do exist. We just have to open our eyes to see them. Another lesson from this entry is: "If you ask God to do something, He will do it." It could be taking doubt away in your life or answering some prayers that you have prayed for a long time.
It goes to show you that you should never stop praying for people who are and were your friends and even pray for your enemies. You never know what is going to happen in life and you never want to regret not doing something for them. The doubt will be taken away and there will be a lesson behind it every time. It will change your attitude towards your enemies or even your friends when you are going through a rough spot in your friendship. We both might be stubborn and determined and focus on certain things but God knows that and I truly believe that He is in the center working on us both with those things. One day at a time.
It, kind of, goes back to the title of this blog: "Pray the Hardest, when it is the Hardest to Pray." Found it in my Grandma's Bible after she passed away. Meaning if you keep praying hard and straight through the problems something good will come out of them.
I won't go into deep detail because I don't want to embarrass a friend of mine but I will try to explain it to where it gets my point across. I have been in this negative situation with a friend of mine for about a month now. I won't tell you how it started but I can tell you that I asked to do something and my friend told me "not to" and that is ok because it is a line they don't want crossed yet. I respect that all the way. After my friend wrote me the letter back, I didn't respond the best way that I could and the deal was that I don't write anymore emails to that friend so I didn't until last week.
Here is the reason: First, I felt really bad about how I responded because no matter what I want to be open and honest to my friend and I want my friend to feel the same way around me. Then God showed me something in my life at work and just with everything in my life and that was that I have a problem with being jealous of people and things. I never thought about it bothering me until one night last week. Yes, I was jealous and I would say that to myself every so often but I would just shove it to the side like no big deal but my friend put up a video on Facebook that really was what I needed to hear last week.
Because of that video, I said sorry for what I said before and told my friend I was honestly jealous of what my friend had in life. It was to that point where I just didn't know what else to do. Of course, I did encourage my friend on what they were doing after I told them how I felt. A few days after like always, I started to doubt myself about writing the email. I'm one of those people where I need to stay away from it for a few days and then look back on it or need a response right away. Well, I knew I wouldn't get a response right away and that is even if my friend would like at the email. I waited a few days and looked back on it and everything seemed prefect. Just what I wanted to say and in a way that was understandable.
Just to put in here I still pray for my friend because that is something that no one can stop me from doing. If I need to support my friend in the way of pray instead of anything else, so be it, that is what I will do. I will tell you that I have prayed more this past month for my friend then any other time. I don't mean just a list of prayers of what my friend needs help with but deep down from the heart prayers because I don't know the exact things to pray for for my friend.
Apparently, I still had a little doubt in my heart because God did something last night that made it known today that it was His Prefect Timing. My friend and the family was driving home from another part of the family when they got hit in the back on the bumper of their car by a drunk driver. My friend had a gun in the car so they were ready for anything. As brave and heroic as my friend might of been, he stayed on this driver's tail and got him over on a side street until the police got there. The police had been looking for this drunk driver all night. My friend said that the concealed gun was out but the police got there just in time.
After that story and situation all my doubt about doing the right thing a week before was gone. I knew I had done the right thing when I found out what happened. When it is one of the first things in the morning, it is not very pleasant. Makes you worried about them all day and I did. I kept playing this thought over in my mind all day: "What if I didn't tell my friend what I did almost a week ago?" and "What if it was a lot worse then it was?" All of these what if questions ran through my mind all day. It could have been a lot worse and a lot more could have happened.
I will admit I even played each and every situation in my head: "What if my friend had to shoot?" "What if someone, be it my friend or someone in the family, got hurt? Then what?" "What if the driver did a full on crash into the car instead of a "bump" on the back on the bumper?" But then, I went to my "happy place" and just thanked God that no one was hurt and that everyone was safe. I also thanked God for showing me that He does answer the prayers I send up His Way. God was, for sure, with them. There was no doubt about that because you hear so many stories about drunk drivers and other drivers that just makes you shut your eyes.
I don't know what I would have done if it was one of those stories. I talked to 3 out of 6 of them but I have seen every one of them. Oddly enough, whether they want to admit it or not, they are part of my church family so they do mean a lot to me. It was just another everyday miracle here on the earth because they really do exist. We just have to open our eyes to see them. Another lesson from this entry is: "If you ask God to do something, He will do it." It could be taking doubt away in your life or answering some prayers that you have prayed for a long time.
It goes to show you that you should never stop praying for people who are and were your friends and even pray for your enemies. You never know what is going to happen in life and you never want to regret not doing something for them. The doubt will be taken away and there will be a lesson behind it every time. It will change your attitude towards your enemies or even your friends when you are going through a rough spot in your friendship. We both might be stubborn and determined and focus on certain things but God knows that and I truly believe that He is in the center working on us both with those things. One day at a time.
It, kind of, goes back to the title of this blog: "Pray the Hardest, when it is the Hardest to Pray." Found it in my Grandma's Bible after she passed away. Meaning if you keep praying hard and straight through the problems something good will come out of them.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Live the Life You Want to Love
“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.” Galatians 6:4 (NIV)
Proverbs 30:8b-9:
“Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” -(NLT)
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Living the life I want to love is so hard to do. It is also hard to not compare yourself with the people around you especially when they have the better life or so you think. I want to have just enough to satisfy my needs. Having too much or too little could be bad for a person. My question is: When do you know you are satisfied with your needs? Is it when you love your life and are happy with where you are? If that is, then I haven't been there for a few years now and won't be until a few years after. I don't know when things started to go downhill for me.
I thought I would love the daycare and preschool field and I still do but I guess being out in the real world and comparing other jobs with that job, I just guess I know more about what is out there and what people think of the childcare field. You can't make a living at all in that field or not the one that my heart desires. I know that sounds kind of jealous of me but I should be able to do so much more and get paid more then what I am now. Where I am now, wasn't planned on where I would be when I am 30 and I don't want to be there then either.
I don't feel like the field can satisfy my needs. I don't what to grow rich. I just want to have enough money to where I can feel good and healthy. I just need help in that apartment and on making my own decisions and taking those leaps of faith. I've been working way too long in my life and that is all I felt like I have been doing lately is working. The childcare field was fun for me just to be in but now it is actual work because I am barely making it by on nothing. I might be letting this money thing get to me more then it should but I can't help it.
Maybe "satisfying my needs" also means my personality type and the more I learn about me the more I learn I can't handle all the stress that comes with the field. I can't handle all of the changes that come with the field either. Out of all the jobs I have had, one of them stayed the same for more then a year. I'm trying to be level headed here and see both sides but that is hard too. I know people would understand and do. I'm not the only one with the hard life but right now that is what it feels like. There are some days I will admit that I just want to cry out to God but then again I feel bad for doing that.
When did I get so burnt out and ready to move up in life that I didn't like my degree anymore? Where was I, in college, when I could have picked out a degree that I liked or even had a minor along with it. I can't take the kind of pride in myself where you are happy with what you have and are doing. I can't stop myself from comparing. When did that ever become a bad habit for me?
I just want to be satisfy in my personality and my career. I just want to be satisfy in life. I want to live the life that I want to love. Where did I miss learning that as I was growing up in high school and college? I hate the age period that I am in right now because it is so confusing. I just wish I was done with it for good. I'm sick of feeling anxious, stressed, and depressed and sleepy all the time when I get home. I feel like I just need to pick on one thing at a time and be satisfy in that and when I say one I really mean one. I mean it can either be my health, more schooling, my job, or moving or anything else that comes to mind.
When can I be happy again? The worst thing is that I try to be strong for everyone else. Strong for my family, my friends, and even my co-workers but there are times where I just want to hide, to break down and cry too. I hope this entry makes somewhat of sense to the title and the verses that are above. I tried to fit them in in a way. I don't know what the Lord is teaching me right now from those verses.
Maybe when I do get to a place where I feel like I am satisfied, I can look back on them and this entry and just be happy and feel like I have all of my needs met. See that I am not comparing my life with anyone elses'. Those verses, I guess you could say, could be a goal and/or challenge for my life in the next couple of years.
Prayer:
Dear Daddy (aka God),
I know I am struggling in my life right now with where you want
me to be and what You want me to do. I am also struggling with who
you want me to be. I see all these other things and people doing what
they are doing and being happy with it but then I get jealous of them.
Take that jealously away from my heart by giving me something that
will satisfy me in my life. Please meet my needs and the desires of my
heart in that way too. I need to stop trying to be happy with what I have
and go get what I need to get. I need to have the courage to take that
step of faith and see what You can do with and for me. I might think
I am happy where I am but is it really where You want me to be or do
You have bigger plans for me? Put me in the very center of Your Will.
Let that be my prayer tonight.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
Proverbs 30:8b-9:
“Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” -(NLT)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Living the life I want to love is so hard to do. It is also hard to not compare yourself with the people around you especially when they have the better life or so you think. I want to have just enough to satisfy my needs. Having too much or too little could be bad for a person. My question is: When do you know you are satisfied with your needs? Is it when you love your life and are happy with where you are? If that is, then I haven't been there for a few years now and won't be until a few years after. I don't know when things started to go downhill for me.
I thought I would love the daycare and preschool field and I still do but I guess being out in the real world and comparing other jobs with that job, I just guess I know more about what is out there and what people think of the childcare field. You can't make a living at all in that field or not the one that my heart desires. I know that sounds kind of jealous of me but I should be able to do so much more and get paid more then what I am now. Where I am now, wasn't planned on where I would be when I am 30 and I don't want to be there then either.
I don't feel like the field can satisfy my needs. I don't what to grow rich. I just want to have enough money to where I can feel good and healthy. I just need help in that apartment and on making my own decisions and taking those leaps of faith. I've been working way too long in my life and that is all I felt like I have been doing lately is working. The childcare field was fun for me just to be in but now it is actual work because I am barely making it by on nothing. I might be letting this money thing get to me more then it should but I can't help it.
Maybe "satisfying my needs" also means my personality type and the more I learn about me the more I learn I can't handle all the stress that comes with the field. I can't handle all of the changes that come with the field either. Out of all the jobs I have had, one of them stayed the same for more then a year. I'm trying to be level headed here and see both sides but that is hard too. I know people would understand and do. I'm not the only one with the hard life but right now that is what it feels like. There are some days I will admit that I just want to cry out to God but then again I feel bad for doing that.
When did I get so burnt out and ready to move up in life that I didn't like my degree anymore? Where was I, in college, when I could have picked out a degree that I liked or even had a minor along with it. I can't take the kind of pride in myself where you are happy with what you have and are doing. I can't stop myself from comparing. When did that ever become a bad habit for me?
I just want to be satisfy in my personality and my career. I just want to be satisfy in life. I want to live the life that I want to love. Where did I miss learning that as I was growing up in high school and college? I hate the age period that I am in right now because it is so confusing. I just wish I was done with it for good. I'm sick of feeling anxious, stressed, and depressed and sleepy all the time when I get home. I feel like I just need to pick on one thing at a time and be satisfy in that and when I say one I really mean one. I mean it can either be my health, more schooling, my job, or moving or anything else that comes to mind.
When can I be happy again? The worst thing is that I try to be strong for everyone else. Strong for my family, my friends, and even my co-workers but there are times where I just want to hide, to break down and cry too. I hope this entry makes somewhat of sense to the title and the verses that are above. I tried to fit them in in a way. I don't know what the Lord is teaching me right now from those verses.
Maybe when I do get to a place where I feel like I am satisfied, I can look back on them and this entry and just be happy and feel like I have all of my needs met. See that I am not comparing my life with anyone elses'. Those verses, I guess you could say, could be a goal and/or challenge for my life in the next couple of years.
Prayer:
Dear Daddy (aka God),
I know I am struggling in my life right now with where you want
me to be and what You want me to do. I am also struggling with who
you want me to be. I see all these other things and people doing what
they are doing and being happy with it but then I get jealous of them.
Take that jealously away from my heart by giving me something that
will satisfy me in my life. Please meet my needs and the desires of my
heart in that way too. I need to stop trying to be happy with what I have
and go get what I need to get. I need to have the courage to take that
step of faith and see what You can do with and for me. I might think
I am happy where I am but is it really where You want me to be or do
You have bigger plans for me? Put me in the very center of Your Will.
Let that be my prayer tonight.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
Monday, June 27, 2016
Seek Me and You Will Live Pictures-Maybe Added To This Week
What does it look like to Seek the Lord?
Friday, June 24, 2016
Follow in Love and Then Speak It
1 Cor. 14:1
14 1-3 Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you.-MSG
14 1-3 Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you.-MSG
6-8 Think, friends: If I come to you and all I do is pray privately to God in a way only he can understand, what are you going to get out of that? If I don’t address you plainly with some insight or truth or proclamation or teaching, what help am I to you? If musical instruments—flutes, say, or harps—aren’t played so that each note is distinct and in tune, how will anyone be able to catch the melody and enjoy the music? If the trumpet call can’t be distinguished, will anyone show up for the battle?
9-12 So if you speak in a way no one can understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth? There are many languages in the world and they all mean something to someone. But if I don’t understand the language, it’s not going to do me much good. It’s no different with you. Since you’re so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don’t you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church?-MSG
1 Corinthians 14:13-17The Message (MSG)
13-17 So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don’t hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to bring others into that intimacy. If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple enough. Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. I should sing with my spirit, and sing with my mind. If you give a blessing using your private prayer language, which no one else understands, how can some outsider who has just shown up and has no idea what’s going on know when to say “Amen”? Your blessing might be beautiful, but you have very effectively cut that person out of it.
"Be courteous and considerate in everything."-1 Cor.14:40-(MSG)
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1 Corinthians 14:1New International Version (NIV)
Intelligibility in Worship
14 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.
1 Corinthians 14:7-9New International Version (NIV)
7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes?8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.-NIV
1 Corinthians 14:40New International Version (NIV)
40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
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1 Corinthians 13 (AKA The Love Chapter) has always been my favorite chapter in the Bible since I was a teenager but I really didn't think about Chapter 14 until here lately. It makes a lot of sense to come after Chapter 13 and I am getting to love that chapter too. It is telling us what Love really is and how we should really use it. For those of you, who don't know 1 Corinthians 13, it explains what Love really is so therefore, it explains who God really is because He is Love.
I found the first verse in the 14th chapter in a devo. this week and it just really caught my attention. I will admit, I have had some times and especially here lately, that I have had some hard times loving the people around. We are get that way. We are don't understand so we get mad at them or we don't like what they are doing or thinking so we don't act like we should. The first verse got to me because it says, "to follow love" and I got to thinking what does that mean. You could perfectly change that to "follow God". That is where my mind went right after I read it. I'm not treating this person like I really should. They deserve a better attitude from me.
I thought, "if I really love them in Christ like I should then I need to follow love and that means act like Chapter 13, a chapter that I have read over and over in my life, out in my life towards them. I need to be patience, understanding, not boasting, not self- seeking, keeps no records of wrong, and so on. I DO NEED TO protect, trust, hope, and persevere. Love never fails. Love is the great of all things that you can do for people especially your family and friends and the people around you. Then after I read that verse, I started to scan the whole chapter of 14 and I found some other good verses that goes right a long with what I'm learning and need to be doing.
Not only do I need to follow love in my actions but I also need to speak it. Just to put this in here, i love how the Message titles chapter 14: The Prayer Language and it is all about love. That should tell us something to start with. We should pray in Love towards everything and everyone. I also love the verses 9-12, give or take a few verses. It says "if no one can understand what you are saying, then why talk to them". There are some many languages around the world but the one that is always understood is Love. If you speak words and people can't understand it won't do either of you much good.
If you are so eager to participate in what God is doing then why not do it in love where everyone can understand everything. When you pray and after you are done praying, don't keep it dot yourself if God as done something for you. Pray for the insight and the ability to bring people into the intimacy with you. To tell them about your Godly experience or just any experience for that matter. If you don't do that, then your prayers and your wisdom is wasted on that is what the Bible says anyways. You can be expressive and spiritual when you pray but keep in mind not to bring glory to yourself.
Also, be thoughtful and mindful of those around you. You might get a blessing that is beautiful but what good is it if you cut people out of your blessing. Your blessing will just sit empty when it is meant to be shared. The last thing that I want to share with you is this and it is from verse 40 of chapter 14. It says: "But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way". To me, this is what that means: Everything should be done with Prayer and then Love. You should act upon it and if that doesn't work speak it". It also shows us, especially in these chapters that God does things in order for a reason in our lives.
We might not understand it right away or when it happens but as I keep reminding myself: "There is a reason for everything that is happening in my life. God is just growing me closer to Him. He Loves me that much." God does things in a fitting and orderly way because He knows what is best for our lives. Life is order, when we think about it. I mean we are born and we die. We go to school K-12. We learn things at different stages at life. There is a certain developmental way for children to grow up. Everything has to have an order that is fitting for them or it. We just have to notice what our order is because God has a special order that is fitting to each of us.
All this to say: Follow Christ in Love and live a life of prayer. To me, those are the two main ideas, besides the cross, that Christianity is all about but yet Jesus dieing on the cross for us was to show how much He Loved us. I challenge everyone to read all of the 14th chapter to get the full idea about how we should pray and love. If you want to go on, I even challenge you the read the Love Chapter (Chapter 13). God used something that I read over and over in my life and just expanded it to the next chapter and He can do that for you too.
I will also warn you all that the next few entries will be about prayer and love because that is something that God has laid on my heart in a strange way lately.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
God Chose Us
John 15:16New International Version (NIV)
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This verse is my verse of the month for June. I found it at the start of this month and with everything that I am going through right now, it just seemed to fit right in. I was having a hard time with being happy with where I was and what was going on in my life but having this verse on my bathroom mirror throughout this entire month has been a good reminder for me. I am going to tell you what it means to me and why I put it up for a month.
First, I love the first part where it says, "you did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you". It reminded me that God loved me enough to chose me in all my mess and craziness and confusion. I will admit I have a lot of things wrong with me and I don't get things sometimes. I am still learning because that is part of growing up but God still loves me with all those things going on. He made it easy for me when He chose me because I know I didn't have to perfect for Him to love like I do with guys sometimes.
Not very many people now this, but I have things I don't know everyone. Things that I don't feel normal about but that shouldn't stop someone form loving me. I have things I don't like about me and things I wish I could get rid of but that is just who God made me to be. I'm trying to learn how to love those things about me because of that. They should care enough to get to know that part of me and well, right now in my life that is God.
Second, I love the second part where it says, "you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last". I love that part because that just gives me hope for my job and career I am in. That gives me hope for everyday of the week. When I read it in the morning, while getting ready, I can repeat it during the day at work. I can think, "God has sent me these little children so I can teach them things that will last for a lifetime." It is prefect with one year olds too because they are just learning to explore the world around them more and more.
Third, I love the part where it says, "whatever you ask in my Father's name will be given to you". That right there, is a promise to me. I feel like if I keep doing what he has put in front of me for right now, then maybe later I will move on to something greater and different in the future. It could, also, just be as simple as giving me a new apartment to live in but for cheaper cost. He would do that because He knows I love my job and it is the best I have ever had this far and I wouldn't want to move on just yet or maybe never.
As I have been writing these out now and thinking on this verse this month, I have noticed things important points that are in this verse.
Importance of Love:
God Loves you for who you are because He chose you first and that is that.
-Point #2:
Importance of Hope:
God will put you in a place and time for a reason.
-Point #3:Importance of Promises:
If you are willing to do what God puts in front of you now, He will be on your side and give it to you.
Those three things in this verse is probably the strongest things you can have in your life: Love, Hope, and Promises. What more do you what or need? Why would you go looking for it somewhere else. I know we have all done it but we need to realize that if we are true believers in God, we have all we need forever and ever.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
A Entry About Fathers
Sorry about the title. I know it is a boring one but that is all I can come up with for now. I am writing this right now in a hurry because I am at my parents' house about ready to leave in a half a hour. I really wanted to get this written out because, even as a women, it spoke to me. When I say "it", I mean the sermon that was taught at my parents' church this morning. It was the perfect Father's Day sermon for our Heavenly Father, fathers now, and future fathers and then just add the word "husbands" in there too to make you think that way. It was strange because the preacher started out in Acts and that was the main book for today but also spent most of his time in Ephesians with the husbands' and wives' verses.
As some of you might know I am at that age or almost at that age where I'm just sick of trying to find the right guy. It can be so hard not knowing what to look for or understand why a certain guy doesn't like you ever or right now. Ever since my situation, my eyes have been opening a little more each time, when I ask questions to married friends or listen to the Word of God. I am searching for answers and understanding because that is the most important part of seeking God in your life. I also got some prayer ideas for my future husband that I can start praying for now. For him to be a great husband and father.
Here are some of the prayer ideas just from this morning from church:
-He needs to seek God to know Him.
-He needs to hate what God hates and love what God loves.
-That He can handle the spiritual inclamets that falls on him as a father.
-For him to be a genius person.
-For him to continue to pray continually.
-For him to be a devoted man at all times and with everything in his life.
-Be good with rules, Bible leadership, and disciplinary.
Here are some ideas that the preacher gave us and they made me really open my eyes and just think more about what a man really goes through as a husband and father.
-A God fearing home starts with God-fearing husbands/fathers.
-Have sacrificial love for the wife like God loves the Church.
-That means that the father will give up everything that he loves or want to do
for the wife. If he really loves her, he won't mind to do what she wants. Sacrificial
means "giving up". Giving up their time, their fun, their friends, and more to spend
time with her and the family.
-If the husbands do that, then it shouldn't be hard for the wives to submit to the
husbands.
What I put on the end of my notes in my journal is this because I was having a hard time understanding why man are so careful of relationships or will just, what it feels like to us sometimes. just shove us aside like they don't care. One: If they "shove us aside" they do care more then they think for us even if it is on a friend based level. Two: God has really put a lot on a man. Sometimes if they do "push us aside" when just have to remember that they are just doing what is best for them right now and that if they are true Christians that God either has to work on them still or has another plan for the each of you.
As ladies, we think we have the hard part of the job of parenting because we have to raise the children, cook, clean, and other things. Believe me, I'm not saying that is hare because it is especially when we have a lot of children but then look again at the directions God gave for the man and why they are the way they are.
God made them that way for a reason. They do have a lot to do in life and they do care for us but at the same time they have to be just as careful if not more careful then we do, when it comes to relationships or friendships. Just think about it what if we had all that they had to do. We would think it would be just as bad or worse then raising the children. I mean the whole family status lays on the husband's shoulders. That is how God made man like He did and why.
I got this quote from "Our Daily Bread" and it is: "A good father reflects the love of the Heavenly Father". That is or should be so true.
As some of you might know I am at that age or almost at that age where I'm just sick of trying to find the right guy. It can be so hard not knowing what to look for or understand why a certain guy doesn't like you ever or right now. Ever since my situation, my eyes have been opening a little more each time, when I ask questions to married friends or listen to the Word of God. I am searching for answers and understanding because that is the most important part of seeking God in your life. I also got some prayer ideas for my future husband that I can start praying for now. For him to be a great husband and father.
Here are some of the prayer ideas just from this morning from church:
-He needs to seek God to know Him.
-He needs to hate what God hates and love what God loves.
-That He can handle the spiritual inclamets that falls on him as a father.
-For him to be a genius person.
-For him to continue to pray continually.
-For him to be a devoted man at all times and with everything in his life.
-Be good with rules, Bible leadership, and disciplinary.
Here are some ideas that the preacher gave us and they made me really open my eyes and just think more about what a man really goes through as a husband and father.
-A God fearing home starts with God-fearing husbands/fathers.
-Have sacrificial love for the wife like God loves the Church.
-That means that the father will give up everything that he loves or want to do
for the wife. If he really loves her, he won't mind to do what she wants. Sacrificial
means "giving up". Giving up their time, their fun, their friends, and more to spend
time with her and the family.
-If the husbands do that, then it shouldn't be hard for the wives to submit to the
husbands.
What I put on the end of my notes in my journal is this because I was having a hard time understanding why man are so careful of relationships or will just, what it feels like to us sometimes. just shove us aside like they don't care. One: If they "shove us aside" they do care more then they think for us even if it is on a friend based level. Two: God has really put a lot on a man. Sometimes if they do "push us aside" when just have to remember that they are just doing what is best for them right now and that if they are true Christians that God either has to work on them still or has another plan for the each of you.
As ladies, we think we have the hard part of the job of parenting because we have to raise the children, cook, clean, and other things. Believe me, I'm not saying that is hare because it is especially when we have a lot of children but then look again at the directions God gave for the man and why they are the way they are.
God made them that way for a reason. They do have a lot to do in life and they do care for us but at the same time they have to be just as careful if not more careful then we do, when it comes to relationships or friendships. Just think about it what if we had all that they had to do. We would think it would be just as bad or worse then raising the children. I mean the whole family status lays on the husband's shoulders. That is how God made man like He did and why.
I got this quote from "Our Daily Bread" and it is: "A good father reflects the love of the Heavenly Father". That is or should be so true.
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