Proverbs 31:20 “She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.”
life is not about ourselves. It’s about others.
Scripture is saturated with a call to be selfless people, not selfish, not self-centered, but Christ-centered and others-centered.
We need to look for opportunities to be a blessing to others, to show the kindness of God to others, to take initiative.
God put us here for a purpose, we are always trying to figure out what our purpose is..I feel the key to finding out is that it is HIS Purpose not ours. If we really want to find our true self it will happen through self sacrifice.
"Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." Colossians 1:16
Where you go from here is up to you.............
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Day 30 Kindness
Sometimes we show much more kindess to the world then we do at home to our own families. Just think about the way we treat and serve guests compared to those that live with us and we love.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galations 5:22
Goodness in the Fruit of the Spirit does not just mean a kind heart, but kind activity on behalf of others. You have a good or kind heart but you don’t just keep it in your heart. You do something about it. It comes out. Off course we can't just serve the Lord without heart, and serve our families without joy.
Does my family know that I care, that I am kind, that I love them, and do I make a difference?
What about other people? What do I show them? When we are kind to those who don’t deserve it, we show people what God is like. We reflect the gospel.
In Luke 6 Jesus says:
I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galations 5:22
Goodness in the Fruit of the Spirit does not just mean a kind heart, but kind activity on behalf of others. You have a good or kind heart but you don’t just keep it in your heart. You do something about it. It comes out. Off course we can't just serve the Lord without heart, and serve our families without joy.
Does my family know that I care, that I am kind, that I love them, and do I make a difference?
What about other people? What do I show them? When we are kind to those who don’t deserve it, we show people what God is like. We reflect the gospel.
In Luke 6 Jesus says:
I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Day 29 Keep his promises with you all the time.
Life can be busy all the time, or you are suffering somehow, or maybe feeling lonely, overwhelmed, hopeless at times? Still we have to stop and remember the blessings we have. We can delight in and enjoy what we have no matter what we don't have or are dealing with, if we hear God all the time.
Take families for example. It is so much work to be a good mom and wife that we totally do the "work" but forget and lose perspective of the fact that children really are a blessing and so are the people God puts in our lives in some way or another. We stress about everything and time for enjoying the moments just passes us by. Why? I feel it is because we are not keeping our heads filled at all times with Gods promises.
We have to find it in out heart to actually enjoy our familes, and children and our lives. We can even sort of enjoy the bad things ,the hardships, the lonliness, and what ever suffering brings because we know that those times are molding us for something we can't even imagine!
I really feel like we can live filled with this joy regardless of what we are going through if we can just get to what I call the breakthrough point in our life with Jesus. That point is this..it is a realization that when we believe and have faith in God then we should believe all his promises too. This world isn't a permanent home and that God is preparing us for his Kingdom.
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him! 1 Corinthians 2:9
Wow! Wow! Flippin Wow! Do you get how crazy awesome that is gonna be!
Take families for example. It is so much work to be a good mom and wife that we totally do the "work" but forget and lose perspective of the fact that children really are a blessing and so are the people God puts in our lives in some way or another. We stress about everything and time for enjoying the moments just passes us by. Why? I feel it is because we are not keeping our heads filled at all times with Gods promises.
We have to find it in out heart to actually enjoy our familes, and children and our lives. We can even sort of enjoy the bad things ,the hardships, the lonliness, and what ever suffering brings because we know that those times are molding us for something we can't even imagine!
I really feel like we can live filled with this joy regardless of what we are going through if we can just get to what I call the breakthrough point in our life with Jesus. That point is this..it is a realization that when we believe and have faith in God then we should believe all his promises too. This world isn't a permanent home and that God is preparing us for his Kingdom.
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him! 1 Corinthians 2:9
Wow! Wow! Flippin Wow! Do you get how crazy awesome that is gonna be!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Day 28 Restore
We can really be drained from serving. In those times we go to His word to restore our souls.
Psalm 19 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul”. He restores our soul; He restores our mind, our emotions, our spirit through His Word.
Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who labor you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Also like Psalm 23 says..The Lord is my shepard I shall not want..
If we follow him like sheep follow their shepard who cares for them..
then verse 2 says:
“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.”
He will bring rest and peace.
Psalm 19 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul”. He restores our soul; He restores our mind, our emotions, our spirit through His Word.
Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who labor you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Also like Psalm 23 says..The Lord is my shepard I shall not want..
If we follow him like sheep follow their shepard who cares for them..
then verse 2 says:
“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.”
He will bring rest and peace.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 27 I shall not want
The Lord is my Shepard I shall not want…
I would love for that to be said of me! Would’t you love that to be said of you? Does our way of responding to life’s circumstances ,problems and stresses make people look at us and say, “The Lord is her shepherd; Psalm 23 she super lives that way!
I really feel that sometimes God has us experience want as a consequence of having gone our own way. We follow him and then we decide to do our own thing on some issues. I think it's just to restore us to following him because we all know that feeling of going astray and struggling, doing it on our own and then coming back to him and thinking wow, what was I doing on my own?
I shall not want. That’s a huge statement of faith. We don't need something more, something better or someone better. Sometimes you gotta say it when when you don't feel or see it you gotta trust it. He has promised to provide.
I would love for that to be said of me! Would’t you love that to be said of you? Does our way of responding to life’s circumstances ,problems and stresses make people look at us and say, “The Lord is her shepherd; Psalm 23 she super lives that way!
I really feel that sometimes God has us experience want as a consequence of having gone our own way. We follow him and then we decide to do our own thing on some issues. I think it's just to restore us to following him because we all know that feeling of going astray and struggling, doing it on our own and then coming back to him and thinking wow, what was I doing on my own?
I shall not want. That’s a huge statement of faith. We don't need something more, something better or someone better. Sometimes you gotta say it when when you don't feel or see it you gotta trust it. He has promised to provide.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Day 26 Stewardship
True stewardship begins when you acknowledge that God is the true owner of everything. A steward is a manager of His property. Notice the waman in Proverbs is not just spending money or being careful to hold on to her God given time and life time for her own pleasure.
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it...” (Psalms 24:1). The entire world is His. He is the owner.
Evidence of good stewardship:
1. Understand “wealth” from God’s perspective,
2. Acknowledge His authority as owner,
3. Accept your responsibility as steward
4. Claim Proverbs 10:22…do you have “peace” as you manage His wealth. Or, do you have some or all of the “troubles” that go along with ownership? (Christian Financial Ministries, Inc.)
What does Jesus have to say about stewardship?
Read Luke 12:16-20
If you were to stand accountable before God today, for the quality of your stewardship, how would it look? Do you treat God as the owner and ask how to use all that He gives you to manage?
When God’s people were robbing Him by withholding tithes and offerings, He said, “Test me in this ... and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Malachi 3:10).
Ironically, many people can’t afford to give precisely because they’re not giving (Haggai 1:9-11). If we pay our debt to God first, then we will incur His blessing to help us pay our debts to men. But when we rob God to pay men, we rob ourselves of God’s blessing. No wonder we don’t have enough. It’s a vicious cycle, and it takes obedient faith to break out of it. (Treasure Principle)
Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s His provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with this money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build His kingdom in heaven.
If you choose to be a good steward, God will bless you and entrust you with plenty, HE says so.
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it...” (Psalms 24:1). The entire world is His. He is the owner.
Evidence of good stewardship:
1. Understand “wealth” from God’s perspective,
2. Acknowledge His authority as owner,
3. Accept your responsibility as steward
4. Claim Proverbs 10:22…do you have “peace” as you manage His wealth. Or, do you have some or all of the “troubles” that go along with ownership? (Christian Financial Ministries, Inc.)
What does Jesus have to say about stewardship?
Read Luke 12:16-20
If you were to stand accountable before God today, for the quality of your stewardship, how would it look? Do you treat God as the owner and ask how to use all that He gives you to manage?
When God’s people were robbing Him by withholding tithes and offerings, He said, “Test me in this ... and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Malachi 3:10).
Ironically, many people can’t afford to give precisely because they’re not giving (Haggai 1:9-11). If we pay our debt to God first, then we will incur His blessing to help us pay our debts to men. But when we rob God to pay men, we rob ourselves of God’s blessing. No wonder we don’t have enough. It’s a vicious cycle, and it takes obedient faith to break out of it. (Treasure Principle)
Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s His provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with this money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build His kingdom in heaven.
If you choose to be a good steward, God will bless you and entrust you with plenty, HE says so.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Day 25 Give
Doesn't matter who you are or how much money you make. Yes you can give. We make up all kind of excuses why we don't have the money to give. The same week we go and buy something new for ourselves. We are saying that we don't trust God to provide if we give to him. Let's say our income was reducedd by 10% right now. Would we die? How about 20% No..That means we can afford to give we just don't want to.
Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That's one child every five seconds. There were 1.4 billion people in extreme poverty in 2005.
Did you know? In 2008, nearly 9 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. One third of these deaths are due directly or indirectly to hunger and malnutrition.
I don't believe a virtuous woman, one that loves God can sit and ignore this information. We just can't sit here and do nothing. Who else is going to take action but Gods people? I mean really, do we really need another new something?
God says, “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13). In Isaiah 58:6-10, God says that His willingness to answer our prayers is directly affected by whether we are caring for the hungry, needy, and oppressed.
I encourage everyone to read the book The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn.
One thing he says is : There are many roadblocks to giving: unbelief, insecurity, pride, idolatry, desire for power and control. The raging current of our culture—and often our churches—makes it hard to swim upstream. It’s considered “normal” to keep far more than we give.
But I’m convinced that the greatest deterrent to giving is this: the illusion that earth is our home. Where we choose to store our treasures depends largely on where we think our home is.
The Bible says we’re pilgrims, strangers, aliens on earth (Hebrews 11:13). We’re ambassadors representing our true country (2 Corinthians 5:20). “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We’re citizens of “a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).
Jesus said "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20)
Give to those who have need. (Deut. 15:11; Matt. 5:42)
Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That's one child every five seconds. There were 1.4 billion people in extreme poverty in 2005.
Did you know? In 2008, nearly 9 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. One third of these deaths are due directly or indirectly to hunger and malnutrition.
I don't believe a virtuous woman, one that loves God can sit and ignore this information. We just can't sit here and do nothing. Who else is going to take action but Gods people? I mean really, do we really need another new something?
God says, “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13). In Isaiah 58:6-10, God says that His willingness to answer our prayers is directly affected by whether we are caring for the hungry, needy, and oppressed.
I encourage everyone to read the book The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn.
One thing he says is : There are many roadblocks to giving: unbelief, insecurity, pride, idolatry, desire for power and control. The raging current of our culture—and often our churches—makes it hard to swim upstream. It’s considered “normal” to keep far more than we give.
But I’m convinced that the greatest deterrent to giving is this: the illusion that earth is our home. Where we choose to store our treasures depends largely on where we think our home is.
The Bible says we’re pilgrims, strangers, aliens on earth (Hebrews 11:13). We’re ambassadors representing our true country (2 Corinthians 5:20). “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We’re citizens of “a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).
Jesus said "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20)
Give to those who have need. (Deut. 15:11; Matt. 5:42)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Day 24 Be about Others
The “One Anothers” In Scripture
Greet one another (Rom. 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, 1 Pet. 5:14)
Comfort one another (1 Thess. 4:18)
Forgive one another (Col. 3:13)
Build one another up (Rom. 15:2; 1 Thess. 5:11)
Serve one another (Gal. 5:13)
Bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)
Encourage one another (Heb. 10:25)
Meet with one another (Heb. 10:25)
Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving towards one another (Eph. 4:32,
Rom. 12:10)
Receive (welcome) one another as Christ received us (Rom. 15:7)
Care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25)
Minister one to another (1 Pet. 4:10)
Show hospitality to one another (1 Pet. 4:9)
Pray for one another (James 5:16).
Don’t wait for others to do these things—or criticize your church because people
don’t . . . you do these things. (Revive Our Hearts)
Greet one another (Rom. 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, 1 Pet. 5:14)
Comfort one another (1 Thess. 4:18)
Forgive one another (Col. 3:13)
Build one another up (Rom. 15:2; 1 Thess. 5:11)
Serve one another (Gal. 5:13)
Bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)
Encourage one another (Heb. 10:25)
Meet with one another (Heb. 10:25)
Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving towards one another (Eph. 4:32,
Rom. 12:10)
Receive (welcome) one another as Christ received us (Rom. 15:7)
Care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25)
Minister one to another (1 Pet. 4:10)
Show hospitality to one another (1 Pet. 4:9)
Pray for one another (James 5:16).
Don’t wait for others to do these things—or criticize your church because people
don’t . . . you do these things. (Revive Our Hearts)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 23 Listen
We need to just be quiet and listen! Alot of problems I have gotten my self into are because I didn't listen to God, I didn't listen to a loved one, or I didn't listen quietly enough and totally misunderstood something.
Be a listening wife, a listening friend, a listening Christian.
Maybe God is allowing a husband, friends, or kids to tell us something about our relationships with their actions or words. We cannot be so quick to jump up on the defense. If are are always that way we will build a stubborn unteachable heart and that is not humble. Maybe the things that go on are your husband, friends or kids way of trying to tell us about problems in specific areas.
If we are married and our husband is upset about our attitude or something about us.
We should try to consider his accusations carefully. Consider them without a defensive attitude pray and listen and think about them and evaluate quietly.... If there is any truth at all to them, ask for forgiveness and grow from it.
Everyone that is in our life is put there because that was Gods plan. What if the problems we encounter with others, the let downs and all of that won’t stop or our marriage won’t change until Gods work begins in us. All the time not just on some days…and consistently. See what kind of people would we be if we didn't listen to the people around us listen to the situations that we are apart of and change and grow based on that. I really believe we have to have certain people and relationships in our life to deal with so that God can heal us, and transform the way we handle life. People can bring out our sin in us. Then we can mold into how we should be and respond in life as far as glorifying him goes…If we can't see that, listen and make changes then it’s like saying "God I’m being so perfect and loving all the time so why is he or she still acting this way"?
Be a listening wife, a listening friend, a listening Christian.
Maybe God is allowing a husband, friends, or kids to tell us something about our relationships with their actions or words. We cannot be so quick to jump up on the defense. If are are always that way we will build a stubborn unteachable heart and that is not humble. Maybe the things that go on are your husband, friends or kids way of trying to tell us about problems in specific areas.
If we are married and our husband is upset about our attitude or something about us.
We should try to consider his accusations carefully. Consider them without a defensive attitude pray and listen and think about them and evaluate quietly.... If there is any truth at all to them, ask for forgiveness and grow from it.
Everyone that is in our life is put there because that was Gods plan. What if the problems we encounter with others, the let downs and all of that won’t stop or our marriage won’t change until Gods work begins in us. All the time not just on some days…and consistently. See what kind of people would we be if we didn't listen to the people around us listen to the situations that we are apart of and change and grow based on that. I really believe we have to have certain people and relationships in our life to deal with so that God can heal us, and transform the way we handle life. People can bring out our sin in us. Then we can mold into how we should be and respond in life as far as glorifying him goes…If we can't see that, listen and make changes then it’s like saying "God I’m being so perfect and loving all the time so why is he or she still acting this way"?
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Day 22 Forgive
The root of bitterness allowed to grow in us becomes a terrible poison. It really does. I have resentment and bitterness I am trying to let go of and I can feel it like a poison in my heart. It waits for a wrong move so it can just well back up and take over our hearts.
There are people who continue to fail us, they fail to be loving, they say awful things and they just let us down so much it hurts. But what has God commanded us to do? Love and forgive. Only then are we free from the bondage that man can put on our hearts. In every circumstance and situation of life, God has grace. If we fail to receive that grace, the option is that we become bitter. Let's drown in that ocean of Grace!
Forgive. Do not become bitter. (Matt. 18:21-35, Luke 6:37b, Eph. 4:32, Col. 3:12-13, Heb. 12:14-15)
If someone has something against you, seek to be reconciled to him. (Matt. 5:23-24)
Do not return evil for evil. (Rom. 12:17-19)
Love your enemies and pray for them. (Prov. 24:17; Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:35)
There are people who continue to fail us, they fail to be loving, they say awful things and they just let us down so much it hurts. But what has God commanded us to do? Love and forgive. Only then are we free from the bondage that man can put on our hearts. In every circumstance and situation of life, God has grace. If we fail to receive that grace, the option is that we become bitter. Let's drown in that ocean of Grace!
Forgive. Do not become bitter. (Matt. 18:21-35, Luke 6:37b, Eph. 4:32, Col. 3:12-13, Heb. 12:14-15)
If someone has something against you, seek to be reconciled to him. (Matt. 5:23-24)
Do not return evil for evil. (Rom. 12:17-19)
Love your enemies and pray for them. (Prov. 24:17; Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:35)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Day 21 Choose to love for Him
Everyone elses actions, let downs and failures aside, “What are you doing? Where are you?” in your walk with God?
Scripture has told us very straight forward that man will fail us. God is our only constant. Yet we still let peoples actions change us, change our hearts and attitudes everyday. We lose love for people all the time because of things they do or don't do for us. I'll say this is a huge battle for me.
Psalm 62:5 God says to us. “My soul, waits only for God; for my expectation is from him” . It has to come from Him. Start looking to Jesus to meet every expectation. But also look at Jesus not to meet our needs, but for us to be there to meet Jesus’ needs—whatever He wants of us.
Remember if we love and do everything we do for husbands,kids,friends,ministries, the least of them, If we do all of it FOR THE LORD then it will be way harder to complain or feel let down And it will bring peace to our life. His promises are unable to be measured compared to any love or gratitude that you will receive from any human.
Love is a choice but it's also a commandment. It is a choice because we have free will. But once we choose to follow God then we should follow all of him. God wants us to love him and love people. So if we have chosen God and chosen love then the hard part is we should love without anything expected in return or love without the loved one having to earn it.
Last I want to add something that came to me a minute ago. If we are people who cannot love or have really bad attitudes because of what others do to us. Then what kind of representation of a loving God are we showing the world? Are we showing them that they cannot mess up and come to God? That they have to be perfect to be a Christian? Or are we showing them the kind of forgiving love our God has for his children who mess up all the time but are always loved and forgiven? See he already died for all of that.
Scripture has told us very straight forward that man will fail us. God is our only constant. Yet we still let peoples actions change us, change our hearts and attitudes everyday. We lose love for people all the time because of things they do or don't do for us. I'll say this is a huge battle for me.
Psalm 62:5 God says to us. “My soul, waits only for God; for my expectation is from him” . It has to come from Him. Start looking to Jesus to meet every expectation. But also look at Jesus not to meet our needs, but for us to be there to meet Jesus’ needs—whatever He wants of us.
Remember if we love and do everything we do for husbands,kids,friends,ministries, the least of them, If we do all of it FOR THE LORD then it will be way harder to complain or feel let down And it will bring peace to our life. His promises are unable to be measured compared to any love or gratitude that you will receive from any human.
Love is a choice but it's also a commandment. It is a choice because we have free will. But once we choose to follow God then we should follow all of him. God wants us to love him and love people. So if we have chosen God and chosen love then the hard part is we should love without anything expected in return or love without the loved one having to earn it.
Last I want to add something that came to me a minute ago. If we are people who cannot love or have really bad attitudes because of what others do to us. Then what kind of representation of a loving God are we showing the world? Are we showing them that they cannot mess up and come to God? That they have to be perfect to be a Christian? Or are we showing them the kind of forgiving love our God has for his children who mess up all the time but are always loved and forgiven? See he already died for all of that.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Day 20 faith and joy
We want to work towards really living by faith. I waste moments in life worrying or fearing things and contemplating all the time. At the end of that worrying what did it ever do for me? Where there is fear, there is not faith. Where there is STRONG faith, fear will dissapear . We can't walk by faith and live in fear. We can't walk in fear and live by faith.
Matthew 6:25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Don’t worry about anything; pray about everything. (Phil. 4:6; Luke 12:29-31)
Hebrews 13:6
So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
We have to be grateful people. A lack of being thankful creates a joyless heart.
God never said if we follow him that our lives would be perfect. He said if we follow him he would always walk with us.
In everything give thanks. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Rejoice in the Lord. (1 Thess. 5:17; Ps. 68:3; Eph. 5:20; Phil. 4:4; James 1:2-3)
Matthew 6:25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Don’t worry about anything; pray about everything. (Phil. 4:6; Luke 12:29-31)
Hebrews 13:6
So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
We have to be grateful people. A lack of being thankful creates a joyless heart.
God never said if we follow him that our lives would be perfect. He said if we follow him he would always walk with us.
In everything give thanks. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Rejoice in the Lord. (1 Thess. 5:17; Ps. 68:3; Eph. 5:20; Phil. 4:4; James 1:2-3)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Day 19 Follow the greatest command
Scripture speaks for itself...The two most important commandments to God:
Mark 12: 28-31
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD.
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.'
The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2
Mark 12: 28-31
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD.
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.'
The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Day 18 Teaching Kids cont...
Proverbs 27 She carefully watches everything in her household
It is important for moms and dads to teach their children the ways of God. We do this by example but also time for sitting down and talking just like we do our own bible studies. It talks about it alot in the old testament.
Start with the principles of God’s Word.
•ownership: Your body is not your own; it belongs to God once you’re a child of God.
•Lordship: Jesus is Lord over all.
•citizenship: If you’re a child of God, you belong to a different kingdom; you don’t belong to this world.
•stewardship: God has entrusted some things to you, like a body. He’s entrusted beauty to you, and you have to use that in ways that are pleasing to the Lord.
(revive our hearts)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) so that your obedience is not just rigid and legalistic, but your obedience springs out of a heart of love for God.
“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Deuteronomy 6:7
, “Talk [about these things] when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” All day, every day, be naturally communicating with your children the ways of God
We need to be intentional about training them to think biblically and helping them develop a heart for God so that it's not just a list of rules.
Help your kids know to share with you verbally and to have conversations about everything, it may be tiring, but it keeps the door open so in those crazy teen years, you can talk about all the issues that come up.
It is important for moms and dads to teach their children the ways of God. We do this by example but also time for sitting down and talking just like we do our own bible studies. It talks about it alot in the old testament.
Start with the principles of God’s Word.
•ownership: Your body is not your own; it belongs to God once you’re a child of God.
•Lordship: Jesus is Lord over all.
•citizenship: If you’re a child of God, you belong to a different kingdom; you don’t belong to this world.
•stewardship: God has entrusted some things to you, like a body. He’s entrusted beauty to you, and you have to use that in ways that are pleasing to the Lord.
(revive our hearts)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) so that your obedience is not just rigid and legalistic, but your obedience springs out of a heart of love for God.
“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Deuteronomy 6:7
, “Talk [about these things] when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” All day, every day, be naturally communicating with your children the ways of God
We need to be intentional about training them to think biblically and helping them develop a heart for God so that it's not just a list of rules.
Help your kids know to share with you verbally and to have conversations about everything, it may be tiring, but it keeps the door open so in those crazy teen years, you can talk about all the issues that come up.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Day 17 Discern
Don't compromise with the world. I know it's hard to walk the narrow path. But I know it's worth it. We have to discern what is right and wrong to be a part of.
The truth is there are strong, anti-God forces always around us. It's hard to live a holy life in this world.
Moms and Dads are responsible to make sure that children are being protected. Especially young kids that don't know how to discern right from wrong, we are responsible to help them make those choices.
In entertainment today so many things are acceptable. We laugh and it’s fun, no big deal so we don’t think of how dangerous our kids absorbing it can be. Think of the philosophy, behavior and just what's being promoted before letting kids watch or even watching it ourselves.
There’s inconsistency there for parents who profess to believe the gospel and then let their kids watch movies with sexual jokes or content and certain philosophies.
The hard part is doing this without being crazy uptight all the time. Super hard!
We don’t want to make such a crazy deal about everything that it ends up tempting kids to want it.
We always gotta go against the flow and it's not easy swimming upstream. Jesus knows that, and gives us amazing promises to encourage us to be faithful. He says, “Keep your eyes on the finish line.” If you keep your eyes on the reward, the promises of God, it will help you to deal with the allure and the enticement of the world. We can say no to the things the world offers us if we know that waiting for us are rewards the world can never ever give us!
The truth is there are strong, anti-God forces always around us. It's hard to live a holy life in this world.
Moms and Dads are responsible to make sure that children are being protected. Especially young kids that don't know how to discern right from wrong, we are responsible to help them make those choices.
In entertainment today so many things are acceptable. We laugh and it’s fun, no big deal so we don’t think of how dangerous our kids absorbing it can be. Think of the philosophy, behavior and just what's being promoted before letting kids watch or even watching it ourselves.
There’s inconsistency there for parents who profess to believe the gospel and then let their kids watch movies with sexual jokes or content and certain philosophies.
The hard part is doing this without being crazy uptight all the time. Super hard!
We don’t want to make such a crazy deal about everything that it ends up tempting kids to want it.
We always gotta go against the flow and it's not easy swimming upstream. Jesus knows that, and gives us amazing promises to encourage us to be faithful. He says, “Keep your eyes on the finish line.” If you keep your eyes on the reward, the promises of God, it will help you to deal with the allure and the enticement of the world. We can say no to the things the world offers us if we know that waiting for us are rewards the world can never ever give us!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day 16 Teaching
We need to be teachers and learners. We are teaching whether we are trying to teach or not because our children learn as they watch us. We have to be both intentional about teaching scripture and live it ourselves which teaches a lot.
We have to be so careful as Christians because we are teaching our kids all the time intentionally or by accident.
We show them how to love by the way we love our husbands and others. We can't just say love people this way, they are gonna love the way they see us love.
We have to teach them to be pure. It's our responsibility.
A super destroyer of faith in kids who grow up Christian, is that they don't see parents with a faith that has joy in it. Our kids will walk away if they see it's joyless. Why would they want just a list of rules? A list of things they can’t and have to do. I have only been a parent for 4 months now and I have overloaded my foster girl with a crash course on rules and how to be good. I have to step back and infuse the Joy! Wait! God loves us and has a Kingdom waiting. Lucky for me I love laughing and making people laugh so she gets some Joy! ha ha. But really.
There are a lot of commands in Scripture that we have to teach kids. Jesus told us to teach the things that He’s commanded. We do need to teach obedience.
But before we teach anything our kids gotta feel that we believe following God and living for the glory of God is the most awesome way to live. If we don’t believe it, they won't either.
Prayer: God please help us set godly examples in every part of life, to be a good example of what it means to love and to obey you. Help us have grateful hearts that shine happiness for you.
We have to be so careful as Christians because we are teaching our kids all the time intentionally or by accident.
We show them how to love by the way we love our husbands and others. We can't just say love people this way, they are gonna love the way they see us love.
We have to teach them to be pure. It's our responsibility.
A super destroyer of faith in kids who grow up Christian, is that they don't see parents with a faith that has joy in it. Our kids will walk away if they see it's joyless. Why would they want just a list of rules? A list of things they can’t and have to do. I have only been a parent for 4 months now and I have overloaded my foster girl with a crash course on rules and how to be good. I have to step back and infuse the Joy! Wait! God loves us and has a Kingdom waiting. Lucky for me I love laughing and making people laugh so she gets some Joy! ha ha. But really.
There are a lot of commands in Scripture that we have to teach kids. Jesus told us to teach the things that He’s commanded. We do need to teach obedience.
But before we teach anything our kids gotta feel that we believe following God and living for the glory of God is the most awesome way to live. If we don’t believe it, they won't either.
Prayer: God please help us set godly examples in every part of life, to be a good example of what it means to love and to obey you. Help us have grateful hearts that shine happiness for you.
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