Well school has started again, and though its been a rough start its going well now.
I was not able to get any classes with Purdue cal like I had been hoping, but I think that is because God wanted me to really be able to focus on my classes with Moody this semester.
I am currently reading in Matthew and I am absolutely loving it. I thought I would share some of the verses that have really stuck out to me so far.
Matthew 5:46-47 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing then others?
I just thought this was a really good reminder that we are commanded to love everyone as God loves them. God doesnt only love those who love Him. We need to go out of our ways to love those around us.
6:7-8 "And when you pray do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him."
I've always been a bit uncomfortable praying in front of others, and sometimes just in general. I was always so afraid that I would sound like I didn't pray much because I didn't use all the fancy phrases that other people did, or that people would look down on my because I stumble over my words. That in itself I have found to be ridiculous, because I know those who are sincere in their faith arent going to look down on my just because I stumble over my words in prayer. But whats even more ridiculous was that I ever thought that God wouldn't hear me as well because of it. I see now how foolish it was to think that.
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in out weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
We don't need to make our prayers sound good, we just need to pray with a sincerity and faith and the Spirit will take care of the rest.
6:25-27, 32 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more then food, and the body more then clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value then they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
This is just a reminder that I need frequently. I worry too much about the little things in my life, I forget that God will take care of my needs, even the ones that seem small.
8:19-20 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
When we commit to following Jesus, we commit to going where we may not want to. We can't just expect to stay where we are and be comfortable, but we have to be prepared and wiling to follow wherever He leads us whenever He leads us.
This is just what Ive gotten from the first 8 chapters so far. I am amazed over and over by God's word and I am so grateful that I can go to school to learn more about Him and His word.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Life lately...
The past week God has really been preparing me for some big lessons. I didn't see it at the time, but last night it kinda all came together for me.
I was going through a bit of a rough time this past weekend, and through it I found myself seeking God more and learning more from him. I was grateful again for the rough times in my life, because thats when I feel God the most. Then in Tony's sermon Sunday he mentioned something about God teaching us in the good times as well as the bad. It really hit me then how I have been seeking God more in the rough times and that is why I feel closest to Him then. God teaches me just as much through good times, I just have a hard time looking to Him when everything else is going good,
which lead me to another point that Tony made. He said that if we are not in the scriptures and spending time in prayer it is most likely because of self sufficiency. Talk about hitting home.
I have been telling myself for a while now that I'm letting God take over, that I can't do this anymore, and sure I may let go for a couple minutes but the second anything starts to change I immediately try to seize control again. I'm not truly giving everything over to God, but rather I'm letting Him have it until I start to feel worried about it or feel like I know what I'm doing.
I have learned over and over, seen it displayed clearly in my life, that God knows much better for me then I think I know. Why I continually try to regain control when God does so much better with these things in my life, I don't fully understand. I think I need to feel in control sometimes.
Well over the weekend something happened that I was not prepared for and definitely did not have control over. I had been asking God to prepare me for it, had been telling myself that I gave the situation over to Him, but really I haven't. By losing control and seeing plainly that I had, I started to see the things that God had waiting for me that I had been blind to. I should have given up control a long time ago.
I tend to lose sight of God when things are going good. Everything in my life starts to fall into place (or so it seems) and I screw it all up by trying to take control again. Its like asking someone for help you get started with something you are having trouble with but they have experience in, and then as soon as they start it off you say "alright I think I got it from here, thanks a lot" most of the time, that ends with just making things worse then they were in the first place.
God has been trying to tell me so many things lately and all I have done is ignore Him stubbornly saying I can just do it myself. I don't know where I got that idea, as I look back its quiet obvious that anything good in my life has only come through God. If only I could remember all of these life lessons I have learned in the past I wouldnt be blogging about this right now, because I would have remembered learning it before. but I always forget, too quickly. I need to start focusing more.
Another thing I've been thinking about lately is one of the sermons I heard when I was counseling at SBR. The speaker(chuck) was directing his messages at the JR. highers, but they were packed with content, no sugar coating, and very blunt and to the point. I learned so much that week. The title of his first message was "you've got to think"
As soon as I heard that title my attention was on him. I had been feeling lately that the reason I wasn't learning much was because I wasn't allowing myself time to think and process what God was teaching me, what I was reading in the scriptures, hearing in sermons etc.
That wasn't the exact point that Chuck made, but he did touch on it some. He was more directing the message toward the fact that we really need to think about the consequences of our decisions and what we are making them based on. By combining those two points I was able to focus a lot more of my life and decisions on Christ and things started going well again, which is why I once again strayed.
Bottom line is, I need to stop being so self sufficient because I am a human and I am far from perfect and I am going to screw up over and over and over. I need to remember that God knows so much better then me what I need in my life. And lastly, I need to remember to learn in the good times.
I was going through a bit of a rough time this past weekend, and through it I found myself seeking God more and learning more from him. I was grateful again for the rough times in my life, because thats when I feel God the most. Then in Tony's sermon Sunday he mentioned something about God teaching us in the good times as well as the bad. It really hit me then how I have been seeking God more in the rough times and that is why I feel closest to Him then. God teaches me just as much through good times, I just have a hard time looking to Him when everything else is going good,
which lead me to another point that Tony made. He said that if we are not in the scriptures and spending time in prayer it is most likely because of self sufficiency. Talk about hitting home.
I have been telling myself for a while now that I'm letting God take over, that I can't do this anymore, and sure I may let go for a couple minutes but the second anything starts to change I immediately try to seize control again. I'm not truly giving everything over to God, but rather I'm letting Him have it until I start to feel worried about it or feel like I know what I'm doing.
I have learned over and over, seen it displayed clearly in my life, that God knows much better for me then I think I know. Why I continually try to regain control when God does so much better with these things in my life, I don't fully understand. I think I need to feel in control sometimes.
Well over the weekend something happened that I was not prepared for and definitely did not have control over. I had been asking God to prepare me for it, had been telling myself that I gave the situation over to Him, but really I haven't. By losing control and seeing plainly that I had, I started to see the things that God had waiting for me that I had been blind to. I should have given up control a long time ago.
I tend to lose sight of God when things are going good. Everything in my life starts to fall into place (or so it seems) and I screw it all up by trying to take control again. Its like asking someone for help you get started with something you are having trouble with but they have experience in, and then as soon as they start it off you say "alright I think I got it from here, thanks a lot" most of the time, that ends with just making things worse then they were in the first place.
God has been trying to tell me so many things lately and all I have done is ignore Him stubbornly saying I can just do it myself. I don't know where I got that idea, as I look back its quiet obvious that anything good in my life has only come through God. If only I could remember all of these life lessons I have learned in the past I wouldnt be blogging about this right now, because I would have remembered learning it before. but I always forget, too quickly. I need to start focusing more.
Another thing I've been thinking about lately is one of the sermons I heard when I was counseling at SBR. The speaker(chuck) was directing his messages at the JR. highers, but they were packed with content, no sugar coating, and very blunt and to the point. I learned so much that week. The title of his first message was "you've got to think"
As soon as I heard that title my attention was on him. I had been feeling lately that the reason I wasn't learning much was because I wasn't allowing myself time to think and process what God was teaching me, what I was reading in the scriptures, hearing in sermons etc.
That wasn't the exact point that Chuck made, but he did touch on it some. He was more directing the message toward the fact that we really need to think about the consequences of our decisions and what we are making them based on. By combining those two points I was able to focus a lot more of my life and decisions on Christ and things started going well again, which is why I once again strayed.
Bottom line is, I need to stop being so self sufficient because I am a human and I am far from perfect and I am going to screw up over and over and over. I need to remember that God knows so much better then me what I need in my life. And lastly, I need to remember to learn in the good times.
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