When Duty Calls

Each and every one of us have responsibilities. Some of us have duties to raise children, or to keep a steady job, or to keep the house clean, or feed a dog. No matter what our duties are and how long our to-do lists may get we have one sole responsibility and that is to love God. Micah 6:8 says "..what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God."
I am such a busy person I always feel the need to accomplish 500 things at once and forget about this one simple reminder that all I need to do is to do the right things and love God. If I can do these simple things everything else will fall into place as it should.
But, in these simple commandments is a duty in itself. We are responsible to spread the word. I love to feel that going to church each week, reading the scriptures, raising my kids in a christian household, and attending many church activities is enough, but that's just barely scraping the surface of what we should really be doing.
Our Savior lived and died for us. He listens to us contradict ourselves. He watches us go against him time and time again. We have such an amazing Lord and we continue to let Him down, but even more so we continue to not spread His word. We can allow ourselves to look like the holiest people ever, but without spreading the light we remain in darkness ourselves.
Many people think this isn't necessary or doesn't apply to them because when they picture spreading the word of God as full on missionary work when this doesn't have to be the case. It could be as simple as mentioning God when someone is confused or playing a church hymn in the car with someone or praying before you leave. Little things like this can make a big difference in someones life and everyone deserves to know the truth!
Reading:
1 Corinthians 9:16
Reflect:
How can you better yourself by helping someone else find God?
Make it a mission this week to show someone God, even just in a small way! 

In Times of Adversity

Every single one of us has been through something tough. Because of these hardships every single one of us has questioned Gods love and power. Through my times of trial I have realized we must understand why we must suffer these times in order to be able to overcome them.
Sin has been on earth as long as the first people have been. As soon as sin started so did suffering. God was ultimately in control of Adam & eves fall but he allowed them to sin. Why? So we would be capable of loving Him. If we were created to be Gods puppets, unable to choose sin, our love for him wouldn't be voluntary. And if love is involuntary its not love at all.
I don't know if any of you are parents but sometimes we allow our kids to make mistakes. As hard as it is, we watch it happen. I allow my kids to do this because I know that if I rescue them from everything they wont be very successful when they're older. Similarly a lot of times we create our own suffering because of our own sinful choices. If the lord tried to rescue us from these actions in order to prevent our suffering we never would develop into mature believers.
As believers in Christ we will always have an enemy. Unfortunately our enemy is very strong, sometimes stronger than us, and we will always be under attack by him. Satan is out to destroy our lives and our testimonys, making us weak and useless for God.
Ultimately God is in charge of all adversity that comes our way. To deny His involvement contradicts His Power and sovereignty over creation.
For us to accept that God allows, and even sends afflictions we must see adversity His way. As believers were assured that no adversity comes our way unless He can use it to achieve His good purposes.
Reading:
Isaiah 45:5-10
Reflect:
Is your focus on the pain of the experience or the Lord and His faithfulness?
Next time you feel Gods not there do you feel these points may help you?

Willpower

So, as I'm sure you've noticed Clare and I have been slacking on blogging. Summer has come and Clare started summer classes, I am finally getting a quick breather before school starts up again in August, and filling in my "breather" with work and my little family. Because of our "priorities" our blog has taken seat on the back burner. But, we are both determined to get back into the swing of things.
Even though our purpose for this blog was to spread the word of God (hence "His hand extended") this has been the least of our priorities, which honestly, a) don't take up all of our time, and b) aren't really all that important. Which brings me to today's topic, willpower.
There are many times, most days actually, where I think "oh its okay, I've done so much, ill just take a quick nap." and neglect my scriptures which are now beginning to collect dust.  Or, "the kids are crabby, we can skip Bible time tonight." Simply because I don't want to deal with it and in the end I am robbing them of very important things. I think I can rely on my willpower and that alone and i am starting to see that that is not the case. Our bodies (mind, will, emotions) would love to run our lives, and these things are vital to a successful life and they can get you far, but they are never enough to let you cross the finish line.
what if, instead of relying on willpower we relied on God. He can instill HIS power, which is so much greater than our own, into us, and we will be able to run laps around everyone relying on their own willpower. Also, God will be getting the credit for all the wonderful things we wold be able to do, rather than ourselves.
John 15:5 says "Apart from me, you can do nothing." this is such an important verse to keep in mind during todays study.
Reading:
Galatians 5:16
Reflect:
-When looking at the things you get done and the things you don't, are you using your own willpower or are you using God?
-In what ways can you change your ways to stay motivated and glorify God?

Keeping Whats Yours

My families home has been robbed. Not only did they take physical things, but they took our right to feel comfortable and safe in our own home. While these thieves took just about every thing we own, we have we still have our scriptures, our savior, our church and each other and that is what matters.
Because I myself have never been stolen from until now, I never realized how much it really does affect a family. They stole from us physical things, including things from my young kids and they stole a feeling that I don't know that we will ever get back.
I know that God has a plan. I know that for some reason He aloud this thief to take from us and this is a part of a greater plan. As a family we have really been focused on readings about thieves, stealing and robberies today and it has helped us to be calm and know that these thieves will be stopped for God has given us this information through His word.
Reading:
Exodus 20:15
Deuteronomy 24:7
Matthew 6:20
Reflect:
Have you ever been stolen from?
If so did this weaken or strengthen your faith in God?
How do of you think God may use a robbery as a part of his greater plan?

Let Their Iron Swim

A common theme that seems to be coming up in my life a lot lately is "helping others." I keep finding myself bending backwards to help others even when it means causing additional stressors in my already hectic life.
Something I am really excited about is working at the Kiwanis camp! It's a camp for disabled children and adults where they can have a week of fishing, horseback riding, arts and crafts, and friends. You can find more information about it here!
Because of all the "helping" that's going on in my life I know I am creating miracles. Whether or not these miracles affect me directly or not I know that when I go to camp these kids will experience something that they don't always get to. As small as it may be I want that week to be a miracle for them. My outlook on this brings me to today's reading.
In the reading a man drops a borrowed ax into the water. Elisha, a man of god, allows the iron to float to the man when he expresses his concern because the ax wasn't his.
By expressing his concern for OTHERS a miracle was preformed for him. Don't you think you could focus on others every single day to be making miracles no matter the size?
Reading:
2 Kings 6:1-7
Reflections:
-Are you currently trying to make a difference for OTHERS?
-What can you do to make a difference in others day to day life?
Goal:
Make it a goal this week to "make someone's iron swim." let yourself focus more on others needs and wants then your own.

Showing Others Christ

Sometimes I feel that it's hard for me to discuss God with others and I know this is really bad. I should never be ashamed of embarrassed and if anything I should be looking for someone to teach about Jesus, but I don't!
Today's reading helped me find strength in converting others because of what an impact it had on Paul and Silas to show Christ to others.
I personally need to focus on not worrying about what others think as only worrying about what God thinks. Since I have started this blog I have learned that this is my biggest weakness in my walk in God. I am so focused on earthly things that I realize soon enough I have forgotten about the heavenly things which are what really matter.
Reading:
-Acts 16:23-36
Reflect:
-Are you focusing on God and what He wants from you or are you focusing on what people here on Earth want from you?
-If you are doing the latter what can you do to change this?
-Are you voluntarily spreading the word of the Lord as often as you can?
Goal:
I personally am now making it a goal to spread Gods word to at least one person per day. Whether it be someone in the store or a person on the street I will reach out his hand because I know God wants to work through me.

Teaching & Humbling

As a parent I feel that God guides me in my parenting, but ultimately God is my decision maker, He is also who I hope that my children will follow, even over me.
One thing I feel strongly is that parents try to show their kids too much of themselves and too little of God. The Bible shows us in so many ways that God will always provide, we should never worry, and we should become less so that He can become greater.
In todays reading we see John the Baptist teaching about Christ. John was sent ahead of Jesus in order to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. John was meant to baptise, preach, and call the nation to repetance in order to prepare them for Jesus. Isnt this something we can do for our kids, or for the people without kids, just with the people around us? By making ourselves like John and preaching the word of Christ to all around us, especially our children, we can prepare them for a life side by side with Him. If we are like John and walk before Jesus, prepare them for Him, and then allow Him to become bigger than us, our children can have a life with God that is exactly what we as parents, and God as our father, want in each one of our children.
Reading:
John 3:22-36
Reflect:
What can you do to help prepare those around you for a life in Christ?
Are you willing to become lesser than Jesus in front of people, especially your children?
Where does this passage take your mind?

Overcoming obstacles.

Sometimes I feel that my prayers are never answered. I feel that I pray and pray for the same struggles to be overcame and they never are. Sometimes I sit there and cry for hours upon hours about how unfair life is. And most times I feel that God, as good as He has been to me, doesn't always make things "easy."
We can see an example of this in Judges. Gideon was an Israelite who prepared to fight the Midianites, the task seemed impossible but God told him he'd give him a decisive victory. After that Gideon put together an army of 32,000 but God said with that many men the Israelites might get the credit for winning and forget about God, so after several times of lessening his army Gideon was left with only 300 men. Talk about not having an easy obstacle! In the end though, Gideon's tiny army ended up defeating the intimidating midianites.
During this story I can't help but feel that God made Gideon's battle so difficult that the people had to trust him. I believe that God does the same thing inside many of us. He makes our day to day battles sometimes so difficult that we have to trust Him and provide Him with the victory after we overcome our struggles. Gideon and his army had to rely on God, not on their own strength, in order to have a victory.
Instead of relying on your own strength, what If you asked God to remind you that he's with you all day, in every problem and every fear? What if you no longer had to had behind false strength? You might start to see things like Gideon did. You'd see God as a whole lot bigger than you thought and you'd see your obstacles as a whole lot smaller than they seemed.
Reading:
Judges 7:1-24
Reflect:
-Do you allow God to have the victory or do you try to battle them yourself?
-How can you allow God to take your obstacles and win them for you?
-In order to be like Gideon what changes do you need to make in your life?

Humbling Ourselves

One thing I have never quite understood is why people feel the need to make themselves so "mighty and powerful." People allow fame, looks, intelligence, anything really, to go straight to their head. Many young people are afraid of who to be seen with because of their own reputation.
On top of that sometimes its just simply hard to do the right thing. How many of you see a homeless person and offer him food or money? How many of you clothe him? What about let him into your home? Many of us ignore these demands from Jesus because we chose to decide they're not for us or we have more earthly things to worry about. Is our greatest rewards our possessions on Earth? No, they are our treasures in heaven. By humbling yourself and allowing yourself to help people who you may feel are lesser than you, you will be rewarded. Maybe not right away, maybe not even in this life. But, these are the things Jesus sees. It doesn't matter what others think of you or that you may lose your sense of power by humbling yourself. This is exactly how Jesus wants us to live.
Do you think He would consciously drive by a homeless person? No.
Reading:
-Luke 14:1-14
Reflect:
-Are you a humble person?
-What do you do, or don't do, that needs to be changed in order to humble yourself?
Goal:
-Let's all do something to humble ourselves today. We could take a homeless person into our home or clothe/feed him. We could serve at a local soup kitchen. Anything that is normally out of our comfort zone, these are things we should all be working on.

Obedience

Obedience is something that I struggle with. The world thinks I am a wonderful Christian, who came from a rough start with the odds against her but was able to turn her life around. The odds were against me and I was able to pull through because of my faith in God. The world sees me the way I want God to. Unfortunately, the world isn't what matters.
I am going to be brutally honest in this post and try not to sugar coat anything:
-I am an unwed mother living with my boyfriend who I continue to have sex with.
-I lie when I feel that it will benefit me.
-And most importantly I allow people to think much different of me.
Yeah I have been with the same man since I was 14, I don't drink or party, I tithe the church and overall I am a good person but I am not obedient. And that's what this post is all about.
For those of you who have read Radical by David Platt, "We have a master who demands radical obedience." this means we don't get to pick and choose what demands we follow or ignore. Our God demands us to follow everything he says. Not just what we feel is directed towards us.
I don't get to say that God didn't mean me when he says we must not have sex out of marriage. I don't get to say God didn't mean me when he says all lying is bad, even just leaving out some of the truth. and I certainly don't get to say God didn't mean me when He said He is the only one with the right to judge, not anyone else.
But, I also know that this is a big problem in churches everywhere. Think about it, how obedient are you?
Reading:
-Exodus 4:10-14
Reflect:
-How obedient are you?
-Do you ignore things God has said because "they don't apply to you" or "that's not relevant Anymore?"
-Are you doing everything in God?
-How can you ask God for guidance to help you be more obedient?

I am the Vine

One thing I let myself forget sometimes is how much I need God. I am 18 and I tend to think I'm invincible, when in all reality I am not. I am far from and without God I am nothing. I need God and I need his word in many ways to be able function and more specifically, function as He would want me too. I am so thankful that God has given me His word and His hand and hasn't kept anything from me. I think God tries so hard to be friends with each and every one of us and some people do better with this then others.
Today's reading is my absolute favorite in the entire Bible. I feel such a connection to it and I feel like God is speaking right to me when I read it.
Reading:
John 15:1-17
Reflect:
-Do you keep in mind that you need God to be truly good?
-Do you think of God as a friend or rather a master?
-Do you truly try to love everyone, even people you feel deserve to be hated?

Choosing your battles

Every single day we fight for something. We fight to win an argument. We fight to prove a point. We fight for materials. We fight for the opinions of someone. Many people are even fighting for their lives. I am very competitive and when I look closely at my day to day life I see so many pointless fights. Often I catch myself, usually when it's too late, almost searching for reasons to fight about/for something. I have come to realize that I need to start fighting for one thing and one thing alone. God. If each fight I chose revolves around God I will win every battle. I am a firm believer, a child, and I think I have a pretty strong relationship in God. From today's reading I know that God will help me win every fight as long as its for him.
In this chapter David goes against Goliath. David, who is just a young boy wears no armor and has no weapons besides a sling shot, but yet he takes down the strong, mighty, dominate Goliath. Why? Because he was fighting for God.
Reading:
- 1 Samuel 17
Reflect:
-Do you need to choose your battles more carefully?
- Are you waisting valuable time fighting pointless fights?
- If so what can you do to have a change of heart and start fighting for God and for God alone?

Disabilities and fallbacks.

As a kid with a rough home life I often wondered what I did to deserve this. Even before I really knew God I knew that there was something much bigger than me out there and I couldn't help but feel that I must've done something to deserve all the wrong that had been done to me throughout my life.
As I've grown older, moved out of my parents house and became an adult of my own I have taken the time to strengthen my walk with God and gotten to know him. Last night I was reading the Bible and something that really stuck out to me was God discussing a mans disability. He makes it very clear that no one did anything wrong to cause that man to be born blind. Jesus says this happened so that the works of God could be displayed in him.
I personally feel that everyone has some form of disability or fall back that they feel keeps them from being this non-existent normal that people have made up in their head. Today's reading says that those fallbacks are just ways for God to use us to show how amazing He is.
Reading:
-John 9:1-12
Reflect:
-Do you think that you have a fallback that God can use to show his works?
-Will you actually allow God to work through you or do you refuse to be better than your disability?
-God can use each and everyone of us, what can you do to let Him use you?

The Power of Friendship

To be honest with you I don't have very many friends. I have my family and then a handful of people I keep close. I am 18 years old and many kids my age are still concerned with being popular and well-known. This just isn't a concern to me because I know that that handful of people will be there for me through and through and they have proven this time and time again. In the old testament the book of Ruth is such a powerful statement of friendship and family bonds.

In Ruth a woman, Naomi, loses her husband and then two sons and is left only with her daughter in-laws. Naomi decides she is going to go back to her hometown because there is nothing there for her anymore. Her two daughter in-laws protest but Naomi insisted that they go back to where they came from. One girl agrees to go but Ruth insists on staying with her mother in law. This was a huge deal in these Bible days because then a God was considered to rule only over one geographical region. A Moabite (what Ruth and her sister Orpah were) were going to be a disadvantage in Israel and Naomi didn't expect them to believe in her God. Pay special attention to verses 1:16-18 because these show a huge sacrifice. Ruth is willing to leave her own God no matter what it cost her to be with her mother in law. How many people do you know that would do this for you?

Reading:

Ruth 1.

Reflection:

-Do you surround yourself with people like Ruth who are willing to sacrifice everything, including the wrath of God for you?

-Are you a loving enough person to do this for anyone?

-Who knows what Ruth would have done had the circumstances been different. How much would it take for you to do this for someone? Death, sickness, or that they're just plain lonely?

Luke 15

Many times I have sat like this girl with my head between my knees wondering where my life was going and what directions I should go. I have made many mistakes and my life and know that no matter how hard I try I will always make more. Fortunately, I am now more conscious of my decisions and the path I am on then I was a few years ago and from reading the Bible I know that Jesus rejoiced in this.
I feel that many people make the mistake in believing they have strayed too far from God when this is far from the truth. As you will see in todays reading God celebrates a son, or daughter, returning to Him. There is no such thing as straying too far from God.
In todays reading we see a shepherd leave 99 of his sheep to find one lost one, this is just what God does for us, and He will celebrate one sinner repenting so much more so than 99 righteous people. There is no limit of Gods love and forgiveness even as you continue to struggle with sin. I have one sin that I personally continue to struggle with. God knows our weaknesses even better than we do and He knows that in one way or another we will mess up again.
When you do mess up again how will you choose to deal with it? Will you be like the Israelites who hardened their hearts and quit talking to God? (Heb. 3:7-9). You should never let this happen to you! No matter what trials or tribulations you may be experiencing, no matter how lost you may feel, and no matter how much you think "there's no way God can forgive me" you must seek God with all your heart. (Dt. 4:29)
Reading:
-Luke 15.
Reflect:
-When you know you sin time after time again how do you deal with this?
-After reading about God's unconditional love how do you feel?
-What about the fact God and his angels want to throw a party for you? Time to spend more time repenting? :)
Post your answers, thoughts, concerns or feedback in the comments! :)