The Need For Water

All of us need something in one way or another. Whether we actually need these things the answer is usually not, but, the one thing we all need, no matter how strong we are, is water.
In order to survive each and everyone of us must have water. In the Bible Moses was leading Israel through the Desert of Shur where there was no water. None at all for days on end. Eventually when they came to Marah, grumpy thirsty and dehydrated, they found water. But, the water was acidic. The people couldn't drink this water and became rude towards Moses.
Rather than taking it out on people like Israel was doing, Moses asked God where he can find drinkable water and God provided.
To me this shows that no matter how often we don't receive the things that we want, we will ALWAYS receive the things that we need.
Reading
-Have you ever been at a point where you thought God wouldn't provide you with your necessities?
-Did God end up giving you what you needed?
-In times of struggle how can we ask God for guidance or to provide us with the things we need?

Psalm 139:1-24

Psalm is definitely one of my favorite chapters in the bible, and I think that Psalm 139:1-24 is one of my favorite scriptures. The main idea's in this scripture are..
1. God knows everything about you.
2. There is nothing you can do to hide from Him.
3. He is always there for you, no matter what.
Psalm 7 states, "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." There is no where or anything that will ever hide you from God. He can always see you. He is always there- whether you want him to be or not.
Psalm 4 says, "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." God knows everything you're going to say, everything you do say, even a thought in your head. This makes me a little nervous.. what if I think a bad thought? God can see that. But in reality, God can see & hear everything.
Reading: Psalm 139:1-24
Reflecting:
-Does it comfort you knowing that you can never hide from God?
-How do you feel knowing that God knows everything you are going to say, before you do?
-Write down an example in the past week how you exhibited a worried attitude and how knowing that God is always there, helped you over come that.

Death

Death has been weighing heavily on my heart lately. Yesterday, I got word that my friend's baby girl passed away. She was 7 months old and had a severe asthma attack & a collapsed lung. I've been thinking- why? Why her? It doesn't seem fair. I know though that God has a plan.
In Psalm 139:16, "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." This is comforting to me, knowing that God has every day written out for us. No amount of worrying, or anything can change that.
We have to know and trust that God has a greater plan for us. God's plan is the best plan. We may not like the things He does, but He knows best. We have to trust in God. Even when times are tough. Even when we feel like He's not "there". He always is.. and he always will be.
Reading: Psalm 139:16; Psalm 147:3; John 14:1-3
Reflecting:
-How do you feel knowing that there is nothing about you that is not written out in God's book?
-When tragedy strikes, do you feel comfort knowing that God is in control?
-When something bad happens, do you take comfort in knowing that God is there? Or do you feel like God "disappeared"?

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.

Lying

Being honest is a hard thing to do. There are many situations around us that make us lie. Being a Christian, we know that it is extremely easy to fall into sin. Being honest can hurt us and even the people around but we need to remember that we are doing what God wants us to do, therefore we should not feel as bad. Lying to yourself is just as bad as lying to someone else. Kelly Mahoney said, "While humility and modesty is a good thing, being too harsh on yourself is not being truthful. Also, thinking too highly of yourself is a sin. Thus, it is important for you to find a balance of knowing your blessings and shortcomings so you can continue to grow."
I lie. To family, friends, even myself. For instance, the other day my mom asked me if I had taken the dog for a good, long walk. I was lazy and didn't feel like walking her again, so I replied yes, even though I had only taken her down the driveway. This might not seem like a "big" deal, but any type of lying is a big deal. It doesn't matter to what degree or to whom; lying is bad. The good thing is, no matter what, God will always forgive us.
Reading: Acts 5:1-11
Reflecting:
-Do you struggle with lying?
-How often do you think you lie? How can you "reduce" that number?
-When you lie, do you pray and ask God for forgiveness?
-After you repent about lying, do you still feel bad? Or do you trust that God really forgave you?