Faith Comes by Hearing

God has been reminding me lately that he is (a) faithful, (b) able to do some really awesome things, and (c) that his word is true. I have been in a Bible study rut lately. And by rut, I mean that I haven't really been reading and studying the Bible at all.

Well, I take that back. I have a book called Jesus Calling that I read each morning before I start my work day, and I'll usually look up the reference verse really quick. But besides that, I haven't spent a lot of time lately really studying God's word.

So I joined a Bible study that meets on Tuesdays and the topic is "Faithful, Abundant, and True". The first couple weeks have been a study in Hebrews, which is all about faith. Even though, I've heard it all before, it is important to hear that stuff over and over again so that we can really get it in our heads.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)! We have to have faith in what Jesus did on the cross. He knows our sins and chose to die so that we can be forgiven. So every time we think to ourselves something like "I can't forgive myself..." we are choosing to dwell in our sin and showing a lack of faith in what Jesus did!

That convicted me a little bit just because sometimes I tend to dwell on the negative and sometimes I just feel like such a bad person for the thoughts I have, or the way I treat Cody sometimes whenever I'm annoyed, or just anything really. But instead of getting caught up in my sin, I should praise God and thank him all the more for what he did for me, because I know what I truly deserve, and he saved me from that!

So how can we develop faith and trust in God? I believe it's by studying his word and learning as much of it as we can, and also by praying for strength to trust in him, and once we start becoming attuned to his word, we'll start seeing how he's working in our lives. Hence the reason I joined a Bible study this summer.

:)

So praise God for sending his son Jesus to die for us this morning, and have faith that we are saved!

Seek and Find

What better way to start off the morning than with a great Bible verse? And this is one that I've been needing to hear.

I've been wanting to write in my blog for a while now, but I just feel like I haven't had anything to say really. I hate it whenever that happens. I feel like all I've been doing is go to work, go to the gym, and then go home.

I need a new project. And to find some new friends. Why is it so hard to meet new people when you move to a new place??

I started a new Bible study this week at a church in town. It meets every Tuesday for the next few weeks, and I met a couple nice ladies this week, so I'm hopeful that it'll lead to some good friendships. We will see, but like the Bible verse reminded me this morning, I need to focus on seeking God with all my heart, and then I believe that he'll bring me some good friendships along the way.

I just need to start trusting God more!

Morning Verse

Let's set our focus this morning on the Spirit, and living according to God's will for our lives!

What's Bad is Good

How relevant I feel this verse is today...when you hear about all the terrible things that people do to one another here on Earth. And they do it for selfish, evil reasons. But GOD IS GOOD!  He has a plan for all things, and he can accomplish his will through these terrible things that people do to each other.

In this verse, Joseph is talking to his brothers who basically sold him into slavery when he was about 17 years old (I think) because they were jealous of how their father loved him more than them. He knew that they had done it intending for him to die, but he also knew that God had intended him for a greater purpose.

You see, Joseph ended up as one of Pharaoh's most highly  trusted officials in Egypt. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams, and because of this ability, Joseph was able to see that God was going to send a great famine that would last for many years. And because of this knowledge, he was able to stockpile grain during the good years, enough to sustain the land for the years of famine.

Of course, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt for help when the famine came upon the land, not knowing that it was their brother who would save their lives, after they tried to end his.

God is so good. He will always provide for us in the most unexpected ways, even though we do NOT deserve it. Joseph's brothers certainly didn't deserve his help after the way they treated him.

So the next time you see something terrible on the news, instead of blaming God for allowing something so bad to happen, try to look for something good that comes from it to Praise Him for!

What Do You Treasure?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately...about how I try so hard to store up things here on Earth that really make no difference whatsoever in the grand scheme of things. How much better off would we be if we started focusing on storing up our treasure in Heaven instead of on Earth?

These verses also say that we should sell our possessions and give to the poor. I feel like Cody and I have the perfect opportunity to do just that at this point in our lives as we're about to move. How awesome of God to give us the opportunity to give back some of the things He's given us to people who actually need it. Like my closet, for example, I have way to many clothes that I barely wear. It's really hard for me to get rid of clothes. I collect them...not because I want to collect clothes, but because I feel like if I get rid of them, I'll be sorry.

The truth is, I have to many clothes. I don't need them all. So I'm going to go through my closet and put them out at the garage sale we're going to have. Whatever doesn't sell I'm going to take down to the Family Thrift store to donate.

I'm going to do it.

(Hopefully I won't chicken out and end up keeping a lot of stuff.)

So let's all ask God today to change our hearts and help us think more towards our Heavenly treasures and less towards our Earthly ones.

Be Thankful in All Circumstances

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

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? - Matthew 6:26

I am continually amazed by my husband.

He's been going through a very hard work situation for the past few months, and he has been dealing with it much, much better than I would be.

To make a long story short, Cody was accepted to PA school recently, so he will be leaving his current job and we are moving across the state for him to go to school.

Even though many people (including myself) told him it would be better not to say anything to his employers until he gives an official two week notice, after being pressured by his bosses who knew that he had interviewed for school, he went ahead and told them the good news months in advance so that they would be able to prepare to hire someone else, and give him a chance to help train a new consultant before he left.

Ever since he did them the favor of letting them know of his plans, they have constantly done things to try and push him out the door.

They hired a third consultant and gave her his seat before she was even trained, moving him into the corner with less foot traffic and then constantly beat him down about his sales numbers declining (even though he has still commissioned every single month since he told them his plans). Not to mention that the way they have their sales department set up is completely backwards (no matter who has cultivated a client and spent all the time with them helping them figure out what they need, the credit for the sale goes to whoever rings them up. And, they put way to much emphasis on outbound calls even though the percentage of sales brought in through those is very low and they should focus more on web sales and the customers who are actually coming into the store).

They get on to Cody all the time for not making enough outbound sales calls even though they know that this is his weakest area, and he is much better at face to face sales. Cody is still commissioning on top of all these other things that they are having him do including talking on the radio show about their vitamin company, going to outside events to talk about nutrition and supplements, and even hosting webinars (all of which are things that the other consultants can not do because they don't have the knowledge that Cody has). They are constantly making him sign 'agreements' that he will make phone calls, and do all this other stuff, even though he is still turning them a profit!

They have even gone so far as to tell him they think that he has given up and is already done working there...after he put together a very well thought out proposal on his plans to come back after school and keep bringing benefit to their company.

Last Thursday, they tell him to go home early and not come back until Monday morning for a disciplinary meeting...at which they tell him they are very disappointed in him and that he is not allowed to come to work for the rest of the week until they have a meeting with their bosses about it.

It's just really sad that after all the things that he's done for them (including selling over $1 million last year alone) this is the thanks he gets.

Yet Cody has continued through all of this to have a good attitude and do his best to be thankful of his situation even though he's disappointed in how this has all turned out as well.

He's thankful for all the lessons that he's learned while working at this place and in that kind of sales environment and instead of dwelling on his hurt feelings towards them this morning, he is getting things done around the house and taking care of his car, and doing other things to help me out before we move.

Cody, as long as I've known him, has ALWAYS focused on the positive in things. He is always happy even if things are not going the way he would like for them to.  He's been good for me (I can be negative a lot and unhappy when things are not good).

This whole situation is just a really good opportunity for me to remember that God calls us to be thankful for all situations that we go through. And God is Good. He provides for us always, and he will always be there to comfort us and love us, no matter what.

God, please help me to have a thankful heart for what Cody is going through.

Breathe Easy...

God will always provide!

Morning Cup of Psalms

I came across this verse this morning and I find it to be quite interesting. We all need to remind ourselves to put our hope in God and praise him, no matter how we feel. Even if we are downcast and disturbed. The Bible tells us that we are to give thanks in all things, and all circumstances of life (Philippians 4:6 & 1 Thessalonians 5:18), because even the bad things that happen to us are a chance for us to glorify God by trusting in him to provide a way for us to get through it and being obedient to his will.

This is kind of off topic, but years ago, I went through the Daniel study by Beth Moore and one of the things I remember is that she said that whenever bad things happen to us, God will always deliver us...he will either deliver us from the fire (saving us from it altogether), through the fire (helping us to fight our way through whatever it is), or by the fire (using the bad situation to bring us into Heaven to be with him for eternity).

Obviously, since this is the only thing I remember from that Bible study, I thought it was cool.

"Worrying is Like a Rocking Chair...

...it gives you something to do, but it gets you no where." 

What a great quote from my husband (I'm not quite sure where he got it from).

This verse goes on to say that each day has enough trouble of its own...isn't that the truth? Instead of worrying about what will  happen tomorrow, or the next day, or even months from now, I need to remember daily that God is in control, he is good, and he will take care of all the details.

Morning Verse

During hectic times in your life, remember this verse!

Joy in Weakness, that's the Power of Christ!

Have you ever felt like you are such a bad person that you don't even deserve to pray to God for help? Well I have certainly felt that way...a lot.

This morning I was stuck in some traffic, and getting pretty flustered about it. I may have said some stuff that I shouldn't have...I was also angry because I didn't get a very good breakfast, and I'm always more irritable whenever I'm hungry, and anyway, it wasn't very good.

I have a hard time after I've just committed obvious sin to feel worthy to go before God and pray (it's sort of become a routine of mine to journal a short prayer for the day right whenever I get to work). And this morning, literally 5 minutes after I've just had such a bad attitude on the road, it was hard to sit down and pray.

I have a book called Jesus Calling that has daily devotionals in it. And guess what this morning's said?

"It's alright to be human"

How perfect is that?? 2 Corinthians 12:9 is the truth! We need to come before God whenever we feel weakness more than ever in our lives. It's during those times that we will most be able to see the power of God at work because we know that his power will rest upon us and transform our minds and attitudes.

So the next time you feel unworthy to talk to our savior, remember 2 Corinthians 12:9!

Morning Verse

Today, I'm reminded that God is always present in my life, even when I don't feel like it. It's a new year, time to renew my relationship with Him! Time to turn back to Him to be my refuge and strength instead of relying on myself so much. What a weight off of our shoulders if we were to put our faith and trust truly in God and know that he is good, and he will protect us and provide for us. 

That's my prayer this morning, that I will be able to fully trust in God to be my ultimate provider and that I can have joy and peace in my heart because of it!

Women's Retreat

This weekend I went on the Bridgepoint Bible Church Women's Retreat at Pine Cove Crier Creek. I'm glad I went, it was a good time to remind myself of God's love and goodness...

I stayed in a cabin with these lovely ladies! It was good to get to spend some time with them without our guys around.

We also got to do some fun things during our free time like shoot BB guns and bows and arrows and go on a horseback trail ride! 

(I was a pretty good shot...just sayin')

All fun things aside, the best part was being able to come together and worship and learn more about God. Worship was led by two girls who have a little band together called The Reliques. One of the girls just had a baby not to long ago and she brought her along this weekend. She was really cute.

The subject of the weekend was God's goodness through our times of suffering. It was sort of hard at the beginning for me to relate to this topic because I feel like I haven't had much suffering in my life...at least not the type of suffering that a lot of people go through like losing a loved one or going through a rough illness or losing a job, or anything like that.

But as I was talking to different people about it, they helped me to realize that sometimes, it's the little things that are hard in life that can make a person bitter and not willing to accept or see that God is still good, and I realized that I have gone through some hard things in my life so far, and there are areas in my life right now where I am struggling a little bit. 

It's really sad that the bad things in our lives overshadow the good things, and the truth is that there are way more good things in our lives than bad when you think about it. That's the wonderful thing about God - he is sovereign. He can show his goodness to us through the bad things that happen in our lives, but we have to be willing to see past those bad things and try to look at the bigger picture. God uses our struggles to teach us more about him and his glory.

I figured out that I like to not think about the little things in my life that I have a hard time with and how they really affect me. I get so busy sometimes that I don't ever stop to think about things like that. I just brush them off a lot of times, so it was good to really stop and try to think about some of the struggles I have and how I can start to see God's goodness in my life, and also how I can start to figure out what to ask others to pray for me about. 

Anyway, it was a good weekend. And now it's Monday, and I have to go back to work. I need to pray that God will keep the thoughts from the weekend fresh in my mind so I won't just go back to my life as if I haven't learned anything!

You Don't Have The Right

I've been reading a book in my Bible study group called Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  The book goes through several different lies that women hear and believe in their lives that just aren't true, and it gives scriptures that show where we can find out the truth about those lies.

Anyway, the lie that I read today was interesting to me, it is this:

I HAVE MY RIGHTS...

In truth, when we believe this statement, it can lead to all sorts of unhappiness in our lives whenever these 'rights' are violated.  The book also says that healthy cultures are not built on the claiming of rights, but on the yielding of rights.

I believe this is true! And it got me to thinking about the political scene today.

People today are so entitled.  They think that they deserve the right to a free education, to own a house, drive a new car, to have all the luxuries of the "American Dream" but they don't want to actually work for any of it.

And look where this has gotten us. We have a President who has tried to give everyone those rights, even if they can't afford them - and in the process doubled, if not tripled, our national debt, increased the number of people without jobs, raised the prices of gas, food, and other essentials, lowered the standard of health care in this country, and allowed illegal citizens to remain in the country while reaping the benefits of all his handouts.

The President's problem is that he believes this lie!  He believes that everyone has the right to all these things when they really don't! And it's destroying our country.

I thought the American Dream was based on hard work and effort to make your dreams and goals come true, not to have things handed to you.

In order to solve our problems, I think that more people should yield their rights to all the handouts and breaks that they expect from our government, and start working towards ensuring that they can take care of themselves - whether that means taking a few years after high school to save up money for college tuition, living in an apartment for a little while to save money for a house, quit spending money on brand name clothing items for your kids so that you can afford to put food on the table, prioritizing your household budget to make sure you can afford your health care on your own, etc.

Don't you think that this might take some of the strain off of the government?

To me, this is just common sense, but I guess that a lot of people just don't understand.

Morning Verse

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

                                                                                       - Hebrews 13:8

This morning, I'm reminded that in my world, which is constantly changing, God always remains the same!  No matter what I do, He will always be there for me, and he will never forsake me.  People may come and go in life, but the one person that we can always count on is our LORD and SAVIOR, Jesus Christ!

Morning Verse

A few weeks ago, I was trying to read through the book of Numbers every morning before work...but it was becoming sort of repetitive, and so eventually my morning scripture reading fizzled out.

So now, since I need to get back in the word, I decided to just skip over the parts I had left and move on to Deuteronomy.  Yesterday I read through the first couple chapters and this morning I read through chapter 4, which I think is a good one!

Here are the hi-lights:

"For the LORD your GOD is a consuming fire, a jealous God."  -vs 24

"But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.  For the LORD your God is a merciful God.  He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them."  - vs. 29 - 31

Verses 29-31 come after Moses tells the Israelites that if they disobey God's commandments in the promised land which they are about to enter, that they will be scattered among the people into foreign nations and serve man-made things that can't give them anything in return.

But they still have hope!  Even if they've destroyed themselves by not following God's word, he will still accept them back into the covenant he made with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob way back in the day if they return to God and obey him once again.

So thank GOD for his mercy today!  (Because you KNOW that we all SCREW UP....a LOT and we NEED mercy from him)

Nothing Can Separate Us

I got the idea from my sister's blog to create some Bible verse art!

Numbers

This morning I read through Numbers Chapter 11 (that's the 4th book in the Bible in case you don't know).  In this chapter, the Israelites are still wandering in the desert after the Lord brought them out of Egypt and they begin to complain to Moses that they only have the Manna which God provided them to eat instead of meat.

They thought they were happier and more satisfied being in slavery in Egypt because at least they had food to eat.

But this made God very angry.

So after hearing Moses on the people's account, God told Moses that he would provide meat for the Israelites to eat for a whole month, until they got sick of it and wished they didn't have any more.

Anyway, so God fulfills his promise and sends a bunch of quail close to their camp, but all the quail has already died by the time they get there.  The Israelites don't have to do any work in hunting it or anything, and they quickly gather it all up and start to feast without thinking about whether or not it would be good for them.  Since the quail had already been dead it had gone bad, and everyone in the camp got sick.

God was trying to teach them a lesson, I think, that what He provides is enough.

I think we can all apply this to our own lives in some way or another...God's provision is enough.  I know I've been guilty before of saying that if I could only make more money, I could pay off my loans quicker so we can start saving up for the things we want.  I even make other excuses for wanting to have more money, like saying that I want to be able to give more money away, which isn't really a lie, because I do want to be able to help people and tithe more money.  But, I am selfish, and a lot of the things I want to do with my money will only benefit Cody and me.

So to combat our selfish attitudes, I think that our prayer for the day (and really for the rest of our lives here on Earth) should be that God would reveal to us that his provision for our lives really is enough, and that we would be satisfied and thankful to God for what we do have, and that God would change our hearts to make us more compassionate for others.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

                                                                                                       - Psalms 51:10

Good News!

Thought I'd share a verse I read this morning that spoke to me!

"A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ........because by observing the law no one will be justified"  "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" -- Galatians 2:15-16 ; 21

How gracious is God?  He gave us the law knowing that NONE would ever be able to live up to it so that we could become fully aware of our sin and of just how badly we need a savior.  And that savior is Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect sinless life here on Earth, fully God and fully man, and then took all the sins of the world on himself and died on the cross in our place.

Just so that we, who are so undeserving of it, would not be separated from God for eternity, we only need to believe in Christ Jesus!

Now that's some Good News if I've ever heard it!

Morning Verse

I've been reading a little daily devotional book each morning before work called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.  So far, it's been pretty good I think.  She puts scripture references in at the end of each page and I kind of liked one of them from today so I thought I'd share it with those of you who read my blog.

The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.  - Isaiah 50:4

This verse just re-affirmed my thoughts lately that the best time to read the Bible and have some alone time with God is in the morning, before you've started your day.  I feel like it really gives me a better attitude during the day and helps me to focus while I'm at work.

It's become a routine of mine every morning, to journal out my prayers and thoughts to God before I start work each morning, and I hope that it will continue!