community

 

I was also reading, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.

Colossians 3:16
”Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

I’ve read this verse loads of times, cuz it’s part of my favorite passage, but for some reason this morning, this one thought just stuck out to me.
      we are all, always teaching someone whether with our lives, our words, our actions…in someway we are always teaching…and vice verse…we are always being taught. and the majority of time, we don’t even realize it.

and i am one, who at times…can be quite stubborn and get an attitude of "’this person can’t tell me what to do…they dont have authority over me…’ but I was reminded that…

“i am not better than anyone.” and that goes for all of us. we are all wretched sinners. gloriously saved and made alive by the grace and mercy and love of God. We can learn from all people, and we are always teaching something. Good and bad.

but the bible tells us to teach one another, as we are dwelling in the word of Christ and to admonish (or to counsel, or reprove) one another in the same way…in wisdom, in songs…all with a GRATEFUL HEART.
 

my attitude, is the wrong attitude a lot of the time. I need to be willing to learn and to take counsel from people. I do believe though, there needs to be respect in it though, you can’t just go up to anyone and tell them they are wrong or teach them a certain thing…we are also called to respect and love one another…

it says that the word of Christ needs to be in us as we teach and admonish…in all wisdom…

 

So i was just reminded today to be more open and to check my attitude.

Mirrors

 

so i was reading my bible this morning, and just felt like sharing a few thoughts that ran thru my head and a couple verses.

James 1:22-25
”But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perserveres, being no hearer, who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

I’ve heard it said that the Word of God (the bible) acts as our mirror. For our Spiritual life, and our charachter our mirror is God’s Word. Yet as this verse says, how often do we read the Word, walk away, and completely forget what we read, or what Christ has said about us and our identity….

I know that I do this, all to often. i did it this morning as we were reading it…I forgot who I was in Christ, even as I was reading and being challenged by this passage. we need to apply the words of God to who we are, we need to compare our charachter to what Christ says about who we are in Him, our new life. We need to not just walk away from our mirror forgetting who we are. but walk away remembering who we are, and perservereing in that.

We need to not just hear who we are, but act and live in who we are!

You Are God.

 

i love the song Forever Reign. and my favorite line from the song is:

“You are God. You are God. of all else I’m letting go.”

As i was praying and thinking this morning, I just started questioning, do we really live that out?! Do we really believe that God is God, and that He will BE or IS God in our lives. and do we really let everything that hinders us go. Do we let all the things go that we like to have control of…

do we let our own will’s go, our own desires, our own wants, our worries, our fears…etc. the list could go on.

 

Do we truly believe and live that God is God, and of all else, we let go?!

The church, is the body.

 

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…For the body does not consist of one member but of many….But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts yet one body.”
  (parts of 1 Corinthians 12)

Last night at church, instead of worship practice we just had a time of prayer for the church, and for the worship team, and the many different ministries of the church. We had our own individual time of prayer, and it was great. While I was praying, I was just reminded that we are the body. The church is the body of Christ. and this passage from 1 corinthians popped in my head, cuz in the body, there are so many different parts…in the church there are or can be so many different ministries. Yet all to often, you see them operating as something separate from the church, or on their own. But they really should operate, as the body of Christ, all minstries shoudl operate as if they need each other…they need all the other ministries to work together to make up the church, and the body. They are all just as important as another, and just as much needed.

I just wish and hope and pray that the church starts living that way, and that we see the importance of the body working together as ONE.

 

“But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way “

more about Jesus

 

We need a constant reminder that we are to die to ourselves daily.

I’ve been noticing lately how self focused we really are. I see it in reading the Old Testament. I see it in conversations with people. We always turn things to ourselves and make it about ourselves. I have also been thinking about idols of the heart, since i heard Don and Travis both speak on that topic the other week.

And it really bothers me. Why, after we know what all Christ has done and is doing and will do for us, do we seem to still make it all about ourselves….(i do realize there is sin in our lives…being the reason) but do we really try to stop ourselves when we notice we are making life and situations all about us, or do we just keep going with it?

Romans 12:1 says to give ourselves as a living sacrifice which is our reasonable act of service. and i absolutely love that. because our lives…of complete sacrfice…..us dieing to ourselves…us not living or making things about us, is REASONABLE for us to give to Christ. (and elsewhere) mention about dieing to ourselves.

2 Corinthians 4 draws us to it i believe…and its mentioned in the gospels(i think thats where), about how we need to die to ourselves daily…and take up our cross.

John 15 tells us to abide in the vine, which is Christ Himself. Are we abiding? When we are abiding…we should be consumed in Christ and not consumed with ourselves.

I don’t really know what else to say. but I just felt like sharing this. and getting it out. My prayer is that we are constantly asking God to make us aware and that we find ways to remind ourselves to stop making everything about us. and to speak with less I’s and Me’s. and with more of God and Him….

crushed

Dealing with teenagers, especially teenage girls, you can come to create opinions quite quickly on certain subjects; from your own experience and from jsut talking with teenagers.

I have created a strong opinion on crushes. and i just want to let it out. ha

We’ve all had those crushes, some of us probably still do. But you know when you like someone, and you can’t stop thinking about them, you may daydream about them, you get excited everytime you know you will get to see them, you make things up in your head whether they were looking at u, or are thinking about you….etc….

how do i put this lightly…but in my opinion, this is a load of poop. I don’t understand why girls, put themselves through all that emotional turmoil. Crushes 99% of the time, end up in you being crushed. so why do girls (and maybe guys, i dont know the mind of a guy, obviously), get so worked up over some guy, or multiple guys, 1…when you’ve probably never talked to them, 2…when you barely know them and 3….when in reality, nothing will probably happen.

I realize I sound like a complete lonely, crabby old woman. hah this I am not. I would actually quite like to feel in love at the current moment, but tis not my time. What I do think though, is that girl’s long for these feelings, there is something about it that makes us feel good…this i cannot explain. But I think that it is all in our heads the majority of times. We can completely control how emotionally involved we get in a crush….we can choose whether to daydream or not about someone we find attractive. and I think it is unhealthy to do this and get all worked up over specific guys.

I believe girls only are hurting themselves in the end. When they could be saving their hearts and emotions for real feelings when the right guy comes along, when they are in the right place with God.

it’s called a crush for a reason.

so my plea, and prayer, is that girl’s are more careful and mindfully aware of how and how much you think about guys. try to stay away from having crushes and making them more than they are. think of Jesus more. Think of Him more than you think or dream about these guys, these crushes of yours, and give Jesus your heart before you even think about giving even a piece of your heart to anyone else. Because when you are constantly thinking about someone, and putting so much of your emotions in what they do and how you respond to their actions…you are giving them a piece of your heart, without them even knowing it. and that is not okay. Let Jesus protect your heart from being crushed. for You are precious in the sight of Jesus. Forever.

Because You delight in me

 

Because You delight in me LORD

I am beautiful.
I have joy.
I am made righteous.
I am set apart.
I have worth and value.
I have someone to live for, someone to please.
I am not alone.
I am kept in Your mighty arms.
I have a reason to act and to stand.
I need not worry nor fear.
I have a protector.
I have a best friend.
I am alive.
I have love and know love.
…