Memory Verse Challenge: Week 27

This week's verse can be a little tough to take.  For one thing - it's extremely hard (at least for me) to be joyful "always".  Life has a way of getting me worked up.  The second and third parts of the verse (praying and giving thanks) are two key ways of keeping my emotions in check.

When my prayer life with God is going well my spirit is much calmer.  For me, connecting with God is like plugging into a "calm machine".  And focusing on thanking God IN (not necessarily FOR) all circumstances puts life in perspective.  Our hardships seem bearable when seen in the light of God's control and supervision.

Praying continually and giving thanks are God's will for us.  When we do His will His peace rests in us and joy fills our soul. 

See more about the Memory Verse Challenge here.
See the complete list of Challenge verses here.

Sunday Blogvotional: From Where It All Came

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD , who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  Deuteronomy 6:10-12

Everything in our sight, everything in our grasp is something that God created.  We are blessed abundantly yet sometimes we forget where it all came from.  When times are great we notice we have plenty.  We can easily fall into the trap of praising ourselves for what we were able to do and get.  But who made it possible?  In the passage above God may have been talking to the Israelites but He could have well been talking to us today.  We live in a land that, even in a fluctuating economy, still flourishes.  We live in a land of abundance.  It would not be so without God - without God's hand.   Let us not forget the blessings surrounding us day by day.

Encouragement for the week:  Reflect on the blessings you have in your life.  Even if things aren't going great - you can still see the evidence of God's blessings and provisions.  Are the blessings in your life the result of your own actions or are they from God?  There's nothing you could do if it weren't for God's provisions.  Make sure to thank Him.  He deserves so much more.

Memory Verse Challenge: Week 26

Good Monday morning to you.  I hope you all had a very nice 4th of July weekend.  I know we did here - spending time enjoying new friends, the great outdoors and a fabulous fireworks show.

Moving is hard work and I find it helpful to get back to some sort of routine.  So without further ado...here is this week's memory verse.

 

This verse reminds us we can't forget that acting on our faith is key to keeping our faith alive.  There are two main reasons it's hard to live out our faith with our actions.  1) The constant cycle of busyness we find ourselves trapped in and 2) we simply don't want to.  We're good church-going folk and aren't interested in making much more of an effort than that.  

Regardless of the reasoning - the Bible spells it out for us.  Without action, our faith will die.  Just like your muscles will deteriorate if you don't use them.  Living out our faith with actions is our exercise.  It strengthens us - it strengthens our faith - and it strengthens our relationship with God.  We all must decide what kind of faith we want to have.  One kind takes effort and comes with great reward, the other one requires nothing and yet offers nothing.

See more about the Memory Verse Challenge here.

See the complete list of Challenge verses here.

Sunday Blogvotional: The Trap of Freedom

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.  Galations 5:13

We’re privileged to live in a free country when there are many around the world who still live under tyranny and oppression.  God has greatly blessed us. 

Most importantly what God gave us, with the death of His Son, was freedom from the bondage of sin.  We often see freedom as kind of a free-for-all.  We can do what we want, live how we like and believe whatever is new and fresh at the moment. 

Ironically, when we live with a worldview of total freedom (anything goes), we actually put ourselves back under the control of sin.  We get so bent on not having any rules at all - that we walk right back into the snare of sin.  Captured and enslaved again.

The thing with freedom is that it requires great responsibility -  and discipline.  To keep from falling back into the trap of sin, we must be able to discern true freedom from the illusion of freedom.  God sacrificed His son so that we could be free.  It’s His greatest desire for us to stay that way.

Encouragement for the week:  Over this 4th of July weekend take a moment and think not only about the freedom we have been given by living in this country but most importantly, think about the freedom that God has given us - an eternal freedom.  Praise God and give Him thanks.

Memory Verse Challenge: Week Off

Hi everyone - I know it's Thursday already and I didn't quite make the memory verse challenge post this week.  I do have a good excuse though:-)  I'm in the process of moving to Oklahoma.  So - what say we take the week off?  I'll have something posted on Monday.  Have a great 4th of July weekend.  May we remember the blessings we have from the freedoms we've been given.