Thursday Thirteen

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Tomorrow will be my 200th post, so I decided to use this Thursday Thirteen to tell about Thirteen ways God has blessed me since I started blogging.

1. He's blessed me with good friends like this one (who is now a real-life friend too!) or this one, or this one or, well just check out my favorite places on my sidebar!

2. He has used this as a way to keep me studying His Word.

3. He used this post from this lady to make me realize that the right one is worth waiting for.

4. He used this post from this lady to remind me that we are in this battle to win!

5. He used this post from this lady to remind that Christian need to KNOW what they believe and be ready at all times to speak it IN LOVE.

6. He used this post from this lady to remind me that God will use hard times to draw us closer to Himself, and that He will do WHATEVER it takes to draw us closer to Him.

7. He used this post from this lady to remind me that we are to glorify Christ in ALL circumstances of life.

8. He used this post from this lady to remind me that God will equip me to do whatever He wants me to do even when I don't know if I'm the right one to do it!

9. He used this lady's blog to remind me how thankful I am to have been born in a family that wants me. He also used to remind me how great the need is for adopting families, and He solidified my feelings that He wants me to one day adopt.

10. He allowed me to see this girl come to Him through people that read her blog. It's just such a blessing to know that God can use us through these if only we will let Him!

11. He showed me how much I am surrounded by prayer warriors when people pledged to pray for my dad, or for this little one, or this little one, or for the tons of other requests that I've seen people respond to on here!

12. He used this post from this lady to remind me that I don't need to complain about what I don't have and be thankful for what I DO HAVE!

13. He has blessed me by giving me the time to write and allowing me to grow through it! I'm thankful everyday for my blogging friends and the real-life lessons I have learned from them!


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Only Trust Him

Last night I started Max Lucado's "Experiencing the Heart of Jesus" study again. I've done this one before, but there is so much in it, that I wanted to go through it again. If you're looking for a good study, I highly recommend it!
The very first lesson is called "The God You Can Trust." Trust is a big issue in every Christian life. I mean sure it's easy to say that we trust God. It's easy to say that we let Him handle everything. It's easy to SAY that IN THE GOOD TIMES. But then the hard times hit, and we start running around like chickens with our heads cut off thinking, "Okay, where are you God. I need you now."
The thing is that we needed Him all along. We needed to be leaning on Him and following His guidance during the good times. Then when the bad times hit, we would realize that the same God who walked with us during the good times would carry us through the bad times.
It's easy to relax on the mountaintop. It's easy to stop praying as often when things are good. It's easy to skip one Sunday here and there when nothing is going wrong. After all, why bother God with something so petty as a daily devotional or a Sunday School Class when there are such huge problems in the world?
But God isn't a fireman. He doesn't just want us to call when the fire has gotten too hot for us to handle. Yes, He has promised to protect us and defend us in the hard times of life (Psalm 62:6.)
But He also wants to know about the stressful days at work, the problems we have with road rage, the gas hand that's getting scarily low when pay-day is a day away. He wants to know about our daily life. He wants to be a PART of our daily life. He wants us to cast every care on Him. (I Peter 5:7)
And once we cast our cares on Him, He wants us to leave them with Him. He wants us to trust Him to handle our every need. Whether we need five cents or five million dollars. He owns it all, and He will provide what we need. We just need to trust God to be God!
I'll leave you today with the words to an old hymn:

When we walk with the Lord,
In the Light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way,
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still.
Never fear only trust and obey.

Trust and obey,
For there's no other way,
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.

CWO - In Other Words

“I thought about the whole notion of "reproduction," and what it really means to replicate yourself. Is it merely about the passing on of eyes and chins and hair color? Or is it, rather, the replication of the heart? Do we leave a bigger mark by passing on our genes, or our thoughts?”~ Shannon Woodward ~ author of: Inconceivable: Finding Peace in the Midst of Infertility

I admit that when I first read today's quote I thought about not participating this week. I mean at this point in my life (the point where I'm not married) I'm not really thinking about children and passing things onto them. But the end of the quote got to me. The part where it says, "Do we leave a bigger mark by passing on our genes, or our thoughts?"

I think that passing on thoughts is definitely the bigger part. I mean I look like my mom and dad both a little. More my dad I guess. And through his genes I believe I got chiari malformation, since he has the same thing, but my dark hair, dark eyes, long eyelashes, and short body are not what really makes "ME."

What makes me are the things I believe. And the things I believe I learned from my parents. They shared their thoughts about God with me from the time I was born. The told me about Jesus and how He died for me on the cross. They told me that He would forgive my sins if I would ask Him for forgiveness. They were a very instrumental part in my salvation. They laid a strong foundation for Christ in my life.

Many times I look around me, and I wonder why I am so blessed. Why am I the one who got placed in a good, Christian home? Why wasn't I born in a war-torn country where people are killed for believing in Jesus? Why wasn't I raised to believe that killing Christians was a good thing? I honestly don't know why God blessed me to be in the home that I'm in, but I thank Him for it everyday.

So as I look at this quote, and I think back on what my parents have taught me, I want to be the same kind of example. Hopefully one day to children of my own. But right now I can share my thoughts with the children I teach in youth or with the people that I work with everyday. Whether they want to accept them or not, my thoughts for Christ will affect everyone I'm around. I just want to be willing to share them at all times in love.

I read this verse this morning, and I think it goes with today's quote.

I Peter 3:15, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"

I should always be ready to share my thoughts about Christ with anyone I meet. It is not just by passing on my genes that I will make a difference. The words I say for Christ can affect countless lives along the way. Because those words may affect what others think of Him.

I'll leave you today with a song that I wrote for my parents back on their 30th wedding anniversary. You can hear it here. In the player box, just select "The Cross in Your Eyes." Here are the words:

You've told me about Jesus since I was a baby in your arms. You told me how He bled on Calvary. As I grew older, I came to recognize my need for salvation through the cross in your eyes.

I saw love and compassion, I saw your hurt and pain. I saw so many emotions as my life you tried to shape. Of all the things I saw there, I'm glad I recognized. The light of the cross that I saw in your eyes.

Now I am dreaming of children of my own, I want to show the cross you showed to me. And as they grow older, I pray they'll recognize, their need for salvation, through the cross that I saw in your eyes.

I saw love and compassion, I saw your hurt and pain. I saw so many emotions as my life you tried to shape. Of all the things I saw there, I'm glad I recognized. The light of the cross that I saw in your eyes.

Check This Out

Things here are kind of hectic this morning, but I wanted to share this song with you guys about God's love. It is so true, God's love is so awesome, and if we allow it to consume us, we will see God's glory unfold in our lives.
While you're there, check out JC Faith. It's a great place to meet fellow Christians!

Are You A Complainer Or A Fixer?

I've told you guys that my sister and brother-in-law gave me XM radio for my birthday in June. Since then I've come to find several stations that I really love. A few are the southern gospel station, the praise and worship type station, and the clean comedy station. I usually listen to the comedy station in the mornings because it wakes me up and makes me laugh. But this morning I got got convicted by something I heard on the comedy station.
See they have Christian comedians on there as well, and this morning just before I got to work Jerry Clower, a Christian comedian came on. He told jokes but behind his jokes was a very important message. He was saying that tons of people are complaining about what is wrong with this nation and what we need to fix and how nobody in this nation ever does anything right. But he said that the true problem is that people have forgotten the most important thing. The most important thing is to love.
First off we are to love God. (Matthew 22:37) Even as a Christian I forget this important thing at times I mean I love God, don't get me wrong. But there are definitely times that I don't love Him the way I'm supposed to. I don't put my entire heart, soul, and mind into it. I don't love Him with my entire being. If I did, I would have a much closer walk with Him, and I would be the kind of example I'm supposed to be ALL THE TIME!
It would also lead me to do the second thing, and that is to love others. (Matthew 22:39) How often do I love others the way I'm supposed to? I mean Jesus said for me to love my neighbor as I love myself. Kinda different from the "Look out for number one" attitude that America has grown accustomed to.
I think that Jerry Clower was exactly right, we should love more. Then we would be more concerned first with what God wanted and second with the needs of others.
I'm tired of complaining about the problems around me, I'm going to work more to fix the problem by being the Christian I should be! A Christian full of love!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons A Christian's Life Should Be Different

1. We have God's Spirit living in our hearts (I John 4:13)

2. We are commanded to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44)

3. We have the blessed hope of Christ's return (Titus 2:13)

4. We are adopted children of God (Galatians 4:5-7)

5. We have a promised home in heaven (John14:2-3)

6. We serve a risen Savior (Matthew 28:6-7)

7. We have joy unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8)

8. We have peace from God (John 14:27)

9. We serve a God who is patient with us (II Peter 3:9)

10. We have been forgiven of our sins (Romans 4:7)

11. We have eternal life (Romans 6:23)

12. We are new creatures (II Corinthians 5:17)

13. We are not to tear others down (Titus 3:2)


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We're All the Same

I had a discussion with GiBee and her husband this weekend about grace and mercy. The Sunday School lesson was about giving and about whether we had the right to decide who DESERVED for us to give to them.
It really made me think. See we as Christians tend to have the habit of judging. We look at the druggie on the side of the street and say they don't deserve our help. After all, they did get themselves into that situation right?
The thing is that Jesus said He came to seek and to save the LOST. That druggie on the side of the street is LOST. A slave to sin. And Jesus came to save the drug addicts, the murderers, the rapists...you see where I'm going.
I thought more about this subject this morning when I was reading the Bible. I read a passage in Titus 3:

1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, 2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. 3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Did you see what verse 3 said? It said that WE were also sometimes foolish, disobedient, DECEIVED, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Paul said that we were in the same boat as the sinners that we tend to look down on. He said that we found the kindness and love of God our Savior. That kindness and love changed us. That is why we are to show others to the way of righteousness in KINDNESS and LOVE.
No, we can't condone sin. I'm not trying to say that at all. But we must show others the truth in the RIGHT way. And that way is the way of love.
All people, whether it's the moral person on the church pew or the murderer on death row, are sinners. And all sinners need salvation. So when you see someone who needs help, remember that. And remember that were it not for the kindness and love of God, you may just be in that same boat yourself!

CWO - In Other Words

“Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist.We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen,will be made evident to others from the love which He imparts to us.”~ Sadhu Sundar Singh ~

I'm gonna take you back in time a few years today. Six years to be exact. Back to April of 2000 and one of the WORST weeks of my life. It was right after the prom, and a few of the wilder guys thought it would be fun to spread a few rumors about me and one of my other friends. The things they said about us and our prom dates totally brought our reputations into question. Most didn't believe those guys because of their reputations compared to ours, but still, a shadow of doubt was still cast.

Could I have avoided their rumors? I'm not really sure, unless of course my date and I had stayed by a teacher for the entire night and then went promptly home. No, I don't know if I could have really changed the course of events, but those days of rumors taught me an important lesson. Reputation is everything.

I'm not talking about appearances. I don't really care where I buy my clothes. Walmart, Old Navy, it's all the same to me. No, I'm talking about reputation. The reflection to the world of what's on the inside. The part of me that makes an impression to all of those around me.

See, I leave an impression everywhere I go. And just as I can't unsalt water that I've added salt to, I can't take back an impression I've made on someone. If that impression is one of Christ's love, then it will be helpful to the person, but if that impression is one showing my selfish nature, then it can be a stumblingblock.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 5:13, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

So, today as I read the quote above, I remembered my lesson from years ago. I remembered that I want my reputation to be one that affects people in a good way. I want to show Christ's love everywhere I go, otherwise my life is worthless.

My challenge to you today is to be salty. Have a good affect on those around you. Don't let your life be worthless!

If you want to hear about my weekend at GiBee's see this post at her site, or check out my other blog a little later today!

It's So Easy On Paper...Or A Computer Screen As the Case May Be

Before I get to today's thoughts, I must give props to Goofy Girl who is responsible for my new design look. If you want a new look, check her out. She doesn't even ask for credit. But believe me, if I tried to design a blog, it would look so totally bad, so the credit for this one all goes to Goofy Girl!

Now to today's thoughts. I'm going to make a confession. Last night I totally let my flesh get the best of me. I was a TOTAL brat to be around.
Let me explain. Last week I started feeling kind of yuck because the weather here is changing a bit. So my sinuses reacted. I now have a bad sinus infection. The "I Can't Breathe, I Can't Sleep, I Don't Want To Do Anything" kind of sinus infection. The "I Can't Sleep" part has put me on edge because I've had to work all week (thank God I get off at 12 today.)
However, the fact that I haven't been able to sleep is totally NOT my brother's fault, and I totally had no right to jump down his case last night. I got worried because I thought he was supposed to have been home, and when I get worried, I get angry. I know it's a wierd response, but when I worry I start to think of all the things that the person I'm worried about could have done to keep me from worrying, so by the time said person shows up, I blow up and say, "Where have you been? Why didn't you have your cell phone? You are SO INCONSIDERATE."
Obviously this doesn't make the person I've been worried about (in last night's case my brother) very happy, so they become angry.
On paper it's so easy to see how stupid my reactions were. And of course hind-sight is 20/20. I was so wrong, and after it was all over (okay, kind of in the middle of everything when I was being stubborn and ill) verses were running through my head telling me how I should have handled the situation and how I could have avoided it to begin with.
Number one, it was wrong of me to worry, honestly he wasn't really that late at all if at all. I was just tired and cranky. The Bible is really clear about Christians worrying.
Take a look at Phillipians 4:6, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
That word "careful" means "anxious."(KJV) In fact the Revised Standard Version states it just that way, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
So, my first problem was that I let my anxiety control me. I should have prayed about it. I SHOULD have handed it over to God when the first worry pangs showed up. I didn't. I let them build, and I became angry.
The second problem was the way that I handled my anger. I didn't go to Ben in love. I attacked him the second he came through the door. The Bible tells us about this too. Ephesians 4:15 says this, "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:"
I should have asked Ben in a loving way. I should have calmly stated that I had been a little (OKAY A LOT, I'm medicated, tired and emotional) worried.
There are a ton of other things that I could have done to have avoided the situation. The thing is that it's so easy to read the words on paper or type them onto a computer screen. Living them is a daily struggle. One we should strive to win. Believe me, I should have listened to the Holy Spirit the first time he nudged me with a verse last night.
Things are worked out with my brother now. My family has a rule not to go to bed angry (that's from the Bible too, Ephesians 4:26.) But I went to bed much later than I planned, and the arguing did nothing to make me feel better (yelling+sinus infection=feeling even crummier) And the whole situation COULD have been avoided.
I can't change the past, I know that. I've asked God's forgiveness and my brother's forgiveness, and I have it. But I'm going to use this as a learning experience. The next time I worry, I'm going to get out my Bible and look at some verses rather than pick my brother (or whoever I'm worrying about) apart bit by bit!
Have a great weekend guys! And if you think of it, say a prayer for me and my family tomorrow morning as we travel up to GiBee's! And if you'd pray that this sinus infection would go away, I'd appreciate it too!

Not My Own

Last night our group practiced at mine and my brother's house. Though it's a great place to practice, it really isn't a very fun place for my niece and nephew to play because the supply of toys at my house is seriously lacking. Actually it's limited to just a few toys that were left behind when my sister moved out.
We have one of the rings that goes on one of those stackable ring things, a toy cell phone, a door from the Dora Explorer house and a Mickey Mouse book. That's it. That is all we have.
Add to this equation a two year old and a one year old. And the two year old really doesn't like to share phones. She really has an obsession with phones, especially Princess phones that belong to her.
In the course of the evening my two year old niece put the phone down and went to find something to play with (read: go somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.)
At this time, my one year old nephew innocently crawled to where the phone was and picked it up. My niece was not happy with this at all. She tried to take it away from him, but he is suprisingly strong for a one year old, and he held on tight and wouldn't give up the phone. My niece began to cry, and my sister had to tell her that she needed to share. She had put the phone down, and she would have to wait until my nephew was finished with it. She didn't like this, but she finally resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't getting the phone back.
All kids have to learn to give up their selfish tendencies. They have to learn that it's a good thing to share. They have to learn that other people's feelings are important.
But there are many times when I'm just like my niece. Though I'm 24 years old many times I act like a two year old. No, I don't kick and scream and pitch a fit, but on the inside I dig my feet in and sing a tune of "I Shall Not Be Moved." I try my hardest to hold onto my wants and desires though I know that I should truly leave them in God's hands.
I thought about this while I was reading this verse from I Corinthians 6:19-20 this morning, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. "
Did you see that? I am not my own. When I was saved and the Holy Spirit came into my life, all that I am became His. My life is now to do His will and glorify Him. So I need to become more and more like Him and use my life to bring Him glory. If I walk with Him day by day, I will draw closer to Him, and I will be more willing to follow His perfect will for my life.
Just as my niece will eventually learn that sharing is good, I will realize that God's will is truly best at all times. I just hope that for both of us we learn sooner rather than later!
How about you? Is your life bringing Him glory? Or have you joined in on the chorus of "I Shall Not Be Moved"?

Filled With Praise

Last Thursday I ran across a blog that really encouraged me. The blog is called Blessed Assurances and this Thursday Thirteen Post of hers reminded me that praise is a choice.
Yes, we are all gonna have days where we wake up and wish that we could just pull the covers back up and stay in bed. We are all gonna have days where we worry. We are all gonna have days when everything we try seems to go wrong, but even on days like that we are to praise God.
And we can ask Him to keep us in an attitude of praise. Look at this verse from Psalm 71:8, "Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day."
God is worthy of our praise. Even when things seem to be crazy, He is still God, and He is still worthy of our praise. David didn't ask God to let him be filled with praise during the good times. He asked God to let him be filled with praise all the day. Everyday.
So praise Him right now. Take time to count your blessings. Take time to reflect on the awesome God that we serve. Take time to be filled with praise!

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen Header Compliments of Goofy Girl

Thirteen Reasons I Know I'm Special (And you are too!)

1. I was created by an almighty God (Genesis 1:27)

2. God has a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11)

3. God knows everything about me (Luke 12:7)

4. God protects me (Psalms 3:3)

5. God provides my needs (Psalm 23:1)

6. God listens to my prayers (Matthew 21:22)

7. God loves me (John 3:16)

8. God gives me wisdom (James 1:5)

9. God gave me the Holy Spirit (John 15:26)

10. God gave me a way to peace through Jesus (Acts 10:36)

11. It brought joy to all of heaven when I was saved (Luke 15:10)

12. God is patient with me, though I fail Him (Romans 15:5)

13. God's own Son is preparing a place for me, and will one day return to take me home (John 14:2-3)

So if you're ever feeling down, remember you are special to the God of the universe!

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Wednesday's Word

I'm gonna use Wednesday's Word to share my thoughts on yesterday's quote. Today's word is "light."

Actual meaning: Something that admits illumination

Meaning to me: Something that dispels darkness

Light is something that has always amazed me. I mean even the tiniest match in a dark cave can break through the darkness. But a huge fire can dispel darkness all-together.
I want my life to be like a raging fire. I want to shine brightly for all to see. Whether my life shines for Christ or not, He is still with me. He has promised never to leave me, but my life is to shine before those in darkness. Those in darkness don't know about the Source of our light. They don't know about the goodness of Christ. If we don't show the light to them, how will they know about it?
It is the job of believers to bring glory to God through our lives. We bring glory to Him by illuminating Him with our lives. If we are too ashamed to show that light to the world, our lives will not bring glory to God.
As I said before, I want to be a raging fire. I want to show God to everyone I meet. I want my life to bring glory and honor to Him.
What about you?

Tuesday Toss Up - The One About Light

I know that I've been doing trivia for the last two weeks, but I read this quote yesterday, and I just had to use it as a Tuesday Toss Up. You know the routine. Read the quote and leave your thoughts about it in the comments!

"...we are the lights that must be kept continually burning to allow others to see His presence in this age. He is no less present even when we hide our lamp under a bowl or a bushel. However, when we do this, we make it harder for those walking in darkness to see. God has ordained that others may see the reality of His presence by the illumination our lives shed forth!" - Beth Moore

Okay everybody! Put your thinking caps on and leave me some comments.

You Make Me Happy

I don't know if you have heard the new song, "You Make Me Happy" by Ayeisha Woods, but it has been going through my head since yesterday afternoon. The weird thing is that I was singing it at my desk (to myself, not out loud where I disturbed everyone. We all know how GiBee and I'm sure many others feel about people who do inappropriate things at the office and I wouldn't wanto to get on GiBee's bad side since I'm gonna be staying at her house in 15, that's right only 15 days!)
Okay, sorry didn't mean to get off on a tangent there, but seriously I was singing the song "You Make Me Happy" to myself. I don't have radio at my desk, so I sing songs to myself a lot. Anyway, I got down to my car and guess what song was playing...you got it, "You Make Me Happy." I think God was trying to remind me of something.
I don't know how many of you read my other blog but my Thursday Thirteen on there yesterday was a little bit of a pity party. It was half in jest, but half serious. The thing is that whether or not I have "the perfect man" by my side or not, I still have Jesus, and He's all I need. He is the one true source of joy and happiness. And God reminded me of that all day yesterday by keeping that song in my head.
I'm gonna share the words with you today:

And you make me happy
You make me feel the way I do
You make me happy
I want to make you happy too

Our life's goal should be to make Jesus happy, and we should rest in the fact that He is our ONE TRUE SOURCE of happiness!

Oh, and speaking of happy stuff, little Addison came through her surgery just fine! God has definitely made that family happy! Yay!

Important Prayer Request

My Thursday 13 is below but...
I just ran across this blog and I felt compelled to ask all of you to pray for this precious baby Addison. Please go over and let her family know that both they and Addison are in your prayers!

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen Header Compliments of Goofy Girl

Thirteen Verses About Those We Are To Love (God is still showing me that I need to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! The first verse was my daily verse for today!)

1. Luke 6:27-28, " 27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."

2. Matthew 5:44, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

3. Matthew 19:19, "Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

4. Matthew 22:37, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

5. John 8:42, "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me."

6. John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

7. Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

8. Romans 12:10, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;"

9. Romans 15:30, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;"

10. I Corinthians 2:9, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

11. Galatians 5:13, "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

12. Ephesians 4:2, "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;"

13. Ephesians 5:33, "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

These are just a few of course. We are commanded to love over and over in God's Word! And He's showing me that I need to love even those who seem so unlovable!

Have a blessed day! Share God's love with someone!

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Wednesday's Word

Well, I'd like to congratulate Teri, Kelly, and Red on Head...On Fire for Jesus for answering yesterday's trivia question correctly. The Faith Chapter of the Bible is Hebrews 11.
Faith is going to be today's word.

Actual Dictionary Meaning - Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing

Meaning to me - (taken directly from Hebrews 11:1) "...the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Faith is a requirement of everyday living. We have faith that our car will get us to work. We have faith that our chair will hold us up. We have faith that our computer will allow us to do our job.
Now we all know that cars can break down, chairs can collapse, and computers can go insane. But we don't expect them to do those things. We have faith that they will serve us well just as they have for years.
But Biblical faith is something so much greater. Biblical faith is in a God that will NEVER fail. We can always rely on Him. He is never going to change (Malachi 3:6).
So if God isn't going to change, His promises to us are never going to change.
He has promised that He will always be with us (Hebrews 13:5). We can have faith in the fact that we are never alone.
He has also promised to guide us (Luke 1:79). We can have faith that God will lead us in ways of peace. He doesn't want us to fall into destruction. He wants everything to work out for our good!
The list of God's promises goes on and on. I could never list them all here, but the point is that we can have faith in every single one of God's promises.
That faith should drive us to serve Him because of all that He is. The woman in Luke 7 knew exactly who Jesus was. She loved Him because of all that He was. She loved Him because He had forgiven her. Her faith in Him led her to wash His feet with her hair and to kiss His feet.
I don't know about you, but kissing feet seems like a lowly thing. But if I look back on my life, I know that much has been forgiven. I am probably not even worthy to kiss Jesus' feet, but I want to be willing to serve Him that way. I want to have enough faith that I will do WHATEVER Jesus has for me.
How about you? Do you have an active faith? A faith that drives you to serve Christ, or is your faith nothing more than words?
I'll leave you with this verse from James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Tuesday Trivia

Hey everybody! I'm gonna give you another trivia question today. You can e-mail me the answer to Heathersmith1982@yahoo.com, and leave me a comment here letting me know that you sent an e-mail (please make your subject line on the e-mail your blogger name.) Good luck!

What is known as the "Faith Chapter" of the Bible?

Find that answer people! Enjoy!