Acts 2

Acts 2

• Why does God want us to Him?
• Pray without ceasing.
• Prayer - to ask.
• Philippians 4:6
• Let your request be made known unto God.
• God knows EVERYTHING.
• Prayer is a privilege.
• We are told to pray.
• John 16:24
• We can always talk to God.
• Prayer is important because.... 1: There is a devil; 2. Appointed to obtain things
• Ephesians 6
• Satan is not all knowing.
• Prayer is important.
• Satan wants to destroy you.
• Satan wants to destroy everyone.
• Don't let your guard down!
• Matthew 7:7

Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6

• God should be in all relationships.
• Chapter 6: Parent - Child relationship - vs.1-4
• We bring glory to God by submitting to one another.
• We need to be Christ-like in our relationships.
• Glorify God by demonstrating Christ likeness in our relationships.
• Obey your parents.
• Honor your father and mother.
• Have a good attitude about obeying and honoring your parents
• vs. 1- Chapter 6
• A child's attitude towards their parents reflects their relationship with God
• Hosea 14
• The way God designed it is for us to obey our parents.
• vs. 3 The promise to vs. 2
• Obeying your parents promises spiritual blessings.
• Honoring your parents promises honor from God.
• We should submit to our parents.
• The way you respond to your parents reflects your relationship with God.
• vs. 4; Parents do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admiration of the Lord (NKJV)
• Children generally model after their parents.
• Parents need to be a good, Christian roll model for their children with their focus on Christ.
• Your focus should be on Christ and on following His standards as closely as you can.
• We should be showing what Christ is doing in our lives.

Ephesians 3

Here are some more points I found in an old notebook. Enjoy!

Ephesians 3

• We need to live a life thru the Holy Spirit.
• Scope of Paul's Prayer - vs.19 - He wants people to know about the love of Christ.
• Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
• The presence on the Holy Spirit is evidence you are a Christian.
• The Holy Spirit is God
• The Spirit of God has a will.
• The Holy Spirit is God.
• Thru the Holy Spirit we can understand the Word of God

Ephesians 5

I was looking through my old church notes and found a few little notes on Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5

• We are dead in our sins but we are alive in Christ.


• When we are believers in Christ we look like Christ and are in unity with one another.


• We need to submit to one another in the fear of God (v.21) ( in reverence to Christ).


• We should respect one another.


• We should have a relationship with God.

Peace

When I go to my grandparents' house I like to drink my coffee out a certain mug. It has a quote on it that I really like. It says "Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. [author unknown]" This quote is so true but I was wondering how we can be calm in our hearts. With all that's going on around us, it's so easy to get worried or anxious and forget how to be still in the Lord. I found this verse that I think answers my question: Psalm 119:165~ Great peace have those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble. This verse says that we can have peace by loving and obeying God's law. If we are looking to His law to guide our lives, not even the most trying of circumstances can make us stumble. It was comforting to see that if I follow God's law, He will help me to be strong in the Lord and not stumble. I hope this is encouraging!!

Prayer Part 2

I did a post a while back on why we pray. This post will explain more about how we pray. In James 5, we are told lots of reasons to pray for people. If they're in trouble, if they're sick, if they've sinned, we should pray for them. Lots of times we forget to pray for others, to confess our sins to God, and to thank Him for all that He has given us. So, next time you pray, remember the word CAT: Confessing, Asking, Thanksgiving. We should confess to God the sins that we have committed against Him. We should ask God to help us and others with problems we are having and trials we are facing. We should also ask Him to heal those who are sick and intercede for those who are in trouble. And, we should thank God for all of the good things that He has given us. This is something I struggle with because lots of times I get so wrapped up in my issues that I forget to thank Christ and pray for others. I hope my post on prayer were helpful to you!

1 John ~ Part 1

I have started going thru 1 John. I want to go thru every verse and break it down so we can fully understand it. I hope this helps you and makes sense!



The Incarnate Word (vs.1-4)

• We know that ever since the beginning the Bible was legitimate.


• We should proclaim The Words of Life so that others may rejoice in the fellowship of Jesus Christ.


• We should do all those things so our joy may be complete.

God Is Light (vs. 5-10)

• God is the light and in Him there is no darkness.
• We shouldn't act like we're perfect and still live in sin...we should really be living for Christ all the time.
• We should walk in the light and be cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ.
• Don't say, " I have no sin". You are only deceiving yourselves and we have no truth.
• vs. 9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• We should always have the Word of God with us.

Following Christ 100%

I read this quote from a book by Beth Moore called Praying God's Word: "The giant step in the walk of faith is the one we take when we decide God no longer is a part of our lives. He is our life." I love this quote because it shows what a true believers' life should be like. We shouldn't just read God's Word and pray to Him when we're having a good day or when we get exactly what we ask for. We shouldn't be one person at church and a different one online or with a different group of friends (This is really easy to do and something I struggle with a lot). We should be trying to follow Christ and obey Him 100%, 100% of the time. Christ wants us to have a close relationship with Him, but we can't have that if we aren't striving to follow Him all of the time. It's so easy to try to get around living a radical Christian life and just acting like we're a Christian when we're at church. But God wants us to be good witnesses for Him all the time. We should want to show others what being a Christian is all about. If they know that we profess to be a Christian, yet we act just like them, they will have no reason to want to change and become a Christian. They will see no difference in our life and theirs, and therefore no reason to change what they believe. As I said before, this is something that I really struggle with and know that I should do better on.
The first commandment says that we should only have one God: the One True God. But that doesn't just mean that we shouldn't bow down to a wooden carved statue of a "little g" god. Anything, including ourselves that we put above God is an idol. God deserves every second of our time. More time than we spend chatting with friends, updating our statuses, and putting on make-up. We should meditate on Him day and night. Like I've said at least twice already, I really struggle with this so there isn't a whole lot I can say. I'd kind of like to hear any thoughts y'all have on this subject, so maybe we can help each other. I hope that this post is encouraging and insightful!

Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8~ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

This is one of my favorite verses(notice it's in the address for our blog. Breanna's favorite verse is Matthew 19:26). I think it tells a lot about what we as Christians should focus on. If something doesn't fall under one of these 8 categories, we shouldn't be thinking about it. That's a big challenge. But how do we focus on these things and keep the wrong things out of our minds? I think part of the answer is in Psalm 119:9-11:How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You. In order to think about the right things, we must meditate on them. And since we know that God's word is true, noble, etc.(in fact, it's the ultimate Truth), it's a good thing to meditate on. We need to be in God's Word constantly. I think it's so important to read and meditate on God's Word daily. The more you read His Holy Word, the more you will find yourself thinking about it and living your life in light of it. Let's all try to spend more time in God's Word this summer rather than watching TV, playing video games, listening to iPods, etc. (I've really struggled with this over summer break!!).
Note: I'll be on vacation at the beach next week and I'm not sure whether I have Internet access, so if I don't post anything, that's why.

What Does God Control?

I know that sometimes it can be tempting to think that God isn't in control. We think that we can control our lives or that God doesn't care about what happens to us. But take a look at these verses:
Psalm 147:18~ "He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes and the waters flow." In this passage, God controls wind and water.
Matthew 5:45~ "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." God controls the sun and rain.
Jonah 1:7~"Then the sailors said to each other 'Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.' They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah." In this passage, God was in control, because the lot fell on the person who really was to blame: Jonah.
Job 12:23~"He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations and disperses them." God is in control of all nations and decides whether they are powerful or weak, big or small.
Daniel 4:25~ "You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." God controls kingdoms of men and who rules them.
Luke 12:20~"But God said to him,'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'" God controls when people die.
Psalm 115:3~"Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." God does whatever he pleases and therefore controls everything.
Romans 8:28~"And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose." God controls all things and makes them work together for good.
So, remember that God is in control of everything that happens to you. He will make the events in your life work together for good.

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been on vacation for the 4th and didn't have Internet connection!