Monday, February 28, 2011

Psalm 2

Now I know with my Psalm 1 post I wrote what I thought they meant but for Psalm 2 I want you to think about what they mean to you. I will put them below so while you're reading them, think about them. :)

Psalm 2:1-12

1Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3"Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" 4He who sits in the heavens laughs, The LORD scoffs at them. 5Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6"But as for Me, I have installed My Kig Upon Zion, My holy mountain." 7"I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance , And very ands of the earth asYour possession. 9'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'" 10Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. 11Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoicing with trembling. 12Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Do All to the Glory of God

The other day, I was listening to a sermon in church. The preacher said something that was so familiar to me, yet it was exactly what I needed to hear. It was almost like I had heard it so many times that I forgot. He was talking about doing everything to the glory of God. I often have a hard time doing all to the glory of God while I'm at school. I try, but it is really hard when you are surrounded by hundreds of people who don't share the same faith you do. The preacher saying that just reminded me that it is my job to do all to the glory of God, and I can do it if I'm trusting in His strength (Philippians 4:13). Lately I've been praying and just asking God to help me always focus on Him. If I am always concentrating on God, I won't have a problem with saying wrong things, etc. The problem is getting myself to focus on Him. The best way to help with that is to constantly read His Word. The more you read His word, the more you will focus on Him. I hope this is encouraging and helpful!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Psalm 1

Ok so we're going to start going through Psalms. Now this is going to take a really long time because there are so many chapters but we will get through it.... eventually:). So for right now we're going to go through each verse and find out how we can apply that to our own life.

Psalm 1:1-6




  • 1 ~ "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners." This verse is basically telling is that we will be blessed if you follow Christ instead of taking the wide path of sinners.


  • 2 ~ "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night." This verse is telling us that we should love reading God's Word. It is also telling us that we shouldn't just read it, but we should meditate on it all the time. You can do this by making verse cards or memorizing verses, etc.


  • 3 ~ "He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water; Which yields its fruit in its season." I'm not exactly sure if how I take this verse is how it was meant but I'm gonna tell you what I think. Saying He will be like tree firmly planted means that He is strong. The second part I guess means that He is fruitful in His work.

  • 4 ~" The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away." Sinners aren't strong like God. Instead, they are like dust that just gets blown by the wind.

  • 5 ~ "Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgement, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous." People who don't follow Christ on earth will get sever punishment. They will not be allowed to even be with the righteous.

  • 6 ~ "For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish." Those who choose the follow Christ will know Him and He will know them. For the wicked it is opposite, He doesn't not know them and they don't know Him, and they will perish.

I hope this encourages you. If you have any comments or even questions I would to hear them! Hope y'all have a great day!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Living Outside the Box

Have you ever had someone tell you to "think outside the box"? I have had some experiences recently that have taught me to live outside the box and go outside of my comfort zone. Recently, a new girl from Africa came to my school. I was assigned to show her around the school and introduce her to all the teachers, etc. I love meeting new people, but this made me a little uncomfortable. I could hardly understand her accent, and I had to miss some of my classes to help her with stuff. Then, I realized: I really should be spending wayyyyyyyy more time doing things like this rather than spending all my time worrying about me, myself, and I. Most of the time, I just live inside my own little box, and I don't want anyone to bother me. But, I realized that that is a terrible attitude to have, and God has really shown me a lot through this circumstance. So, my challenge to you is: do something that is a little uncomfortable or inconvenient, but ask God to help you grow through situation. You'd be surprised what God can do!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

When Trials Come

Some people like talking about their trials. Some people like to keep it to themselves. Some people just like to go to their happy place and pretend that they don't have any trials. Now I'm not saying that if you aren't going through a trial right now that you are crazy. What I am saying is that if you are truly a Christian and you are trying to follow Christ, you will have trials and if you don't have one now be sure there will be more to come. So far all I've managed to do is basically put you all down in the dumps because you're either crazy or you have problems but if you keep reading it will get better. I promise! Since we are going to have trials, where do we get comfort? Where can we get strength? Where will we find help? The answer to all these questions is the Bible. Now that's a pretty broad answer so let's narrow it down a little bit.

We're gonna start out with Hebrews 13:5. It says, "Keep your like free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."" Now the first part of this verse is important but when you're reading it I want you right now to focus on the last part of it. Now let's move on to our second verse. It is in Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 6. It says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." Again He states that He will never leave you. When you are in the middle of a trial I want you to remember these verses. They will hopefully help you get through your trial.

*I sort of combined this post with another I was going to do about God never leaving you but I think I covered that subject pretty well with this post. I hope this encourages you. I have other verses to go along with this lesson but I think it would be a good Bible study for you to do especially if you're going through a trial currently.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day Challenge

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I would like to challenge y'all with something today. When you think of Valentine's Day, you probably think of candy and roses, right? Well, this Valentine's Day, I challenge you to think of something more important. Think about the greatest love: that Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Christ loves us so much that he was willing to become like a bondservant and come to earth to die for us (Philippians 2:7). If you ask me, that love is much better than any love here on earth. So, spend today meditation on God's love for you, and see if it isn't much better. Hope this is encouraging!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Again and Again and Again...

Does your life ever feel monotonous? Do you ever feel like there just has to be something more to life? I sure do. Lately, I've just felt like every day is the same. I go to school, come home, do homework, and go to bed. It feels like there is no end to the homework that I have to do, and I feel like nothing fun ever happens. But I came across a post on the GirlTalk blog that completely changed the way I thought about this (you can view it at http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/changing-diapers...in-christian-faith. It's written for a slightly different situation, but it's the same concept, and I think it's got a lot of truth to it). It talks about the fact that we should feel honored to even be able to do the things we do. We should thank God that he died for us so that we could live the way we do: without condemnation. The things we do may seem boring to us, but we should be thankful that we have the things we do. Instead of complaining about having to come to school all the time, I should be thankful that I have a good school to go to. i hope that this encourages you and that it teaches you as much as it did me!

Friday, February 4, 2011

New Year's Resolution; Checkup

Hey guys! How have your new year's resolutions been going? Mine have been going surprisingly well. I been reading my Bible everyday which is shocking to me because I still can't believe I've done it faithfully for this long! Have you been reading your Bible everyday? If you haven't, I encourage to do it from now on. Now doing this kinda fits in with my post on motivation (which you see in our January posts). I just want to remind you that without God being your sole-motivator, you won't be able to do this. I encourage you to ask God to help you start or keep doing those new year's resolutions. I'm gonna keep checking up on all of you but, I can't ask you everyday so I encourage you be accountable to someone. This will not only help you but it will also help the person you're doing it with. I hope you all have a great day! :)

Scripture Memorization

This is kind of a repeat of what I have said before, but I think it is very important. In the last post, I talked about Psalm 119:11 (to see this post, go to our January 2011 archives). One part of Psalm 119:11 is hiding God's Word in our hearts. One way to do this is to memorize certain verses that talk about things you are struggling with. For example, some areas I struggle with are my tongue and worrying. So, I wrote down Ephesians 4:29 for the tongue and Philippians 4:6-7 for worrying. I memorized these verses so that they will (hopefully) come to mind at times when I struggle with these things.
One thing about memorizing verses, though, is that it can get legalistic. If you focus just on memorizing them but don't do it for the right reasons, it won't help. I will confess, I won an award in my 5th and 6th grade for memorizing all the verses I was supposed to (I don't remember how many it was, but it was a lot. I memorized enough verses/passages to do one every week for two years.). Unfortunately, I don't remember all of them. Actually, I probably forgot most of them. It's not enough to memorize them and forget them. We must meditate on them day and night (Psalm 119:97).
I am trying to get better at focusing on God's Word, because it really gives us everything we ever need. It tells us how to live, gives us God's message to us, etc. We never need anything else. When I think about, I think of how poorly I have done at meditating on it. We spend plenty of time studying our literature for English class, but not near enough reading God's Word. I hope this post encourages and helps you!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Complaining

Complaining is one of my best friends and has been for as long as I can remember but it's not a good character trait to have. Complaining not only annoys others but it also going against what God say in the Bible. In Philippians 2:14 it says, "Do all things without grumbling or questioning". I encourage you to memorize that verse so whenever you think about complaining because you're not happy with that situation you can think of that verse. Now this is much easier said than done. For me, I'm gonna have no choice but to follow through because my Mom reads our blog... 'nough said ;). But some of you may not be as lucky as I am. If you don't of anyone to check up on you then ask a friend or a family member or you can ask me:). The reason that I'm saying to get someone to check up on you is because it gives you accountability. So, next time you're about to complain think of that verse and pray and ask God to help you not complain but to reflect Christ in your response. Hope this encourages. you. Have a great day!