Its been far too long

I've been reading Colossians for the past few days & when i started I asked my Dad- who had suggested I start reading the Bible books at a time rather than random portions like I had been doing- whether it was necessary to read the Thanksgiving and Prayer section- which I'd believe to be a welcome speech that would simply put me to sleep. The answer was no and so I began with an unenthusiastic stream of words until I reached

" the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven"

how amazing to think that all the love and faith that we feel day to day- which seems so utterly strong and impenetrable come in abundance from God- there is no frantic worrying of its decrease but it is "stored up for you" - kept collected and never left empty.

The concept of thanksgiving is one that forever escapes our reasoning. Some find it a tedious task- "if God loves us and knows we're thank full- why in the world should we 'waste time' by telling him so" yes God is all knowing but yes he expects you to understand what he has done.

If we become slightly irked when someone does not express gratitude when we open a door for him- imagine what it must feel like when your own children do not thank you for waking them up (literally), giving them breath, and countless blessings too numerous to contemplate.

Gratitude is tricky business but if God loves us so much as to let us

"share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light"

there is no question of gratitude. We in no way deserve anything- we don't even deserve the life he's given us! The concept of humility and love are lost in our world because we are so used to advantages in life of which so many people only read in fairy tales.

God Bless You all and remember that tomorrow is not ours- God has given it to us- not For us but To us For Him.

In Jesus Name.

9|18|07

amazing christian video: everything- lifehouse

thanks jessica!!
Hey everyone this was an amazing amazing video- watch & enjoy

ashley
God Bless

9|17|07

Wow its been forever o_O im so sorry for not making this consistent & i know I'm just pulling out the normal excuse but the truth is that I just get so caught up in everything around me that I forget what's most important. There isn't a day that goes by where I dont look back and regret not spending that simple minute with God. Luckily I have sunday school and Church otherwise I dont know how i'd be able to funciton daily.

Speaking of Sunday School I must admit that Jose Uncle's class is probably the most insightful sunday school class i've been blessed to be a part of. At first I may have been a bit intimidated but in the long run this was the first time I ever cried during a lesson in all 11 years + kindergarden.

The topic was on Sept 9 2007 and we were speaking about how we ask God why our prayers havent been answered. & we feel that God has left us or deserted us when in truth- we have deserted God. Its been a common teaching that sin has made God farther from us, well that's how i've interpreted it, but it was made clear to me that WE are the ones walking away. We see something shiney and suddenly forget the person who was waiting for us tapping on our head saying *yoohwhoo rmr me??* Its like we have Christian ADD- we see someone that catches our eye and forget on what we were consentrating on only moment before.

Now why did I cry? Well at times when I feel emotionally disable, like i've been feeling lately without my daily dose of Jesus :), every word just tuggs my heart strings. How can we just be so oblivious sometimes? I mean wives get so angry when husbands forget their anniversary and childrens hearts get broken when their friends don't remeber their birthdays- what if these people we care about so much forget to say hello? Forget to say good morning, good night? I just feel so guilty sometimes... he blesses us so much but we run off to the nearest candy store. What wonderful children we are -_-
Psalm 36:7

7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find ^[b] refuge in the shadow of your wings.

biblegateway

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us Good because he loves us; just as the roof of a sunhouse does not attract the sun because it is so bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it."

-C.S Lewis

God Bless you :)
ashley

8|23|07

Sorry I missed yesterday!! Instead of focusing on only one book of the bible I guess we can move btwn verses, Ezra, Psalms or anything else
hmm Psalm...

Psalm 138

Of David.

1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

3 When I called, you answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth.

5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
for the glory of the LORD is great.

6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.

8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

So one major down fall of the bible is that a lot of the time we have no clue what many of the words mean and if you get a new century bible or even niv it doesnt have the same flow I guess you could say. So to save the day- www.dictionary.com

stouthearted- brave and resolute; dauntless.
lowly- humble in station, condition, or nature

Well since this is shorter same & NIV there arent that many words to look into- not that stouthearted and lowly are huge words but its always good to understand the deeper meaning of everything.

Its a pretty straight forward Psalm- Technically its stating all the magnificent things the Lord has done for us- even today-
I hope my devotional posts arent so shallow for too long- even so I hope you enjoyed it

May God strengthen your hearts and show you that anything can be done with him by your side
God Bless Yall :]

8|21|07- Tuesday

So back to the Bible Reading from Sunday :]
Ezra chapter 3
www.biblegateway.com
Well the begining is pretty confusing talking about two men who decided to go against common practice and build an alter despite the fear they had of some other people (I dont really understand why they'd be afraid but i guess we'll just go with it) Well one thing that hit me, altho this part is rather confusing, is that despite their fear they were willing to go against it and worship God no matter the Odds.
As you go along the chapter makes more and more sense
So the two men try to build a foundation for the temple and begin to hire men to use their trade to offer help
well something was striked me as different in the last few verses yet I dont know how to put it into words...

10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD :
"He is good;
his love to Israel endures forever."
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

So decifer it for yourself - Instead of a prayer I'd like to leave you with a question
Is it that everyone worships differently or that not everyone has been whitness to the true extent of worship? I've seen both ways and both ways are fine but is it really different tastes in worship or just ignorance?

"Love the lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might and love all man kind as you would love yourslef and looove... :] "

sorry today was so short but ive been cut short - Good Night and God Bless

8|20|07- Monday

verse of the day:

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:12-14

first lets break down the verse...
-we are god's chosen ppl
-automatically holy & loved- no questions asked
So we know that as God's people he loves us and thinks of us as holy- no matter what wrongs we have done, are doing or will do- now holy... to me that seems a little out there- When I think holy I think Jesus or maybe Paul or some sort of saint but remember that when we accepted christ into our hearts God doesn't see us as we were but Christ through us- so we ARE holy and have the ability to try and act as holy as Jesus the Christ is.
-we need to clothe ourselves with good characteristics
Clothe ourselves... when we pull on our tshirts, jeans, or w/e else you chose to wear everything sticks to your body- become one with you- in the same way God wants us to treat compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience as though they were apart of you.
-forgivness and compassion are not an option
I mean thats basicly it... they even use the guilty card

"Forgive as the Lord forgave you."--> which is true but it does make you feel obliged to follow through with it doesn't it

-love is the main ingredient, the stitches that keep the fabric tied together
basically the verse is telling you that all those wonderful things we should do- don't mean a thing unless you do it with love. Love is the essence of everything.
funny to see how much you can take from a verse.

I did this verse rather than chapter 2 of Ezra because it was just a genealogy but tomorrow we will continue with the 3rd chapter of Ezra :]

Oh Lord God I pray that Love may rule our lives and that we, your chosen people, may recognize the price you put on our heads- the blood of your own son which reconciled us to you. Because of that sacrifice, that forgiveness of what was once unforgivable, makes us obligated to not only forgive them but to love them and have compassion for them. Let us understand lord that nothing can be done "enough" or "close" but your ways are above and beyond we are called to do more, not just what we are called to do but what we as your children are meant to do. Lord show us your love, not only in black and white but let us experience it. Let us experience the life of Abraham, the life of Esther, the life of Paul. Let us know no bounds- only the extent of your love, as far as the east is from the west.
I'll love you forever I'll like you for always, as long as eternity my father you'll be.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

8|19|07-- Sunday

So I decided to write this Blog because
1) Notebooks are bleh x_X
2) Its fun to say Blaahg... like its fun to say gazebo :]
3) To make a way to spread my thoughts about Jesus Christ & help myself @ the same time

My devotional time begins with the book of Ezra
Many times when we read the Bible we flip to the middle which- lucky for us- leads us into Psalms, probably the most frequent book of the Bible, or we ignore the old testament almost entirely. Ezra was one of the 3 men who helped rebuild Jerusalem, the 2nd one sent by God who restored Worship. The other two men helped with the actual building and physical restoring of the temple yet the fact that he is seen as one of the builder of God shows to me that worship itself is just as important, even more so maybe, as having walls around you, gold hanging from ceilings or a roof to hang above your head. Ezra... worship
www.biblegateway.com
Chapter 1...
So the first chapter talks of King Cyrus of Persia who felt God tell him to rebuild the temple. It seems a common thinking that Gentiles making a move in history only began in the new testament but even here you see someone who was meant to be a symbol of harm and injustice be used for God's glory. If it had not been his authority (i'm guessing since i've just begun reading) i doubt much would have been accomplished- but of course anything is possible with God's glory. So it's a short chapter but basically God moves in a lot of people's hearts to contribute to the effort. People hear the world "move" or "speak to" and don't really understand how anyone could ever hear God or feel him- well its true that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever more- so if God could show himself to Abraham and Moses- why not you or me? So God moved in their hearts...

Dear Lord
I pray with all my heart that you move in the hearts of anyone who may be reading this, that you may move in my heart. I pray Father that when anyone thinks of you they feel that flutter in their hearts, a choke in their breath, and an unquenchable thirst for you. Oh lord father I pray with every inch of my soul that everyone may feel the love you've laid out for them like warm sheets waiting to be washed, used, and shared btwn brothers and sister. I'll love you forever I'll like for always as long as eternity my father you'll be.
In Jesus Name, Amen.