Growing in Faith

"By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him." (2 Peter 1:3) And where can I get to know Him? By reading His Word and listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit. "And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises." We are asked to build upon what He has given us - "complement faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others." (verse 5-7 from The Message). Alert discipline and passionate patience - an interesting choice of words for self-control and preseverence - puts a different perspective to it. The more I grow in this way, the more productive I will be. I need to submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to continually work in my life to make me more like Jesus.

In Hebrews 10 it talks about perseverence in the faith. "So let's do it - full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps His word." We are asked to encourage one another in love and good works and gather together to worship as the day of His return draws nearer. I am encouraged by this passage and hope that it encourages others. Thank you Lord for your unfailing love for me and I can depend on you to keep your promises in whatever situation I find myself in.

Gal 4:9

Why, after finding God and hearing the Holy Spirit, would you want to go back to your previous life? That's the question Paul asks the Galatians in 4:9. That's how I feel a bit. I have allowed school and the start of fall to 'enslave' me a bit and I have not spent as much time in God's Word as I know I need. I miss hearing the Holy Spirit as much as I have. That's good. How sad if I didn't know what I was missing. This was a good reminder this morning

Worship My Heart Out

Hello, all!

I want to introduce something new that I've added to the blog . . . MUSIC!

If you scroll down to the very bottom of the page, there is a "box" of-sorts, called Worship My Heart Out.  This is a compilation of songs that I have put together which includes artists such as Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Matt Redman, Caedmon's Call, Michael W. Smith and many more!  You can listen through your computer's sound system.  The songs will play randomly, but to get the music started, just click on a song title and the music should start.  It's a pretty simple music player, allowing you to enjoy music all day long as you go about your day.

I originally put this together when our computer had no sound capabilities, so I was not able to pre-listen to all of the music; if you hear something questionable in terms of lyrics, please let me know and I will delete it from the list.  Contact me by leaving a comment and I'll take care of the issue.  Also, there is still space on the music player for additional songs, so if you have some suggestions for an artist not featured, please let me know and I'll look into adding them to the player.

I hope you enjoy the music!

Quick....Slow

I can't imagine how many times I have read James and I am still underlining words and verses that impact me in a new way. There were two ideas from the last part of James 1 that I found powerful this morning. If I want to receive God's word, I must put aside my sin (v21). I need to make sure I read God's Word with a clean, pure heart. If I want to be blessed, I need to look intently in God's word, abide by it and do what it says (v25). Intently does not mean a quick perusal. I looked up the word: synonyms are careful, attentive and absorbed. I then need to abide and obey. I can't just read and leave it. I need to actively practice what I read.

So today...
-quick to hear
-slow to speak
-slow to anger

Stories of Victory

1 John 5:4-5 For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

This is so cool! When we believe, we have victory because of Jesus. I am encouraged when I hear stories of others overcoming fear, worry, discipline issues, health issues and other victories. God is working through his Spirit and giving us victory. 1 John continues to talk about how we testify along with the Spirit. When we tell our stories of how we see God working in us and around us, we are acknowledging the work of and in agreement with the Holy Spirit. That is powerful. That is faith building victory.