Day 31 - Chapter 31

Day 31 - Chapter 31

Proverbs 31: 30“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised”.

Have you ever met someone who is amazingly beautiful on the outside until you get to know them, not only does the inner self seem ugly, but their out appearance seems to be less appealing as well. I know that when God radiant’s in your life you are amazingly beautiful inside and out. Society says that we must act, look and dress a certain way to maintain respect from others. We have allowed the world to shape our minds into believing this. Instead we need to get back to what God says, we are beautiful because he made us and we begin to shine with his love that pours out from us into others- that’s what makes us beautiful!

Psalms 139:13-16
oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God - your breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration- what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book you watched me grow
from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared,
before I'd even live one day

When we walk in Gods light- we shine with it. Like John Wesley says, “Catch on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”
I began to study Proverbs 31, 6 months before I got married. I wanted to become the wife, mom and child that God has created me to be. This is always and will be forever a work in progress, thankfully! I love and appreciate that God continues to teach me, be patient with me and love me always.
I remember the first time I read this chapter- ah! That’s a lot to live up to??? Any modern day woman can see that. But what I discovered is; that it is more than possible as long as follow the path that God has set out for us – than it’s an amazingly peaceful journey - to be exactly who God created me to be.

This chapter- in modern day society, most likely, offends many women. That’s because we have taken God out of the picture. We have allowed to few, feminist, to speak for all woman and claim that we want equality for men and women – they fear the word submit. I look at the word submit as another way of saying, respect. Some of my friends joke about me, that I belong in the 50’s because I am so old fashion…. I don’t look at it as being old fashion but as being who God created Britney to be as a wife and a mom and most importantly His child.

Wives and Husbands Ephesians 5:22- 33

22Wives, submit to your husband’s as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[c] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

See how amazingly, loving this is… I know that if you marry a godly man that your hearts will be the same as God, which only means that the submitting to your husband, is submitting to God… And you read the passage above, your husband will than love you as God loves you and nothing less.

Day 30 - Chapter 30

Day 30 – Chapter 30

Flawless; a great way to describe God’s word; without imperfections- 100% perfect. The NIV bible states verses 5-6, 5 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” Compared to the message bible, “5-6 The believer replied, "Every promise of God proves true; he protects everyone who runs to him for help. So don't second-guess him; he might take you to task and show up your lies."
After I read both these versions I feel like I have been handed the most comforting piece of advice- God’s words are flawless and perfect… in every situation.
The second part, verse 6, I believe to be very important. We can so easily look at the Bible and read it how we want to, interpret it how we went, we can make the bible say anything we want to but it’s important that we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through God’s word even if its something we might not want to hear.

The couple verses- I loved! Play with fire- the chances of you possibly getting burned??? Verse 32-33, ” 32-33 If you're dumb enough to call attention to yourself by offending people and making rude gestures, Don't be surprised if someone bloodies your nose. Churned milk turns into butter; riled emotions turn into fist fights.”
Pretty much speaks for itself.

Day 29 - Chapter 29

Day 29 – Chapter 29

There is only verse that stands out to me in this chapter that I want to blog about.
Verse 18, caught my attention in the NIV version- but I than read in the message, which is what I’m going to type, “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals they are most blessed.”

There are many, many, many people in the world right now who have no idea what God is doing… even Christians. Mostly, because they are not looking- or don’t know to look. It is our job to show them and help them understand by knowing Gods word… the second part to this verse. When we/they seek God and his will is when the true blessing are given. If do not Know God or know his plans than we surly can’t recognize the blessings.

We need to be the ones giving a hopeless world searching for answers, searching for hope for their future – and we can’t do this if we do not know God and His word.

Compassion of a 5 year old

We recently watched “Blindside.” Our daughter was in bed and Elijah (Our 5 year old boy) sat on the couch next to Eli and watched very intently, about 30 minutes into the movie I happened to glance at Elijah, thinking he was asleep, only to realize he was full of tears. His little eyes were red with puffyness and we proceeded to ask him whats wrong. Elijah told us he was upset, he didn’t understand why ‘Michael’ didn’t have a home or a family. My heart broke as I realized the amount of sincere concern for Elijah had for ‘Michael.’ My first thought of course was, ‘maybe he shouldn’t be watching this.’ But God was quick to remind me to use this situation to teach Elijah. So we began to tell Elijah that there are people like ‘Michael’ who do not have homes, and are hungry and cold. His little heart broke. Than Eli told Elijah that this new family was goin to help him and give him food and a place to live, which seemd to bring Elijah to some amount of peace.

We continued to watch the movie now with Elijah’s little compassionate heart in mind. When it came to the part where none of the kids were friendly to ‘Michael’ and he sat by himself, Elijah begin to tear up again- he couldn’t even talk his heart borke so bad for ‘Michael.’ And he began to asked us why ‘Michael’ didn’t have any friends? We took this oppurtunity this time to tell Elijah that is why it is very important we don’t judge or mistreat people, we don’t know their stories, where they come from, or even that fact they are hurting.

Again, Elijah was completely heart broken when ‘Michaels’ new mom found his biological mom and we discussed with Elijah how people make bad choices and than are not able to care for their families, that it is important to be reminded of the blessing that God gave us with a home, food and cloths- the Needs, not the Wants. Elijah had the hardest time understanding how a Mom didn't want her son- he is fortunate enough to having loving parents and reality to a 5 year old- not every kid has that.

I experienced Christ love and compassion Friday night through my 5 year old son. God calls us, his children to:
Matthew 25:40-45 (The Message)

37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

My 5 year put a new prespective on this lesson for me. I saw the heart break and the compassion that I know Jesus has for the ‘least of these for me’ Lord break my heart and continue to pour out your passion in my life so I may see you in all

Day 26, 27 - Chapter 26, 27

Day 26, 27 – Chapter 26, 27

Wow, I have no excuse other than I just didn’t blog….. but I can sincerely say that God wil showing me some amazing things and shaping my heart everyday- I can’t get enough.

Day 26 - Chapter 26

Right away in the verse 5, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” I think we spend a lot of time, reassuring people who are off track verses being straight up with them and telling them, ‘your wrong.’That is not easy but if we don’t help them see the light who will?

This chapter continue to go on discussing the the topic in great detail, basically not to play into people who are not speaking the Gods truth- their choices and lifestyle only lead to destruction. Verse 20, “Without wood a fire goes out, witout gosspi a quarrel dies down.”

In an early chapter I talked about our words. Our words hurt deeply and once we put them out there we can’t take them back. We can seek forgiveness but the words have already been impressed upon the persons heart. Verse 22, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels, they go down to a man’s innermost parts.”

Day 27 – Chapter 27

A verse that I have always pondered is 6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy mulitple kisses.” Isn’t it amazing how we are so easily quick to forgive people we trust and move on like nothing ever happened. But wow, if someone crossses us that we already have built up some ‘tension’ with, it seems to be impossible to let go of their harmful words or actions. I have great news though- it is easy my friend when God’s love is in you!

We absolutely need to surround ourselves with people who will ‘sharpen us’ in a positive way in Christ. Vs 17, “You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.” We seem to think we can be bigger than allowing the people around us affect our relationship with Christ but the bottom line is that is does affect us. That doesn’t mean we cannot be friends with the world, we our called to love them and reach out to them. Jesus was the ulitimate example of reaching out to those in need- but it is vital to remember who is close circle of friends were, the disciples, they knew God and walked with Him.

Day 25 - Chapter 25

Day 25 – Chapter 25
Wow, I can’t believe I only have 6 more days left….. not sure where the time went but I need to start praying about what God had for me next!
After reading the first 15 verses in chapter 25 my first thought was, “Well here’s a manual on how to be a friend.” We need that sometimes- a reminder!
8 Don't jump to conclusions—there may be
a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

9-10 In the heat of an argument,
don't betray confidences;
Word is sure to get around,
and no one will trust you.

11-12 The right word at the right time
is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,
And a wise friend's timely reprimand
is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.

13 Reliable friends who do what they say
are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!

14 Like billowing clouds that bring no rain
is the person who talks big but never produces.

15 Patient persistence pierces through indifference;
gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses

If we could get this right- can you imagine how many friends we would have!

We continue on reading the chapter and it continues on talking about, basically, ‘to much of a good thing is bad!’

Day 24 - Chapter 24

Day 24 – Chapter 24

Getting personal- that’s how a couple of the verses felt in chapter 24. I love getting personal and intimate with God has he continues to shape me into the woman he has created me to be.

Verse 10, “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength.” The past couple of years having been trying for us as a family there have been many adjustments/changes in our lives. At first every little thing felt like it would break me. And God begin to do a new thing in my heart- he kept saying, “Seek me first” and then next little thing would happen and felt like it broke me again and God would say, “Seek me first.” I finally got to the place in my life where I said, “Ok God- you first!” So when the next little things came…. I went right to God’s word- and prayed for guidance and direction. WOW!!!! What a burden lifted off my shoulders. There was a major event in our life this past year that could have caused me to go into a major chaotic state, but instead I finally handed 100% of it to God and the weight of the worry and stress was relieved. I realized that I can’t do anything about this situation anyways- but God CAN! So many of us say we know God can do- anything is possible (Phil 4:13) but we fail to show it in our actions and in our choices. “1 Peter 5:7 cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

And ending this section with on of my favorite verses, 2 Corinthians 12:9 (The Message)

7-10Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

I want and continually am being made strong in Christ, the ‘little/big’ things in life are much easier to deal- I still have my moments of weakness but I am grateful enough to know where my hope lies… which brings me to verse 15-16 in Chapter 24, Don’t interfere with good people’s lives; don’t try to get the best of them. No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; soon they’re up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their face.”