Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #100

The Word of God

John 1

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (v. 14) "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

My Thoughts

Jesus is the Word of God. The first eighteen verses of John 1 talk about the Word of God. They do not mention Jesus' name, but we know that Jesus is who is talked about. We know this because the Word became flesh and these verses talk about the Word of God as if it is a person or a being. And it is.

If Jesus is the Word of God, what then, is the Bible? Is the Bible still the Word of God? I believe that, in calling the Bible the Word of God, we are correct. Some people do not think so. The words in the Bible are not spoken or even written by God Himself, no, but the Bible is inspired by God. What is in the Bible was put there by God, but used those who were willing to write its words. God made sure that what went into the Bible was what He wanted and that all of it was there, He just didn't write it Himself.

Just because God didn't write the words of the Bible Himself, doesn't meant that it didn't still come from Him. After all, what does 'word' mean? A word is a meaningful grouping of letters that are used to communicate. The Bible is full of those. Jesus is the Bible personified. That is what I believe.

I said in an earlier post that God talks to us in many different ways. Well, one of those ways is through the Bible. The biggest way, which is now in the Bible coincidentally, was through Jesus. No, it is not even close to the same as it would have been to actually see and hear and touch Jesus as it is for us to read about Him, but Jesus shows Himself in many different ways as well.

Jesus is not here with us in the same way that He was then, so how else can God communicate with us through His Word? The Bible. Even the pastors at church preach from the Bible its teachings. God still talks directly to us sometimes, not always. That's why we have the Bible.

So what does the Word of God mean to you? Do you believe that the the Word of God is only Jesus, or do you believe that the Word of God is Jesus and the Bible? Also, why do you believe one or the other? 

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #99

In Jesus' Name

John 14

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 12-14) "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. An I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

My Thoughts

Jesus says that we can ask for anything in His name, and He will do it. So what does it mean to ask in His name? If you're thinking of how a lot of people, myself included, end their prayers with "In Jesus's name, amen," that is not quite right. You can pray about anything, even to die like Elijah did, but ending it with "In Jesus' name, amen" does make it so.

When we end our prayers with that, it is like a traditional thing, I think. We are praying to Jesus, or in Jesus. To actually pray for something in His name, your heart and your request need to be aligned with Jesus' heart. If your heart is not aligned with Jesus' heart, He is not going to do whatever you ask. If your request is not aligned with Jesus' heart, Jesus is not going to do it.

When you ask for something that will bring glory to the Father, that is when Jesus will do it. If we want Jesus to do what we ask of Him, we need to ensure that our hearts are aligned with His and that our request will bring glory to God. I won't give an examples here because that is really up to you to decide what it is you want to ask for.

I feel like this post is very short, and I cannot think of anything else to add. Just remember to keep your heart in line with that of Jesus. Remember that when you ask for something from Him, if you want Him to answer your request, make it a request that will glorify God.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #98

God's Holiness Through Us

Ezekiel 36

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 23) "I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes."

My Thoughts

God said of Israel that He would show Himself holy through them to the nations around them. I believe that He does the same with all of those who believe in Him. God shows Himself through us in things that we do. We just have to allow Him to. When we show genuine love toward others, that is God showing through us.

If you love and obey God and you have accepted His Son Jesus, then your heart is where Jesus dwells. He lives in your heart, and because of that, He shines through you. Jesus can turn on all the lights inside His home so that others know that He is there. You just have to allow Him to do that.

God is at work in us. God is at work through us. Every time you read your Bible, talk to God, show love to another or prove your faith, you are growing stronger in Christ. There is no limit to how strong you can become and God is constantly working. People seem to think that God is silent these days and that He just sits there watching, or that He has abandoned us entirely. The truth is that He has not. It is the people who have gone silent and dormant.

See, God works through us. Yes, absolutely God can do whatever He wants, whenever, without any limitation whatsoever. At the same time, God does not want to take away our freedom of choice. That is what makes us human. God has chose His way to act and that is through us. We need to allow Him to or He won't. God wants us to want to do His work, and when we do, He comes in and helps along.

Isn't that actually amazing? That God would choose us; entrust us with His work. Like someone working on a project that is very important to them and they entrust the work to another. That shows how much God wants us to be a part of His plan and a part of His work. That is actually a great opportunity for us, and we should not pass that up.

When you are given an opportunity to do some good in the world, you should take it. I can't say I've taken every opportunity. I know I have missed out on some things. I want to change that. How about you?

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #97

Cornerstone

Luke 20

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 17) "Jesus looked directly at them and asked, 'Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ' 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?"

My Thoughts

So in the last post, yesterday's, I mistakenly thought that the capstone, cornerstone and keystone were all basically the same thing. They are not. I wrote about Jesus being the Keystone in actuality yesterday, so today I will write about Jesus being the Cornerstone. Please take a look at the previous post to see the changes.

In construction, the cornerstone is stone on which the structure will be built. It is basically the foundation of the structure. In referring to Jesus, I believe this has two meanings. The first being that Jesus is the foundation of our lives, personally. The second being that Jesus is the foundation of our faith. Both are true, but only one is objectively true.

Jesus is most definitely the cornerstone of our faith in God. If we reject the Son, we cannot know the Father. Jesus has said that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Jesus is the Son of God. To reject Him and what He did and What He stands for means to reject God.

In the Christian faith, there  is something called the Holy Trinity. That means three, and those three being God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three are one and the same and if you reject one, you reject the other two. We cannot say that we believe everything that the Bible says, except that Jesus is God. If you choose not to believe one thing from the Bible, then your faith is flawed because you don't believe everything that your belief is based in and on.

The first way I mentioned that Jesus is the Cornerstone is that He is the foundation of our lives. I can say that I believe this is true for everyone, but really I can only say that it is completely true for me. If someone else does not believe the same thing for them, then that is their choice. I do not believe that a person can build their life on anything but Jesus because of what the Bible teaches.

My life is built on Jesus. Jesus is the foundation of my life; the cornerstone. Jesus is the keystone of my life, holding everything in place.Without Jesus, not only does my life fall apart, but I would have to start over because you cannot remove the foundation of a structure without compromising the entire thing.

If you've built your life on Jesus, then you've done a wise thing. If you haven't, you still can. Everything will change, yes, and that is okay because everything will change for the better. Jesus can hold up your life while He comes in to remove the bad and replace it with good.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #96

Cornerstone

Keystone

Luke 20

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 17) "Jesus looked directly at them and asked, 'Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ' 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?"

My Thoughts

So I made a mistake and just realized, the day after posting this that it was the keystone that I was actually talking about in this post, not cornerstone. I will leave the verse alone because that is the verse that made me think of all this to begin with, but some changes will be made. The next post after this one will be about Jesus being the Cornerstone.

One of Jesus' many names is 'Cornerstone.' If Jesus was a person and He is called Cornerstone, then we, as people, must be the other stones. Jesus is like a keystone as well. In construction, the cornerstone keystone is the stone that holds all the other stones in place. This is easily seen in an arch. The stone at the top of an arch, right in the middle, is the cornerstone keystone. If that one stone is removed, the entire arch will fall.

Actually, in thinking about it, if we take the arch example, we are each an arch, not part of an arch with each other, per se. Each stone in the arch, our arch, is a part of our own life. There's a great amount of stones representing each part of our lives. Without Jesus, we crumble in on ourselves. We may be able to hold ourselves for a while, or put something in His place, but nothing is as strong and the load will be too much. Only Jesus can hold everything together. 

So Jesus is the Cornerstone Keystone, right at the top of the arch, that holds us, our lives, together. Those who reject Jesus don't realize that, without Him, they will crumble in on themselves. They try everything to hold their lives together, putting whatever they can in Jesus' place at the top, but nothing else is ever enough.

The arch not only has all the good things in our lives, but also the bad. Those bad stones can be removed though, without compromising the entire arch. As long as the cornerstone keystone is not removed, everything will still hold up. I just thought of this now: This is also another visual for putting Jesus at the center of your life. Our life is the arch, with each stone being another aspect of our lives. The cornerstone keystone is at the very top, right in the center. That is Jesus.

Jesus, the Cornerstone Keystone, at the center of the arch, our lives. That sounds really cool to me! What do you think about all that?

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #95

Protection From God

Psalm 91

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 4-6) "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday." (v. 9-10) "If you make the Most High your dwelling--even the Lord, who is my refuge--then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent."

My Thoughts

What do you think of when you think of protection? I think of exactly what verse 10 says: "no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near you." We have to know, though, that God never says this. This is the Psalmist saying this. It is not false either. God will protect us, and He does protect us, but He does not make it so nothing will ever harm us.

Look at what verse 5 says at the very beginning. "You will not fear..." See, God does allow bad things to happen. He does not cause them, but He does allow them. Sometimes He does actually protect us from harm, just not always. Mainly, His protection takes a different form. It has to do with our spirit rather than our physical selves.

God's protection for us is from fears and even other things that may harm us spiritually. Fear is something that can keep us from God. Fear is what Satan wants us to live in constantly so that he has some kind of control over us. If we are fearful of things that we have no need to fear, that makes us paranoid. When you are living like that, you are living in constant fear of things that may or may not happen and that keeps you from living in God's grace.

See, when you make your dwelling in God and you are truly dwelling in Him, you will not fear these kinds of things. Mind you, if you do, that does not mean that you are a hypocrite or that you are not truly in God or something. It just means that you have may need some kind of help and you need to become stronger in God. The biggest thing is that you will not have any need to fear those things.

Why you will not have any need to fear those things is because, if you are in God, those things cannot truly harm you. Even if something does happen to you, it cannot take you away from God. We have no need to fear anything because, no matter what happens, nothing can ever take us away from God. That is what is important to remember.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Merry Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope each and every one of you has a great time with your friends and family and even if you're alone this Christmas. Have a wonderful celebration!

For Christmas, I won't do a Bible reading post, either today or tomorrow because, especially if you are with your family, I feel that you should be reading your Bibles yourself, and maybe even together. Let it be some family bonding time, with Father God at the center!

Below is short video saying Merry Christmas and also bears my gift to you: some candy cane fun info!

So again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #94

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 8) "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." (v. 10-11) "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

My Thoughts

When Jesus died on the cross, those of us who believe in Him also died with Him. A part of us died with Him. That part is that which is of this world. Not completely physically, but the sinful nature of us died with Him. Our spirits are very much alive in Him, with Him, because He rose from the dead. The bodies we live in are only temporary and will one day die as well, but our spirit will live on for eternity with God.

Once you accept Jesus, you are no longer a slave to sin, but you are bound to righteousness. God has great plans for us, to use us for His glory and bring blessings to us. We have inherited eternal life with God and our temporary lives on Earth will be much more joy filled for it.

Once Jesus died on the cross, Satan was completely disarmed. He no longer has any power over us, he is no longer a threat to us. The only way he can be a threat is if we allow him to. If we rearm him, we are allowing him to be a threat to us again. Think if Satan had a weapon in his hand and he was forever threatening you with it. This was no ordinary gun though. You never know what could happen if he pulled the trigger. Even if he misses you directly, he can still affect things around you, thereby affecting you, indirectly.

Jesus came along and disarmed Satan, and without that weapon in his hand, Satan is completely powerless. He still tries to harm us with words or by showing us things or other ways, but without that weapon, he can't actually cause anything to happen. The only way he has any power or could possibly harm us again is if we pick up that weapon and give it back to him. You wouldn't do that if someone pointing a gun at you in real life was disarmed, would you? So why would you do it here?

The truth is, we all do sometimes. When we call on Jesus, he comes and disarms him again, and He'll continue to. It's up to us to once and for all walk away. You can't destroy the weapon, but you can keep it away Satan. Don't give it back to him. Don't allow him to hurt you or affect you in any way. Walk away from Satan and follow after Jesus.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #93

Ask

1 Chronicles 14

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 9-10) "Now the Philistines had come and raided the valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of God: 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?' The Lord answered him, 'Go, I will hand them over to you.' " (v. 13-15) "Once more the Philistines raided the valley; so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, 'Do not go straight up, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you her the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.' "

My Thoughts

Sometimes we just want to do things on our own. Especially when we're younger. Older kids just want independence, younger kids don't want to be alone. When we're adults, we think we should be able to do things on our own without anyone's help. Sometimes we are wrong.

Everyone needs help sometimes, and there is absolutely no shame in that, no matter what it is for. In fact, it is a good thing to ask for help when you need it. It shows that you aren't arrogant and can make others like less intimidated by you.

David, the king of Israel, who had won so many battles and done so much, needed help. David knew that he was not perfect an that God knows best. When David wasn't sure of something, he asked God. In this case here, we see that David asks God if he should go and attack the Philistines or not. "Will you give them over to me?" He asks. We should all have the same mentality, not necessarily with the same situation.

There are some people that think they shouldn't make any decisions for themselves, but that for everything, they should be asking God. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but God doesn't want us to be mindless robots either. He gave us freewill of choice for a reason, and He will not overstep that either. Other people don't want God to have any say in their life. What we really need is a good balance between the two.

When you are really unsure of something, ask God. Give it to Him and ask for His advice and what He wants you to do. There are many times when we really need advice. If we are not in our right mind to make any choices because we are angry or depressed or even extremely happy, we can end up making choices that are not necessarily the best at the time. Other times, asking for that advice save us. It saves us time or money or other things. Think if you didn't know the directions to someplace (and you don't have a map or GPS) and you wanted to find it on your own. You'd probably waste a lot of time, not to mention gas. If you asked for advice, however, you wouldn't.

Hey, asking God for advice on something just gives us another thing to talk to God about! Talking with God is so awesome, so whenever I have anything that I want to talk to Him about, tell Him or ask Him, it's actually very good for me because I get to spend more time with Him. God loves that so much, and I hope you do as well! I know I do!

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #92

Speak Up

Job 32

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 4) "Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he." (v. 8-12) "But it is the spirit in a man, The breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say: Listen to me; I too will tell you what I know. I waited while you spoke, I listened to your reasoning; while you were searching for words, I gave you my full attention..."

My Thoughts

Elihu was afraid to speak and tell what he knew because he was younger than the others and thought that, since they were older, they should be the ones to speak. Once he became angry, he decided that he would speak as well, saying that it is not only the old who are wise, but it is the spirit in a man that makes him so.

Elihu is right. It is not only the old who are wise. Young people can have just as much wisdom, or even more. There is no reason why a younger person shouldn't be able to speak on something just because there are older people who are as well. You still want to respect your elders, but there is no reason you can't have a say.

Sometimes people are afraid to speak in a group, for any number of reasons. Maybe you're afraid to be wrong, or of sounding stupid or of being misunderstood. Maybe you're like Elihu, you think that you don't have a right to speak. Me personally, I have a kind of stage-fright like thing. If it's a bunch of people I know, I don't care as much. I have been wrong before, or sound stupid before, but it's really not that big of a deal. In some classes, we are asked a question and I give my answer, and it is wrong. Most of the time, the question is something no one in class really knows and the teacher or instructor was really just testing to see if we had an idea.

The thing is, if you answer questions with an educated guess or with a completely honest answer, that is better, in my opinion at least, than not answering at all. You might be wrong, but at least you had confidence to try. If it is that you have a question, then ask it. Again this is my opinion, but there is no such thing as a stupid question, unless you are asking it out of stupidity. If you seriously do not know or seriously want an answer, or otherwise are serious about your question, then it is not stupid at all. Even if you are 25 years old and you don't know the meaning of a particular word.

If you don't ask questions, you won't learn. It is good to ask questions, and it is healthy to ask questions. If you don't speak up much, maybe it's time you start. I used to be very introverted. Now, I am little better. I still don't like being in large groups of people, especially if I am speaking or doing anything in front of them, but I am not super nervous anymore. God has helped me so much with that, and He can help you too.

At least once in a while, start speaking up. Start in smaller settings if larger ones are still uncomfortable, and give your opinion, ask your questions, answer other's questions. Soon you'll be so much more confident and others will be asking you how you can so confident.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #91

God Our Avenger

Jeremiah 51

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 36) "Therefore, this is what the Lord says: 'See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry."

My Thoughts

We are not going to have a problem-free life. That's something I highly doubt anybody will ever have. There are always going to be bad things that happen, sometimes worse than others. God is always with us, though, walking through everything with us.

Do you or did you ever get bullied in school? I did, quite a bit. My experience was no where near as bad as some others' experiences. I would get called names mostly. Other than that, people would take my stuff, threaten me, turn my friends against me, and one person even tried to light my hair on fire once. I was never really physically bullied. Sometimes I would ignore things. Other times I actually lashed out, sometimes physically, slamming doors, hitting and throwing things, and sometimes verbally, yelling and even swearing. I wasn't very good about all that, I know. I started to stand up for myself, in a much better way I might add, around grade 11 because I started to know God more at some point then.

When bad things happen, it is important not to let those things overwhelm us. Don't let bad things change who you truly are. When it comes to what other people do against us, don't let your anger or hatred or hurt drive you to do things that you know you shouldn't. Give it to God. This is something that I wasn't very good before grade 11.

I have still had horrible experiences with some people now, but I am usually much better with it. I am not perfect in anyway and sometimes I don't react in the best way. I am usually mostly calm until I am by myself or alone with someone I can vent to. That's when I let out my anger about certain things.

What we each have to remember is that God is our avenger. He is the one who will get back at those who hurt us. No matter how much we want to get back at people for what they have done, we need to put it in God's hand and let go of it. That way He has control. That way God does what is necessary to be done and we can continue to live in Him

Let God avenge you. He actually will. Remember though, it is in His timing. If you are frustrated by that, you haven't let go. Give your hurt to God and let Him pass judgement on our enemies.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #90

Belonging to God

1 Peter 2

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 9-10) "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (v. 12) "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

My Thoughts

Paul reminds us that we belong to God. We are a people under God and for God. God brought us out of the darkness that we had been covered in, and brought us into his wonderful light, through His Son, Jesus. We have all received mercy, we need only accept it.

As God's people, we are called to Him. He has a great many things for us. Tasks for us to perform, blessings to give, lessons to learn and even to teach. It can never be a dull time with God, because either He has something for us to do or He has something to give us or to show us.

How cool would it be for those that don't know God to praise Him, to come to know him, through us? Especially if it just based on what those people see us do, how we act, what we say, even if we rarely mention God. That would be like seeing the attitude and respect of someone who was in the military, and knowing that they were in the military, without ever actually having any proof of it. You just know by their attitude and you say, "He has sure straightened up, he must've been in cadets," or, "You can tell she was in the army, she is so respectful of her elders."

When people know that you belong to God just by observing you, then you are doing a great job and God is surely pleased by that! If not, that doesn't mean that you are any less. It just means that you may need to take a look at yourself and spend some time in prayer. You may not even need to change.

Think of a theatre production. You have all the people on stage that are seen. Some people may even not be seen, even while on stage. There are also people who are not seen or not even on stage. They are still a part of the production, right? They are also important, are they not? The production could not be successful without those people behind the scenes. Same thing goes for us in God. Some of us are behind the scenes people for God.

Being behind the scenes does not mean hiding your faith. It just mean s that maybe you aren't as outward or forward. You still pray, you aren't ashamed, you tell people, but it's not something that you tell everyone you meet. Being behind the scenes, you support those who are on stage through prayer and communion with them.

God's plans involve you no matter what, whether you are on stage or behind the scenes. He needs you and you are important no matter what. We each belong to God, we are each a part of the production, and the end result is dependent on each one of us.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #89

Seek the Lord

Amos 5

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 4) "This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: 'Seek me and live;" (v. 14) "Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is."

My Thoughts

This passage of Amos tells us to seek God and to seek good, not evil, so that we may live. It means so that we may live forever, with God, not just on this Earth. So what exactly does it mean to seek God and how do you do so? The biggest way, in my opinion, is to keep God at the center of your life and heart.

By keeping God at the center, you are making Him the focus. You are making Him number one. Look for God in all situations, both good and bad. because all good things come from God and He can bring good out of the bad. When bad things happen, look to God for the good that can bring out of it and look for the good that He will bring out of it.

Seeking God is talking to Him regularly. Talk to God and tell Him of the good things that are happening in your life and thank him for it. Tell Him of the bad things that are happening in your life and ask Him for guidance and strength. Ask God what He wants you to do, where He wants you go and how He wants to use you to accomplish good.

So seek God and live. Eternally. That is a choice that each of us has to make. No one else can make it for you. You have to choose whether you want eternal life or not. Eternal life is a gift you can only receive through Jesus Christ. You only have the rest of your life to make the decision, which is not very long in comparison to eternity.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #88

Be Careful of Your Words

Matthew 12

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 34-37) "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The god man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

My Thoughts

This is a longer post, and I apologize for that. Usually when my posts are long, it's stuff that is important to me so I hope you don't mind!

You know that saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me?" That's not really true, you know. Words can definitely hurt. There have been times where I'd rather have hit with a log than hear what was said to me. We really have to be careful and watch what you say sometimes. We don't always realize or think about how what we say may hurt the one we say it to.

Not only when we are physically speaking, face to face with someone, do we have to watch what we say, but also over the phone, over text, email, and even in a letter. Over the phone, sometimes you don't fully understand what someone says and you also don't have visual cues in their facial expressions and body language, which are both a huge part of communication as well.

In a text, we often use abbreviations like LOL, TTYL, OMG etc... to communicate because it is easier than typing it all out. Sumtimes we evn omit certn letrs or use nums 4 da same reasn, like I did here. Both of these make it easier to read faster, but not necessarily understand emotions attached to what is being sent. In an email, we don't normally shorten words, but sometimes they can be lengthy and often times they can taken the wrong way, depending on the words you use. I kinda think that may be due the fact that emails are usually a more formal type of communication, and sound a lot more serious than is actually intended.

Over the phone, you might try to be sarcastic, but the other person cannot see your body language or facial expression, so again, it can be taken the wrong way. One time, I was texting with my cousin and he was telling me of his possible plans for the year after he graduated. He wasn't sure whether he was going to school or going on a missions trip somewhere for a few months. He told me that he was praying a lot and wasn't what God wanted for him, but that he wanted whatever God wanted. I said, "Yes that is true, but what do you want to do? What do you want more?" He told me again, "Whatever God wants." I said, "Yes, but maybe God is leaving this choice up to you." He wasn't sure about whether the missions trip would actually happen or not, and I told him to just keep acting like it will. if that is what you want to do, keep saying that it will happen, not that it might or that it won't, but that it will. I wanted to encourage him because this is what he wanted more, but he wasn't sure. He took it completely the wrong way and wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the night.

I still don't understand what happened there, but the point is that I either worded something wrong or he was just frustrated for whatever reason. Right now, I put it down to being both our faults and that it really doesn't matter. We are still close, so that conversation doesn't mean anything anyway. I know that sometimes when I send emails, I can be short and to the point, but I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever. I usually say so as well because I've had experiences where it has been taken as rude or disrespectful, and I am totally shocked by that because that was not my intent.

My personal advice to avoid bad situations and possible ruining of relationships is this: Do not send a text, email or PM or even phone someone if you are angry with that person. Chances are, you will only make things worse. If you really feel like sending a message or a text or email during that time, then either write out what you want to say on a piece of paper or type it in a document so that you don't accidentally send it. Type out everything you want to say, let your frustrations out, and when you are done, read it over, out loud if you have to, just make sure no one can hear you. Hopefully that calms you down even a little bit.

Next thing you do is type out what you want to say and have someone else, who isn't a part of the situation, read it over to you. If you are truly comfortable with sending it, and you can't talk to this person face to face, then once you have prayed about it of course, go ahead.

The best thing to do, after you have calmed down a bit, is talk to the person face to face. That's the best way to avoid further miscommunication. I am telling you these things because I have had personal experience, being on both sides of the equation. It is not pleasant at all and, if I can help it, I don't want anyone else to have to experience that, on either side.

If you read all that I had to say here, thank you. That really means a lot to me and I hope that this has helped you in some way. Godbless!

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!