Wisdom From Above...

I thought that most of the verses about wisdom were in proverbs, but today i was reading James 3:17-18 and found something about wisdom. The verse says "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." Wisdom is sooo much more than simply doing what is right. Wisdom that comes from above (from God) is first pure! From the beginning that wisdom is perfect and true. If we think we are wise we cannot go around telling people that everything they do is wrong because we know better. This verse says that this wisdom is open to reason and peaceable, it is full of mercy. If we have wisdom from above we should help others instead, but only when we know that we dont need help ourselves. Sometimes I find myself trying to correct mistakes in others's lives without fixing my own first. My goal is to ask for this sincere and impartial wisdom from above for my life and to bless others as well.

No fear! God is Here! :)

Psalm 27:1 says  

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

Recently I have been stressed out about doing well in school because of college and also trying to do my best serving at church. I get so caught up in the things I wanna do that sometimes I forget to pause and take time for God. I do not need to be afraid of what is coming in the future. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. He has absolutely everything in control. I should not fear the future, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Even if I feel like I am in complete darkness, God is the light that will guide me out of it. So I have to pause, take time for God and He will help me get through my problems and anxiety. With God Everything is possible, there is no space for stress if God is in control :) You just gotta trust.

Preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison...

Today I read this verse "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 

I found this verse to be really encouraging to me. Sometimes we lose focus on what is important and are just stuck with what we see. Many times we do not look deeper. We might spend our time working too much, or doing too much. Maybe working more than having quality with the family. Those "things" that we focus on might not be as important. We have focus on what God is doing inside of us and now in what we do or how we look on the outside. What God does in me lasts forever, what I do will eventually fade away. I have to keep that in mind. We might get tired or doing things over and over again, but God is just shaping us and preparing us for the best. We cannot lose heart!!  This verse clearly says so ..it is just "momentary"..We do not have to worry. Just let God work in us in the unseen.

The Words of the Wise, The Lips of the Foolish...

Ecclesiastes 10: 12-14

 These verses talk about words. The Bible many times mentions how the tongue is dangerous. This verse explains how words of a wise man will gain him favor, but how those who are not wise only speak words of foolishness. As followers of Christ we should be wise with our words. We should speak only things that speak life and that point the world back to God. We either help others with our words and serve as examples or we break people down. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can speak from God and not just our own words when others ask for advice or when we have to share things with others. As a senior I know that people are listening to what I say, I want to speak only things that are right. I do not want to speak lies, or bad words that will harm others or change people's perspective on christians. We might not think that what we say had huge consequences, but they do. I want to listen faster than I speak. As a girl it may be hard, but it is possible. hehe:)

Always Pray...

Today I read 1 Timothy 2 :) the verse that caught my attention this time was verse 8! It is saying that we've gotta pray always. Prayer though is sometimes monotonous! Sometimes when I hear someone praying I feel like they use too many words and even make it sound awkward. I see prayer as a  conversation with God, i tell him about my day and ask for things. That is one mistake tend to fall into always, just asking for this...asking for that. Prayer has an order though, I took the time and read the Lord's prayer. It starts out by honoring God and recognizing how great  He is. It does not start our asking for things. Then it goes on to ask the Lord to have His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It does not go on telling God to do "blabla" for selfish reasons, but to let God do His will. Then he Thanks God and asks for Forgiveness! Then asks God to protect him/ guard him from temptation. So, Jesus teaches us how to pray, and I feel like I should follow that way of praying and stop just demanding things from God because everything I have is a GIFT from God,  i do not deserve it.

Analyzing Your Heart...

Today while I was looking for a chapter to read in my Bible I found a verse that really stood out to me. It is found in Ecclesiastes 7:21-22.  This verse says:
Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 
This was interesting to me because as a girl I do find myself making "opinions" and sharing those opinions with others, when I should keep them to myself. But if I find out someone is saying "things" about me I get really angry and find a way to talk to the person. Sometimes people will be saying things that are not nice about us, but it may just be gossip. We are called to forgive and not to judge. We cannot judge others because we also have or still do speak behind people's backs, or say not nice things about them. This verse says that our "hearts" know that we have cursed others, that same heart that we have "surrendered to Christ" that heart that was "transformed" when we accepted Jesus. If our heart is like that after we accept Christ and after the Holy Spirit is in us, we should not curse others. I have to behave differently because if I judge or curse, then it will like a boomerang come back at me. But if I behave how i am supposed to with Christ in my heart and living a life according to his purpose, then I wont take to heart what people say about me, I will only care about what God thinks of me which is what should be my priority. If God thinks and knows well about us, then others will see the same.

Made Alive in Christ...

Ephesians 2:

This chapter has much to do with faith and how we are saved by grace. It is also about how Christ is our only peace and how we have a connection with him trough the Spirit. It has always surprised me how even non-christians apply "christian principles" in their lives and get blessed by these. They are blessed and do good things but since it is not by works that we are saved as the verse said, we have to have faith which we don't deserve, but it is a gift from God. When we accept God's great love for us, we change the way we live and become children of God. Just because we are not saved by works doesn't mean that we don't have to do work. God has a purpose for our lives and has work for us to do, we have to do everything for Him. This chapter mentions how if Jesus had not died on the cross for us, we would not have a connection with God. But because he did and rose again, we do have it with the Holy Spirit. God's great love give us peace and as His children he has prepared a place for us in heaven. We are now citizens of God's people and members of his household is how verse 19 describes it. I want God's peace and I want to fulfill his purpose in my life. I am very thankful for the Holy Spirit and God's great love. I feel close to God like this.