Wednesday
Do you have enough patience?
Patience is something that everyone constantly struggles with. In school, at work, at the store, with kids, parents, friends. What about when you get frustrated with someone because they havent done something the right way, your losing patience. Patience is something everyone struggles with because being patient isn't always the easy way around a situation. Colossians 3:12 says, "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." We are called to be patient, even when it is hard. This is something i need to work on but is important in faith. make sure to make a conscious effort to practice patience in your life!
Doubt- Is it a sin?
Is doubting a sin? Is doubt showing weakness in your faith? I believe that through doubt, we can grow stronger when we find the answer. Everyone has doubts in life, and sometimes we dont overcome them. For example, when i am going to sit in a chair i dont know if the chair is going to collapse or not. I have faith in it but if the chair is old and beat up i have doubt if it will hold me. I wont know if it will collapse until i sit in it. When we have doubt on a certain subject or in anything, until we find the answer or proof we cant overcome it. Doubt is an everyday struggle but through it we can be stronger.
Tolerance
These days tolerance is a big issue. We are taught by everything around us that we have to accept and allow other beliefs. However, there are some problems with these thoughts especially if you are a Christian and believe in the Bible. For example, Jesus said in John 14:6 that the only way to the Father is through Him. He is the truth. That is not being tolerant as of our day's defintion. In Matthew 7, Jesus is talking about judging others. He tells us to first correct what is wrong with us and then point out to your brother what they are doing wrong. The point there is that He does tell us we are to confront others about their sins, we are not to just let them continue. A few verses later He talks about the gate of heaven. He tells us it is narrow and only a few find it which tells us that it is not fine for everyone to believe their own thing, there is only one way to heaven, and only a few find it. Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?" I thought this verse was interesting. Many people today believe in and do evil, but they tell us we have to accept it and that it is okay, which is basically saying it is right and good. However, we know it is not. Anyway, at the same time we need to be careful how we present the truth to others. As it says in 1 Peter 3:15 "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." I'll leave you with an interesting quote "I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance." Samuel Taylor Coleridge .
God's Impeccability
We all sin, sometimes by actions, words, or even by our thoughts. We all fall into the temptation of sin, because we are humans and we are not perfect. God is the only perfect one, and he does not, will not, and never has sinned. Job 34:10 is a great example of this fact, it says, "So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong." Its so delightful to be able to rely on God's impeccability, because we know that he will always be right. Forever! Wow, stop and think, we can trust that whatever he says is true, and that everything he does is perfect. Its so comforting to know we can rely on those facts. However; when something is that great it makes it easy to take advantage of, instead of doing that we should just continually thank Him that he is perfect, never changing ,and finally always right.
Only One God!
People today have many different gods. Most of these gods revolve around material things such as; money, fame, friends, and unfortunately these things do not bring eternal happiness. The "real deal" is clearly stated in Deuteronomy 5:7 You shall have no other gods before me. Nothing we place in our lives as a god can bring us eternal peace and happiness, even though you may seem happy when you get a new ipod it is only a matter of years until it breaks or they come out with something better. The point is GOD as in Jesus Christ is the ONLY true God and no other gods can even compare.
Our Provider
God provides for us, He truly is our Jehova Jira.
1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Deuteronomy 11:13-17 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you.
1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you.
1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Kenosis...
According to Philippians 2:5-8, the word "Kenosis" came from the Greek word "kenoo" which means "to empty." "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross," (Phil. 2:5-8).
Some say the idea of kenosis is that Jesus gave up some of His divine attributes while He was a human here on earth. These attributes were omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. Many say Christ did this voluntarily so that He could function as a man in order to fulfill the work of redemption, being fully man. However; Philippians 2:5-8 I think that it does not teach that Jesus gave up any of His divine attributes since it says nothing of those attributes. Instead, it is speaking of His humility and grace, Christ chooses to humble himself to become man.
The Kenosis theory is difficult doctrine to understand because if it were true that means that Christ was not fully God. However this poses a big problem because if he was not completely God then Christ would not be able to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Some may say fine then, Christ was fully God, but in Mark 13:32 it says "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." So these verses indicate that Christ, or the Son, was not all knowing, so this again poses contradiction.
The doctrine of Kenosis is one of those things that people will have differing opinions and rightfully so. When looking at the doctrine it is important to consider other verses besides Philippians 2:5-8, because other verses may help in understanding the context and concept better. So the final question what did it mean when the Bible says that Christ "emptied" himself.
Some say the idea of kenosis is that Jesus gave up some of His divine attributes while He was a human here on earth. These attributes were omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. Many say Christ did this voluntarily so that He could function as a man in order to fulfill the work of redemption, being fully man. However; Philippians 2:5-8 I think that it does not teach that Jesus gave up any of His divine attributes since it says nothing of those attributes. Instead, it is speaking of His humility and grace, Christ chooses to humble himself to become man.
The Kenosis theory is difficult doctrine to understand because if it were true that means that Christ was not fully God. However this poses a big problem because if he was not completely God then Christ would not be able to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Some may say fine then, Christ was fully God, but in Mark 13:32 it says "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." So these verses indicate that Christ, or the Son, was not all knowing, so this again poses contradiction.
The doctrine of Kenosis is one of those things that people will have differing opinions and rightfully so. When looking at the doctrine it is important to consider other verses besides Philippians 2:5-8, because other verses may help in understanding the context and concept better. So the final question what did it mean when the Bible says that Christ "emptied" himself.
God, Jealous?...
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14
God is the only one who is worthy of our praise and adoration.
God is very clear in his word that he is not to be made second in our lives. He wants to be first- and rightly so. He is very angry when we turn form him and worship something else.
Do you like the idea of God being a jealous God?
I know I do. It means that he loves us. He loves us so much that his anger burns against what ever is stealing us away from him. That is such an honor.
Will you turn your lives entirely to God and have him live through you?
Exodus 34:14
God is the only one who is worthy of our praise and adoration.
God is very clear in his word that he is not to be made second in our lives. He wants to be first- and rightly so. He is very angry when we turn form him and worship something else.
Do you like the idea of God being a jealous God?
I know I do. It means that he loves us. He loves us so much that his anger burns against what ever is stealing us away from him. That is such an honor.
Will you turn your lives entirely to God and have him live through you?
Can you see the blessings in your life?
Throughout my life I have seen many times when God has blessed my family. However; I have been able to cherish the blessing more because of the hardships throughout my life. Some example of these hard times followed by blessings mainly have to deal with my dad’s job and finances. My dad’s family has its own landscaping business, that was started his dad, my grandpa. My dad had always worked with the business, although he didn’t have that great of a relationship with his dad, so it was always stressful for him and our family. Then when I was about 5 or 6 years old he decided to leave his family business and work for a local landscaping company. Although I don’t remember most of this because I was so young, I do remember it being a very stressful time for our family because of all the family tension it created. But God was extremely faithful in the situation, because my dad ended up loving his new job and it provided a more steady income as well.
Then God blessed me even more by allowing me to go to Hershey Christian School in third grade. It has always been a struggle for my family to pay for us to go to HC, especially when my siblings started going. Even though we were always financially tight God provided above and beyond in our lives. My parents have always showed us through our financial issues, that God is faithful and they never once stopped tithing. However, things only seemed to get to worse at the time.
A few years after my grandpa died, my dad decided to resign from his job and join our family business again. This was a huge decision to make, because at the time the family business was floundering and certainly not thriving. Even though things were even tighter we continued to blessed, with an abundant amount of financial aid and we were able to still attend Hershey Christian.
Then in my tenth grade year, my dad’s business had a huge financial loss when one of his main contractors went bankrupt. This was pretty much the hardest thing my family had ever experienced. Tenth grade was going to be my last year at HC, and my siblings and I were devastated. Hershey Christian was all i ever knew and it meant so much to us and the thought of leaving the teacher and friends we loved was really hard for us.
Then we found out that my dad was able to get a significant amount of money back, and it was enough to get the business back on its feet. But it wasn’t smooth sailing; we still debated coming back to HC in my 11th grade year. However; yet again God provided and here I am finishing my senior year here at Hershey Christian.
Throughout my life there have been many hard financial times, and at the time I did not understand and asked many questions, why our family? As time went on I realized I that these hard times were to show us how great and faithful God really is in our lives. Yes we haven’t been able to do, have, or be all things we wanted. But I honestly I believe God had more in store for our family, such as a close knit family with strong relationships. Looking back I can’t say “ I wouldn’t have it anyway” but I can say that I see daily how God is faithful to provide for my family!
Then God blessed me even more by allowing me to go to Hershey Christian School in third grade. It has always been a struggle for my family to pay for us to go to HC, especially when my siblings started going. Even though we were always financially tight God provided above and beyond in our lives. My parents have always showed us through our financial issues, that God is faithful and they never once stopped tithing. However, things only seemed to get to worse at the time.
A few years after my grandpa died, my dad decided to resign from his job and join our family business again. This was a huge decision to make, because at the time the family business was floundering and certainly not thriving. Even though things were even tighter we continued to blessed, with an abundant amount of financial aid and we were able to still attend Hershey Christian.
Then in my tenth grade year, my dad’s business had a huge financial loss when one of his main contractors went bankrupt. This was pretty much the hardest thing my family had ever experienced. Tenth grade was going to be my last year at HC, and my siblings and I were devastated. Hershey Christian was all i ever knew and it meant so much to us and the thought of leaving the teacher and friends we loved was really hard for us.
Then we found out that my dad was able to get a significant amount of money back, and it was enough to get the business back on its feet. But it wasn’t smooth sailing; we still debated coming back to HC in my 11th grade year. However; yet again God provided and here I am finishing my senior year here at Hershey Christian.
Throughout my life there have been many hard financial times, and at the time I did not understand and asked many questions, why our family? As time went on I realized I that these hard times were to show us how great and faithful God really is in our lives. Yes we haven’t been able to do, have, or be all things we wanted. But I honestly I believe God had more in store for our family, such as a close knit family with strong relationships. Looking back I can’t say “ I wouldn’t have it anyway” but I can say that I see daily how God is faithful to provide for my family!
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