Saturday, February 28, 2015

Day 9,10, & 11

Yes, I slacked off again. But I am going to combine them all into one rather than just skipping the days in my devotional.

His word:

Day 9- Deuteronomy 29:29; Psalm 32:8
Day 10- Psalm 73:23; 1Corinthians 10:13
Day 11- Luke 6:37; John 3:16-17; Isaiah 61:10; Proverbs 3:11-12

Her word:  

Don't waste time worrying about the future, trust that God is going to get you where you need to be no matter what. I know I'm always worrying, like right now I'm so worried because I have no idea what kind of career I want yet God already has that planned out for me and I should trust He will get me there.

God is there holding our hand whether we have burdens, worries, temptations, no matter what. Remember that.

God made each and everyone of us the way we are and so we shouldn't judge ourselves or compare us to others because it is pointless. Of course we aren't like others, we are ourselves because that's who God intended us to be. This really stood out to me because I struggle a lot with judging myself and evaluating myself but I need to remember that God loves me just the way I am and he made my path just for me. I really like all the bible versus for Day 11, especially the ones in Luke and John so take a moment to read them whenever you can. They are a great reminder of the love we are given.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Day 8

His word:

Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Her word:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2
That verse alone pretty sums up what today's devotional was about. As we start our days off we need to always follow the path God has for us and we can do this by devoting ourselves to prayer. It also says to thank Him for all the blessings that come our way which I have caught myself doing a little more of lately. A line from my devotional that I like is "A grateful heart protects you from negative thinking." Always remember that. Always thank God and He will be joyful.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Day 7

His word:

1 Corinthians 13:12; Ephesians 3:16-19

Her word:

God's love is the strongest love, always remember that.
Remember how I said my bible does little side notes for some versus? Well there's one for Ephesians 3:16-19, and it talks about how God's loves covers every aspect of our lives not matter what.
Whether you are feeling down or celebrating, God is right there in your heart. His love will carry us through each and every day of our lives.
Another thing in the little side note in my bible is a question:
How have you experienced God's love in your life recently?
I for one experience His love whenever I ask for forgiveness for my sins. Or when I ask Him to help me through a hard long day. I also experience His love when he answers my prayers.
Think about how YOU have experienced God's love recently, and then thank Him for always loving you no matter what. I know that will be in my prayers tonight.


Monday, February 23, 2015

Day 6

His word:

Psalm 89:15-16; Hebrews 12:1-2

Her word:

Today's word was about self-pity. The best way to stray from self-pity is to engage yourself in the Lord and he will keep you away from it. Fixing your eyes on God allows him to light up your life and you will be able to conquer anything without falling. We all deal with self-pity at one time or another and reaching out to God can help us not only get out of that hole but also stay away from it in the future. The closer you are with God, the farther away you are from troubles.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

whoops!

Totally failed at my lent idea already. I went home this weekend and didn't have my bible or anything so I wasn't able to do it. But, I was telling my mom and sister about how I didn't really understand what the bible is saying and my mom got me a gift to help me out!
She bought me a devotional called "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.

It gives me a part to read everyday, plus versus to read in the bible. So I'm going to switch from the word of the day to my devotional and use that to blog about.

Also, my mom is so cute she put my name on it and it matches the bible she gave me a few years ago for Christmas.












February 22, 2015 (aka day 5/40):

His Word:
1 Thessalonians 5:1; John 16:24

Her Word:
Today's word was mainly about reaching out to God. In my devotional it says "Your awareness of your constant need for Me is your greatest strength". This stood out to me because lately I have been more aware of how much I need God in my life and how much more I need to reach out to him and talk to him. I usually just push it to the side or don't really thing about it but I am more aware that I need to keep him on my mind at all times. I have noticed myself praying randomly throughout the day lately which I used to not do. And now I'm sure after tonight I will talk to him more and more everyday. Just like it says in John 16:24, "Ask and you will receive,".

Another thing that stuck out to me in my devotional was "The emptiness you feel within will be filled either with problems or with My Presence." I really like this because I never really thought of it that way. I know if I have problems I can seek God and he will help. But I never saw it as he would fill the space of the problem. I kind of compare this to when I am feeling really down and sad, I just fill my head with problems or issues when instead I could just talk to God and ask him for help and he can take away my problems and replace them with His love. I know next time I'm feeling empty or having problems I am going to reach out and allow him to fill that space in my life.

I am really liking this devotional, just one day and I feel like I have gained a lot. It is a lot easier to understand what the versus are talking about and I am able to focus more about connecting with God rather than trying to figure out what a verse means.




Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Day 1

Day 1/40 , hopefully those who gave up difficult things haven't already given up!

His word:
1 Corinthians 11; Genesis 31; Psalms 31:1-13

Her word:

One thing I learned for sure is that I need to read the bible more often haha. I mean it is a little difficult to understand but sometimes I just feel like I'm reading another language and can't follow what exactly it is saying.
Luckily my handy dandy bible my mom got me one year for Christmas has little side notes on each chapter about a lesson or something you should consider while reading. One I noticed while reading was for the Genesis word of the day. It singled out Genesis 31:38-42 to be exact and says it is about honor. It tells us to think about if we are ever guilty of just "getting by", you know we all do it. But we should always give a little above and beyond like Jacob did. Who cares if anyone notices, all that matters is that God sees what efforts you make.  I know I do a lot to just get by in school, what college student doesn't. One personal example for me is I want to start praying every night, and I have been doing good so far. But why just once? I could go above and beyond and pray to him multiple times throughout the day.

I am sad to admit this, but I never knew where in the bible they talked about the Lord's supper. Of course I hear about it a lot in church like when we do communion and stuff. In fact our church has a communion song that the sing very rarely but as I was reading through 1 Corinthians 11 I caught the words to the song in versus 23-26. I am happy to say that I know can tell people where in the bible it comes from.


What is this nonsense?

As we kick of lent I am dedicating this blog to what I decided to "give up". 
Most people are probably giving up things like social media, makeup, junk food, meat, etc. But not me. This year I've decided to give my time to God everyday. 

As a college student I know my faith is an important aspect of my life that I should always keep up with but I just seem to get busy and push it to the side. But no more! Every day of this lent season I am going to dig into the word of God and then use this blog to reflect on it. If you're wondering, my word of the day will not be random, it is based of a word of the day card given to me by my church.

Although I am not technically giving anything up, I am really excited about going into this and am hoping by Easter I have a whole new relationship with God. 


-Her