Before We Know It

You know, we pray to God a lot when troubles come our way. We trust God to help us during those tough times. But one day I thought of something that is often overlooked. I was having my devotions and prayers when I thought, "God knows what I'm going to pray for before I do speak it."

Isaiah 65:24 says "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." When I thought of that, I prayed for God's help for the things that would happen to me in the future. I haven't prayed like that before, but it gives me the peace that God knows what I'm going to face and that I can ask for His protection before it happens.

Think about it.

Thoughts on 1 Peter

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope  through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

We have bright hope for tomorrow, because through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, we have eternal life. How wonderful to know this when worries and troubles come our way in our daily lives.

1 Peter 1:4

 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,

Around this time of year, “spring cleaning” forces us to go through, sort and clean out our living spaces. Too much clutter bogs down the spirit while a clean, bright room is restful indeed. Try to keep clutter from gathering by putting several large decorations like a vase of flowers and some candles on an entry table. Make an effort to put tools, keys, craft supplies away as you use them, instead of leaving them out. 

How thankful we should be that we have an inheritance waiting for us that will not fade, be corrupted, or crumble. Unlike a camera memory card or a computer that can become corrupted, our spiritual inheritance will never fade away!

1 Peter 1:5 

who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

It is through faith, and not good works, that we enjoy salvation. God does the saving and keeping, we do the trusting and obeying. We have a powerful God, He does not need any of our help!

1 Peter 1:6

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 

As Christians, we need to always be prepared for trials. These are the means that God uses to  test and try his children. A habit of constant prayer and writing His Word on our hearts will fortify and strengthen us for these times.

1 Peter 1:7 

that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

Here we read that the genuineness of our faith is more precious than gold. Even if we are tested as through a fire’s flames, we should come through it praising and glorifying Jesus Christ. This is a shining testimony to the world around us when they see our devotion to our Lord. 

1 Peter 1:8

 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

Like a bride who loves her Bridegroom, we love Him who gave His life at such great price for us. To me as a young woman I compare it with how I think of my future husband- even though I have not seen him, I will love him when I meet him in God’s will and timing. This is how it is with us and Christ. Just because you cannot see Him it does not mean you cannot love Him. He created the whole world and His own creation did not receive Him! We have not seen him with our own eyes, but through His Love Letter (The Bible) written to us, we grow closer and learn more and more about Him. 

1 Peter 1:9

receiving the end of your faith- the salvation of your souls.

Because we believe, we receive the end of our faith- Eternal Life with our Heavenly Bridegroom. 

      Rejoice with joy inexpressible and 
             full of glory!


~Elizabeth E.

What Comes to Your Mind?

When you think about God and His characteristics, what comes to your mind?

When I think upon the Lord, I think on how personal He is in my life--He never leaves me, ALWAYS by my side; no matter what, His love never changes towards me; no one is like God and He deserves all glory!!

So, this is where you followers and readers come in: What have you learned about God recently and when you think upon Him and His Name, what comes to your mind?

I pray everyone is having a great weekend so far. God bless!!

~Rachel M.~

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas from "The Believer's Gathering"! I know, it is the day after Christmas, but have a blessed and joyful time with your families. :) Most of all, rejoice in the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. HE is the true reason of the season and worthy of all our praise and honor. This Christmas, I personally have been learning about what is really important, and I praise my Lord for revealing to me Who He is and what He has done for me. Praise Him!

God bless you, brothers and sisters, and have a blessed Christmas time!

In Him,

Rachel M.

Thankfulness

This month, November, is remembered (hopefully) for giving thanks--for what God has done for our country and our families. Every month, we should be thankful for everything we have around us--food, clothing, shelter, family, God's Word, and Jesus Christ.

On her blog, 'Untraveled Path', Costume Queen is hosting "14 Days of Thankfulness".  The following is what she said about it:

In celebration of Thanksgiving this year, I would like to start a two-week event. I will be posting at least one thing I am thankful for every day, starting November 13 and ending on Thanksgiving, November 26. If you would like to do the same, please feel free to join me by participating in this event! Here are the guidelines:

1. Copy the picture above and post it on your blog, either on a sidebar or in a post.

2. Link back to Untraveled Path (exact link to this page: http://untraveledpath.blogspot.com/2009/11/14-days-of-thankfulness.html) so that readers of your blog can participate if they wish.

3. Post "thankful for" posts each day. If this is impractical for you, feel free to lower the number (every other day instead of every day, etc.).

I challenge you to think outside the box during this event. You can definitely be thankful for things such as health, family, Jesus Christ's redeeming love, etc. But I want you to also reflect on the "small" things that go by without notice.

You know what I mean: the art class you go to every Thursday that you were able to afford, the one friendly person who always says hi to you, your computer that you are able to use whenever you want.

Your "thank you"s don't necessarily have to be typical, general, or "spiritual." They should be personal, unique.

They can be objects you enjoy using, awesome events that happened, talents you possess, or people you appreciate.

Really think about those things you take for granted, and take the time to say THANK YOU to the Lord for providing them!

Feel free to simply list something you are thankful for every day, or describe the item/event/person as thoroughly as you want.

A list of participants will be posted with their respective blog links. If you've decided to join, please leave a comment with your name and blog URL!

It started today, and if you would like to join or share about it on your blog, feel free to do so. God bless and thank you, Costume Queen, for letting us know about it! :)

Living Radically For Christ Pt. 1

What does it mean to live a radical life for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Where will it take us? What will we have to give up? What does our Savior authoritatively teach us in how to become one of His disciples? The text is Luke 14 and I will hopefully answer those questions with humility of spirit, because this passage was convicting to me when I read it, and when I listened to a sermon on this particular passage. So bear with me when I try to unpack this passage.

Luke 14:25-33
Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.

In this passage, we have three conditions that Jesus lays out for discipleship and we have two parabolic illustrations that warn us about making a careless decision to follow Christ. However, in this first part, I will thoroughly unpack the first condition of discipleship that Jesus clearly lays straight out for us. The first condition is found in verse 26. If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Ok, I know what some of you are already thinking. Hatred to my own parents, hatred to my own family, hatred to my own children, hatred to my own brothers and sisters. I thought that Jesus told us to love them. Isn't hate the exact opposite of love? Yes, in some sense of the actual truth, those answers are totally correct, but the danger here is watering down what Jesus is trying to say. What I mean is that, with this particular passage, some people try to fudge a little bit by saying, "Is Jesus truly teaching us to literally hate our brother, hate our mother, hate our father, hate our children. Come on, the Bible tells us to honor our parents and love our family. The Bible doesn't tell us to hate them." So because of that, we don't give a second thought to this passage. We turn our blind eye towards this passage and hope that it will go away; even when Jesus is clearly telling us how to be one of His disciples. So, what is Jesus really trying to exposit here?

The Greek word for hate is miseo. This word takes on two different extensions. The first one is to despise or to utterly hate something or someone, and the second extension takes on an entirely different form. The second extension is to love less. The second form makes more sense than the first form in the context of this particular passage, but what or who are we too love more than our parents, brothers, sisters, children. I know you can easily get this answer. Our first and foremost desire should be to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength (Matthew 22:37). Our love towards our parents, brothers, and sisters should be hatred compared to our love for God. That is what Jesus is trying to teach us. Our love for God and for His Word should far exceed any possible iota of love toward our parents. That doesn't mean we discontinue honoring our parents or obeying them. Just the opposite. If we truly love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we will want to obey His commandments, we will want to trust Him daily, and we will want to desire a relationship with Him. With that said, loving and honoring God, first and foremost above all things, will deepen our affections and love for our parents, which in result begins and ends with the first and greatest commandment. Our chief end should be to love the Lord with everything that we have and that is just the beginning of living a radical life for the cause of Christ. End Part 1

The Power of Prayer

Have you ever had a prayer request answered? It may have not been a huge or amazing request but something simple. Or maybe it was a big request and yet God fully answered it showing His amazing power.

Yesterday our neighbors and good friends were having an open house in honor of their four oldest children. As the day was approaching, they were working hard to get everything cleaned up around the house and buying food and everything else needed to make a party go well. However, the weather forecast was calling for rain all day. Everyone (our family and theirs) started praying. Saturday morning came. It was raining and stormy all morning. The open house started at 2:00. 1:00. It was so dark and raining so hard you could hardly see out the windows. 1:30, still pouring rain. We looked at the radar and there was still a ton of rain headed straight in our direction. Said it would rain until at least 5:00. 2:00. The rain stopped and the sky cleared up. Not one drop of rain fell for the rest of the afternoon and evening. And try to tell me that wasn't God.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

Don't underestimate the power of prayer!

~Bethany~