1 Thessalonians Chapters 1-5

I failed to do my reading in the morning again. I was even up past midnight to read half of it and read the rest in the morning. I really could have gotten this reading in though. I was too busy worrying about having my materials for class ready that I skipped my reading. My mother and some people from church always say, "If you start your day off with God then rest of the day will fall in to place." Since I had a feeling I wasn't going to read in the morning, I did have my praise music going while getting ready for the day. :)

"We don't need to tell them about it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God." 1 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (NLT)

Idols. I never really payed much attention to how people in the media are called idols. People would say, "Oh, so and so is my idol." which means that is who they look up to. Most times I don't even think of it as some type of worshiping thing but after reading about idols in the middle it doesn't sound like a good word. So now, I don't call people idols at all. I simply say they have talent and admire that talent. It's not something I want and even if I did want it I know I wouldn't be able to acquire it. The word idol is used very loosely in my opinion. 

"We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God's Good News but our own lives, too." 2:8 (NLT)

Talking about the Good News with people is a good way to start a very good relationship. If two people are talking and enjoying speaking about the News then they more than likely have a lot in common. This is building up strong relationships on a solid foundation, God. Honestly, this is something a bit difficult for me because I'm a very timid person who feels awkward in conversation. Even if I do speak I worry that I will say something wrong or incorrect. When I was talking with my father, who is searching for a religion/faith, I tried to explain to him. Our relationship is very close and we talk about a lot but when it came down to telling him about my faith and belief in God and why I'm a follower of Christ, I can't say anything. I worry that I will speak incorrect things about the Bible or mislead him because I'm still very young in my faith. (I don't know enough to tell him.) I've been praying that I will be able to talk to my father and cousin about my faith and that when I do they will seriously be ready for it.

This ending of chapter two really caught me. It's something makes me worry a lot because I already still have this worry about people 'judging' me and/or saying that I'm saying/doing is wrong. "And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen." 2:14 That verse basically said that even fellow followers and believers in Christ will oppose you, not just family and friends who may not be a follower. It doesn't make any sense to me because if we are all followers of Christ then we should all have an understanding of how it works, but we don't. This is the one thing that can be very discouraging, and I always have to remind myself that everyone is at their own point of their walk with God. Just a few days ago I was watching a video of someone talking about his faith and telling the truth. I usually never comment on videos but after watching it I felt moved to write that he was a great encouraging person for what he speaks about. I also wrote to not worry about what others may put if it's negative because someone is comforted and encouraged by your words and those are the people that truly count.

I love this one and is a verse that came to me just recently through my mother. It also has to do with the last two paragraphs I wrote. (About worrying about what I say and persecution/being opposed.) "God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who's gives the Holy Spirit to you." 4:8 (NLT) Wow, I totally forgot about this, actually. Instead of worrying about what I say or being opposed I need to remember what Paul and my mother have said. That people are not opposing or disagreeing with me, but with God. Yeah, I really need to have that verse stuck in my head.

That is the end to my reading. I'm really happy about that last thing I wrote on. I was told about it by my mother some time ago and I even read and highlighted it but didn't understand it completely until I reflected on it myself. :) Tomorrow is 2 Thessalonians.

Colossians Chapters 1-4

I am so surprised I got up as early as I did this morning. Went to sleep at 6am but got up and 9am. I'm really glad I woke up this early because I really wanted to do my Bible reading for the day before anything.

This morning, I read the book, Colossians, which was very short. Only four chapters in it. The whole theme of this book was false teachers. Paul was writing to them that what some of their teachers were teaching where not from Christ. They were worshiping other gods and listening to 'empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that came from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than Christ'. (NLT 2:8) For me, since I am a deep thinker, I notice that I have to ask Jesus about a lot of things over and over. I worry that what I think I'm hearing is from him but if I think on it long enough I'll wonder if it's coming from the world.

A big topic that has been in my home is of having tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When we started to attend the church we go to now they have this course on becoming members of the church. We did all kinds of things, mostly along the lines of knowing the mission God has planned for the church. One of the last things we did was do one of those personality tests but for God's kingdom. Among the ones I read in this book of Colossians I am merciful, kind, and gentle. The ones I have to work on are humility and patience. I can't say I don't have pride because my mother points it out to me, but I do notice the times where I can accept my humility. I pray that God will continue to show me more clearly those things that aren't so great in my humility and patience.

In chapter two there is something I wanted to write about real quick. It's about not letting others condemn us for the practices we do or don't do. The one practice, or holiday, that is border line in this home is Christmas. Some years ago I found out a little bit about the history behind the celebration of Christmas, besides Christ. Christians always celebrated this holiday as the birth of Christ, which we should celebrate ever day. When I read that the act of decorating the tree was some type of thing for a fertility god, I didn't think much of it. I thought, 'Well, I'm not decorating these trees to worship a fertility god, I just think it's fun and cute.', then cast the thought out my mind. (Of course, we didn't have a tree for some years *which didn't effect us* and this past Christmas our tree was a very sad looking one after all those years.) As of now we are eliminating the tree from the holiday since it stands for some other god. A lot of Christians, or believers/followers of Christ, either don't believe this or think that the person is thinking too deep about it. Then becomes something that the person can be condemned about. I actually think the whole fertility god thing is just creepy. (And it also depends on if one believes in gods with a lower case 'g'. There is more to the whole tree of Christmas, but that's a whole other topic.) At the end of the day, always pray and talk to God about it.

This last thing I'm reflecting on is prayer. I always hear to  pray every day and talk to God all day every day. It actually is not that hard and if you are always talking to God there is a less chance of you doing something he would not approve. I keep two journals. One is a prayer journal where I write serious and specific prayers that I would like answered. My other journal is one where I freely write my feelings to God. I can go on for pages and pages at once just expressing my thoughts to God, as if he doesn't already know me. It's the act of always having him in my life on purpose that makes a difference, even though he does know everything. When it comes to prayer for me though, I am much better at writing it down than thinking the prayer with my eyes shut, head bowed, and speaking out my prayer in groups. I tend to be repetitive in my spoken prayers and worry that I'll pray for too long.

Tomorrow morning I am reading 1 Thessalonians which is five chapters. I'm going through this Bible reading plan quite quick and soaking up many valuable things.

*note: I'm planning on writing posts more in depth about other things outside of this Bible reading plan. It wont be so easy because just studying the Bible then writing it down like this takes some time. Plus, I get tired of staring at the screen and typing. I can write pencil and paper as long as I need to, but it's something else when typing. Of course everything I write about will have God in it. Asking questions about different things, then giving what I know and my thoughts, and lastly what I'm ultimately getting.*

Ephesians Chapter 6

I had not noticed that Ephesians was so short. If I had known then I would have finished off the last and short chapter yesterday. Well, I'll only have a little bit to reflect on today. At least I'll be able to go back and review what I reflected on all day yesterday along with today's.

This last chapter of Ephesians was about obeying our 'earth' authorities. Children obeying their parents and workers doing as their boss asks of them. As a daughter I've had little rebellions against my parents. Most times I would do as I'm told even if I didn't really want to. There were the few times where I was set on not doing something, but in the end I ended up doing it. Now that I am older and have thought through a lot of things I don't even see rebellion in myself. I may not necessarily agree, but luckily for me, I do have that trust and relationship with my parents to take their words for it.

As far as obeying work authority I don't know too much. The times I worked, whether it was volunteer or a job, I never questioned authority. Especially since the people who were above me knew more about the work than I did. It's my natural instinct to do as I'm told, but at those times I did not have Jesus in my mind. I wasn't thinking that I should work for my boss as if he/she were Jesus. Now, with Jesus in mind, I can honestly say that it should not be to hard to work for my boss as they were Jesus. When I hear from my parents of their experiences in work it's kind of discouraging, but my mother is a good roll model for me in that area. I'll always have to remember about authority and that Jesus is my reason.

The absolute last of this book is guarding ourselves with God's armor. There are seven of them and I know of them quite well because my talks about them often. There is the belt of truth: knowing that God is the truth. Body armor of righteousness: protect our hearts from sin. Shoes of peace: this makes me think of the disciples Jesus sent to go and spread the Good News to others. Those disciples had to walk to get those people and tell them. The shield of faith: this protects us from the things we are up against in this world that can tear us down. Helmet of salvation: protecting our mind from things that can cause us to doubt God or turn away from Him. Then there is the sword: the only weapon of offense, to use the word of God when tempted by sin. I hear followers and believers of Christ say that this is the strongest weapon we've got. That's because it's the truth.

As each day goes on I get happier and happier. I always know that even when/if I get sad or down that I can go to God. I already know that I'm in God's will and I believe it. After reading this book of Ephesians I'm just feeling happy and ready to do anything. As I go on about my day with God in my life and what I've read I know the rest of my day is going to be good. It already started off amazing.

Something New...

So, I've found another thing to write on called Springpad on Google Chrome where you can create and write in notebooks. It just came to me that I have been reading the Bible but not writing down my thoughts on it. When I found this app last night (11 Apr.) I thought, 'What better way to write my thoughts on the Bible than to do it on the app where people can see and help?' (*I prefer writing pencil/pen and paper than on the web, but if it helps someone...) But then I totally forgot I started this blog. :( I decided that I would put the same content that I put on the app as I do here with a little bit more personal stuff. Sounds good to me.

I just finished reading my Bible and typing it all down in the notebook for the first time. (So tired of typing because it was really long. You'll see it. And it was good in my opinion.) The plan is to read and write every day what I read in my Bible readings. Some days will have a lot more writing than others. I also plan to write my more personal things on here. It should be fairly easy because I'll just type up my notes on the app then copy and past to this blog right here.

I hope that everyone who reads it will enjoy it and get something useful from it. :) *These are all my thoughts and what I think. Don't take my words for it. Go and look for yourself and I hope this is of help to you in that process.*