Matthew 4

Note: I should be on chapter 11 or something right now. Shame. But I will keep trucking!

Matthew 4: Jesus is tempted (and wins!), starts to pick up disciples, and starts His ministry

So, when I read the New Testament and the things Jesus did, I think about The Great Commission. I know that's skipping ahead, but I think about how Jesus told the disciples that they (and inevitably us) will do the same works He did AND greater. Well, Jesus was able to win and beat up Satan. We can do that too! I can do that too! From Jesus' temptation, my belief is even more established that Satan uses the SAME tricks and schemes.

1. He didn't bother Jesus during is fast, he waited until He was done.: Satan knows that when we are really tapped into God and His power that it's hard to touch us, so he tries to wait until he THINKS there is an opening. Like Jesus' desire for food. He hasn't eaten in FORTY DAYS! He's gotta be hungry. Satan probably saw that as a great place to start.

2. Jesus used the Word to combat Satan.: I've done this before, not always, with temptations that come about. I don't know a lot of scriptures, but I kept them on my palm phone in a memo so I could go to them when needed. This helps to build the spirit up. And I guess it makes Satan slink away in defeat...lol.

After His bout with Satan, Jesus got a crew. You always need a crew. Well, Jesus didn't need one, I guess they moreso needed Him. But either way, He picked disciples. The interesting part is that they just went along. I guess this is where discernment comes along. They've probably never heard of this guy, but something about Him made them drop all that they had to follow Jesus. That's super cool. And honestly, the reward was great and they gained more than they lost.

I think sometimes that's where I get caught up. I think that by giving up the few things I have (like money to pay tithes...yeah i'm telling on myself) for God, that I may not recoup on my "loss". But God always makes good on His promises and trusting Him should be easy.

Genesis 12-14

It’s been a long week. And I’ve only cracked open my bible twice. Once I read, the other time was in church. Not good. And honestly, it seems like I’ve been so unfocused. I’ve felt like God isn’t a close as he’s been lately. Like I have to reach further to feel Him. I don’t like this. But, I am going to do something about it. And that is why I am here.

When you feel far from God, don’t keep feeling that way. Do something about it. He loves us, and as long as we don’t start walking in disbelief (disbelief of God), we can always come back. But it’s really not worth it to wait until you’re so far gone to then try and get back to Square 1. There were definitely times in college and after that I started strong with my relationship, but then I would let life and relationships get in the way and our relationship suffers. Not good.

Genesis 12-14

1. Doing what God asked you: Abram leaving Haran to go wherever God asked him. God just asked him to leave. He didn’t give him any specifics regarding where to go. Well actually, he DID give specifics, he said, “the land that I will show you”.  This kind of thing had to make Abram feel a little nervous, but he put his trust in God, and it all worked out. I originally wrote that Abram put “ALL” his trust in God, but that’s not true. He lied in Egypt and told them Sarai was his sister to save his life. But, God had told him that he would be blessed, but  Abram still chose to deal with things in his own way. Not good.
2. If you flirt with Sin, you WILL sin: Lot setting up shop outside of Sodom and Gomorrah was NOT good. Actually, he probably shouldn’t have been anywhere near Sodom and Gomorrah because God did not tell Abram to take his nephew, He said for him to “go for yourself”. NOT bring a friend. Nonetheless, Lot set up camp outside of Sodom and Gomorrah, a very wicked place, and later on he get’ sucked in. Sometimes we think that if we just hang around things contrary to that which God wants for us that our will is stronger than the temptation.  This is not true.  And it’s the biggest deception your flesh and Satan can get you to believe. We’re not as strong as we think. We are to flee from sin, go the other way. Not walk up to it and watch.
3.  Your blessing is not someone else’s blessing: in 13:14-17, AFTER Lot leaves Abram, THEN God talks to him and gives him a little more information about God’s plans for him. Sometimes we’re around the wrong people/places/things/situations and God does not see it as a fitting place to tell us what He has to say. We have to work in His time and space if we want to hear from God.
4. Abram built altars to the Lord: I thought this was really cool. Every time God did something really nice or revealed more to Abram about his purpose, Abram built an altar. These altars were used to give sacrafices and offerings unto God for His wonderful thoughts and actions toward Abram.  How often do WE build altars of our own to celebrate what God has done/said? Of course we’re not burning calves, but we can give praise offerings, time offerings, money offerings, and others. So basically, we have no excuse. J
5. Lot living near Sodom & Gomorra, got him captured: See? Being around sin can get you in trouble. Even if you’re not the one sinning.

Genesis 9-11

Yes, I'm still playing catch up.

Chapters 9-11: God promises to not destroy the Earth with water again, Gives a rainbow as symbol of his covenant with us, tells Noah's family to be fruitful and (re)multiply the Earth, gives them charge over all the animals, plants, and others, geneologies are discussed, everyone tried to build to Tower of Babel, and Abram and Sarai are introduced.

Whew, that was a lot. I haven't read many books of the bible, only like the first 4, but I really like Genesis. It gives all the back story, kind of like a director's cut DVD.

Here's a few things that stood out to me:

1. Noah was naked....that made me giggle. Please don't take offense God.

2. Noah's proclamation about Canaan: I looked at a little commentary because my first thought was that he cursed his grandson because his son, Ham, saw him naked and he was embarassed.  In the commentary I read, it discussed that Noah's statement was "actual prophesy and not merely an expression of personal feeling". The commentator goes on to explain that Noah possibly saw into the spirit part of the future of Canaan and his people.  I'm not sure, but I know I want to avoid those kind of words being spoke over me.

3. Is Ham the father of Black People? I mean his sons are Cush (the other name for Ethiopia), Egypt (Mizraim), and Canaan. I know two of those are countries in Africa. I'm just sayin... :) Oh yeah, and one of my favorite books The Handmaids Tale. they move all the black people to a place called "The Children of Ham"...

4. Fighting Cousins: Although I'm reading the Bible in its entirety, that does not mean I have never read any of it. It's pretty interesting because some of the people (or countries) they name I know Israel has fought. So they were fighting relatives?? Wow, that's really interesting. We get into arguements and fall-out with family, but not to the point where we have all out war. That's very interesting.

5. The Tower of Babel: I'm not really sure of what to make of this story. I definitely do not believe that God gave them different languages for an ill purpose, but I'm not sure why He did it. I guess this is one of those examples of, "my ways are not your ways"...But I DO think this: maybe God saw how this "unification" could be detrimental to our salvation down the road.

6. Yay Abram!: What can I say? I like him. :)

Matthew 3

So, this was a pretty good weekend, but busy nonetheless. I need to find a way to stay on schedule with all of my readings. I could wake up early on Saturday to read, or read extra chapters on Friday. I'm trying to figure it out. We'll see.

Well last night was a late night of work. And needless to say, I couldn't wake up at 6:30am like I intended. The body and mind were NOT interested...lol. So we'll try tomorrow.

Matthew Chapter 3: Jesus gets baptized.


As a man on Earth, Jesus was awesomely humble. John the Baptist did not want to baptize Jesus because he KNEW He was The Messiah, and felt unworthy. But Jesus saw different. He did things in decency and order. It looks like everyone got baptized my John the Baptist, even the Pharisees and Sadducees tried to, and Jesus knew He could be no different. He knew the Law, and Jesus had to be baptized.

Although John the Baptist was not greater than him, that could not stand in the way of Jesus' purpose.

I didn't get a whole lot of this chapter, but I do know this: God is wonderful, and Jesus is my Savior. :)

Note: This interesting thing happens to me when I wake up, I usually wake up with a song in my heart. This is the one for today:

Genesis 6-8

So, I finally opened one of those "serious-looking envelopes" and yes, it was a bill, BUT God definitely makes a way and I am able to make an affordable payment arrangement to clear this debt. AND I have enough clients booked to ensure my ability to pay those bills, I am soo grateful, but I need to move from asking for my needs to be met, to exceeding, abundantly above ALL I can ask for. And I can ask for a lot.

So Genesis 6-8, God sees the world (and the people in it) as amoral and base, tells Noah to build the ark and collect the animals, it rains (for the first time in history), everyone dies (except Noah and Company), and God decides that He won't destroy the Earth again because of our sinful nature.

The biggest thing that stood out, again, is obedience. What if Noah didn't build the ark? What if he wasn't communing with God? Well, there might not have been an ark. And poor Noah, he would have drowned.

Another thing I thought about was the way your favor, or lack thereof, affects other people. Think about it, God killed EVERYONE outside of the ark. That includes children and babies. Children and babies were killed due to their parents' sinful nature. But on the positive side, Noah's family was spared because of HIS commitment to God. Not by their own merit.

That is causing me to think about the decisions I make now and how they can affect my children later. I know lately I've been focusing on my financial legacy, but what about favor that can pass down to them through me? I know this is getting ahead, but Solomon lived off the favor of his dad, David. One of God's favorites.

And Solomon did some shady stuff.

But God still loves us! And as long we don't deny Him, there's an opportunity to come back to Him. To make a positive change for the future. To have a great relationship with him. And to have inside trade secrets like Noah and other people in the Bible.  

Let's not miss our chance(s) to get on the ark...

Matthew 2

I woke up this morning not feeling all that great. Yesterday was a long day, and it culminated in a small spat with my boyfriend. It really wasn't him, it was me. I was cranky and mean. Oh yeah, I also have two official looking letters on the counter waiting for me. I am sure they are past due bills.

But as I started looking at my Bible, this Hillsong song popped into my head, "worthy is the lamb". And it made me smile.  There is so much to be thankful for. If nothing else, The Worthy Lamb, his forgiveness, his embrace, the cross...the list goes on...

So, Matthew 2, Jesus' birth, Herod killing all the male children aged 2 and under, life and Egypt, and then in Nazereth.  Gee, that's a lot.

They probably had days where they wondered why God had them living in "witness protection", and they probably thought, God, we have YOUR son, why do we have to keep moving? Can't you protect us wherever we choose to live? 

But somtimes, it's not about us...

And that's a hard pill to swallow. We always think it's about us. Unconsciously even. If I really sit back and think about it, everything I do throughout the day is basically to fulfil a need/want/desire for my life. Or even my thoughts, most of my thoughts are about me--what I need to do/what I want to do/what I need to do for others so that I get something in return. Me, me, me, me, me.

It's not always about me. I feel God saying that to me in my heart. Yes, He cares for us, but what about His agenda? That's the agenda we should be most concerned about. 

Angels visited Joseph in dreams to tell him when to move. And everytime he was told, he did it. No questions asked. Because of that obedience, their family remained protected. They stayed within God's Will, and their needs (and probably more) were met. How cool is that?

The other part that stuck out to me was the importance of fulfilling the prophecies. Every move, every manuever was a calculated step set up by God hundreds (or thousands) of years before Jesus' birth, and written by men who never met and didn't live in the same region. But all the prophecies point back to Jesus.

Man, that's awesome.

And the fufilment of prophesy was for us. So that we (past and present) can know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. We don't have to search scriptures for prophesy and wait for the one to fulfil them. He's already come.

Gee, I'm in awe right now.

God, I just want to thank you right now for your Word. You created this wonderful book for us and orchestrated these events to help lead us to you. I truly believe that your son, Jesus, is the savior and that he died on the cross for all of our sins.  Thank you Father for your wonderful and loving thoughts you have toward us. Thank you for your Grace and Mercy that give us chance after chance to get it right and strive to be better. I love you. I worship you. You are everything to me.

Amen

Genesis 3-5

I wrote this yesterday, but the computer was acting up and I didn't have time to publish it. However, I still haven't read Matthew 2, so it looks like I'll be doing double-duty today...


I was able to complete the first half of my readings...yess! Praise God for lunch breaks. :)


So chapters 3, 4, and 5 are about The Fall of mankind (aka Original Sin), Cain and Abel, and the lineage of Adam and Noah, respectively.

"Paradise Lost" by Milton (i don't know his first name, and I took at class just about his writings...shame), made it much more entertaining, but the story remains the same. We (humans) did something we weren't supposed to do, and then God went kinda hard on us.

I mean geez, we really messed up. I wonder what childbearing would be like without the curse. Granted, I've never had a child, but I've had cramps, and they are NO JOKE. But there's always a ram in the bush, God gave someone the idea to create Midol...
So chapter 5 stuck out the most to me. When going through the lineage, it names the person, how old he was when he begot his first child (or male child, not sure which one), and then his death.

But the interesting man is Enoch. Twice the scripture says "Enoch walked with God" and in the Amplified Version it expounds upon that by saying "in habitual fellowship".
This made me think about my life. When I die, I don't want my obituary or people I know to only remember how old I was when i died, or how many kids I had. I want them to remember the things I did for Christ and to His agenda. This is a great example of the phrase, "only what you do for Christ will last". There was no explanation of the previous generations' lives, but Enoch dedicated his life to God, and that makes him special. :)

Not to totally switch gears, but I wonder...WHAT exactly did Enoch do that made God take him back so early? Man, he must have had a heart truly modeled after God's.

This is why you should wake up early...

I grossly overslept (up at 7:50a instead of 6:30a), ran to meet a client (I'm still there), and I've only read ONE out of THREE chapters for the morning.

I want to get them read asap, but I also don't want to breeze through them. So I really need to figure out a delicate balance.

I'll keep you posted on how things progress...

:)

Matthew 1

So, I just finished reading Matthew 1, and I kept thinking to myself, man, Joseph REALLY was an upright man to take Mary as his wife.

I mean, think about it, you've waited, done what's right, and then when you get your blessing, you get waaay more than you asked for. And possibly NOT in a good way.

A lot of times people focus on the miracle of Jesus' birth, but think about the weight Mary and Joseph had to walk around with. Yeah, they know she's carrying the Messiah, but other people may not see it that way.

There were probably a lot of whispers and shaking heads in Nazareth.

This is the point I think God wants me to get from this:

YOU know what God promised you, YOU know what God told you to do. Just do it. Like Nike. Yeah, some people may laugh, call you stupid, or question your behavior/actions, but in the end God will get the glory and you will be rewarded for your obedience.

Yes, it's difficult, but just from looking at ONE character in The Bible, some of things God may ask us to do pale in comparison to the faith He asked them to intrust Him with. But no matter how big or small the task, we should put our faith in God because he will always come through.

Joseph was well within his right to divorce her, shun her, or even stone her, but he didn't. He chose to listen to God.

What is God asking us to do that is contrary to status quo?

There's always somthing, and if you don't know, maybe you're not listening...

Genesis 1,2 Matthew 1

The Bible in A Year plan I'm doing has me reading OT in the morning and NT in the evening. Since it's 12:30p, I haven't read Matthew 1 yet, but I will make a seprate post for it.

So, we all know the creation story. We've heard it since we were young, but I think the interesting thing is that something new can jump out at you every time. I guess that's what they mean by "living word", because it bit me in THE FACE this morning...

Oh, and let me preface this by saying, I'm NOT a Bible scholar. Shoot, I haven't even read it all the way through...oh yes, and I'm going to keep this short, with bullet points.

Things that God pointed out to me in Genesis 1 and 2:

1. Appreciate what I made for you! : Talk about a great Birthday Gift! God created ALL of this for us! The Grand Canyon, gysers, hot springs, the "golden time of day", the purple morning (in reference to the sky), the rain...ALL of it! And in 1:14, I think He's even talking about the star constellations as "signs and tokens to mark seasons, days, and years"...man, He really had this thing thought out. And just for ME.

2. Everything Adam can do I can do better!: Adam (and me and you) were made in God's perfect image. PERFECT image, when Adam named things, that's what they were. He could definitly "name it and claim it" to put it in churchy terms, but we have that power and more (because we have Jesus)! So, while I'm sitting here worried about my mounting bills (because boy they ARE mounting), how I am gonig to pay this or that, and making the right moves for my business, God has equipped me with the power and everything I need. It's now up to me to tap into it, and that's what I'm constantly trying to figure out...shame.

3. The Garden of Eden:  When God made the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, He put EVERYTHING they would need in it. In 2:9 it says "God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight or...good for food". Their only stipulation was to stay away from the one tree God told them to. Sometimes we may think, "man they were stupid. and look at where we are now. shouldn't have ate that apple", but we do the same thing in our lives. I thought of Eden as God's Will. When we're in it, yes, there will be temptation (ie the serpant), but EVERYTHING we need is there. Things we like (trees pleasant to the sight) and things we need (trees good for food).

But, we get focused on what we can't have and that's where we lose.

Don't focus on the one tree you can't have (and God didn't say they couldn't have it forever, it just wasn't the time), but focus on all the God has for you. The full lives we can lead my staying in His will, by cultivating our relationship with Him, by loving others, by giving...yeah, even giving.

Well, this is my first blog post, so we'll see how this goes.

Until next time...

...and it came to me as an epiphany...

For those of you who are "Super Christian", that line came from a Chrisette Michele song. And she's a secular artist. And yes, I listen to Chrisette Michelle! I like her. Judge me if you want, but she makes great music.

Anywho,

So for the past week (or two) I've been feeling really empty. I've put a lot of time into my business, BeSpoken Spaces (http://www.bespokenspaces.com/), and I haven't put much into my relationship with God. I've felt the Holy Spirit pleading with me, kind of saying that He misses the time we used to have. When I woke up in the morning the first thing I would do (even before brushing my teeth) is give HIM lenthy praise and worship time. And then pray.

But as of late, I wake up late, I hurry into the dining room/living room (aka The Office) and get to work. And God has been taking the back seat.

So, yesterday I made a point to have Praise and Worship and prayer first thing in the morning. And this is what He said (not in an audible voice, but in that, "somthing told me" voice):

You spend all this time working on your business, but you forget to spend time with the ONE who GAVE you the business. You spend time writing your blog for business, but you haven't spent time in the Word, and seeking me. So, I want you to get back in the word, get reconnected, and blog, but blog about us. About you and me.

Man, reading that just this moment makes me feel really sucky, but also happy to know that God cares enough to tell me He misses me. I feel like I've been rubbing the genie lamp and not really working on our relationship. One of the things that I've been pressed to do, is re-start Bible In a Year. So that's what this blog will be about. Amongst other things.

I'll update it everyday, because I need to talk to God everyday. And get in his word everyday.

So, I hope you enjoy this journey and grow from it as much as I do.

I would love to hear your thoughts and as always, your prayers are welcomed.

Onward,
~Lauren