1.6.11

Genesis 15:6 And Abram believed the Lord and the Lord counted him righteous because of his faith.

My Thoughts

God counted Abram righteous because of his faith... not because of his good works, not because he was sin free... but because Abram believed God... Abram had faith in God... Abram believe all that God said.  This verse is so important... it tells us that it is important to believe in all that God says... not parts of it... we don't get to choose what parts of the Bible are true... it is important to believe all that God tells us... we can do our very best to not sin... we can go about doing good all the time... but to be counted righteous we must believe all that God tells us.... we must have faith that God will do what God says he will do... we might like some parts more than others.... but we must believe all the parts of God's promises to us.... and they are wonderful, exciting promises! 

1.5.11

Matthew 5:21-22 You have heard that our ancestors were told, 'If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot you are in danger of being brought before the court.  And if you curse someone you are in danger of the fires of hell.

My Thoughts

So often we want to put a size on sin... we see somebody sin and we think... I don't to that, but it doesn't matter if there is a sin we don't do... it matters if there are sins we do, do..... sin is sin is sin....In Matthew 7:5 Jesus tells us "Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." ... none of us are without sin... not one of us... we should be about helping each other be better people... not about judging people for what they do that is "worse" than what we do.  So many times our sins come from things we have been taught, things our own family didn't view as a sin...and we don't do better until we know better.... people come from all backgrounds and if they are doing things we know are sinful, they may not have been taught better as a child, teen, or adult... maybe they know better now...but what they do wrong is so in their nature it is hard to break the pattern... do we want people judging us when we regress and make a mistake?...then we don't need to judge others... all we have to do to be a sinner is be angry with somebody, call somebody an idiot, and I bet we have all done that when we are driving in our cars and are running late.  Jesus teaches us to have compassion for others... do we need to be aware of sin, yes of course we do, we can't not do something we are not aware of... but do we need to judge a person for that sin, no because we don't know where they came from. We don't know what happened in their lives, we have not walked a mile in their shoes.  Next time I find myself judging somebody, I am going to use that as a red flag in my life that says "How can I help this person?" "How can I set a good example?" I am going to send a prayer up for that person... I would hope that if I were doing something wrong, something that would keep me from heaven that somebody would love me enough to say prayers for me, not go around talking about what an idiot I am.

1.4.11

Psalms 4:4 Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.

My Thoughts

I am almost positive that I started posting my Bible verses with this very verse.  So often when we get angry, most often probably, it begins with our mood.  It begins when we just don't feel good and we take something the wrong way.  If we would just wait one day, take time to gather our thoughts, take time to make sure that what we say is meant to straighten things out, not done to cause harm, or to hurt somebody that we have perceived has hurt us... if we took a whole day to think about what we were angry about often in a day we would find out that we weren't angry at all, just in a bad mood with the world.  Things done in anger never produce good fruit.  Sure we might get our way but is getting our way truly worth being hurtful to somebody else??... next time you feel anger boiling up inside you see if you can't control yourself for a day, then handle the situation....I bet more often than not there won't even be a situation to handle...and in the process you yourself won't be responsible for hurting another person.

I love this!!

1.3.11

Matthew 3:10 (John the Baptist said) Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees.  Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into fire.

My Thoughts

I always thought, for many, many years, that I was saved, a child of God.  Then I received my One Year Bible and begin reading it daily.... and in the process learned  how to have a relationship with God... now I know I am saved, without a doubt I am saved... I believe that when we are truly saved... when we have a relationship with God, when we seek after God... when we spend time with God... we want to produce good fruit... we are way more aware of evil.... we develop the Fruit of the Spirit ...Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!... how we love God shows in our actions.  It is kind of like this... have you ever known somebody that was in a bad relationship... you could see it but they couldn't.... you knew by the other persons actions that they did not love the person they claimed to love...the were mean and unkind to the person they claimed to love...they were only thoughtful of that person when it was in their best interest.  We can not treat God like that... we can't be only mindful of God when we need him... that says God love me... I don't love you...but I need you to love me... when we truly love somebody we spend time with them, lots of time with them...and we do things to make them happy and make them smile just because we love them so much.  When we truly love God we can't help but do the things he ask us to do... yes we may mess up, we may do it wrong sometimes but we make the effort for that relationship to work... God tells us that if we truly, truly love him we will produce good fruit.... If you think about it... we love people on earth that love us back...we can't help ourselves... if somebody loves us and it shows we love them back.... when we love God, God knows and he loves us back!... God loves us anyway, but when we love God back it shows and we produce good fruit.

1.2.11

Genesis 3:6-7 The woman (Eve) was convinced.  She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave some to her husband who was with her.

My Thoughts

I have heard people say "If only Eve hadn't eaten that fruit!"... yet we do it all the time.  How many times do we gossip because we want to look like the person that knows... how many times do we spend money we don't have because something looks so delicious... how many times do we do something that we know is wrong, thinking it will make us look better, feel better, be better only to discover what we already knew, that we felt guilt after doing it.  It wasn't worth it at all.  We need to keep Eve in our mind... she knew better, God had told her better... but she didn't listen and suffered the consequences for her actions. When we have that moment of pause... when we hear that voice in our head justifying what we know we shouldn't do then we need to think of Eve.... and learn from her mistakes.  My mom read once and tells me a dumb person doesn't learn from their mistakes, a smart person does... but a really, really smart person learns from other peoples mistakes. God gives us these stories, God made sure that these stories withstood the test of time so that we could be the really smart people and learn from other people's mistakes... we have a choice we don't have to be like Eve.

1.1.11

Genesis 1:3 Then God said "Let there be light," and there was light.

My Thoughts

Today I start my second year through the Bible... I thank everybody that took this journey with me in any way last year, you have blessed my life and encouraged me to keep going...thank you so much. It is already interesting to see how what I read feels different the second time around... last year I read this verse and knew what it said, buy its power was lost on me... last year the first day I read my Bible I just read the words.... the power of the words of God were lost one me..they had not registered in my heart and mind, that took a few months ... now I read these words and see so much more... God said "Let there be light,"... all God had to do is "say,"  to speak the words and light happened... I don't know about you but me, I want somebody with that kind of power on my side.... I want to know God so closely that when I ask for something he will speak words of power over my life and that those words will transform my steps... with God's power and love I can say "God I really want to have a good day today." and all God has to do is say "Jeannie's day will be good," and it will happen... but first I need to have a relationship with God that makes God hear what I say... I need to know God so well that God knows my voice... that when I speak to God he doesn't say "Who are you? I never knew you.".... I have to do my part in my relationship with God...then I can say "God, I want to have a good day" and God can speak those words over my life and my good day will happen, because all God has to do is speak and the universe responds.... now that is amazing!