Day 37/365 Bible in a Year

After reading Genesis 20-23 today, I came to realize just how much sleep I DIDN'T get last night. I am sorry to let you guys all down again, but I am almost passing out as I type.. and as you are reading I am most likely asleep  or in the process of getting there. Ha ha! Today I learned that I need to trust God with everything that I am. Yes, I already knew this, but how often is it that we take the things that we learn for granted. For instance, I took this piece of information for granted which made me not do it because I think in my head, "God will be there anyway, whether I do what He intends me to do or not. He will be there when I am done sinning to forgive me." We have ALL done it. And for those of you thinking, "whatever, I would NEVER do that!" you are lying. You've done it before at least once, and if you haven't you will very soon. It's human nature to take what is given to us for granted. Am I right? Yes, I am. Well in my reading I was awoken from this day dream I've been living in. FOR REAL!

Chapter 20

Abraham lies to Abimelech and tells him that Sarah is his sister and that he is her brother. Lie. He LIED to Abimelech which was for the good of them both, supposedly. Abraham thought when he came to Gerar that everyone there was a sinner and didn't know who God was so if they all knew that Sarah was his wife they would surely kill Abraham and take his wife for themselves. Right? Not so. King Abimelech calls for Sarah to come to his palace. They fall asleep, but they didn't do anything, no sex, no touchy-touchy, no NOTHING! While Abimelech is sleeping God tells him what's going on so Abimelech wakes up and take Sarah back so he and his people won't get punished for anything thought to have been wrong. He give Abraham cattle, sheep, goats, servants, his wife back, a piece of land to live on, AND 1000 silver pieces. (That BTW is enough silver to buy 10 nicely sized pieces of land.) They pray and the problems between them are fixed.

Chapter 21

Remember that baby boy that God promised Abraham and Sarah He would give them in Abraham's old age? Well, his name is Isaac and Abraham was 100 good years old when he was born. After Isaac was weaned they all celebrated, then Hagar and Ishmael (old servant of theirs and Abraham's son, not Sarah's son) show up and begin making fun of Isaac. Sarah orders Abraham to make them leave, which hurts him because Ishmael is his son. God tells his that it's okay and that Ishmael will be the father of a nation. He gives Hagar a can of water and send her and Ishmael to the desert where they are supposed to wonder. They run out of water and Hagar sets the kid down and walks a hundred yards away and starts crying because she doesn't want Ishmael to die in front of her eyes. They are both crying and an angel of the Lord calls to Hagar and shows her a well, she gets water, gives it to her son and they live. :D Our God is so magnificent! Abraham also makes a covenant with Abimelech that he will never lie to any of his descendants ever again.

Chapter 22

One day God calls Abraham to do something no father could ever imagine doing to his son. But you know what? It wasn't anything God wouldn't do. God gave His Son for us to live...if His Son had lived, we would all have died. Abraham was called to sacrifice his son to God. Before you freak out and say WHAT?! Keep reading.

Human sacrifice was what the pagans did and Abraham was NOT pagan, but God called him to do this. It was a step of faith... trust in God. Keep reading.

They leave to go to the mountains of Moriah where God told Abraham to take his son. They get there and leave the servants behind and tell them they will be right back...then there is this conversation that makes me cry EVERYTIME I read it guys... Genesis 22:7-8... Absolutely beautiful. Abraham trusts God to give a lamb for sacrifice. They reach their destination and Abraham ties his son up, probably full of agony for what he is about to do and God sees that he trusted Him with EVERYTHING...and sends an angel to say "Abraham, ... Abraham..." And just before Abraham kills his son the angel stops him and tells him that the Lord has seen his heart and provides a ram for sacrifice. BEAUTIFUL. Right? So the father and son sacrifice the ram together and leave.

Chapter 23

Sarah..loving Sarah...dies. Abraham cries and mourns her death and goes into the town and asks for a place to bury her.. There is a man there who sells him his piece of land for his family to have a burial there. he man could sell the land for 200 silver pieces... what it is worth, but instead tells Abraham it's free, but Abrahama resists and says he'll pay, but again the guy insist it be free, Abraham again denied and says he'll even pay full price (200 silver pieces) but the man says okay. 400 shekels for the land (400 silver pieces) which is twice the price. Abraham pays it. 

The deal with this barter is that merchant even today use this technique. The land was 200 shekels. They insist it be free, but if  you take them up the first time it is insulting. The second times, insulting, the third time they double the price if you resist still which means they want to sell it for 200 still, even though they offer it for 400. The technique is that the customer will think he or she is bartering when they say "200 shekels? 400 is too much for my pocket book.." They get it for 200 shekels because that is the price. But Abraham was mourning so that he didn't care. He didn't even try to barter. Poor baby. I kinda wished I was there for him, ya know? He buries his wife and mourns more.. 

And that's where it left off at...

TRUST GOD!!

Prayer requests? Comment them below or email them to me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!

 

God bless!

Day 36/365 Bible in a Year

While reading Romans 11-12 today I got an urge to discuss spiritual gifts. But first, chapter 11 got me thinking about something confusing. I am no teacher, that is for sure, so still young in my faith (4 years and pressing on for Christ!) I still have a few questions left. 

So basically God has mercy on Israel, He doesn't reject them for what they are doing. They have abandoned God! But God still has mercy on them because they are His people, but since they abandoned Him, He decided to save the Gentiles to make the Israelites jealous and want their salvation back. This Paul explains by using the comparison to a tree from the Creator.

Let's say there's this one particular tree God handcrafted to be the "Israelite Tree". God chopped off the Israelite branches and grafted in the Gentile branches and they were saved. God would never take that away from anyone. The Israelite could still be grafted back in. They were merely being saved in God's salvation bin, if you will. :) Not meaning to make anything sound bad ha ha! 

This brought this question to mind for me to keep thinking about. God is saying that salvation was only for His chosen people. He is also saying the Gentiles (the sinners) were not His chosen people and were not going to be saved...but the Israelites messed up and abandoned God and God THEN gave salvation to the Gentiles too. This confused me. Was salvation only meant for God's people such as Abraham, Isacc, and so on? Was it only because of the mistakes of the Israelites that everyone can be saved today? I need to ask someone about that.. But I am glad none the less for this wonderful event if it is how I am understanding it to be. Even if it is totally wrong what I am understanding, I am still glad I am saved. :)

Now to spiritual gifts and how to treat them. Chapter 12 verses 6 through 13 (Romans 12:6-13) Paul points out that everyone in the body of Christ (all Christians) plays an important role just as different organs and body parts of a human being are all intertwined and used to keep the body alive. EVERYONE has a purpose. EVERYONE has a spiritual gift. Even if you don't know what it is yet, you'll find it. I used to think mine was teaching... boy was I wrong  ha ha! Now I know that one of them is FAITH for me! I have strong faith and I just LOVE to pray.

Some of the gifts listed here by Paul are:

-prophecy

-serving

-teaching

-encouragement

-leadership

-kindness

These are only a few. But Paul tells us that when God gives us one of these gifts and we FINALLY find out what it is to use it the right way. For instance:

-prophecy = speak out with MUCH faith

-serving = serve people well

-teaching = teach people well

-encouragement = be encouraging to others all the time

-leadership = take the responsibility SERIOUSLY

-kindness = do it GLADLY

Again, these are only a few of the spiritual gifts you may have. Everyone has each to a different degree, except maybe speaking/understand tongues, that one is special. For example, I love little kids, I love caring for them, I love teaching them about Jesus, I love praying, I love making people happy, and I absolutely LOVE serving others whether on a mission trip or in my everyday life. I am almost always holding doors open for other people. Ask any of my peers at Angelina.

Pray about these gifts and ask God to show you which is your strongest, which ones you need to work on, and which ones you believe you possess. Tell Him these things and see what He says back. It may be a surprise.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!

God bless you!

Day 35/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Matthew 11-13. Here's what I gather from my time alone with God and His wonderful Word.

Chapter 11
So Jesus is giving instructions to His disciples to go out into the world and share the Word and heal people of their troubles. Then in this chapter Jesus finishes telling them what to go do and left to go teach and PREACH in town through the region He lived in. Well, as you may remember from chapter 3 where Jesus was baptized, John the Baptist was the one to do the job. In this chapter, though, he seems to be in prison for baptizing people. Oh, darn! Why do people through good men into prison? Do they WANT to be evil forever..? No. Anyway, I digress a LOT! Well, John the Baptist send his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He is really the Messiah they have all been waiting for. And the answer is yes, duh. Just kidding. Jesus tells them no yes or no. He tells them to go back to John and tell him that the blind are seeing and the lame are walking! That the dead are being raised to life again, lepers are being cured, and the deaf are hearing. AND the Gospel is being preached!! And that God blesses those who don't turn away because of Jesus. TURN TO HIM!! Then after the men leave Jesus begins talking to the people around Him about John. He says these words,

"John is the man to whom which the Scriptures refer to when they say, 'Look, I am sending a messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.'"
                                                                                            -Matthew 11:9-10
He goes on to say the no one is a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but the least person in Heaven is. The Kingdom has grown so much due to John's preaching. He is Elijah. :) People look at John, though, like he is possessed by demons because he doesn't eat much and drinks little, he eats bugs basically. But they are the only food high in protein and VERY abundant. People say he is possessed by demons because of this. But then you turn to the Son of Man (Jesus) and see that He actually does have an appetite and you call Him a glutton and a drunkard. No matter what the circumstance, people always make Christians an example of a catch 22. CRAZY! Right? This still goes on today, A LOT!

Also, the places Jesus had worked His miracle in were still sinning against God and diving into sin like it was no big deal. And those towns were cursed, because even the sinful towns of Tyre and Sidon would have turned to God and repented, but not Bethsaida and Korazin. Nope. He even tells Capernaum that Sodom will be better off for the same reason. Guys, if you know ANYTHING about your Bible, you know that Sodom and Gomorrah  were two of the most SINFUL citied of the Bible. They are even used as comparisons today. The rest of this chapter is BEAUTIFUL, it like.. a paragraph, you should really read it.

Chapter 12
Sorry chapter 11 is almost a book, but it's very interesting. :P
So Jesus finished talking to the people and He and His disciples began to walk through a field of wheat to their next destination. They were hungry so as they were walking they were picking the heads off the wheat plants and eating them. It's the Sabbath so, as usual, the Pharisees are trying to get Jesus in trouble for "working". Whatever. They protested to the picking the wheat to eat because they were hungry.. :0.
Jesus protests back gently. He states that David and his companions ate the priests bread when they were hungry, Moses' law states that the priests in the temples may work on the Sabbath, and that there is someone GREATER than the priest could ever be in his presence, and the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. So basically Jesus told him what was up. :P
Jesus and His disciples finally get to the synagogue and Jesus sees a man with a messed up hand and goes to him to heal him. The Pharisees, as usual, attempt to trap Him with a trick. They say healing is wrong on the Sabbath because it is work. Jesus, yet again, has an answer for every doubt they have. He comes back with the story of a sheep trapped in a well, and then heals the man's hand. But the Pharisees can't arrest Him so they plot to kill Him. :(
The thing is, God knows everyone's heart. Every detail of it, He CREATED you. So of course Jesus, being in part, God Himself in the flesh, knew what the Pharisees were planning. Even as they were walking up to Him. So knowing this, He left the town and people followed Him, He even healed them and told them not to tell ANYONE who He was for a bit. All of this fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (Read Matthew 12:18-21 and Isaiah 42:1-4)
Jesus then goes to heal a possessed man. This man cannot talk or see, but Jesus casted the man's demon out and the man could talk and see again. The Pharisees turned everything around to be bad, yet again, and said to the people that Jesus could only cast the demons out because His powers were from Satan. Jesus, AGAIN (amazing) knows exactly what to say! Why would Satan cast out Satan from a man? When a kingdom divides in civil war against itself it CANNOT stand. So why would Satan cast out Satan and destroy his own evil kingdom? What about your exorcists? They cast out demons. Are their powers from Satan? No, so why would mine be? But I (Jesus speaking) am casting out demons in the Spirit of God so the kingdom has been brought to you. :) Stop blaspheming! There will come a day of judgement when every man will have to account for every idle word from their mouths.
The next paragraph you will read that Jesus predicts His burial for 3 days and 3 night by a comparison to the story of Jonah to the Pharisees. Jesus tells the Pharisees that someone greater than all the kings of the old testament is here now, and they still don't listen. He also tells others that Christ's followers are the real family we belong to.

Chapter 13
This chapter I will read as a whole and not just a few verses at a time like I have the others. I just love the story of Jesus. :)
Wait, I had to stop at verse 18, you need to hear this parable. It is called the Parable of the Four Soils. A farmer is planting some seeds. Some land on the footpath, where everyone walked and the birds ate them. Some landed on the shallow soil and began to bud quickly, but the sun came out and withered them and the roots weren't deep enough because of the soil and they died. Some more were dropped into the thorn bushes. The grew for a bit, but the thorns and weeds took all the water and kept the wheat from growing. Then they died, but the last bit of seeds landed on the super awesome soil ;). There they grew to a healthy size and so much more kept growing because of it.
The explanation is that the footpath seeds stand for the people who hear the Good News but don't understand it and because they lack understanding, the evil one snatches all the seeds away that were planted into their hearts. The thin soil seeds represent the people who hear the word and are saved by it with joy! But they have no deep roots so as soon as they are questioned or persecuted or have problems they fall away from God. The thorny soil seeds stand for the people who hear the word but so quickly after or as they hear it they begin to worry about the things of this world and forget about the Good News and go off to earn money or objects. Physical treasures. :( But the seed that feel on the super awesome soil (;)) represents those who truly hear and understand God's astounding Word and believe it and tell others and the "harvest" of us begins to grow because of it.
Jesus told quite a few more parables and left to go back to Nazareth, His home town. He was unwelcome there and healed a few people and left again.

Will you stand up for Jesus? Also, get to know your Bible. Know the answers to all the questions people ask you.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!

Thanks!

Lanie

Great Escape @ 9P

Today was an amazing day. Great Escape (university worship @ First Baptist every Wednesday night at 9P in Nacogdoches, Texas) was beautiful. Worship has never been better.. well it has, but this time we talked about something that has been on my mind a LOT lately. Marriage. For those of you who don't know.. I am engaged!! I have been since the turn of 2008-2009 (New Year!) and it's been a little over a year now. We are getting married on June 12 this year, and it's all I can think about. But today God showed me not to worry about it. In His eyes, I am still single and I still need to live for Him. I need to stress over the things He alone, wants me to do. Not stress over being married. I won't have near as much free time as I do now when I am married. So I need to work on these God things before I get to the marriage. I just love listening to God speak. :D

Amazing!

Day 34/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Isaiah 23-28..

My, oh my! This is the longest passage I've read since I started this Bible in a year thing. I definitely cannot write a blog about it because that would kill those who DO read them. So my only other option is for you to read this section and contemplate on if this area of Isaiah is prophecy or what was going on in that time, or both mixed together. There is a lot of despair in it if you put yourself into the people's foot steps like I did. I actually almost cried a couple times. Hmm.. God bless!

Lanie

Ps. Tomorrow I am reading Matthew 11-13. Enjoy if you can.

Day 33/365 Bible in a Year

I just had this entire blog written and it deleted itself so I had to start over again... darn it. I guess things happen for a reason, ha ha! So it's going to be a LOT shorter than it was originally going to be. Sorry guys, buut it's late. I guess God wanted me to take it in a bit more.

Today I am reading Psalms 12-14 and Job 9-10. This blog is over Job 9-10.

Chapter 9

God is amazing and has created everything. Done miracle so great and indescribable! He is so great a God and so good a God, yet Job feels like He is out to get him. He feels he can't answer to God because, though he is blameless, He is full of misery and shame. He is as innocent as a puppy. Job feels like God is out to get Him. Have you ever felt that way? God, in this case, let Satan harm Job as a test of faithfulness. Job still has not cursed God. He even wished for a mediator between he and God so he did not have to approach Him with strength instead of weakness..

Chapter 10

Job is absolutely disgusted with his life. He feels like God hates him and just looks for ways to punish him. Like God created him, watched him grow, and just sat and WAITED for him to mess up just ONCe and sin just ONCeE so He could punish him and never forgive him. But wait, guys. Don't forget how we have a loving and FORGIVING God, He loves his creation, sinner or saint. He only hates sin and Satan. So Job is absolutely....WRONG about God here. He is only in agony and is trying to rationalize the goings on. He feels that even though he is innocent that God will still punish him because he is full of misery and shame. Even if he did hold his head high, he feels like God will hunt him down like a lion and attack him, and witness AGAINST him. Basically he feels God is doing the deeds of the evil one... How sad. Why did God not take Job as a baby, so it would be like he never lived and never suffered such pain of loss and boils. His life was going down a dark path of almost no return, but have you noticed? He HAS NOT CURSED GOD ONCE! 

Isn't is about time we took a hold of our lives and told ourselves God is the amazing God. The ONLY God? Isn't it about time we stood up for ourselves against Satan and told him, "You know what, Satan? I can live a better life without you and your ugly temptations, anger, and lust. Without your evil thoughts, your distractions, your name calling, your idol worshipping self. I can do without all of these things. You are gone from my life. God is Lord of my life and Jesus died for me so I wouldn't have to deal with you and all your self-righteous demons.Buh-bye!"

Take a stand for the Lord and tell others about Him. He is glorious. Even though Job is suffering, the time will come when He will receive everything back twice over in Heaven.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!

Thanks!

Mwahahahaha!!!

Mwahahahaha! Have you ever just felt like you needed to do that evil laugh?I don't know why I do sometimes, but I do. Ha ha!

Well, this guy that I usually debate with on Twitter has slowly become somewhat of a good acquaintance. We seem to be able to talk and NOT disagree, and if we do, we just discuss it. No heated arguments, no anger. It's weird. But the world is so spontaneous. God is great. Ha ha, my dad just got his jury duty papers. First time for him and he's 41 ha ha!

My next blog is coming up next!! ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

I wrote two today.. So I am catching up on the days I missed before.. Sorta.. Well. have a nice night!

Lanie

NEWS!!

AHH! They caught 2 of the guys who were starting the fires here in East Texas! Yay! God is awesome to have given the guys one mistake to leave DNA behind! Amazing! I think there is one more guy left, but I haven't read the report. Last time I did they had sketches on 3 guys, or 2 guys and one girl. But it's all good now. :D

Amen!

Day 32/365 Bible in a Day

Today I am reading Psalm 12-14 and Job 9-10. But this blog is only from Psalm.

Chapter 12 was one of those chapters that makes me happy the Lord is always telling the truth. :D He is honest, totally and completely honest! No one else is so honest, so faithful. Even us, in all the faith we may have COMBINED cannot amount to God's faithfulness. The righteous people were slowly dwindling down to nothing in David's time. The liars and prideful people were taking over, leaving God's side, and literally telling each other that God didn't control anything, that their bodies were their own, no one else's. How sad would it be for so many people to turn their back on the Creator? But God heard all of this and instead of punishing everyone in the area He only punich the evil doers. He picked through the people and saved and uplifted the righteous people. God protects His followers and loves us ALL.

Chapter 13 Ever felt like you were in so much despair that the world could end and you really couldn't care less? That's how David felt when he wrote this Psalm. He felt like God had literally forgotten him. But then in the midst of his suffering he remember! OH my goodness he remembered that God could return "the sparkle to his eye" and that he could definitely trust God and His "unfailing love". This is so beautiful that we have a Creator who loves us, provides for us, and even cared enough to make the place we dwell a beautiful land and not a trash can. :D I just love God.

Chapter 14 brings one word to mind. WOW! Have you ever met that profound atheist? The one who swears up and down on their own life that there is no God. There never was, there never will be, we are all our own person, no one can tell us what to do...? I know I have. Especially on Twitter.. Oh my. Haha, but do you see what God says about them? It is totally different to not know a God like ours exists than to "know" and deny. God says through David that "Only fools say in their heart, 'there is no God'". So true. God also says, "He looks down to see if anyone truly seeks God" and that He will protect His people from the oppression of the ungodly. :D Our God is an AWESOME God!

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Thanks! God bless!

Lanie

Day 31/365 Bible in a Year

Joshua 21 through 24 actually finishes up Joshua for us. The entire last section consist of:

Chapter 21

Joshua dividing out the land and the cities to the clans of Levi, Gershon, Merari, Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, descendants of Aaron, Dan, and so on, dividing up the land and the towns and pasturelands. I think that out of all th epromised land God gives them, and all the scriptures following, my favorite is verse 45. Wow, does it actually say that? Read it again!

"Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true."

Can you imagine hearing God make decisions, promises, conversation? And then later pointing things out that He said would happen...HAPPENING!! That's what happened here. The people knew when God made these promises to them and they kept enduring for them, just like God told them they'd have to do. AND not only that, but they got to experience God actually doing these things and finishing them in that generation. Wow.

Chapter 22

Joshua just told the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh to go to the land promised to them. So they begin to go and they see the land of Gilead and they build this HUGE altar that is just all KINDS of in the way. The people of Gilead think they are opposing them and that they don't follow their God and they get offended and begin to get ready to attack them! WHAT!? But before they do so the tribes tell them the real reason why they built the altar. It is a sign for them in the future to know that the two lands share the same God.

Chapter 23

Joshua has seen and heard it all from almost the beginning and he is tell his fairwell to Israel. He tells them all of the miraculous things God has done for them, as to repeat it and have them remember more fondly. He tells them that God fights for them in their trouble times, that if they betray Him and know what He did for them that they will vanish from the good lands the Lord has given them, His anger will be poured out on them.

Chapter 24

God renews His covenant with Israel. He reminds them of some more things He did for them. Splitting the Red Sea and bringing it down on the Egyptians, the time they all crossed the Jordan River to get to Jericho and the walls fell down after they ran around a few times and yelled.. All a thing of God. The people choose to follow God. Joshua makes a covenant with the people that they will follow the Lord and he tells them that a simple rock has heard everything they had just said. Which to me kind of emphasizes the point that "if this puny, insignificant ROCK heard it, then God most definitely heard it." or the 'this rock is representative of God, our Rock and Salvation." Then Joshua and several other leaders all die of old age and are buried in the lands given to them,

This conclused the book of Joshua. Tomorrow I am reading Psalm 12-14. I'm actually gonna read it tonight before I go to bed, which is in about 5 minutes HAHA! and reread it tomorrow and I will also read and write 2 blogs!!! I am also reading Job 9-10. This should be interesting :) Goodnight world!

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

Day 30/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Genesis 16-19.

Chapter 16
The verse I want to really pop out here is verse 13. Hagar has been running from Abram and Sarai because of Sarai's anger, but in the midst of her running from the troubles God's angel came down to tell her to go back. My guess is that the Lord's angel may be an element of the Lord himself, kinda like Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because Hagar praises God for seeing her. She mentions seeing the One who sees her. Amazing to have seen God, right? That doesn't happen much today. The truth is in today's world we hardly "have time" to focus on God's word. We hardly "have time" to be still and quiet, or to listen for God. JUST DO IT, it could mean a world of difference in your relationship with Jesus.

Chapter 17
Verse 22 just baffles me. God came DOWN FROM HEAVEN to talk to Abram, changed his name and Sarai's name to Abraham and Sarah, blessed their children, and get this! He "went up from him". God used to actually come down and talk to His people, now He doesn't always do that either. Hardly ever. He may whisper in your ear or show you something in a dream, but come down physically? I think not. We can feel His presence, we can hear Him calling us, but see Him, no. We need to have FAITH!!

Chapter 18
Verse 14, is anything impossible with the Lord? No. God asks a rhetorical question to Sarah and Abraham. Nothing is impossible with the Lord, pray about everything in God's will for you and guess what? If it's His will, it will happen! God is a great God, and wonderful God, and sometimes He seems like more than a Father than usual. He's supposed to seem that way. When you're down in the dumps, pray. When your as happy as a grasshopper on a sunny day, pray. When everything seems to be going just about as horrible as it could go, pray. Prayer is essential in this relationship with Christ. It is our talking with Him, Prayer is so large a topic. Even in your worst times, praise God for it! He puts you in those times to test you and give you virtues. For instance, let's say that you got into a wreck on your way to the airport and you ended up in a coma for 2 weeks. You woke up and 3 of your friends were dead because the plane that you were driving to the airport to get on crashed.. God saved you from the loss of life because He wasn't finished with you yet, and your friends are in a better place. He is now sending you on a trip to Nicaragua to help families who are coping with death. God has prepared you, has He not? Now it's not always that big an event, but you get my point right?

Chapter 19
Verse 16. God has compassion for us, always. He knows what we are going through, He understands. In a way, HE'S BEEN THERE TOO! Just take comfort in God's arms. Take comfort in Him, and build a relationship with Him.

Pray!! Pray for Jose! For real, that's a prayer request. No details, sorry. It's personal to a friend of mine. Prayer requests? Comment them below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!

Lanie

Tomorrow I am reading Joshua 21-24

Day 29/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Romans 9-10. Take a good 20 minutes at LEAST top read, reread, read again, and meditate on this word. God gave us this law for a reason. Why not take something God has given us and tell others about it? Read this section and comment below what you think. God bless y'all!


Lanie

Tomorrow I am reading Genesis 16-19. Enjoy.
Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ029@yahoo.com

Day 28/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Matthew 8-10. It was exciting because I was half asleep when I was attempting it the first times and I was actually imaginng things ha! Anyway. I did read it again twice. Lol. It's all good!

Chapter 8
This is when Jesus begins performing miracles around His city to all its people. The first miracle recorded by Matthew was the man healed of leprosy. If you don't know what leprosy is I can tell you. Leprosy is a nasty chronic disease caused by a certain bacteria. It looks like this when on your face...

http://www.asnom.org/image/421_lepre/IB071_lepre.jpg

Jesus just healed it no problem. He healed Peter's mother in law and others, a Roman officer's servant.. MANY more! Then he tells his followers about the price of following Him. He then goes out on the water in a boat with His disciples on their way to Gadarenes. A storm came and the disciple became afraid. Jesus calmed the storm, again no problem. See how easy it is for Him to take care of our problems? He takes them from us so easily.. it seems like they aren't even a burden to Him.

Jesus casts demons out of the two men on Gadarenes. Amazing right?

Chapter 9
He even healed the paralyzed man (yes I said paralyzed), He even ate with us sinners instead of the righteous. He justified His actions by these words,

"Healthy people don't need a doctor-sick people do." Matthew 9:12

He then heals a woman who has been stuck bleeding for years.. with AGAIN, no problem! He also heals a little girl who everyone knew was dead. Jesus simply told them she was sleeping and took her by the a\hand and told her to wake up and BAM! She did. He healed the blind and the mute, they could see again. Speak again.. So great a gift from God. Then he urged His disciples to pray for more workers for Christ. He tells them that He is about to send them all out to cast demons form people and heal people.

Chapter 10
Jesus also sent out His disciple after He told them what He was going to give them the power to do. They would heal the nation of Israel, ONLY the people of Israel not the Geniles or the Samaritans. They were to take NOTHING with them but the minimal. One pair of clothes, and Christ's words. Jesus tells the disciples that they will be persectued throughout this trial all the way until even after His death. They may even be killed for what they are doing, but they need to perservere.

Isn't that what God is asking us to do every day? Perservere? Duh! I know my spelling may not be correct, but you get the word I am stating. God wants us to pray continuously, to follow Him no matter what life throws at us, good and bad. Praise Him for it ALL!!!

Tomorrow I am reading Romans 9-10.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Night!

Life..and Penguins!

So today was a very interesting day. I woke up 30 minutes later than I had planned to. I was going to go see my mom at the hospital for a few minutes before I left for school, but it didn't work out because I woke up at 630 instead of 600. The night before I literally got about 2 hours of sleep because I kept having a nightmare type hallucinaiton.. not a dream. I was awake. Sorta. Hard to explain. It was like I was paralyzed and something around me was making noises. Trying tol get to me. Telling me things I NEVER do. I literally take all my strength to get out of that and it happened SEVERAL more times. So the 2 hours I did get wasn't 2 solid hours. it was 2 hours in 15 minutes incraments.. it sucked. But I got to Lufkin just fine.

Class started at 8 and it was pretty interesting. Psychology is always fun. I got a 104 on my first exam. :D And here I told Naramore I thought I got an 87 haha!

After that class I took a quick 5 minute nap. Then Andres and Luis came bangin on my door and woke me up so quick that I got mad and jumped out of my car without thinking...and about 2 minutesafter we started talking I realized I had locked my keys in it...

I walked to tthe student center, asked if someone had a slim jim, and lo and behold the parking lot monitor guy did!!! And even later I saw him openning someone ELSES car. He gets 100 extra dollars on his check everytime he has to do it lol

Then I read my Bible, went to my next class...got out about 35 minutes early so I went to my car and took a 30 minute nap that felt like 5 hours!! So amazing! Went to my next class and the instructor was sick so we just dropped off our assignments and left. I went back to Nac for a few hours. It was 115 and my next class was at 6. I visited my mom and fell asleep for aout 30 minutes...and I've been goin ever since.

Class was boring as always for life span development. I got an 80 on that exam... yikes!! That's horrible. Took notes.. went back to Nac and by 745 PM I was at Mcy Ds (mc donald's) with 2 of my best girlfriends playin with penguin toys!! (madagascar) Then we went to church as always on Wednesday. We are doing this S.L.O.W. thing for prayer. Set your alarm for 1PM every day and pray when it goes off. The letters all stand for something different to pray for.

My blog for Bible study is up next!!

Night!

Day 27/365 Bible in a Year

Today during my quiet time I read Isaiah 18-22. I will only cover one verse from each chapter though. SOO much information!!

Chapter 18
Verse 4..beautiful. That's all I can say.
God is watching us always, ever present, always loving. Even in the old testament He was watching out for His people. Pretty cool right? Think of this. Even in you worst nights, the ones where you cry yourself to sleep, think about this. God is right there next to you. Rubbing your shoulder. Hugging you. Knowing everything that's going on because you don't even have to verbally tell Him. HE ALREADY KNOWS! It gets even better after you've had that relationship for a while.

Chapter 19
Verse 20..wonderful. Jesus died for us. God's own creation turned against Him and we were all damned. But God loved us SOOOOO much that He gave His onyl Son to die for our sins, though He was sinless. This verse, to me, is a prophetic promise that Jesus is coming. He wasn't even born yet, and they called Him the Savior. AHH!! Exciting? Even more exciting is that He's coming here to take us home one day!

Chapter 20
Verse 6 sticks out to me amongst the nakedness of the people. God wants everyone to count on Him for their needs, He created us, He provides for us. But Philistines depended on the Egyptians...but when one thing went wrong it was all gone. With God, He is ALWAYS there. Even when things seem to go all wrong.

Chapter 21
Verse  16..WOW! God knows everything before it happens. He know the very words coming out of your mouth even a YEAR before you speak them. Ever since the dawn of creation He has known. In the case with Kedar, He knew that within a year all their glory would be gone. ZIP.. ZERO...there wouild be NONE left. It insane to think that you can get away with things when God sees it all. EVERYTHING! Every thought, every word, every action....everthing you wanted to do so badly, but didn't. He knew the outcome of either decision you made. EVERYTHING that is done is governed by God. He gives us free will to choose. But after we choose he directs the rest of our paths. The choice is laid, left or right? He has a plan for either. You choose one, one thing happens. The other, another. PRAY about everything!

Chapter 22
Verse 16, yikes! God doesn't like it when we put ourselves in His place. High up on the mighty mountain of life. GOD is the ruler. Jesus is the KING! He belongs on top of things. NOT us. So be humble to the Lord Your God.

Amen.
Prayer requests? COmment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!

Lanie

Day 26/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Job 7-8. And yet again, Job is stll down in the dumps because all of his sons and daughters and what not have been taken by Satan to test him.
Chapter 7
Everyone's life just draws on...for everyone!!! It is always a struggle. God is there so take Him as He is. Trust me, He will take your side and make you righteous in a new life. Job, in all his struggle, doesn't curse God. He doesn't down Him, he doesn't swear at Him...NOTHING! He cries out to Him. He tells God himself things He already know. He knows EVERYTHING, yet Job tells Him about how He examines everyone every moment of every day.

Chapter 8
Job's friend Bildadis here to reassure Job that "God will once again fill Job's mouth with laughter and his lips with shouts of joy" (Job 8:21)

Amen.

Job is surely a soldier. He makes me happy and positive about all the outcomes of this life.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email them to me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!

Love yas!

Day 25/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Psalms 9-11. I love Psalms.. they relax me. I really have no clue why. God please bless this reading and these writings for others to see. Thank you. Amen.

Psalm 9
Don't you know that God ALWAYS hears our cries? Our cries of discouragement, our cries from torment, our cried for help? Praise Him and His Holy name! God judges fairly. He protects us from the wicked in this world. He helps us deal with it when we must. God is a Wonder... He will reign forever. Here's a verse that sticks out to me,
Psalm 9:9-10
"The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust You, for You, Oh Lord, do not abandon those who search for you."
He will always be there for us.
He always has.
He will judge the nations one day and we will ALL be judged for our lives.

Psalm 10
This is why the wicked succeed... they have completely ABANDONED God. Satan gives them what they want and when they want it...and usually how much of it they want. God sees that and He hears the cries of the helpless who are hurt by the wicked and He will jusge the wicked when His day comes. (And it is coming sooner than we all think)

Psalm 11
My study Bible actually uses these words to describe this chapter, "Because we can trust Him, we can face our problems." Beautiful right? This one I want you all to read for yourself. It is amazing. Trust in the Lord with everything you have. Even when facing danger of persecution. You know it's coming guys.. Some of it is already here. A lot of it in other countries. Here in America we take religious freedom for granted. People here can just SAY that they are Christian..but in certain other countries it can be the very phrase that get's you killed in a heart beat... Even when persecution is on the threshold of your doorstep... stand fast. Be ready and stand fast. You believe what you believe. Noone cant ake that away from you.

Guys, I really hope these words helped you today. You should really be reading along yourself, just in case I get something wrong or am accidently reading the wrong passage. It's great to be independent in your faith as well as join up in groups. Prayer requests? Comment below or emial me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!

Lanie

Day 24/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Joshua 16-20.


Again as in last week in Joshua, God was seperating the promised land up to the tribes of Israel. Not much really. It just tells us where the borders are, who stays there, and where the cities of refuge are. A city of refuge is a city where one of anyone from the tribes could run to and stay until the priest there died, then they could go back to their home town if they liked, but they could only run here IF they accidentally killed someone or unintentionally.

I am reading tomorrow's also. So read my next blog!!

Lanie Prayer requests? Comment them below or email them to me. Thanks!

This World..

I have spent the last three hours of my day  searching CNN.com and local news channels around the US and now I'm watching the Situation Room.

It is sad that there are so many things that people do these days that most people would NEVER do. Today I've seen everything from an 11 year old who was bullying people with scissors and kicking them who faced criminal charges...a six year old girl with a temper tantrum who was arrested.. literally arrested...6 people brutally tortured and killed a mentally challeged woman who was such a nice woman..even accidents like an awning falling on a guy and killing him, and a freak luege *spelling* accident with an olympian... but now in the Situation Room I am watching news unfold about the University of Alabama... three people shot and killed one injured, the building is being searched for more.

Oh, and they have sketches of three guys who are possible suspects to the church arsons here in East Texas.

Clinton made it out of his surgery just fine today..and Kennedy isn't running for re-election...that's sad. It's a family thing and it's all over now.

Tonight I am doing my Bible reading over Joshua 16-20, blogging, and goin to the movies with my family. All day I have been playin in thie miraculous snow. I'm so tired. Great day, God. I know it's great when You use it to give me good rest ha! Thanks.

Read me soon!

Day 23/365 Bible in a Year

Tonight I am reading Genesis 12-15. Today though, I feel like I should focus on one main verse from every chapter. Really dive into it, contemplat it ya know? BY THE WAY!! IT'S TOTALLY SNOWING OUTSIDE!! AND STICKIN!! Anyway, I digress tooooooo much!
Chapter 12's verse it Genesis 12:1. This verse was the only verse that stuck out to me believe it or not.

"The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you."

WHAT?! First God tells Him to leave where he lives? Okay, so Abram probably thinks, "Okay, but I'm takin my fathers family with me, okay God?" THEN God tells Abram to leave all his relatives behind... Abram probably thinks, "Okay, well my dad is my dad and I HAVE to take him, he's not really a relative, is he?" THEN what does God say? He says, "..and your father's family"....he's thinkin "What? Not even my dad can come? Can I bring my wife? *doubt*" He then tells Abram that He is going to take him and his wife, hi nephew Lot, and all his belongings and servants and cattle EVERYTHING that God didn't tell him NOT to bring, to a land that "[He] will show [them]".

But what does this mean?

Abram and Sarai and the company with them just packed ther things and left. No second thoughts of what they left, no nothing! They fully trusted God. How often do we trust God? Daily? Weekly?....NEVER!? People these days think about tomorrow and they are SCARED! Not me girl boo! I am excited, I guess you could say, because I know the God who holds tomorrow! Do you? Abram and Sarai did, I just love that verse.

The question is... would you just up and leave?

Chapter 13 wasn't hard to find a verse for. Let's make the theme "Things You Can Do For the Lord" Genesis 13:4. Worship lately? I know I have. EVERYDAY I pray, I sing and I think, oh, and I read my Bible, as you can see haha!

"This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshipped the Lord, again."

Abram was a man of God. See how it says the word "again" at the end of that sentence. Yes, we worship the Lord, sometimes we just go through the motions.. that is why I like to pray before I begin worshipping, I ask God to show me something new whenever I'm about to worship Him. I ask Him to move in me and even if need be, bring tears tom my eyes, which happens more often than not, ask my boo. Abram worshipped the Lord, AGAIN! Which means he worshipped Him before.. WE SHOULD WORSHIP GOD WHOLE HEARTEDLY! Amen? DUR! It's the only thing we can probably do right in this world.

Next time you are about to go to worship service, think of Abram. AND BTW just because it's called worship doesn't mean you can only do it in a church. I have a friend named Allison. She puts it this way, "You don't just worship God in church, you worship God in life. Even tying your show is worshipping God if you do it with gladness." Amazing right? You can worship in your car, walkin down the sidewalk, in this case playing in the SNOW!!! EVERYDAY!

Chapter 14 was hard to find a verse in, but I found one that sticks out as giving the GLORY to GOD

Genesis 14:20.

"And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you."

Give the glory to God, enough said, right? Apparently not. How many times do you hear people say, it was God who saved me from that accident? It was God who kept me home so I wouldn't get on that plane...that crashed..? It was God who saved me? We seem to push God away when it come to the good in our life.. have you noticed?

Instead of them saying it was God who saved them from that accident, they say they have good luck. Instead of saying God kept them off that plane, they say they have good luck...INSTEAD of saying God saved me by giving up His Son, Jesus, who bled and died for MY sins, they say, I was saved... and maybe they smile.. The new Christian is very zealous.. it takes work to keep that zeal.

Like building a relationship with your husband does.... IT TAKES WORK TO MAKE IT PERFECT!

Give glory to GOD always!

Chapter 15 the only verse that stuck out to me like a sore thumb was Genesis 15:6.

"And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith."

Have faith in the LORD! FAITH is the only proof some people can give toward their beliefs. You can feel God move in you, you can feel Him speaking to you, you can FEEL His presence when you KNOW He's around you.. THAT IS FAITH! KNOWING DEEP INSIDE that God is REAL and that He EXISTS! That is faith. Do you have faith?

ANYONE could say they have faith in something. "I have faith in the New Orleans Saint" I am glad they won BTW haha! People can say they have faith in Jesus even, and not mean it. Once you say something enough times it sinks in and you begin to say t without meaning it. You could have faith in Jesus when you're saved.. keep saying oyu have faith in Christ. Say it again. Again. Again.....one more time, again.. again.... AGAIN!! Now tell me that by the time you got to the end.....of all the "again"s that you weren't just saying it...? Am I right? Take it one step at a time guys... Learn more about Him daily. Talk to Him about your days, love HIM!!

Prayer requests? Comment below of email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie-Boo!

Day 22/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Romans 7-8 inbetween by first class and second. I also wrote by blog in my journal!! Quiet time was amazing!!

DID YOU KNOW that we aren't bound to the laws anymore?

Romans 7:1
"Don't you know that the law applies only while a person is living?"

An example of this is shown in verses 2-4 with marriage and death. Read it, don't just take my word.

Romans 7:4
"You died to the power of the law when you dide with Christ."

Romans 7:6
"We have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."

Does that mean that God's lawss are sinful? No! (Romans 7:7)

The law helps reveal our sins to us, but I meant that because the law tells us what not to do sin finds ways to pull us into breaking the laws. If there were no laws, yes, we would be sinning no doubt!! But we wouldn't know the difference between sin and no sin. Sin wouldn't try to tempt us so much if there were no laws to break, am I right? Would it not be WAYY easier to be sinless if sins didn't exist or if the laws didn't?

We are slaves to sin, but we are only slaves to what we choose to obey (Romans 6:16) Sin tugs us, tells us what's "better" for us. It is really only telling us what the flesh wants...LIVE IN THE SPIRIT! (Romans 7:25) The nswer is Jesus Christ our Lord!!

Christ died for us as the only complete requirement of the law. He was sinless, never breaking ONE law, but still was murdered! And since He died for us, we are no longer controlled by sin. We live in the Spirit, and Christ helps us resist sin.

I love this verse, Romans 8:17
"And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs to God's glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must ALSO share His SUFFERING."

It reminds me of the thing I forget the most...we are ALL children of God. When we go to Heaven we will ALL share the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God has been given to us freely...but to reach that Kingdom and share it with Christ, we MUST share in His suffering also!

Guys, face it. There WILL be times of persecution in the present and the future. There have been in the past, it is inevitable! But pray and all will be well.

Our suffering won't be long. His kingdom is coming. (Romans 8:25 says be patient and wait and be confident.)

There is a process to being given God's glor, and to give it back with your life and your heart. God causes everything to work together for the good of His kingdom.

*1* God knew US before we existed.
*2* He chose US to be his children.
*3* He called US to come to Him.
*4* He gave US right standing with Him.
*5* God gave us His glory to...
*6* Give His glory back to Him by showing it to the world!

You can find these in Romans 8:29-30

Nothing can seperate us from God's love!
Check out Romans 8:31 and Romans 8:35-39
Amen!

Contemplate that and talk to God some more! Prayer requests? Comment them below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!
God bless!
Lanie A.

Day 21/365 Bible in a Year

Well that day that I read the Sermon on the Mount I wasn't sure what day it would actually be on, but apparently it's today haha! So soon!

Chapter 5

One day Jesus saw the crowds gathering, He sat on the mountain side and started teaching His disciples. His words mean so much and people these days don't even care. He tells us how blessed we are, even when we are being persecuted (church fires here) we are blessed. The Kingdom of Heaven is ours!! We are the salt of the earth, the light. We CANNOT lose our taste, we CANNOT cover ourselves up. People are supposed to know who we are (Christians) by watching us, even if we don't say ANYTHING! We should help heal the earth like salt heals wounds, flavor this world like salt does food, preserve this world and the goodness in it like salt does foods.. This next verse is very important!

Matthew 5:17-18

"Don't misunderstand why I have come I did not cme to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved."

Some people believe that when Jesus came that the old law was gone. This CLEARY states otherwise. Then Jesus emphasizes how He views anger. Killing alone is bad,but He says that even being ANGRY at someone is murder (in your mind). Cursing someone, calling someone an idiot, all of it is anger and anger is murder in your mind. If you think murder, you commit murder. Just the same with sexual sin, if you think lustful, you are commiting adultery. Also, if a man (or woman) divorces his or her husband without commiing adultery (just like they don't get along anymore) he or she makes the one who suffered the divorce ( not made it ) an adulterer. But if the one who began the divorce had an affair before hand the loyal one is not made an adulterer. And keep promises! Don't say "maybe I'll do it," just say yes or no and get it done. Maybe is of the"evil one". Revenge? What is revenge. NO REVENGE!! If someone slaps you take it and turn your other cheek!! Let them slap it too!! The rest of chapter 5 YOU have to read so I know you're reading your Bible too!

Chapter 6

This is where He teaches us how to give to the needy, how to pray!!! If any of you know me, you know I LOVE to pray. Why wouldn't you love to talk to God? Why woudn't you want to tell Jesus that you love Him? Just look up and imagine He is there, looking at you, watching you, listening to you. He is, but you can't see Him. So just imagine He's there. Say "I love you Daddy. Thank you for wakin' me up this morning. Thank you for breakfast, thank you." Even when you're "alone" (you're never alone) talk to Him like He is your self. Tell Him what's goin' on. Yes, He already knows.. but jjust like a friend who already knows, tell Him. He tells us about fasting, how to do it right, what not to do... Not to keep treasures on earth, build up your treasure in heaven! Also don't worry! Give it all to God. He wants us to be happy and worrying does no such thing. I heard this quote on KSWP earlier, "Why worry about the troubles of tomorrow, when you know Who holds tomorrow?" or something along those lines. Amazing right?

Chapter 7

Here He covers the ask, seek, knock thing. Ask the Father for what you need, He will provide. And trust me with this one guys!! He does! Seek Him and you will find Him in you, moving in you. Knock and the dorr will be openned. When you were little and you told your mom you were thirsty, did she give you dirt? God is your Father, wy would He not give you water? He would!! Do to others like you would like to be done to you. THE GOLDEN RULE!! There is only one way to heaven, and that is through Jesus.

He says, "Noone comes to the Father except through me." John 14:3

Have a relationship with Jesus. Don't just say you're doing things in His name. Don't. What He wants you to do it to actually carry out actions of compassion for Him in His name. Pray to Him, talk to Him, have a strong relationship that CANNOT be shaken!

That's it today. I know a lot of it is the story line, but I also threw a LOT of my opinions in there! How I view things.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!

Lanie

Meditation? Remember up there ^ ^ ^ where I told you to imagine talking directly to God, Directly to Jesus your Savior? Do it, it is so relaxing to talk to this wonderful God! He has his way of calming, give Him your troubles. Don't Only thank Him and ak Him for things! Praise Him! Have a great night!

Day 20/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Isaiah 12-17.

This book is a book of prophecy. I wrote down some of my favorite verse out of this section earlier. I have to go get them out of my car.........................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
............................................................ooookkkkkaaaaaayyyyyyy!!! I'm back.

My favorite verses were:

Isaiah 12:6

"For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you."

Isaiah 13:9-12

"The day of the Lord is coming. It will be a terrible day. The Lord's burning anger will blaze out. He will make the land dry and empty. He'll destroy the sinners in it. All of the stars in the sky will stop giving their light. The sun will be darkened as soon as it rises. The moon will not shine. The Lord will punish the world because it is so evil. He will punish evil people for their sins. He'll put an end to the bragging of those who are proud. He'll bring down the pride of those who don't show any pity. He'll make men harder to find than pure gold. They will be harder to find than gold from Ophir."

Isaiah 14:12-17

"King of Babylonia, you thought you were the bright morning star. But now you have fallen from heaven! You once brought nations down. But now you have been thrown down to the earth! You said in your heart, 'I will go up to heaven. I'll raise my throne above the stars of God. I'll sit as king on the mountain where the gods meet. I'll set up my throne on the highest slopes of the sacred mountain.  I will rise above the tops of the clouds. I'll make myself like the Most High God.' But now you have been brought down to the grave. You have been thrown into the deepest part of the pit. "Those who see you stare at you. They think about what has happened to you. They say to themselves, 'Is this the man who shook the earth? Is he the one who made kingdoms tremble with fear?  Did he turn the world into a desert? Did he destroy its cities? Did he refuse to let his prisoners go home?'"

Take your time to think about these verses. Reflect in a journal if you like. Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!

Lanie

Tomorrow I am reading Matthew 5-7!

News!

I'm watching the news tonight and the fires are really getting to me. In this region alone there have been nine church fires recently. All of these are close to us. God is using this to test our faith. I'm glad we aren't relying on the building being the church. The body (the people) are the church. Amen? Please be praying that the arsonist either turn themselves in or are caught. Have a nice night! tomorrow I am reading Isaiah 12-17.

Night!

Bible in a Year (not a day)

Today I did read a portion of my Bible, but it wasn't "assigned". I read the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5-7. It's amazing everytime I read it. There are just some things that get to you. This HAS to be one of them.


" Blessed are those who are spiritually needy.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Blessed are those who are sad.
They will be comforted.
Blessed are those who are free of pride.
They will be given the earth.
Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right.
They will be filled.
Blessed are those who show mercy.
They will be shown mercy.
Blessed are those whose hearts are pure.
They will see God.
Blessed are those who make peace.
They will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Blessed are you when people make fun of you and hurt you because of me. You are also blessed when they tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be joyful and glad. Your reward in heaven is great. In the same way, people hurt the prophets who lived long ago."

This is just the beginning of the MANY ENDLESS blessings of God. He bless all of us. He shows us mercy, He listend to us, He is building up Heaven right now, making homes for us all there. AND trust me, He KNOWS when someone is pure and when someone is just ACTING pure.

There are quite a few guide lines in this section. Talk about rules! There are things about Divorce, Promises, Kindness, Murder...the list goes on.. But more on this later. Glancing ahead this is actually another days thing.

Prayers? Comment below or email me. livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

Day 19/365 Bible in a Year

Hey guys. Today we're talking about Job 5-6. In the previous chapters, if you remembered, Job lost EVERYTHING except for a few good servants and his wife. All his livestock and children were dead.. even his shepherds.. Then Job and his friends mourned for a week (7days and 7 nights). After that time was up, Job decided to make a little speech about how he wanted for God tojust kill him. Satan was testing Job because God KNEW that he would not give up on Him. He knew that Job was loyal and faithful to God. In chapter 4 Job's friends Eliphaz tells him that he doesn't need to wish he was never born! He had helped so many people through difficult times and nw he has a difficult tie and he wants God to take his life? WHAT??
Well we are pickin up in chapter 5.
Eliphaz is still talking here. Although he seem to be accusing Job of doing things that would deserve him his kids' deaths, there are still some great points here. He is sayin that resenting what happened is NOT going to help and being jealous of the people who still have everything isn't either. Bad things are going to happen, not that you, (Job) deserve it or anything. Stuff just happnens! People always have trouble, they are always going to have or cause trouble... That's just the way it is. God has always provided in times of need and trouble. God will provide for you now. Does He not give rain to the earth to grow? My favorite verse of this chapter is Job 5:9.

"He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles."

Amen?

God will bring you peace in your storm. Always know that you Home is always gonna be there. When you take a glance at everything you have, NOTHING will be missing. For Job, his children. He tells Job to listen to what he says and apply it to his life?!

Sound familiar? God wants us to listen to what He is showing us and APPLY it to our lives. How many of you do that? I know recently I've been VERY good at it, but it's not for me to boast. God did it through me. He gives me hope, and I take it. Thank God, right? Thank God.

Chapter 6
Job answers back and wonders why it isn't okay for him to complain. Why isn't it okay for him to complain when God just struck everything from him? (Satan took it all to test him in his strength in God, but he doesn't know this.) Again he wishes that God would take his life. He literally begs Him to. He was in so much agony!
Job is literally helpless right now. He is so vulnerable to anything. If Satan were permitted to kill him right now, he probably would have, but God told Him not to.
He accuses Eliphaz, his friend, of makin accusations against him. He tells him that if he were his friend he wouldn't do that. He would support him in his mourning. He wonders if his "friends" really want to help him in his desperation.

"Look at me! Would I lie to your face? Stop assuming my guilt, for i have done no wrong. Do you think I am lying? Don't I know the difference between right and wrong?"

On this note, would you be the kind of person who assumes that just because something bad happens to someone good that they must not have bene "good enough"? Or do you stop and think, have compassin for that person, pray for that person, HELP that person, and get that person through their troubles? Your choice... please make the right decision.. God helps everyone, and wouldn't you love to be helped by Him? Love your neighbor as yourself, and if you love yourself enough to want help, then give help to others.

Prayer requests? Comcment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

Day 18/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Psalms 6-8. They are truely amazing.

This is another one of those read and comment things!! I know it's late..but it's so worth it to read God's word. I can't get you to grasp that concept enough guys. God is there  for us ALWAYS! He has ALWAYS been faithful! Have some faith, and give your life to Christ.

Have a nice night! Prayer requests? Comment them below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

Late One Wednesday Night...

I know it's technically almost Thursday, but I still haven't written my Wednesday Bible blog....... AHHH!!! Night guys!

Much love!

Day 17/365 Bible in a Year

Today I am reading Joshua 11-15. Previously in Joshua, he and the tribes had over taken quite a few kings. God gave them the land and the people and they took them.
Chapter 11
So King Jabin of Hazor heard all about what was going on and told ALL the kings he know, and they all gathered their armies and stood guard to fight the Israelites. Well, God, as great as He is had already promised the land and the people to Israel. He told Joshua not to fear the armies, that He would hand them over to them. They took them down! Even burned their chariots! Joshua and his army killed everyone in the city and then burned it down. I know it sounds bad, but that's what God wanted. Joshua had to do it.
Then the land rested from war. All the tribes of Israel shared the land.

Chapter 12
This chapter mainly is a list of all the kings the Israelites defeated with the Lord's help. 31 in all! Imagine all the land form all those kingdoms east AND west of the Jordan River!!

Chapter 13
God tells Joshua in his old age that there is still so much land to be conquered. He even moves the people from those kingdoms ahead of time. He wants Joshua to divide the land among the tribes. To the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh was given allotments east of the Jordan. Levi received a portion of the offering they had burned for the Lord. And that was all the land of the Eastern side of the Jordan River.

Chapter 14
This is the land of the West side of the Jordan River. He gave that land to all the other tribe but not the Levites. They only received cities to live in with pastures around them. He divided it according to rules from Moses. Caleb requested his land that Moses has blessed upon him, and Joshua gave it to him.

Chapter 15
This chapter tells of all the land given to the tribe of Judah. The southern border was from the south bay of the Dead Sea all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. The eastern border stretched along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan River. The northern border was from the bay where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea all the way to Mediterranean Sea. And the western border was the shore line of the Mediterranean Sea. But the land that was given to Caleb he still conquered more. He gave his daughter to whoever defeated and captured Kiriath-sepher. Othniel captured him and married Caleb's daughter. He
gaver her the upper and lower springs as requested.
Then God alloted towns to Judah.
The Jebusites could not be driven out of the towns so they lived with the triber of Judah to this day.

I know these are so full of war in Joshua, but this was when God was giving the land He promised to the
tribes. Than the Lord for His faithfulness. Amen.

Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

Study-Time!

All I did today was study. I actually enjoyed my quiet time. It was nice. Now to bed and class tomorrow!
I love you guys!!
No complaining!!!!

Mwah!

Day 16/365 Bible in a Year

Today I read Genesis 8-11 amongst all my inbetween class studying. I also finish Crazy Love by Francis Chan, but that's another story completely. A very awakening book, nonetheless.
Chapter 8
We are still with Moses. Still on that same old ark. Still trusting God to save us before we run out of food. (Putting yourself in the story helps you remember it better.) Well, God remembered them all and the rain stopped pouring. The flood went down and the ark ended up on top of a very tall mountain. They waited 40 days and other mountain tops finally started poppin up like daisies. So Noah sent out a black raven who flew back and forth between the boat and vacant pieces of earth that stuck up until the earth was dried enough to stay out. He also let a white dove outto go find land to stay on, but the dove kept coming back because there was no land dry enough to live on. A week later he let the dove go again and it brought an olive leaf back. Then again a week later he let the dove go and it didn't come back. But they waited 2 more months on this boat..!!! UGH!!! But you know? Noah was patient in waiting this long on the most likely cramped boat. When the land dried up completely, God told them all to get on the boat. And Noah built an altar to the Lord. And God promised not to ever kill all of His creation again.

Chapter 9
I'll attempt to be less wordy here haha!
God told them all to repopulate the earth, and so they did. He told them that if anyone killed another person that they will be killed by human hands in return. He told them they could eat the animals, but not the humans (duh!) Then God also promises that He will never flood the whole earth again. RAINBOW!!!
One day Noah gets really drunk and ends up naked in his tent. Ham finds him and instead of covering him he runs off to tell the other brothers, embarassing Noah even more than before. The other two brothers, Shem and Japheth ran into the tent to cover their father up before anyone else saw him. Then Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan to be slaves to Shem and Japheth because instead of taking care of Noah, Ham just told others about his nudity. Wow!

Chapter 10
I did better that time with the wording..maybe better this time?
There is an account of geneaology from verses 1-31 and verse 32 tells you that you just read all the clans of Noah. :D

Chapter 11
Wow, that was short, but there was only names so.....
This is by far one of my favorite passages (chapter 11) I'm not sure why.. I think it's because God shows that He and He ONLY is in control of His creations accomplishments. I love it.
Once upon a time......no for real.. once upon a time EVERYONE on this entire earth spoke the SAME language?! What!? You bet.
Well...they all decided to build a great tower in Babylonia.. a tower that touched the sky. A tower that would show how amazing and awesome they are. How much THEY could achieve. How much THEY THEMSELVES could do for THEMSELVES and THEMSELVES only.. Not God.
When the God on the universe literally SEES everything you do, think, hear, touch, smell, and feel....why in the world would you want to basically tell Him He means nothing to you????!??!?!!?!?!?!!!!!
You would have to be crazy... well these people were.
God saw what they were doing and scattered their language. They couldn't understand eachother. Without communication they couldn't tell eachother their selfish needs, without the things they "needed" they couldn't build the tower, and without the tower there was no putting themselves up higher than our God.
Then there is the geneaology of Shem all the way to Abram. Abram marries Sarai, Terah dies, and Lot, Abram, and Sarai end up in Ur together.

So basically, I know this scripture isn't in Genesis, but it has a LOT to do with the Tower of Babel.

Psalm 127:1-2

"Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builder is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to His loved ones."

In another form, and simply put,

"Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain." Psalm 127:1

Prayer requests? Comment below or email them to me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

Lanie

I'm Going Crazy!!

School is exhausting me!!!! I'm so tortured in my dreams about neurons and compassion...compassionate neurons...and dosage calculation problems that TALK TO ME! Even my skills chart in student development in spinning in my head!!!