A couple of days ago I was on my bed and putting up some of the quotes/sayings that had started piling up next to my bed for me to put up. As I was going through them and my favorite quote book I was yet again affirmed that I absolutely love quotes!! Just a sentence or two, or even three and you can usually find a piece of wisdom, something to laugh at and something to reflect on.
My eyes drifted from where I was putting the quotes up, to the door that I've had dreams of decorating with all sorts of pictures. I love to take, edit, and store pictures. In them you can see the un-explainable and say what could never be said, record fine details and keep a storage of memories to look back on, and see time pass on. Its through them I've come to realize the value of time (as it flies by) and treasuring what we have in the moment, rather then looking on only to the future.
As these thoughts sped through my brain, the memories starting flooding into my mind. The times my siblings and I would make forts, the get-to-gether's that celabrate special occasions, the first and lasts of our lives and what we do in them, captured through the lens of a camera. So many memories, so many people, so many objects that I've been given, so many blessings and people or things I could be thankful for.
Little bits of wisdom, quick snaps of a lens, and enveloped by blessings. A rather brilliant idea came to my mind then. Why not share those little bits of wisdom, those click of a button photos and the blessings God has placed in my life with those around me? There it was, the idea was finally in full shape, and thus began the explanation in this post of a new series of posts and the reason behind it.
So lets see where this idea takes us. I'm thinking the quotes, pictures and blessings might be all related part of the time or completely unrelated, we'll see where it goes.
It's about time for me to sign off.
I hope you are doing well and may the grace and peace of God be with you!
-Hosanna
Showing posts with label Challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Challenges. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
A Confession and a Blessing
You want to know what I have to confess? Well, its not a funny confession nor one that I have taken light hearted. Rather it is a struggle that I am sure each Christian has in their walk with the Lord. So I wrote this post to let you know (if you are also struggling in this area) that you aren't the only one and I pray that it encourages you in your own walk with the Lord to remain steadfast and joyful, with excitement and determination to have it grow more and more.
The Confession:
So, here's my confession. I've haven't spent the time I should have with my Lord! Wondering what I mean? Well, lately I have had a tough time continuing in my daily walk with the Lord as far as devotions go. Doesn't seem that big does it! It has been big to me though, because instead of setting aside time in the word alone, I thought of other things to do, when I was about to do it at night I decided I should go to sleep and do it in the morning then when it was the next morning I said 'well I'll just do it tonight'. It starts out as a small excuse but quickly grows. As the days go by and I see my life getting harder to understand and my other struggles increasing, I ask myself why is this happening. Then realize, its because my compass or hand hold on the world and on who I am in that world, has weakened and I have started (with a horrible sense of direction) trying to figure it out in my own power. It continues to be a struggle for me which means I must put all the more effort and determination into it, but often I neglect to. The reason I decided to write a post about this today is because this morning when I made the silent agreement with myself that I would put even more effort into it than I had in the past week and pleaded with God that He would help me, I came upon another realization.
The Blessing:
When I sat down and started to read out of Romans I was instantly asking myself why I hadn't done it earlier. It wasn't that difficult (as I knew it really wouldn't be) and I was yet again amazed at how the verses applied to my life in different areas and was encouraged that God was still speaking to me through them. A few minutes later when I found out I had to stop to get ready for the day I was slightly disappointed, because I when I read those verses the joy was revitalized within me and my grip grew all the more tighter. It was similar to the feeling that you get while you are rock climbing with a harness on and your hands slip making you put all your weight back in that harness that holds you up, and the realization as that happens, that you aren't on your own. That the trust you put in that person holding the rope below you is not unfounded and the stress leaves your body as this idea comes to your awareness. Its a rather odd example but one that came to my mind as I was writing this, because that was honestly what I felt. Joy, hope, courage, excitement, gratitude, and awe. Awe, that even though I had strayed from God and had put Him to the side and others in His place He still wanted me back and was there with open arms when I did.
In reading all this though, it is important to know that Satan will be fighting you all the way. Not wanting those feeling of joy and that faith put back in God. This was also the other lesson that was not new but I was reminded of yet again today. Because I knew that it was spiritual warfare that was the answer to my question earlier. The question of why I had not just sat down and read it sooner. Satan doesn't generally fight us visibly, instead he uses all sorts of different tactics, and one of his best attacks is the deceptive one you don't realize is there. The one he plays on the battlefield of your mind. Enticing and encouraging thoughts that not only distract but discourage you from growing in your relationship with the Lord. The only way to battle him back is to do the very thing he doesn't want you to. For it is there that you find the strength and reinforcement to continue in the battle.
I have to head off to bed now but I hope what I wrote encouraged you, and while there might be nothing in this post that is new to you. I know there are plenty of things in the bible that will be. So I hope and pray that it encourages you to go back to that bible and find something that is new.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
- Colossians 3:16
God Bless!
-Hosanna
Friday, June 25, 2010
1 John
I'm really excited some of you decided to do this. And I pray we all get more than we ever imagined out of it, as well as it staying with us for the rest of our lives. I'm hoping to be able to post some of the thoughts and insights that may come as I am memorizing this. I would love to hear what you have gotten out of it as well, either through a comment, post on your blog, email or even a guest post on here. I started memorizing today (well I have to admit I memorized a bit yesterday but I was officially starting today) and got through the first 10 verses. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
To start let me give you a little bid of information and background on the book of 1 John.
Author: John the son of Zebedee (wrote the Gospel of John and Revelation)
Date Written: Between A.D.85-95
Recipient: To all believers, probably a circular letter.
The recipients of this letter at the time were being confronted with a new form of Gnostic teaching.
The main belief in Gnosticism was that the spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. From this five main messages came
1. The human body, since made of matter, is evil.
2. Salvation is really escape from the body achieved by special knowledge (not by faith).
3. Christs true humanity was denied in two ways a. some said that Christ only seemed to have a body, a view called Docetism and b. others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left before he died, a view called Cerinthianism.
4. Since the body was considered evil, it was to be treated harshly
5. And at times this dualism gave way to no moral standard and with people ignoring any legal restraint. In this view, since matter was evil and not breaking the law, then breaking God's law was of no moral consequence/
Because of this it seems John wrote the letter for two main reasons the first was to expose false teachers (2:26) and the second was to give believers assurance of salvation (5:13). Through those two reasons John covers quite a bit in this book but most of the content in this book is really focused towards what the Christian walk should be like and why.
Now that you've gotten a little bit of an over view
Here are the first ten verses (also the first chapter) of 1 John.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowshipis with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
I love the predicament John puts us in with that last verse. Either we are sinners, or we are calling Jesus a liar and in that refusing Him and what He said. We are sinners, but verse 7 and 9 sums it up, if we walk in the light there is way out for us. Walking in the light, John says it later in a different way "if we confess our sins" walking in the light means the we are out in the open for all to see, we are accepting that we are what we are and in this case we are asking for a new body and new life in Christ. One aspect of this that struck me was the fact that walking in the light is not just a quick step out then back in so we can say we did it, but a continual journey.
For me that means I should be continually accepting that I'm not perfect but instead a sinner, someone who has done something and been something that crossed Gods standard of holiness and I can neither fix it, nor hide from it, but instead say yes to the person who loves me and cries out for me to accept Him and let Him cover over me and conquer it and create me anew.
Am I striving in my life to walk in the light, am I on that journey? Are you?
What are your thoughts? I would love comments on what you are thinking.
-Hosanna
To start let me give you a little bid of information and background on the book of 1 John.
Author: John the son of Zebedee (wrote the Gospel of John and Revelation)
Date Written: Between A.D.85-95
Recipient: To all believers, probably a circular letter.
The recipients of this letter at the time were being confronted with a new form of Gnostic teaching.
The main belief in Gnosticism was that the spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. From this five main messages came
1. The human body, since made of matter, is evil.
2. Salvation is really escape from the body achieved by special knowledge (not by faith).
3. Christs true humanity was denied in two ways a. some said that Christ only seemed to have a body, a view called Docetism and b. others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left before he died, a view called Cerinthianism.
4. Since the body was considered evil, it was to be treated harshly
5. And at times this dualism gave way to no moral standard and with people ignoring any legal restraint. In this view, since matter was evil and not breaking the law, then breaking God's law was of no moral consequence/
Because of this it seems John wrote the letter for two main reasons the first was to expose false teachers (2:26) and the second was to give believers assurance of salvation (5:13). Through those two reasons John covers quite a bit in this book but most of the content in this book is really focused towards what the Christian walk should be like and why.
Now that you've gotten a little bit of an over view
Here are the first ten verses (also the first chapter) of 1 John.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowshipis with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
I love the predicament John puts us in with that last verse. Either we are sinners, or we are calling Jesus a liar and in that refusing Him and what He said. We are sinners, but verse 7 and 9 sums it up, if we walk in the light there is way out for us. Walking in the light, John says it later in a different way "if we confess our sins" walking in the light means the we are out in the open for all to see, we are accepting that we are what we are and in this case we are asking for a new body and new life in Christ. One aspect of this that struck me was the fact that walking in the light is not just a quick step out then back in so we can say we did it, but a continual journey.
For me that means I should be continually accepting that I'm not perfect but instead a sinner, someone who has done something and been something that crossed Gods standard of holiness and I can neither fix it, nor hide from it, but instead say yes to the person who loves me and cries out for me to accept Him and let Him cover over me and conquer it and create me anew.
Am I striving in my life to walk in the light, am I on that journey? Are you?
What are your thoughts? I would love comments on what you are thinking.
-Hosanna
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Why the Challenge?
Earlier I made a challenge to anyone reading this blog, I'm really excited that some people have taken it up and are doing it with me. When my dad came home today he asked me why the challenge and memorizing so like I said earlier I'm going to explain, and maybe it will convince you to do it (if you haven't decided to yet).
The very first reason has been a lesson I have been learning just recently. One of my biggest prayers in my life is that my relationship with God would grow larger, stronger, and deeper everyday, and that my desire for Him and to serve Him would be my one and only. A little while ago I was going through a rough time in my walk with God and just cried out to Him, "God, why can't my relationship just stay firm all the time? Why do I go through these rough spots? Why can't I just figure it out?" There were definitely a few different lessons I learned that night, and one in particular has kept coming back. Last night I was flipping through my bible, trying to find a spot to read. I finally decided on first John and started going there when I stopped for a second and read a verse. I couldn't find it again after I had flipped past it but as I read it I was hit with the fact that if we don't seek, we won't find. In the past I've found when my relationship was strongest with God I was spending a lot of time with Him, constantly trying to put Him first. But when I stopped or slowed down it all began to slowly fall apart. So my first reason for doing this is to simply put God first and seek Him.
The Second reason was simply God's command "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads" (Deut. 11:18). Know them inside and out. Why???? Because God knew that it would be able to help us in day to day life.
The third is that it is there to teach me, and gives me a hope. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4
The fourth comes with Psalms 19:7-8, put simply tt revives the soul, gives wisdom, brings joy to the heart, is radiant and gives light to the eyes. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Psalms 19:7-8
In this world there is so much sin, a lot of it hard to detect and so comes the fifth reason. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The six came when I was talking with a cousin when I went to Colorado. We were talking about purity and came up with an analogy of a glass or container. You fill it with bad stuff, and there isn't much if any room for the good stuff. I the same way you fill it with good thoughts and motives there is no room for the bad thoughts and motives. "...whatever is true, whatever noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" (Phil. 4:8). Memorizing 1 John fills your heart with more content that is true, noble, right and pure.
The seventh is simply put in 1st Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. There is so much amazing content in the bible, I only wish I could retain it all. Sadly I can't but I can at least get part of it, in memorization. Then it will always be with me, and when anyone asks I'll have those words hidden in my heart.
I could go on for quite a bit longer, but I'll stop boring you and give you the last few quickly. I've always wanted to memorize a book of the bible, and since I'm not in Awana over the summer and not doing any other scripture memorization this is one way I can do it. It should be lots of fun, a good challenge, and an awesome time. I pray I'll learn lots and be able to get many lessons from this. If you aren't able to do it, but are doing some other memorization or something similar I would love to hear it and you can still be included you can even just read 1 John and learn from it while we are memorizing it. I would love to hear that you are doing, just leave a comment or email me!
-Hosanna
The very first reason has been a lesson I have been learning just recently. One of my biggest prayers in my life is that my relationship with God would grow larger, stronger, and deeper everyday, and that my desire for Him and to serve Him would be my one and only. A little while ago I was going through a rough time in my walk with God and just cried out to Him, "God, why can't my relationship just stay firm all the time? Why do I go through these rough spots? Why can't I just figure it out?" There were definitely a few different lessons I learned that night, and one in particular has kept coming back. Last night I was flipping through my bible, trying to find a spot to read. I finally decided on first John and started going there when I stopped for a second and read a verse. I couldn't find it again after I had flipped past it but as I read it I was hit with the fact that if we don't seek, we won't find. In the past I've found when my relationship was strongest with God I was spending a lot of time with Him, constantly trying to put Him first. But when I stopped or slowed down it all began to slowly fall apart. So my first reason for doing this is to simply put God first and seek Him.
The Second reason was simply God's command "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads" (Deut. 11:18). Know them inside and out. Why???? Because God knew that it would be able to help us in day to day life.
The third is that it is there to teach me, and gives me a hope. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4
The fourth comes with Psalms 19:7-8, put simply tt revives the soul, gives wisdom, brings joy to the heart, is radiant and gives light to the eyes. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Psalms 19:7-8
In this world there is so much sin, a lot of it hard to detect and so comes the fifth reason. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The six came when I was talking with a cousin when I went to Colorado. We were talking about purity and came up with an analogy of a glass or container. You fill it with bad stuff, and there isn't much if any room for the good stuff. I the same way you fill it with good thoughts and motives there is no room for the bad thoughts and motives. "...whatever is true, whatever noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" (Phil. 4:8). Memorizing 1 John fills your heart with more content that is true, noble, right and pure.
The seventh is simply put in 1st Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. There is so much amazing content in the bible, I only wish I could retain it all. Sadly I can't but I can at least get part of it, in memorization. Then it will always be with me, and when anyone asks I'll have those words hidden in my heart.
I could go on for quite a bit longer, but I'll stop boring you and give you the last few quickly. I've always wanted to memorize a book of the bible, and since I'm not in Awana over the summer and not doing any other scripture memorization this is one way I can do it. It should be lots of fun, a good challenge, and an awesome time. I pray I'll learn lots and be able to get many lessons from this. If you aren't able to do it, but are doing some other memorization or something similar I would love to hear it and you can still be included you can even just read 1 John and learn from it while we are memorizing it. I would love to hear that you are doing, just leave a comment or email me!
-Hosanna
A Challenge!!!!!
More details on why I took this challenges is going to come later, but this morning I decided I would memorize 1 John. Its 105 verses and I'm going to try and get it all memorized in 11 days. Thats roughly 10 verses a day.
Now onto the the challenge, Its not the most difficult challenge but it will definitely take work, and I'm not going to say it will be easy, but the reward will be amazing.....will you do it with me?
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
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