Father’s Day Encouragement

Hey Everyone!

Can’t believe it had been a long time since I wrote my last post.  I received a topic request to do a blog about encouragement for Father’s Day.  Today I celebrated Father’s Day early with my family.

Let’s see what God says about the duties of a Christian Father:

The Father is the head of the household.

Ephesians 5:23- “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church...”

Fathers should bring their children up in the Lord

Ephesians 6:4- “ Fathers do not provoke your children to anger,  but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Children should listen to the advice of their Fathers

Proverbs 6:20- “ My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake thecteaching of your mother.”


Proverbs 1:8-  “ Hear my son your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

Children should  obey and honor their parents in return:

Ephesians 6:1-3 “ Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor  your Father and Mothet (which is the first commandment with a promise so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”


So we see that in the Christian family Fathers are the head of the household, must discipline their children and train them in the instruction of the Lord.  Children should honor and obey their parents in return as well.  If we put God in the center of the Christian family then He will bless us.

I pray everyone has a safe and happy Father’s Day tomorrow.

Until I write again,

Lauren

Finding Comfort in the midst of Life's Storms.

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day weekend.  Last night I was thinking of what I wanted to write about in my next post and the thought came to my mind.  I've been thinking of the F5 tornado that came through Moore, OK last Monday.  This new post will be an extended version of my last post I wrote 3 months ago.

This post is dedicated to the survivors and those that perished from the devastating tornado that came through Moore, OK last Monday. My continuous thoughts and prayers are with you every day.  I hope that reading this post gives you comfort in knowing that God is with you and will give you peace through this difficult time in your life. 

As I was thinking of the topic to emphasize on for this post, one word came to mind. That word is COMFORT.

Webster's New World Dictionary defines Comfort as:  

1. To soothe in distress or sorrow; easy the misery or grief of; to bring consolation or hope to.

2. to give a sense of ease to 

3. a person or aid that comforts 

4.a state of ease and quiet enjoyment, free from worry pain, etc. 

5. anything that makes life easy or comfortable

-Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language Second College Edition pg. 284, 

Simon and Schuster

Now that we know what the word comfort means, let's look and see what God's message is for those who are looking for comfort in troubled times.  

There are many verses in the Bible that talk about being comforted.  Here are a few of those verses that we are all familiar with: 

1. Matthew 5:4-"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be COMFORTED." ( Emphasis mine).

2. Psalm 23:4-"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they COMFORT me." (Emphasis mine)

3. Isaiah 40:31-"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

4.  Romans 8:37-"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." 

5. 1 Corinthians 1:3-4- "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all COMFORT, who COMFORTS us in all of our troubles so that we can COMFORT those in any trouble with the COMFORT ourselves have received from God." 

( Emphasis mine)

6. James 4:10-"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." 

7. James 5:13-" Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is any one happy?  Let him sing songs of praise."

8. 1 Peter 5:7- "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 

9. 2 Peter 1:3-"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." 

These are a few verses that are familiar or that we turn to when we are seeking comfort in times of trouble.

Did you know that besides Psalm 23:4, there are many other scriptures in the book of Psalm that describe finding comfort in troubled times? 

This was an incredible sight to see how much the book of Psalm talks about comfort.

1. Psalm 4:8-  "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." 

2. Psalm 27:1- “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”

3. Psalm 28:7-“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

4. Psalm 31:1-4-"In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge."  

5. Psalm 34:8- "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." 

6. Psalm 34:4-" I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears." 

7. Psalm 39:7-“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” 

8. Psalm 40:1-2-“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit , out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

10. Psalm 46:1- “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

11. Psalm 54:4-“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”

12. Psalm 56:3-4-“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”

13. Psalm 61:1-4-“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.”

14. Psalm 62:1-2- “ My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

15. Psalm 62:8-“Trust in him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

16. Psalm 105:4-“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”

17. Psalm 63:6-8- “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I will sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

Here is a verse from the book of Nahum I found very encouraging also.

1. Nahum1:7- “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”

We do not ever know what life can throw at us.  No matter what your situation is, know that you can overcome through hardship. My encouragement for you today is to see that you can find comfort in the one who created this world and you.  He is the one to lean on in times of trouble.  This post is for you and I pray that God will bless you and your families as you move forward from this tragic event. Life is precious and live every day to the fullest. 

Hope you have found encouragement as I have gained through writing this post.  Life is not easy but with God you can overcome anything. There are not enough words I can express to what you’re going through, but God has things to say in His Word you can always find comfort in through this difficult time in your life.  

Again, my continuous thoughts and prayers are with the people of Moore, OK.

Until I write again,

Lauren

God's survival guide through the "Raging Storms" of Life

Hey everyone, 

It has been quite a while since I've written on here.  Hope you all are doing well and having a great start to 2013.  I've been thinking a lot about what is going on in my life as of right now and James 1 came to mind.   The topic for today is persevering through those difficult times that life brings.  It happens to everyone who's ever lived in this life.  

Let's look through James 1:2-8

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord: he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."  -James 1:2-8 (NIV)

So what kind of attitude does God want us to have according to James 1:2-8?  We all need to have a positive attitude when we go through difficult times in our lives.  This does not mean that we are happy to be going through a difficult situation but that our attitude should not be the "woe is me" attitude.  Life is too short to look at things from a negative perspective.  We should always remember that we are blessed to live this life.  

There are many reasons that we have difficult times in life.  Sometimes, God allows for us to go through things to see if we will be strong in developing perseverance. Sometimes, it may be a time of maturing spiritually and in this physical life as well.  

Every day we have decisions to make.  Whether they are easy or hard decisions.  Whatever decisions we come across in our lives and we are not sure what to do or where to turn, God is always right there with you.  When we need to make an important decision or we feel confused or feel in need of wisdom, we always need to remember that we can ask God for wisdom and the understanding of knowing what to do in a certain decision.   

However, when we do ask God for wisdom and we give our prayer requests to Him, we must not doubt.  There are times when we become discouraged about things that happen in life and that is when the bad attitudes come into play.  We should remember that God will work everything out on His time and not ours.   When doubt comes and fears arise, we have to remember that no matter what the situation is we need to be patient and look toward the future and know that God has a plan for our lives.  Even when we think the situation should be resolved on our agenda.  Remember, God puts things in our lives for many reasons. He always will work things out for the best and how He wants things to turn out.  

We may not always see right away why things happen or have the understanding of the outcome but that is where faith comes in.  

In Romans 8:28 we find out what God says on how He works everything out for the good. Let's see what He says: 

"and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28 (NIV) 

Whatever it is you are going through remember that God works for the good in all things.  It is all a part of His wonderful plan for our lives.  We do not always understand why certain things happen but God wants to show us that He has something great in store. In order to see what it may be we have to strive to be patient and content in the situation we are in our lives at this moment.  

My challenge for you this week is to look into your life and think about all the positive things that have happened in your life.  Ask God to guide you in every aspect of your life and I assure you God will always be there.  I hope this post has encouraged you as it has encouraged me also.  

May God bless you and your families every day.  Have a great rest of the week! 

Until I write again, 

Lauren 

The Armor of God.

Hey Everyone!
Sorry its been a while since my last post on here. Hope everyone is doing well and are having a great summer so far.  Today, I want to talk about the armor of God and how we can use it to fight Satan when he is wanting to tempt us with the things of this world.  How many times have you struggled with giving into temptation?

One way or another, we strive to do what is right but the cares of this world and life get a hold of us and we tend to not always make the best decisions in our life. Even though there are wars going on here on earth, there's also another war going on. It's a spiritual warfare between God and Satan. 

Let's see what God says in His word on how we can use His armor to overcome temptation.

Our text comes from Ephesians 6:10-18.   Let's examine this together with one verse at a time.

1. "Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." -Ephesians 6:10. 

•    We have nothing to fear if we remain strong in our relationship with God and walk in His light.

2. "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
-Ephesians 6:11

• So we must put on the full armor of  God when we are tempted, we can overcome temptation when Satan is always lurking around wanting us to give in. 

3. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  -Ephesians 6:12

• Even when we are dealing with wars on earth, our main priority that we're faced with everyday is the battle for our souls. Who do you want to be in your heart?  God or Satan? 

 4. "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." -Ephesians 6:13

• When we are tempted, we need to be ready to say "no" even though it's hard.  In the long run, we will be glad that we were able to stand firm and not give into temptation.  

5."Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." -Ephesians 6:14-15

• Here we see the first three pieces of armor that we need to have on everyday.  

1.Belt of Truth: We should always be truthful no matter what situation we are in. Sometimes we don't tell the truth.  When we don't tell the truth there are consequences we face. 


2. Breastplate of Righteousness-  We always should strive to live like Jesus lived.  If we remain in Christ, we need to have the mindset that HE  had.  

3. Feet fitted with readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace- We should always be ready to share the good news with others.  


6. "In addition to all of  this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."-Ephesians 6:16

• In order to remain strong in Christ, we need to always keep our faith in Him strong.  When we get caught up with the things of this world, we get distracted and don't grow in our faith. That's when Satan sees us as vulnerable and we tend to give in.

7. "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of  the Spirit which is the Word of God." -Ephesians 6:17

• Helmet of Salvation- When we put Christ on in baptism, we became saved and we need to always keep our salvation in check. How do we do that?  We study God's word. We don't merely just look at a page of words. The way we should examine God's word is to intensely study it and put it into practice. 

• Sword of the Spirit- Our sword we fight against the devil is the Word of God.  When we use our sword, we are able to fight Satan.  We keep our sword sharp by continuing to intensely study God's word and put it into practice.  When we don't use our sword, it becomes "dull" over time. Do you use the Sword of the Spirit?  If you have let it become "dull" try sharpening it again by using it.  

8.  "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."  Ephesians 6:18.

• We need to constantly pray everyday without ceasing. When we communicate with our Heavenly Father we become stronger in our walk with Him. There are times when we get concerned with our physical needs here on earth. What about our Spiritual needs?  Let's not forget our spiritual needs which are much more important than our physical needs.  God wants to have an  intimate relationship with us. It's not a relationship where we just say "Ok, thanks for saving me. I think I can take things from here."   NO.  We are nothing without God.  Our minds cannot comprehend how much God can do in our lives.  It's a relationship where He wants to spend time with us and wants to be in every aspect of our lives. He knows what we need and when we need it.  We tend to forget that God does everything on HIS time and NOT ours.  If we stay patient and give our lives over to God regardless and let HIS WILL be done, we will see how much God works in our lives.  

I hope you have been encouraged and strengthened by reading this post.  Living the Christian life is NOT easy.  Please pray for me as we pray for each other to become more like Him everyday.

Take care and may God bless you all everyday.

Until I write again,
Lauren

Discovering the Realness of God through His creation.

Hello everyone!  It's been about a month since my last post.  As I was walking my dog with my Mom on Saturday, I began to look around and I see flowers blooming.  The sun is shining, and I see a cute rabbit eating a leaf.  Even though spring has not technically began yet, it's amazing to see the seasons change.  :)


What I would like to talk about today is finding the evidence that God is real in our surroundings. When you wake up every morning, we look outside and the sun is rising.  We see the sun set at late evening, and when we go to bed at night, we see the moon shinning and the stars twinkling in the sky.  


I've been to a few places in my life where all you can do is sit and stand in awe of what God has created.  No matter where you are at, everything is beautiful. 


In Genesis 1:1 we read, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." 
(New International Version)


Here's an excerpt from Halley's Bible Handbook: "If the Bible is GOD's Word as we believe it to be, and if God knew from the beginning that He was going to use the Bible as a main instrument in the Redemption of Man, why should it be difficult to believe that God himself, co-eval with His creation of man, gave to man the germ and nucleus of that Word?"
-   -(Halley, Henry. Halley's Bible Handbook. Classic Edition The "Creation Hymn, "1:1-2:3, pg.59).


I really like the author's thoughts within this book.  What do you think the author is trying to say? 


In Psalms 19:1 we read these words, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."  

I took this picture two years ago.  I was standing outside and I saw this beautiful sunset!  This is a yellow,orange, purple and pink sunset.  Such an amazing sight!  This is definitely one of my favorite pictures.  This is what I'm talking about.   I think that this picture among many others I have taken is a representation of the verse I mentioned above.   :) 


I hope that you find encouragement today.  This is another one of my shorter posts but I will write another one again.  My challenge for you today is to look at a picture of nature or just go outside and watch the sunset or look up at the stars before you go to sleep.  Think about how awesome God the Creator of the Universe is!   


Hope you all have a great day and week.  May God bless everyone of you.  


Until I write again, 
Lauren  :)

The Great Commission

Hello Everyone, 
Hope you all are having a great Friday.  I don't know if its cold where you are right now but it's pretty cold here in Texas. Today I want to talk about the Great Commission.   I want to talk about it in sections..
First though, here is the whole text:

"Then the eleven disciples went  to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:16-20 
(New International Version).

So lets start with the beginning.... 


1. Remember there are only 11 disciples due to Judas killing himself after Jesus was arrested and going to be tried by Pilate.  


2.  The disciples went to the mountain Jesus told them to go.  Some disciples worshiped Him, others had doubt.  What would you do if you had been there?

3. What kind of authority in heaven had been given to Jesus?  All of it.  Can you imagine having all authority on heaven and on earth?

4. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations: To me, this means go and spread the good news to everyone in the world. You can even go spread the gospel to others in your hometown.  Jesus wants everyone to hear the gospel and come to Him.

5. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  What does this apply to, you ask?  Well in order to be saved, we have to first hear the word, believe that Jesus is the Son of God, Repent of our sins, Confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, then be immersed in the watery grave of baptism for the remission of our sins.  You may ask, Lauren, what does baptism have to do with salvation?

Well friend, I'm here to explain the reason that baptism is a part of salvation.  Remember in the beginning of Matthew Ch.3 when Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist?  Well, in verse 15 of Chapter 3, we read this: Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this in all righteousness." 

So what did Jesus mean by that?  Well when we read further into the text that after Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.  Do you remember  God's response to Jesus' baptism? 
In verse 17 we read these words: And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."   So this was God's way of showing that in order to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit, we must be baptized.  I know this is a controversial subject among some of my friends  but I'm telling you this is what God says in the Bible, not my words. I do believe that this is the only way we can get to heaven and become Christians.  I believe in NO other way than the perfect plan God created through Jesus. 

(But baptism is for another blog post, but just wanted to put my "two cents in").

6. and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. This means that even after we put Christ on in baptism and receive the Holy Spirit, we need to study the Bible to grow in our relationship with God. Our studying continues after becoming a Christian.  When we study, our faith becomes stronger and we are strengthened to overcome any temptation that Satan throws at us.  Let me explain something to you before I continue: I am NOT saying that the Christian life is EASY. It's very difficult to live, but we live with the hope that if we are faithful to God and live the Christian life He wants us to live, we will be in Heaven with Him one day for all eternity.

7. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age:  What does this mean?  Well this last part means that Jesus will be with us as long as we abide in Him.  Jesus is alive and with us every day.  He is going to always be there for us and even when He comes back to receive those who have remained faithful Christians.

Here's an excerpt from a great book my Grandparents gave to me for my college graduation present. I really enjoy this book!  :)

In the book Halley's Bible Handbook, the author describes what he thought about this last phrase of the text: "We cannot understand how One Person can be with millions of billions of persons at the same time. But it is Deity. And Jesus said it in the plainest possible language, "I AM WITH YOU ALL THE TIME". Jesus said that. And Jesus did not use idle words. He did not talk just to hear himself talk. He meant something when he said that, and we believe that, in some real sense, beyond our comprehension, mystic, but real, HE is with each of us all the time.  No mater how weak, or humble, or unimportant, HE is our friend, our companion. Invisible, but there. Now, right now. Tonight, while we are asleep. Tomorrow, while we are at work. Next Week. Next year. Shadowing us through life. Walking by our side. Watching with kindly interest every detail of life's pitful struggle, trying so patiently to lead us up to a place of immortal happiness in His Father's home/ This all seems like just a beautiful dream. But it is a FACT, the one fundamental fact of our existence."
      -(Halley, Henry. Halley's Bible Handbook. Classic Edition. pgs.444-445).

I couldn't agree more with the author.  What do you think?

I hope this has painted a clearer picture for you.  When I write all of my blog posts, I am also talking to myself.  I'm not perfect. No one is or will ever be except Jesus.  May we all strive to live as Jesus lived. Let's pray for one another so that we all may enter into Heaven for all eternity one day.

Have a great weekend!

Until I write again,
Lauren

Happy New Year of 2012!!

Happy New Year Everyone!   Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years!  

Since it's only been day 3 of 2012, I'm going to write about looking forward into the future ahead.  

 Do you ever wonder what the future holds for your life?  Everyone does.

 

What does the beginning of a new year mean to you?  For me, it's a never ending adventure.  I look forward to what God has in store.  Sometimes, we go through the years and get caught up in our busy lives and tend to  be concerned or worried about our future.  


Let's take a look at what God says in His word: 
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  -Jeremiah 29:11

We never have to be afraid of what we face in life.  With putting our faith and trust in God, we know that He's going to give us a bright future.  

Just wanted to write a short devotional thought for tonight.  Hope you are strengthened and encouraged by it.  Let's continue to pray for one another and strive to look to God as we go into the new year.  May God bless you and your families.   


Until I write again, 
Lauren