Day 23 In Him we find...

I'm so sorry I missed yesterday. I was super busy all day and didn't have a chance to stop by for the series. I wasn't busy with Black Friday shopping, but I was busy hanging out with some of my favorite people. First, my parents and I hung out and ate lunch with family members that we didn't see on Thanksgiving. Then, I hung out with my parents and ended the day off with a game night with some of my closest friends. Lots of fellowship and lots of good times.

 

I love my alone time, but I also love being with people. God wants us to be in relationships with others.These relationships are meant to grow and encourage each other with His love.  To motivate others to strengthen their faith is His desire. Obviously, being in the presence of others is a powerful thing. God is with us when we are alone, but He is also with us when we are in groups.

 

Jesus had His alone time, but He was also with people most of the time. In fact, His fellowship with His 12 disciples was meant to teach and grow them into disciples that would share the Gospel with others. These 12 disciples did everything together. They prayed, listened, taught, served, and ate together. Acts 2:42 says, "And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." They shared life together.

 

God wants us to be in fellowship with others. It pleases Him when we are focused on one thing- to bring Him glory. Through our troubles, we can uplift each other. Through our joys, we can celebrate together. We can pray and study scripture together. When we live in this way, we are in true fellowship with God. Philippians 2:1-2 says, "If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose."

 

In Him we find fellowship.

 

Be in fellowship with others...enjoy it...and use it for His glory.

 

If you're joining me through my year long journey of the Bible, you should be caught up until Acts 16. Use today and tomorrow to get caught up.

Pumpkins and worship

 

Did my blog title get ya? No, I was not worshipping with pumpkins haha.

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I carved pumpkins (which I haven't done in awhile..it tends to be pretty dangerous for me) but good news...I didn't cut myself carving! Yay! We were going to spray paint our pumpkins but realized that with the wind, it might not be a good idea. Here are a few pictures from our pumpkin carving.

I'm not going to lie...this is my favorite part of carving pumpkins..
strange, I know haha

 KK & I were concentrating on our masterpieces

 E carved her pumpkin with a drill...she's a smartie!
 

 

 KK with her "K" & polka dot pumpkin
 

 

 Me & my attempted "love" pumpkin...can't ya tell? haha
 

The finished products!

 

 

It was nice fellowship & fun. THEN, we went to a young adult worship/Bible study. Let me tell you, it was so cool and encouraging to see so many young people praising God. It was a great night of worship!

Today, I actually made it to church with my parents. The sermon was over Hebrews 11:32-40 and it was awesome!!

Here are a few points that really stood out to me today...

• Chapter 11 shows how there have been faithful people since the very beginning...Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and so on...all the way up to today. We are linked to these faithful people because of our faith...pretty cool, huh?
• "The fact that you exist shows that the God fo the Universe wants you and has a plan for you" ~Pastor Nathan
• Verse 40 explains that God provided something better for us, meaning the New Covenant (aka Jesus, instead of the Law)
• Because of Jesus (New Covenant), we have a personal relationship...not religion.

These were just a few things that really stood out to me.

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!

If you are following along with the year long Bible reading plan, it's catch up day! Matthew chapters 1-26.