Blessed to be a what?

Hey my lovely readers!

I hate that I've been gone so much :( I keep thinking I'm going to start getting used to my schedule, but I'm not there yet :/ This is the first time in a year that I've been busy!

Work is still going good. Selling dresses and making brides happy can be quite exhausting though! 

Class is still going good. It's amazing how it's changed my perspective on a lot of things, especially how I read the Bible.

All of my volunteer ventures are going well. I made it back to Awanas for the first time in a few weeks and I was so glad to be back with those crazy 3 year olds, learning scriptures.

Anywayyy, I was super busy yesterday and wasn't able to post about my sermon notes...so here it goes!

The series that we are in right now is dealing with money. Yeah, I know...money in church may make you want to cringe. Maybe money in general makes you want to cringe. I'm extremely tight with my money, meaning that I try to save as much as I can. I'm very conscious of it, which I think my parents appreciate haha. It may sound like a good thing that I like to save, but on the other hand, it can be a little dangerous. I like to hold onto it so it makes it difficult when I need to spend money. I'm working on this though because it can be quite frustrating. I realize that money is only temporary. It's not going to heaven with me when I die. However, there are some ways that we can spend our money that will last for eternity. It may be donating money to buy Bibles for homeless or donating money for a mission trip or sponsoring a child while teaching them about the love of Christ. Things like this can last for eternity. 

The title of the sermon was "Money makes us wise...?"

We need to spend our money in a wise way. Not blowing it on things that pleasure us, but with an eternal perspective. Yes, we need to buy necessities like clothes, food, and the like, but we can spend the rest of our money wisely. 

1. "We should give intentionally." Maybe instead of getting Starbucks every morning, save your money by making your own coffee at home and give the rest of the money to your church or other ministry every month. 

2. "Practice justice and practice love." Pray for discernment in how you should spend your money and act in love.

3. "Bring the tithe...it's His (God's)" We should give 10% of our income to church. Of course, if you can, give more. It's an act of sacrifice when you are tight in terms of money, but still give 10% with a trusting heart that God will provide. What is ours, is God's first. He gave it to us. That job you have...is not your's, it's God's. He gave it to you. Give back to Him.

4. "Give what's decided in your heart. Not reluctantly. Not under compulsion." Don't give your money just because I'm blogging about it. It's fine if it motivates you, but don't give because you feel like someone is forcing you to. God knows your heart.

5. "Give with a cheerful heart." God loves a cheerful giver. If the cashier at the store asks if you'd like to donate to a worthy cause, don't huff and puff and say, "I guess so." You should feel privileged to be able to give back for an eternal cause.

Here are a few scriptures that should motivate us to be wise with our money...
1 Timothy 6:17-19 -  Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,  storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

Deuteronomy 16:17 - Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 -  Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

In my Perspectives class, we have talked about blessings. God doesn't bless us with things, just for fun. He blesses us so we can bless others. We are blessed to be a blessing so that we will bring glory to God. If you have a job, you are blessed so that you can give back and be a blessing to others. If you have free time, you are blessed so you can spend time volunteering. God doesn't rain down blessings on us for us to just enjoy, but to share those blessings with others.

I usually end my posts with "Blessings", but I've decided that our focus shouldn't be on receiving blessings but being blessings to others. So I decided to change it up as a reminder for us :)

Day 22 In Him we find...

Have you counted your blessings today? Today is Thanksgiving...a day designated to be "thankful". Like I said yesterday (Day 21), we have an abundance of things to be thankful. All of God's wonderful qualities should bring us to extreme thankfulness. Not only does He share those qualities with us, but He also provides for us so that we may live here on Earth.

Look around you. Everything that you own is God's. You may not agree with me, but if it wasn't for God, you wouldn't own any of it. You may say, "Well I work and earn money, that's why I have these things", but it's because of God that you have a job or a family/community that supports you. Everything goes back to God. He gives and takes away. You may not have everything you want...like a specific car or phone or job, but there is a reason why you don't have those things. Maybe if you did, that special thing you want may become an idol to you. We shouldn't idolize anything, only have our hearts and minds set on God. He provides everything we need. Sometimes we may live from paycheck to paycheck, but we are living. He provides us with a beating heart. He provides us food, even if it may not be what we are craving. He provides us shelter, even if it isn't our dream house.

Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." We need to be thankful for all that He has given us. "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It is His will for us to be thankful, so we better be thankful! Harry Ironside said, "We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” Think about that. Instead of worrying, praise God for all that He has blessed you. God doesn't want to hear us complain about the things we don't have, but He wants to hear our thankfulness for the things we do have.  The more thankful we are, the more satisfied we are in God. Let's not be thankful only for today, but thankful everyday for God's provision in our lives.

In Him we find provision.

 

I challenge you to have some quiet time with God today and thank Him for all your blessings and of course, His goodness.

via

Today's scripture for read-your-Bible-in-a-year plan is Acts 8-10.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Beautifully BE-ATITUDINAL

A friend invited me join her in reading the whole Bible in a year so of course, I said yes!! I've always wanted to read the whole Bible and I've tried multiple times but never seemed to follow through :/ So I figure this is a great opportunity since I have someone holding me accountable. Our reading started yesterday and so far we have read Matthew chapters 1-6. It's crazy how you can read something so many times and still notice things you never realized before...that's how God works ;)

Anyway, I love chapter 5, aka the Beatitudes and part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. You might be wondering what the heck are "Beatitudes"? Beatitudes are defined as supreme blessedness or the blessings that Jesus listed in his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is so clear & to the point...I love it! If you've never read the Beatitudes before here they are...and if you have, read em again, who knows something different may stand out to you this time!

Matthew 5:1-12

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Let me ask you this, do the underlined phrases explain you and the way you act? Since these phrases are known as blessings, do you think the world would define them as blessings? Probably not...the world tells us, "Don't be meek, merciful, hungry for righteousness, poor in spirit, peacemakers...that's not cool!" As believers, we aren't supposed to go with world's flow, but to go against it so we can show Jesus' love for others.

 

So let's try to be beautifully beatitudinal!

If you would like to read the Bible in a year with me, feel free to tag along! You will be blessed, I'm sure!

To catch up with me, read chapters 1-6 in the book of Matthew.

Also, if you would like the reading plan for the year, I can email it to you. Just let me know by commenting on this post!