The importance of God's word

Reading God’s word and praying first thing in the morning has changed me a lot. It makes a difference in how I go about my day especially since my days are pretty uneventful. God’s word somehow allows me to be fine with the quiet and uneventful days I am living right now, usually I would get annoyed when my days were like that. I should be thankful for these days because they allow me to rest and prepare for days that may be overwhelming and overloaded with things to do. The busier days are going to come soon which is great because not doing much makes me lazy. Studying the Bible several times a week also strengthens me. Going to group Bible study and the Genesis Bible Academy is very refreshing. At the beginning of the summer I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go to the GBA but once I went I wanted to go every time. However, it also coincides with my group Bible study which I am bummed about. I decided, though, that it is also important if I attend that meeting because it prepares me for Sunday Worship Service. Either way, I receive God’s word, so it doesn’t matter where I go.

This kind of ties to my post on Prayer and to the topic on Love and Service which I will be talking about at YDJ in two weeks.

My take from this: Life is not all about me. Love needs action and prayer.

Prayer

At YDJ we talked about prayer today. Our theme this semester is Fellowship and attributes of it. Prayer is something I am lacking in. It is not like I am not doing it but it is not my priority either. I do a quick prayer in the morning and evening, at least sometimes. I realized, however, that I don’t do as well when I don’t pray. Jesus taught his disciples the importance of prayer, though, through the Lord’s Prayer. It is a simple prayer but it contains and says everything I would need to say to God. This prayer is more for myself. At YDJ I learned though that prayer for others should be an essential part of my life. 1 Samuel 12:23 says, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” WOW! Not praying for others clearly is a sin. Until today I didn’t know this. I always thought praying for others is important but I wasn’t aware that not doing so would be a sin.
When I notice that someone is not doing well I try my best to remember them in my prayers, but I often pray for them once or twice and then stop for no particular reason. Isaiah 62:6 and 7 says, I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest,and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” The bold part is important. And ties to what I said before. I give up or stop praying, but I am told to give myself and God no rest until he hears me if he wants to hear me. During our meeting someone talked about Daniel who fasted and prayed for days and weeks until Gabriel appeared to him and told him that if he hadn’t continued praying he couldn’t have come because the angels were in a battle with evil and couldn’t have come earlier. That is an amazing story, and it comes to show how powerful prayer can be. The prayer we talked about in our meeting was more focused on praying together as a group, but a lot of what  we talked about is very relevant to my personal prayer life.

Well, I obviously failed to post last month but things have been kind of crazy and busy. I was sick for three weeks and am still recovering.
Sickness always sets me back at least two steps and I can’t get done what I need to get done. I need to learn to pray better because then life will be so much easier.

Time

I haven’t posted anything in a while. I have been pretty busy with school and other things. I don’t even remember how long ago I wrote my post, just found out it was April - the year goes by so fast.
Since my last post much has happened which you probably already heard about. I am going to the University of Maryland now where I was able to get In-State Tuition after some serious months of petitioning. But that is all over now and the battle is won. The semester is almost over and was a challenge at some points but all a great learning experience. The only thing I didn’t really like about Maryland is that it is so big and it is hard to make friends but I guess they will come over time.
Spiritually I wouldn’t say I am in a low but also not on a high. It’s something in between. This is definitely something I have to work on. Maybe going back to reading the Bible in the Morning and Evening. I did that earlier this year and was able to finish all the epistles. I’ll find something to read, maybe continue following the daily bread would help. Anyway I want to devote more time to God from today. Time is precious. You canneverget it back. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
I’ll also try to post more often, maybe once a month.
And always remember:
God loves You!

Salmonella

Well, that’s what has been in my small intestines for more than four weeks. They thought it would be nice to just take over my body and it took four doctors to find that out. And even the last one was not 100 percent sure. Anyhow, I am on antibiotics now and hope to be better by the end of next week, finally. Those little bacteria better move out of my body, so I can go back to normal and eat what ever I want, eggs, ice cream, and chicken, my favorite meat. So now I am not allowed to eat any of those foods for a few weeks until I can be sure all the salmonella have moved out. God will heal me - in His time.

HighLow

Hey!

Well, as most of you know I am physically going through a low right now. I have been sick with stomach pain for 3 and a half weeks. But spiritually I think and feel like I am on a high. I know God is giving me the strength to do the things I have to do and helping me to just trust in Him. Because I also know he has the power to heal and would heal me if He was willing. I am just waiting for His time to come.
He is teaching me a lot important lessons through my daily Bible readings and has strengthened me spiritually. I learn a lot every day and discover something new every day. His grace is sufficient for me. His strength is made perfect when I am weak.
He is the reason I live and the reason I am here.

Think

Something’s stuck in my head which doesn’t let me go to sleep. Life is so complicated sometimes. Only God can help me right now.

A new beginning

This semester I decided to put my focus back on God. I was able to go back to His word every day since the semester started. In our first YDJ meeting Abe asked us to take up a challenge this semester that requires me to keep a journal (which he provided) and think about the personal challenges he gives us every week. I even had to sign a resolution (Wow, this just made me think of Courageous) in which I had to check which things I would pledge to do. I checked all of the boxes. I know I need some change in my life. And I thought if I commit to this I should fully do so without attached strings. Some people only checked one box, others told me, “I don’t know if I can do that.” But I know this often means, “I don’t want to do it,” which is kind of sad. But I pledged to support and encourage them and I will do so. And I know I have to hold myself accountable to all the things that I pledged to do. But it is all for a good cause. I am doing all this because I want to get to know God better. What is there to lose? This week’s challenge “requires” me to read the Bible in the morning AND in the evening. I was a little skeptic at first since I just got myself to start reading once a day and wasn’t sure if I would be able to read twice a day. However Abe made clear that reading the Bible is essential for our life. It is food to us. It also furnishes and equips us to do good work (2 Timothy 3:17). So I accepted the challenge. Focusing on God goes into the second round which will be more intensive than before, but also more interesting.