Keeping Up With The Jones's ~ NOT!

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Sadly enough, the examples we have in life, tend to lead us in that very direction. To always try to "keep up with the Jones's". We may not want to admit it, but we most likely have ALL been guilty of that at one time or another in our lives.

There is a scripture in the book of Ecclesiastes that really hit home for me. It says this....Ecclesiastes 4:4 "Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless - like chasing the wind."

I remember at one time in my life I would be stressing over what I would wear to church on Sunday, or to a church "get together". In that church at least, people were so clickish. Depending on where you lived, what you drove, and what you wore, would determine what click you would be accepted into.

This shouldn't be so. But sadly, it is the reality of this world we live in. We cant change others behaviors, but we CAN change our own.

The Bible says if we compare ourselves to others, we are "unwise". (2 Corinthians 10:12)

You see, God knew what He was doing when He made you, just the way you are. (Psalm 139) He made you the way you are for a specific purpose. He has a specific plan laid out just for you. (Ephesians 2:10) He is more than capable to mold a willing heart into something grand.

Don't worry about the Jones's. Live in a way that gives you peace in your heart. Live in a way that when you place your head down on your pillow at night, you do so with contentment in your soul. 

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If this has blessed you today, please share it with others. Thank you. 

Some Simple, But Indispensable, Facts About The Bible That Will Help You When You Read

I don't know about you, but for a long time in my younger years I didn't read the Bible because it confused me with all of those "thee's" and "thou's". The language didn't make sense to me.

I have learned a couple of things over the years that have helped me tremendously, and so I wanted to pass those on to you today.

1. First, get a version that you can understand.  New Living Translation is a great one to consider. When I worked for Rick Renner a few years back he had told me that it was the closest to the original Hebrew and Greek, in his opinion, after years of studying.

2. Next, understand what you are reading and who is writing it.

The books of Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians are all letters written to the churches of that time.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will tell you all about Jesus. (Although the entire Bible prophesies and speaks of Him throughout) When you learn about Jesus, you learn about God. Jesus said that if you have "seen him you have seen the father". John is a great place to start.

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are all history lessons.

Do you like poetry? The book of Psalms is great. My grandmother read the Bible from cover to cover too many times to count. To her, Proverbs and Psalms were like a "summary" of the Bible. Sort of like "Cliff Notes". Those two books, along with 3 others, are also known as "the books of everyday wisdom or "the writings". So thats Proverbs, Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes,and Songs of Solomon.

3. If you do not understand a scripture, or if it just doesn't make sense...be sure to read the entire book. If you are in Matthew, read the whole book. I know that the Bible is divided up into chapters and verses....but when each book was written originally, it was one continuous thing....not broken up. It was only broken up to help us to find reference points and make it "easier to read".

4. Last but not least....pray before you read and ask God to help you to understand it. Seriously...it makes a difference.

I hope this has helped you today. If it did, please pass it on.

Below is a more detailed breakdown of the books if you want to dig in a little deeper today.

• The Pentateuch

Written more than 3,000 years ago, the first five books of the Bible are called the Pentateuch. The word pentateuch means "five vessels," "five containers," or "five-volumed book." For the most part, both Jewish and Christian tradition credit Moses with primary authorship of the Pentateuch. These five books form the theological foundation of the Bible.

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

• The Historical Books of the Bible

The next division of the Old Testament contains the Historical Books. These 12 books record the events of Israel's history, beginning with the book of Joshua and the nation's entry into the Promised Land until the time of its return from exile some 1,000 years later. As we read these pages of the Bible, we relive incredible stories and meet fascinating leaders, prophets, heroes and villains.

• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel
• 1 Kings and 2 Kings
• 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Esther

• The Poetry and Wisdom Books of the Bible

The writing of the Poetry and Wisdom Books spanned from the time of Abraham through the end of the Old Testament. Possibly the oldest of the books, Job, is of unknown authorship. The Psalms have many different writers, King David being the most notable and others remaining anonymous. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs are primarily attributed to Solomon. Also referred to as "wisdom literature," these books deal precisely with our human struggles and real-life experiences.

• Job
• Psalms
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Songs

• The Prophetic Books of the Bible

There have been prophets throughout every era of God's relationship with mankind, but the books of the prophets address the "classical" period of prophecy—during the later years of the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel, throughout the time of exile, and into the years of Israel's return from exile. The Prophetic Books were written from the days of Elijah (874-853 B.C.) until the time of Malachi (400 B.C.). They are further divided by Major and Minor Prophets.

Major Prophets

• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations - Scholarship favors Jeremiah as the author of Lamentations. The book, a poetic work, is placed here with the Major Prophets in English Bibles because of its authorship.
• Ezekiel
• Daniel - In English and Greek Bible translations, Daniel is considered one of the Major Prophets; however, in the Hebrew it is part of "The Writings."

Minor Prophet

• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi

• New Testament Books of the Bible

The New Testament is the fulfillment and culmination of the Old Testament. What the prophets of old longed to see, Jesus Christ fulfilled as Israel's Messiah and the Savior of the World. The New Testament tells the story of Christ's coming to earth as a man, his life and ministry, his mission, message, and miracles, his death, burial, and resurrection, and the promise of his return.

• The Gospels

The four Gospels recount the story of Jesus Christ, each book giving us a unique perspective on his life. They were written between A.D. 55-65, with the exception of John's Gospel, which was written around A.D. 85-95.

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John

• The Book of Acts

The book of Acts, written by Luke, provides a detailed, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is considered a New Testament history book about the early church. The book of Acts supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of Jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. The work also constructs a link between the Gospels and the Epistles. 

• The Epistles

The Epistles are letters written to the first churches and individual believers in the earliest days of Christianity. The Apostle Paul wrote the first 13 of these letters, each addressing a specific situation or problem. Paul's writings constitute about one-fourth of the entire New Testament.

• The Epistles of Paul
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians - Prison Epistle
• Philippians - Prison Epistle
• Colossians - Prison Epistle
• 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy - Pastoral Epistles
• Titus - Pastoral Epistle
• Philemon - Prison Epistle

• The General Epistles
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter and 2 Peter
• 1 John, 2 John and 3 John
• Jude

• The Book of Revelation

This final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, is sometimes called "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" or "The Revelation to John." The author is John, the son of Zebedee, who also wrote the Gospel of John. He penned this dramatic book while living in exile on the Island of Patmos, around A.D. 95-96. At the time, the early Christian church in Asia faced an intense period of persecution.

In this book you will find the hope-filled message of salvation in Jesus Christ, the promise of blessing for his followers, and God's ultimate victory and supreme power are the prevailing themes of the book.

The Addicted, The Forgotten, And The Orphaned

So, I don't need to tell you that "life can be hard", I think you have experienced that for yourselves already. 

What you might not know is that there is hope.  

For some of us, we wake up in the morning with a smile on our face and peace in our hearts. For others, we wake up and want to pull the covers back over our heads and remain in bed forever. Or, maybe we do get up and start off right, but the day seems to beat us down like the heavy rain and hail does to a garden of spring flowers. 

No matter. There is still hope.

Thankfully, this life is temporary. If we look at it like that....its puts everything into a better perspective. Our eternity is spent somewhere else. To us, you see, this life is but a "hiccup" in the scheme of things really. The challenge is making it to our eternity and making it to the RIGHT eternity.

Most know that Heaven is real. But one of the most life changing moments for me was next to my Fathers death bed. It was just him and me. My other two sisters had not made it there yet. The nurse had told me that he was only being "sustained" that he had lost all ability to think or regain conscientiousness. I told her that I would not leave. She assured me it would be okay to go home because he would not ever wake up again. 

A few hours later, despite what she told me, my dad sat up and reached to the other side of the bed smiling and eyes wide open. He was reaching for someone. I didn't see them, but he did. I was shocked! I shook him and said "Dad, Dad". He turned and looked at me and then said "Well hi Princess. I love you." I told him that I loved him too and he laid back down and went back to "sleep". 

I told the nurse what had happened when she came back in. She looked at me like I was out of my mind. It made me wonder for a second if I was "losing it". But no, an hour or so later he did the SAME THING again............. one more time. 

You see, he saw something or someone that made him so happy that in the midst of the pain of the cancer, the inability to breathe, and being stuck in that hospital bed.....he smiled. He reached for them. It was a good thing. I think he saw Heaven, or an angel, or Jesus Himself. 

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savoir, the Bible says that we ARE SAVED. That we are forgiven of all of our sins, redeemed, and that we WILL go to Heaven when we die, and go from this temporary life to our eternity. 

Now Heaven is a great place. No pain, no hunger, no sadness, no worries, JUST PEACE. I don't know about you...but I am looking forward to that.

Our job is just to take as many with us as we can while on this earth. Now God helps, heals, defends, and rescues while we are here. He wont leave us. But that doesn't mean we wont have days where we want to just pull the covers over our heads just a little further. After all, we are not to Heaven yet.

Just remember...."hiccup". Just for a time.......THEN eternity of peace in Heaven. We can do this. Just never give up.

If this has blessed you, please pass it on. If you ever need or want to talk, just email me. 

There Is Atleast "One" Who Is In Your Corner

I know, this life can have struggles, sometimes daily. Are you there today? At that place where you feel like this life has yet again thrown you a curve ball. You tried to dodge it, but it has hit you square between the eyes..........AGAIN!

There is One who is in your corner. He has always been there actually. Even when family and friends fail you, He wont. Even when all hope seems lost, He has it in spades to share with you. He will always create a way of escape for you. So instead of feeling "trapped in a corner" today, look for "the open window". There is one.

How do I know? Because I have lived it. I have experienced it. No matter what situation I have found myself in .....nothing has been impossible to Him. Although, I will admit.....there have been times when I have "felt" alone. Completely alone. But just because I "felt" that way, doesn't mean that I was actually alone.

You see, God holds His Word above even His own Name. What does that mean? It means that He is behind His promises. Not one of His promises ever goes unfulfilled. He actually watches over His Word to perform it.

Would He save you? Would He help you? Yes. Did you know that He loves you like He loves His Son, Jesus? Let me show you this prayer that Jesus prayed. Pay special attention to the part where He says that God loves us just like He loves Him.

John 17:23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

So, don't despair today. Someone is in your corner today. In fact THE ONE is in your corner today. And if He is for you....who and what could possibly be against you. Talk to Him...pray....ask....He will hear and He will answer. He, and He alone, is faithful.

Then watch as He opens that window of escape for you.