"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love," (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).
I recently read this verse in 1 Corinthians and it got me thinking about what having faith means. Having faith doesn't mean that our lives are going to be perfect. Anything but perfect. We're still going to have troubles and hardship in our lives. For the verse says we need to be on guard. If life was going to be perfect would we need to be on guard? No.
We our to have courage, and to stay strong. But we can't truly be strong with out God on our side. We need God to make us strong, and that is where faith comes in. With faith in God, God gives us the strength and courage to handle the trails we are going to face in our lives.
Most importantly though we need to love. For without love the things we do don't mean much. When we live our lives we should live them with love. Love for ourselves, our friends, family, neighbors, strangers, and even our enemies. For our faith in God will get us through.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Prayer
I have always known that prayer is an important, if not an essential, part of my relationship with God. For you see prayer everywhere when you read the Bible. Not just in the New Testament either, in both Old and New. The Old Testament prophets were constantly talking with God, asking for help and guidance.
Prayer appears to be very important within the New Testament as well. In Acts we see Paul prays constantly:
"When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed," (Acts 20:37, NIV), and "When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray," (Acts 21:5, NIV).
These are two separate verses where we see Paul praying has he spends time with the other believers. Not only do the apostles and disciples pray, but Jesus himself is constantly praying to His father, God, who is also our father. If Jesus found prayer, conversation with God, so important in His life than prayer should be just as important in our lives as believers in Jesus and God.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Prayer appears to be very important within the New Testament as well. In Acts we see Paul prays constantly:
"When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed," (Acts 20:37, NIV), and "When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray," (Acts 21:5, NIV).
These are two separate verses where we see Paul praying has he spends time with the other believers. Not only do the apostles and disciples pray, but Jesus himself is constantly praying to His father, God, who is also our father. If Jesus found prayer, conversation with God, so important in His life than prayer should be just as important in our lives as believers in Jesus and God.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Joy
During one of my quiet times I read this in the Gospel of John:
"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy," (John 16:22 NIV).
In this verse Jesus tells us... Let me just stop there. Cause the first, and most important thing, is that Jesus is talking to us. It's not one of the apostles, or anyone else, but Jesus Christ. He is talking to us, as Christians, and giving us great insight into what He has given us.
Back to the verse. By believing in Jesus we will always have Him with us, and he can never be taken away. There is no one that can take him away. But it's not just Jesus that can be taken away, but the joy we have Him. I sure want the joy that Jesus gives that will never go away. I just need to trust in God.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy," (John 16:22 NIV).
In this verse Jesus tells us... Let me just stop there. Cause the first, and most important thing, is that Jesus is talking to us. It's not one of the apostles, or anyone else, but Jesus Christ. He is talking to us, as Christians, and giving us great insight into what He has given us.
Back to the verse. By believing in Jesus we will always have Him with us, and he can never be taken away. There is no one that can take him away. But it's not just Jesus that can be taken away, but the joy we have Him. I sure want the joy that Jesus gives that will never go away. I just need to trust in God.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Fellowship
Fellowship is defined as: communion, as between the members of the same church.
It is that, but it's also more than that. It is the friendships we make within our church family. Because that is what they are, family. It's different then our biological family, but it is just as important if not more.
We as human beings are a social people. We can not go about our lives without other human contact. Sociality is so important, because God created us to be that way. He created us to have relationships, fellowship or communion, with other believers.
I believe that fellowship with other Christians isn't just something that we do. It is a gift given to us, as believers, from God. It is a gift that God gave us, so it must be more important to our spiritual lives than we could ever imagine. We need the support of our church family to navigate the world, which is full of sin.
Without communion with the church, our family of believers, we wouldn't be able to survive in this world. At least I know that I wouldn't be able to. Our personal, one on one, relationship with God is essential and we can't live without it. But we still need each other. Christ gave us the church, all of God's children, so we shouldn't go at our lives alone. We never were meant to.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
It is that, but it's also more than that. It is the friendships we make within our church family. Because that is what they are, family. It's different then our biological family, but it is just as important if not more.
We as human beings are a social people. We can not go about our lives without other human contact. Sociality is so important, because God created us to be that way. He created us to have relationships, fellowship or communion, with other believers.
I believe that fellowship with other Christians isn't just something that we do. It is a gift given to us, as believers, from God. It is a gift that God gave us, so it must be more important to our spiritual lives than we could ever imagine. We need the support of our church family to navigate the world, which is full of sin.
Without communion with the church, our family of believers, we wouldn't be able to survive in this world. At least I know that I wouldn't be able to. Our personal, one on one, relationship with God is essential and we can't live without it. But we still need each other. Christ gave us the church, all of God's children, so we shouldn't go at our lives alone. We never were meant to.
TNT,
Words by Ali
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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