Philippians 1:29

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but to suffer for him."

We often love the "perks" of being a follower of Christ, but the suffering part, we aren't fans of it. I mean, who would be?

But the fact that we follow Jesus, can see how he wants the world to be yet we are surrounded by a sinful and fallen world is enough, if we really pay attention, to see how much we suffer.

The goal is to understand that we will suffer for Christ, but not to the point of depression.

Remember, that in our suffering we are building up and that we have a hope that no one else has.

Proverbs 1:28

"Then they will call to me and I will not answer, they will look for me but will not find me."

This is part of Proverbs where God is being honest with his people. If you do not pay attention, if you rebuke and deny him; he has every right to turn away from us.

He is the Creator of time and space and we are the created.

Does this make God "bad"? How can we ever put a label on an entity that created everything and has allowed us to live and multiply?

That's like the clay doll you make, coming to life, and then questioning you, it's creator.

1 Samuel 1:27

"I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted to me what I asked of him."

Prayer.

Does prayer work?

I absolutely believe that it does, but it is not always what we believe is needed.

Does that sound like a cop out? Yes, to the unbeliever and to the struggling believer, but never forget that we cannot understand completely God's ways or his "plan".

If we could understand it, we'd be God and we are not.

James 1:26

"Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues, deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."

If you are a Christian, want to be a Christian or wondering what Christianity is all about, I would tell you to open up the book of James. It is a great "how-to" on being a follower of Jesus.

Romans 1:25

"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen."

Could there be a scripture more applicable to today's world? Especially in the U.S.?

Philippians 1:21

"For to me, to live is Christ to die is to gain."

I've been to some Developing Countries, and the above verse is something I have seen there, but not often here.

Christ is in us, but before we ultimately are with our Creator, we must die.

We must be willing to die...to gain.

James 1:20

"because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

Again, James is a great "how-to" on being a Christian. It constantly reminds us what we should attempt to attain.

James 1:19

Today is a good one. We all need to do this more.

"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."

No further explanation is necessary.

Psalm 118

v. 1: "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and his love endures forever."

Colossians 1:17

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

I found this scripture this morning and it sums up my world view and I often wonder what people believe that don't believe in God. I've found they don't really believe in anything but themselves, their mate or their hobby.

Conversations often go like this:
Athiest: "How can you believe that God created the world?" 
Me: "How do you believe that the world was created?" 
Athiest: "Not by a god!" 
Me: "How do you believe that the world was created?" 
Athiest: "Science!" 
Me: "Why is there something instead of nothing? What was before the "bang"? How did something come from absolute nothingness?"
Athiest: "I don't know, but it wasn't God."
Me: "Why are you so angry at God?"

And we proceed on from there with other philosophical points because as much as I love science (it has benefited my life sooooo much), it can't explain everything.

My belief is that God did create everything, that He was before all things and holds them together. It is plausible, how probable? More than enough for me to live a happy life believing it.

Romans 1:16

"I am unashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God that saves first the Jews, then the Gentiles."

In an ever increasing secular and hostile world towards Christians, will you...will I continue to stand up for Jesus?

Jesus has called us to do good works, yet so many people have been hurt by "us". I read it online all of the time...apologize and try again.

But always stand up and be unashamed.

January 15th or 1.15

1 Peter 1:15
"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do."

I will post every day all year or maybe until I get tired of doing so Bible scripture that coincides with the date. This is a dangerous thing because context is more important than you could ever know, but I will try.

This scripture is tough.

Christians are often more judgmental than we should, but also the quickest to be judged when we are not "perfect".

1 Peter is calling us to be holy, but we will fail...always...100% of the time.

But we get up, dust off, and try again.

The Gettysburg Address

We were told next to the large tree on the right is where Lincoln gave his famous Address in Gettysburg.

She's a Winner

We love to travel

Where the Mississippi River on the right and the Ohio on the left merge. We visited this summer.