We have finished! Wow, After months of studying our satisfaction in Jesus in our daily lives, looking at true biblical love, Joy, suffering, treasure, and so much more,
Do you feel that your heart is blazing or do you feel equipped to set it a flame even more?
What is one thing you have learned?
What are any questions you still have?
Encourage other Heartbeatians to blog their thoughts, I know you have them and no matter how small they matter to us and most assuredly to your Father in Heaven!
-P. James
What is one thing you have learned?
What are any questions you still have?
Encourage other Heartbeatians to blog their thoughts, I know you have them and no matter how small they matter to us and most assuredly to your Father in Heaven!
-P. James
February 17, 2010 2:16 PM
ReplyDeleteLaura said...
So I figure there will be a new blog for tonights lesson, but I have this written up, and couldn't wait. So her it goes!
So what? What did theses lessons teach me? Or more specifically what did God teach me through the lessons?
Answer= I don't deserve the grace pored out on me with every breath I take. I am nothing (and rightly so) without Christ in my life!
I have struggled and prayed and fought over not being my own person. "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."
I deserve nothing but still I am blessed!
Some things from past weeks that stood out to me were
1. the definition of evil. This is what I had written down "Evil is leaving God's fountain of living water and trying to find water in a broken cistern.
2. Looking at love and first corinthians 13:3 "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, BUT have not love, I gain nothing."
Love is such a vital part of our faith. But if we do not pursue our joy in God then we cant be loving.
"Love is the overflow of our JOY in Christ, to meet the needs of others."
3. lesson 7, we talked about the beauty of love. "Love really shines most beautiful when you press on loving others EVEN when its hard and costly to you."
The question that comes to mind, "Have I ever suffered for love?"
Its the same question that I faced tonight! I have never really suffered. Sure, I have faced trials, and troubles. But, I have never suffered anything worth mentioning for my faith. So, would I remain joyful through suffering? I like to think I would but how do I know?
Over all, it has been AMAZING!!!!!!!
Just to agree with what James says about taking notes! They really are very helpful if you hang on to them, I would not of remembered hardly any of this if I hadn't written it down :)
I thought it was amazing!!! oh so terribly exciting!(Laura) (:
ReplyDeleteWhat really stood out to me the most was when Jerry put in his testimony that 'Nothing here on this Earth is worth holding onto without Chirst'
Sometimes i find myself wanting to keep something that was important to me at the time but in reality was so unimportant, just like the knife that James used as an example. its hard to let go of the things that we think satisfy us, but really it will hurt us and make us even more unsatisfied then before. Now I am starting to experience more joy and satisfaction in Christ!!!! PRAISE GOD! This Journey is totally new to me but has been the time of my life! There is no greater gift than the gift of joy and satisfaction that we can have when we glorify our Father in Heaven!!! Even though im kinda sick and its making me quite tired, i have so much joy that i just want to scream!!! I've never felt so passionate!!! i cant even stop similing while i write and that shows how great our God really is!!! This joy makes me think of 1 John 4:16 which says 'And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.'
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! (Sorry that was me screaming because i can't contain the joy my Father has set before me!!!!!!)
ok, so this has nothing really to do with the lessons, I just have to share this because its super exciting to me!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo as you all know, I teach dance. Well, tonight we had lyrical! It seems like sometimes the girls get so caught up in what people think about them and what they are doing that they don't let go and dance with God!!!!! (don't we all! )
But tonight, I turned on some music and turned the lights off... and we got to just dance! Nobody was watching, nobody was judging! By the end I was so happy that I was shaking and had chills....
God is good!
Then, after that I had another opportunity to talk with one of the girls from my class! Still not easy for me, but getting better! Its amazing because I am learning so much! as well as practicing presenting my relationship in a way that people can understand!!!!!
God is so Great!!!!!!!! His mercy and Grace, and peace and love, and sacrifice, and gifts and everything else goes beyond FAR FAR BEYOND my understanding or imagination!
I just had to share!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today when me and Ben were chosing the songs for Group 915, we looked at the song 'Show Me Your Glory' another one of those clicks happened((((: I was really paying attention to the words of the song
ReplyDeleteWhen I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won't settle for ordinary things
I'm gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won't rest 'til I see You again
This is the 2nd verse and i kinda of put it into perspective of my life. Summer camps, pine cove, mission trips, beavers bend, stuff like that gets us away from the world and we are able to worship God easier, and it puts us on a 'high.' To me its saying when i come back from one of the trips that gives me the Christ 'high' when i get back to my life im not gonna settle for any of the things i had before, I am gonna choose to follow you Lord, for the rest of my life!
How powerful is that! I never really dwelled on the word of this song before! Im learning more and more through songs now than i ever have before! Christ has shown me so much!
Also the Chorus says:
Show me your glory
send down your presence
I wanna see your face
Show me your glory
majesty shines about you
I can't go on without you Lord
This is always something we should be praying and asking God for. I don't know about anybody else but I want to see God's glory i want to feel his presence! When we gorify God you can see his majesty shining through us! God is good! He can tell us anything if we are willing to listen.
Okay so i couldn't wait for the next blog to go up about the movie if there is going to be one(:
ReplyDeleteTonights movie really impacted me alot!!! To see what nate and his son went through really got me to thinking. Am I really satisfied in God????? Seeing that a little 7 or 8 year boy that is satisfied in God at such a young age is very humbling! If I were in that same situation i would probably have alot of hate towards the Ecuador people. Im starting to see that when I am realy satisfied in Christ, i will only have love towards people. GOD DOES SATISFY!!! Even when we feel that nothing good is going to happen we just have to wait and he will truly satisfy our needs. No candy bar could ever give us the satisfaction that God gives us, and that is something that I am still trying to understand!
Amen!!!!! I am still trying to understand it too!
ReplyDeleteI was really thinking about how comfortable we are here! How much more should we be giving?!?!? I am not saying that we all need to pack up and move out of america to do missions (for some that might be the case) What I am saying is that even here we can give our life, maybe not physically, but we can poor out all we have on the hurting people we pass everyday!
At the end when steve said " nobody took my fathers life! He gave it" that made me think about giving my life... in everything I do! When we are talking to the hurting kids at Phoenix, or the teachers who are not so nice to us. We are an example and we give our life for them...
I just want to do so much more... I don't want to become complacent, and relaxed, I don't want to see someone come to know Christ as their savior and not get chills and rejoice with them.
There is so much more I want to say and do, but I can;t keep it all straight right now, so I will maybe try again later!
Wow, you guys can really write! It is really hard to not become complacent and comfortable here in Greenville, Tx. There are so many ways God helps us to overcome it but one way is to find a few of our talents and exploit them on His behalf. (ie: if you dance-blog about how dance impacts your relationship with Christ, search online for dancing ministries, teach dance at Contact, start a dance accessory business and use the proceeds for His glory) Don't under estimate your gift to the students at Phoenix-Grow it.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say i'm so ready for the new series on James!!! I really like James because of all the good verses that you can really contemplate and think about(: I have read James a couple times, and i still find new pieces of information that i didn't pick up on before! James has been very challenging for me to live out and it still is very difficult ome of the verses that really capture my attention are
ReplyDelete1:4
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
1:19-20
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
2:8-9
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
2:12-13
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
2:18
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
3:3-6
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
3:9-11
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
3:18
ReplyDeletePeacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
4:3
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4:7-10
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
4:11
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it
5:3
Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
5:8-9
You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
5:11
As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
5:13-16
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
all these verses are the some of the ones that stood out to me the most and im excited to see where this whole series is gonna go(((:
Today i have found out how God has challenged me for the day. IN my devotional this morning it talked about how we should love our families even with there imperfections and love them and not get angry with them. Well today I have found myself starting to get mad at some of the people in family, and its really a big challenge to not get mad. its amazing little the circumstance is but how big of a challenge it really is!
ReplyDeletethat is so true! it is hard when you know that you are getting mad, and you also know that you shouldn't be! It seems so much harder to stay happy with your family then your friends...
ReplyDeleteGood reminder thanks for sharing!