365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 258

Our day to day lives become so hectic and this busyness can take the focus away from the Lord. School starting, work complicated, a house that needs cleaning, groceries needing to be bought, meals planned and on and on. We can’t let the complication of living our lives take us away from living a life for God. In the end, we will all stand before God and we will be judged. My goal is as I am facing God, to see him smile at me and say “well done, Janine”. Be accountable to God every day.

2Peter 2:9 …if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly mean from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 60

In my studies, it talks about getting back to that faith-moment we had when we first accepted Jesus as our savior. The point is to get back to a child-like faith that is not complicated by all the teachings, study and whatnot that you get into as you go on your faith journey. The more we know the more we realize how little we know is the main point. It is a humbling experience to realize how small we really are when we start to learn about God but we have to go back to the beginning and just have faith. Trust that God will provide for all our needs and take care of us. David says it well in this Psalm when he asks for God to restore the joy of your salvation. That is what we need to be praying for everyday so that we keep our faith and do not let all the complicated aspects of learning about God block us from God. There is a reason Jesus loves the little children because they do not complicate their faith, they just fully trust and believe. We told my daughter the truth about Santa after Christmas of 2011 but she wanted to maintain her child-like belief in Santa and acted like he was a real for this last Christmas. At first, I was a little daunted by it but in the end I think she has a natural affinity towards faith and that will serve her so very well in this life. I pray we can all have such a faith.

Psalm 51: 10-12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 334

I have been reading a book called the Dangerous Act of Worship by Mark Labberton for a class at my church. It really makes you think of what worship is, what it looks like and what it should look like. The biggest point so far that I can’t get out of my head is how the author/pastor thinks that most of us are asleep when it comes to God. We are revived and awakened when things get shaken up like when a disaster happens but otherwise we are as a song that I heard puts it “going through the motions”. Life is busy, tough and complicated and we are making “our” worship of God fit into an easy fit thinking if we go to church on Sunday and do our singing, praying and listening than we have done our worship. That is how man has carved it out to be but is that how God would like it to be? I will share more on this topic as I read through this book. I am already pretty sure worship should be an on-going integral part of our lives. What do you think?

Deuteronomy 10:12-22 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?