365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge

This will be a short one since my shoulder surgery was yesterday and I have only one hand to use. The next word I am looking into in the scripture 1Corinthians 13:4-13 is envy. In looking through some definitions of envy on google, I realized that this sin can manifest itself like the green-eyed monster but can also be so subtle you don’t realize what you are feeling is a sin. I had struggled with this with my envy of other women and there ability to communicate well in a social situation. The insecurities of my slower auditory thought processing had me wishing I could process what I am hearing quicker so I could keep up with the conversation going on. I was thinking only of myself and my issues instead being other-thinking. This last year doing this blog and the praises challenge had me in God’s Word everyday. With His help, I have conquered this sin and come to a place of peace and contentment of who God created in me. The Holy Spirit has given me the wisdom I needed to understand this subtle sin and wash it away. Does it creep back in me? Yes, because the evil one will do anything and everything to draw you away from God. So, let us pray.

Holy One, We are so thankful for the guidance you give. Help us today to find the wisdom we need in your Word or through our prayers to discern the subtle sins that the devil tries to get into us. Help us today to conquer the sin of envy and be at peace with who you created us to be.

Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 11

Today I am looking at the love being “kind”. At first I thought I wasn’t really going to get much about this little word but my expectations were wrong again. Kindness is the act or state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behavior, pleasant disposition and concern for others. It is considered one of the seven virtues in the bible that counteract the seven deadly sins. Kindness counteracts envy. I think the core part of being kind to others is being selfless, is taking yourself out of the equation and looking only at the person/people in front of you. Have you ever done an act of kindness for someone just because? This is a selfless demonstration of love. These acts of kindness don’t have to be about spending money on someone. It can be that a friend could use some of your time on the phone to talk or a co-worker could use a little sounding board to get off some steam. I am working on the more and more at my job. I am a focus-driven worker so I can go and go and not come up for air until my bladder says time to get up and move it to the bathroom quick. I have been lately taking the time to talk a little more with my co-workers when I encounter them in the break room rather than just barreling off back to my desk and my work. Taking the time to talk with one another not only gives kindness to the person but gives you a sense of peace as well. So look at your day and take the time to smile and start a conversation with the grocery clerk, smile and say some kind words to the telemarketer who is calling you right in the middle of dinner, smile and do something your husband normally does like take out the trash.

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 277

I have been reading a book called Faith of Our Fathers. It is a book in a series on stories about the Kings of the Old Testament. This book is about Manasseh. From my reading of the bible, I knew from the get-go as I began this book that Manasseh was a king who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. I found the two entries in the bible about Manasseh and was first off glad to see the writers thus far have followed what is in the bible but the amazing part is all the story around what's in the bible. Now this is fictional so they made it up, but it really makes you think of how bad or evil a person is but what is the story behind all that sin. What got them to that place? In this case, the writers make him out to be envious and jealous of his boyhood friend and family and even though he grew up learning the Torah the seeds of this envy and jealousy had been in him and all it took was the right corrupt person to enter his life that played up to this part of him and led him away from God and to so much sin. It makes me think of how careful we need to be when it comes to the people we meet and the things they say to us. We have to call on wisdom and discernment from God to help us on our journey and make sure are path is straight to God. Wisdom, discernment and clear guidance on what my next step in life is has been my goal. Despite the pros and cons that I am putting together of the various carreer avenues I can take, I want to take the one God wants me to take. What is he calling me to? Have you wondered what next? Only God knows what is the best and right place for us to go. Seek and you will find.

2 Chronicles 33: 1-2 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fify-fve years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelistes.