Day 15

1 Thessalonians 4:3

It is God's will that you would be sanctified.

Sanctified means to be set apart, holy, free from sin, consecrated.

God wants us to pray to him and he also wants us to live a pure and holy life.

If we are having trouble with such a thing as this, we need to pray that he may reveal this to us.

God promises us all over the Word that he will answer us.

He told us that anything that is asked in His name and according to His will will be answered in His timing because he knows what's best for us.

Matthew 7:7 is one of the promises, "Ask and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." All we have to do is ASK.

Asking takes another step and effort also. It takes confidence. When we pray, we need to pray confident prayers. Prayers knowing and trusting God that he will reveal himself to us, bring us into a deeper level with Him, loving others,  and freeing us from anything that holds us down.

Psalms 51:10 -- Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

When we pray we need to start off with sincerity and truth, going to Him and asking him to renew the Spirit that gets so easily entangled with worldly passions and allow the spirit to stand firm in the faith and knowledge of God.

It is God's will for us to be sanctified, now it's our choice to allow God to do this miracle in our life or not.

Day 12

Romans 12:11

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Amen.

Day 11

1 John 5:13

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Many people look at this and say this is not true. This "religion" everyone follows is false because I will only believe it if I see God. And eternal life? Please stop living in fantasy world. 

People always want to hear about the unusual and the spectacular. They want to hear about everything exciting and what's more exciting than hearing about the Truth, the word of God?

Yes, it seems like just a Bible filled with words written by dead people who proclaimed they were inspired by God. But in the Bible are amazing things that talk about everything for our lives, now that's unusual. Where in the world will we find a book like that, ever?

Jesus dying on the cross for us is even more spectacular. We will never again see a human being suffer and shed his blood for the sake of mankind. Now that's love. Excitement mixed with love? Even better.

Many think Christian life is boring, that Christians just pray and go to church and sing hymns. That may be true in some aspects but there's so much more to this walk then meets the eye and  some people just haven't seen it yet.

Day 10

Revelations 7:13-14

"Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes -- who are they, and where did they come from?" ... "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Revelations 6: 9

"...I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained."

We all know that suffering for good is always worth it and of some kind of value.

Wouldn't it be awesome if someone were to know you as a person who followed the two verses up there? To say, though all the trials and tribulations have been put in front of him, he withstood is with the power of God, maintained his faith, and were able to claim victory over the devil. His testimony is that he remained faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Day 9

Revelations 4:8

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.

How amazing is it that we have the wonderful privilege to say this to the most highest of highs, the King and our father.

From the beginning he deserves all the glory, and in Heaven, that's exactly what everyone is doing, spending eternity with him. Giving him all the praise and honor and worshipping him with spirit and in truth.

We do that now, back in our churches, in our retreats and conferences and most of come back stating that it's always a blessing. It's always so great to see the people of God sing in one accord, lifting up their hands, and crying out to God. We always have an awesome time doing that and it's always such a spirit filled moment. Now imagine that in Heaven, how would it be like?

And how do we get into heaven? It's simple, just open the door of your heart and let Jesus Christ come in. Revelations 3:20 states, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the odor, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

God only rebukes the ones he loves, and he shows them his care and grace for them. We have the most precious gift of all and let's not take it for granted.

Day 8

Revelation 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

John 7:17

"If anyone many will do his will, then he must know the doctrine."

If we want to be certain of God, we have to believe first and then we will be certain. Reversing the order will be insulting to God. Someone may say, "Well, I will only believe if I have proof" But God says, "I ask you to believe because I am speaking." That is the only way we will be able to witness God and experience him. 

If we don't fully believe that he is God, has is he going to reveal himself to us.

If we have doubts, how are we able to let God work through us even if we wanted to.

There are many passages in the Bible which are absurd if read by an unbeliever because things like that just cannot happen in our lifetime. But we believe that all things are possible through God, we believe that even donkeys can talk, and that everything that is written in the Bible is true no matter how crazy it sounds.

I'm about to read Revelations and for one thing, that's the only book in the Bible I actually never read. Reason being could be because I never got the chance to, I'm a little scared because it talks a lot about the end times, and some things may be hard to believe.

But I do believe in the God who created the heavens and the earth who gave us a purpose for living this life. Therefore, all the words written, I pray that I would understand through wisdom and knowledge from God and believe all is true.

Day 7

1 John 5:16

If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life.

When I first read this verse I was SO confused. What does that mean? There is such thing as sin that does not lead to death. And they should be prayed for? I did not get what that meant.

Then I read on and it said, "All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death."

So what sin is it? Does that mean some sin is better than others? A little baffled here.

From reading a couple of things, the answer one would give is 

Sin that does not lead to death is sin that is within our inborn nature. Sin that can never be removed but we can pray about it so that we would stay away from anything sinful in our being.

Sin that leads to death is sin that is almost intentional. For example, stealing, adultery, lying, etc. These things can be controlled and we will be punished for any of our wrongdoings because these things we are able to stop.

Hm, that is so true. Let's say I have a bad thought in my head about murdering something, I'm able to pray for God to let me love the person and try with His strength to help me do something about it. After all, it's in my inborn nature to want to take revenge and do something not worthwhile, but if I actually committed the act of murdering somebody then that leads to punishment which leads to death.

Hm, I sort of kind of understand it a little more now. Hopefully I'll understand more about it as I read on.

Day 6

1 John 2:6

Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

What a dare! What a challenge! Whose ready to take up this challenge?

What does it take to "walk as Jesus did"?

- 1 John 1:5 - "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all....If we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another..."

- 1 John 2:3 - "... obey his commands. The man who says 'I know Him' but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him."

- 1 John 2: 15 - "Do not love the world or anything in the world... The world and its desires pass away but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

- 1 John 2:27 - "... remain in Him."

- 1 John 3:7 - "... he who does what is right is righteous."

- 1 John 3:11 - "... we should love one another."

- 1 John 3:18 - "Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

These are just a few. They don't sound too hard, but in this world, we have obstacles we need to face in order to stay faithful to walking as Jesus did.

-The world is darkness. 

-Satan is powerful.

-We were born with sin.

If we can take up this challenge, it's like fighting the right battle. We are fighting a battle that is worth fighting for and in the end we will be rewarded for it.

Day 4

2 Peter 3:15 

Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means s a l v a t i o n...

How amazing is that. God has extended his invitation for us into his kingdom and he is patiently waiting until those he has chosen to be with him eternally will finally turn their life around to choose eternal life for good.

Sometimes our memories need to be refreshed (1:13), to really remind ourselves that we are not the ones waiting for God to meet with us but instead God is waiting for us to finally go to him for everything instead of this world. He wants us to realize that after turning to every corner of this world, we will never find the life we want until we go to Him. He is giving us the time we need to reflect over our lives and what we need to do to use it to glorify him.  He wants us to realize that "His divine power has given us everything we need for life...(1:3)."

It's all written in the Bible, that we have to 

   "... make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. (2 Peter 1: 5)"

How much greater is that then to be "slaves of depravity -- for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. (2 Peter 2:19)". We want to be slaves to righteousness instead of slaves to sin. We want to add value into our lives and Jesus Christ is the only missing element needed for the value to be complete.

Now, people wonder and ask, God is real, and he breathed into men what to write into Scripture. But people are not perfect so they must've made a mistake when writing this holy book. Not so, because "for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)"

There is no way that everything in the Bible could've been a mistake. It was all written the way God intended it to be and just enough for us to understand the concept and just enough information to make us want to yearn for more and to learn more about the truth.

All that we need is in the Bible, and the Bible lets us know that the invitation of grace is extended out to us, how blessed are we!

Day 3

1 Peter 3: 15
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respsect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good beahavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

As I was reading this book, many things stood out to me, but this was in particular.
I remember back then people asked me, "Joan why are you always so happy?" and things of that nature. Or "Joan, why do you really believe in God and go to church every Sunday?"

I used to answer them very blankly. Not really knowing exactly why I did, I knew why but I didn't know how to put it in words. My response to them would be ... blank stare, clueless sort of... and say "Just cus." or ".. Because of God." But those were such vague answers, answers that can not show anyone why I really do what I do, how I feel how I feel and how God can be revealed through that.

So what is my real reason for hope that I have? While I was reading the chapter, I read it again a couple of times to understand the Bible's reason for hope, the reason to always do good and suffer for it.

1 Peter 2:25 --"...By his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
1 Peter 4:3 --"For you have spend enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do..."

The 2 verses above speak about how we were before we had a relationship with God. We were like sheep going astray. We were doing things displeasing to God. And what I realized was that, none of that had purpose. It wasn't worth it although it was fun at the moment. Where was the value? What are we going to gain from that or how can we help others with that?

We want to "suffer for what is right (3:14)" and we will be blessed.

On top of that, after already knowing the truth, and knowing how important it is to live a holy life, 1 Peter 4:7 says to "be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray."
We have to turn away from things that keep us away from God, so that we are able to go with him just as we are, sincerely and earnestly to pray to God and ask him for his mercy and grace.

When we go to God and pray to him, we have the priviledge of "(5:7) Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Doesn't that make us feel so great, to know that we do have a God who truly cares for us.

Lastly, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? (4:18)"

Man, hearing that kind of makes me scared. I remember someone once told me,
"Joan, if you were to turn bad, what would the rest of world be like."

God entrusted us to follow Him and the least we could do is that.

Day 2

James 5:11

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.

Only by faith and my dependence on God will I persevere the goal I have set for myself.

Just like Job persevered and have seen what the Lord had finally brought about. And just like Elijah who prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half year, then he prayed again and the heavens gave rain.

If we persevere and remain faithful, God will answer our prayers of faith and he will bless us.

Before having the need to persevere, we will have to face trials of many kinds. And this is all so that we may be refined by fire; that our faith may have greater worth than gold. This will prove that our faith is genuine. We need to "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15).

Also if we can persevere in the small tasks God has entrusted us with, then we would definitely be able to overcome the larger ones, and of course, all through the power of God.

Day 1

1 John 5:5

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

What am I thinking? That I can overcome the world on my own. That I, out of everyone else in the history of mankind can try to fight the world immediately and hope that it will be done. Obviously I learned that I am no where near strong enough because I am definitely using it with my own strength. The best solution: Run away. The Bible says "flee from evil desires."

I never realized how weak I am and how powerful this world is. "The world conquers and masters everyone who is born into it, for indeed we have been born in sin and 'shapen in iniquity'.

Psalm 51:5 -- "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my  mother conceived me."

This means the world is in us the moment we were born, how powerful. 

All this time, I come before God thinking, I'm righteous enough, I'm holy enough and there is not much farther I can strive, but no, "There is none righteous, no not one (Roman 3:10)". And I'm only starting to understand this concept now. The whole world is guilty before God (Romans 3:19), and now I really understand that yes I am definitely guilty before God, the more I search myself, the more is revealed, the sinful nature in me. 

We who believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God has this precious gift and it is called faith. We have the ability to exercise this faith and put it into practice. This faith is a force and strength and power that we do not have on our own but through God alone. 

And through this, we have and are overcoming the world.