do your own devos (Dec 16)

hey guys , yeah isaac pretty much said it .
and thankfully, the studying paid off, i think i did good on my test hopefully i pulled a 90 or higher..
the long isu is done too !!! woohoooo
i just need to get that beep test over with tomorrow and im good to go

i read "THE LIFE YOUVE ALWAYS WANTED" by John Ortberg (best book existing.. haha i recommend getting one)
its about spiritual disciplines, and there was this one part in the chapter that really stood out to me

One of the fine arts of gracious living is the art of living freely with our critics. When we have the grace to be free in the presence of those who judge our lives and evaluate out actions, we have Christian freedom.
This is the kind of freedom the apostle Paul described to some of his critics: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself....It is the Lord who judges me."

I read this part over and over again. Like why do we need to listen to those around us? When they judge us, critique us , and try to bring us down? It doesnt matter what others think because the Lord is the one who judges us. Its like when we say "God is our only audience" when we worship, its the same when we live our lives. We're going to get a lot of critisism for being chrisitan, but we need to just brush it off and let it go because what they say, means so little... so why take it to heart? All we need to do is what is pleasing in the sight of God!

man, im so tired... and full... i went to east side marios today for lunch! yeee
AND the weather here is SO bad... should have been a snow day. aiesh LOL have a good day guys!

Galations seems to have alot to do with the trinity and everything and i have a better understanding of it because of what Pastor Sam williams taught.

2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ

Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God are one. We received God inside our hearts because we believe in him. The moment we accept Jesus as our saviour, the Holy Spirit fills our hearts. God works with us spritually, in the past, and in the future. Sometimes we might not realize it but God is always around us, always has been, and always will be. I thought it was cool to realize especially how much God's involved in our lives.

HULLO! One more day till christmas break! YEAHHH
kk so today i reaad from 1 thessalonians 5:
"But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness"..."8But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet"

This chapter talked about how the day of the Lord will come 'like a thief in the night', and that it will be so surprising to everyone - except for us as Christians. Because we are not people of the night, but that we are people of the day. I really like this day-night metaphor - obviously day is.. light, clarity, being with God, holiness, whereas dark is evil, destruction and blindness. Since we are people of the day, we are constantly aware, in touch with God so that the return of Jesus will not be a surprise for us - Thus, we are able to PREPARE for Jesus' coming, instead of being surprised and then regretting it. Anytime I read anything about the coming of Jesus, Im forced to reflect on how ready i am, right now in this very hour to present myself before our Lord. Would I be ashamed? What would I regret? There's so many things that pop into my head that its really a great incentive for me to put an end to many of my sins - like this verse said, we should be people of the 'day' - constantly aware, on guard, seeing with clarity. So in this 'enlightened' life that we live, we should be putting forth our best to really be the best christians that we can - so that when the day comes we'll be able to stand firm and be happy and proud to be with God.

Have a grreatt thursday everyone!

Hey guys!!! Sorry for doing my Devo Super Duper late!!!
I was studying and Compeletly forgot!!!! I'll do it now...

I read 2nd corinthians 1 today and It was a pretty short verse...

It says that god is everything that is good IN US and all the things that
are good TO US. He is everything that we feel comfortable in... He gave us
happiness and he suffered for us... He suffers when we suffer and he has
also felt greater suffering than we will ever experience in our lives cuz of us
and he still shows compassion. Also, paul says a rele great line in hear.
We need to stand firm with faith... SICK!! Our faith is our life like how we
stand. We NEED TO BE ABLE TO STAND!! Not to discriminate agaisnt disabled
people, but u kno what i mean... Faith is like standing, It's THAT IMPORTANT TO US!!
Faith is actually more important than being able to stand but it's jst a poetic
device to describe it... HAHA STOKED FOR THE RETREAT!!

Sorry guys studying today. On the midnight bus now :p
I read proverbs 11:
7 When the wicked die, their hopes die with them,  for they rely on their own feeble strength
I think at times as a praise team we try to do things using our own strength. I believe that a good team gets tested during the hardships, and believe it or not retreats are our worst in terms of spiritual strngth. That's bevause of a lot of things but its important to pray for a great retreat and against spiritual warfare
Kk going to go study more now!
Shlates