Good Afternoon all,
yes I have expectation, to have hundreds of followers one day because i would like to use this to inspire someone one day. But anyway that reason may change, seems alil Aletaish at the current moment lol.
Anyway,
As I mentioned in my last post 1 Corinthians chapter deals alot with God's spirit and the revelation of his promises and purposes. Paul talks about how he intentionally kept his message simple because he wanted the listeners focus to be on the message and not the him or other speakers. He then goes into how The Lord's spirit was the source of his strength and that their righteous living was response to God's spiirt and not any fancy message he had given.
Beginning with verse 10 in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul uses the word spirit or a variation of it ( spiritual, unspiritual) 14 times in my NLT (new living translation) and in my Message bible ( a bible using contemporary language)beginning at verse 9, it is used 13 times. That's alot to me. So God's spirit must be very important and essential to our walk as well as our understanding of God. It is also important to understand his spirit because once we accept Christ into our lives this spirit becomes alive within us, and I don't know about you but i want to know as much as i can about something that is said to be living inside of me.
So....
I started with the dicitionary and looked up the word spirit. It is defined as 14 different things. hm 14 again, ( happens to be my favorite calendar number by the way). Honestly this whole thing about God's spirit can be abit over whelming ( feels that way now just as i am sitting here writing this lol )
So let's just start with the first defintion. it says
an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms
(merriam-webster dictionary).Hm so the first thing I learned about the spirit is that it gives life.As we learned yesterday in Romans 6:23 one of the free gifts of God is enternal life. So now we know where this life comes from. His spirit.
Another definition of spirit ( number 6 to be exact) says a special attitude or frame of mind. So not only is it a source of life but it provides the basis for thoughts. Hm interesting. So far we know that God's spirit provides a source of life and thoughts and not only for him, but for those who take on his spirit. So when God's spirit is within us we have access to his life and his thoughts. What does it mean to have access to his life? I mean when i think of God i don't think of a physical person like me. I think of this being from an alternate universe with great power and pressence.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
1 Corithians Chapter 1 Review
This evening's reading was very interesting because I decided to review chapter 1 to be sure I understood what I had read plus I skipped a day so i just needed a refresher course. Well let me tell you it is a good thing I decided to do so.
As I was i was skimming over the chapter I was hung up on the phrase " those who are called" ( Romans 1:24) and it me to ask how do i know if i am called or chosen? Honestly I sat for a few minutes and then the scripture Romans 8:28 came to my mind. Now i thought this scripture said confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead,but not quite. Romans 8:28 says " and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."(NIV) Here is that word called again. So i scanned down the page and read an insert which discussed this scripture. A part of it said " this promise is not for everyone , it's for those who trust Jesus." Well there is my answer, those who are called trust Jesus. OK. So my next question was how do I trust Jesus?" I was then led to Romans 6:23 which says " For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life." (NIV)Here the word that stuck out to me the most was Free... well ok two words, FREE GIFT. So then I thought what is the free gift of God? Salvation. How do I get salvation?
That answer was located in Romans 10:9 which says " If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NIV) So honestly my original thought was correct but, the steps in between getting to this scripture were essential in my understanding of what this all really meant in the first place.
In the message bible i continued to read in Romans chapter 10 and it said "Scripture reassures us No one who trusts God like this -heart and soul- will ever regret it. And as i was reading I saw the word trust several times and so i decided to look up this word trust and just to see what it really means. In the dictionary trust is defined as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. assured reliance. very interesting. Prior to reading this defintion I read that the basis of Paul's ( author of Romans and Corinthians) ministry was on faith.So i looked up the definition of faith and it is defined as firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust.
It just amazed me how all of these words are interconnected. One word led straight to the other. and its crazy because i have not even touch on chapter 2 lol. You cant have faith without trust. Trust is required for faith to even process. While reading these chapters, God revealed to me that when i first accepted Christ it was out of obligation not beccause i wanted to. I remember that because that was the year I tried to steal from Drug Mart and it was almost like that was my peace offering with God, my life. I didnt really have a chance to give it to him willingly, so that in turn effected my whole relationship with Him thus far. It explains the feelings of obligation in my walk " I should be doing or listening to this" "I should be here with that". I never did it because i wanted to, I did it because I thought I had to. This however led me this evening to willingly confess Jesus as my master and That God has made everything right between him and me. That's it. After I said that it was like I was seeing through a new pair of eyes. I also realize that what is going on in my natural life is a direct reflection of what is happening in my Spiritual life. DEEP.
This night was so beautiful and to think i have been missing out on this all this time. Honestly sometimes I wish i could be a fulltime Christian as my career, just study and live in God's word and pressence. Hm. Who knows.
well i did read chapter two but I haven't really broke it down yet. I know for sure we will be dealing with the words spirit and wisdom because Paul says those words alot so they must be important.
well, until next chapter happy reading
Aleta
As I was i was skimming over the chapter I was hung up on the phrase " those who are called" ( Romans 1:24) and it me to ask how do i know if i am called or chosen? Honestly I sat for a few minutes and then the scripture Romans 8:28 came to my mind. Now i thought this scripture said confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead,but not quite. Romans 8:28 says " and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."(NIV) Here is that word called again. So i scanned down the page and read an insert which discussed this scripture. A part of it said " this promise is not for everyone , it's for those who trust Jesus." Well there is my answer, those who are called trust Jesus. OK. So my next question was how do I trust Jesus?" I was then led to Romans 6:23 which says " For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life." (NIV)Here the word that stuck out to me the most was Free... well ok two words, FREE GIFT. So then I thought what is the free gift of God? Salvation. How do I get salvation?
That answer was located in Romans 10:9 which says " If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NIV) So honestly my original thought was correct but, the steps in between getting to this scripture were essential in my understanding of what this all really meant in the first place.
In the message bible i continued to read in Romans chapter 10 and it said "Scripture reassures us No one who trusts God like this -heart and soul- will ever regret it. And as i was reading I saw the word trust several times and so i decided to look up this word trust and just to see what it really means. In the dictionary trust is defined as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. assured reliance. very interesting. Prior to reading this defintion I read that the basis of Paul's ( author of Romans and Corinthians) ministry was on faith.So i looked up the definition of faith and it is defined as firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust.
It just amazed me how all of these words are interconnected. One word led straight to the other. and its crazy because i have not even touch on chapter 2 lol. You cant have faith without trust. Trust is required for faith to even process. While reading these chapters, God revealed to me that when i first accepted Christ it was out of obligation not beccause i wanted to. I remember that because that was the year I tried to steal from Drug Mart and it was almost like that was my peace offering with God, my life. I didnt really have a chance to give it to him willingly, so that in turn effected my whole relationship with Him thus far. It explains the feelings of obligation in my walk " I should be doing or listening to this" "I should be here with that". I never did it because i wanted to, I did it because I thought I had to. This however led me this evening to willingly confess Jesus as my master and That God has made everything right between him and me. That's it. After I said that it was like I was seeing through a new pair of eyes. I also realize that what is going on in my natural life is a direct reflection of what is happening in my Spiritual life. DEEP.
This night was so beautiful and to think i have been missing out on this all this time. Honestly sometimes I wish i could be a fulltime Christian as my career, just study and live in God's word and pressence. Hm. Who knows.
well i did read chapter two but I haven't really broke it down yet. I know for sure we will be dealing with the words spirit and wisdom because Paul says those words alot so they must be important.
well, until next chapter happy reading
Aleta
sorry i missed
Hey all,
As you may or may not have noticed, yesterday i did not provide an entry like i said i would or like i wanted to ( yea that's honest) and for that i apologize. I feel if i am going to have a sucessful blog then dedication is top priority even if it is only to one person.
Well the reason for my absence was due to friends from my hometown coming to visit me. I understand I had plenty of time to read and even give of brief summary of the text but, I didn't because it seems like whenever I have visitors i dedicate all my time and energy and self to them and what they need, atleast for aslong as it entertains me, after awhile I wanted to do something else or i would get somewhat spicy with them. I noticed though during times where i would get upset or offended they would just roll with the punches I threw, because as I really listen to some of the things I say, I can be really harsh and even rude at times. If someone spoke to me the way I spoke to other people, I would normally get spicy and atleast say something back especially if we were not close friends. But my really good friends they tell me the truth about myself and sometimes that truth hurts but they still stick around with me. No matter how paranoid, rude, moody, or anything I do, they just take. I realize every person has a breaking point and I can't abuse this wonderful privilege but it still amazes me none the less.
Is this what acceptance feels like? Taking the good and bad in a person and not abandoning them because of the bad? It just amazes me what wonderful people I already have in my life without even looking. Crazy.
well I just wanted you know to what was going on in my life the day i didn't write. Now it's on to "exegete" this text as my pastor would say.
until next chapter happy reading
Aleta
As you may or may not have noticed, yesterday i did not provide an entry like i said i would or like i wanted to ( yea that's honest) and for that i apologize. I feel if i am going to have a sucessful blog then dedication is top priority even if it is only to one person.
Well the reason for my absence was due to friends from my hometown coming to visit me. I understand I had plenty of time to read and even give of brief summary of the text but, I didn't because it seems like whenever I have visitors i dedicate all my time and energy and self to them and what they need, atleast for aslong as it entertains me, after awhile I wanted to do something else or i would get somewhat spicy with them. I noticed though during times where i would get upset or offended they would just roll with the punches I threw, because as I really listen to some of the things I say, I can be really harsh and even rude at times. If someone spoke to me the way I spoke to other people, I would normally get spicy and atleast say something back especially if we were not close friends. But my really good friends they tell me the truth about myself and sometimes that truth hurts but they still stick around with me. No matter how paranoid, rude, moody, or anything I do, they just take. I realize every person has a breaking point and I can't abuse this wonderful privilege but it still amazes me none the less.
Is this what acceptance feels like? Taking the good and bad in a person and not abandoning them because of the bad? It just amazes me what wonderful people I already have in my life without even looking. Crazy.
well I just wanted you know to what was going on in my life the day i didn't write. Now it's on to "exegete" this text as my pastor would say.
until next chapter happy reading
Aleta
Saturday, May 14, 2011
1 Corinthians Chapter 1
I had to read this chapter a few times because i really wanted to hear from the Holy Spirit. In Summary this chapter Paul discussed the importance of the church family getting along with each other. From my understanding he really didnt get into why that was important except the fact that it leads to believers paying more attention to WHO is giving the message and less to WHERE the message is coming from. He also talks about how the world views the message from the Lord as silliness and absurd.
The world would rather give credit to itself than even aknowledge God. That is why Paul said the Jews of this time period needed big demonstrations and the Greeks rely on logic from Philosophers instead of trusting in God.
Paul then goes on to talk about why God chose the down and outs and nobodies. This is because they are less likely to get by simply on their own knowledge, it is almost like they have no choice but to turn to God in order to be somebody. It makes sense though, if the world doesn't want them who would? Jesus. that is all we need as believers we, dont have to prove anything, earn anything, its all free. Now in the natural it will cost friends, some family members, jobs, money, popularity, and other important natural possesions but in the end it is all worth the risk.
In my own life, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the reason i cannot completely function in my gifts is because the focus is MY gifts and not the creator who gave them to me. Currently I am missing the whole point of the gifts, and that is to glorify his name and demonstrate his power. Instead i seek recognition,reward, and attention and pay little ( literally) attention to Christ and what he has done. I don't trust him enough so that is why i am going through this demolition process. I need to tear down all the barriers standing in between he and I. That includes, food, money, my car, friendships, romantic relationships, just everything. It's hard but atleast i understand now. I have to completely submit my will unto him before he can unleash the power inside of me because the right Person has to get credit and as it stands now he wouldn't.
well he turned an ok day one, into a great day one.
Until chapter 2 happy reading
Aleta
The world would rather give credit to itself than even aknowledge God. That is why Paul said the Jews of this time period needed big demonstrations and the Greeks rely on logic from Philosophers instead of trusting in God.
Paul then goes on to talk about why God chose the down and outs and nobodies. This is because they are less likely to get by simply on their own knowledge, it is almost like they have no choice but to turn to God in order to be somebody. It makes sense though, if the world doesn't want them who would? Jesus. that is all we need as believers we, dont have to prove anything, earn anything, its all free. Now in the natural it will cost friends, some family members, jobs, money, popularity, and other important natural possesions but in the end it is all worth the risk.
In my own life, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the reason i cannot completely function in my gifts is because the focus is MY gifts and not the creator who gave them to me. Currently I am missing the whole point of the gifts, and that is to glorify his name and demonstrate his power. Instead i seek recognition,reward, and attention and pay little ( literally) attention to Christ and what he has done. I don't trust him enough so that is why i am going through this demolition process. I need to tear down all the barriers standing in between he and I. That includes, food, money, my car, friendships, romantic relationships, just everything. It's hard but atleast i understand now. I have to completely submit my will unto him before he can unleash the power inside of me because the right Person has to get credit and as it stands now he wouldn't.
well he turned an ok day one, into a great day one.
Until chapter 2 happy reading
Aleta
day 1: not a great start
i apologize already,
in my last entry i said would write as soon as i woke up... well its about 12 hours later and i am just now writing, forgive me. I completely forgot plus by the time i did remeber it i didnt have enough time to do it before work. So i am already off to a not so great start, oh well Rome wasn't built in a day right? exactly so moving forward.
Last night after i logged off I had trouble sleeping, so i opened my bible and i read Acts 2 which talked about the Holy spirit and how he helps believers throughtout their daily walk. He acts as a guide or rather is a guide and a comforter.
This chapter specifically talked about an occasion when the holy spirit manifested a group of people and they began to speak in foreign languages worshiping God, this was proof of the power of the Holy Spirit.
This struck me because i had an understanding as to why i havent experienced the fullness of the my spiritual gifts and that is because i give glory to myself rather to God. I am not going to lie to you, i am having a hard time writing this because there are alot of things on my mind right now that are just irking, one thing in particular i want to take a brief nap but i can't. I'm just so tired and frustrated i have no clue what to do.
i have to stop and pray for now... i will write a better later
in my last entry i said would write as soon as i woke up... well its about 12 hours later and i am just now writing, forgive me. I completely forgot plus by the time i did remeber it i didnt have enough time to do it before work. So i am already off to a not so great start, oh well Rome wasn't built in a day right? exactly so moving forward.
Last night after i logged off I had trouble sleeping, so i opened my bible and i read Acts 2 which talked about the Holy spirit and how he helps believers throughtout their daily walk. He acts as a guide or rather is a guide and a comforter.
This chapter specifically talked about an occasion when the holy spirit manifested a group of people and they began to speak in foreign languages worshiping God, this was proof of the power of the Holy Spirit.
This struck me because i had an understanding as to why i havent experienced the fullness of the my spiritual gifts and that is because i give glory to myself rather to God. I am not going to lie to you, i am having a hard time writing this because there are alot of things on my mind right now that are just irking, one thing in particular i want to take a brief nap but i can't. I'm just so tired and frustrated i have no clue what to do.
i have to stop and pray for now... i will write a better later
Friday, May 13, 2011
I'm back again
well this time I only went about 3 months without keeping up. I guess the positive thing is that the time span is getting shorter, thats one step.
Well it's May and school has just ended. I have been academically free for 8 days now and i was blessed to have a job for the summer. The problem is i dont have a life plan. This is sort of a big deal because i graduate in one year, I havent applied to any grad schools or scholarships. But this year should be different.
You know one thing i have noticed about me is that i make lots of empty promises to myself. Always planning to change something, starting something, or become something, but I never just be. Why is that?
Well let's look at the stats shall we?
I just finished my fourth year of school
I'm a theater major with a cinema studies minor ( random)
i have this overwhelming fascination for relationships
i really like the color pink
i am alive
i talk about myself ALOT! ( in the negative mostly)
ihave no clue what i want to do with my life
i avoid time with God
there's hope and its not over.
i am totally clueless about myself and how i operate
i know how i should or want to operate as a person
i put an insane amount of pressure on myself
i feel convicted when i dont write regularly.
i can be EXTREMELY LAZY!!!
i feel pressure (from me or others not sure which) to be something im really not.
could that be potential? i don't know.
You know what enough of this already I'm just going to do it. Last year i fasted from facebook for thirty days and it was very liberating. I read Pslams 139 ( i think) one verse everyday. but after that i just relasped back into facebook
so i am just going to document this process but with a different intent. These entries are going to be raw and "uncut" if you will. No swearing ( i will try my best) but there will be days where its gonna suck cuz this is a lazy person actually doing something so it wont be pretty but darn it! i cant live like this anymore.
So in like 7 hours maybe sixish lol i will begin this process. goodnight
see ya soon :)
Well it's May and school has just ended. I have been academically free for 8 days now and i was blessed to have a job for the summer. The problem is i dont have a life plan. This is sort of a big deal because i graduate in one year, I havent applied to any grad schools or scholarships. But this year should be different.
You know one thing i have noticed about me is that i make lots of empty promises to myself. Always planning to change something, starting something, or become something, but I never just be. Why is that?
Well let's look at the stats shall we?
I just finished my fourth year of school
I'm a theater major with a cinema studies minor ( random)
i have this overwhelming fascination for relationships
i really like the color pink
i am alive
i talk about myself ALOT! ( in the negative mostly)
ihave no clue what i want to do with my life
i avoid time with God
there's hope and its not over.
i am totally clueless about myself and how i operate
i know how i should or want to operate as a person
i put an insane amount of pressure on myself
i feel convicted when i dont write regularly.
i can be EXTREMELY LAZY!!!
i feel pressure (from me or others not sure which) to be something im really not.
could that be potential? i don't know.
You know what enough of this already I'm just going to do it. Last year i fasted from facebook for thirty days and it was very liberating. I read Pslams 139 ( i think) one verse everyday. but after that i just relasped back into facebook
so i am just going to document this process but with a different intent. These entries are going to be raw and "uncut" if you will. No swearing ( i will try my best) but there will be days where its gonna suck cuz this is a lazy person actually doing something so it wont be pretty but darn it! i cant live like this anymore.
So in like 7 hours maybe sixish lol i will begin this process. goodnight
see ya soon :)
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