Growing in the Lord & Walking in the Spirit

 I have expressed before about a year ago in another blogging group I am, and was, in (TEAM Newsletter) that I struggle with worrying. Whenever I have given a challenge, no matter how big or small, I start worrying. Even if there is literally nothing I could do about it, I would always think about it and wonder what I might be able to do. This happened, in the article I wrote about earlier when I lost something. But this time, I think it was something that was bigger of a deal.  I am in college. I have gained enough money from work and gifts to pay for my first semester (half a year). Yet, after being here for about a week, I still don't have a job. I knew I would need a job to be able to pay for school after this first semester. I had applied to a job, and I got rejected because I didn't have a vehicle to be as flexible as the job would need me to be. Even though I totally understood, I had to really tell myself to not control in order to control my emotions.  Why did Go...

Patience. What a difficult word for me personally to deal with. This is also an attribute of love, as you would probably have noticed when we went over studying the Love Chapter a few days ago. The definition of patience according to dictionary.com is " the quality of being patient; the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, pain, etc." The dictionary goes on to define the word more clearly if that definition does not do it enough justice. We all have moments of annoyance, and I know we all deal with some kind of pain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, at some point in our lives. When we are patient, we bear through it. We don't grumble or complain but we take our time and just deal with it until it passes. Kind of like getting a shot. Once the needle is in you and the physical pain starts, there is no way to make it stop no matter how much you complain or shift your weight around. In fact, you can do more damage to yourself if you do move once the needle...

Many people know of the international peace sign- either holding up two fingers or the circle that has one line down the middle and two lines coming off of each side towards the bottom. But this is what I call "worldly peace". This is not the same as the peace that comes from knowing Christ. Worldly peace is often associated with peace amongst countries, or physical situations. But, we need peace for so much more. Many people feel like they do not have peace because of the emotional or spiritual struggles they are going through. We can have peace that comes from the Lord, instead. This peace, which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), is eternal peace. We can trust that the peace we get from the Lord will last, no matter what we are going through-just like joy.  So, we should share this peace with others. Sadly, we cannot literally give away a piece of our peace. But, we can show others where we got ours, and tell them that they can feel at peace with the Lord as well ...

What is Sin? This might be an interesting question. Something you may have never thought of, or something you have known the answer for almost as long you have been alive. I want you to take a second to think about what is your definition of sin- in your own words or not.   Some of you may remember what you learned in Cubbies, or some other Christian ministry program: Sin is anything you say, think, or do that disobeys God, or anything you say, think or do that goes against what God told you TO do. But is that really all there is? Is it that simple to think about what sin is? I think that the definition they teach at such a young age very much can do justice. It communicates the points focusing on the three major areas of our lives: what we think, what we say, and what we do. Is there really any in-between? Then, it tells us what is a sin with those actions. It brings it back to what God's Word says. If we are going against it, we are sinning. That means if we are doing what it...

What is joy? When most people think of the word joy, they often think of happiness or good times. Joy seems to come along when we are making great memories with people, or not in the middle of troubled times. But is that really joy? The definition of joy that I like to use goes something like this: Joy is keeping a positive attitude even when everything else seems to be going downhill because there is something better out there than all the struggles and difficulties going on. It is easy to have joy in the good times, but Christians are called to have joy in the bad times as well. "To live is Christ, to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21). This is a popular verse that I think of when I think of difficult situations. In everything, whatever is going on it seems that 'at least we are alive'. No matter what Satan or the forces of this world try to do to us- even if they do choose to kill us, we know that they cannot take away our salvation (Romans 8:38-39). But, we can reme...

  1 Corinthians 13:1-8:  This passage talks about Love. But what kind of love? Is it the love between a man and a woman? The love between two close friends? No, this is a love that everyone needs to show everyone- agape love. This love is shown towards people that the giver may think deserves it, or may think they do not deserve it. No matter who the person is, they need agape love. God is a great example of this kind of love. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God is the ultimate creator of agape love, and He is the expert in showing agape love to all people- even those who were His enemies at the time. We are called to love one another. The word "love" appears in the New Testament 203 times. But what does it mean to love one another? Again, there is a long list provided in 1 Corinthians 13. Often people find all the attributes of love difficult. For example, let's start at the beginning...

Galatians 5:22-23:  What is the first thing you notice when you hear that statement? While many others would brush it off and read the next sentence into the next chapter and book, I notice something that seems to not be grammatically correct. Why does it say the FRUIT of the Spirit and then lists many different fruits? In fact, if you grew up in the church, it may have rolled off your tongue as the "fruits" of the Spirit. But, was there a mistake- a misprint? No! When you have the Fruit of the Spirit, you truly only have one fruit. But, there are indeed many different PARTS to this one fruit. As a born-again believer who shows the Fruit of the Spirit, you do not gain one or a few but not the rest, like Spiritual Gifts. No, you should show them all. Of course, some might shine in you more than others, but you should hold all of the parts of the Fruit of the Spirit. As we continue learning more about the different attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit, keep in mind that these ...

 Welcome to a devotional series I am putting together! I had this idea for a while. I feel like most of what I put on my blog could totally be in a devotional lesson, but they are all my original thoughts in my own words. So, why not? Who says I can't write my own devotional? That is exactly what I chose to do! After asking some people (all with no response) I came up with starting a devotional series on the Fruit of the Spirit. I originally wanted it to be a seven-day course, but it will be a few days longer than that. I may post more than one devotional lesson on the same day, and I might skip a day or two before posting another devotional because of my off-balance schedule.  I chose the topic "Fruit of the Spirit" as you will see in my later devotional lessons because I can choose one "fruit" or part to make a daily lesson out of it. It helps to be able to break it down, so the reader knows what to expect.  I am sorry if my devotionals are on the shorter side...

If you did not already know, I will be starting my first year of college next week. I'm in the process of packing up my room, deciding what I will need to take to college with me and what to leave behind, asking teachers and soon-to-be classmates some questions I have, searching for jobs around the area knowing that I will need one of those almost as soon as I get there, and trying to figure out what my workload and schedule will look like. I will be moving into a dorm room by myself, and I will begin living off of college cafeteria food (so having a set time that I am allowed to eat each meal). This is a big change in my life, and I doubt I will ever be completely ready for the change until it is time for me to move in. It is really a process.  This time of change in my life keeps on making me think about change, though. Change is a good thing, and sometimes it is exactly what we need. Oftentimes in the Bible, it tells us that we need to repent from our sins. The word repent can b...