Why do we choose to disobey God?(so you can read it;)

The chaplain of RHC made a very good point last night...oft times people know the WORD of God and can spit backwards and forwards  how God would have us live on this earth. It's amazing because we still  manage to disobey God. It's not like we are just so defiant and we despise obeying our Father...it's something keeping us latched to our DISOBEDIENT ways! An alcoholic Christian may be able to stop drinking but if they dont get to the root of the problem they will just pick up another habit to replace the drinking. Only God can change our hearts to make them sincere...when our hearts are sincerely changed then and only then can we turn away from the things that displease GOD!

Ask yourself why you are continuing to disobey God in areas of your life. If God said you need to stop talking to a certain person or stop hanging out in certain places then it's for a reason. You choosing to find ways around it will only harm you in the end. He can see further ahead than you can in these situations...so why not listen. We can go on and on with examples and i can share a few firsthand experiences(hit me up if you need some)but at the end of the day we must ask for a NEW HEART...A SINCERE HEART. 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 28 (New International Version)

Blessings for Obedience

 1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

 9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

 15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

 16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

 17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

 18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

 19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

 20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. ^[a] 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

 25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In Love In Service,

Valencia Caroline Thurman

 

DEPEND ON IT

Greetings love,

I've been studying 2 Timothy 4 for the past week nad thought I'd share it with you. This devotional will be like a "Where is Waldo?" only, in this case, "How Do I Press Onward In My Chrisitan Walk?"

I rarely use the Message version; however, I thought it would fit for today. Read over the passage and as you do so, look back on your life and try to see if what you are doing is lining up to what we are called to do--in the good times and bad. Ready? Ok, here I go...

2 Timothy 4: 1-8

1-2 I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple.

3-5 You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant.

6-8 You take over. I'm about to die, my life an offering on God's altar. This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that's left now is the shouting—God's applause! Depend on it, he's an honest judge. He'll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.

Stay encouraged my love. Open the Word, Read the WORD, BELIEVE the Word. Just as the WORD says, "He'll do right not only by me, but by EVERYONE eager for his coming." Stay eager and remember He has His arm around you.

ONElove,

Brann

Keep Yoour Head Up

Psalm 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

Life will bring trials and tribulations. They may be unfair, they may be upsetting and hard to deal with, but it is almost guaranteed that they will come. What matters is how you deal with them. Simply keep your head up and look to God. Proverbs 3:6 says that when you acknowledge the Lord, He will direct your paths. So trust in the Lord and submit to Him, in times of success as well as times of trouble.

John 16:33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

When it seems like you have no where to turn, keep your head up =)

Love,
Angel Vosburgh
DS Fidelity

Patience in love...

 

Recently, God has been showing me the meaning of true love. Love has so many attributes. Most of us are aware of the 1 Corinthians 13 version– (patience, kindness, selflessness, hope for life and for relationships...) See, I wish I could go on, but I'm stuck there for a bit. I never thought having hope for relationships and being longsuffering could be so difficult.  Specifically, in Romans 12, Paul elaborates on how love in relationships is supposed to play out.

 

Romans 12: 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

 

Do you see that last part? You know the part of being joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer? THAT PART! It hit me like a ton of bricks because I realized that in order to preserve any kind of relationship in a Godly way; I had to be willing to hope that there could be a positive future for the relationship. This hope, dreams of happiness and loyalty and memories to be made and shared, would propel me to be able to endure hard times.

 

But hope isn't the end of the story. There's also that NOT SO MINOR part about being FAITHFUL IN PRAYER. When I read that, I wondered about it for a long time. "What does praying have to do with that?" I asked. I then realized (through the Holy Spirit) that prayer is what changes things. It is only so long that any one of us as humans can endure unpleasant situations and press forward. As believers in Christ, however, we can be sure that God sees and that He has the ability to change the hearts of people. When the reality of that sinks in, we then realize that God can completely change the nature of any relationship, and align it to His will, all through the power of your diligent, private prayers.

 

So now we see the complete picture. We don't need to stress out and secretly resent each other. Being patient with each other while praying allows God to work on all of us, while keeping the love alive! :)

--
Liselle Coker
DKA Clayborn,Lovely Lambda#08FA08, Reverse Osmosis
Howard University School of Architecture, May'09