Love is patient...

Have you ever read this verse and wondered what does this mean? The more I read and study the Bible, the more questions I have. Especially as I find myself lacking patience waiting on the Lord to show me His will for my life. I was told that one way to study is to break down each verse. Chew on the adjectives, if you will. Like the word "patient" describing "love". What I have found is interesting in and of itself.

I first looked up the terms for the different forms of "love" as found in the Bible. There is "agape" which is the very nature of God - an action, "phileo" or having affection for (not to be confused with "eros"), and "storge" which is familial love & affection. Understanding that this verse is speaking more to the action of love, I moved on to understand the word "patient".

This is what I found. Patient, or hupomone (hoop-om-o-nay) in Greek, is being willing to wait. Another term used in the Bible is "long-suffering" or patient endurance; patiently bearing difficulties or wrongs. I also looked at some of the synonyms: forbearing and tolerant. Forbearing is to be tolerant or patient in spite of provocation and tolerant is marked by forbearance or endurance.

I find myself feeding into provocation thereby being unforbearing and impatient.

A trait I need to work on with the grace and strength of God.

Why do I write about this topic? Well, not just to inform you, my readers, but to help me put some perspective on storms happening in my life right now. I won't bore you with details. Just know that when one begins to grow their relationship with the Lord, the devil comes out in full force. And he sure has with me.

The Great Commission

Throughout the New Testament, we are given lots of commands from Jesus. One of them is "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13: 34, NIV). Another command is for us to go and make disciples as referenced above in the image. 

What does this mean to "go and make disciples"? It means that we, as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, are to go out into the world and spread His good news! We are not to just merely go to our family and friends; our immediate circle. No, we are to go up to strangers when we see them in need and share the gospel. 

Jesus had 12 disciples - in his inner circle - however, He virtually has millions of disciples in today's world. 

Let me put it to you another way:

A disciple is not just a follower of Jesus Christ. A disciple is also a student of Jesus Christ and his teachings. 

Does that make more sense? I sure hope so...

I may delve into this at a later date, after further study and reflection. Other topics I am hoping to share with you in the near future include keeping the Sabbath and what the actual Sabbath day is; end times / prophecy; and some of the Proverbs.

Communion

Do you take communion in church? Growing up, I always equated this with the Catholic church. I remember going to mass with my aunt, uncle and cousins one Sunday as a kid and going up for communion. One of my cousins got really upset because I was not a practicing Catholic nor was I confirmed. The priest didn't seem to mind though. And I think my aunt and uncle secretly hoped I would become Catholic.

Anyway, today was Communion in church. I am always perplexed about receiving the communion. Even when I repent my sins and ask forgiveness I still sometimes feel I shouldn't receive it. Today was one of those days for me, but I repented and took communion.

The Lord gave us very valuable tools in his teachings. I feel this one is probably one of the most valuable after Love God and Love your neighbor. It reminds us of his sacrifice for us.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a difficult concept to grasp for many people. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, online, to forgive means:

: to stop feeling anger toward (someone who has done something wrong) : to stop blaming (someone)

: to stop feeling anger about (something) : to forgive someone for (something wrong)

: to stop requiring payment of (money that is owed)

I recently was reading in Matthew and came across a verse the spoke to me; 18:26

"At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'" (NIV)

To explain a little, when a family  member is in need and I am able to help, I will help them. One of my family members needed said help. This family member is going through some pretty rough times and while the debt was owed I tried to be patient. When I read this verse, the first thing the servant said is exactly what the family member said. I read on:

I felt a tugging at my heart and knew what I had to do. I had to release the debt. So I did.

I am not saying this to be a braggart or anything like that. I simply want to use my life as an example of how the Holy Spirit speaks to us in ways we can't even imagine. I was seeking answers to something I didn't even know I was seeking.

I have found, through the years, that it is easy for me to say "I forgive you" but my heart really wasn't in the spirit of forgiveness. I have held on to a lot of hurts and the forgiveness really didn't happen. If you find yourself harboring old hurts, release them. Lay them at the cross. When it comes to the day of judgment, what will God ask you about forgiveness?

Ba'con!

I love waking up to the smell of ba'con in the morning, don't you? Why the apostrophe you might ask. Well, if you're familiar with "That 70s Show", the character Eric Foreman teased his father after Red's heart attack and he could no longer have certain foods. Ba'con was one of them. And that's how Eric would say the word in this phrase: "Mmm, ba'con!"

Another thing I am beginning to love first thing in the morning is speaking with the Lord. It's a habit I once had and am getting back into. It seems whenever something bad happens in my life I backslide. The last time I backslid BIG time. I read a verse in the Bible (Parable of the Four Soils) recently that speaks to this:

The seed falling on rocky ground

refers to someone who hears

the word and at once receives it

with joy.

But since they have no root,

they last only a short time. 

When trouble or persecution comes

because of the word,

they quickly fall away.

~ Matthew 13:20-21

You see, I have a tendency to walk with the Lord and when bad times come, I fall away, just like the seed falling on rocky ground. That's because my faith gets shaken and I try to do it on my own instead of giving it to the Lord. Here's a better illustration:

Now, I am on the path to being the seed that falls on good soil and learning to give all of my troubles to the Lord. Only he can deal with them and bring me through any trial I may face.

What kind of a heart do you have?

So much weighs on my mind

As I continue my journey, I find more and more things begin to weigh on my mind. Signs that the devil is at play in my mind. I read The Screwtape Letters not too long ago on my Kindle. If you're not familiar with this title, C.S. Lewis is the author. Yes, the same Lewis as of the Chronicles of Narnia. It's a confusing and albeit truthful book about how the devil plays with our minds to sway us against the one he calls "the Enemy". This so-called "Enemy" is God. Hence the confusion to any believer not ready to see God called an enemy.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the book overall and purchased a paper copy so that I may read it again; which I have already begun. This time around I am taking my time reading it so that I can absorb the message. I am making notes in margins and highlighting sentences that stand out to me. It's the only way I can really read and understand - a nasty habit picked up in college.

In addition, I am working through the book of Revelation and plan to read Chapter 2 tonight. In preparation, I have been watching Rabbi Jonathan Cahn on YouTube speak about God's judgment against America. He is the author of The Harbinger. In one of the videos I watched he speaks about this being the days of Elijah and Ezekiel. Well, I will leave you with one of my favorite songs:

YouTube and other rumblings

I have been spending more time on YouTube lately listening to and watching different faith-based programs. It was suggested that I check out Chuck Missler - anything and everything - as he is very well-versed on prophecy and end-time stuff. Hopefully it will help me understand Revelation as I attempt to read through it for the 4th time. It is probably the most difficult book in the entire Bible.

One thing that has been weighing heavy on me lately is that I wish I had spent more time studying the Bible growing up. Maybe I wouldn't feel so silly when bf and I speak about the Bible/Scripture and other things Christian. I love our conversations but he has so much more time invested and so much of the Book memorized that I sometimes feel stupid. I am not a new Believer by any means, but I am still in my "infancy" of learning.

I remember a couple of years ago planning to read the entire Bible and grow my relationship with God. That didn't work out so well. I fear I lack the discipline and need someone to hold me accountable. BF is very good at that and I appreciate his prodding even if it doesn't seem like it at times. I also have a mentor at church; one of the pastors took it upon herself to mentor me. Well, that hasn't been going too well either. The lack of discipline again.

As I close this post for the evening, I ask the Lord to:

Give me ears to hear

Eyes to see

and a Heart to understand.

~ Matthew 13:15

Year of Acceleration?

As I drove to church this morning (and a couple other times when in this area), I passed by an Assembly of God church. Their marquee has this on it: "2015 Year of Acceleration". I am not sure what this means and may do some research on it. What I can say is that if we are indeed living in the end times, as I suspect we are, then maybe this is the year things begin to accelerate towards His Coming!?

We began a new series in church this morning called "A re-Purposed Life" and I am looking forward to learning more as it goes along. Here are the 3 key things I took away from it:

Retro Creation (Genesis 1:27)

Retro Relationship (Romans 8:15)

Retroactive Forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7)

My biggest goal this year is to draw ever closer to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I have a lot to learn about myself and my faith.

A New Year and A New Blog

I spent the latter part of 2014 away from my other blog (julies-creations.blogspot.com). I just couldn't find the inspiration to continue on with that blog hence this new blog.

My name is Julie and I have several interests including reading, writing, photography, cross stitch, and most importantly MY FAITH. My hope for this blog is to share with you a snippet of my daily life in Christ. I am on a spiritual journey trying to figure out who I am in Christ Jesus. Many of us have these questions:

• Who am I?
• What is Your will for my life?

Well, I am hoping to find the answer to these questions and others along the way through reading the Word and prayer. 

Welcome to my blog! I am Just Julie