No.....for real....I am!
There was a contest on FB to recommend that people become friends of the Camp Macoba page. I did that and I was one of two winners. I won my choice of a $50 gift card to a restaurant or Itunes. I really struggled with this decision, but they graciously agreed to let me have a $25 card to each. Hang in there for a minute and I'll explain why I wanted that.
Then on Sunday afternoon we had a Chili Fest at church. Well, I LOVE chili, especially White Bean Chicken Chili. So, my girls entered a traditional chili and I entered my White Bean Chicken Chili. I WON! (Each category had a winner.) I received a $25 gift card to Chilis.
The reason I had such a hard time deciding between the Itunes card and a restaurant card is that I wanted to buy an Audio Bible for our mp3 players and I wanted to go on a date with my hubby, but I also wanted to take my girls to Chili's with me, since we all kind of worked together on our Chilis. Since Camp Macoba is being so kind as to split it for me I now get to do all of those things. What a BLESSING!
Also, the desire for the audio Bible came about because I've been listening to Biblegateway's free audio Bible and have been loving it, but you have to be near the computer. This will give us the freedom to take it with us. I'm so excited. Maybe Daneesey's winning streak is rubbing off on me!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Brotherly Kindness
2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: φιλαδελφία
Transliteration: philadelphia
Phonetic Spelling: (fil-ad-el-fee'-ah)
Short Definition: brotherly love
Word Origin from philadelphos
Definition the love of brothers, brotherly love
NASB Word Usage brotherly kindness (2), brotherly love (1), love of the brethren (3).
brotherly love, kindness
Philadelphos means loving one's brother; love as brothers
BROTH'ERLY, a. Pertaining to brothers; such as is natural for brothers; becoming brothers; kind; affectionate; as brotherly love.
My Notes : The definition of this one isn't very hard to understand. What is hard is actually doing it. No big complicated theme here. The question is are you loving your fellow Christians they way that you love your very own family? Are you kind and affectionate to them? Are you becoming like family? If not, then you need to work toward that. Ask the Father to help you see people the way that He sees them and ask Him to love them through you.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: φιλαδελφία
Transliteration: philadelphia
Phonetic Spelling: (fil-ad-el-fee'-ah)
Short Definition: brotherly love
Word Origin from philadelphos
Definition the love of brothers, brotherly love
NASB Word Usage brotherly kindness (2), brotherly love (1), love of the brethren (3).
brotherly love, kindness
Philadelphos means loving one's brother; love as brothers
BROTH'ERLY, a. Pertaining to brothers; such as is natural for brothers; becoming brothers; kind; affectionate; as brotherly love.
My Notes : The definition of this one isn't very hard to understand. What is hard is actually doing it. No big complicated theme here. The question is are you loving your fellow Christians they way that you love your very own family? Are you kind and affectionate to them? Are you becoming like family? If not, then you need to work toward that. Ask the Father to help you see people the way that He sees them and ask Him to love them through you.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
I don't Want My Children To Be Happy
I just read an AMAZING blogpost and I think you should too. Read it HERE.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Godliness
2 Peter 1:5-8
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: εὐσέβεια
Transliteration: eusebeia
Phonetic Spelling: (yoo-seb'-i-ah)
Short Definition: godliness
Word Originfrom eusebés
Definition piety
NASB Word Usage godliness (14), piety (1).
From eusebes; piety; specially, the gospel scheme -- godliness, holiness.
GOD'LINESS, n. [from godly.] Piety; belief in God, and reverence for his character and laws.
1. A religious life; a careful observance of the laws of God and performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and reverence for the divine character and commands; christian obedience.
Godliness is profitable unto all things. 1 Tim. 4.
PI'ETY, n. [L. pietas, from pius, or its root, probably a contracted word.]
1. Piety in principle, is a compound of veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being and love of his character, or veneration accompanied with love; and piety in practice, is
the exercise of these affections in obedience to his will and devotion to his service.
HO'LINESS, n. [from holy.] The state of being holy; purity or integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity. Applied to the Supreme Being, holiness denotes perfect purity or integrity of moral character, one of his essential attributes.
1. Applied to human beings, holiness is purity of heart or dispositions; sanctified affections; piety; moral goodness, but not perfect.
My Notes : The original Greek word means godliness or piety. It is froma Greek word that means holiness. So, I decided to add the definition of all three words. I love that in the definition of godliness it looks a little like legalism by speaking on religion and following laws, but then adds that godliness is not those things alone, but those things must procede from love and reverance for our Lord. I think so many people miss that. So many people are bound by the "lists" as I call them. We often think okay if I do these things and don't do these other things then I'll be a good Christian, but we miss that it is truly about a relationship and if we are walking in relationship with Him, we will love Him more than we ever imagined possible and that love for Him will be what drives us to keep His commands, to listen to His convictions, to want to be more like Him. Piety follows suit. It says that piety is having a reverance for Him and loving His character, that it's the exercise of these affections. In otherwise it's the outward expression of an inward relationship. My favorite part of the definition of Holiness is the part that is in specific reference to people. Obviously holiness within the Lord is perfect. He is completely perfect, but as much as we desire to be like Him we are not. I believe holding ourselves to a standard of perfection is a form of bondage, it's the quickest way to fall into a lifestyle of legalism. He is perfect and He is perfecting us, but we will not be perfect until we get to Heaven. Sure we should strive to be like Him, but we must cut ourselves a little slack. We are going to make mistakes. One of the most freeing things for me to read was about Paul struggling to do what He knew was right and what He wanted to do. If Paul who was clearly a student of the Word of God, an instructor to the churches, the author of 13 books of the Bible, struggled, then why can't I allow myself to make mistakes? I'm not at all giving us an excuse to sin, but want to encourage you all that we can live a life of holiness, we can strive to be more like Him daily, but we are not perfect and we will make mistakes and when we do we must learn from them, get back up dust ourselves off and try again...
My challenge for you is to learn more about His character. It's pretty hard to emulate someone you don't know well. Read Psalms and learn more about God and who He is , go through the gospels and learn more about the character of Jesus. A perfect place to start is with love. He is love. There are many people in our lives that we love dearly, that are easy for us to love, but we also all have those people in our lives that are more difficult for us to love. Pray that He will help you to see those people through His eyes and ask Him to love them through you.
Just want to leave off with some applicable verses:
1 Peter 1:15-16
15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."[a]
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: εὐσέβεια
Transliteration: eusebeia
Phonetic Spelling: (yoo-seb'-i-ah)
Short Definition: godliness
Word Originfrom eusebés
Definition piety
NASB Word Usage godliness (14), piety (1).
From eusebes; piety; specially, the gospel scheme -- godliness, holiness.
GOD'LINESS, n. [from godly.] Piety; belief in God, and reverence for his character and laws.
1. A religious life; a careful observance of the laws of God and performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and reverence for the divine character and commands; christian obedience.
Godliness is profitable unto all things. 1 Tim. 4.
PI'ETY, n. [L. pietas, from pius, or its root, probably a contracted word.]
1. Piety in principle, is a compound of veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being and love of his character, or veneration accompanied with love; and piety in practice, is
the exercise of these affections in obedience to his will and devotion to his service.
HO'LINESS, n. [from holy.] The state of being holy; purity or integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity. Applied to the Supreme Being, holiness denotes perfect purity or integrity of moral character, one of his essential attributes.
1. Applied to human beings, holiness is purity of heart or dispositions; sanctified affections; piety; moral goodness, but not perfect.
My Notes : The original Greek word means godliness or piety. It is froma Greek word that means holiness. So, I decided to add the definition of all three words. I love that in the definition of godliness it looks a little like legalism by speaking on religion and following laws, but then adds that godliness is not those things alone, but those things must procede from love and reverance for our Lord. I think so many people miss that. So many people are bound by the "lists" as I call them. We often think okay if I do these things and don't do these other things then I'll be a good Christian, but we miss that it is truly about a relationship and if we are walking in relationship with Him, we will love Him more than we ever imagined possible and that love for Him will be what drives us to keep His commands, to listen to His convictions, to want to be more like Him. Piety follows suit. It says that piety is having a reverance for Him and loving His character, that it's the exercise of these affections. In otherwise it's the outward expression of an inward relationship. My favorite part of the definition of Holiness is the part that is in specific reference to people. Obviously holiness within the Lord is perfect. He is completely perfect, but as much as we desire to be like Him we are not. I believe holding ourselves to a standard of perfection is a form of bondage, it's the quickest way to fall into a lifestyle of legalism. He is perfect and He is perfecting us, but we will not be perfect until we get to Heaven. Sure we should strive to be like Him, but we must cut ourselves a little slack. We are going to make mistakes. One of the most freeing things for me to read was about Paul struggling to do what He knew was right and what He wanted to do. If Paul who was clearly a student of the Word of God, an instructor to the churches, the author of 13 books of the Bible, struggled, then why can't I allow myself to make mistakes? I'm not at all giving us an excuse to sin, but want to encourage you all that we can live a life of holiness, we can strive to be more like Him daily, but we are not perfect and we will make mistakes and when we do we must learn from them, get back up dust ourselves off and try again...
My challenge for you is to learn more about His character. It's pretty hard to emulate someone you don't know well. Read Psalms and learn more about God and who He is , go through the gospels and learn more about the character of Jesus. A perfect place to start is with love. He is love. There are many people in our lives that we love dearly, that are easy for us to love, but we also all have those people in our lives that are more difficult for us to love. Pray that He will help you to see those people through His eyes and ask Him to love them through you.
Just want to leave off with some applicable verses:
1 Peter 1:15-16
15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."[a]
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Perseverance
2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: ὑπομονή
Transliteration: hupomoné
Phonetic Spelling: (hoop-om-on-ay')
Short Definition: enduring
Word Originfrom hupomenó
Definition a remaining behind, a patient enduring
NASB Word Usage endurance (7), patient enduring (1), perseverance (21), steadfastness (3).
enduring, patience, steadfast
From hupomeno; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy -- enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
PERSEVE'RANCE, n. [L. perseverantia. See Persevere.]
1. Persistence in any thing undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business or enterprise begun; applied alike to good or evil.
Perseverance keeps honor bright.
Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest difficulties.
My Notes : I get so excited when I learn a knew thing, especially in the midst of something I already thought I knew. The study of the word perseverance gave the word such new depth to me. I think to us the word often means that we keep on trucking even when things are difficult, and it does mean that. But to truly have perseverance we must also have:
PATIENCE, n. pa'shens. [L. patientia, from patior, to suffer.]
1. The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from christian submission to the divine will.
2. A calm temper which bears evils without murmuring or discontent.
3. The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent.
4. Perseverance; constancy in labor or exertion.
5. The quality of bearing offenses and injuries without anger or revenge.
ENDU'RANCE, n. [See Endure.] Continuance; a state of lasting or duration; lastingness.
1. A bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without sinking or yielding to the pressure; sufferance; patience.
STEADFASTNESS, STEDFASTNESS, n.
1. Firmness of standing; fixedness in place.
2. Firmness of mind or purpose; fixedness in principle; constancy; resolution; as the stedfastness of faith.
The word that this greek word came from also means: cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy
CHEERFUL, a.
1. Lively; animated; having good spirits; moderately joyful. This is the most usual signification of the word, expressing a degree of animation less than mirth and jollity.
2. Full of life; gay; animated; mirthful; musical; as the cheerful birds.
3. Expressive of good spirits or joy; lively; animated.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. Prov. 15.
HO'PEFUL, a. Having qualities which excite hope; promising or giving ground to expect good or success; as a hopeful youth; a hopeful prospect.
1. Full of hope or desire,with expectation.
CONSTANCY, n. [L., to stand.]
1. Fixedness; a standing firm; hence, applied to God or his works, immutability; unalterable continuance; a permanent state.
2. Fixedness or firmness of mind; persevering resolution; steady, unshaken determination; particularly applicable to firmness of mind under sufferings, to steadiness in attachments, and to perseverence in enterprise. Lasting affection; stability in love or friendship.
3. Certainty; veracity; reality.
WOW!!!! I found this one so very convicting. I think we believe that we're supposed to just suffer through, but we are supposed to have a constant patient endurance while being steadfast, cheerful and hopeful. I could go on and on about this, but I truly believe the conviction and guidance is in the definitions. Read them well. Look at them with honesty. Where are you falling short (I definitely have a few areas). I want you to also notice that what comes after perseverance is godlinss. I think we all desire to lead a more godly life, but if we are to attain it we must first learn to persevere. In our lives through our trials we must be immovable, unshakable, counting it all joy, trusting and being willing to wait for His timing. He is faithful!
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: ὑπομονή
Transliteration: hupomoné
Phonetic Spelling: (hoop-om-on-ay')
Short Definition: enduring
Word Originfrom hupomenó
Definition a remaining behind, a patient enduring
NASB Word Usage endurance (7), patient enduring (1), perseverance (21), steadfastness (3).
enduring, patience, steadfast
From hupomeno; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy -- enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
PERSEVE'RANCE, n. [L. perseverantia. See Persevere.]
1. Persistence in any thing undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business or enterprise begun; applied alike to good or evil.
Perseverance keeps honor bright.
Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest difficulties.
My Notes : I get so excited when I learn a knew thing, especially in the midst of something I already thought I knew. The study of the word perseverance gave the word such new depth to me. I think to us the word often means that we keep on trucking even when things are difficult, and it does mean that. But to truly have perseverance we must also have:
PATIENCE, n. pa'shens. [L. patientia, from patior, to suffer.]
1. The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from christian submission to the divine will.
2. A calm temper which bears evils without murmuring or discontent.
3. The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent.
4. Perseverance; constancy in labor or exertion.
5. The quality of bearing offenses and injuries without anger or revenge.
ENDU'RANCE, n. [See Endure.] Continuance; a state of lasting or duration; lastingness.
1. A bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without sinking or yielding to the pressure; sufferance; patience.
STEADFASTNESS, STEDFASTNESS, n.
1. Firmness of standing; fixedness in place.
2. Firmness of mind or purpose; fixedness in principle; constancy; resolution; as the stedfastness of faith.
The word that this greek word came from also means: cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy
CHEERFUL, a.
1. Lively; animated; having good spirits; moderately joyful. This is the most usual signification of the word, expressing a degree of animation less than mirth and jollity.
2. Full of life; gay; animated; mirthful; musical; as the cheerful birds.
3. Expressive of good spirits or joy; lively; animated.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. Prov. 15.
HO'PEFUL, a. Having qualities which excite hope; promising or giving ground to expect good or success; as a hopeful youth; a hopeful prospect.
1. Full of hope or desire,with expectation.
CONSTANCY, n. [L., to stand.]
1. Fixedness; a standing firm; hence, applied to God or his works, immutability; unalterable continuance; a permanent state.
2. Fixedness or firmness of mind; persevering resolution; steady, unshaken determination; particularly applicable to firmness of mind under sufferings, to steadiness in attachments, and to perseverence in enterprise. Lasting affection; stability in love or friendship.
3. Certainty; veracity; reality.
WOW!!!! I found this one so very convicting. I think we believe that we're supposed to just suffer through, but we are supposed to have a constant patient endurance while being steadfast, cheerful and hopeful. I could go on and on about this, but I truly believe the conviction and guidance is in the definitions. Read them well. Look at them with honesty. Where are you falling short (I definitely have a few areas). I want you to also notice that what comes after perseverance is godlinss. I think we all desire to lead a more godly life, but if we are to attain it we must first learn to persevere. In our lives through our trials we must be immovable, unshakable, counting it all joy, trusting and being willing to wait for His timing. He is faithful!
Self-Control
2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: ἐγκράτεια
Transliteration: egkrateia
Phonetic Spelling: (eng-krat'-i-ah)
Short Definition: temperance
Word Originfrom egkratés
Definition mastery, self-control
TEM'PERANCE, n. [L. temperantia, from tempero.]
1. Moderation; particularly, habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained or moderate indulgence; as temperance in eating and drinking; temperance in the indulgence of joy or mirth. Temperance in eating and drinking is opposed to gluttony and drunkenness, and in other indulgences, to excess.
2. Patience; calmness; sedateness; moderation of passion.
He calm'd his wrath with goodly temperance. [Unusual.]
My Notes: I'm pretty sure we all know what self-control is and for the most part we all lack it in some area of our lives. There are things in this word study that I found interesting. Especially the fact that not only did the Greek word mean self-control, but also mastery. I think we should all be praying about what areas we are lacking the most self-control in and we should be seeking to master self-control in that area. Also, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to live in and through us (which requires a dying to ourselves daily), then we should see this fruit growing in our lives.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Word: ἐγκράτεια
Transliteration: egkrateia
Phonetic Spelling: (eng-krat'-i-ah)
Short Definition: temperance
Word Originfrom egkratés
Definition mastery, self-control
TEM'PERANCE, n. [L. temperantia, from tempero.]
1. Moderation; particularly, habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained or moderate indulgence; as temperance in eating and drinking; temperance in the indulgence of joy or mirth. Temperance in eating and drinking is opposed to gluttony and drunkenness, and in other indulgences, to excess.
2. Patience; calmness; sedateness; moderation of passion.
He calm'd his wrath with goodly temperance. [Unusual.]
My Notes: I'm pretty sure we all know what self-control is and for the most part we all lack it in some area of our lives. There are things in this word study that I found interesting. Especially the fact that not only did the Greek word mean self-control, but also mastery. I think we should all be praying about what areas we are lacking the most self-control in and we should be seeking to master self-control in that area. Also, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to live in and through us (which requires a dying to ourselves daily), then we should see this fruit growing in our lives.
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