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7/19/2021 0 Comments Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.” - Philippians 4:7
Philippians 4:7 talks about the peace of God; how it’s beyond all understanding, and how it guards our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. In a camp called Mount Hermon, He performed a miracle that I’ll never forget. At the time, I was dealing with something hat was hard for me. After some inside games, we moved to a room for some quiet time with Jesus. We were told to pick an envelope under categories like: depression, fear, anger, etc. I chose anxiety. With the verses in that envelope, he brushed away my anxious thoughts and replaced them with unbelievable peace and joy! God’s peace is so freeing! It was just how Philippians 4:& says: the peace of God surpasses all understanding. In that moment, all I could do was praise Him! It’s amazing how God can transform one small miracle into a beautiful symphony. God knows our difficulties, and He wants to help. Although capturing thoughts like discouragement, doubt and worry can easily bury themselves in our minds, He created these verses to confront them. And faced with truth, they have no chance. God’s peace guards us from those thoughts that creep into our lives. Here’s an idea! There are some verses listed below. If you want, you can write them down and put them in a place that’s easy for you to read them, or if you know a friend who’s going through some anxiety, you can send these verses to him or her so that they have their own special envelope! Psalm 119:165 - “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.” Philippians 4:8 - “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:13 - “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:7 - “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.” Thank you so much for reading! - Kaylie
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6/14/2021 0 Comments Psalm 63:3 “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.” - Psalm 63:3
Isn’t it amazing to know that we can always depend on God to love us, no matter what? Steadfast means unchanging, immovable, firmly fixed in place. Knowing that God’s love is steadfast throughout our lives gives us so much hope and stability. His love can satisfy our hearts like nothing else can. This makes me want to praise Jesus! He is worthy of our praise. Praising Him is a choice we can make in the good times and sad times of life. When we choose to praise Him, He gives us joy. Psalm 147:11 says: “But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love.” It is wonderful to think that it not only gives us joy when we praise God, but it also pleases Him. - Kaylie 5/28/2021 0 Comments Psalm 59:9 “You are my strength, I watch for You; You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.” - Psalm 59:9
In this verse, it says that God is our strength. Isn’t that wonderful? If you have ever had to do something that made you really nervous like I have, then you know that it can be really tough! But, God is always ready to help if we pray to Him for strength. Psalm 59:9 also says that God is our fortress. A fortress is a military stronghold for protection during battle, so that means He protects us, and that makes me so thankful! Some people struggle at times to believe that God is really there because of problems that arise. But this verse assures us that we can rely on Him and trust Him fully. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). That means his character never changes, so we can trust that no matter what happens, He remains trustworthy. It is so comforting for me to know that we have a God who we can fully rely on and trust, and who is happy to be our good Father, always taking care of us. I hope that this encourages you to lean on God, and that it reassures you of God’s constant love for you. - Kaylie 5/14/2021 0 Comments John 15:13 Yesterday my mom was reading out loud to me the verse John 15:13 and the hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. We are so blessed to have Jesus, who set a wonderful example of being a loving, faithful friend! It made me realize more of what it means to be a true friend.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13 "What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forefit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!" I hope reading this encourages you to remember that Jesus loves you adn is always here for you, wanting to be your best friend. - Kaylie 4/26/2021 0 Comments ROmans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good for them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
- Romans 8:28 Hi, everyone! Life is a very special thing that God created for us; an opportunity filled with unexplainable, intricate beauty. But, life doesn’t always go the way we want, does it? Have you ever asked yourself this question: “Why would God allow bad things to happen to me?” I know I have. Sometimes that question whirls around in my mind. We were taught that Jesus is a loving God, right? Then why do difficult things happen? The answer to those questions is actually found in Romans 8:28. It says that all things work together for good for them that love God. Things happen in this world that we don’t understand, but He does! Jesus understands everything, the whole picture. That reminds me of an illustration I heard once. We can picture each situation in our lives as a single piece of colored string. When we look at life, it’s like looking at the back of a tapestry, with all of the jumbled, different colored strings going this way and that way, and we just see a mess! Meanwhile, God sees the front and is creating something beautiful. Each part of our lives plays an important role in that beautiful tapestry, including every difficulty. Now, I don’t know why we need sadness in our lives to help weave a masterpiece, but God does know, and He loves us so much! I hope this verse really helps you in your life; it definitely helped me! Also, feel free to ask any questions you like in the comments below. Thanks! -Kaylie 4/19/2021 0 Comments How to study your bible Before I begin, I have something to say. I am not a Bible scholar and I’m not even the best at reading my Bible every day. I’m just a teen girl who loves Jesus and chocolate and I’m still figuring things out. So if you’re looking for tips on studying your Bible from a pro, you’ve come to the wrong blog post. I can’t give you the perfect Bible reading plan, but I do want to help you get a little better at studying your Bible and knowing God’s word. Ready? Let’s get started!
Finding the right fit: Before you skip down to look at the different ways to study your Bible, read this. Every person has a different life. Every person has a different schedule. Every person has different needs. Not every Bible study program is going to work for everyone and that’s ok! If you try one of my suggestions (or all of them) and it doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. I’ve tried many Bible study programs and I have a hard time finding something that works for me! I hope that at least one thing I say works for you, but there is no cookie cutter pattern for Bible studying. Keep trying at tweaking programs until you find something that works for you and helps you grow. Get a book: If you want to really study a certain subject in the Bible, find a Bible study book about it. That’s the best way to get in depth without having to spend hours pouring over references. It’s pretty strait forward and easy. Go on your own: The next best way (and really, only other option) to study at home is by go in depth on your own. Pick a passage of scripture you are interested in and dig deeper. Look in the back of your Bible where you should have a concordance. Look up cross references to the words in your chosen passage of scripture and maybe even look them up in a dictionary. Even word you think you may know might surprise you. -Brooklyn 2/15/2021 0 Comments Psalm 86:5 "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." - Psalm 86:5
How many of you have ever totally messed something up? I haven’t so I’m not sure what that’s like, but this verse is for you! LIAR!! I have definitely messed up a lot. Every person that breathes on this earth has done something bad that they later regretted. It’s in our blood. As soon as Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, we were destined to mess up, sin, and be anything but perfect. Sometimes it feels like I don’t deserve all these blessings, but you know what? This verse tells us that God is standing with his arms wide open. He’s just waiting to forgive you the instant you want Him to. His mercy is plenteous and He wants to use it. All you have to do it go to Him. Call on God and crawl into those arms. He won’t reject you, no matter what your faults. -B 2/8/2021 0 Comments 5 ways to study a Bible verse Before I say another word, let me remind you that I am not a Bible scholar. I am a teen girl who occasionally (a lot less than I’d like) reads her Bible and about 50% off the time understands what she reads. Now that you know my extreme lack of qualifications, let’s dive in.
Despite my lack of knowledge, I love truly studying a verse in the Bible to understand what it means. Studying a single verse can help you gain a really deep appreciation for what it says! It also helps you go deeper during your personal devo time (as well as allowing you to understand verses that confuse you!). Today, I’ll be sharing some really simple but great ways to decode difficult verses and do a bit of deeper study on a passage! 1. Look Up Words Yep, that word that you pretend you understand but can’t actually define..look it up and figure out what it means! This can really help you understand what a passage is saying. You can also try ‘rewriting’ the verse with the word’s definition in place of the word. 2. Use A Commentary While it might not help you understand the intricacies of a particular phrase, a Bible commentary is a great resource that can offer additional context about a passage (eg, explain Biblical customs, the significance of an event, etc). You can use a paper commentary or find one online! 3. Try Different Translations Still don’t understand a verse? Try reading it in different translations. Sometimes passages that I don’t understand in NIV make sense to me in KJV, or the NLT version adds meaning to another translation. It’s fine to have favorite translations (don’t we all?) but it’s also great to read several for a well-rounded interpretation of a verse. 4. Diagram It Sorry for sounding like your 6th grade English teacher! But that is, essentially, what I mean. Write out the verse you are studying and diagram it. Circle verbs, highlight God’s name, and essentially look at the grammar, words and structure. The sentence itself, not the words, is often the most confusing part of a verse. Studying the grammar, playing with it and even restructuring the sentence might help! 5. Pray Pray for God’s insight into a passage. The author always knows their own work better than anyone, especially when the author is God! Have fun studying Bible verses. I hope these tips make scripture come alive in new ways for you! Love, A 1/25/2021 0 Comments Psalms 1:2 "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." - Psalms 1:2
I’ve read this verse a lot, but to be honest, it baffles me a bit! I mean, delighting in laws? Meditating on them day and night? What is King David talking about in this Psalm? Today, I would like to take some time to unpack Psalms 1:2 together. Here we go: I tend to think of laws as a list of “don’ts”. If this is true, why would I ever get really excited about rules and limitations - even ones placed by God? Now it’s time to shift our perspective. Maybe the author of this verse (King David) isn’t getting all excited because God told him to pray regularly and not to steal. Instead, maybe David is finding delight in God’s laws because they prove how much God cares about us. God didn’t make up a whole bunch of rules that he expects us to follow because he wants to make our lives hard! He gave us rules to serve as boundaries to keep us safe and right where we are meant to be - close to him. His rules are also perfectly designed (by a perfect creator!), so that even if we don’t understand why God gave us a certain command, we can trust that it is 100% worth following. Now, we’ll talk about meditating on God’s laws. I wasn’t fully sure what meditating meant, so I looked it up. Turns out, (according to Google Dictionary), meditating means to “think deeply and carefully about something.” I love that! So in this verse, King David is talking about regularly making time to think about God’s perfect laws. Maybe he thought about which commands he needed to follow more closely, or maybe he just simply sat and praised the creator behind such intentionally designed rules. Either way, meditating on God’s word (and his laws!) is an incredible way to spend a few minutes! So, now that I have just bombarded you with info, how will you delight in and meditate on God’s laws today? Love, A PS. This post got long fast! Sorry! :) 1/18/2021 0 Comments 1 peter 1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:16
My pastor has a saying that is pretty funny and also filled with truth: “You can’t buy faith at the grocery store.” It makes a lot of sense because, for one thing, faith isn’t physical and only God’s word can give you faith. That makes a lot of sense. Today I am going to apply that same concept to a different topic. “You can’t buy holiness at a grocery store.” The verse above says that we are supposed to be holy because God is holy, but since I have already established the fact that you can’t buy holiness, how are you and I supposed to be holy? I looked up the definition of holy in the dictionary and this is what it says: “Dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred” So to be holy, someone or something has to be dedicated to God. You might be thinking “Um..... and how am I supposed to do that? Become a teenage pastor or something?” but God knows each and every one of us and so he never gives a commandment that is impossible for us to achieve. Maybe you can’t give your whole life to God but you can serve him in your everyday life. Read your bible, talk about God and even pray that God would use your life how he sees fit. -B |
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