Today’s Life Journal Reading is from:

 Matthew 5; Matthew 6; Matthew 7

Scripture:

   
¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16, New King James Version)

Observation:

What does your actions and words say about your walk? Make you stop and think?

Me too.

We love to cook and something that anyone cooks understands that without seasonings or even just salt, food is….well…bland; Cook it with meat, fish, chicken, vegetables and all together, without the seasoning or the salt, the food…well…it just all goes together without really much taste.

With the seasoning and/or salt, it enriches and sets apart each aspect of the dishes and makes them unique.

The same with the Christian walk. We are called to be set apart from the world and if we are like the world, engage in the same activities, the same desires-do people see the world or are they going to see our Heavenly Father?

More than likely, they are not going to see our Heavenly Father, but the world.

We live in a world that is filled with brokenness, with the lost, with darkness and God’s word is as shining light that brings hope and salvation to all that come to Him, and we, we are His light to the world to Him.

A flashlight that is covered with mud is ineffective and if you try an experiment, see that it’s not much help when the light is out and rather than a path being shown, one is stumbling, like others, in a darken room.

That’s not who we are or are called for and this goes not just for when we go to church for fellowship, but in every aspect of our lives, be it on our blogs, FB, Twitter, emails, in daily conversations with friends and acquaintences or even,yes even, with strangers.

If they see us, but they don’t see Him, it’s sometimes time, we need to take a step back ourselves and ask ourselves; When I speak, in the actions that I do, do people see Him, our Heavenly Father, shining in and through me or when I speak do they only see me and do my actions bring comfort and fellowship, or does what I have to say or do, only bring pain and anger?

Huge responsiblity I know, but as a follower of Christ, we are burden, with being a salt in a world that strives to taste and look and act the same.

As followers of Christ, we are burden to be ambassadors to show there is hope and salvation and something better beyond our own personal selfish desires that benefit no one but ourselves and in the end lead to destruction.

Go out in the world so when people see you or hear you, it draws them, not to you, but to Him.

 

 

Application:

This is my favorite passage, because it really creates what I call an  “accountability report”. It’s a reminder that everyday we get up and interact with anyone, even our family, our husbands, and even people we don’t know online, offline or just in passing that our lives can touch their life.

When I speak to others, I will not just try my best, not just do my best, but will look and to my best, to make sure to see if the words I speak will be “salt” to others in that it will guide them to and lead them to our Heavenly Father not away.

My prayers and hopes that my blog, reflects Him in all ways and not be used as an “excuse” to sin in secret or selectively but to always and to the best, reflect Him and Him only.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the blessings of Your word, Your love and Your grace; I pray and hope that all of us find ways that we can be like “salt” to the world and a guiding light to You and You only. It’s not about us. It’s never been about us, It will never be about us and should never be about just us.

Lord, it’s my prayer and hope that all will come to know You and that my words and my actions, reflect You and bear testament to You and be a form of encouragment or lesson of learning to walk in Your steps and if I fall, may You rebuke me to conform not to the world, but to You and Your will only.

Thank You Father, Amen.

 

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****Purpose of this post****

Gentle Readers, There are days that I will read a verse or passage and just feel pulled to share here, but there are days when I will read something and just feel, I need to spend the day, in personal contemplation of what is being convey and may just post via Twitter, what passages I have read that day and post nothing on here.

That is what bible reading is about; It’s not about having to write something down everyday; There maybe days when you are reading say, Numbers and it’s just lineages, but other days, you may find yourself dealing with a “powerhouse verse” of the moment and have to just go “WOW” and seek God in personal time and prayer to understand what He is sharing.

I will try to post daily, but particularly on weekends, if I’m sick or I’m just completely in awe of what I’m reading or maybe I am trying to understand what I am reading, I may not post here, I may just write in my Life Journal (hardcopy), because I will find myself having to seek His Word and/or the Commentary and just seek in prayer to understand what our Father in Heaven is seeking to reveal.

Either way.

Reading His Word, is about getting to know Him better and developing your Christian growth and maturity. Do what is right and good for you.

If you do use the Life Journal and participate in the daily readings, I would like to hear from you and your perspective on each day’s reading, when I do have a post up, or feel free to comment on a previous “Daily Bible Reading post” or send me a quick email.

Please feel free to join in the linky that I post below, so others too, who uses the Life Journal/or SOAP method to read the bible can participate.

Don’t feel obligate to have to blog about each passage to be read, but if anything, feel free to share those passages that have the most impact on you that day.

There maybe some days that you may read your daily reading and find nothing to jot down in your journal or on your blog and that’s okay, but there maybe other days, that you will find yourself inspire.

This is about you being encouraged to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, and spending each day with Him, You and Him.

It is my prayer and hope that this will be an encouragement to establish a personal daily reading as well.

To find out more about using the S.O.A.P. method, here’s a link to an ehow article and here’s the link to the Life Journal to find out more what it is, and how you can use it for your own daily bible readings. If you don’t want to order the journal or if it’s not available through your local church, another method is simply, buy a journal or notebook or even blog about your life journal readings.

Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with the church that the link goes to, but merely share it as a resource of what the Life Journal is, how to order it.

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