Sunflower Faith

My Daily Bible Reading

Today’s Life Journal Reading is from:

Hebrews 12,13; Jude

Scripture

³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.(Jude 1:3, New King James Version)

Observation:

There’s never a “good time” to share our faith, or so we tell ourselves.

We don’t want to offend, it’s a bad time, we don’t know what to say.

Imagine if our Heavenly Father said the same to us.  But He found time and didn’t pay mind to those who were offended because sometimes when people get offended, it’s because they don’t want to hear the truth or want to feel that nagging suspicion to rethink what they spent so much time, convincing themselves they want to believe.

His truth is a sunshine that lights up and reveals everything, the good, the bad, the ugly. We don’t like it, but  there comes to a point either our hearts hardened to the truth or we awaken to the truth and strive to change.

Reading “Voice of the Martyrs” it’s a reminder that there are people in other countries, fellow brothers and sisters, who unlike us in the States, don’t have the freedom at all, to practice thier faith. Being a Christian is considered being the enemy.

Yet they pursue under worse challenges in a modern day reminder of the older days of Christian persecution.

We speak for those who have gone before us and for those who can not speak with us now.

If we had a stain on our shirt, we would want someone to let us know before we head out the door wouldn’t we?

If we had spiniach stuck between our teeth, wouldn’t it be nice someone tells us before we head into the office to meet the big boss?

Sharing our faith is not an easy thing but it’s not a hard thing to do either.

It’s by just our common day actions to each others and to those who are non-believers; It’s by living out our faith and not just speaking about our faith; It’s about not being afraid to share what our Heavenly Father has and will do with our lives and for those around us.

It’s taking the time to pray for others, even when it’s inconvenient for us, and just a simple note of encouragement.

We don’t have to have loud speakers to proclaim who we are or what we believe in, but we shouldn’t hide away our faith as if it’s something to be ashamed of either.

Application:

Truthfully, there have been days, I thought twice about pulling out my bible to read while at a doctor’s office without thinking “what will other people think” or sending a Christmas card with scripture for “fear of offending”, but as God laid it on my heart, I realize that by being more concerned what the world thought and not what He thought, I was choosing, by my actions, the world over Him.

I soon, stopped worrying and when I wait for the doctor, or whomever, I open my bible and read it, and send out cards with scripture in it, with a “Merry Christmas” and “God Bless You” in it.

There was a time, that no one said “God Bless You” to me or share His word with me. It was a time before I became a Christian and I can’t help but wonder, “What difference would it have made, had someone said that to me”.

Maybe I would have been offended, but it would have planted a seed, that you and I wouldn’t have seen, but later in the future it might have come to fruit.

We don’t have to share His word, by just pulling out a bible and quoting Scripture. We can share His word, by just simple actions, living His word and letting that speak for itself, rather than we speak for Him. It’s His job to save, but it’s our job to share His word and often not by verbalizing, but just by our very existance and letting that bear testament to His word.

Don’t feel like you can “show your faith” only around fellow believers and don’t think, you have to share your faith by standing on a corner.

Just sometimes, the simple act of extending a hand and saying” Hi” and letting your life speak for itself, can speak volumes for itself.

Don’t be afraid to say “God bless You” or  “Merry Christmas”, after all…doesn’t He bless us all rather we know it or not?

Prayer:

Lord, Thank You for standing up for us and seeking us even in the faces of those who had seek to silence Your Son and the work that He did; We don’t face the same as our fellow brothers and sisters, but we shouldn’t feel that we need to modify our faith to fit in a broken world that seeks to conform You to what it desires versus to allow You to change it for the better.

Lord, give us strength and words to speak and live in Your truth and not ours or that of the world.

Amen

****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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