Chronological Reading Plan

Hello everyone! I hope your 2020 has gotten off to a great start!

I remembered that I forgot to mention the reading plan I was doing this year, and I wanted to share it.

This year, I've decided to read the Bible in chronological order. If you remember, in 2018, I read it in order from beginning to end. I did this using the Bible app on my phone, Bible Gateway. I'm using this app for my reading again this year, and I'm sure most Bible apps will have this option. But if you don't have an app that offers the chronological option, or just don't like to use a Bible app for your daily reading, I wanted to offer a list of the readings in chronological order.

I'm not going to do a blog post for my readings this time. I'm still in school to get my Masters in Library Science, and I just got a full-time position at my library, so I won't have time to post every day, but I do hope to be able to post quite a bit, and I'm still working on the eternity series I mentioned.

So, this list is correct to the best of my knowledge, but I have just started the reading.

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/chronological/next

Please let me know in the comments if you find any errors, or if you have a preferred Bible app or reading plan, and why.

I look forward to sharing more with you this year as well.

Worship Wednesday: Tell Your Heart to Beat Again

Happy new year, everyone! I hope 2020 is filled with amazing things for you as you continue or begin your walk with God.

Last night, my church held a new year's service beginning at 11:30pm and going to 12:30am. It was absolutely amazing, and I'm so glad I went. It was a wonderful way to start the new year - praising God.

And so on that note, I wanted to start my 2020 blog that way too. And it's Wednesday, so that worked out perfectly.

Welcome to the first Worship Wednesday of 2020!

This song came on the radio Monday as I got to work and I knew I had to share it with all of you. Then it repeated as I was driving home from work yesterday, and I realized I would be able to post it on January 1, 2020 because it falls in line perfectly for the first Worship Wednesday.

So, a quick question for you:

What happened in 2019? What was the year like? Was it good? Bad? A mix of both? Were there things that hindered your walk with God? Were there also things that strengthened your walk with God?

I had a mix of both. I have a story I'm going to share with you all at some point about one of the things that hindered my walk with God that I was able to throw off last year, but not today. Today is just for the music.

But keep that thought in mind. What were you able to throw off in 2019 that was hindering your walk? Did you accidentally pick up something new? Or was it an old struggle that kept coming back to bother you and trip you up?

Well, I've got good news. Not only is today a new day, but it's a new year! Does anyone else know that wonderful Anne of Green Gables quote? "Tomorrow is fresh, with no mistakes in it." That's especially true with God. He takes our mistakes and He redeems them. We don't have to keep holding onto them anymore. 

So, as you listen to this song, I encourage you to let go of what was holding you back in 2019. Ask God to help you. And remember, yesterday doesn't have a hold on you anymore, because today is a new day with God, and his mercies are new every morning.

My favorite part of the song is this verse:

Let every heartbreak

And every scar

Be a picture that reminds you

Who has carried you this far

'Cause love sees farther than you ever could

In this moment heaven's working

Everything for your good

Sometimes we get hurt. Sometimes there are heartbreaks and scars, but we don't have to carry them into the next day. We can give them over to God, and He will carry them for us.

There were some heartbreaks for me in 2019, and some things that left scars on me, but God blessed me so much that my joy overflowed into worship.

May God bless you this year with so many wonderful blessings that you don't know how to contain your joy!

Count Your Blessings

Hello everyone!

Today is Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy some good food and time with your families.

There's something I've been doing the past few years, and I want to share it with you. I keep a journal, and in this journal, I take time on Thanksgiving morning to write the things I am thankful for. It's a challenge, because each year, the number changes according to my age. So, instead of just doing 10-15 things each year, which is what we were encouraged to do on Sunday at church, I take it a step further.

Without looking at my list from last year, I write down what I'm thankful for. This year, my list will have 30 items.

So, today, I challenge you to do the same. Whatever your age, write down that number of things you are thankful for, without repeating them. It takes a little while sometimes to think of the last few, but it's worth it. It reminds me how much I have to be grateful for, how much God has blessed me. And then, when life gets tough, I can look back on the list and remind myself everything that is good in my life instead of focusing on the bad.

I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
God bless you.

Worship Wednesday: God's Goodness is Eternal

This Sunday, we sang this song in church, and it really touched me. Tears and everything. It's a wonderful reminder of how faithful and good God is, so I've added it to my worship list. It's very powerful, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Eternity Series

Hello everyone!

For this series of posts, I want to take a look at eternity, and how we will live once we have finished our mortal lives. This will be in three parts: Heaven, New Earth, and Hell.

Now, I'm not going to speculate or offer up guesses.

Rather, I'm going to look at what the Bible says about each of these places, and I will also link to other well-researched articles and posts about them.

Lately, I've just really wanted to learn more about Heaven and the New earth, specifically, and I thought I might as well include the other option for eternity while I'm at it.

So, stay tuned for this series! It's going to take a while for me to figure out how I want to set it up and to do research and to actually write up the post, so I can't guarantee a date. Just know that I am working on it, and that if you have any suggestions for those or other posts, or if you have any questions you'd like me to try to answer with my Bible research, let me know.

Worship Wednesday: We Pour Out Praise for God's Glory

Hello everyone!

For today's Worship Wednesday, I'm sharing a song we sang in church on Sunday. It has never moved me quite so much before, so I know this is the appropriate time to share it.

And actually, they mixed this song with another one, and it flowed very nicely together. They would sing this one and then a little of the chorus of the other one, which I'm pretty sure was this one:

I hope you enjoy both of these songs and that they encourage you to worship this week. God bless you!

My Job at the Library

Hello everyone! It's been a while. I meant to post for Worship Wednesday, but it slipped by and between work and school, I completely forgot. Hopefully I'll get one up next week.

So, while I'm working on other posts, working on ideas, and gathering Bible verses, I decided today I want to post a bit about my job. Just for fun.

For anyone who doesn't know, I work in a library. I am not a librarian yet, but I am going to school to become one.

In my job, I get to do a variety of things, all of which involve customer service. Today I want to share some things that happened today that are the epitome of why I love my job.

Things I did yesterday:

1. Helped a customer look for homes to rent
2. Helped a customer find the next book in a series they loved
3. Assisted a customer with renewing their library card
4. Assisted a customer with checking out movies
5. Gave a customer the newspaper to read in the library
6. Worked on a reader's advisory list for Christian films (we get a lot of customers who ask for them)

That's only 6 of the things I got to do at my job yesterday. Also, a customer brought in pumpkin/cream cheese treats. Delicious!

The weather has cooled off and it's officially the start of my favorite season. Also, I love my job.

So, I guess this post is a lot different from what I usually write, but I wanted to share today. All of these things made me really happy and very grateful. I was just in a great mood yesterday and today and really wanted to share some of the great things I got to do to help my customers.

What things make you smile at your job? Is your favorite thing helping customers or something else? Let me know in the comments!

Worship Wednesday: Raise Your Hallelujah!

Hello everyone!

For today's Worship Wednesday, I want to share a song that has been on my radio all week long. It played Saturday, and Sunday, and then we sang it at church. And then it was on the radio Monday, and again on Tuesday. It also played on the radio this morning when I was driving to work, and this afternoon when I was driving home.

I think the message is pretty loud. This is my worship jam this week, and I hope it speaks to you too. I've been singing it randomly all around the house - when I'm making dinner, when I'm cleaning up, when I'm getting ready to watch a movie, when I'm picking out a new book to read, even in the shower. And when I'm at work and can't raise my voice as loud (I do work in a library, after all), the song plays in my heart, and is louder than I can even make my voice go.

In the middle of our troubles, when everything is dark and bleak, all we have to do is sing out praises to God, just raise that Hallelujah, and the darkness flees. It may not mean an immediate answer, or an escape from the troubles, but it will lift our spirits, and bring God's presence down to surround us.

So, sing loud. And sing louder. Let His praises echo to the heavens. And drown out the troubles and the unbelief.

And raise a hallelujah.

Flawless

Hello everyone!

So, in my women's Bible study group, we have been learning about how God sees us through the eyes of mercy and grace, and what the word flawless really means as applied to our lives.

We've taken a break for the summer, and our "homework," so to speak, is to catch ourselves picking ourselves apart and focusing on our flaws and take those thoughts captive with God's Word and remind ourselves that we are flawless instead.

It's quite the challenge, I'll admit. I'm studying Japanese, and even kanji seems easier at this point. But I know that doing it every day will make it a habit and that will improve my thinking, and overall, my character.

So today, I want to challenge all of you. God doesn't see your past or your mistakes. When you accepted Him into your life and asked forgiveness, He gave it. Freely and without reservation. And now He sees you through the eyes of mercy. To Him, you are flawless.

He doesn't see that awful thing you did before you met Him. He doesn't see that awful thing you're beating yourself up about when you slipped up after meeting Him. He doesn't see your scars. Your weight. Your diet. Your bank account. Your flaws and imperfections. He sees you as flawless through His Son, Jesus.

So my challenge for you is that every time a flawed thought crosses your mind, take it captive.

I'm too fat.
I'm too skinny.
I have so many pimples.
I'm so ugly.
I'm stupid.
No one loves me.
No one will ever love me.
I messed up so bad no one could ever forgive me.

And these are just part of what we tell ourselves on a daily basis! Me too. Don't leave me out. I've said at least three of these just this morning. It's a struggle. It's difficult. That's why it's a challenge. But challenges can be overcome.

So, my challenge to you is this:

When these thoughts happen, remind yourself that you belong to God, and He doesn't see that tiny imperfection at all. He sees you as beautiful. He sees you as flawless. And if you have trouble reminding yourself, just check out this song, and play it on repeat as long as it takes.

Freedom

So, today is Independence Day for myself and my fellow Americans. It's a time when we reflect with gratitude on the many freedoms that we enjoy in this country that people in many other countries don't have. We reflect on the sacrifices that the people who came before us made, and are still making so we could enjoy those freedoms.

We also barbecue. A lot. And shoot off fireworks. A lot. It's a total celebration.

Sunday was Freedom Sunday, and my pastor preached on the freedoms we have in Christ. He reminded us that those freedoms did not come without cost - the cost of Jesus' blood, and the sacrifices of our obedience.

Freedom isn't really free. Someone paid the price for it. Just as Jesus paid the price for our sins.

So often we want the freedoms without the sacrifice. We want to ride on the hard work of others. And in some cases, we're allowed. We don't have to pay for our sins. We have brave men and women who have fought and continue to fight for freedom.

But just because our freedom was given freely, that doesn't mean we don't have to fight for it. Every day. Satan does not like our freedom. He wants us to be bound. Slaves. To sin. To our flesh. And so we still have to fight for our freedom. Every day. But when we seek God, He will fight for us.

Sometimes, though we want the freedom without any sacrifice. Just like sometimes we want to be part of God's kingdom without putting in the work it takes. His salvation is free. And we can have salvation without doing anything beyond believing in Jesus and asking sincere forgiveness for our sins.

Or, we could go all in. We could believe and obey and sacrifice. And fight.

So, I challenge you to do 3 things that I've already done this week.

1) Reflect on the freedoms that you have in God, and thank Him for each one.

2) Reflect on Jesus' sacrifice so that we could all enjoy those freedoms

3) Ask God to help you identify areas where you are doing well and areas where you fall short; then ask Him to show you how you can improve.

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

And to my fellow Christians, remember: every day is independence day for us.

God bless y'all.