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| hey guys. i had a blast at Camp Caleb. It was really great!!! Hope you guys stayed in the Word while i was gone. For those of you who are new to Alone With God, it's an e-mail based daily Bible study. You can also find it at www.xanga.com/Bible_Studies_x3 I write these myself. Send them to all of your friends and family. I Hope that you enjoy these! MuchoAmor, Cassie.
Today's Verses- Luke 9:23-26
First of all, Pray that God will reveal smething to you through this Bible Lesson
Read the Verses.
Re-Read them.
Today, I'm going to break it down verse by verse.
Re-Read Verse 23 again.
It says that you must deny yourself.
How do I deny myself you might ask?
I personally think that it means to give up your own wants and desires to build up His kingdom.
Well, it also says to pick up my cross and follow Him. How do I do that?
This one really gets me sometimes, but i think that it meanto be like Him and to follow him.
Have you been following Him with your whole life?What do people see in you? Do they see Jesus, or just another person? Do you stand out? Are you a Sunday and Wendsday kinds Christian?
When I work with athiests, I've found that people who claim Christ but act like the world are the biggest cause of atheism. Revelation 3:15-16 say to be hot or cold. Do Not be a lukewarm Christian. Be hot. Be on fire for God, or don't claim Him at all. That's pretty much what this says. So, where are you, hot or cold? I pray that you aren't lukewarm, or cold for that matter. I pray that each one of you can be on fire for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
OK, let's move on to Verse 24
read it again.
Personally, I think that this means that if you try to save your earthly life, you will not have eternal life, and if you give up your earthly life, you will gain eternal life.
So I have to die to gain eternal life?
not in that sence, but yes. You have to give up all of your earthy ways and sin.
So how do I get to Heaven then?
well, First, You have to get saved. Salvation is accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour and confessing your believe in Him.Read Romans 10:9-13 and contact me if you need to know more about salvation. i would absolutly LOVE to hear from you. Getting saved is only the most important thing you can ever do.
Ok, so now that i'm saved i have to quit sinning?
yeah, if you're a Christian, you have to act like one. Christians are supposed to be Christ like, and Jesus NEVER sinned, that's how i see it.
So, quick re-cap. Verse 23 tells us to deny ourselves and follow Him. Verse 24 talls us to give up our earthly life to gain Heavenly life
But Wait! There's more.
Look at verse 25
Wow, I love this verse! What good is it to have the world, But not have Jesus? Personaly, I'd take Jesus over anything this world has to offer me. I'd pick Jesus over a million dollars anyday, because someday, my million dollars will be all spent, then what do I have nothing, except a bunch of stuff that will be gone someday too. Jesus, however, never goes anywhere, He's always there, always has been, always will be. What good would it be to have all the earthly stuff you want then go to hell? Would it have been worth it? not to me. No, nothing is worth giving up seeing Jesus face to face. Nothing. Not One Thing. What you you rather have, Jesus or stuff?
Verse 26
Man, this reminds me of Camp Caleb in a billion ways.
If you are ashamed of Christ, He will be ashamed of you. Are you ashamed? Do you hide your faith or share it with everyone you know? Are you ashamed of the one who's blood has made you whole?I AM NOT ASHAMED, are you?
Now, Talk to God.
"I think that all things are worth nothing
compared with the greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
-Philippians 3:8
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| Hey guys. i'm baaaccckkk! i know how much you missed me!!! ha ha. well, i'm off to camp. soooo. a lil reading assin. for you while i'm gone!! YAY! haha.
Ruth 1:1-4
Matt. 21:21-22
Mark 11:22-25
John 16:31-33
Acts 2:42-43
Romans 5:3-8
Romans 8:18
Romans 8:28
Romans 8 35-39
Romans 10:8-13
2 Cornth. 12: 9-10
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 6:9
Ephesians 1:3-8
1 Thess. 5:16-18
: ) 1 Timothy 1:15-17
1 Timothy 2:9-10
1 Peter 3:15
Rev. 3:11
Rev. 3:15- 16
Rev. 3: 20
Rev. 21:2-4
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| Still Kristen.
"A Lost Silver Coin"
Do you ever feel as if your are not valuable? Do you feel like you're not good enough for the people around you? Do you feel like you're not good enough for God?
A lot of people (especially teens) struggle with lack of self-esteem. I would feel pretty confident saying that everyone in the world (that's old enough to understand) has felt that there was something wrong with them at one time or another. Some people may seem like they think their perfect to everyone else, but on the inside, they hate how they look, or they don't like something else about themselves. Everyone deals with feeling unworthy at some point in their life.
Look up and highlight Luke 15:8.
In Luke 15:8, Jesus is giving a parable, which is like a little story He used to help people understand what he was saying to them. In this parable He says, "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doe she not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?"
In this day, a silver coin was worth a lot. It wasn't just the twenty-five, ten, or five cents you find under your couch cushions when you're cleaning. This was big stuff to them. To lose one of these coins could cost this woman and her family a lot of meals or clothing. If you lost a lot of money or something else that's valuable to you, wouldn't you look for it? You'd be crazy not to.
God is the same. To Him, you are a valuable creation, something He formed with His own hands. He will stop at nothing to have you as His own. God values all people. He doesn't look at you and see someone that is overweight, or too short, or too ugly. He sees a beautiful piece of artwork that He formed.
God wants to have all people follow Him and love Him, so that one day they can be with Him in heaven. If one person, or two, or ten, are caught up in a life of sin and not turning to God for help, God doesn't just say "Oh, I have tons of other people, I don't need that person too." Our God is a selfish God. He wants all that He can get. He values us too much to just give up on us. Just like the woman in the story. That one coin, even though she had nine others, was still valuable to her. She still wanted and needed it.
God loves you for who you are. He created you, and therefore, you are beautiful. God does not make mistakes. He wants you to be His. And if you are lost in sin and you can't seem to find a way out, know that He still loves you and will take you back whenever you are willing to surrender to Him. He will keep trying to get you until it's too late.
Take some time to pray. Thank God for creating you and making you beautiful. Thank Him for taking you back even when you sin. Thank Him for not giving up on you no matter what you do. Ask Him to help you feel like a beautiful creation. Ask Him to help you turn from your life of sin to face Him.
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| Still Kristen.
"Love one another"
How
many times in your life have you been told to "love one another" or
"love your neighbor?" It seems like every other Sunday School lesson or
sermon says something about it, right? How often do you take that
command to heart? How often do you truly and honestly love those around
you?
Find John 13:34 in your Bible and highlight it.
In John 13:34, Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
Look
at the third word in that quote. Command. Jesus isn't saying, "Oh, you
should probably try to love each other." He's commanding you to love
one another. He's saying, "Hey, I'm loving you, so you had better love
each other."
When you show someone love, how do you show it? With a hug? A gift? Kind words?
We
should love each other with the way we live our lives. We should show
our love for God and for everyone else in everything that we do.
The
next time you hear a sermon or Sunday School lesson or whatever else
about, pay attention. Let it be a reminder to really love everyone
around you. Not just the people that love you, not just the people that
are easy to love, but everyone.
Take some to to pray. Thank
God for His ultimate love. Ask him to help you remember that loving
others is a command, not a suggestion. Ask Him to help you to love
everyone. | | |
| July 19
Once again, this is Kristen Chapman.
"I Will Give You Rest"
Do
you ever feel like all you do is go, go, go? Are you ever just too
busy? Sometimes in life we have a lot of obligations that we just can't
seem to get away from. Sometimes this causes us to stray from God or to
miss church or quiet times.
Imagine a plate. Something you'd
put your dinner on. Does your plate have pretty designs, or is it just
plain? Is it plastic or glass? Or maybe you even pictured a paper
plate? Now imagine taking that plate to a buffet and being told that
you can only go through once. You're going to fill that plate until no
more will fit, right? You're going to pile food on until you have so
many mixtures of foods that it's digusting. At this point, you just
have too much on your plate.
What does it mean when you have too much on your plate in life?
Do
you ever feel like you try and try, but you still can't seem to get
everything done? Do you ever feel like you're not good enough? Are you
letting things of this world take over your time so that you don't have
enough time for God? Or maybe you're trying to do so much with church
and youth group that you don't have enough time for God? That may seem
like an odd concept, but it is not difficult to fill your life with so
much (even if it has to do with God) that you neglect God and don't
spend time with Him.
Look up Matthew 11:28 in your Bibles and highlight it.
In this verse, Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
This
is another matter of giving yourself, and your stuff to God. You have
to give God the busyness of your life. If you are feeling weak and
over-worked, go to God. He will give you rest. He will give you a break
from all that is going on in your life. Take some time to get alone
with God and get quiet. Listen to His presence. Talk to Him as you
would a trusted friend. Tell Him your troubles and let Him give you the
rest that you need.
If you are feeling that you're not good
enough because you can't seem to keep up in life, or you can't seem to
make things work, go to God. It says in 2 Chorinthians 12:9, "My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Do
you understand that? God is saying that if you give Him your
weaknesses, His power in you will be made perfect.
Take some
time away today. Get alone and get quiet with God. Speak to Him, and
more importantly, let Him speak to you. Listen to what He has to say.
He'll give you rest, peace, and more insight that you ever thought
possible. | | |
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