Bible in 90 Days - Day 1

Wow. Just wow.

I got a late start on my Bible in 90 Days goal and reading plan. I had originally set out to begin it on Monday March 31st. However, I didn't get to start it until April 1st and I'm only blogging about it April 3rd. I missed Day 2 of reading so I will be doing Day 2 and 3 on Day 3.

My reading for Day 1 was

Genesis 1 - Genesis 16

There was so much information given to us in the very first 16 chapters of the Bible! We start at literally nothing and go all the way to Abram and Sarai!

Key Events and People:

The Creation (duh!)

What a massive event this was. God took us from vast space to separating Heaven from Earth, Land from Sea and creating all creature including..wait for it...Humans!

Adam and Eve and The First Sin

The first humans were Adam and Eve and just like humans do, they sinned. Only their sin became world - renowned because it was the very first sin. While reading this, I kept thinking how vastly different our world would be if that event never took place. I mean they were walking around naked, with God, and in total peace. No hurt, no suffering. Just peace. How wonderful would that be?! Then, the snake comes along and convinces Eve that what is good for God should be good for her and causes all that to go out the window. Now Adam and Eve are ashamed of their nakedness, God is disappointed, and we begin with pain and suffering.

Cain and Abel

The first account of sibling rivalry. Cain and Abel (Adam and Eve's first two sons) go to present God with their gifts. God accepts Abel's gift, but not Cain's. Of course Cain is jealous and feels left out. But, God says to him "Why do you feel so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right, but if you don't, sin is waiting to take control!" (Genesis 4:6-7) So, (spoiler alert) Cain decides to do exactly the opposite of what God tells him. He invites his brother out into the fields and he murders him. I'm sure he was thinking "If Abel is out of the way then I will have God's love all to myself. Does that happen? No, of course not. This is God we are talking about here! God comes to look for Abel and gives Cain all he has coming to him. He basically banishes him, makes it so the ground will never work for him again, and says that if anyone tries to harm Cain, they will get it too...times SEVEN! This story made me think about my boys always vying for my attention. I would hope they would never kill each other over it though! Don't worry boys, Mom loves you both equally!

Noah (the one I was anticipating the most!)

So after Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve end up having another son. Seth. And along Seth's lineage, we end up at Noah. Possibly one of the most known people in the Bible outside of Jesus himself. I'm sure we all know this story well. God's people had begun to sin so much that He felt He should just start over. He asks Noah to build a boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Then, take his wife, his three sons and their wives, and two of each animal (male and female), load the boat and hang out there until the water has stopped pouring from the sky and had receded back down. You know Noah had to have some kind of HUGE FAITH to just up an build a boat like that! I mean it says the man was 500 years old when God gave him his instructions! I'm 30 and I don't think I could build a boat that big!

Abram and Sarai (and Hagar)

Along Noah's line of descendants we end up at Abram (Abraham). There is a LOT to Abram's story (including Lot himself!) He travels all over the place, forms an army and fights Kedorlaomer's army (and wins), cares for and then separates from his nephew Lot. He has quite the story! But, to me the most interesting is the beginning of the first love triangle in the Bible. Abram is married to Sarai however, Sarai is unable to have children. So she decides to give Abram her hand-maiden Hagar. I mean who wouldn't give their husband another woman? Hagar then becomes pregnant, brags to Sarai about it, and naturally Sarai becomes engulfed in jealousy. Sarai goes to Abram and says, "Look at her flaunting this baby around! It's totally unfair!" (paraphrasing if you didn't guess) and Abram (like a true gentleman) says, "She's your hand-maiden, you deal with her." Sarai is so mean to Hagar that Hagar decides to run away. Pregnant and scared, she encounters an angel on her journey. He tells her to return to Sarai and submit to her authority and I will give you more descendants than you can count! He also tells her to name her son Ishmael which means "God hears" because God has heard your cry.

In our next reading, we pick up where this story leaves off. I have studied Abram, Sarai and Hagar just a little bit. Enough to know this story is going to get GOOD. Overall I have to say that despite the LONG lists of lineage (and there are quite a few generations to go through), this is a great beginning to what we know is a world changing story. I can't wait to get to the next part!

This weeks readings:

Day 2: Genesis 17 - Genesis 28:19
Day 3: Genesis 28:20 - Genesis 40:11
Day 4: Genesis 40:12 - Genesis 50
Day 5: Exodus 1 - Exodus 15:18

How are you doing? Are you following along with the Bible in 90 Days? Is this your first time reading the Bible through?

I hope you enjoy this as much as I am!

Have a blessed day,
Jenny

Accountability or 30-30-90

"Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures"

~Luke 24:45 NLT~

In my newest journey to find deeper faith and seek out a closer relationship with God, I have realized the one thing missing is a deep understanding of His story. After all, that is what the Bible is all about. His story. The first step I needed to accomplish, was to admit to myself I had never truly delved into the Bible. So, I am now challenging myself to do just that. Dive in head first into His story. 

Just one little problem. If I make a goal to myself, and tell it to myself, and keep it to myself. No one is there to call me out if I don't follow through. No one is holding me accountable for holding myself accountable. 

(You know I love to quote scripture...here it comes)

The Bible talks a lot about accountability. 

In Deuteronomy 29:29 it says this:

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions."

Hebrews 4:13 states this:

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable."

So I figured, if I was going to be truly successful, I needed to be accountable to my God-following peers and ultimately, to God Himself.

After much research, I found two plans that would work together perfectly to not only be doable for my slightly ADD personality, but also help me not just skim over the words. I knew if I just did a reading plan, it would be too easy to just read the Bible and not actually get what the message is trying to say to me.

The two plans I am doing are (links are clickable):

The Bible in 90 Days

 and

Joyce Meyer's 3030 Challenge

I chose to do the Bible in 90 Days because it is the whole Bible and not just parts and also because it is only 3 months. I feel, for myself at least, if I did the Bible in a year, I would lose my momentum and not finish. 

The 3030 Challenge is a challenge to read at least 30 minutes a day for 30 days. She sends out tips and encouragement to help you not only just read for 30 minutes, but to really get to the heart of what you are reading.

If you would like to join me on either of these plans, I will be posting my thoughts on my daily readings right here on my blog. Feel free to read along and make this a group discussion. If we are all reading and discussing, we can hold each other accountable.

After all,

Matthew 18:20 NLT

"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” 

For Day 1's reading , I am reading Genesis 1 - Genesis 16. 

See you all then!

Have a blessed day!

- Jenny

The Power of Words

Ever say something and immediately wonder where the words came from or immediately regret those words falling out of your mouth? This happens to me more often than I want to admit.

Sometimes, I say something and I know it was God taking over my mouth. Speaking the truth when I want to lie, or giving someone the words they desperately need to hear at that moment in their life. But, other times I have to admit, it's not God who took control over my mouth. It's that other guy. The one who wants the absolute opposite of God.

The bible has a lot to say about words and letting God take hold of our voices.

Exodus 4:15 explains God taking over our speech in this way:

"Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do."

I mean, I don't know about you, but to me that spoke volumes (no pun intended). It is a reminder to me that God is in control even when I think he isn't.

I have just recently started a couple different bible studies but, I am in no way a bible scholar nor am I the one to go to when trying to figure out the rules of the bible. I'll admit, I look at things that are taboo in Christianity and I wonder where they came from.

When speaking of words, one major problem my husband and I suffer from is a bad case of potty mouth. With this transformation that has been happening in my heart lately, I began to really look at the choices I was making and my problem with cursing is one that has struck a definite cord in my heart to change.

One of the things that I have noticed as a recurring theme in the bible stories was the constant need for two witnesses to be able to state something as truth. So naturally, when my husband and I were discussing what the bible has to say about cursing, we wanted to see two verses on the subject.

 Two verses, two witnesses, had to be truth.

We definitely were not surprised to see God was on our same mind wave-length and did indeed put two instances in the bible to speak against foul language.

Again.

 Two verses, two witnesses, has to be truth.

Colossions 3:8
"But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language."

Ephesians 4:29
"Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."

God speaks twice (and I'm sure many more times) about using our voices to not bring down but, to raise up. To be encouraging, helpful, and positive instead of negative, tearing down. 

This coming week I just pray that God takes control of our voices and uses them for His purpose. Use our voices as His tool to bring people to Him and to raise people up instead of bringing them down. 

Have a blessed day!

- Jenny 

Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem! Seize the day! This famous saying can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To most stay at home moms, this may mean getting as many chores done as possible while the kids are at school and the spouse is at work. To my two sons, this phrase most of the time means, "Let's see how many levels I can gain before Mom realizes I am playing this game instead of cleaning my room like she asked!".

To me, lately, Carpe Diem has been two part.

The first part has been to really make sure that at least once a day, I stop yelling, stop nagging, and really tell those closest to me just how much I love them. I don't think I do that as often as I truly should. I tend to get too caught up in my daily to do list that I forget to realize that once today is gone, it's gone. It's not coming back. My kids get older each and everyday whether I like it or not and I really need to stop and take a moment to say "I love you" and "I appreciate you".

 I found a project on Pinterest (isn't that place just great?) where you take the entire month of February and each day you place a heart on your child's bedroom door with a reason why they are special to you. I began doing this yesterday (yes, I realize yesterday was already the 3rd. I played a little catch - up) and the impact has already been felt. My kids loved seeing what I had written on each of the doors. Fun things like "I love playing games with you!" and "You rock at playing the drums!". However, the ones that were most noticed were the things I assumed they knew but, really had no clue about.

My youngest son, Craig, has Aspergers (high functioning Autism). Due to this, he tends to get stuck on one topic for days, weeks, sometimes months at a time. I find myself a lot of time saying to him, "honey, i love you, but, can we PLEASE talk about something else!" For him, I made sure to put 'You know so many cool facts!" as one of his hearts because even though I might get tired of being on the same subject, I really do find it amazing how much he can learn at his young age of 9 on a topic he is truly passionate about.

Same thing for my oldest, Trenton. I spend so much time taking care of Craig that not a lot of time gets spent one on one with Trenton. I needed to make sure to let him know that he is still tied for Number One in my mind so I put "I love spending time with you!" on there so he would know I cherish our moments together just as much if not more than he does.

The second part of my Carpe Diem (or really my first part) is to spend more one on one time with God. Poor God. He loves me with all my flaws, gives me everything I have inside and out, yet is the first to pushed to the wayside when my day gets busy. It's like I'm saying "Sorry God, you're gonna have to wait, this laundry isn't going to wash itself!" (Boy, wouldn't that be awesome!)

For me, I have realized that I HAVE to make spending time studying the word and talking to God a priority. If I don't make this time important in my mind, it will never get done. But, here's the funny thing. Making sure that I get that time with God in each and everyday HELPS me get everything else done better. It's like an extra pep in my step. My daily study time can include anything from listening to a podcast, reading a devotional on my phone to just opening my bible and reading or writing down and reviewing favorite bible verses in my pocket verse keeper. It varies day to day depending on how I feel and what I have going on. Sometimes I have time to sit down and actually read the bible and other days, I am listening to it in my ears while I do my chores.

I joined a Home Team through my local church about 6 months ago and have really enjoyed the study and communication I have with this group. It really gives me some wonderful insight into all the bible has to offer. I have also started going to a weekly women's bible study which just reinforces my study that much more. I find myself yearning for those study times and adding in my own daily study time to enhance the knowledge I am gaining. It has been wonderful and really changing how my entire daily schedule works (mainly, because it is changing my attitude towards my daily schedule).

I encourage you to find your own way to Carpe Diem, whether it's taking time to tell loved ones how much they mean or just making time for your own personal growth.

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