Using our gifts to God's glory

Hey all!

Tonight's post will be much shorter than last night's to make up for how long my post was yesterday. lol I just want to talk a little about not comparing ourselves with others when it comes to serving God, and figuring out what it is that WE can do and are good at.
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In our service to God, it's important for us to discover what we are good at, and how we can best serve Him and the church. Sometimes it is hard not to compare ourselves with others. It's easy to see others doing something and say, "Man, I wish I could do that." Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't grow. If you see someone do something, and you want to be better at it, then feel free to learn how to do whatever it is if you're able to. I'm just saying, we shouldn't spend our time wishing we could be like someone else.
Phil. 4:11- "...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." God made us each with a particular gift, so it's important to find out what yours is, and do that to the best of your ability.
Eph. 4:16- "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does is share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
1 Cor. 12:4-6- "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all."

If we all discover our talent, and work that to the best of our abilities, we will glorify God and serve our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. They will see us using our talents, and maybe they'll be encouraged to use their own talents. What are some other verses you can think of to add to this idea? Feel free to post your ideas!

Take care and God bless! :)
Megan Jo

"He who would love life and see good days..."

Tonight, I would like to study on watching what we say. Unfortunately, I think I have perfected the exact reverse of "think about what you say, before you say it"... Too much of the time I get upset about something and say things without thinking about what I'm saying, or what the result of my words will be, until it's too late. I'm challenging myself to be better at being "slow to speak, slow to wrath..."

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Ps. 141:3- "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips."

Prov. 13:3- "He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction."

Prov. 21:23- "Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from trouble."

James 1:26- "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless."

1 Peter 3:10- "For "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.""

You know that awkward moment in a conversation... okay, an argument... when you realize that you're wrong? Or just when you've had an argument, and after it's over and you've had time to think about it, you regret it? I think I've had a few more of those moments than I would like to admit. 

The bible says that, "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless."... Ouch! If that isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is. If we spout off and get mad, and say things we shouldn't without thinking... our religion is useless?? But that makes sense, because being a christian is about self-control and doing God's will rather than our own. Matt. 16:24- "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Again in Romans 12:1, we are told to, "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

     

So, how can we gain control of our tongue, and be "slow to speak, slow to wrath"? 

James 1:19-27- "19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not aforgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

To put all of this together in my scatter-brained kind of way, I guess you could say that in order to be a doer of God's word, we much know God's word. If we are busy studying God's word so that we know what we are supposed to do, visiting the fatherless and widows, and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, we won't have time to speak badly or with anger.  Think about what you want the result to be, before you say it. Is it really necessary for you to say whatever it is you are wanting to say? How will it make the person you are speaking to feel?

Another thing that helps is to memorize scripture, so that if you are feeling irritated or whatever, you just keep saying it over and over until you've overcome the urge to say something you shouldn't. :) Psalm 119:11- "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." (You can also back-up and read verses 1-10 of that chapter.) 

Memory Verse Challenge:

- Psalm 119:11- "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You."

- James 1:19-20 - Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."

- James 1:26- "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless."

This study has definitely given me some things to think about and hopefully a few ways to improve. If you've read the whole thing to this point, I hope you've been able to take something from this study that will help your walk with God, as well. Until next time...

Take care and God bless!

Megan Jo

Back from break...

Well, I'm back from the 2 week break! (You can read my previous post if you don't know what I'm talking about. haha) I thought I would have time to post a few short studies, but of course I didn't. I did my own bible studying, but just didn't have time to post it on here. I hope you all were able to fill up your extra time with studying God's word and learning more about His will. If you learned anything you'd like to share, or have any feed back on our Facebook/internet break experiment, feel free to post comments! I'm sorry for the short post tonight, but it's been a long, crazy weekend. I'll try to post more often with short studies for us to go over. Until next time, I'll leave you with a couple of scriptures to think on... :)
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John 1:12-13- "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

James 1:2-5 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Take care and God bless!
Megan Jo

Love God with ALL your mind...

This is loosely based off of a lesson I heard from brother James Luedecke this afternoon, but it really put some things into focus for me, and I'd like to share them with you. 

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Matt. 22:37- "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

When you ask people if they love God, they might say, "I love God with all my heart", or, "I love God with all my soul"... but have you ever heard anyone say, "I love God with all my mind"? I haven't... The very same verse that tells us to love God with all of our heart and soul also tells us to love God with all of our minds. ALL of our mind... If we give pieces of our mind to things that will lead us away from God, away from serving Him, then we are not loving God with ALL of our mind. 

James 1:8 says, "he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways..." We cannot say, "Well, I'll love God with this half of my mind, and love worldly things with the other half." (Matt. 6:24) Everything we do, say, and think must reflect God if we truly want to serve Him. (Matt. 5:16)

Before we get any further into "what" we need to do, I want to mention "why" we need to. 1 Jn.4:19- "We love Him because He first loved us." He lived a completely perfect life without any sin whatsoever, so that He could be a perfect sacrifice... for our sins. When He had no sin of His own. So, we love God because He loved us enough to give His only son as a way for us to receive forgiveness of our sins if we are willing to obey Him (Jn. 3:16) (Matt. 7:21). Christ also said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (Jn. 14:15).

When we think about how to love God with ALL our minds, think of our mind as a place of worship to God. He knows everything we think about... every single thought. (Luke 5:22, Luke 6:8) When we think of our minds as a place of worship to God, and our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him (Rom. 12:1-2), we should be much more careful about what we do, say, and think. We need to love God with a mind that is continuously renewed, ready to learn/serve, humble, sober (serious and disciplined), focused on heavenly things, and wholesome in what we let in. We cannot do that if we do not keep our minds focused and pure.

Phil. 4:8-9 "Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things... and the God of peace will be with you." We must focus on heavenly things if we truly want to be pleasing to God. Think about what your mind has been filled with the past week. Is it more focused on spiritual things, or heavenly things? I know I let things in this life get in the way and cloud my brain, and I don't think on the heavenly things as much as I should... Am I the only one? Surely not.

So, I have a challenge! :) I am going to stay away from Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. for 2 weeks! (I will be sharing my blog posts on Facebook for anyone who wants to join, but I'm not actually going to be surfing. lol) I am going to take the time that I would normally be on the internet, and use it for bible study. Will you join me in this challenge? Here are the rules:

1. Stay completely and totally away from Facebook, Pinterest, etc. for 2 weeks. You don't have to delete your account, just don't log in! Have someone change your password and not tell you what it is until the end of the 2 weeks, or if you are disciplined enough to just not log in, that works too. lol You can check e-mail and such, just stay away from wasting time surfing. :)
2. Use that spare time to dive into God's word! There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in the Bible, and it has all the answers you need in life. (1 Peter 1:3- "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.") 
3. At the end of the 2 weeks (June 17th), I'll have a blog post. Comment on that and share what you have learned or how spending more time in God's word has helped you. I'll be posting between now and then as well, so feel free to read/comment on those as well. Hope we will have lots of people participating. Have a great 2 weeks! :)

Take care and God bless,

Megan Jo

Getting out of my lazy days...

Wow, I feel like I've been busy, but evidently not with posting to my blog! lol I hope you all are doing well and you're having the same awesome spring weather we are. :)

Hmm... I didn't really plan anything to write, I just felt like I needed to get started blogging again. I spent almost all day working my Scentsy business! I watched several training videos, got my new printer out of the box and all hooked up ready to go, typed up a recruiting letter, and did some prep work for a conference I have a booth at this fall. I'm really excited about that!

I've been such a slacker lately, and I'm not really sure why. I just know that I need to get back on track if I'm ever going to actually accomplish anything. Getting together with some of my best friends for our woman's study this week, and watching the Scentsy training videos the past few days have really re-energized me and made me more determined than ever to join my faith with my Scentsy business and take off with both! I really want to get better at talking about the bible and continue learning God's word, and I really want to be a Scentsy SuperStar Director... and I'm determined to do both! :) So, I will try my best to  post more often, and you'll probably get a good mix of bible studies and Scentsy talk. lol

I'm looking forward to getting together with my church family tomorrow. Spending the day worshiping our amazing God with like-minded christians always makes for an awesome day! And tomorrow is 1st Sunday, so we will be having our "1st Sunday dinner" as well, and those are great too! :) I seriously don't know what I'd be doing right now if I didn't have my church family and God's Word... certainly not sitting here typing on this blog post. I'd be lost without the foundation God's Word gives. We've heard a LOT of really great lessons lately, maybe I will steal them and turn them into future blog posts to share with y'all. :)

Okay, I think that's all I have for tonight. I'm sorry for the ramblings. I'll try to actually get some coherent thoughts together for you later. :) Have a great night, and a blessed Lord's day tomorrow!


Take care and God bless,
Megan Jo

First steps...

I never thought of myself as much of a writer (and you may well agree by the time you finish this post), but several people who have a large impact on what I do all have blogs, and I always enjoy reading their thoughts. It is also a good way for me to keep a record of the happenings of my life and keep myself accountable. You see, I have a lot of goals for this year, and I fully intend to see them through. The only problem is that I can list them all in my mind, and tell myself what I want to do, but until I put it out in the open, there's a good possibility they will just get swept under the rug. So, feel free to bug me if you see me slacking!

The theme of my year will be to grow. Mostly, to grow in my christian walk. To teach others about God's amazing love for us, and to learn so much about God's word it pours out of me! (Because, none of my goals matter if I'm not working to serve God; that's why I made this my theme, instead of just a goal. This is part of all my goals.) To grow as a person. To grow as a friend. To grow in every possible way (except maybe out... one of my goals is to get in shape, so that would probably not help... heehee)

Goal #1: Get Organized!
In order to do any of the other things I want to do this year, I have got to get organized! I am a seriously right-brained, creative person, and organization is most definitely not one of my strong suites, but it has to be done. And because I want so badly to be able to achieve all of my goals, I will get organized- even if my left-brain has to drag my right-brain along kicking and screaming.

I am happy to say that I am well on my way to getting organized. I have a planner that I found on Amazon.com, and I absolutely love it! Today, I began organizing my Scentsy office area. (Yes, I am a Scentsy Independent Consultant, and my website is www.SavouryScents215.scentsy.us) I absolutely LOVE my Scentsy business and team, and I want my office area to be a fun place to work; not a place where I have to dig through boxes and drawers to find what I'm looking for... So, today I tore the room apart and I'm in the process of piecing it all back together. I am certainly not brave enough to post "before" photos, but I will be posting "after" photos once I've got everything in it's new home. I'm excited to see how it all turns out. I just know that once I have an organized work space, things will get very busy.

I won't promise to write every day, but I will write as often as I can. Who knows, maybe I'll get hooked, and I will end up writing every day. Only time will tell...

Until next time, take care and God bless!
~Megan Jo