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