The Challenge:
Memorize 52 verses in year 2012.
The Blog:
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Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sibling Relationships (Conclusion)
Today marks the end of our month of Siblings Relationships. It has been a blessing to read the various articles, verses, and challenges from several different perspectives. I hope and pray that our little study on Sibling Relationships will help you in your life-long journey of being a sister!
Blessings!
Ana Renee and team
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
How Our Relationship with God Affects Our Sibling Relationships (Part 3)
By Guest writer, Grace
When we decide to faithfully pursue a right relationship with the Lord, we will begin to see His blessing pour out and help us in many areas of our lives. As we begin to see and feel how our attitude and response towards our siblings change, there’s something we should be mindful of.
Our relationship with God affects ourselves only. We cannot expect the Lord to work in a sibling’s life in the same area, at the same time as us. There are two aspects of this we need to be warned in.
Number one, it is our duty to keep our eyes focused on Christ and our relationship with Him, and not look at anyone else. Scripture tells us that “but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” (2Corinthians 10:12)
Not only is it not wise, it can be dangerous for us and our relationship with Christ to compare ourselves with someone else, especially our siblings. If we feel we are doing better than them, we can easily fall into the category of becoming prideful, and then if we feel we are so much below others, we can become discouraged and despairing of our walk with Christ.
Number two is that many times, especially when we first begin to respond in the way we should to our siblings, they may not understand or take too kindly to the change. I know for myself, when I was angry and struggling, nothing irked me more than to see one of my siblings sweetly following Christ. I unconsciously did my best to tear that person down or to show some fault in them. Just as we saw in the verse about Cain yesterday, someone who is not necessarily doing all they could to work on their relationship with the Lord, may have a negative response to someone who is.
“And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3: 12)
There is a very good possibility that our siblings will not respond very graciously to our cheerful or loving responses, but we must be prepared to follow the Lord’s leading anyway, no matter what our siblings may do or say.
In conclusion, I’ll have to speak with King Solomon.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
If all we do is look to God and be totally and constantly pursuing Him and follow His leading, we are doing all that He has called us to do. This will not only give us complete peace and fulfillment, but will ensure a godly response in our relationships with our siblings.
Monday, October 31, 2011
How Our Relationship with God Affects Our Sibling Relationships (Part 2)
By Guest Writer, Grace
As we have already seen, a life lived for Christ will have a wonderfully positive effect in our response to those around us, namely our siblings. The Scriptures are full of examples of this. I love the story of Joseph as it gives us a prime example in how Joseph followed the Lord, and he was able to demonstrate remarkable love and forgiveness to his brothers.
But just as our relationship with our siblings can be affected in a positive light by our relationship with God, the opposite is also true.
When we are lazy in our devotions, or turn a deaf ear to the Lord’s prompting for more study, Bible memorization, or prayer, we distance ourselves from the only One who can help us to have true love and appreciation for our siblings and those around us.
I’m sure we have all had times when we were struggling with a specific concept or conviction, and we found ourselves in a very touchy and irritable mood. Our responses to our siblings were probably not as they should have been, and we find that we had dug a pit of hard and hurt feelings that we later have to go and try to fill with repentance and apologies.
There are many things we do wrong that affect our relationship with the Lord that will also negatively affect our relationships with our siblings.
“Only by pride cometh contention; but with the well advised is wisdom.” (Proverbs 13:10)
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4)
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
These are just a few, but as we can see, there are a number of things that can cause conflicts in our relationship with God. Conflicts in our relationship with God will cause conflicts in our soul, which in turn will cause conflicts in our sibling relationships.
We see that this has been a problem from the very beginning of Scripture. The story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4, and from reading it we see that Cain’s conflict with God caused a very harmful and deadly response in his sibling relationship.
“Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3: 10b-12)
We would be wise to learn from this example and take our relationship with God seriously. All righteousness comes from the Lord, and if we are not living our lives in Him, we may very well sink down to doing some very painful or destructive things against the people we love and are closest to.
Come back for Part 3 tomorrow.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
How Our Relationship with God Affects Our Sibling Relationships (Part 1)
By Guest Writer, Grace
Sibling relationships can be one of the most difficult things for us to be Christ-like in while living our everyday lives. After all, even in the Proverbs it says, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (17:17) :-) It is so much easier to be pleasant and God-honoring when we are with friends than when we are with our siblings day in and day out. Of course, I may be miss-using this passage just a bit, but it seems to be used in this way quite often.
I find that if we really look, we can find a multitude of articles and books that address the issue of proper relationships between siblings, and some of them have a lot of practical and helpful information. But when we really dig down to the heart of the issue, we find that most of the time it is missed altogether in these how-to writings.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God
How often do we need to be reminded that if we work on having our relationship with God where it needs to be, He will work through us and help us in every area of our lives?
The number one focus for each and every one of us as believers is to tune our hearts and lives to the One who gave us life. Our Creator is more than worthy to be first in every aspect of our lives, and this includes relationships.
A very important factor in our relationship with God is to establish exactly what we believe about Him, or how much we believe in Him. If asked, I’m sure we would hasten to assure the questioner that we believe in God with all our hearts! This may be so in our hearts and minds, when we are alone, and in the quiet of our devotions, but what about in our everyday lives?
For many, believing in God is deciding that they are going to believe in this invisible Creator, whether or not they feel He is real. This is what most people call faith. But if we are truly striving for a live of intimacy with Christ, this will not be enough. We not only have to choose to believe, but act on it.
“Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth?” (Psalm 113:5-6)
We must realize that God is an actual, real being and that He is not somewhere in heaven or the sky looking down at us every once in a while to see if we are following Him, but that He is RIGHT HERE. He stays close beside us every moment of every day, taking deep interest in our interests, sorrows with us in our sorrows, smiles with love and pleasure when we serve others, and many times stands by in sad disappointment when we chose to disobey Him.
Once we realize this, we will find that this knowledge affects every action and decision we make. Thus we see how a heart in close unity with God will spread to our response and reactions to those around us.
Just as God’s love no depth knows,
His love our hearts will overflow.
Whence can it flow? Out of our lives.
With those around we’ll harmonize.
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22)
As this verse plainly states, if we keep the eyes of our hearts focused singly on Christ, our whole life will reflect the light of His presence. How awesome!
Come back for Part 2 on Monday.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Sibling Appreciation (Day 5 of 5)
Compiled by Amanda Tero
Showing Thankfulness of our Siblings {Day 5 of 5}
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| Photo from PrintMaster Gold 5.0 |
“And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.” Psalm 107:22
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Today, find at least seven different reasons that you can thank God for each sibling. Continue watching through the day so you can add to this list of thankfulness for each sibling.
Some tips to help you through today’s challenge:
1. Start your day in prayer, asking God to help you have a true gratitude for your siblings.
2. Review Psalm 107:22 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 at least four times throughout the day to keep focus on why you are doing this particular challenge.
3. Keep a small journal of your day. As God brings your list of thankfulness to mind, write them down.
4. End your day in prayer, thanking God for your siblings and for the blessing they are to you.
~ ~ ~
Just because the challenge is ending today does not mean that you should stop showing your appreciation for your siblings. God wants us to always live our life according to Philippians 2:3-4, 1 John 3:18, and Ephesians 4:29. It is my prayer that these five days are just the beginning of a life-time of loving and appreciating our siblings.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sibling Appreciation (Day 4 of 5)
Compiled by Amanda Tero
Blessing our Siblings {Day 4 of 5}
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| Photo from PrintMaster Gold 5.0 |
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29
“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Romans 14:10
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” Luke 6:31
Today, focus on the good of each sibling instead of the negative. Find three good things about each sibling and write them down in your journal. Bless your siblings outwardly: thank them for a job well done, a good attitude, their help, their diligence, or something else that blessed you. Express your admiration for something they accomplished (a task, a project, a creation, etc.). Praise godly character exhibited in their lives. Find a way to build them up with the words you say to them.
Some tips to help you through today’s challenge:
1. Start your day in prayer, asking God to help you see ways to sincerely bless your siblings by your words. It may help to compile a list of positive points for each sibling.
2. Review Ephesians 4:29, Romans 14:10 and Luke 6:31 at least five times throughout the day to keep focus on why you are doing this particular challenge.
3. Keep a small journal of your day. If you have failed to bless or praise your sibling in an area, write it down; if you have succeeded in another area, write it down as well.
4. End your day in prayer, thanking God for your siblings and the opportunity to bless them by your words.
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