Day 7, Proverbs 1

Whenever I think of wisdom, I think of my Grandpa. I guess because he is a lot older than me and has seen more of life than myself, I assume he should have more wisdom. While I know he has more wisdom than myself, I sometimes I assume I don't have much wisdom of my own because I am so young.

Wisdom is one of those funny things we read about in the Bible. It is freely given to anyone who asks for it. This implies no age limit. We should seek wisdom, both from others and for possesion of our own wisdom. I was reminded by the reading today that the beginning of wisdom is fearing God. And to sustain wisdom, we must be sharp to avoid becoming part of a group that drags us away from what we know is right.

I pray that I begin seeking wisdom on a daily basis. I also pray for strength to stand for what I know is right in wisdom.

Tomorrow is Psalm 34, on Day 8.

God Bless,
Nick

Day 6, Philippians 4

Today was the perfect ending to the book of Philippians. After reading so much this week about how we need to be gearing up and preparing, chapter four was a nice shift as we were reminded that we have already won in so many way. Paul is being encouraging and thankful to the reader, which is a great example to us. But there are also so many quotable verses that we could take with us in our everyday life as encouragement.

We don't need to be ancious about anything. We can bring every issue we have to deal with to Christ, and he has promised to take care of us. I need to be reminded of this from time to time and have people in my life that do. Lifes issues are not our to worry about when we are children of God.

I love verse 13 and have written in on countless reminders to myself. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength leaves us with no excuses. Everyone faces trials and no one can avoid it, but when we approach everyday with the attitude that we can do it all through Him, our perspective changes.

Paul also spends a lot of time thanking the people who have helped him out. I constantly take people for granted. When I really look at all the people in my life that support me, I can't imagine life without them. Even this week, people have been encouraging me on this blog experiment. Everyday there has been someone reminding me of it's importance. Our church in encouraging in that way also. I love the people that make up our church for that very reason. They care about people and remind everyone of their importance on a regular basis.

We are a family of believers who always should be there for one another. I pray that I start appreciated everyone more and taking more time to rejoice in the victory we share in Christ. I'm excited to go to a Sunday morning service tomorrow with a series beginning on Philippians after reading the book. I hope you all have enjoyed going deeper as much as I have this week.

Tomorrow is Proverbs 1, enjoy.

God Bless,
Nick

Day 5, Philippians 3

I had forgotten before today one of my favorite reasons for loving Paul and his work. Paul was not your average Joe. By birth, the course for his life had been set for him. Being of a respectable heritage, Paul lived up to everything that was expected of him. "In regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for seal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." Paul is describing all the things that men of the time would have desired for themselves and he had them all. As Paul looks back on his life, he sees that he had everything and now realizes it was worth nothing. Beyond that, he considers all of that time as a loss in his life.

There are many kingdoms I attempt to build for myself. I would love a house of my own and a truck in the driveway. I would love a large minsitry with a youth group of hundreds. But if my ambitions are anything other than being one with Christ, they are for loss. No matter the good I attempt, my number one priority has to be Christ.

I pray to have the same passion as Paul did at the end of the chapter. He says he wants to follow him to the death, even a death on a cross, being crucified for his beliefs. I pray I wake up everyday with a goal of being with Christ in eternity and telling as many people this truth along the way.

Hope your enjoying this as much as I am. Tomorrow is Philippians 4.

God Bless,
Nick

Day 4, Philippians 2

Chapter 2 reminded me what is was like the first time I visited my college of Olivet Nazarene University. I remember meeting my peers for the first time and experiencing that I was going to be living with a couple thousand people that were all "united in Christ." There is great joy in that kind of fellowship because we feel the spirit of God in a very real way.

Sometimes I feel like I'm on top of the world in my relationship with Christ. Those moments are great but I lose all sight of humility. The most humbling thing I can read is a reminder of the way Christ carried himself when he went to die for me.

As a body of believers, we must support one another like Timothy, Epaphroditus, and Paul did for one another. There ministries were better because of one another and our ministries will experience the same encouragment from one another. I pray we humbly approach each day with a servants heart and that everyone will see in us the love of Christ that is offered to them.

Tomorrow is Philippians 3.
God Bless,
Nick

Day 3, Philippians 1

I love reading letters that Paul has written because I imagine how meaningful the words must have been to a new church in Philippi. Once again Paul is in chains for what he believes. I think what we read about the situation that Paul is in call tell us a lot about being leaders. The people that followed what Paul was teaching, that is the message of Christ, were motivated by the willingness of Paul to be in chains for his stance. Paul was leading a revolution in Rome and people were ready to fight and die by the example he was setting. "As for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I wish these were words I was living out. That everyday was a radical day of uprising in our faith. I wish I could view my relationship with Christ and the importance of others knowing him the way I do with the same intensity as Paul. That if I'm granted tomorrow, I will share the gospel until I am horse. But if today is my last, then tomorrow I will praise God in His presence. Remember, someone is likely watching your actions. A negative attitude is showing someone the wrong impression of the victory in Christ. Instead we should carry on with a renewing joy each day just as Paul did.

My prayer is the same as Paul's, "that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."

Tomorrow is Philippians 2, can't wait to read what everyone thinks.

God Bless,
Nick

Psalm 27

Psalm 27 is beautiful poetry. If your looking at it right now, take time to imagine what God must look like when he sees you reading these words. There is a lot of encouragment in how we can stand against the odds. As a man, there is a side of God we see that is similar to a coach in our corner, cheering us on every day. If there is anything that people agree on, it is that life can be difficult. So difficult we don't like to talk about or deal with the reality of what we are facing. When God is in your corner, what can stand against you? As followers of Christ, we are not a group of people that are defending what we believe. We are standing in the only army to never lose. We are not the beaten, we are the victor. We are not the underdog, we are the only one in the fight.

Verse 13 blows me away, "I am still confident of this, I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." I'm not very political. I have my beliefs and morals and I vote with them. But in the big picture, I know little. But I do know this, the spineless beliefs of our country are not something we must be tolerant of. My prayer is to show people there is something worth believing in, and its the winning team. Those beliefs cannot be concured, and this country surely could begin its turn back to God. We are a body of believers, and I pray we stand with the confidence found in Psalm 27.

Tomorrow we read Philippians 1. I love Paul and everything he writes so this should be fun.

God Bless guys,
Nick

Day 1; Psalm 1

Today was short but sweet. One chapter is an easy read. A short read is good though because there is plenty of opportunity to concentrate on what the scripture is teaching. Being a Christian with Christian friends can make us feel confident in our faith. But when our faith is challenged in the presence of things that distract us from Christ, it can become easy to drift. As we take time to meditate on the scripture, I believe we will really begin to see strength in the moments of distraction.

In no way do I believe the text is saying we should avoid people that don't know our Lord. However, when we are in the those situations that we know it will take work to stand for our beliefs, even in daily situations, we must prepare our hearts to stand strong. I believe the love that Christ has shown us is something we should reflect. My prayer for today is to continue to medidtate on His word. I pray for strength to be an example. I don't want to dissapear in a crowd of people who don't know Christ. Instead I want that love to be shown in a way that others know there is something special going on in my life.

Tomorrows reading is Psalm 27. Hope to be reading your comments soon.

Nick

Welcome!

Hey everyone! Hope your looking forward to the next 28 days. Tomorrow we are going to be reading Psalm 1. Remember, S.O.A.P. stands for scripture, observation, application, and prayer. This is going to be a great opportunity to really encounter God so please make the most of it. You can't do this wrong, just read the text and comment on what you think of it. Then spend a moment of your time talking with God about it. I'm praying we all come away from this closer in our relationship with Christ.

God Bless,
Nick