My fiancé is a golf coach for the high school girls’ team.  He has been very successful in this role, and I am very proud of all his accolades.  This year his team won their conference, and they will be going to the state golf meet for the third year in a row. I love going to meets and seeing them compete or hearing about how they are doing by following online if I can’t be there in person.  He will often talk about the meets and things he is teaching his athletes, so they can make better choices in future meets. 

One decision he is hoping his golfers will soon learn will be going around a tree or obstacle properly.  Sometimes his golfers, like all golfers have found themselves at times, will be directly behind the tree.  Sometimes what golfers, including myself, will do is try to go through the tree or over the tree.  This can work, but it also sometimes doesn’t work well at all. A golfer has to be lucky and/or very skilled to hit it just right in that position.  Sometimes it will just hit the tree and then go back farther than it was originally, or it will be in an even worse spot than it was before.  

The more strategic way to get around this obstacle is taking another golf stroke and hitting your ball towards the fairway (the grass leading up to the hole).  This takes more time, but it is also more reasonable of an option than taking the chance of going through the tree.   When choosing to take more time and one more swing, this will have a better chance of the ball having a good position of the hole,which could overall, lessen the frustration.  

This is a good reminder to sometimes spend more time on something than we would have originally expected, but it is better than having to rush through certain obstacles or problems.  Sometimes when we do rush through them, this may end up causing more issues or problems.  Sometimes we need to make sure we talk about the steps necessary for solving any life struggle or problem. 

For another good life example, I am in the process of moving.  For the most part, it is done.  I have put all my materials and objects in boxes, moved those boxes to the new place, and then slowly I have gotten the chance to put almost everything away in the new place.  It was very important to not just throw things around or throw things in a car and then throw them all the different ways.  If you really want to make sure the moving is done well and right, there needs to be some thought and time given to it. 

I discovered the big way I tend to cut corners is when I am cleaning.  I don’t always like to spend the same amount of time cleaning as is recommended.  I don’t have much enthusiasm, if any at all, to really take the time to dust all the areas, vacuum all the places, and clean all the other grime areas in the house or in the apartment.  I was very appreciative of my grandma who helped me do the final clean of my apartment before I officially moved to the new place where Cole and I will officially live after we get married. 

There are definitely other examples.  These are just a few.  The point is to realize that when we are in certain situations, we need to be willing to do the hard work.  We need to do a good job of following the protocols and the procedures when encountering stops or having problems we now need to deal with.  We can’t just rush through issues and problems.  It could end up getting a lot worse if we do not take the time to really do everything right.  I once heard a saying, “if you do not have time to do something right the first time, will you really have time to do it a second time?”  (John Wooden-Basketball Hall of Fame) It is a good reminder to be consistently taking time on things the right way, the very first time. 

One verse I want to highlight is John 14:27 which says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  I love this verse for many different reasons.  I do believe it includes great comfort in knowing God will be there for us and help us in all situations and reminds us that the world will not give or treat us as the world does.  This is a good reminder we need to do something different because the Lord has decided we need to do things differently than the world has told us or has shown us through other’s actions.  

The challenge for this week is to spend a bit of time wondering if there is anything you try to cut corners on.  Are there sometimes when you try to take the easy way out of something?  You may try to do something that has not been recommended, just because you believe in your heart there is an easier way, or you don’t have to take as much time.  Are there times you want to cut corners? 

This could even be at work, when you don’t feel the need to do absolutely everything your boss has told you, the exact way it has been advised or recommended.  This could be at church through not completely following through on the Bible reading plan you have declared to be starting.  There are so many ways we don’t like to do everything full-fledged, but ultimately, this just may end up costing us more in the end.  Whatever is the main area of times when you don’t do things as completely well as you should, I do want you to feel challenged to take a bit more time this next week on them. 

I have been continuing my Bible Study on the characteristics of God.  God still has many beautiful and lovely characteristics.  One of those, of course, is God’s grace.  I thought for sure I would read the section about God’s grace and believe there would be nothing I could read I hadn’t before.  I didn’t believe I would be interested in the reading because I figured it would be something I have read many times before.  However, this reading would really impress me because of its approach.  

To give a reminder about grace, the definition of Grace is “unmerited favor, love, and kindness of God to humanity.”  Sometimes it is defined by those in the church as, “not getting what you do deserve.”  Because we sin, we deserve death.  This isn’t just the physical death, but also spiritual death or complete separation from Christ for the rest of eternity.  However, even though we do have a physical death we will experience, we are now given an opportunity to have a relationship with Christ through his son’s death and then ultimate resurrection.  

I want to highlight one paragraph.  Again this book is called, “The Attributes of God,” by Kristin Schmucker.  The text says, “The word, grace, is mentioned often, as it should be.  Yet, sadly, this has sometimes meant that the richness of grace has become commonplace to us as believers.  Grace should never be commonplace.  It should leave us in awe and wonder of who our God is, that He would lavish us in a grace that we do not deserve.”  

I really enjoyed this quote because I realized this is me.  I can sometimes forget about grace and its importance. We in the church hear about God’s grace on a regular basis and how this impacts our life, but we can let it become sole head knowledge as opposed to heart knowledge.  Head knowledge is knowing something but treating it like a fact or general information.  Heart knowledge is when we really let this information take root and change our lives for the better. 

There are many times when the word grace is mentioned in the Bible. In fact, grace appears in the Bible roughly 170 times.  An example would be a group of verses in Ephesians 2:8-9 and this says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

I have really struggled with accepting God’s grace at various times.  I think I can take it for granted.  I believe this can be something that happens to those who have been a Christian for a majority of their lives or at least for quite a few years.  We can not imagine living without God’s grace because maybe we have always lived around and with it with those who have been in our lives.  I know I am this way.  I grew up with a grandma who started telling me about Jesus and His grace at a young age.  Then my mom had me going to church, Sunday school, and youth group from the start of school.  It was plenty of time to really know this information, but at the same time grow to not appreciate it as greatly as one who ever lived without it.  

 I will struggle through certain sins such as saying and thinking mean and inappropriate words and thoughts.  I know I am forgiven by God and the grace He gives and provides.  However, sometimes it is the excuse I have for not making any changes.  He can just forgive me again and again.  I don’t have to change much about myself.  However, even though His forgiveness is true, I need to also be aware of trying to be more like Christ, daily, working slowly at it to get better and better with the help of the Holy Spirit.  

The challenge for this week is to think about grace, really think about it.  What comes to your mind when you think of grace? How does it make you feel?  Is it something you easily write off as not important or do you actually think about its importance and the impact it can have on your life?   Are there ways you can express more gratefulness for the grace God has provided? Is there someone or a few people who you could tell about God’s grace?  

This really can best be shown through spending some time in prayer.  It is important to make sure to spend time praying to God and thanking Him for all you have and all the grace He has shown you as well as the grace He will continue to show you.  It can then also be important to spend time asking for this grace to mean more and more to you personally and for it to be something you never forget about on a regular basis. 

I have continued reading the devotional book, “The Attributes of God,” by Kristin Schmucker.  This devotional book has really been helping me see the good values of God.  There was one quote I really enjoyed from this devotion when learning about God’s Omnipotence.  Omnipotent means God having all power and his power being limitless.  He is the ultimate creator and Keeper of the world.  Everything that happens in the world happens because of Him and His ultimate power.  

The quote I really enjoyed was “We grasp for power and leverage it for personal gain at the expense of other people made in God’s image.  We naturally look up to those who have power and disregard those who do not.  This is tragic evidence of our fallen state.”  This quote was a good reflection for me.  We do have a tendency to see people who are in power and who are in great positions as more important than others.  We spend a lot of time focused on influencers and those who are famous because we believe they are the most important. 

However, this is not how God wants us to view power.  He wants us to remember that all power on earth and in heaven is to God and his son, Jesus Christ.  He is the one who has power.  He bestows some power on His people, such as with Adam in the very beginning to name the animals.  He gives us some people power in blessing them with certain jobs and positions.  However, it is important to make sure to never use this power to solely our advantage. This power is only to help spread God’s love and God’s message to those who are standing behind you or are under your supervision.  

I personally need to remember this because of the place I work.  I do work with low income families.  I need to always make sure I show them just as much respect as I would to someone who is very influential in the world.  Even when there are situations these families are in that I have never experienced, or if they ever make certain decisions I wouldn’t usually agree with.  I need to remember to see the best in all of them and desire to help them to the best of my abilities and the power the Lord has bestowed on me.  

A couple of verses I want to highlight about God’s power is Ephesians 3:20-21 which says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” I love this verse as a good reminder that God is the one who is in control of all things.  He is the one who is able to do all things and be in all things. 

Are there times you have found yourself looking down on those who are in a lesser position than you?  Are there times you look down on people for the positions they are in because you may have never experienced it?  Are there times you find yourself more concerned about certain individual opinions as opposed to others?  Are there times you don’t think much about others and are more focused on where you want to be in life? This is a time to be reflective over how we view and treat other people, how we see those who are in a different life position than us.  

It is important to make sure we look at all people as children of God.  If we see only some people as a person of God, then we are not really showing God’s love.  God’s love is equal with everyone.  The challenge for this week is to spend time thinking about how we view others.  How do we see those who may be in a lower position?  How do we see those who have experienced something we haven’t?  How do we find a way to love those who are not seen as the most loveable?  This can be very hard.  It is important to remember we do have the Holy Spirit on our side who can help us be the most loving and kind to all those who we will ever come to meet. 

I have been continuing my work on my new Bible Devotional  about the characteristics of God.  This book is called, “The Attributes of God,” by Kristin Schmucker. In the second week, we started to learn about God being Infinite as well as God being immutable or unchanging nature.  God is infinite in the sense that He is a part of the past, present, and the future.  He is all knowing, all powerful, and all good.  He has always been this way and will always be.  

We, as people, are constantly thinking we need to be infinite as well.  We are constantly thinking that we need to do and be in charge of everything and everyone.  When in reality, we are only in charge of a small number of things.  Our only main goal or reality is to praise God and to remember his infinity.  We need to remember He is ultimately the one in charge and the one who is good.  This is why we don’t have to be.  We don’t have to be everything.  We don’t have to feel intense pressure on our shoulders at all hours.  

Through this devotional book, I have started to really look at how there are choices I make where I don’t fully understand God or his infinity and eternity.  This is an important thing to be aware of.  The world is constantly telling us that we need to be able to do everything.  We need to have it all and we need to do it all.  Our society, especially in American culture, praises those who work really hard and do a lot of stuff.  We need to be aware of this bias to do absolutely everything.  

We don’t have to be completely moral or completely good.  We just need to be willing to serve a God who is. I personally really struggle with this.  I struggle feeling as though I need to do everything perfectly right.  I want to always be the best employee, best daughter, best partner to my future husband, and the best Christian.  I want to know I can do everything to the best of my ability, all the time.  

One quote I want to take from this devotional book and have us all reflect on is, “We look to our spouse to be a rock for us that only God can be.  We dread the thought of friendship growing apart.  We do not even like to change the simplest parts of our routines.  We crave the eternal and immutable, but by doing this, we make idols out of earthly things.”

I love this because it shows we do enjoy making idols out of pretty much everything.  I know I can struggle to make idols out of exercise, out of my job, and out of my friends.  I want to be known for being a good person by others.  I want those to know me to like me, and I start to get insecure when I think some people are starting to dislike me or are disappointed in me.  I also want to be known as someone who can do a lot of hard exercises.  I am proud when people are impressed by how long I run or how long I bike and when I describe the different races.  I also love when I can get acknowledged at my work.  I want people to know me as a hard worker and to want to acknowledge my abilities and skills at my job.  

There are also many verses describing God as infinite and eternal.  One verse is Psalm 147:5 which says, “Great is the Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.”  Another verse is at the end of the Bible in Revelation 1:8 which says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” These are verses we should speak to ourselves, so we can remember the position God is in and the ones that we are in.  

The challenge for this week is to spend some time reflecting on whether or not, you are a person who does not like to see God as an eternal or an infinite being.  If you are one to not see God as either one of those, how do you try to be eternal or infinite yourself.  How do you try to make up for it through your work, or through your friendships or even through your hobbies and talents?  Do you find solace in the other things of this world?

I have started a new devotional series recently which is about the Lord and his characteristics.  There are a lot of characteristics we need to remember when it comes to God and what he shows his children and his followers.  He shows love, grace, peace, and displays mercy.  He also is completely sovereign and knows everything is going to happen.  He is all knowing and all powerful.  One thing I really enjoyed that the devotional has highlighted in the first few devotional days was how we as people spend time thinking about God.  There is a quote by A.W Tozer that says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  This is a good reminder that how we see God is foundational for our whole faith.  

If we think of God as a judge, we may be in constant fear of doing something wrong.  We will be fearful of being judged for every thought and every wrong move we make.  Granted, we should care about avoiding sin.  We shouldn’t necessarily go looking to sin.  However, we need to be aware of the grace and forgiveness from God.  We will not easily see the grace, the mercy, and the forgiveness that is so readily available for us. Similarly, If we think of God as some eternal being far away, we may not think much in regard to the relationship we have with Him.  We may just think he is a Big God (which He is) who doesn’t care about our problems or our issues (which He does).  This will definitely depend on how we think about how close we are to God. 

However, If we think of God as our Father who loves us and cares about us, then we will be less likely to think of God as scary or as a judge.  We will also know we can go to Him for love and support, and He will want to help us because He is a good God who also serves as a Father for us.  This devotional is really trying to introduce the theme of knowing God as opposed to just knowing about God. There is a big difference between knowing about God and knowing facts about him, knowing his Bible and knowing verses describing Him to actually knowing Him and knowing he cares about us. 

A group of verses I want to highlight is John 17: 1-3 which says, “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”  I love this grouping of verses because it describes what our eternal life is all about.  Our eternal life is when we have the opportunity to truly know God and get to spend the rest of our lives with Him. 

I will be honest when I say I struggle to know God at times.  Sometimes I consider Him more of a boss figure.  I have certain rules and expectations I am supposed to follow, and He is looking down checking on me to make sure if I am doing my work correctly.  Maybe this is because I have always had an obsession with getting high grades and getting good marks at work.  I always have a fear of disappointing those who are giving me marks at either school or at my job.  However, this is a rough way to view God.  This will not make me do things like spending time with the Lord out of pure love, but rather because I am seeking approval.  This is something I need to be aware of when it comes to my relationship with Christ.  

The challenge for you this week is to spend time in reflection thinking about whether or not you truly know God and whether or not you really know Christ.  Spend time reflecting on whether or not when you think of God, what you think of and how you feel.  What is your gut reaction?  Do you get fearful, or do you get filled with love? Then think about spending time with God and spending time reading His Word.  This is especially important as we celebrate Easter Sunday and really remember all that God has done for us. 

This will be something new for me, but I am going to give a show review/discussion on the new Netflix series, Adolescence.   I wouldn’t usually suggest something not Christian or not something in the devotional book/film realm.  However, I do believe this is a great show and it was filled with big discussion points needing to be discussed.  Maybe everyone won’t agree on every single point, but there should still be honest thoughts shared amongst families, friends, neighbors, etc.  It does have a lot of swear words and there is an illusion to violence, but I believe it is to give the narrative of what the real world looks like.  

I will give a brief summary of the show for those who have not watched any of it or haven’t seen any trailers or material.  The show is about a young boy, 13 years of age, named Jamie who is accused of stabbing a classmate girl to death.  He is booked into the prison, later a training center, meets with psychologists, etc.  The cast during interviews make it a point to showcase that Jamie was the one who did stab the girl.  There is no question about that, it is caught on tape, and it is shown at the end of the first episode.  They continuously describe this show as a “why done it?” not a “who done it?”  Why did this young boy stab a young girl 7 times till she died?  Also, while this show is not based on one true story, it is based on the rise of young boys stabbing young girls happening in the U.K, where this show is filmed and produced.  

One big discussion I believe is the most important is social media and it’s changing the thoughts and the beliefs of those viewing it.  This boy consumed hours and hours of social media and videos.  This was porn-based videos as well as various pictures of naked women.  This was men who were speaking inappropriately about women and how they should not be respected.  Jamie was also the victim of some online bullying on top of all of that.  It shows how dangerous social media can really be at its core.  It shows what some people are watching, and this is even including some of the young people.  There are bad takes being consumed by people and again, even some young people. 

It goes to show what we really take in for content on social media or videos matters.  Those really can affect our mind and our thoughts.   I will be completely honest when I say I am not completely clean in my watching of videos.  I watch a lot of drama-based material.  I watch a lot of content with heavy swear words.  I also will sometimes watch movies with sexual scenes, and I listen to a lot of music with those same themes.   It is not the healthiest thing to be filling my brain, and I have gone back and forth on how to best cleanse my watching and listening habits.  

Another big talking point I have been thinking about was what it takes to raise a child.  There is often discussion on the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  I do believe it is a true phrase.  There are the parents which are a big piece, but then there are also the teachers, the friends, the internet, and any other major adults in a child’s life.  However, I also believe it takes a village to ruin a child.  There are many parts making up a child’s life and this can impact them in good ways and it can impact them in other toxic ways.  This whole show displayed many aspects of this kid’s life impacting his decisions and then ultimately his life, as well as the life of the young girl he stabbed to death.  

His parents never abused him, but in many ways his dad showed shame when he wasn’t very athletic. Also, his father was loving, but he worked a lot of hours and therefore, he didn’t have a lot of time to spend with his son.  Because of this, he started to spend more time with his friends and on social media.  While it is good to have friends, and social media can be good in small doses, there was also a lot of toxicity in both of these categories depending on what is being shared.  He didn’t necessarily get a lot of time from any of his teachers because the school had a lot of behavior issues.  Jamie didn’t get the attention he was seeking, so he found it in other terrible places.  This is a good reminder for me and anyone else who works for or with kids.  You don’t know the effect you have on the young people in your life.  You can really be a shining light for them.

The challenge for the week is two things.  The first is to think about your social or overall media consumption.  How well do you do with your media?  Do you have a strong media presence and is it negative or positive?  Is there anything you would change?  Then the second challenge is to think about the children in your life.  Is there any child, a niece, a nephew, a son, a daughter, a student, multiple students, patients in part of your life that you could make an impact in, that you could change their life, or you could share the Gospel with them?

A quick little story that needs to be shared: When I was a Jr. in high school, my mom looked at my dad and I while we were eating and said she was thinking we could get a dog.  This was literally the best news my dad and I could have ever heard.  We had been waiting for years to have a dog.  She had already been researching different breeds.  We were going to get a malshi (maltese, Shi Tzu mix) on January 26th, 2013, and my mom was going to name him Jax.  However, my dad had a new idea.  While he was looking at the same breeder’s website for dogs, he decided he wanted to get a beagle.  

When getting to the breeder, we asked to look at both the malshi and the beagle.  We fell in love with the beagle’s floppy ears and calm demeanor, while at the same time sharing equal love for the malshi’s spunk and enthusiasm.  The breeders were willing to open a deal for us, where we could buy both dogs where one dog would be half the price it was originally listed for. Instead of going home with one dog, we would have two, and those two would be brothers and playmates.  For the last twelve and a half years, we have had a beagle boy named Roscoe and Jax, our malshi.  Later, my parents would also invest in buying some vizslas.  

Roscoe, our precious beagle boy, passed away this past week on March 31st.  He had been struggling with cancer.  He fought against his cancer very strongly, but he would ultimately lose his life after a couple year struggle.  He lived a lot longer than was originally expected because of the medicine my mom found to keep him going strong, his will, and the grace of God.  There are many things I believe we as people can learn from dogs, especially kind and loving ones.  I will say personally that I think Roscoe offers up a lot of characteristics we as people need to remember for the rest of our lives. 

Characteristic #1-Always be excited for the people around you.  Dogs in general tend to get excited about their people or their owners coming home.  Our Roscoe would bark and bark, he would swish his tail back and forth, and he would wait patiently to give kisses and hugs.  The best part was when he got older, and he would whine when we came home. He would be oh so excited to see us and to feel the love.  This reminds us to be excited about the people in our lives.  There are a lot of people we need to be grateful for, especially those who have been bringing us to Christ.

Characteristic #2-Patience-Roscoe was so patient.  He was one of the most patient dogs I have ever seen.  My parents’ other two dogs are a bit needy and in the case of our Jax, the malshi, a bit mean at times.  (We love them also with our whole hearts-but they do have their quirks).  Roscoe would be so patient while the other two would jump on him trying to get attention first, and would tolerate the one aggressively growling at him when he got jealous.  There were a few occasions when he would stand up for himself and growl back, but it was so few and far in between that it hardly was noticeable.  He really could show us how to be patient and kind, even in the face of others being unkind. 

Characteristic #3-Roscoe was always excited about getting to take some time and sniff the roses.  No literally, this dog could sniff for a long time.  When he was stuck on a scent, there is no telling how long he could sit there for.  We often had to really pull him on walks to get him back to focusing on the task at hand.  It is amazing how much joy it could bring him, to have his head down sniffing the area and just appreciating what was out there.  

Characteristic #4 -Always make time for a good nap.  It is not at all possible to sleep as much as our good boy Roscoe.  He was a champ at taking naps and sleeping in.  He could sleep for hours and hours.  However, it is good to always remember when we can appreciate a good nap.  I need to be able to let myself rest and not overwork myself, which I do have a tendency to do.  I need to remember to say no and instead spend some time resting, especially when there is an opportunity to rest in the Lord.  

There is a verse I have looked at that I believe really captures how good God is, even when it comes to the gift of dogs or even in the face of grief.  James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” My family was given a great gift by our Roscoe.  He was a good boy who was such a joy to our lives for over 12 years.  We are saddened he is gone, but at the same time, we can look back at the memories we as a family have had with our boy.  

I believe we can use every life experience and learn something important from it.  We had the chance to learn from Roscoe, and I am so glad we did.  The challenge for this week is to spend some time focusing on one of the four characteristics Roscoe had.  This is either taking time to rest, taking time to smell the roses, being excited about the people around you, or being patient.  I know I could personally use some time in investing myself in all four characteristics. 

My job is pretty awesome.  I get the chance to work with low-income families and students.  I work with them to teach students financial literacy, and this will give them some money as well for these lessons.  They have a savings account with us, which is undeniably life-changing for these students and those families.  

However, I have definitely found through this job that there are families who are easier to work with and those who are not as easy or, even, sometimes, downright hard.  Again, a big part of my job is teaching the students their financial literacy lessons.  They are fundamental for our programming and the students cannot receive their earnings without completing these lessons.  Them going to school and doing these lessons is like their “job.”  Anyway, when students don’t make it to their lessons during the initial time, I need to contact the parents and arrange a scheduled make-up lesson.  This has been very difficult at times. 

There are also times, and this is what breaks my heart more, students who are not making it to school on a regular basis. They may be a family who is struggling with transportation or the parent/guardian can’t be around as much due to work, so the student doesn’t make it to school and they then are not doing a very good job educationally.  It is hard to serve these students.  They don’t make it a very easy job for me, and they take more understanding and empathy.  I felt similarly when I was working as a teacher.  There were many times when I felt a great deal of guilt and sadness for the students who did not have a good home life and did not make it school much or care much about their futures. 

This is a good reminder for me to make sure to serve all people.  When I am working at the Job Foundation, I need to remember to serve not just the students who are involved in the program, but also their families. Even when it is hard, and there are those who don’t make it easy to do the job, I need to care about serving them even more.  I need to also remember this when I am serving others as a Christian.  I shouldn’t pick and choose the people I want to serve or to spread God’s love with, it needs to be all people.    

One verse I believe that showcases this thought is 1 Peter 4:10-11 which says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”  I love this verse because it is a good reminder that we as believers and followers in Christ have been given an amazing gift.  We have been given full love and have been given a full life with Christ if we want it, and now we have the opportunity to spread this love and the knowledge to others. 

The challenge for this week is going to be different for each of you.  The big challenge is to think about people who you are good about serving and if there are a few people who you find it hard to serve.  This is taking into account your job and how you can serve others.  If you are a teacher or in education, this can be how you serve your students and the families where you are currently working.  If you are a nurse, this can be serving any of the patients you are seeing on a regular basis.  

If there is a chance, you are a person who doesn’t necessarily see a lot of people or serve people for your job, there is still serving in your community or there is still serving those who are in your church,serving your family members, even all the ones who are not as easy able to get along with.  There are so many people in the world, and there are a lot of people who are hurting and those who are needing love and service.  It is important to serve all those members of the world.  

This challenge means a lot to me as well.  Again, I am finding there are times I don’t want to serve certain families or certain individuals of whom I find it a lot harder to serve.  I know this is something I need to grow in.  I need to grow in patience and in love for those who are harder to love.  Because the truth of the matter is, we are all hard to love.  We have all sinned against God and turned our back to Him.  We have all been unkind to someone.  We have all been impatient, immature, and unkind.  We each have a lot of growing to do.  This is why we can pass the gift of forgiveness and love that God has given us to those people we work with on a regular basis. 

I have been doing a Bible Study on the book over Lamentations.  This has been a great study.  This study has really taken it slow by only doing a few verses a day at a time.  The author of the study wants to make sure we as the readers really understand what is happening in the text and how hurt the people of Jerusalem are after they were under great amounts of punishment and being deserted for turning their backs on God.  

The text really speaks about how our reactions should be through pointing us to another great example in the Bible in Psalm 51.  This comes from the text in the book, “Between Grief and Glory, A study on the book of Lamentations,” by Joy Woo.  This book comes from the Daily Grace Company.  This says in their text, “God tells us in Psalm 51 that He will not despise a humble heart that knows and grieves its own sin.  Psalm 51 is a beautiful example of confession.  It is King David’s prayer to the Lord after sinning by committing murder and adultery.  As Jerusalem also meditates on her sin against the Lord and does not try to hide it with self-pity, she will demonstrate humility.”

I loved this paragraph description because it showed the parallels between Jerusalem responding to sin and David’s response to sin.  David was humble, and he knew he needed mercy, love, and forgiveness from God.  However, the people in Jerusalem at this time may have known they had sinned, but they also didn’t believe they needed the extreme judgement and punishment coming from God.  

I will be honest when I say, I do not have a lot of lament over my sin.  There are many times, I actually pretend to not notice the sin I have.  There are many times I act as though I haven’t sinned or my sin is not as bad as others.  I often will compare the sins I do on a regular basis to the sins many others do.  I will believe I am somehow saved because of the good things I try to do throughout the day.  

For one example, one sin I struggle with is judging.  (as I just showed in the last paragraph) I will be honest when I say I do find myself judging myself higher than others.  I will often think of the actions others do and really believe I could never make those decisions they are making.  I will find myself judging how hard of a worker I am to others.  I will judge how much I exercise versus how much others exercise or how much I serve versus how much other people serve.  It is not good to play the comparison game, and I do find myself doing it more often than I should.  

There is a section of verses I really want to highlight from the book I have been reading of Lamentations.  Lamentations 3:16-22 says, “He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”  

I love these verses because it shows the ups and downs the people were experiencing.  They were recently captured by Babylon, and they were made to be slaves.  They were experiencing all the consequences the Lord has bestowed on them.  However, there was also a realization that God was going to offer great blessings to his people.  He had a plan to send Jesus to the cross to die for our sins, so we could be offered eternal salvation.  

The only challenge I want to give this week is to spend time reflecting on two things.  The first thing to reflect on is any sin you have struggled with in the past.  Is there a particular sin you tend to ignore because you don’t find it a big deal?  Is there any sin you don’t want to give up because you enjoy it more than you should?  Is there something taking you away from God in a very big negative way?  Then if there is, this is the time we can remember to go to God humbly and ask simply for his forgiveness.  

One piece of encouragement I want to leave us all with is one more quote from this study book which says, “In our humble position of contrition, we must cling to what Christ accomplished on the cross to deal with all sin.  Lament is a cry of hope, rooted in God’s mercy and sovereignty, not a wallowing in despair.” This is a reminder; Jesus has died on the cross for our sins and has blessed us in the best way possible.  We have the opportunity to be with Him forever in heaven.  This means we still need to be humble over our sin, but we can also have joy in forgiveness, not be devastated by the mistakes made.  

Our church has been great lately as we have been going through the theme of Enduring in 2 Timothy.  It has been really good discussions.  This past week’s session was all about making sure to create in us honorable and noble and pure Christians.  It is important to see how you can be the best Christian you can possibly be. This is making sure you as a Christian are taking the oath and the pride of being a believer as sacredly as one should.  

The whole church sermon was making sure to fight against those who are not in the Christian faith and are either acting like they are ones or truly believing they are with false beliefs and bringing others away from their relationships.  They are hindrances to the faith, even if they had originally started strong in the faith.  These can be people who have started working and learning about Christ, but then get a false prophecy in their head and turn people towards the ugly truth.  We always need to be diligently aware of these people and to make sure we don’t fall under their false pretenses.  

In this 2 Timothy 1 passage, there is an example of some Christians who weren’t very good about following the correct Christian path and were in some ways a deserter of the faith.  Their names are Phygelus and Hermogenes.  They deserted Paul, even though he had helped them be good Christians and members of the faith.  Another example of a Christian who deserted was Judas.  He was a disciple and a personal friend of Jesus Christ, but by the end of Jesus’ life, Judas was the one who went against Christ and went and paid for him to be brought to the cross.  He was the instrument for Jesus to be arrested and put on the cross.  Granted, this was foundational for the Christian faith, since we did need Jesus to die on the cross for us.  However, he still was a backstabbing friend to Jesus.  

One verse we really talked about a lot was 2 Timothy 2:21 which says, “Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”It is important that we also don’t become one of those false preachers or believers.  Through this, we need to make sure we are spending time purifying our hearts and our minds to the Christian faith.  We don’t ever want to be the person who brings others away from the faith.  Rather we want to be the ones who are always uplifting and bringing people closer to God.  

The ways to best purify oneself are to spend time in reflection.  Sometimes we as people can get so busy in our day to day life, we forget to really take the time to reflect on our Christian life and how we are personally doing in our heart and our walk with Jesus.  I have definitely done this before.  There have been a few times in my life, where I have been really drifting away from Christ.  I have had bouts of really bad anxiety and I have had bouts of really bad anger, and I was not showing Christ-like behavior.  

One of those times in my life is when I knew I needed to go to therapy.  I was really angry with some people in my life, and I was even very discouraged by the idea of dating.  I was so distraught over someone who wasn’t asking me out and I was frustrated with the dates I had gone on and had not been well.  I even told people, “I don’t know.  I just don’t like guys.”  Here I was just so discouraged I didn’t even want to consider ever going on more dates.  I had just pigeonholed myself into thinking I never wanted to date a guy ever again. I mentioned this deep-seated bitterness to my therapist, and she made sure to call it out in a kind and Godly way.  She simply said I don’t want that deep bitterness to take root in my heart.  She was right.  I didn’t want to have that deep bitterness in my heart.  I had just been so hurt and frustrated by the men in the past.  

The challenge for you this week is to spend time with your heart.  Is there a place where you feel bitterness or anger?  Is there a particular sin you seem to struggle with?  Is there a position you find yourself in that often takes you away from Christ?  You don’t want to find yourself in a position where you are the one who is both falling away from Christ and who is possibly taking others away from Christ.