He is my Shield

I want to start off with a little bit about myself. I am a follower of Christ. I have a wonderful husband, Kiefer, who I married in December 2012. We have three beautiful kids, Ollie, Mollie, and Hallie.....they all have fur ;) (2 cats and a dog). I have an amazing family. 
I LOVE animals, especially cats! I'm known as the crazy cat lady, which is a title I gladly accept :) 
I have never read the entire Bible. In fact, I am ashamed to say that as a Christian, I have read very little of the Bible. Which is one reason I began this journey!





This is the end of week one of the One-Year Plan through my YouVersion Bible app. It includes daily readings from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. I am using my Students Life Application Study Bible in the New Living Translation. I've really enjoyed it so far! I won't lie, I did miss one day this week, but I made up for it by reading it the next day!

This week, I read: 

• Genesis chapters 1-18 (18:1-15)
• Matthew chapters 1-6 (6:1-24)
• Psalms chapters 1-7
• Proverbs chapters 1-2 (2:1-5) 

I will break down my thoughts into the different chapters I read, so that I am not bouncing around everywhere. 

Genesis

In Genesis 1:26, God says, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us." God wants us to reflect his characteristics, like love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness. I could really work on being patient. I struggle with this, which is one reason I'm nervous about being a mom. But I've learned that God will give me the strength to overcome this.

The question I need to be asking myself is, do I go through the motions everyday, or do I really put my heart into pleasing God? Do I read my bible, go to church, pray, do good deeds out of obligation? What is my motivation for pleasing God? Cain tried to please God out of obligation instead of love in Genesis 4:3-7.  These are hard questions, and I think a lot of Christians struggle with this. I want to live my life in God's glory. So before I do anything to please God, I'm going to make sure my heart is in the right place.

Church attendance, prayer and good deeds are all great, but FAITH and TRUST in God is the only way to have a strong relationship with Him. As said in Genesis 15:6, "And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith."

Sometimes we may feel like some things are impossible. But isn't anything possible through God? "Is anything too hard for the Lord", Genesis 18:14. Sarah laughed when God said she would have a son. She felt she was too old. When God confronted her about laughing, she lied. She doubted God and his power. She didn't have enough faith. I need to learn to put all my faith in the Lord and to always remember, with God, anything is possible.

Matthew


The sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 tells us that God wants us to give when others take, love when others hate, help when others abuse. He blesses and rewards those who do things His way. This is a hard one. It kind of ties in with Matthew 5:38-42, where it says, "...if someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too." This is hard because it's not always fair. But, we must always play fair. Don't ever seek revenge, God will handle those who harm you. Love your neighbor and your enemy. Treat them as God would. We are all Gods children. Pray for them instead. Just think, what would Jesus do?



Psalms

Time to get personal. I have many enemies in my life. You might be thinking, who would be an enemy to such a sweet girl ;) but I don't mean people. My "enemies" are all within myself. I have been struggling with depression. I have fears, doubts, negative thoughts, and these are all a war within myself everyday. I recently lost a job that I cared so much about. I have been struggling with what my future holds, where am I going in life? I don't mean my husband and family. I am beyond blessed to have them. 
Psalms 3 really helped me understand that God is my shield from these enemies and He will protect me from them. He is always watching over me, and I shouldn't be afraid anymore. 

I have to say, when I started reading the bible everyday, I started to feel a HUGE difference inside myself. I know a lot of people say that, but it's TRUE! It's absolutely amazing! And to think this whole time, while I was going through all of this, the best medicine was sitting on my bookshelf. I wish more people could see that. 

I also learned from Psalms that God ALWAYS listens to our prayers. He will always answer them, even if it's not the answer we were expecting.

Proverbs

I really like Proverbs. It tells us how to be understanding, just, and fair in everything we do. It tells us how to make wise decisions. What stuck out to me this week was chapter 
1:10-19. So many kids in school go through peer pressure. While my days of peer pressure are mostly behind me, there is still pressure from society, media, and life in general. That's what makes decision making so hard. Making a wise choice can help you stay on the right path. Always remember that God wants you to listen to Him, not everyone else. Then everything will fall into place. :)