Day 40: When you think you are right....

Proverbs 12:15~ Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.

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Ok.... who does this verse kick in the bottom today???? *ME!* (Rises Hand high!)

And I hate to admit it, but it's not the SECOND part of the verse (the 'The Wise Listen to Others') that hits me.

So that leaves.... Fools think their own way is right...

Yep, I'm a fool more often than not....

Sometimes, I believe that my way is the ONLY way.

What about you?  Are there things you think you HAVE to be right about?

Do you argue with your spouse about things that you just KNOW you are right over... not listening to their side of the story? How about a co-worker?....  How about a relative?....

How about God?...

OH.. yeah... that one hurts.

How about when we think we know better than Him?  When we think our way is the only way... our TIME is the ONLY time... our METHOD is the only METHOD.... Because, of course, we know best.....

We have to change our thinking (Ok, *I* have to change my thinking).

It's WISE to listen to others. It's not only wise, it's best practice, and it's the right thing to do.  We don't have to listen in the sense of being naive and believing everything we read/hear.  But we should listen to WISE councel and then pray about it.

As for God... it takes lots of faith to listen to Him fully... it takes COMPLETE faith to listen to Him AND do what He tells us to do. 

I don't know about you, but I'm praying about this and want to do it in my life.

God Bless You :)

Kelly

Day 29: Rainbows and Kittens...

James 4:12-- God alone who has given the law is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

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Ok, confession... today's post is NOT about 'Rainbows and Kittens' (As the Title suggests..) However, be honest, if you knew that we were still on not judging,  would you have clicked the link to read today? 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Sorry for the deception, but this must be important.

Well... lets look back at that verse... James certainly gets right to the point, doesn't he?!

"What right do you have to judge your neighbor?"

And the answer is.....

No right at all.

We have absolutely no right under the sun or heaven above to judge anyone... not based on how they dress... not based on what they wear... and not based on their actions... it's not OUR job to Judge.

We are supposed to fullfill our part of the bargain-- to fullfill God's law which is "Love your neighbor"

Now, go back and read that... that doesn't say, "Love your neighbor---as long as they believe like me---"

It doesn't say, "Love your neighbor-- as long as they dress like me"

No....

Love. Your. Neighbor. Period

(Sorry to yell there.)

We have enough to worry about with our own soul much less judging anyone else's.

In the end, only God gets to have the final say-- be their/our final judge.

"Wow, Kelly, you are being harsh today"

Not at all.

Lets flip this around... it doesn't MATTER what OTHERS think of YOU/US.  They can think we have ugly clothes, not their equal, weird, stupid, whatever-- It doesn't matter.  Because the only opinion that DOES matter is God's opinion.  He is our one and only judge.

As hard as it is (and yeah, I know it's hard) lets do our best not to judge others.  And as hard as it is, lets not let others judging comments get us down.

My soul is mine.  Your soul is yours. Their soul is theirs. 

In the end, our souls are all we are left with (either in Heaven or... well.. not in Heaven).  Lets take care of them.  Pray and ask forgiveness when we make mistakes... when we judge people... when we know we've done wrong.

So what CAN we do when we see others sinning?  We can talk to them (lovingly) about the sin they are committing.  We can show them, through our actions, how we need to live.  And most of all, we can pray.  Prayer changes even the hardest of hearts.  When we can't get through, God can.

God Bless You!
(And encourage someone today :) )

Kelly

Day 12: Pray and Be Thankful

Philippians 4:6-- Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.

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The main thing I want to talk about today is "... and thank him for all he has done."

How many times have we prayed, forgot about it, and then miss all the wonderful things God has answered for us?

It's SO easy to do. I've done it.  And then you ask, "God, why haven't you answered my prayers?"  When HE has... but we don't remember it. (We humans tend to have the memory of gnats... or at least, I think I do.)

OR...

You have every intention of praying for something.. be it the church prayer requests.... a facebook friend's prayer request..... something that pops into our mind... and then... we forget it.  Life comes up.  We intend to pray about it, but by the time we get time to actually pray, we have forgotten whatever it is we need (maybe I need to pray for a better memory...)

The point is, we all need a way to remember, to be accountable for our prayers, AND a way to look back and truly see all of the wonderful things God has done for us!

I have started keeping a prayer list in a notebook at the computer desk-- that way when someone asks for prayers on facebook or a mommy message board, I can pray right then, and then write it down so I can remember it for later.

That has helped me really well.  I can see the people I'm praying for AND I can see what God is doing for them. It really is an awesome thing!

AND THEN....

The other day I was readind another blog here and came across something called called a Bible Notebook.  And I so wanted to whack myself up the head for not thinking of it before!  I'm all about my homemaking notebook, so this was a natural progression for me.  I'm a visual person... I have to SEE something to remember it.  I have to write down my prayers to remember them.

Please check out the site http://donotdepart.com/make-a-bible-notebook .  It has some really great ideas on things that can go in your notebook (I'm not affliated with them in anyway.. I just thought it was a really good idea!!)

You don't have to have as in depth of a notebook as that suggests.  Mine is just a regular 1 subject, spiral notebook (It's 1 subject because Wal-mart had them for $0.20 a piece.. so I bought 5, but anyway).  I keep my prayer list in there and a daily prayer that add to as the day goes on.  I keep dates with the days I wrote them and the days they were answered.

I'm NOT doing that to TEST God. Or to see what *I* can do. If it was *me*, nothing would be done. I'm doing this so *I* can remember to THANK HIM for ALL of the prayers he answers.  So I won't FORGET.  So I can THANK HIM for all the things he does... whether I remember it or not. 

I know not all prayers will be answered quickly or even not at all.... but I will continue to pray for them.  Our job isn't to answer prayers (thank goodness).  Our job is to pray with a sincere heart, and thank God for answering them.

If you don't have a prayer journal, I encourage you to start one.  It's honestly a great way to organize things (I'm big on the organizing).  It's actually pretty neat to go back and see what you wanted, what you *thought* you wanted, and what God has done for you, your family, your friends...

God Bless You-- and remember to thank Him for all he has done :)

Kelly

What is '365 Days of Biblical Encouragement'?

365 of Biblical Encouragement is a blog designed to do just what it says... be 365 days of encouragement from the Bible.  There will be a post daily starting at Day 1 and going all the way to day 365.  This is a challenge for me... I challenge I'm very exciting to take on!  HUZZAH!

My name is Kelly.  I'm a Christian, a wife, a mommy, a teacher, and (apparently) a blogger.  I have always loved to write.  I've just recently started to love blogging (because I can do it from home after the kids go to bed). 

I prayed for God to show me something *I* could do... and that's where this blog came from.  I hope you enjoy your stay here... I hope you click the follow button so you can get daily updates... I hope it leaves you feeling encouraged and happy :) 

My goal is for us to grow, pray, and learn together for the next 365 days... and hopefully beyond.

If you have any questions, please leave them in comments. 

God bless you! 

Kelly