Bible Study: Galatians 5:14

Hi all!  How are you all doing?  I’m great, thanks for asking.  I have some major plans for Tinted Lens for the rest of 2010.  :]

¹⁴The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

- Galatians 5:14

A lot of the time, I feel Christianity is overcomplicated.  Some people insist that, as a Christian, you must do these things daily, these things every season, this every year, and so on.  However, many forget one of the most important things about being a Christian; in fact, second only to loving God with all your heart.  Love your neighbour as yourself.

I can’t emphasise this enough; you may have noticed many of my Bible Studies have focused on love; that is because love is so important.  Without love, we are not in the likeness of God, however by displaying love, we are showing people – believers and non-believers alike – how much God can love them and thus bring them closer to a relationship with God.  Love can heal wounds and can heal pain; we can start the healing process in people, and God will come in and do the rest for us.

And don’t just love the people who are nice to you.  Love the unloved; the criminals, the elderly, the disabled.  Love the people who need love the most.  Love everyone.

Josh

Bible Study: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Hi all :]

This is my 100th post!  Yay!  Big milestone, eh?  Thankyou everyone for sticking here through thick and thin, through all 100 posts  Next post, I promise, will be the blog review for Chad.

Bible study: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

It is crucial that, in all things you do, you show love to those around you.  Show love to not just your friends, but those who you sometimes find hard to tolerate; those who annoy you and get on your nerves; those who are your enemies.  Even if you do God’s work, you need to do it with love.  There’s no use preaching the Gospel to people and then tying them up with ropes until they agree to follow God with all their heart, because as a Christian we need to act like Christ.

Sure, that’s a drastic example, but you need to show love to everyone.  Everyone.  Don’t forget that :]  By showing love to the least of these, we are ultimately showing love to God and bringing them one step closer to eternal life.

Joshy

Bible Study: Psalm 91

Hey there ~

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Expect major aesthetic changes coming up: WP have finally released a theme which looks good!  Yay!

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ^[a]

² I will say ^[b] of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

-Psalm 91

I mentioned in my post yesterday that we were attacked by demons whilst on the Missions Trip.  We were in our tents, with two in each tent except in my tent there was just me.  At 4:30 am one morning, I woke up and heard footsteps in the tent.  You know the sound tents make when you walk on them?  I heard that sound.  I shone my torch around the tent, thinking someone was in it.  Nobody was in my tent.

Yet the footsteps remained.  For the next 45 minutes I prayed and prayed and prayed and finally the footsteps ceased and I fell asleep.

The next day I found out 5 other boys heard the footsteps.

Our leaders had three possible answers: the security guards [we were in a mission house which had security guards, but I heard footsteps on a tent-like material...], angels protecting us or demons.

Either way, God was with us through the night and kept us safe.  Whenever you feel unsafe or scared, read Psalm 91.  I read it the following night before going to bed and slept extremely well.  God will protect us, but we must trust in Him.

In a way, it’s sort of encouraging that the demons were attacking us and we defeated them with God, as that just goes to show that we were really making an impact on Palm Island.  We were breaking the demon’s hold on the island.

God will protect us.

Josh