Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
Philemon 1:4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,
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EPIC FAIL!!
Okay so.........
The Lord used that decision/ experiment to show me something....
not good :( lol
guess who was the one who was doing all the rude comments causing the responses??
oh you'd better believe it was me!
it was AWFUL! And since I was extra aware of it that day, I was noticing it! I was like, "Lord, is it always this bad? Am I always like this?? or is it just because I've been cooped up with these people in this same cell... *clears throat* van for 11 hours!?!?!
Regardless, I ended up apologizing to one of my poor sisters like eight or nine times, poor girl! And here's the thing-- yes, she deserved to be reprimanded, but could I have done so with just a change of expression in my voice, I could have been being a good example, not wounding her! That really humbled me. It was like God was telling me not to forget that I'm not always the victim.
What made the whole thing worse was that I've also made a commitment based on Ephesians 4:29. Yeah.
Other Scripture on this topic that comes to mind?? I need it! :)
I hope you all did better than i did!
love in Christ
Katie
The Lord used that decision/ experiment to show me something....
not good :( lol
guess who was the one who was doing all the rude comments causing the responses??
oh you'd better believe it was me!
it was AWFUL! And since I was extra aware of it that day, I was noticing it! I was like, "Lord, is it always this bad? Am I always like this?? or is it just because I've been cooped up with these people in this same cell... *clears throat* van for 11 hours!?!?!
Regardless, I ended up apologizing to one of my poor sisters like eight or nine times, poor girl! And here's the thing-- yes, she deserved to be reprimanded, but could I have done so with just a change of expression in my voice, I could have been being a good example, not wounding her! That really humbled me. It was like God was telling me not to forget that I'm not always the victim.
What made the whole thing worse was that I've also made a commitment based on Ephesians 4:29. Yeah.
OUCH
Pray for me with this, dear sisters! ever since the trip, I've been extremely conscience about it, which I know I should always be :) but pray for me to soldier on and to be uplifting to my siblings and all those I come in contact with! Other Scripture on this topic that comes to mind?? I need it! :)
I hope you all did better than i did!
love in Christ
Katie
Responding to Hurtful, Rude Comments
This morning in my quiet time with Jesus, He blessed me oh so gracefully with an what one of my favorite Sunday School teachers quite appropriately called an "oucher". I was reading in Psalms 19 then somehow (through cross referencing, which I do in frequent fast mode) ended up in Romans chapter 12. Usually you hear the beginning of the chapter preached on and expounded upon, but verses 9-21 is AMAZING! It's simple yet extremely profound in the principles it lays down for how a young lady striving to serve God with all her heart (and Christians in general!) should conduct herself!
The verse though that slapped me in the face was verse 14.
"Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not."
...yeah. OUCH! Paul is telling the early church and us as Christian young ladies how to respond when other people (mean girls, rude guys, family members, even sometimes friends) make fun of us, tease us, and in short, just say mean things to us-- rude things, hurtful things.
He tells us that we are to respond to their hurtful/rude comments, their "persecution", not by lashing out or with harsh and hurtful words of our own, but with blessing! We are supposed to bless them! Yeah. And the hard part about this verse is that it isn't a suggestion. It doesn't say "If I want to" or "when I feel like it" or "once in a while"... no no no no. It is a clear cut imperative statement that says "bless them".
Jesus Himself told His followers and disciples this in Matthew 5 in the 'sermon on the mount'. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells us to "...bless them that curse you..."
This is such a hard concept (especially for me as I am the oldest of 6!! children) for us to grasp, and even harder for us to actually carry out. As I once heard an evangelist say, "this preaches easy, but lives tough!"
oh and boy is he NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but my decision/battle plan for the day is this: when any one (and omisoul I really mean anyone...this is gonna be so hard! lol) says anything even hurtful or mean to me today (accidentally and especially purposefully) I am going to respond (Lord willing and with His help--b/c He's gonna be the One that works this out in me!) by "blessing them"-- which I'm gonna do by saying something kind to them. Responding pleasantly. Even if it's as dorky as "oh i like your bracelet" after I get yelled at for sitting in the wrong seat on the way home from vacation today.
Seriously.
I hope you'll make this decision with me. Just try it out for a day! (our walk with our Lord is a step-by-step daily thing-- which is good, even though we don't always like it-- if He told me everything I think I need to know about His will for my life for even the next 6 weeks I'd probably be scared to death! lol) Try it, dear sisters! and let me know how God works in your life and I will definitely do the same!
Love in Christ
Kate
The verse though that slapped me in the face was verse 14.
"Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not."
...yeah. OUCH! Paul is telling the early church and us as Christian young ladies how to respond when other people (mean girls, rude guys, family members, even sometimes friends) make fun of us, tease us, and in short, just say mean things to us-- rude things, hurtful things.
He tells us that we are to respond to their hurtful/rude comments, their "persecution", not by lashing out or with harsh and hurtful words of our own, but with blessing! We are supposed to bless them! Yeah. And the hard part about this verse is that it isn't a suggestion. It doesn't say "If I want to" or "when I feel like it" or "once in a while"... no no no no. It is a clear cut imperative statement that says "bless them".
Jesus Himself told His followers and disciples this in Matthew 5 in the 'sermon on the mount'. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells us to "...bless them that curse you..."
This is such a hard concept (especially for me as I am the oldest of 6!! children) for us to grasp, and even harder for us to actually carry out. As I once heard an evangelist say, "this preaches easy, but lives tough!"
oh and boy is he NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but my decision/battle plan for the day is this: when any one (and omisoul I really mean anyone...this is gonna be so hard! lol) says anything even hurtful or mean to me today (accidentally and especially purposefully) I am going to respond (Lord willing and with His help--b/c He's gonna be the One that works this out in me!) by "blessing them"-- which I'm gonna do by saying something kind to them. Responding pleasantly. Even if it's as dorky as "oh i like your bracelet" after I get yelled at for sitting in the wrong seat on the way home from vacation today.
Seriously.
I hope you'll make this decision with me. Just try it out for a day! (our walk with our Lord is a step-by-step daily thing-- which is good, even though we don't always like it-- if He told me everything I think I need to know about His will for my life for even the next 6 weeks I'd probably be scared to death! lol) Try it, dear sisters! and let me know how God works in your life and I will definitely do the same!
Love in Christ
Kate
Obviously a Beginer!!!
Dear Sisters,
I graduated in the spring, and I've been extremely blessed to be able to spend the entire summer basically just getting to know my Lord better and drawing closer to Him. I've gleaned all this fabulous fruit from a summer spent with my Savior, but then it was like...now what?!? Then I read something in a fabulous Bible study for young ladies that hit me square between the eyes. It said something to the effect of: (and I don't have it with me right now otherwise I'd give the direct quote-- I will later) "okay, so God's blessed you with great things from His Word SO SHARE IT!" It said that inspiration not acted on leads to depression. And sadly, by not acting on it, I truly believe I got a little taste of what that meant.
But often, i feel alone on my spiritually journey, on my daily battle as His warrior, with my daily duties as His princess--( that's what we are, you know; if you have trusted Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible calls us His children, which makes you a child of the King, and a female offspring of a King is what?? A princess!! But I'm TOTALLY getting ahead of myself! More on this later!! lol rewind!). Anyway, ofttimes, i feel alone- but i know there are other godly young women devoted to their Savior out there who are serving Him to the best of their ability and seeking Him with their whole heart! But then, I have to wonder... they've (you've!) got to feel the same way as well sometimes.
So this is why I've created this blog-- to knit us together, to hold us accountable! A chance to share our burdens with each other and pray for each other. A place to share a passage of Scripture that really spoke to our hearts, or comforted us in times of trial, that totally pricked our heart, or plain just psyched us out!! A place to uplift each other and to share how God is working in our lives. A place to share devotionals we've read. A place to share answered prayers, miracles, and what I like to call 'mini-miracles' and 'that was such a God thing'. I don't know where God will take this blog, but I pray that it will be a place of encouragement. I'm not the best at expressing myself so if I say something that sounds weird or offhand, or that's (heaven forbid!) offensive in anyway, I apologize ahead of time! (If this does happen please let me know so I can clarify what I was trying to say-- I don't want to be the cause of hurt to any of you!!). Please remember, I'm not perfect! I'm on this journey too! With you! To use the old cliche, we're in this together!!! I just hope this can be a blog that is good for encouragement, spiritual growth, mentoring, and a place where we can just be excited about our Lord Jesus Christ who "daily loadeth us with benefits" together!
But like the title says, I'm SO new at this! So please, any ideas, advice, and ways to get this out there to even more Christian sisters, LET ME KNOW!
Love and prayers
In Christ,
Katie (Ryn) Hamilton
I graduated in the spring, and I've been extremely blessed to be able to spend the entire summer basically just getting to know my Lord better and drawing closer to Him. I've gleaned all this fabulous fruit from a summer spent with my Savior, but then it was like...now what?!? Then I read something in a fabulous Bible study for young ladies that hit me square between the eyes. It said something to the effect of: (and I don't have it with me right now otherwise I'd give the direct quote-- I will later) "okay, so God's blessed you with great things from His Word SO SHARE IT!" It said that inspiration not acted on leads to depression. And sadly, by not acting on it, I truly believe I got a little taste of what that meant.
But often, i feel alone on my spiritually journey, on my daily battle as His warrior, with my daily duties as His princess--( that's what we are, you know; if you have trusted Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible calls us His children, which makes you a child of the King, and a female offspring of a King is what?? A princess!! But I'm TOTALLY getting ahead of myself! More on this later!! lol rewind!). Anyway, ofttimes, i feel alone- but i know there are other godly young women devoted to their Savior out there who are serving Him to the best of their ability and seeking Him with their whole heart! But then, I have to wonder... they've (you've!) got to feel the same way as well sometimes.
So this is why I've created this blog-- to knit us together, to hold us accountable! A chance to share our burdens with each other and pray for each other. A place to share a passage of Scripture that really spoke to our hearts, or comforted us in times of trial, that totally pricked our heart, or plain just psyched us out!! A place to uplift each other and to share how God is working in our lives. A place to share devotionals we've read. A place to share answered prayers, miracles, and what I like to call 'mini-miracles' and 'that was such a God thing'. I don't know where God will take this blog, but I pray that it will be a place of encouragement. I'm not the best at expressing myself so if I say something that sounds weird or offhand, or that's (heaven forbid!) offensive in anyway, I apologize ahead of time! (If this does happen please let me know so I can clarify what I was trying to say-- I don't want to be the cause of hurt to any of you!!). Please remember, I'm not perfect! I'm on this journey too! With you! To use the old cliche, we're in this together!!! I just hope this can be a blog that is good for encouragement, spiritual growth, mentoring, and a place where we can just be excited about our Lord Jesus Christ who "daily loadeth us with benefits" together!
But like the title says, I'm SO new at this! So please, any ideas, advice, and ways to get this out there to even more Christian sisters, LET ME KNOW!
Love and prayers
In Christ,
Katie (Ryn) Hamilton