D-Day: The Johns

My Fellow Sippers,

With all that has been going on in my life within the past week, I am glad that I am still able to dedicate some time to doing our D-Day. I always look forward to spilling the tea on each of the books that we've read. More importantly, I always look forward to the response.

I know that I skipped all over Galatians, but I'm so excited to get into the Johns. Therefore, I will discuss Galatians at the end of this month's challenge. Let's jump straight into it....

1 John 1
I love how this book opens up in verse 5 with "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all." John makes it clear to us that we can't live in the light and still have darkness reside in us. In order for us to have true fellowship with each other, and to have the blood of Jesus cleanse us of our sins, we have to remain "in the light." 

I like the reference of light and dark, simply because in literature light represents good and darkness represents evil. To relate it to our spiritual being, if we have light, then we have good, and this good is a representation of God. If we have darkness within us, then there is still evil. Not to say that it is inevitable to rid our spiritual body of evil, but as long as evil is within us, then there is still representation of Satan. In order for us to be completely tied to God, we have to allow ourselves to fully be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. 

This brings me to my next point, where verses 8-10 backs up the aforementioned. 

⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

We all have sin. There is not one of us who is without sin. We are born into sin, (this came about when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden); therefore it resides in us (the darkness that is within us). But by confessing our sins, we are cleaning out the darkness and purifying our spiritual body. 

1 John 2
In this chapter, John tells us that when we sin, we have an advocate who pleads on our behalf (Jesus Christ). Verses 4-6 says:

⁴ If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. ⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. ⁶ Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

We should be a reflection of Christ. To "know God" is to be like Him, living righteously. He has given us the perfect example to follow in order to be like Him, when He gave us His Son, Jesus. Therefore, Christ has laid out the path in which we should follow.

Then in verses 15-17 we are urged against loving the world. We can't love the world and love our Father. Our flesh = the world. If it fills the desires of our flesh, then we are living worldly.

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Verses 28-29 pretty much says to LIVE OUT LOUD FOR GOD! Be bold. Be confident. Be faithful.

1 John 3
Again in this chapter, we are compared to the world. The world doesn't recognize us as children of God because they (the world) lack the knowledge and understanding that it takes to know that to be fully committed and wholeheartedly love God, is to be His child. Once we fully commit ourselves to God, we are purified. Once purified, our sins are no longer existent. To continuously sin after proclaiming your commitment  means that you are not as fully committed as you think you are.

We should not be deceived by the teachings of the world. It is not okay to claim "Christianity" while living a life of sin. Righteous living = RIGHT LIVING! Therefore, we should always strive to live righteously, or live right!

We don't truly love God if we don't love His people. To be truly in love with God means that His Spirit reigns over our flesh. Spirit says to love even when we aren't loved back, because God has an eternal love for us that will never disappear.

1 John 4
In this chapter, we are warned against false prophets. Although to a certain extent it seems as though we are judging, when we are fully in engaged with God, we are given a spirit of discernment. It is our duty to use discernment in filtering the truth and the fake.

Also, we are reminded yet again that we should love others. If we fail to love others, then we do not truly love God. I love verses 9-10... 

⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

How is it possible to love an invisible God, but hate a visible person? We've never seen God, yet we have deep love for Him, but He has given us people to love and we find it absolutely impossible to love some of them.

1 John 5
In this chapter we are given the following information:

• Spirit = truth
• Water = Baptism
• Blood = the Cross or the Sacrifice

To believe in God, we must first believe that He gave His Son, Jesus. Christ died on the cross so that we can have eternal life <------ We must believe and accept this. We must also believe that eternal life is found in Christ.

Furthermore, verse 21 tells us to keep away from anything that takes God's place in our hearts. This is one reason why we should be consistent with fasting. When we find our flesh overpowering our spiritual being, we should then consecrate our bodies.

2 John & 3 John
2 John is only 13 verses long, and simply reiterates what 1 John says.

• Love one another!
• Beware of false prophets!

In 3 John, although John is writing to Gaius, as a reader I walk away understanding that I should be mindful of the way I treat servants of God. They should be treated with gentleness and care. After all, they are serving our Father.

** As always I look forward to your responses. Below is the reading for our last few days of February! We will pick up in March!!

 February 25 - 1 Peter 1
February 26 - 1 Peter 2
February 27 - 1 Peter 3
February 28 - 1 Peter 4 & 5
March 1 - No Reading
March 2 - No Reading
March 3 - D-Day (Discussion Day)

-Signed,
The King's Daughter

Lost & Found

My Fellow Sippers,

Lately I've been compelled to share my story, and to encourage others who are on the borderline of fully surrendering their lives to Christ. Although it is still a journey for me, I will begin by saying that the best decision I've ever made was getting to know the Lord firsthand, and not to allow religion to dictate my relationship with Him.

Here's a little background information for you to build the picture (don't mind me I'm a visual person).
I grew up in the church. I came from a small town in South Carolina, where religion was heavily influenced in my family. Both of my parents were heavily involved in the church. As a young girl I was enthralled at the sight of the adults being fully engaged with the Word. I absolutely loved to hear preaching. In fact, I wanted to be a preacher. Even funnier, in the seventh grade I was nominated to most likely be a preacher.

As a preteen and a teenager I didn't see church the same anymore. I started to dislike it heavily. Church to me seemed more like an obligation, rather than a spiritual choice. During my freshman year of high school my parents made the decision to leave our former denomination and we became members of our present church. Although the atmosphere was different, it still took me a while to like going to church again. I then became involved with the youth ministry, which gave me another perspective of spirituality. I was captivated by watching other young people succumb to the presence of God. It was awesome! Our youth pastors were great! I loved church again. Then something happened (I choose not to go into detail). When this happened, I was hurt and many of us felt abandoned. I went away to college and tried to live the innocent Christian girl life... until I chose to engage in premarital sex and became pregnant.

Pregnancy changed my life. I'm not sure how most 21 year old single women handle pregnancy, but for a period of time I felt like I was in a depression. I was mad at myself. I knew better! I disappointed my family, especially my parents. Most of all, I just knew deep within my heart that the Lord was absolutely angry with me. I was so deep in bondage that I didn't want to go to church anymore. I didn't want people to look at me and see me wear my sin. I felt like Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter, except I wasn't wearing a scarlet "A". My scarlet letter was the baby bump that I walked around with until my delivery date.

During my pregnancy, while feeling alone and as though the worst thing happened, the Lord spoke to me. He reminded me that He loved me regardless. Yes, I disappointed Him, but I asked for forgiveness and I believe that He forgave me. Something we as Christians often forget is that our Lord loves sinners. If we were all perfect, there wouldn't have been a need for Christ to die on the cross. He died so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. How could I not love the One who sent His Son to die for me?

After having my daughter, I felt more free in Christ, which is when I began this blog. I felt restored with purpose to share God's love with others. I'm not where I want to be spiritually, but each day I see growth. I surround myself with others who desire to be captivated by the love of God. Does that mean that I can't have fun anymore? No! Something that young adults will realize is that surrendering your life doesn't mean that the fun is sucked out of you. In fact, you find life to be more fun because you are free. Of course you won't continue living like the world, so your fun won't be like the world's definition of fun.

I choose to let the light shine within me and through me. I don't allow religion to control me. I'm not saying that church is the worst, but I'm saying that the church is full of sinners striving to be saints. I choose to have a true relationship with my Father. My duty as a Christian is to lead others to the Kingdom, not to chastise them for being imperfect. I strive to be like Christ, and for others to gravitate to His love that flows through me. When I die, I want to die assured that I will be able to run into the arms of my Father and that He will say to me "Job well done!" I don't think that I will ever be perfect, but I love a perfect God who loves imperfect me perfectly. Try Him!

Signed,
The King's Daughter

Confession of a Godly Wife: My Testimony

My Fellow Sippers,

Recently the Lord has laid upon my heart to incorporate a segment known as "The Godly Wife" and use the authorship of my dear sister in Christ Mrs. Tanesha Lester. Tanesha is the leader of our Godly Wife group, which has been such a blessing to me as a soon to be wife (51 days away...YIKES!). I can go on and on about how God is using her, but I'll let you find out for yourself. Without further adieu, I present to you the Confessions of a Godly Wife.

Confessions of a Godly Wife: My Testimony
By: Tanesha Lester

 My relationship with God became even stronger after I was married. I have always had a relationship with God, but I just kept failing at it. I didn't put as much effort into it. I made excuses to not go to church. I didn't study the Word, I just read it. God was blessing me tremendously and what was I giving him in return?
Once we moved and my internship was over, I found myself without a job. I became depressed and began to question God. Long story short, I was broken. I have never been so low in my life. I kept reading my bible and praying, but I also kept contradicting it. I wasn't believing what I was reading. I knew I couldn't go on like that and that God had something in store for me so one day I just cried out for Him. I poured my heart out to Him with hopes that He'd hear my cry. I began a consecration with my church for the new year and begin studying my bible and praying more. On the 9th day of January, God blessed me with a job. I couldn't stop thanking Him. I decreed and declared increase and He blessed me. To those of you who may be suffering or broken, just know that God has something in store for you. 1 Peter 5:10 says "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Sometimes we need to be broke down to truly experience God's love. Being unemployed may not seem like a big deal, but to me, being unemployed made me feel lost. It was definitely a humbling experience and it made me realize just how much I value working or making money. You don't have to necessarily bow down to something in order to worship it. God will tear apart what He is not involved in. Everything I have is because of Him and I was too selfish to see that before. I thank God for that experience because it helped me to grow and become closer to him and my husband.

Right now, I challenge you to cry out to Him. Just begin to pour your heart out to Him. He's waiting for you.

-Signed,
The King's Daughter

Ephesians

My Fellow Sippers,

As with Philippians, I've read Ephesians a few times but not to the depth that I've read it this time. I wanted to be a little more creative with dissecting this book; however, my creative instinct has taken a vacation this time around. Therefore, I will list my favorite scripture from each chapter instead of dissecting the entire chapter.

Here it goes..........

Ephesians is a letter written by Paul to the Church in Ephesus. Again we find Paul praying for his brothers and sisters in Christ. I love the fact that nearly every Book written by him opens with a prayer for his fellow believers. How often can we say that we lift our fellow believers up? We pray for our family members and our friends, but how often do we pray for our Christian family? I know that it rarely crosses my mind to pray for my siblings in Christ; however if I learn nothing else from this challenge, I've learned to pray for fellow believer as Paul has done.

Ephesians 1
 ⁷ He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. ⁸ He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

I like these two verses because I have recently began studying and truly understanding grace. Grace is unmerited or undeserved favor. When I mess up over and over again, I know that I am forgiven because His grace is showered upon me. Grace saves us. God is RICH in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom when He sent His Son to die on the cross for OUR sins to be forgiven. Christ's shed blood was FOR ME?! The person who occasionally loses her temper and flips out on people. Me?! The person who sometimes fails to be a reflection of Christ. As the song says, I'll never know how much it cost to see my sins upon that cross.

Ephesians 2 
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

As I read these two verses, reality hit!!! We aren't saved by grace because we're perfect and without sin. We're saved because He knows that we need Him to rescue us from our sinful nature. Sin = death. We're saved in order to live. We live when we do good for the Kingdom of God. 

Ephesians 3
 ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Have you ever had someone who seems to love you no matter how ugly your attitude is, or how flawed you are? Have you ever questioned why this person loves you so much? They can't explain it... they just know that they love you for you. That's Christ's love for us. It's indescribable. It's unexplainable. He loves us more than we will ever experience in our physical bodies. We can't compare His love for us to ANYTHING. It's bigger than the oceans combined. His love is higher than the sky above. You know something that's even more crazier to imagine? He loves us even when He knows that we have impurities in our hearts. He sees our hearts, knows our thoughts, but yet He still loves us the same. His love is unconditional.

I don't know about you, but I want to be able to love like Christ. I want to love despite the many flaws. As a matter of fact, I want to love because of your flaws. I am AMAZED by His love for us.

Ephesians 4
²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”^[d] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

I STRUGGLE with my anger. This is not to brag, but more than anything brings recognition to my faults. I am the one who will shut down and not speak to you for days if possible because I am angry. However, Paul reiterates that we should not allow our anger to control us. Saved for another post, I'll say that we allow anger far too much control in our lives. I am good for getting angry over something petty and not even worth my anger. I just want to be transformed in general. I definitely want the Lord to help me to gain control of my emotions. I need Him to help me divert my anger and rage. 

Ephesians 5
²² For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³ For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. ²⁴ As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

In our Godly Wives group, we have discussed the topic of submission quite a few times. We can all attest to struggling with submission. I think for myself, as a woman, I have this idea of being independent (in the sense of depending on NO ONE). Combine that with my STRONG personality and there you have a mess. I don't think that this verse means that women should be treated like slaves (I know people that believe submission to be bondage), but I think that the emphasis, especially when relating to today's society, is that we have to respect our husbands. We have to acknowledge him as the head of our homes, and the head of our families. Not to say that he is equivalent to Christ, but we are to respect our husbands the same way we respect Christ. We should be more willing to serve him, the same way that we serve Christ. 

Ephesians 6
¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we^[c] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

These two verses are self explanatory; however, I don't think people understand the depth of evil that is among us. We should ALWAYS be clothed in the armor of God. There is evil everywhere we go. Sometimes there is even evil within the church; however, when we're clothed in the armor of God, we are equipped with the strength to be firm in our faith. 
____________________________________________________________________________

Overall, I once again enjoyed reading Ephesians. I look forward to you spilling the tea on Ephesians with me. Leave your response below. Don't forget that this week we will be focusing on Galatians.

 
February 11 - Galatians 1
February 12 - Galatians 2
February 13 - Galatians 3
February 14 - Galatians 4
February 15 - Galatians 5
February 16 - Galatians 6
February 17 - D-Day (Discussion Day)
February 18 - 1 John 1
February 19 - 1 John 2
February 20 - 1 John 3
February 21 - 1 John 4
February 22 - 1 John 5
February 23 - 2 John 1 & 3 John 1
February 24 - D-Day (Discussion Day)
February 25 - 1 Peter 1
February 26 - 1 Peter 2
February 27 - 1 Peter 3
February 28 - 1 Peter 4 & 5
March 1 - No Reading
March 2 - No Reading
March 3 - D-Day (Discussion Day)

-The King's Daughter
 

Reading Challenge Discussion: Thessalonians

My Fellow Sippers,

I know that my initial plan was to post discussions on Sundays; however as I went back to work from winter break, reality set in that I would not be able to post as I had intended. Furthermore, this week we were to finish reading Thessalonians, and I must be honest by saying that I was very lost as I entered into reading this book. Therefore, my discussion will not be as in depth as previous discussions, as I believe that I need to do more background study in order to be effective in my dissection of this book.

1 Thessalonians
As aforementioned, I went into this book very confused as to what was going on. I do know that Paul, Timothy, and Silas are writing to the church. Something that struck out to me how adamant they (Paul, Timothy, and Silas) were about the church's faith remaining strong. They were holding the church accountable for remaining faithful despite the terror and extremity that surrounded them. One of my favorite scriptures is also found in this book, which is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18,

¹⁶ Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

This was found in Paul's final advice to the church, which I think is imperative to instill in our minds today. It is essential to pay attention to the Always and Never. Always meaning at all times, despite the circumstance. Never meaning not ever, despite the circumstance.

In chapter 4, the church is told to live holy and pleasing to God. When we go against how God has instructed us to live, then we are causing ourselves to be impure in heart and in nature. One thing about the Bible is that it is consistent with teaching us how to live a life that pleases our Heavenly Father.

2 Thessalonians
This book begins by telling the church to avoid persecution, which I believe is an important reminder today. It is not our duty to seek out justice. OUR GOD is a God of justice. He will punish those who are unjust towards us.

I also love how chapter 2 describes the coming of the Lord. While I read this chapter, I was reminded of all the "prophecies" and predictions about the outcome of 2012. So many people had exact dates and times that they claimed was the end of the world. People sold all of their belongings, emptied their bank accounts, and even purchased the doomsday preparations. (Sidebar: If it is the end of the world, do you REALLY think that it will be necessary to have bunkers and other things that would allow you to be left behind?) 

² Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. ³ Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.

Conclusion
A sincere THANK YOU to those of you who participated in the reading challenge. Whether you read along with the challenge, commented, or simply read the posts, from the bottom of my heart I thank you. Of course I there is always an opportunity to join in on our next reading which will take place starting this week. Below will be a schedule of the upcoming readings. Also don't forget to fast for 14 days this month. You can choose the dates that you want to fast, just make sure that you are giving up something that will cause your Spirit to be nourished by removing the distraction. You can choose food, social media, tv, your phone, anything!! While you're fasting, ensure that you are spending more time in your Word and in prayer. 

February Reading
February 4 - Ephesians 1
February 5 - Ephesians 2
February 6 - Ephesians 3
February 7 - Ephesians 4
February 8 - Ephesians 5
February 9 - Ephesians 6
February 10 - D-DAY (Discussion Day)
February 11 - Galatians 1
February 12 - Galatians 2
February 13 - Galatians 3
February 14 - Galatians 4
February 15 - Galatians 5
February 16 - Galatians 6
February 17 - D-Day (Discussion Day)
February 18 - 1 John 1
February 19 - 1 John 2
February 20 - 1 John 3
February 21 - 1 John 4
February 22 - 1 John 5
February 23 - 2 John 1 & 3 John 1
February 24 - D-Day (Discussion Day)
February 25 - 1 Peter 1
February 26 - 1 Peter 2
February 27 - 1 Peter 3
February 28 - 1 Peter 4 & 5
March 1 - No Reading
March 2 - No Reading
March 3 - D-Day (Discussion Day)

I look forward to your responses!!

-The King's Daughter