I've been trying to discipline myself more with reading scripture. We read one book a week in my community group, this week is Acts. Claire came up with a really good idea for diving the chapters up into days. Then the concept of "feeding your soul before feeding your body" came up. Which is a really good idea, to start your day by being nourished by God's word instead of jumping to get breakfast or get on facebook. The hard part is making a habit out of it, and keeping up with it daily. But the more effort I put into it the more I find myself not wanting the chapter to end, and wanting to continue with the next one. Usually I would keep reading but I decided to discipline myself by not only reading every day, but only reading the specific amount. Which might sound stupid, but I really want to teach myself patience with everything, especially when it comes to waiting for God to speak or move.
ACTS
I can't even explain how cool I think Paul is. His story is so encouraging to me the way he travels all over despite being persecuted everywhere he goes. It gives me so much hope that God will provide no matter what situation I am in. And that people literally rejoiced that they were persecuted in the name of God, like it was a great honor and they could not believe they were chosen to suffer for the Word. I definitely do not have that mind set every day. Which is hard to have living in America where we dont usually get physically harmed or jailed for what we believe. But even in the small things, like peer pressure and whatever college brings, its important to stand firm in what you believe and not be swayed by society, culture, or your friends. Our culture is constantly changing, what is acceptable, how we should speak, the music we listen to, how we should act, how much clothes people wear (or dont wear). But I encourage you to find a stable hope in this: God never changes. He is the same God who lead the Israelites through the desert, the same God who led Paul around all over the place to be put in jail and yelled at, the same God who loved the world so much that he gave his perfect and beautiful son to die in our place. He is FOREVER faithful, and UNCHANGING. No matter how much your friends, family, school, or situation changes, God is still there whether you like it or not, he still cares and he is still breathing life into you as you read this. He will NOT forget about you, or stop loving you.
CONSTANT COMMUNION
A thought I had yesterday while I was driving was how hard it is to stay in constant communion with God throughout the day. I find it easy to acknowledge that God is there, by looking at the world around me and it's beauty, but I'm talking more that acknowledgment, I'm talking like an intimate interaction throughout the day. Literally. Talking to God in your head while you're driving, or instead of letting your mind wander to random placed, let it wander into a conversation with God. I find myself talking to Him like he is just one of my buddies. I truly feel like the more I make an effort to have intimacy with God, the more I will find out about myself, how God views me, and who exactly I am in God. Its really fulfilling and beautiful to get a glimpse of how the creator of the universe views his daughter, and how beautiful he thinks she is. It gives me more confidence than anything else in world.
