About me: There are 2 or 3 of us that run this page so there's no guarantee that you will talk to the same person more than once in a row.
First off, we would like to say that this page was intentionally set up to be used as a schedule for daily bible reading as well as conversation about the passage for that day. Go ahead, discuss what you read, we want to hear your thoughts. I pray that every one of you will get into the Word and learn what God has for you.
One Life Movement
The main goal of One Life is this. To reach believers and non-believers through the music of bands and artists who love Jesus and are committed to Him while playing in a secular environment. We also will be using testimonies of our peers to show what God can do in our lives if we let him. One Life is a MOVEMENT. Imagine if EVERY Christ follower acted out on their faith. If we all live what we believe this world will change. The vision of The One Life Movement is to stress the point of living ONE LIFE for Christ. We were NOT called to just live on this Earth and do whatever we want. We must live one life in every aspect of our lives. The way we act in school, at work, at church, at the mall, and the theater, when we are alone at home, when we are with our boyfriend/girlfriend alone, those moments define our integrity and they should all look the same. We want to encourage and ignite the fire and passion for kids and adults to live the “One Life”. Living the “Christian” life follows the teachings and doctrine of Jesus who was sent by God to die to save us from our sins so that we are able to live for eternity with Him. Go has sent us out so that we may go into the world doing His work and be a living, breathing example of God and his vision and goal for us.
Yo, I apologize for the impersonal comment. I wanted to inform and invite you to a show coming up this Friday (10/26) at the Q Cafe in Seattle. If you aren't doing anything I would love to see you there. I have more details on my page so feel free to stop by! Peace and Love.
-BH
Matthew 7:26-27 MSG "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
And I was also reading a few pages back in Matthew where Jesus is being tempted by the devil, and how every single time he quoted a passage of Scripture. I think this applies to us, how we need to read our Bibles everyday and actually know stories and such in it...so when we face temptation, we know what to do. So I just want to encourage whoever's reading this to go get their Bible and study it...
I was reading Ezekiel today and I saw this verse: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." [Ezekiel 36:26]And it sorta reminded me of One Life and all that stuff that you guys do...at least for me, I know from doing the day by day study thing you post that God has given me a new heart...
Last week, the United Kingdom again came face to face with the horror of terrorism when two Mercedes were found to be packed with explosives and nails. Shortly afterwards a burning Jeep was driven into the Glasgow Airport. Citizens in Britain and America have been put on high alert because of these threats. Living in uncertain times can cause us to feel shaky and uncertain about the future. But as Christians we can have a confident view of the future if we have a heightened awareness of the Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word.
In Revelation 1:1-20, we find John exiled on the island of Patmos. Though his life circumstances weren't terrific, he was given a new vision of His Savior and a future view of the world. John paid fresh attention to the Lord's voice, gained a fresh perspective of His Savior, and had a fresh experience of worship. If we are spiritually alert, we can learn from John's experience.
First, let's consider the voice John heard, "I [John] was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet" (Revelation 1:10). Jesus Himself was speaking to John. Pretty amazing, wouldn't you say? It had been about sixty years since John had heard the voice of his Master. But he recognized the voice as the man from Galilee. And Jesus reminded John that He is God, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last" (v.11). People who state that Jesus never directly claimed to be God simply do not know the Bible. In John 8:58, Jesus took the eternal name "I AM" upon Himself. He clearly claimed to be God and He clearly displayed the attributes of God throughout His life. You may say that Jesus was a good man or a wise man. But unless you know Him as the God man, you are sadly mistaken and in spiritual danger.
John also gained a fresh perspective of Jesus Christ as he gazed upon Him. He saw Jesus standing among seven golden lampstands. Jesus explained, "The se
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NLT Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.
I think a lot of times people think of God as this big guy with a long beard who sort of just watches earth and he lets bad things happen to us cause he wants us to suffer. This is no where even close to the God I know!
Although I do believe God lets things happen for a reason, like the verse above shows. God lets us feel sorrow because he wants us to realize our sin, not because he wants to torture us! And also we may feel down in the moment, we will eventually see that it was sin bringing us down, not God, and we'll turn away from that.
2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!
This verse makes me laugh because it applies so well to my life. I had always thought Christ was a person, even before I became a Christ follower. It's hard to describe, but the Jesus I used to knew just came and died for my sins...big deal. That was before. Now, it's like, Jesus came and died for my sins! Big deal! He continues to change me and mold me in his image...he reveals things to me I never knew before. My God is not a casual God, he's my God! He reigns in my life! He's constantly with me; he'll never leave! I can't describe how I feel about that in one myspace comment! I don't think I ever could even if I had all the time in the world!
2 Cor 5:20-21 20 We are Christ's ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you-be reconciled to God. 21 For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us! The Living Bible 2 Cor 5:20-21 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (from New International Version)
There are two different translations there of the same verse. I did that just for reference... so you can kinda see two different wordings of it.. I like it that way... ANYWAY, point is...
This chapter talks a lot about how earth is not our home, but Heaven is. We are here to do God's work and to share the good news of Jesus Christ. But often times we get weary or just plain ol tired of it. I like those two verses cause it talks about how when we are teaching Christs love to someone, assuming we are letting God do the talking through us, that we are here on Christ's behalf telling people about him. And in verse 21 I love how it talks about how God had Jesus come to earth. He was blameless and pure.. and God made him into sin. He despised his son when he was on that Cross. He became everything that was evil and dark. He took our place and through that act, we are made righteous again.
I know this isn't related to the reading plan, but I wanted to add this:
Psalm 32:8 NIV I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
I saw this above on the daily verse thing and it made me think. A huge factor that stops me from reading the Bible regularly is the fact that I don't know where to start. It's a big book! But in this Psalm, God promises to reveal to us what we need to hear. Reading along with the One Life plan is a great way to start. Just thought I should throw that in. :D
2 Cor 4:7 NLT We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
I think a lot of times we (at least I know I do) forget that our power, our strength, our everything comes only from God. We walk around all high and mighty because we have the title of Christian, but in reality we're as fragile as a clay pot.
We need to be cautious in the way we act because we are housing God's light in us...we're a beacon for Jesus! We're the only Jesus some people may see.
Earlier in the chapter it says that Satan is blinding the minds of those who don't believe, and that it's our job to shine Jesus' light and let the whole world know.
My favorite verse in here is vs. 13, where it says "I believed in God, so I spoke." That's our job, in a way. We're all called to further the kingdom of God, even if we seem insignificant.
2 Cor 4:18 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I think that a lot of the time it's hard to focus on God cause you can't see him. He's not this tangible human that you can reach out and touch. Now that I mention it... Jesus WAS a tangible person who someone could reach out and touch. Yet people still didn't believe a lot of times. I wonder why that is? You would think someone that was doing amazing things like miracles, prophesies, so on and so forth. You would think that people would believe...
The point is this though, earlier in the chapter it talks about how unbelievers are blinded and can not see the light of the gospel. So what does that mean for us believers? It means that we CAN see the light of the true gospel. Maybe our lives are clouded by so many other stupid things.... money, stuff, tv, internet, music, clothes, boys/girls, whatever it is... that we forget to focus on God and before it's too late we lose sight of the exact thing we were never supposed to even take our eyes off of... Jesus.
When we focus on God and NOTHING else around us, life doesn't become easier in general... we just learn how to endure the things that are coming at us. Temptation to sin is HUGE... if you are not spending the time with God that you need to be, you obviously won't be focussed on him... then you're tempted... then you fail. You then wonder to yourself... "where did I go wrong?" You didn't give God your life... you didn't focus on what is unseen.. instead you gave your time and energy to the things of this world... Money, Lust, Looks, Popularity, Cool Stuff... whatever it is...
So focus on God and his love and grace. Things will become more clear to you. God will reveal his plan for your life little pieces at a time when you are spending time with him. TRUST ME... I've been on both sides. Those are my thoughts for t
