Dan and Sam

<sup>For some reason these have always been my favorite bible stories. It's their incredible faith, but also the boldness that always stands out.

Dan. 3 16</sup> Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.
¹⁸ But even if he does not,
we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.

1 Sam. 17
⁴ A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels.
⁸ Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.
¹¹ On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." ⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him,
David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

I have faith in a powerful God. What more assurance do I need?
Task for today - Live boldly for my God.

Choosing to Live

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

Mary chose to invest her time and energy into something that had eternal significance. And it will not be taken away from her.

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws..."
Deut. 30:11-16

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life..."
v.19&20

"The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life"
John 6:63

Christian Fruit :)

"Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity." -Matthew 7:21-23

"When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." -John 15:8

"This is my command: Love each other. "
- John 15:17

Disciples produce fruit.
Love produces fruit.

Therefore......

<3

Tonight.

¹⁴This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15

Ecclesiastes 12:1

There is a verse that has been on my mind for a while now. I woke up this morning around 7 going over it and over it in my head. Really trying to wrap my mind around what it is saying.

Ecclesiastes 12:1
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
"I find no pleasure in them" - NIV
"Honor and enjoy your Creator while you're still young,
Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes." - The Message
" Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come, " - NKJV
"Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator." - NLT

Youth is the time of life between childhood and maturity. It is a time in OUR lives of so much potential. Right now we are not brittle, worn, tired, blind. Right now we are alive. This is time when we can DO. We can GO. But why is it so often a time when we wander?

When studying this I found a commentary that said,

"You that are young flatter yourselves with expectations of great things from it, but believe those that have tried it; it yields no solid satisfaction to a soul; therefore, that you may not be deceived by this vanity, nor too much disturbed by it, remember your Creator, and so guard yourselves against the mischiefs that arise from the vanity of the creature.’’

When we are thinking only about ourselves, our life, our youth, we are forgetting about our creator. And the worst part is that in the end we will come back, but instead of giving him the best part of our life, he is getting the broken, leftovers.
^Malachi 1:13 ... "When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD.
"It is the greatest absurdity and ingratitude imaginable to give the cream and flower of our days to the devil, and reserve the bran, and refuse, and dregs of them for God." - Matthew Henry

I have no idea what just happened.

So today was not, terrible. Definitely not good. I don't know what happened. I started asking a lot of questions. At first it WAS terrible, but then I started asking the right,..I was going to say person. But I don't think you can call Him that.
Anyways, I don't really know what this is. When I went to reread it and try to find references for the verses(which I didn't find all of them) it really seems like I was having a very straight forward conversation with God. He met me right where I was,.. in my English class.
I hope this is encouraging for someone. It helped me a lot.

In what do I place my value?
Who am I to you?
Does it all really matter? A name, place, status.
What do they even mean?
I once thought of these things as valuable, but now I know that everything else is worthless compared to knowing you. (Phil3:7&8)
Because you are my hope (ps39:7)
You are the rock in which I stand
But who am I that you should care for me? (ps8:4)
My life is but a breath (ps39:11)
Do I store up my treasures here on Earth?-In a name, in a job?
Or is my store house filled in heaven?

Lord, all I know is that I want your peace to guard my heart and mind. (Phil14:7)
I want to know you
I want to experience the mighty power that raised Christ from the dead (phil3:10)
I want to run with purpose in every step (1 Cor9:26)
"For to you I will pray. My voice you shall hear in the morning." Ps5:2&3

Happy Birthday Jesus