Home life... so fun!: Bible time

Monday, August 6, 2012

Bible time

is not about the time, but the heart.
Of course, I've always known that bible time was useless if you didn't care about what you read*. But for a long time I thought that I wasn't doing all I should if I didn't do my devotions the VERY first thing in the morning, usually before I even got out of bed. Now, I know there is nothing wrong with doing bible time the first thing in the morning- it is actually a very good thing to fill your mind with scriptures to carry with you through the day, to dwell in them and soak them up. But the Lord has been showing me that, just like with other minor details in our walk with God, we can carry this one too far. (Of course, we should know what we believe and stand firm to that, but it is one of those things that differs from one true christian to the next true christian, like what bible version we read. It is not a salvation issue, like was Christ really the Son of God or was he just a really good prophet. It is simple where your convictions lead you, as it was with eating the meat offered to idols in the New Testament.)
Imagine if you woke up at the normal time in the morning, and a family member was having a serious health problem that involved rushing them to the hospital, and due to that emergency trip, you didn't get your bible time until that afternoon. Have you sinned by not getting your bible read before you took your family member to the hospital? Certainly not! God put that circumstance in your life, and you are to go through it trusting God to both take care of the situation, and give you the needed time with him.
Of course, this case is extreme, but it still applies to things like making breakfast for the family, especially if you will be out of the house early and making breakfast before bible is the only way all will be fed.
Now, we do need to know that just because it is not a sin to not read your bible first thing in the morning (or at whatever time you have set personally), doesn't mean that we just don't do our bible time during the day at all. We should do it at the first possible time!!! If I haven't done my bible time for the day, I personally feel that I should not be reading fiction or be on the internet. I also feel that I really shouldn't be doing any personal "fun hobbies", either. (Some "hobbies" are needed, as in baking or such, but this shouldn't be done JUST for fun. If it is needed, it is alright, but we shouldn't say "I have nothing to do, I'll go do --- before bible time") This way, I know that I get my bible time sometime in the day, and also it is just a bit of a safe guard while reading through man's opinions to have Christ's law fresh in your mind.
Anyway, I just thought I would share what I feel the Lord has shown me recently. And I don't mind if you hold a different view :).
*I just thought I should clarify... I should have said that it was useless for growth in Christ as a christian. Reading the Bible is still good for you even when not saved- there are countless stories of people who picked up a bible from boredom, curiosity, or from a dare, and have been saved through reading those words breathed by God!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Abbi's view on how God made us, heehee :)...

We have been studying some catechism questions (you can find them here) during our Bible time the past two weeks. We have been doing two a week (it is adorable to here Emmi answer the question "Who made you?"- "God made... Me!"... With that adorable smile... we've been asking her that question all day long just because it is so cute. And then following it up with the question "What else did God make?" which is answered with that same grin and "Eveysing!" :)).
Well, last Sunday we were starting our Bible time, and Daddy asked Abbi a new question. "Why did God make you?"
Abbi's answer: "Because he wanted to. And because he loved us. And he needed a hammer to do it! He just hammered us to make us!"
Heehee... ouch!

Romans 14

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Home life... so fun!

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