Which Step Are You On?

It is not many times that I find myself "double-posting" on my two blogs. But today is just one of those finds that can be applied to a "Christian's life" as well as an educator. God expects effort on our part. He expects us to grow and learn. Faith is a choice and it is shown by our actions. The belief is the easy part. We believe in Jesus, that He is God's son and was sent to save us from our sins. We all say we believe, but how do we prove our belief? It is said that we are either drawing near to God or away from him. Each day we make choices on how we want to spend our day and how we use it to His glory. We choose the attitude that we will have and how we show our gratitude. Today, I want to share a visual that I ran across on Twitter. It is used in an education type scenario; but I want to use this same visual in a Christian's life as they grow and trust in God through their walk.

Every teacher takes these steps on the path from mediocre to innovator. Which step are you on? #edtechchat #edchat pic.twitter.com/Li9zxOeRw3

— Weston Kieschnick (@Wes_Kieschnick) June 1, 2017

Which step are you on? Are you refusing to do God's will? Are you saying you are committed, but only on your terms, not God's? Is fear keeping you from facing your giants and becoming what God has planned for you? How can we fulfill our purpose God has for us? Check out this visual and see where you have climbed. Are you stuck on a step?

The Peril of Falling Away

Hebrews 6
  
1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits.

Better Things for You

Hebrews 6

9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Today, why don't your take time to examine yourself in your faith. We are asked to do this, but our measurement should be on God's standard, not the world's. Make sure you are spending time in God's word which is our measuring stick! Is Christ Jesus in you?

2 Corinthians 13:5 

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

What quality is your FAITH?

I have purchased two books on Sketchnoting by Mike Rohde from Amazon. One is the Sketchnote Handbook and the other one is the Sketchnote Workbook. My goal is to increase the way I am taking notes during sermons and while doing my morning bible study. Here is an example what I'd like to do. Thanks for sharing this on Flickr so that others like myself can see great sketching in action. Looks like Greg Alles is the author or sketch artist who created this message on Faith. Love, love this. Awesome stuff here. I hope to find more to share and then one day, share my own. With God's help, I can succeed, right?

Have Joy, Pray, Give Thanks

Well, I apologize for being away for a spell, but you can say I truly enjoyed my break for the Thanksgiving holiday and look forward to the next one, Christmas! I have so much to be thankful for and love this time of year. Maybe that's why God chose the Thanksgiving season for my birthday LOL. Yes, I had a birthday on November the 26th, and was truly given the most wonderful blessing. I went to MD Anderson for my routine 6 month PET scans. I had been studying God's word each morning, praying and focusing on his presence in my life before going to my  appointment. This time, I felt such a peace about it. The verse that kept coming to my mind was 1Thessalonians 5:16-18, a very timely scripture for this time of year: "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." As I memorized this verse, the part that was difficult was the "all circumstances". We readily accept good from God, but rarely thank him for the bad. I have Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and could not imagining thanking God for that. But in time, I could because my battle and bout with chemo drew me ever so closer to Him. That I can say I am thankful for. If it had not been my cancer, then maybe I would not have grown in my faith. So, to the main point...my doctor came in to share my news that the spot  that we have been tracking for more than two years had completely disappeared! Now that's what I call a great birthday blessing!

As if that was not enough for this season of thankfulness, I was blessed with a new grandson (number 6 grandchild) born on November 29th, which had us traveling to Austin for his birth. There's just nothing like snuggling with a newborn baby. I miss him already, but do have to get back to work.

May you enjoy the upcoming season and focus on Jesus which should be the main reason we celebrate Christmas!