Week #2: Ignoring God

READ: Matthew 13:13-15

I think we can all agree that most of us don't like being ignored. We get frustrated when people don't pay attention to us. Sometimes it is our teachers, our friends, or maybe even our own family members. We may want their attention, but their focus is somewhere else.

Psalm 139:13 says God formed each of us in our mother's womb and gave us life, breath, and everything we own. I think it is safe to say that God deserves our attention. Sadly, a majority of the world ignores Him. Even Christians don't always give God the attention He deserves. At times, we can all be like little children and be easily sidetracked by worldly pleasures and distractions. When we let this happen, we take our mind off of God and begin pursuing our own earthly desires.

So as you read this week's passage, I want you to think about these questions:

How much do you focus on God and what pleases Him?

What types of things take your attention away from God?

What are some things you can do to improve your focus on God?

Now post some comments!!! HA...God Bless

***Joyously Giving Thanks Recap***

Colossians 1:11-14 and 3:15-17

In this week's passage, the apostle Paul writes that we should “joyously give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light” (v.11-12). One of my questions for everyone to think about was, when was the last time you joyously gave thanks to God?

I also talked about how often we tend get excited over a movie, television program, or sporting event, and yet remain silent about the many blessings God sends our way. As God's children, we ought to make praising our heavenly Father a daily priority of our lives. (in our lives...?)

Remember, God chose to display grace to us. He sent His Son to die as a substitutionary sacrifice—Jesus took upon Himself the penalty that we owed for our sin. He gave us a purpose for living and delivered us from ruined, meaningless lives. He also offered us hope, not only for our earthly lives, but also for eternity. Doesn’t He deserve our thanks—every day?

I feel that it is important to remember that the Lord didn’t place us on earth simply to accumulate possessions and wealth. He provided us with the gift of life so we could glorify Him and reflect the Savior, Jesus Christ, to the world.

So I hope that we all took some time over the Thanksgiving holiday to express our appreciation to the Father for His many blessings. We should praise God most of all for the gift of His Son, and we should also strive to let others know why we're so grateful. We should always be thinking of ways to demonstrate our thankfulness to God.

God Bless...

Joyously Giving Thanks

Okay everybody...

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I hope everyone is ready to eat! I'm hoping to put on about 24 lbs tomorrow...but anywho...I have decided on a reading for us to look over for this week. I apologize for taking so long, but with the holidays and me being lazy...it is hard to get stuff done. HA...here it goes.

The passage today is about: Joyously Giving Thanks

READ: Colossians 1:11-14 and 3:15-17

As you read this passage think about:

- When was the last time you joyously gave thanks to God?

- How often do we get excited over a movie, television program, or sporting event, and yet remain silent about the many blessings God sends our way?

- Do you live in gratitude for God’s precious blessings, remembering to thank Him for more than just His material provisions?

CLOSING: Ok party people. Please read over those versus sometime this week. Once you have read them, post a comment about what you found interesting or something that stood out in your mind. Also, feel free to post comments that don't necessarily deal with the reading.

I want this blog to be free flowing and conversational. Give responses to the questions, share stories/experiences, tell everybody you love'em...whatever. Just remember that the Holy Blogger's Blog will be as good as we all are willing to make it, so lets give it what we gots!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

God Bless...

Test Blog #1

Ok e'er body...I am just trying this blog thing out. I think we are going to try to use this for a few weeks, especially over the holidays. I know everybody will be pretty busy and probably many of us will be out of town over the next few weeks.

I figure we can use this blog every week or every couple of days to post comments whenever we all have a chance to log on. We will pick some scripture to read and probably a few questions or comments about the reading. Everyone can read the scripture and post his or her comments to the reading on the blog. We can read each other's comments and reply to them.

If anyone has ideas of what we should read about or talk about, just send me an email or post a comment in the blog. I really think this could be a good thing. I am not asking for everyone to devote all of their time to this, but I do think it will be nice to see how other people feel and how other people respond to certain Biblical topics.

Some topics will be touchy and difficult to talk about. All I ask is that we all pray and ask the Lord to guide us in the things we say. I think we can have a lot of fun with this thing. Everybody think happy thoughts! Right NOW! I will post our first scripture reading once I have this blog thing figured out and have sent everybody the link to the blog. Hallelujah Holla Back...

God Bless...
Jon