I Was Encouraged!

   I hope everyone had an awesome Memorial Day weekend! I had a great one but I am paying for it now, haha. I'm a very nice shade of rosy red. We spend most of the weekend out on the lake so I got plenty of sun! But it was worth it! We had a lot of fun and memories were made and that's whats most important.

   I'm mostly excited about a talk I had with someone this week. I know I shouldn't but sometimes I hesitate to talk about "religion" with people because there are so many different denominations and many different beliefs. The last thing I care to do it get in an argument with someone over God. Of course I will stand up for him no matter what but I don't think anyone is going to hear what I'm saying when it gets confrontational and that defensive wall goes up so I might as well not be say anything. Anyways, all that to say, I try not to make people mad. I believe in talking things out. But this weekend while hanging out with friends I got to talking to someone about God and rightly dividing the Bible. And let me just say that it's so encouraging to talk to someone. There's a lot of things that mean something to me but there is nothing I am more passionate about than God. If I have drifted from him, it throws my whole life into a spin. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I'm stressed, I'm not motivated, I feel just plain hollow inside. Over the course of my life I've been to quite a few churches, listened to different beliefs and opinions and some of them made some sense but there was still that stirring in me. I just didn't have peace. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself I did, I didn't. I started to get exhausted, constantly searching and feeling like I was getting no where. I was brought up in a very strong christian home. I can't say that I know the whole Bible backwards and forwards but I'm pretty familiar with a fair amount of it. So, listening to a lot of sermons, it was kind of rare to hear something I hadn't before. Most of the time it had been the same thing just a different angle on it. I wasn't learning anymore. It was like I couldn't grow anymore. I tried reading the Bible but I didn't understand it. It was like it went in one ear and right out the other. Things weren't sticking because they weren't making sense. It was already hard enough for me to have the motivation to read in the first place because I am someone who does not enjoy reading. I believe the Bible says exactly what it says for a reason. I believe God chose those words specifically because it best said what he meant for it to say! If I say something like "lying is wrong" I mean lying is wrong. I don't mean 'I think it's wrong for just me to lie or it's wrong for just you or someone else to lie, I mean plain and simple lying is wrong. So I don't believe God wrote the Bible so that it could be taken all of these different ways. No, he meant it one way. The way he meant to say it. If he meant something else he would specify. God is very clear, He is not the author of confusion - KJV 1 Corinthians 14:33. Yes, the Bible can be hard to read and sometimes confusing and will totally contradict itself but that is only if you do not rightly divide the Word - KJV 2 Timothy 2:15. I have been studying and actually understanding the Bible now. Rightly dividing and using the concordance so that I can understand the meaning of the words and apply them how God meant them. Another thing I've learned is that there are parts of the Bible that do not apply to us. Genesis through Acts are simply for our learning - KJV Romans 15:4. What applies to us today is Romans through Philemon. Hebrews through Revelation is meant for those who are here after God as removed the Church (being us - now, the Body of Christ) from the earth. This is just some of the stuff I have come to learn and see for myself. It's right there in the Bible in front of my face. I read the King James Version because there are verses missing in the NIV and like I said I feel like God chose every word specifically and the rest of the translations have been reworded so again I read the King James Version. But everything I've said, please don't take my word for it! This is something you need to discover for yourself. Don't take someones word on something as serious as this. Always check it for yourself! If you have any questions or anything please comment or message me and I will do everything I can to help. Hey, I'm not perfect! I mess up a lot and I am still learning! I've got a lot to learn! It's just always nice to talk to someone about God and have an encouraging conversation. I am very encouraged right now and excited to see where this goes because the person I spoke with wants to start studying with us and I'm very excited about that! It's always exciting when someone wants to study Gods Word! 

   Thanks for reading! I hope I maybe encouraged you, and if you don't agree with what I believe - I hope I've encourage to read your Bible if nothing else to prove me wrong, lol. Until next time love harder, be more understanding and seek God always with all of your heart!