In some ways, it feels like this month went by fast, but then in others it feels like it went by at a good, slow pace. Have you ever had a month like that? However fast or slow it may have went by, I do know that it was a wonderful month, maybe even my favorite of the year so far! It also felt like the first real month of summer, both with the weather and having more free time! We were pretty busy, so I'll hop right into some of my favorite events for this month. I hope you'll take a moment to share how July was for you and some of your favorites from it down in the comments! Favorite Events
A Favorite Verse PassageTrust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass... Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him..." ~Psalm 37: 3-5; 7a A Favorite SongI don't know that America is the most forgotten mission field, but this song was one that was a blessing to me when I heard it last month. ;) A Favorite Story
How was July for you? What were some of your favorites?
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That's right! Today is the wrap-up of our Scripture reading challenge, and the day I announce the winner of our giveaway! First of all, I wanted to say that so many of y'all did such a great job with this challenge! There were a few of y'all who really did surprise me with just how much you memorized! I'm just gonna add that there was one girl who joined the challenge the last week and memorized seventeen verses! Seventeen!! If we keep working on these verses we've memorized, I think we'll be surprised how they'll stick. I encourage you to pull the ones you've memorized back out again and keep practicing. Also, this challenge doesn't have to be the end! Think of just how many verses you could memorize, say at the rate of just one per week. That's 52 at the end of a year; in five years, that's 260. And that's just with one verse. Many of us could probably do even more than that! But for the news that you are probably really reading this post for! The winner of the giveaway for the KJV My Promise Bible is...... (Okay, I just had to. :P But I'll finally get to it now!) Heaven! If you participated in the challenge, how was it for you? What was your favorite verse that you memorized? Let me know down in the comments!
Some of you may remember that I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was, Lord willing, going to be gone on a youth trip. I had the opportunity to go with my youth group to the Youth Congress at Crown College in Powell, TN. The whole week was AMAZING! We had a big kickball tournament at the Tennessee Smokies Stadium on Monday evening (our church lost both games, but we still had fun!), went to Dollywood on Tuesday (I rode a rollercoaster for the first time!), headed to Mount Moriah Christian Camp on Wednesday (I got to go ziplining! It was so cool, just hanging there, looking down over the camp!), and then we had amazing services and sessions for the rest of the week. There was a service on Wednesday night and then a morning and evening one on both Thursday and Friday, not to mention the two sessions we got to pick from a list to go to each of the days. We also got the opportunity to sing in a choir with 300 other kids!! Singing up there had tears in my eyes! The whole week left me encouraged. Seeing other young people wanting to serve God with their lives, seeing other girls in the dorms reading their Bibles, and just being around it all was uplifting! At least one boy got saved, and I truly believe God did something for each of our hearts. But anywho! This post, I'd like to share some various things I learned from my week at Youth Congress! This is the choir singing the main song for that week! Sing with Understanding During one of the choir practices, the man playing the piano shared 1 Corinthians 14:15 with us all: "What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." The next few verses go on to expound on that thought. When we sing in front of people, often our song means to them only what it means to us. When we just sing the words, it's just a song to them too. But when we're doing it to testify of what God has done for us and are singing with our hearts, with understanding of what we're actually saying, it can be a real blessing and encouragement to both our own hearts and to those listening! It's so easy to just join in a choir or especially in congregational singing and not actually think about what I'm saying, but then, what's the point? Our StandardThis was a thought shared in a session I went to on the importance of modesty and identity. The speaker was talking about how we often talk about our "standards," but really, we should only have one standard. Our standard should be to be holy and righteous through God and His Word. Everything else falls under that. Baptist AcronymI know that probably not everyone who reads this blog is Baptist and that there are people besides Baptists that believe these things, but I thought I'd share it with y'all anyway. This was an acronym I wrote down from one of the sessions summarizing what it is that Baptists believe. Biblical Authority Autonomy of the local church Priesthood of every believer Two church ordinances (Lord's supper/baptism) Individual Soul Liberty Saved church membership Two church officers (pastor/deacon) Separation of church and state (church isn't over state and state isn't over church; they are co-equal) Difference Between Attraction and SexualityThis was also a thought shared in the class on modesty and identity. Pslam 90:17 says, "And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." Girls don't have to attract guys sexually. They should attract guys with the beauty of the Lord. That kind of beauty never fades. God's Taking Care of Your FutureThis is something I knew but needed to be reminded of. On Thursday morning, Pastor Sexton (the pastor at Crown College/Temple Baptist) did a meeting for juniors and seniors. In it, he talked about how God will direct your future if you let Him. He talked about not worrying about whether or not to go to college or which college to go to but instead just doing what's in front of you. He said God would give you the next step and then the next and then the next and so on. Sometimes it's easy for me to worry about what to do after high school or what God wants me to do with my life, but that was a comforting reminder that I'm not supposed to worry about it. I'm only supposed to work on the step I'm in and trust that God will show me the next one in His time. Have you ever taken a trip that's been especially inspiring to you? Which of these songs were your favorite? I'd love to hear from you below in the comments!
Remember a couple weeks ago, when we talked about meditating? There were three things, but the one that we find over and over and over again in the Bible was meditating on just that, the Bible. Well, one of the best ways to go about that is to memorize it. After all, how are we expected to have Scripture in our minds and hearts to meditate on "all the day" if we don't have it hidden in our hearts? So, along those lines, this week we have something brand new here on the blog! Lord willing, for the next three weeks, we will be running a simple Scripture memorizing challenge; at the end there will, Lord willing, be a giveaway of a KJV My Promise Bible (you can view it here.) The more verses you memorize, the more chances you'll have in the drawing (not to mention extra entries for referring others or subscribing!)
So, now, it's your turn! Comment below if you'd like to join the challenge, and I'll be happy to add you! Note: Lord willing, I will be gone for a few days this week, so please know that I plan to respond to comments when, Lord willing, I get back!
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