April 28th

[hannaleeAdmin]

Passage: 1 Peter 3

v.3-4 "Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."
- Even though you're superficial (hehe jk.. maybe) I hope that I would find my beauty not with my physical features but with my inner spirit!

v.1-6 talks about how wives should treat their husbands
- If (when?) we get married, I want to love you unconditionally and respect you daily, helping you (as you help me) grow in my faith  
v.7 "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered."
- Babe I hope as my potential spouse you would always be understanding and patient with me!  

v.13-17
- when people question my faith, I want to be ready to respond to them in a way that honours God, and with "gentleness and respect"

im so tired lol

[JamesAdmin]

Scripture Passage: Ephesians 2:1-22

Here we see the pinnacle of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, and many people quote v.8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

From the opening three verses in this chapter, we start to get a full hold of our spiritual depravity (stating that we as humans not only disobey God rather we have no inner desire of our own in order to please Him). "Carrying out the passions of the flesh", meaning that unless if the Holy Spirit intervenes in our nature - we are hopelessly dead in our sin.
-And just like how dead people will not and most definitely cannot respond, so is the same with humans - that we are dead to God in the midst of our sin, unable to have relationship with Him and desiring anything but God.

v.4-5 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

-Even when we were dead, even when we had no hope, even when he had no desire, or inclination to seek after God - Christ still died on our behalf. And God made us alive together with Him, in His death and resurrection.
-Something that is directly applicable is that we are now no longer dead, rather alive. We are now capable of following God through Christ's example. Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we are now able and empowered to please God. Pretty crazy stuff going on...

v.14-15 "For he himself is our peace, who made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinance, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.

-I remember when we went over this on the phone! But as a whole we start to see a glimpse of humanity being restored, not just in relation with God, rather now also with people.

In all honesty, I think it's much more easier to love God than it is to love people - it's not hard to love Him in light of what He has done for us, is it not? But when we start to engage with others that hurt us, intentionally or not, it's quite challenging to respond in love. But now, we are called to love others with the same love with which he loved us (v.4). God not only enables us to love Him and follow his commands, he also enables and empowers us to love others. A beautiful way of understanding the cross and the Gospel that it works both vertically and horizontally.

Please pray that I may love people that don't respect me, that don't love me, and especially the ones that despise me. I want to learn how to respond in love, not in haste and in an immediate reaction of anger but one that responds in love. I want to make it a reactionary habit to always respond in patience Smile
-Love you! talk to ya sooon <3