Your Love Letter from the One Who Loves You Most

Okay, so I’ve discussed the word in my last devotional, and as I began to think about what else I could say about it, the lord helped me realize just how powerful it is in our Christian lives. As I think about it, not only is it God’s love letter to us, it’s a visible and physical piece of Him he shares with us today. I believe that the reason we can’t see or hear from God directly is because it filters through our belief. My pastor down here in Orlando helped me see this a few Sundays ago saying, “The wind blows, and you can feel it, but you can’t see it...” It’s so easy to believe and see the wind because we can feel it, and because of that, we don’t need to see it. Although we can’t always tell when we feel God, there’s no doubt that the Bible is real.

Just think about it, in our Christian faith there is no bigger icon we turn to. Sunday after Sunday (not to mention the get-togethers in between) we turn to the bible to gain a greater understanding of our religion. Yes, there are other icons such as the cross, but I look at that more as a symbol. You can begin to see the importance of it because there is and was nothing greater to define our faith except for this book.

But why a book? In my opinion books are the next best thing to personal communication. And besides taking up much of a well educated person’s time, they’re the best form of study material. A book won’t grow aggravated with you if you need something repeated over and over for you. They’re very time-friendly in the same sense. You can pick up a book at 1 in the morning or even 9 at night. In church, you may not be able to understand a preacher’s interpretation of the word. Reading on your own time helps a lot to gain your own understanding.

Just as you need text books for classes in school, the Bible is your textbook for Christianity. It costs much less than any college text book you will ever buy! Trust me on that!!!
And it will definitely be more useful to you than any book you’ll ever read!

My favorite types of book genre (or category) are Self-Help books. These are books that help you become better a better person, which involves how to deal with other people, and importantly how to deal with yourself. A great example of this type of book is Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. A lot of us Crossover members read this book last year. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to do so. It’s a really good read. Getting back on topic though, there is no better self-help book ever written, than the Bible.

I speak from experience, and I end with my testimony. In my last devotional I talked about, how being a Christian is the hardest thing you can ever be, besides your self. Your decision to do so is your greatest decision ever, and I commend you greatly for that! As a Christian I struggle to stay sin-free... hourly! It’s so easy to give in, and the worst feeling ever, is to realize after the fact that you have given in. Again, I mentioned I just got deep into the word this year. Looking back on last year, I see just how weak and how much of a quitter I was when it came to living right. My main reason was, I refused to equip myself with weapons to use against the devil. I just continued to go into a loosing battle, and that made me want to give up more and more every time. However, I’ve now learned that staying in the word, gives me a fighting chance against the devil. It use to be, I’d go up in the alter-call every Sunday and gain forgiveness, leave with this holy “invincible” feeling like the devil couldn’t phase me at all, and as soon as the feeling went away he jumped me, punishing me for even thinking I would get away that easily. And I would give up just that quickly! Now, I don’t even think the devil wastes his time one me. I feel like a winner, because not only do I continue to find help from scriptures to guide me daily, I can continue to wear that holy “invincible” feeling. And I can tell you this. I can honestly say that I seemed to have given up praying for reading my word. But I’m in the process of getting back into praying when I wake up, and after I read my word at night, not to mention throughout the day when I’m being attacked or just in need of help. And with both prayer as my shield AND reloading my holy weapons through the word, THE DEVIL DON’T WANT NONE!!

Hey, I’m serious guys, if you can get the devil off your back, your Christian walk will be that much easier. I can speak from experience, I’ve never felt better than knowing that I’m doing the right thing by living right. You begin to see God working in your favor when you do, and I honestly feel like I’m on top of the world (or in a literal sense, above the influence of the world).

So I encourage you guys, stay in the word daily, and don’t pass up on prayer if you’re doing so. I hope I moved someone by this!
Be blessed and stay blessed!

“Jelly on my bizzzzkiiiit…”

-C.J.

the 10 minute challenge

Hello everyone,

As Easter approaches, I see the change in scenery. Few weeks ago, the weather was wet and cold and the trees were bare of its leaves. Now the weather is warm and the sun is shining. The flowers are blooming and the trees are green now. I realize that the Heavenly Father has created everything on the earth. Also He has created this awesome book for us. His Word is a powerful tool to use for overcoming life's problems. Some people do not know the importance of His Word. By reading His Word, I realized more and more of its importance. Without the Word of God, I would not be the light to my friends and family. Without the Word of God, I would not be the person that I am today.

In Psalms 119:105, the Word says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." The Word has the keys to solving your daily problems. Therefore you should read your Bible everyday. It is vital for you!!! The Word of God is like a Book with all the answers to your test. Many times, I would be studying and wished that I had a book with the answers to the test. I did...my textbook, but I need to study and understand the concepts in order to know the answers for the test. This process is applied when I read the Word of God. I read the Word of God and understand what God is saying to me. By understanding the concepts, then I can use the gained knowledge to retrieve the answers to my trials. For example, I've encountered a very diverse group of students here at FSU. In order for me to be Christ-like to others, I need to read His Word. I read the "Love Chapter", I Corinthians 13, to understand God's love. I understand His Love and show His perfect love to others. Therefore I am a better example of Christ to others by understanding His Word. You should read His Word in order to understand it and use His wisdom in your life. As Christians we must be a hearer and doer of His Word. In James 1:22, the Word says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

God's Word is vital our lives because we live our lives according to what it says. Therefore we should read it daily in order to better understand how to be Christ-like in a secular world. God's Word is wonderful and majestic because it has everything that we need. If you want to learn how to prosper in life then you can meditate on prosperity scriptures. (meaning read them over and over and think about what they say & mean) My favorite scriptures are Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" and Psalm 68:19 "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." Read His Word to learn more about our Heavenly Father and what He expects His Children to be.
Challenge yourself by disciplining yourself to read daily. Even if it's 1 chapter a day. That's less than 10 minutes a day! Will you ask God to help you and work at reading at least 1 chapter a day????
It will change your life FOREVER and be well worth it.....

God Bless,
Brittany

Word!

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Bible)
12For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [a]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.


When I read this verse I feel it in the very core of my soul. There have been times in my life when I have felt so lost and confused, when I have felt like I didn’t know who I was or why I was. There have been times when I have felt so lonely and depressed and like I just didn’t understand anything about life. There were times when I felt like I was drowning in despair and no one knew anything was wrong. I have looked around in the middle of my silent crises and I found no one who could help. I don’t know where you’re at today, mentally, emotionally or physically but I want to let you know that the Word of God has saved my life and it can save yours! When I didn’t know who to turn to; when I looked to people and they didn’t understand, I opened up my Bible and I was rescued! I found life and freedom in God’s Word! The words that I read spoke to the deepest part of me to areas where no one else has been able to speak to. It spoke to me the truth when I was drowning in the lies of the enemy of my soul.

You see, the Bible is the Word of God. He used the men on earth to write what He wanted to say. Yes, men literally sat down and wrote it, but they were inspired by God himself. The Bible is the map for how we should live. It can speak to us in any situation that we are going through. It offers wisdom on what to do. It gives us rules to live by. It gives us stories and examples of how we are to live our lives. It teaches us lessons. It can correct us when we are not thinking correctly. It can apply to any situation that you are in. You will get better every time you read it and you keep the words in your heart and live by them.

If you need inspiration read the book of Psalms. It is like a diary you will find yourself identifying with. If you need wisdom read the book of Proverbs. It will give you practical advice. If you just want to learn how you should act read the book of Romans, it breaks down how we should live. There is more than you realize in your Bible. I dare you to pick it up this week and start reading. You won’t come away unchanged.



Hebrews 4:12-13 (The Message)
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what.

i've been brainwashed

Whats up guys,
I hope you guys enjoyed our last cycle because I thought it was off the chain! We talked about how to build a relationship with Jesus Himself. Man, think about all the relationships that you could build, which would include family, friends, and co-workers. You could have many relationships but we showed you how to build a relationship with the Creator Himself. I know it sounds kind of weird that you could have a friendship with God but it is true and it is soo worth it. Think about this, God says that He..."would never leave you or forsake you", "...I will be with you until the end of the age", "Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ...", "...is a friend that sticks closer than a brother". I grow up with a brother and when we were very small we were inseparable. The bible says that Jesus will be closer to you than a brother. Can you imagine that!!! Well believe it because it is true. The bible also says that " a friend love at all times, and a brother is born for adversity". Now lets think for a moment. The earlier scripture says that He is a "friend" that sticks closer than a "brother". Notice I put quotations around the words I wanted you to focus on, friend and brother. If a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity then how off the chain is the statement..."He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother". He will love you all the time no matter what especially through the rough times. Trust me, I have been through some rough times and He has always been there to teach me and provide the comfort that I always needed. I could go on about this subject but I will make one last point. I was talking to my brother the other day (funny that we have been talking about brothers because my brother and I were talking about some very important stuff the other day) and we were talking about certain relationships. I made a statement that was pretty deep but very simple at the same time. I told him that a relationship could either help you or hurt you. A relationship with certain people will hurt you and you know it. A relationship with Jesus will help you not only in this lifetime but will guarantee you a spot with Him in eternity. If you remember our last devotional CJ talked about how to get close to God by reading the bible. CJ is our newest devotional writer and he did a great job (give it up for CJ). I know reading sounds boring and it is not a cool thing to do. I understand because I thought the same thing when I was a teenager (not that I am old because I am only a few years older than you so don't get it twisted). I never read the books assigned to us in English so I tried to pay attention in class when we discussed it so that I could get a decent grade on the test. I didn't want to read. It was a waste of time and it was boring. The books didn't interest me anyway. But something happened when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I was excited about this new life and so I wanted to learn more about it. And when I went to church my pastors placed a big importance on reading the bible so that's what I did. At first I didn't know where to start so I started reading from the beginning in the book of Genesis. I didn't have deep understanding about the bible like I do now but I just thought the stories were soo crucial. There were nights where I did not want to put that book down. I know you have this idea that the bible is boring and only for old people who go to church because I thought the same thing. But boy was I wrong. The stories in the bible were off the glass!!! I didn't know that God turned water into blood, that he sent a whole swarm of locust and frogs against the leader who was punishing His people. I didn't know that God sent His own people into wars where no one was left alive but His children. And after the battle they were allowed to take all the treasures of the other armies. Have you ever heard about the story of David and Goliath. David beat a giant with a sling shot and three rocks because God had his back. Then check this out, David cut Goliath's head off and walked miles with it in his hand to Jerusalem. What if you saw someone walking down the street with a head in his hand? CRUCIAL!!! You think the movie "300" was sweet, well God sent an army of 300 people against an army of a million without any weapons. Do you know how they beat that army? They sang. And when they started singing the other army started fighting themselves and ended up destroying each other. Weird but true. God split oceans and defeated whole armies. Hollywood ain't got nothing on the stories in the bible. I am telling you they don't. So as I kept reading I began to become brainwashed. I know it sounds like a bad thing but its actually a good thing. I began to see the way God thinks and so I began to realize how I was supposed to think. Did you know that everyone is brainwashed? Whether its your friends, TV, radio, music or magazines someone is brainwashing you. Why not let the Creator of the universe brainwash you and not these other people who are brainwashing you just so that they can make money off of you? You don't even have to read the bible. You can get it on cd, dvd, or you can download it into your iPod. GET INTO GOD'S WORD. It will transform you into the person He intended you to be. And then you won't be confused about who you are, your identity, or your image. You were made in the image (appearance) and likeness (character) of God. If you don't know that you will never become what you were meant to be. Its all in the bible, God's word to you.

Mick

so, I ran the River Run {{{15K}}}

It was so cool.
My sister asked me towards the end of 07 if I wanted to do it this year and I commited because I wanted to use it as an excuse to get into shape. Jacksonville's Gate River Run is the biggest 15K run in the country as over 10,000 people run in it each year. People come from all over the country and some even from other countries (mostly Ethiopians).

I started running January 1st.
At first I couldn't run a whole half of a mile. I grew up with asthma and even after God healed me, I never tried running long distances.
I would run part and walk part.
But through consistency and adding more distance each time I started running further and further distances. By the end of two months I ran 6 miles straight.

Saturday morning (03/08/08) we met at the Jaguar's Stadium at 7:30. It was cool out and very breezy. We crammed into the crowd to get ready for the starting gun shot.

When it went off the theme from that old movie where the guy runs came on.
[dun dun dun dun duuuuun dun, dun dun dun dun DUN...) ah, I forget!

Anywho, there was SO many people that we didn't get to the STARTING line until over 3 minutes into the race. It was awesome! Downtown Jacksonville was shut down, except for runners flooding the streets. I really wish I could've had a camera strapped to my head cause you had to be there to get how cool it was.

There were bands ever so often on the side of the road playing to pump you up.
The adrenaline from running with thousands of people was really helping. I had ran a straight 3 or 4 miles already crossing from downtown, over the Main Street Bridge (which was cool cause under your feet, you could see straight to the water!) and into San Marco and I thought "usually in my runs, I start getting tired by now". But I wasn't tired AT ALL at that point. (at that point)
As we went through San Marco there were people out in their yards sitting drinking coffee and cheering us on. We went down this street that was right between a line of houses and the river. YOU HAD TO BE THERE. The tied was up all the way and the wind was blowing so hard that the waves would crash against the the wall and mist all over us. I'm sure that was a high point for all the runners.
There was also water at about every mile point. Wendy's got a lot of publicity that day. (i high fived a Wendy's Frosty costume guy as we made our way out of San Marco) When we grabbed water it was REALLY hard to drink it without spilling it on the iPod. But I didn't want to stop to drink it because I wanted to be able to know that I jogged the whole way. Even when Mickey's shoes came untied I would jog in place until he got them tied. After sipping the water, we got to just throw our cups in the street. Except one time, I sipped too long and I realized I was in a part of a neighborhood where there were no cups in the street so I just hung onto it for a while.
Mickey and I joked later about how since we're runners now, we'll just drink a shake or something and just hurl it into the street.

I started getting tired after the 10K mark. I was wondering, "ok, where is the Hart Bridge!" Because this is the finale of the run and it's the hardest part. If I could just get to that bridge, I could put on the Killer's song "Sweet Talk" and kick it into Rocky mode. But when we turned the corner, we kept on going into the opposite direction of where the river was. Oh snap, I was getting a little concerned, "how long until the bridge", I asked a guy jogging up next to me. He gave an exaggerated "i dunno", as he jogged past me so care free. I started concentrating on my breathing technique (in slow through the nose, out slow through the mouth). I looked back up and the guy's jogging backwards talking to someone with a smile on his face.
Bless God.

Finally.... THE HART BRIDGE (said to be 2 miles uphill, though I haven't measured).
I start heading towards the start of the bridge and people are on the side of the road cheering us on. I can do it. I was saving this energy gel in my pocket for somewhere on the Hart Bridge. It would be my last jolt to get me to the finsh line.
It seemed like the top of the bridge got further and further away as I jogged up it. The wind was blowing SO hard. Ask ANYONE who did this year's River Run and I'm sure they'll have a story to tell you about going over this bridge. As I picked up my feet in stride, my legs would blow to the side in the wind. I heard of some who got blown into people next to them. I don't know of anyone who fell though.
This girl in front of me's hat blew off. I tried to grab it while I was moving, but I missed. As I pulled myself up, my back hurt. "oh no, I thought", but the pain went away real quick. I finally reached the top. I took out my gel and started slirping it down. It was disgusting. It tasted like orange toothpaste, but it got the job done. I think it was all mentally though, but I did feel energized as I made my way towards the finish line.
I ran into the stadium and through to the finish line. I couldn't believe I was about to do it. As I made my last few steps to the finish line, I threw one fist into the air.
I had done it. I ran 9.4.... wait, that doesn't sound right.

I ran n i n e point f o u r miles without stopping or walking. Wow.
It feels good. I'm currently looking for my next run, so I can keep this momentum going, but I do want to encourage you.
You can do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.

I know plenty have reached that goal and further without leaning on God or giving Him the glory, but I can honestly say that for me personally, it was the self discipline and strength of mind that I've developed since becoming Born Again that got me to complete this goal.

Be encouraged, and since you can do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you....
why don't you go do something you thought you never could do before.

-Daniel
www.youtube.com/onewordtv

p.s. who wants to start running with me?