Day 13: Don't let the devil define your future

Hey! So today I am gonna break away from the scripture from today because today I have to testify.

**The scripture today though is really good so take a look at it Matthew 23:1-39**

 I have to share....The verse that came up when I opened my Bible was Isaiah 25:1. When I tell you God will speak to you when you ask HE WILL DO IT!!! Yesterday at church the Pastor talked about how we have to Transmit. Transform. and Testify. I feel like I have done the first 2, but I have issues when it comes to me testifying because I get so afraid and worried about the judgments I will receive from people. But after talking to my friend and an intense experience today, I realized that in order for people to see what God can do for them I have to tell what God has done for me....

So many people think that I have had life easy or my life is perfect because I have been able to go to private schooling all my life and been able to complete college. Not having too many MAJOR stresses in my life. People think that since my parents and I have been going to church EVERY Sunday since I was born that I hardly do anything wrong and that I am just this perfect daughter. But let me end that thinking right now.Without a doubt I have been blessed. And because I accepted Jesus into my heart at a young age (7 I think) I have been given God's mercy. His mercy has PROTECTED me from so many bad things that should have entered my life and I am so thankful for that. However, just because I go to church every Sunday, sing in the choir, and dance for the Lord does not mean that I am this perfect person.

God and the devil are  probably the only people who know every single one of my mistakes. They both know my weaknesses, what causes me to sin, what causes me to doubt God. Notice how I said the DEVIL knows these things about my life too. When I was in college I went through this period where I didn't go to church and stopped praying and building a relationship with God. I felt that I was grown and could basically handle things on my own. I didn't know it then, but that was probably one of the lowest points in my life. I was doing so many things that my parents and God would not be proud of. Looking back, I get so ashamed and embarrassed. There are SO many bad things that should have come my way because of my actions. I could literally make a 3 or more page list of all the bad things that should/could have happened to me because of all my negative actions. But just because I left God, doesn't mean He left me.

Fast forward to now. I am slowly but surely working on rebuilding my relationship with God and each day I thank Him for what He is doing in my life. Now see the devil....he doesn't like that. He doesn't want to see me building a relationship with God. So today the devil decides to enter all up in my happiness. How does he do it? He reminds me of my past. He yells in my ear about wrong things I did in college and how I don't deserve to be forgiven. The devil tells me that because of what I did in the past I am never going to be worthy enough for God. So I should just give up. When I heard that I didn't immediately know it was the devil, so I started feeling all types of stressed, sad, embarrassed, and ashamed. But then I realized something....God sent HIS ONLY SON to die on the cross for me so I could be forgiven!

When I recognized that all I could do was cry and lift my hands in praise. In that instant I stopped being so ashamed to talk to God. I stopped feeling down on myself. I stopped holding my head down. What I did was praise God. When I say I literally YELLED at the devil to get off my back I mean it. I told the devil he will NOT define my future because of my past actions! God has given me a new slate, which He does every. single. day.  I will never wave my flag of defeat. I told the devil "No sir! You will not bring me down, get behind me!"

After about 30 mins of me yelling at the devil and praising God, I can honestly say that I feel SO much better, and I instantly knew that it was time to put my feelings of fear aside to share a testimony. Don't let your past define your future. Don't think that God can't or won't accept you because of all the bad things you have done in your life, because John 3:16 and Romans 5:7-9 tells us otherwise. I already know that as I get stronger with God the devil is going to try so many ways to bring me down. But this time the devil was put on instant hush mode. He was not ready for me to start praising God, he expected me to stress out and bring myself down. Not this time!!!

 Ok I think I have made my point, but obviously the Holy Spirit is still moving in me as I type. \o/ yaasss!
I just hope my testimony will shed some light on someones life who feels they aren't good enough to accept Jesus because of their past. Don't ever let the devil fool you into thinking that...

My Jam--->

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi4GQG8xESM

Day 9: Don't Get Caught Up!

Scripture: Luke 20:9-26
Ephesians 4:29

The scripture for today is another parable, which I read earlier during the week but the passage goes on to talk about the priests who are trying to catch Jesus in something he says so they can arrest him. So for today the main focus for me is v19-26. After reading these verses the phrase "Caught Up!" comes to my mind, because that is exactly what the priests are trying to do with Jesus. They are SO determined to catch Jesus when he messes up, that they are sending spies out. Talk about desperate. But they can't catch him messing up! 

One thing I have noticed in the more recent years, is the more you proclaim your love for Jesus and worship Him in public, the more people there are  WAITING for you to mess up so they can talk about you. Often times they will use words like "hypocrite" "fake" or "not real" because they think that since you talk about God all the time that you are now "perfect". They will follow you on twitter, instagram, facebook, etc. just to see if EVERYTHING you are saying is God-like, and the second it's not,

BAM!

They are ready to talk behind your back. Especially if you lived a not so God-like life before. How do I know this? Because I am guilty of doing some of those things. Raining on peoples praise. But reading this passage and spending time with God I notice 2 things. The first is that no matter what you do people are going to talk about you, specially when it comes to you and how you worship. But it shouldn't matter because your worship should only between you and God. A relationship that no one should be able to break. The next thing is that when you start walking with God, people are going to talk about you, and wait for you to mess up. But as your relationship with Him strengthens there should be fewer and fewer negative things that people should be able to talk about, because your actions will be different. Notice how in the passage the spies and priests couldn't catch Jesus in something. When our relationship with God grows it should be much harder for people to catch us in something. Of course we are not perfect, we are going to make mistakes, and there are going to be people there to rub our faces in it calling us hypocrites. BUT God is always ready to forgive us, pick us up, dust us off, and send us back in the right direction. Which is all that matters. So don't let the people waiting for you to make a mistake intimidate you, instead let them motivate you to want to do better and get even closer to God. When they see you doing better they will become silent (v26), and move on to something else. 

Each day try and do a little bit better and make sure your actions are reflecting Jesus, because people are ALWAYS watching and waiting. But let them gossip by saying, "Have you seen how (insert name) has really turned his/her life around? They must really be serious about this Jesus thing!" And you just walk on by with a smile on your face thinking "Yeh! I'm serious about this Jesus thing!" *swag walks away* Lol

Day 8: "Many are invited. Few are chosen"

Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14

I love this parable. I started work today and let's just say today was a tiring day. I almost didn't even read my scripture and write today. So glad I changed my mind.

Once again Jesus speaks to us through parables. If you haven't read the scripture go read it NOW before continuing with this blog...I don't have much to say but I do have a question. If Jesus invited you into heaven would you be able to enter? God is constantly inviting us to accept Him into our life time and time again. His grace and mercy is always there for us and He is just sitting and waiting for us. What I love about God is that he invites EVERYONE to enter the kingdom no matter what you have done in your past. Isn't that great! Because I know I have done some things in my past, but thankfully I have been forgiven and will be able to enter the kingdom.
What's most important in this entire parable to me is v8-10 and v14. I love these verses. God invites even the people who don't deserve to be invited (to be real none of us deserve it). But just because we are invited doesn't mean that we are able to enter. We have to Accept. Believe. Confess.

So many times I have ignored the invitation from Christ, but He continues to wait patiently. Waiting for me to make my decision to follow Him. And not only me but everyone else, because like Jesus said everyone is invited.

So, are you ready to accept His invitation?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t__ht_qNZag&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Day 7: Blessings 101

Scripture:Mark 12:1-12

In these verses Jesus tells a parable to the priests that are trying to find ways to convict Jesus and kill him. When Jesus tells a parable he is trying to teach us a lesson. I think each time you read a parable a different message can come from that parable. This time I believe there are 2 lessons that Jesus gives to us...

1. Fight for your blessings
2. Share your blessings

So many times we asks God to do something for us. And like I said before there is nothing wrong with asking God to help and bless you. But sometimes God wants us to take a bit of initiative, and get up and make something happen. Yes, we need to continue to pray and talk to God, but if you are sick take the medicine. If you need a job, get up and look. If you want to go to school, get up and start applying. If you want tot be surrounded by more Christian people, get up and go to church. Sometimes God wants us to FIGHT for our blessings. In v4-6 the man sends all of his servants and eventually his son that he loves to go and gather the fruit. The man wanted his blessing. And even though it took numerous attempts he kept fight for it. But there are sometimes when God wants us to just sit still and not do anything. We end up praying to God to help us, but we are so busy trying to fix it ourselves God can't step in and show us some things. What is faith without action? Part of asking God for help is having the faith that He will help us. But how are we supposed to know when we are supposed to get up and fight or sit down and let God?
LISTEN.
That's right. It's as simple as that. LISTEN. God gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason. God will tell us when He wants us to sit back and let Him handle all of it, or get up and go after it. If we listen to what He says we won't go in the wrong direction. But you will only be able to hear and understand God if you build a relationship with Him. The more time you spend meditating on His word and having conversations with Him, the easier it will be for you to know when God is talking to you.

Finally, I want to talk about sharing your blessings. I have already mentioned before about spreading good news. And after reading this parable I see that sharing and spreading is important for God blessing you. These tenants were able to get this land, and when the man wanted to get the fruit from the vineyard he planted the tenants didn't want to share any of it. Just selfish. But look what happens in v9, the tenants end up getting killed and the vineyard is given to someone else. What does this tell me? God can give you something wonderful, but He can surely take it away as well. The man wasn't asking for all of the land back, he only wanted the fruit from the vineyard and the tenants would rather beat and kill this mans servants and son than give him the fruit. I must admit there are times when I am selfish with my blessing. Especially when it comes to money. I be wanting to just hold on tight to it, not even realizing that what I have recieved didn't come from a certain person but came from God. And while I'm sitting there being stingy, I might be putting on hold on someone elses blessing. And before I know it God has taken my blessing away because I was selfish. Share your blessings. Who knows, you might be someone elses blessing! Someone might see you give a dollar to a homeless person, and that person might think "Wow, (insert name) really did the right thing by doing that. I need to stop being so stingy with my money and start sharing." When we share we bless others the same way God blesses us. When we start being stingy and selfish God sees it, and just like He did those tenants He will snatch that blessing back.

• I want to be able to have such a strong relationship with God, that I will know when He wants me to get up and do something or just let Him handle it. And when God does want me to fight, I won't be lazy but actually get up and do somethings on my own but with God at my side.
• So many times I want to hold on to my blessing because I'm scared I might lose it as soon as I get it. If God gave it to me He will make sure I keep it unless He decides I need something better. I don't need to be afraid of losing something that really isn't even mine to being with.

Day 6: Ask and You Will Recieve

Update: Starting on week two of my fast! And I must say it's become a lot easier than I thought it would be. On Friday I decided to just go ahead and delete the apps off my phone, and since then I have looked at a SNS maybe 3-4 times in the past few days. I'm actually pretty proud of myself, and I am getting SO many things accomplished. And I must say that I can feel my relationship with God gradually getting stronger as well.This week my plan was to only look at SNS 3 times each day, but I think I can cut that down to just 1 or 2. Probably by the end of the week I might be able to cut it out completely.

Scripture: Mark 11:12-25
These verses have a lot of messages. So after reading these verses I feel that it would be really good to go back and see everything that God is saying to you. But because I am talking about two passages today, for this first passage I really want to focus on v23-25. These verses are for me right now all the way. It's about increasing your faith and believing in the plans God has for you. When you ask God for something there cannot be any doubt in your heart that He will either do it, or do something even better for you. NO DOUBT. V24 is my favorite though because I used to be so afraid to ask God for things, because I was afraid that I was bugging Him or I didn't feel like I deserved to be asking God to help me out in my trials. But God wants us to ask and talk with Him. It shows that we are putting our trust in Him. Now I find myself praying to God all the time asking and thanking Him for even the small things that He does for me. God says that when you ask you will receive. So what happens when you don't ask? Don't be afraid to be vulnerable and open with God.
Finally, v25 says that you have to open your heart and forgive. I dont think this is a coincidence that it goes right after the verses telling us to ask God to bless us. We make mistakes ALL the time, and God still wants to bless us. So what is stopping us from forgiving someone who has hurt us a few times? When you forgive, God forgives. Trust, I know forgiving someone is a lot easier said than done, but God wants us to do it. Don't let your hard, stubborn heart prevent you from receiving your blessing. Forgive others just as God forgives us each and every day. There is no telling what God will be able to tell you and bless you with once you can forgive others.

Scripture: Matthew 21:23-32
In these verses Jesus tells a small parable to the priest who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. I am not quite sure why but after reading this I have a part of one of Maya Angelous poems that says, "If someone shows you who they are, believe them." V32 tells the priests everything by saying the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter heaven before the priests. Why? Becuase the priests are hypocrites, while the tax collectors and prostitues come as they are. The tax collectors and prostitues know they are sinners and are willing to admit their wrong doing and ask God for forgiveness, while the priests are so determined to bring Jesus down and judge others. God wants us to come as we are. He knows none of us are perfect, but that is what makes us perfect for God. Jesus died on the cross so we would be able to repent no matter what we have done in the past or what we  are going to do in the future. The tax collectors and prostitues believe but the priests do not, which is why they will not be able to enter the kingdom of God. Getting into heaven is not about being the most perfect we can be and it is not about being sinless because that is in possible. BUT what we should do as children of God is try and sin less than we did before we accepted Jesus in our hearts. If you want a relationship with God come to Him as you are, because He will forgive you not matter your past. I know I have done some things that are probably unforgiveable in the eyes of man, but I THANK God everyday that He can forgive me and allow me into Kingdom!!!

Day 3: Keep Calm and Spread the Word

Key Verse: John 12:12-19

Today's scripture is about Jesus entering Jerusalem as the King. As Jesus enters on the donkey people are in the streets praising His name and celebrating his arrival crying out HOSANNA! There are two verse that speak to me and the first one is v14-16

What I LOVE about these verses is the confirmation that is given from God. All the way back in the old testament people write and talk about the coming of the Messiah (Zechariah 9:9, Psalms 118:25-26). This is just a guess but I think it has been hundreds of years that people have been waiting for Jesus to come. With that being said I think this is a perfect example of God telling us that that He will fulfill His promises. Might not be when WE want God to do it, but God will do it. How many times have we asked God for something and when we don't get it when we want it, we get upset and angry at God? I'm not a patient person, so when I ask God for something I am expecting it in the near future. But that is not the way God operates, He is not a wish granter. He does for us what He knows is best. But see how God promised a Messiah to come and save our sins, and after all this time God does it! Sometimes we have to be patient and just chill and wait on God. If He wants us to have something He will give it to us on His time not ours. So instead of getting upset when we don't get exactly what we want ASAP, take a moment and thank God for knowing what is best for us. When we ask God something I believe that He either says Yes. Not right now. Or no because I have something better for you. Be patient and have faith because God will ALWAYS fulfill His promises.

Finally, I want to look at v17-19. In v17 5 words stand out to me, "...continued to spread the word." People are spreading the news about Jesus and how he raised Lazarus from the dead. By spreading this news more and more people are becoming followers of Jesus and the priest are getting upset. What does this say to me? 1) Always spread good news about our God, because that's the starting point of getting followers for Jesus. If God does something great in your life, get up and tell someone! Spread that good news all around! Even if it's just something that you think is small, nothing is too small when it comes to what God has done for you. 2) Just because something is good news to you, does not mean it’s good news to someone else (v19). There will be people who get jealous of what all God has done for you. They don’t want to see you doing well, so every time you tell them what God has been doing for you they come up with some kind of comments to rain on your good news. It will cause you to not appreciate what God has done for you. But don’t let the “priests” bring you down for the awesome things God has done for YOU! If you are starting to see that people surrounding you are never happy for what God is doing/done for you, it might be time to start surrounding yourself with people who will rejoice with you.

God blesses us so that we can share that news to get more followers for Jesus, so don’t let a couple of people prevent you from doing that. SHARE your testimony. THANK God for His blessings. You never know who is listening to your story, and who is being impacted by your good news.

• God has a plan for my life that started when I first entered this world. God is never going to just leave me hanging and I must have faith that He will always fulfill everything that He has planned for me. I sometimes have doubts and I worry that things won’t work out the way I want them to, but God will always keep me SAFE, because He knows what is best for me and my life
• The Lord has blessed me so much, and sometimes I forget to share my good news. But that is something that I need to change, because God could be speaking through me to help change  the life of someone else. God gives me opportunities and blessings for a reason, it’s not right to keep the good news to myself. I have to spread it to my surrounding friends so we can continue to bless and have an impact on each other.

Day 2: "Um, She did WHAT with her hair?!"

Scripture of the Day: John 12:1-11
Deuteronomy 15:11

*First off Happy Valentines Day! Make sure to take a look at 1 Corinithians 13:4-8 (it'll tell you some things about LOVE)*


But anyways the title of the scriptures today is "Jesus Anointed at Bethany" and these 11 verses are saying some things. To be honest I really don't even know where I want to begin there is so much I want to say. Today I want to look at 3 people:
1.Mary
2. Judas
3. Lazarus
These three people really stand out to me because I feel like they represent people who are either in my life right now, or people who were in my life.

1. Right off the bat when I read about Mary in v3 I immediately think of the word HUMBLE again and also RESPECT. She cleaned Jesus' feet with perfume and wiped it with her hair....yes HER HAIR!!! I'm shocked by this. Truly. How many of us would wipe anyones feet with our hair? Today we would look at it as something that would be degrading ourselves. Think about it, to wipe someones feet with your hair you have to be on your knees in front of that person with your head down. Just to wipe someones feet. Most of us would feel humiliated. Mary shows the ultimate amout of respect for Jesus by doing that. Without saying a word we can tell how much Mary loves, cares, and respects Jesus. How do we show our respect to others? How do we show our respect to Jesus? Do we only use our words? Well I've heard many times that actions speak louder than words, and Mary definitely proves this. But I think nowadays we are so worried about what this person or that person will say that we decide to not humble ourselves the way Mary does. I am pretty sure that everyone in the house was looking at Mary like "What is this female doing? Wiping feet with her hair O__o" But Mary didn't care, she was only worried about showing her respect for Jesus. The man who was about to die on the cross for her sins and our sins.

2. Most of us already know that Judas is the one who betrayed Jesus. V4 tells us this and v6 even tells us that he was a theif. So why did Jesus choose him  as a disciple? To me Judas being  chosen as a disciple is a perfect example of showing us that everything happens for a reason.
But let's take a look at v5, because what Judas said was not real at all. Judas doesn't care about the poor, he only cares about somehow getting the money for himself. He only asks the question to criticize Mary, to bring her down for her good deed. How many times have we brought someone down just to make ourselves feel better? *raises hand* How many times have we tried to make ourselves look better and stand out just because we were jealous of someone else? *raises hand* We all know that bringing someone down doesn't necessarily make us look better, and as children of God it shouldn't make us feel better either.
But to be real, Judas asks a legit question in v5. That money couldve been used to feed the poor. But oohhhh does Jesus have an answer for that in v7-8 ( I love the way Jesus defends Mary. Put Judas on hush mode). Jesus says that you will always have the poor but He won't always be there. Jesus is telling us to focus on the NOW! (Duet. 15:11) What can you do TODAY to help someone? Tomorrow isn't promised so get on up and make that change right now! God is the only one who knows our future, the best we can do is pray, ask God to lead us, and take each day one step at a time. So let's do that. Live for today.

3. Lazarus.  The  man that Jesus wept for and raised from the dead. Lazarus is a walking miracle. But what speaks to me about Lazarus is in v9-11. Everyone wants to see the man Jesus brought back to life, and when they see him these people begin to really believe in Jesus and become followers of Jesus. But the priests they don't like that, so they say "Well, we gonna go ahead and kill Lazarus since he is one of the reasons some of the people are starting to believe in Jesus." That's messed up. Lazarus is "guilty" by association. Because Jesus brought him from the dead, the priests want to kill Lazarus too. SMH. Take a look at your circle. Are you guilty by association? You might be the only person in your group of friends that goes to church, prays, and thanks God everyday. But if you in the car when one of your friends decide to rob a place whose going to get in trouble too? Look at your circle people, because those are your influences! No matter how hard you try and be strong eventually the temptation is going to wear you down. But why would you want to surround yourself with people who are tempting you negatively, specially when there are people who are willing to help you do better? Lazarus is guilty because Jesus rose him from the dead which increased Jesus' followers. I'd rather be guilty for that, than "innocent" and spending all my time with Judas the theif.

• Be more humble, and stop worrying about how other people will look at me or what they will say about me. I need to be able to show my respect and praise to God all the time without worrying about how others will look at me. No one should be able to stop my praise. Even on SNS
• Start encouraging others. When I help others I believe others will help me. Bringing people down because of my jealousy isn't going to make me feel better. Maybe for the moment but not in the long run. Also I need start worrying about tomorrow. Focus on the now. Take things one step at a time as the Lord leads me. Just.....Chill.
• Surround myself with positives. People who are going to encourage me and hold me accountable. People who aren't going to lead me down a destructive road but a constructive road. I think that if I do this, my relationship with God will automatically increase.

My verse of the day: Matthew 22:37-39

Day 1 (cont.) Lemme get my Branch!

Key Verse:Matthew 21:1-11
Zechariah 9:9

So the topic today is about "Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King". I have read and heard this passage before especially during the weeks leading up to Easter. Reading this passage for myself though there were 3 things that stood out to me:

1. Faith
2. Humble
3. Following the crowd

1. In v1-3 Jesus is telling his disciples to go get the donkey and colt and bring it to Him. My favorite part is v3 because I feel like Jesus is answering a question that is not asked but might have been thought. See for me, if I was with Jesus the first thing I would have asked was "Well Jesus, how do you know there is a donkey and colt there? What if it belongs to someone, are we supposed to just take it?" I would have asked so many questions. I like to know what's going on, and if I had to take someones donkey I would like to have an explanation. However, Jesus gives a reason in v3, without the disciplies asking any questions. Why don't they ask questions? I think it is because at this point in time they have developed faith. They now see that God/Jesus doesn't always give us an explanation, He asks us to do something and faith will allow us not to be afraid and to do it (Mark 5:36 "Dont be afraid just believe"). Jesus gives an explantion anyways, but I honestly believe that if v3 had been left out the disciples still would have did as Jesus instructed because they had faith. Even in something as small as going to get a donkey for Jesus.

2. I have heard the word humble many times, and I think the majority of the time I hear it is when someone recieves an award. They are so "humbled". But what exactly is humble?
-not proud or arrogant
-feeling of insignificance
-low in rank, importance, status
How many of us are really humble based on this definition? Do we want to be low in status or importance? For me, no. I am at that age where I want to be seen, heard, understood. When I do something great I want to be recognized. But sometimes God wants us to back down and raise Him up. Walking with God should humble us. In v5-7 Jesus enters the city on a donkey (this was predicted in Zechariah 9:9). The man who is about to save US from OUR SINS, the SON of GOD, is entering Jerusalem on a donkey....a DONKEY. Now I just graduated from college (something I did for myself) and I wanted a huge party and celebration to be recognized for my accomplishments. Really lol?! Something is wrong with that picture. Jesus was SO humble its appalling. Like I still don't understand. But like I said, for Jesus the focus was not on him. So what was the focus on?
I'm not saying your shouldn't praise or celebrate your accomplishments, but sometimes it's best to have a bit of humility. Raise up Him instead of yourself.

3. Finally v9-11 gets me every time. I sit back reading this and think to myself, "Wow these people are so petty. In a couple more chapters these SAME people are going to be in the crowd yelling to have Jesus killed." In v10 people are asking "Who is this?" They dont even know who this man is but they are cheering and praising Him. Why? Because that's what everyone around them is doing. Some people see Jesus the son of God entering Jersusalem humbly, while other are looking around wondering who this strange man on donkey is. Either way both groups of people are cheering. Nothing is wrong with following the crowd I am extrememly guilty of it, but if youre going to follow the crowd have your own reason. And that reason should not be easily changed. Be strong in your decision, whether others are with you or against you. It's a lot easier to stand strong when others are with you, harder when you are alone.

• During this period I really want to work on and increase my faith in God. I get so worried and stressed about things that I forget to put my trust in the only person who can really help me.
• There are times when I want attention or recognition from my peers or family for something that I have done. But I need to work on humbling myself to raise God up. I dont need to get a little down just because someone didnt say good job, or my facebook status didnt get a like or something like that. It's not about me.
• I don't need to be afraid to walk alone. Sometimes it just needs to be me and God. I don't need to follow what everyone else is doing just so I wont have to be alone. "Be bold and be strong. Banish fear and doubt." With help from God I'm pretty sure I can stand alone on my own two feet....ok maybe not right now but with some prayer I'm sure I'll get there Lol

Day 1: Introduction

Hey! So I'm Faith and today is my first day of Lent. Many people only do Lent because they see other people doing it, and think the only thing they have to do is give up something for 40 days. I will admit to doing the same thing as well. Last year I decided to give up cussing, which was good but there was really no point. Because a couple days afterwards I was back to cussing again...
Anyways, my point is this: There is a purpose to lent. Now I am NOT an expert on lent. To be honest I had never even heard of lent until high school when I saw all my white friends (I went to private school) on Ash Wednesday with a strange mark on their forehead. Of course I asked and they told me they had to give up something for 40days. So I thought "Oh everyone else is doing it, I should too!" WRONG.

After doing some thinking, I realized that lent is just like fasting. When most people think of fasting they think not eating for days. Which is the case sometimes, but that is not the point. The point of fasting is basically to get closer to God. Spending time meditating on His word. You basically want to build a strong(er) relationship with God. I have never fasted but my dad does it often and I have a few friends who have done it. But what they have told me is that fasting does not mean not eating. You give up somthing that could distract you or even prevent you from creating that strong relationship with God. For me, that thing is social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc) Im at the point where it's the first thing I look at in the morning, and the last thing I look at night. It's ridiculous. I have to see what other people (a majority of these people I don't even care that much about) are talking about before I even thank God for waking me up in the morning! That's sad!

So for me I am not going to say that I'm doing lent, I am FASTING. I am FASTING from Social Networking Sites. I feel that if I take out SNS I can establish a closer relationship with God. And since that is DEFINTELY what I need in my life right now I know I'm making the right decision. 

What am going to do is spend mored time meditating on God's word (on my Bible app I have something called 40 Days of lent, which is 47 days in length and each day are scriputures that trace Jesus' steps during his last week of earthly ministries). Am going to start slow with the SNS fasting and for 6 wks I am going to decrease my amount of time on SNS

Week 1: No more than 4 times a day
Week 2: No more than 3 times a day
Week 3: No more than 2 a day
Week 4: Once a day
Week 5-6: none

Yes, my SNS addiction is that bad, and I have no problem admitting that. But what I have decided to do is during the times I want to get on a SNS I am going to open my Bible and/or blog. That way my meditation will increase. Some people might think this is stupid, sad, ridiculous, etc. but to be honest it's really not about you it's about God and me. If you want to support me please do, if not then that's fine too. Everyday I will try and post my scriptures with some notes that I take, feel free to comment and things =)

Day 1: Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 (to be cont.)