My Rule Of Life

The Me I Want to Be, authored by John Ortberg, and published in 2010 by Zondervan Press, is a powerful and practical guide to the secret to finding fulfillment in life and to grow in our relationship with Him and to cooperate with Him (2010). The book informs the readers a God’s perfect vision which starts with a powerful promise. All those who trust in God “will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8). God Made us, He knows why we were made and how we can be fulfilled. We made us to flourish, it’s God’s gift, we are moving toward God version because God redeems. The author says that, "There is an enormous difference between following rules and following Jesus, because I can follow rules without following the right heart." (p. 28).

My personal code of chivalry is to stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves. Those who are less fortunate, mentally challenged, and or physically disabled. I was raised in a house where you respect and stand up for anyone in need. Being a bully was not tolerated in my house, being a friend to all was expected by my parents. My mom told me at a young age “everyone understands a smile”, whether they speak the same language, have a handicap, or are considered an outcast. A smile can go a long way, and make anyone feel included.

basic rules for our guidance so that we may be good and righteous, according to God's intention.

In recent years, God has become a very important part of my life. I am determined to learn more about God and look forward to seeing what he has in store for me and my family. At one time God was not a big part of my life, I did not attend church regularly or feel close to him. I have always believed in God and Jesus Christ as our savior, but did not actively seek a closer relationship with him. I feel that much of that changed when I accepted my current job in a church based preschool program. After taking the position in the preschool, I was then offered a position in the church’s nursery on Sunday mornings. I accepted this position also and my son and I started attending Church every Sunday. In the time since, my husband, myself, and our children have all joined the Church, been baptized, and become very active in our Church. I feel that this was God’s plan for us all along. I feel that God guides our decisions each and everyday, and I now use prayer to seek his guidance for our lives.

I say begin because to quote father Kirby “The depth of our character is as vast and large as the entire galaxy”. We can never fully know who we are and we can never fully know someone else. That is, in my humble opinion, what makes life so amazing. However, what I have learned is that I have a moral duty to attempt to the best of my abilities and with the help of our Lord to be a man of good moral character, who’s action reflects that, and as a result build better communities. Communities that are just and of good moral character. In addition, to aspire to be as both Professor Kirby and Michael Himes have stressed so eloquently to be a man of integrity. So that when my eventual time comes, everyone, I’ve left behind can say I was the same person to them all. I now understand what it means to habitually answer the call to recognize, respect and respond to other persons as creatures fashioned in the image and likeness of God. To focus more on helping others and try to guide them with nothing but my best intentions and “to give myself away” to quote Michael Himes, and by doing so be of good moral character. In light of this, it is due to my countless hours reading the book “Character, choices and community” that I have committed to memory the second chapter, a chapter I believe of grave important

My faith and how I lived in my faith made serves as a lasting example to believers in Christ (Lindslay, 3). In life, I believed that all work that I did was spiritual work for the betterment of the Lord’s kingdom. Whether I was writing, ministering, eating out, or simply talking with friends, all work, all things, all I did was for the advancement of the Lord’s kingdom. For the work of “a Beethoven” or the work of a “charwoman” were all the same in my eyes; for both the workers, their work should be “offered to God” and done “humbly” “as to the Lord” (Eshlemen, 2). Although I struggled with cynicism, this way of living life challenged and brought new meaning to my life (Lindslay, 3). This idea on the life I lived and how I lived the life I was given serves as an example of Colossians 3:17 for Christians who wish to live and long to live in similar fashions (The Holy, 237). This way of living my faith truly required me to be quite public and open with my thoughts and beliefs. My faith was not always outright and public. When I was young, my family was my first spiritual influence (Eshlemen, 5). My faith started when I was young, but was shattered with the death of my mother when I was ten years of age (Lindslay, 1). This tragedy shook who I thought God is. The death of my mother affected me deeply. In fact, in college, I denounced the protestant

In recent days I had the opportunity to go back to North Carolina for a few short days. There, with a heavy heart from a loss in the family, I had nothing else to look towards. I’ve always heard of individuals finding peace, faith, blessings, and love of Christ from attending church. I’ve never been a person who put their faith into a higher power. As I was growing up my parents never wanted to force me into any religion without me knowing everything about it and choosing which route to take on my own. As the years treaded on, I never bothered myself to learn about the many different religions and what each stands for. So I used this opportunity as mine to attend church for the very first time. I attended the Roman Catholic services held

For those who have left the church behind but don’t want to entirely abandon spiritual practice, and also for those who were never a part of the church but are still seeking to foster meaningful spiritual development, Rachelle Mee-Chapman’s new book, Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a

Everybody who has gone to church has the same question once in a while, how to take Jesus real teachings into daily life? That is what Shane Clairborne, the author of this book try to find as he experienced “spiritual bulimia” as he explains, “I developed the spiritual form of it where I did my devotions, read all the new Christian books and saw the Christian movies, and then vomited up information up to friends, small groups, and pastors” (Clairborne 39). Motivated to find an answer, Clairborne tries to understand one of Jesus teachings, “to become the greatest you should become the least” he began by reading the Scriptures, going to church but that raised more questions until he went with some friends to stay on Philadelphia streets, there

This statement sums up the whole focus of my life. All other priorities, concerns, and pursuits of mine stem from or are secondary to the commandments and teachings of this church. My future is in God’s hands, my passion to follow Him, and my desire to align my will with His. Contrary to what some may think, this doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t work hard and plan ahead. Instead, I believe that this is exactly what God wants me to do, having a mindset that is open to counsel from Him.

“We all long to be in the flourishing section, but we stay in the safe section”(Mr. Mustard.) I want to be able to stand up for what is right no matter who it is for or when it is. “ For I know the plans I have for you, Declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future(Bible Gateway.) This is has helped through this year because it has helped me to know that I am the temple of God and I am the body of Christ. I know that my plans and God’s plans are different. I learned that through this year. I always wanted to make my own plans like I will study this or I want to do this. But it I have found out that it doesn't work that way. I know I have to believe in him and he will show me the way. “Also tht I am the body of Christ, when God looks down onto this earth, He will look down on us and see the image of Christ in us”(Pastor Matt.) That just blew my mind, I don’t know why, but it did. That is why I want to grow more in my faith and my action because we all are made in Christ image, and we should fulfill

Do you ever wonder if what you about to do is right in the sight of God? Do you have questions that you seek answers to from God’s word? We all get in situations when there appears to be no clear answer to satisfy that what we are about to participate in is right. The truth is that oftentimes our life is built around things that aren’t wrong; they just don’t have any spiritual value. We should ask ourselves, “How does this help me grow spiritually?” Is what I am doing or want to do going to benefit me in my Christian life? Will I glorify Jesus by doing it?

The little things of obedience adds up to big things of compliance and good lifestyle changes that will guide your path into the arms of God. He can see the simple, little, steps of improvement and sacrifices of faith that eventually move mountains away from your life's problems, if you take notice. Be quiet, pay attention, and take notice.

I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this

I. Personal Profile: As I ponder over my thoughts and reflect on where I am in my journey of spiritual growth, all I can do is just thank God for all He has done. My spiritual journey has been full of ups and downs, but I would not change any of it because I had to go through the things I have went through to get to where I am today. Before I started living fully for Jesus, I was just existing and living my life without a purpose. I was lost and was seeking validation from everyone but God. My spiritual journey did not start until I realized that I was searching for happiness in all wrong places, and that my happiness was found in God. Once I discovered that and began building a relationship with God, my love began to increase for Him and all He has done. I began to see things clearer and God started removing toxic people out of my life and molding me into what he created me to be. In this season of my journey, I believe God is taking me through the pruning phase. In john 15:2 it says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it do that it may bear more fruit.” Jesus is stripping me from everything that no longer serves a purpose in my life. He is setting me apart and preparing me for my purpose on earth. God is changing everything about me from the inside out, and removing anything that is not of him and making me more like him. He is making me very uncomfortable, so that I have no choice but to learn to fully