Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 4 Blog Post Children of God

 

Week 9: Day 4 Child

 

This day described the scriptures of John 1:1-18. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). God created everything in His image. Light shines brighter than darkness and darkness can’t put out the light. John the Baptist was called to declare that the King Jesus was coming to the world. Jesus was and still is the true light in the world. He entered the world and was rejected by his own people. Can you imagine how that must feel to be rejected by the very ones he was trying to reach? Whoever accepts Jesus into their hearts and repents for their sins, they become children of God. The law came from Moses but when Jesus arrived this is the first time the world saw the true Messiah.

 

Like any parent, God disciplines us and give us rules to protect us. Even when we don’t always want to follow the rules, they are set in motion in order to guide us to become more Christ-like. Some people didn’t have parents who cared about them, but luckily God does love and care about you! God cares so much about what His children are going through. He loves all of His children and we’re called to do the same.

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9^th-15^th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:

http://www.iamsecond.com/livesecondbook/

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Second-Ways-Jesus-First/dp/1400204801/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 3 Blog Post : Leaving this World Naked

 

Week 8: Day 6 Naked

This day contained the scripture verses Ecclesiastes 5:10-20. This is written to remind us that people in love with money will never have enough. They will always be trying to earn more money to purchase bigger cars, houses, more designer clothes, latest technology, latest hunting and fishing gear, and anything else you enjoy buying. If you love having a big bank account, you will always be trying to add more money to the account. It will never satisfy you for very long. People with less money will be able to sleep better because they aren’t afraid that someone could steal what they have. Some rich folks are consumed with watching and protecting what they have.

 

The verses reminiscent us that we arrive here through our mother’s womb and we had nothing. When we die, we can’t take anything with us. Wealth won’t make us truly happy. Happiness comes from memories we make, the time we have spend with our love ones, and the difference we made in the world. An important thing to remember is that our children won’t remember all of the nice presents we purchased for them to enjoy. They will remember if we took the time to get to know them and see how they view the world through their eyes. We have to focus on the big picture of life and see what truly matters.

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9^th-15^th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:

http://www.iamsecond.com/livesecondbook/

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Second-Ways-Jesus-First/dp/1400204801/ref=pd_sim_b_1



Check out this cool graphic promoting this awesome book:

 

Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 2 LOVE God, Yourself, and Others!

 

Week 7: Day 3 Love

This day had the scriptures verses Mark 12:28-34. These verses described the teachers of the law asking Jesus which command is the most important. Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Matthew 12:28-34 NIV).

 

The first step to love is to love God completely for who he is. He is the Healer, the Creator, the Father, the Provider, our Shepherd, and our Savior. He is the one who sent his only son to take the sins and failures of the world. Sin separated us from God because He is holy. He was beaten, whipped, and crucified on the cross for our sins. He took our guilty and forgave us for our many sins we have committed. All we had to do was repent and know you’re sinners. God has an unfailing love for His people and he isn’t mad at you. He has an unconditionally love for us.

We must learn that we can’t just love Him when we want Him to move in our circumstances. Even when he chooses to wait to answer your prayers when you pray, he’s working on it!

The second commandment is: loving your neighbor as you love yourself. This requires that you must first love who you are. If you don’t love yourself, how can you love someone else? Loving yourself means accepting yourself even though we’re not perfect and until you get to Heaven, you won’t be. You must realize that you have flaws but Jesus still accepts you and loves you. This doesn’t mean that He doesn’t want you to improve and become more Christ-like, he does. Loving yourself means understanding you’re not accident, even if you’re birth wasn’t planned by your parents. When the sperm met the egg that’s when love started! God planned for you and you’re made for a purpose that he wants you to complete. Run the course he has for you!

The second requirement is to extend that love to others that you encounter every single day. This includes the slow drivers you’re wishing would go on, the slow cashiers when you’re in a hurry, your brothers and sisters when they disappoint you, your children when they go down a different path, your spouse when they let you down, your boss when they having a bad day and taking it out on you, and any other people you have a difficult time loving. It’s not easy to love like anything in life it takes effort and time. But LOVE is worth it! Without love where would we be? Would you rather love or spread more hatred in the world, it’s your choice!

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9^th-15^th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:

http://www.iamsecond.com/livesecondbook/

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Second-Ways-Jesus-First/dp/1400204801/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 1 Forgive Even When It's Hard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9^th-15^th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:

http://www.iamsecond.com/livesecondbook/

Week 7: Day 2: Release

This day consisted of reading Matthew 18:21-35 in the Bible. The concepts presented in this passage were Peter asking Jesus how many times we are to forgive our brother who has wronged us. Peter suggested seven as the ultimate number we are suppose to forgive someone. Jesus replied, “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus then described a parable of a debtor who owned the king millions of dollars. The master ordered to sell him and his wife, children, and everything he had left. The man pleaded with his master not to do that. The master forgave him and cancelled his debts.

When he left the masters face, he turned right around and found a servant who owned him a few thousand dollars. He chose to not forgive the servant who owned him money and he was eventually put into jail and tortured. The moral of the story was he was forgiven for his debt but he couldn’t forgive someone else’s debt. And Jesus warned that if we don’t forgive others the heavenly Father will do the same thing to you.

 

Let’s be honest, who hasn’t had to make the choice to forgive someone who has hurt and let them down. Bitterness is easy to allow to poison our very souls. I will admit I have been there and I was stubborn and determined that it was out of my control and power to forgive people that have hurt me.

How many relationships have ended because someone couldn’t forgive? MANY!

Major offences can come occur when the person we love walks away, we’re cheated on, people borrow money and don’t pay us back when they say they would, people criticize us and call us names, we’re fired or laid off, done wrong in a church, and a number of other things. Others may struggle with forgiving the small offences that can still wreak our world if we let it like our children spilling liquids or food, or breaking glass on the floor, our spouses leaving the toilet seat up (sorry men), the lawn didn’t get mow on time, the house isn’t clean, or anything else you can think of. But is it worth it holding on to anger?

Bitterness blocks us from ever finding love again whether in friendship or a relationship. Freedom only comes when we chose to release the hurt and forgive, no matter how painful it might be. Perfection doesn’t exist and we must know we can’t demand ourselves or others to be perfect all the time. We will all make mistakes and offend others at some point.

The question that we must ask ourselves is, “How many times have I personally hurt someone?” We must remember that Jesus forgives us every single time we confess our sins and hurts!

 

“I received an advance copy of Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First for free for this review.”

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Second-Ways-Jesus-First/dp/1400204801/

 

 

 

I Am Second: Real Stories. Changing Lives. By Doug Bender and Dave Sterrett Book Review

I Am Second contains an extraordinary collection of short stories from famous celebrities to everyday people. Everyone has a unique message of their struggles and hopes to share with the world. Throughout the book readers get to read stories from Michael W. Smith, Bethany Hamilton, Sam Bradford, John Hamilton, Brian “Head” Welch, Karen Green, Michelle Aguilar, Vitor Belfort, Brian Sumner, and many others. They all come from different backgrounds and careers. The book reveals details about how they all traveled down the path to destruction. But at their lowest point of their lives they came to know God and his healing and redeeming power. The stories ranged from drug use, living in poverty, partying to hard, affairs, pornography, prostitution, drinking, divorce, loneliness, and bad parent relationships. Readers will be able to associate with each story in this book.

The book also contained a QR code where readers can scan the code and watch videos featuring stories from the I Am Second website. The book has a neat sticker to remind yourself that you are second.

I would recommend this encouraging book to teenagers and adults who are feeling and believing the lie that they are alone in their daily struggles. When we come to the place of desperation and need a helping hand, God is always there to reach out to us. I enjoyed reading about these countless stories it gave me great hope that God can always turn any situation around and work it out for my greater good. No one is alone in their hurts and disappointments and we all fall into temptations. Surrendering to God brought tremendous joy into their lives. The book was a huge inspiration about the importance of becoming second and making God first. He is the only one who can help us change and become everything we were created to be. Anyone will be able to connect with the stories shared in this book. They cover many different struggles and I realized that God loves each one of us completely and he is willing to assist and comfort us. If you’re looking for a book for inspiration that God is still working in people’s lives then get this book! It will change your perceptive about if people can really change because with God they truly can! Never lose Faith in God and his power!

“I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program.”

If you would like to purchase a copy of I Am Second check out Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Am-Second-Stories-Changing-Lives/dp/1400203732/

Book Trailer:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKCnp5tuDU8

Check out the I Am Second Website for more stories:

http://www.iamsecond.com/