{"id":2127,"date":"2013-08-18T13:08:21","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T13:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=2127"},"modified":"2013-08-18T13:08:21","modified_gmt":"2013-08-18T13:08:21","slug":"my-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=2127","title":{"rendered":"My Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is a fantastic day! It\u2019s Sunday. Yes, God\u2019s day and the day I will worship Him with fellow believers. But today is special. I will be with a new group of believers and I am looking forward to my worship today.<\/p>\n

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If you will worship with the same group of people you\u2019ve been with for a while, I pray that you are still excited to be with them today. Anytime we gather with other believers, whether new friends in Christ or weathered warriors, that we find great joy in being in God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

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Enjoy today. Praise God today. Today let\u2019s fill this earth with His Name above all others.<\/p>\n

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My Little Garden<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I gave up gardening years ago. I just don\u2019t enjoy it like I used to.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve tried to raise a few vegetable plants since living in Colorado. With the dry, desert climate, my plants simply didn\u2019t survive.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>An AeroGarden seemed to be the perfect solution. I could grow a few plants next to my kitchen sink and I could gather the goods as needed.<\/p>\n

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It was the perfect solution.<\/p>\n

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Except that I couldn\u2019t grow everything I wanted. It wasn\u2019t big enough to grow large tomatoes. I could only grow a small variety. I couldn\u2019t grow green beans. There simply wasn\u2019t enough room.<\/p>\n

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It was a good solution.<\/p>\n

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Until the novelty wore off. After growing tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and flowers, I was finished with it. The need to grow my own produce was fulfilled. I no longer needed to use my AeroGarden.<\/p>\n

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How many times have you thought you found the perfect solution to a spiritual situation? I know I\u2019ve done it plenty of times.<\/p>\n

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I think I know a passage of Scripture and upon studying it, find that my conclusion had been wrong.<\/p>\n

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Believing I know a certain phrase or idea can be found in Scripture and upon studying it, find that once again my conclusion was wrong.<\/p>\n

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Therefore, I\u2019ve come to the correct conclusion that I must study Scripture for myself and I must study regularly and deeply. I cannot rely on what others feel, think or believe. I must know what Scripture says. I must know what God says.<\/p>\n

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So first I must study to gain knowledge. If you look for yourself, you\u2019ll find passages like:<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.\u201d<\/em> Proverbs 2:10<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.\u201d<\/em> 2 Corinthians 2:14<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is good and pleases God our Savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.\u201d<\/em> 1 Timothy 2:3-4<\/p>\n

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These verses lead us to the conclusion that we are to gain knowledge for ourselves, for God, and for others. Using what we know to lead others to God should be our greatest desire.<\/p>\n

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And my knowledge will then lead me to obedience. If I don\u2019t use this knowledge for my own good, it is useless.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.\u201d<\/em> John 13:17<\/p>\n

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\u201cI keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.\u201d<\/em> Ephesians 1:17<\/p>\n

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Knowing God better and obeying His commands bring blessings to my life.<\/p>\n

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Then I must study to become mature. Again, knowledge without any growth on my part is useless. It must transform. It must make me a better person.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSolid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.\u201d<\/em> Hebrews 5:14<\/p>\n

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\u201cConsider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete.\u201d<\/em> James 1:2-4<\/p>\n

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Mature. Complete. These are goals of those who study God\u2019s Word. God\u2019s Word is life-changing. God\u2019s Word convicts. God\u2019s Word leads me to being a better person, but only if I know what God\u2019s Word says.<\/p>\n

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My AeroGarden sits in my basement. Waiting for a renewed interest in its purpose. Maybe that\u2019s what has happened to your Bible. If you haven\u2019t picked up your copy of God\u2019s Word in a while, why not do so today? You\u2019ll be amazed at what God has in store for you!<\/p>\n

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Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019d like to leave a comment, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is a fantastic day! It\u2019s Sunday. Yes, God\u2019s day and the day I will worship Him with fellow believers. But today is special. I will be with a new group of believers and I am looking forward to my worship today.   If you will worship with the same group of people you\u2019ve been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,16,15,17],"tags":[1002,35,1001,1000],"class_list":["post-2127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-believing-god","category-following-god","category-knowing-god","category-obeying-god","tag-ephesians-117","tag-gods-word","tag-obeying-gods-word","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2127"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2131,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions\/2131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}