Musings on Prosperity

Warning! Religious Christian rant! If you don't want to hear my thoughts on prosperity teaching leave now. Okay, I've warned you, now you have to deal with my musing/ranting about this style of preaching. And yeah, it's okay if you flame me. This is more of a venue for my thoughts, a place to vent. And hey, if you like it, if it touches you, great. But I would ask that you form your own ideas. Don't take anything at face value.

Okay. First off, I am not a theologian. I cannot say anything about theology or doctrine and believe that everything I say is true. What I can do, however, is take what I've heard from my father and my mother, whom I respect in all things, and my own reasoning and attempt to understand what the bible says. Now, I am not the greatest Christian ever. Heck, who comes close these days? Anyway, I don't really read my bible as often as I should, but I do try... on occasion. Okay, yes, I'm really horrible when it comes to that part of my walk but... Okay, I really need to pray for God to give me a thirst for his word. But I've digressed a bit. Allow me to get back on topic here.

It seems like so many people these days simply look at the Internet and accept what it says as truth. They look at what others have and are lustful for it. This is not everyone, but there are more than enough of these kinds of people to make you wonder what has happened to our world? It is not just America, of this I am sure. Why? People are people no matter where they are from. I'm not trying to preach. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder what qualifies as a sermon, what qualifies as preaching, and what is it I should believe? Well, I've heard a lot about prosperity teaching, and some of it sounds like it has a basis in truth, but it is taken out of context and twisted to fit lazy lifestyles. Can God bless you above and beyond what you could ever ask or comprehend? Of course, He's God! But will He? Will He just hand you everything you could ever want on a sliver platter as if he were your butler delivering your drinks? Hum... most likely not. Will He reward the servant who diligently does His will without complaint and goes the extra mile just to please Him, like a boss rewards the employee who does his job quickly and well? Most likely. I cannot say what He will do because I don't know Him as well as I should, but when you think of it, are we not his employees? Is He not our boss? The pastor is like the store manager, the staff and church volunteers are like the shift managers, the missionaries are like the sales associates out on the floor, and the rest of the congregation are shoppers waiting to become those out on the floor. It's not the perfect analogy, but it serves it's purpose. What am I getting at with all this? Yes, God wants to bless you, but who rewards a sloth? Does a worker who comes to work late, loafs around and does hardly anything, then leaves early get a promotion, or does it go to the one who comes in at five every morning, works hard at his job, and leaves at eight?

So, prosperity teaching, from what I've gathered, is claiming, from God, your 'promise' and receiving your blessing without having to work very hard to get it. This may not be what you see. This may not be what you get. You may have read this whole post and thought I'm nothing but an idiot who shouldn't have come back to her blog. Newsflash. I don't really care what you think. It's my blog, so I'm gonna use it as I see fit. And for those of you who have a pastor who teaches prosperity, I'm not necessarily ragging on your pastor. However, I would like to leave you with a few questions.
What are you doing to be rewarded for?
What are you doing to receive the blessing God has for you?
What is it God wants from you?
If you saw a need, would you get up and do something about it, or would you sit and think about it, pray about it, and then forget about it?
Are you really striving to be all you can for Him?

Think about it, study the word, and then... well, I'm not too sure. Seek God's will in your life and then strive to fulfill His call on you? Yeah, that sounds about right. Signing off once again,
Lil Bit

Erm... Whoops?

Yeah, my new year's resolution kinda fell flat didn't it? Whoops! But that 'whoops' doesn't hold a candle to when I over corrected while driving into my grammy's driveway and totaled the car I was learning how to drive. Note to anyone who doesn't have their licence to drive yet: do not let people push you to go faster than you're comfortable with, do not let people push you to drive on the road before you feel confident you won't wreck the car, and just go ahead and have three months worth of Saturdays and Sundays and possibly Wednesdays of driving around in a parking lot before you drive anywhere. It could save lives, cars, money, and trust. For me, the loss of my father's trust is the hardest blow I got from that accident. True, I have minor freak outs when things go wrong and on Sundays when the worship team loses me or the computer decides it wants a reboot or Dad tells me to 'go to that one.' However, in my defense for the computer glitches, my hearing is heavily impaired, dad has a level of intensity that I could never hope to reach when making sure things run smoothly, and there are times when I'm not sure which one 'that one' is. Okay, I finally said my piece and can move on from that. Anyway, just wanted to come and make sure my blog wasn't gone for good and write something. Plus this thing is good for venting. Online diary that anyone can read, who knew?

I think the reason this is so therapeutic is because maybe someone will read about what goes on in another's life and be touched by it. Think about it, you browse the net, find a blog, read it, then move on to the next and by the end of the day, how many lives have you had a glimpse of? How many people does your life touch without you even knowing by the power of the internet? People halfway across the world could be reading what I write, or that you write, and smile. People in the same funk as you could read your post and think, 'if they can get through this, so can I.' Maybe there's someone who has had it worse than you yet made it through and posted something about their experience and then you read it. How about you've had it about as bad as it can get and still have access to a computer and the internet and then someone who thinks they have it bad comes across a post, a picture, and tweet and they read your words, a piece of your life, and it gives them hope. If just one person could benfit from your live, from you posting what you've gone through somewhere in the vastness of the internet, would it be worth it to bare your soul? If just one life could be saved, would you take the time to post a small portion of your life? If just one soul could be given new purpose, would it be worth it all? For me, I'd say yes because no matter who you are or what you've done, the Lord and Savior of this world, the One who made everything in creation, still cares about you. If just one person could have their life changed by what I write, I'd give you my life story along with what I can remember feeling at those points in my life because, God may not have had to wipe a lot from my spiritual record, but he sure kept a lot of things making it onto my spiritual and physical record and if by showing what God could do for your children when you follow Him can save one person from hell I'll show everything I can.
Leaving you with that little bit of brain food,
Lil Bit

A New Year

What is up with the weather?! This thought has run through my mind more times than I care to remember. I heard a phrase to describe it tonight that I really liked. 'Bipolar weather.' Doesn't that fit recent weather? Ah well, it doesn't really matter, i was just trying to be a little funny before I got to the main post.

So... new year. Fun. Still suffering from being a lazy procrastinator. Nothing new there. However, I'm going to try to post at least one bible verse every day. I'm going to do the same thing on Facebook. Don't know how long it will last, but I'm gonna try. I'm also gonna try to clean my room and get my school done. Once I finish school, as in the semester, I'm gonna try to get a job. Yeah, wish the girl with the poor work ethic, no job history, no license, and no car good luck getting anything. Not to mention I still don't know where I'm going to go to college, let alone what I'm going to major in. I don't know if I want some sort of business degree or communications degree, or maybe some sort of computer thing. Anyway, yeah, lots of stuff to look forward to and lots of stuff to decide and prepare for. Welcome, 2014, and may you be bright, cheerful, and successful in all your endeavors. Good bye, 2013, now take your junk and leave.

This is Lil Bit saying, 'Good Night everybody!'

Change of the Season

AS the vibrant colors of Fall fade to the cold gray and brown of winter and the winds turn cold, I find myself sitting in my room, the heater turned to mid, a blanket across my legs, a computer on my lap, and a steaming mug of some hot beverage(tea or coco. Never much cared for coffee. Plus coffee has far too much caffeine for me). I'd have a purring cat too, but sadly our cuddly cat passed away not too long ago. Princess shall be missed, but we knew the day would come. She was old, and sick in the end, so her death hasn't hit me too hard. And we still have our other cat, she just isn't the type to stay inside and sit on one's lap. But enough about my cat! I was talking about the change of the season and how I responded. Allow me to continue from the beginning.

AS the vibrant colors of Fall fade to the cold gray and brown of winter and the winds turn cold, I find myself sitting in my room, the heater turned to mid, a blanket across my legs, a computer on my lap, and a steaming mug of some hot beverage(tea or coco. Never much cared for coffee. Plus coffee has far too much caffeine for me). My hands turn to ice as the air chills me from inside and I bemoan the state of the central heater and the lack of effect my little space heater seems to have on my room should the door remain open. The dog sits on my bed near every chance she gets to escape the frigid floors of my great old house. As I shamble forward from my room in the morn to begin my morning routine, my nearly bare feet come in contact with the harsh tile of the bathroom floor and a chill spreads through my body. I shiver and squeak until once again I am safe and warm upon my bed, my blanket back across my legs. Motivation comes in fits and starts, and my muse has curled up to hibernate, or so it seems. I am reduced to spouting off the most random of prose sounding drivel and hoping someone will listen, or at least that no-one will tell me to simply shut up. Honestly, if you came across a person who was rambling on like this on the street corner or in the hallway at work or at school, what would you do? See, its different on the internet. on the internet, silly, slightly crazy, people such as myself can rant and mutter and ramble and people can either read it or ignore it, and they don't judge said silly and slightly crazy people as just that. Silly slightly crazy people. To the web surfer, these rambling posts could say something profound, or provide a source of amusement, but rarely do they outright say 'shut up you silly person' to the writer. Granted, they might say something meaner and more foul should they decide to post such a comment, but I do not curse and so shall not write such obscenities on my blog. Okay, I've derailed twice since starting this post, I think it safe to say that my focus has been lost. Until my fitful inspiration for this blog strikes again!
Lil Bit.

Charger Cords, Temper Leashes, and Bible Verses

What do these three have in common? I needed them today. Actually, Grammy started talking to Noise about bible verses and asked me if I knew any. I responded to her question 'do you know John 3:16' with the King James Version of the verse... I think. Then I said, 'sweet words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones,' which is Proverbs 16:24. Then we both, meaning my Grammy and I, tried to say Psalms 23 by memory. We knew the gist of the passage, but we mixed up the order and couldn't seem to stay with one translation. Here is the English Standard Version of Psalms 23.

"Psa 23:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
Psa 23:3  He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psa 23:4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psa 23:5  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Psa 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

This was from the E-Sword app. on my computer. We got the middle mostly right, but as I said, we muddled the order. So... what about cords and leashes? That comes next. My power cord for my Toshiba, which I had recently relinquished to the shop for a replacement power port, refused to charge my dear computer. That's when I needed to clamp a short leash on my temper, and my anguish. My dear, dependable, boredom relieving, and school administrating laptop would not charge. The gut wrenching terror and sheer helpless hopelessness from the first moment I noticed a problem with my laptop returned and I had to tighten down my emotions before I broke down and cried. My little brother did not help matters. For some odd reason, the sound of his voice when I am aggravated or frustrated or just plain upset for no apparent reason just serves to irritate my displeasure further. And so, I needed a new power cord as well as a good bible verse and a very short temper leash that, despite my efforts, slipped out just a little too far with my dearest little brother. Tell me, if you can and if you have not simply left this mindless drivel for something with real substance, why do younger siblings always serve as irritants?

In health, and fair temper,
Lil Bit

The Woes of a Semi-Responsible Older Sister on Cleaning Day

Yes. The dreaded Cleaning Day has struck my home. Mom has reached her breaking point. Noise hasn't been taking it well. He had the flu, or at least a mild fever, most of this week and has only just(read barely) gotten over it. Okay, enough with this, on to the real breakdown/storytelling portion of the post so as to explain my choice of title. Though it should be fairly self-explanatory.

Mom reached her breaking point on the mess and clutter and dirt(plus hair. Three people with long hair, a dog, and a cat produce almost enough hair to get a gerbil from one room alone, especially when you vacuum.) and with her being about the only one doing anything about it. And so, today was declared Cleaning Day. Naturally, when Noise was told that he had to clean he collapsed and began to whimper. When he was told he had to do school... well. I think you can guess how he feels about doing both today. I've had to 'play mommy' twice today. Here's a run down of roughly how these 'talks' go.

Me: stand
Noise: *stands *
Me: deep breath
Noise: *breaths a deep, shuddering breath *
Me: wait
Noise: *waits on his bed and drinks some of his water while I get tolet paper *
Me: blow.
Noise: *does as I ask * *repeat(
Me: Now tell me, clearly and without stuttering or crying, what is wrong.
Noise: I have to...
Me: *calmly works him through it *

And I'm about to do another even though Mom said to stop being the mommy. Oh, and Mom's trying to help, over the phone, my grandmother with my grandmother's job. Oh yes, the woes of a sister on Cleaning Day are many and stretched out across many, overly long, hours.

A lot of NOTHING... and randomness. Beware teh random.

So... I'm 'borrowing' my brother's laptop because the charger port on mine was acting up and it's taking longer than expected to get it back and so I have a TON of schoolwork piled up, not counting projects, that I really don't want to do right now. And mom took me to a concert last night. my feet aren't too happy, my ankle is protesting, my head feels heavy(in no way what so ever connected to alcohol. Beer is nasty to me and who wants to be thirsty right after they drink?), somehow my knees hurt, for some reason my shoulder aches, I can't focus, and is that happy jazz I hear in my head? He-hey! You just got a glimpse into how my mind works! Did you like it? That's what goes on in my head most of the time. Oh, and I found out last night that my happy little nothing music that plays when I'm bored but happy and want to play around with music is pretty much jazz. Funny, since I usually listen to Christian rock or Celtic music such as Silly Wizard. The Electrics are fun too. 'And that was the last of the Irish Rover!' Okay, reality, hi! I'm silly, crazy, and highly unorganized, can you tell? I bet you can! Whoo! Yeah, this is usually how I get at around ten... or if I've had a Coke. Right now, neither of those requirements have been met. Hum. Odd. I love my family! wow, random much? Ah, who cares, this is just to get my manic, random, hoopla type energy out. Say, what does 'hoopla' mean? Such an odd word, hoopla. Okay, I think I've wasted enough time here. Time to work on History! Fun.
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blegh