Day 31: Luke 22-24

Chapter 22:

v.3 NLT version says Satan “entered” Judas. How did Satan enter Judas? Why Judas and not one of the other 11 disciples? 

Chapter 23:

v.18 Perfect example of crowd mentality. No sense of reason. They wanted Jesus dead and that’s all it came down to. 

v.43 Jesus says, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” I am focusing on the word “today”. I have been increasingly curious about what happens after death simply because my grandma passed. Maybe we go straight to heaven? 

Chapter 24:

v.32 The men felt the presence of Jesus although they didn’t at first recognize him but they realized that they had been in his presence after the fact. 

v.38 This wasn’t in Matthew or Mark when Jesus tells everyone to touch Him to see if He is real. We have to live by faith but this shows that Jesus is sympathetic to the weaknesses of human and our lack of ability to understand what is of God so he left people touch him to confirm the reality… that He had risen from the dead as He said He would. 

~

Danielle

Day 30: Luke 20-21

Chapter 20: 

I think it’s interesting in v.19 how the teachers of religious law want to arrest Jesus but don’t because they are afraid of people’s reaction. This is in direct contrast to the character of Jesus. His actions are not dependent on popular opinion but right or wrong. The teachers of religious law are fickle and do things only to benefit themselves and to keep themselves comfortable.

I think Christ calls for us to do the right thing and not the convenient thing like He did  with his time on Earth.

Chapter 21:

v.4 We are supposed to give all that we can to the service of Christ. It’s easy for us to give a comfortable small portion but we are supposed to give all that we can like the poor widow. This is very difficult in practice (for me anyway) but I know that is what I am supposed to do. 

v.34 We must always be prepared for Christ’s coming. We cannot be distracted or dulled into mediocrity. 

~

Danielle

I appreciate you. My appreciation for you derived first from your ever continuous love for me but extends to appreciating the man you are in your heart and soul.

You are everything. I always say this and part of it is because what you are I don’t think I can adequately write if I use any more specific wording.

Because you are my light. You are the darkness I like to envelop myself to stay warm. You are love and life. You are the palpitation of my heart. You are the warmness always glowing from within me.

I love you. And it’s only three words but when we say them to each other they hold so much promise. I know that we will always be together. No chasm will ever tear us apart for long.

Our love is strong enough, deep enough, real enough, godly enough to transcend every wordly impediment to love.

I will be with you for the rest of my life. Because I have found my soulmate. Thank God I have found my soulmate. 

I know that I’m *really* behind in my Bible reading. This I know. lol. I am almost 2 weeks behind. And Joshua is just… Joshua. I’m hoping that he’ll join me in John or Acts. 

BUT I am dedicated to rectifying myself and catching up by doing more than 1  day’s worth of reading every day until I’m back on schedule again. 

July 15th - Sunday - John 1-3

July 16th - Monday - John 4-5

July 17th - Tuesday - John 6-7

July 18th - Wednesday - John 8-9

July 19th - Thursday - John 10-11

July 20th - Friday - John 12-13

July 21st - Saturday - John 14-15

July 22nd - Sunday - John 16-18

July 23rd - Monday - John 19-21 ** today

July 24th - Tuesday - Acts 1-2

July 25th - Wednesday - Acts 3-4

July 26th - Thursday - Acts 5-6

July 27th - Friday - Acts 7-8

July 28th - Saturday - Acts 9-10

July 29th - Sunday - Acts 11-13

Day 29: Luke 18-19

Chapter 18:

v.1-8 We should never cease when it comes to praying. I think we used to be appeased instantly and so we get mad at ourselves & at God when we don’t get things to go how we want that instance… then we feel like we ain’t got our prayers answered.

But I believe and the Bible tells us that God gives JUSTICE to His people. Even if we ain’t think it’s the right thing for us in the end it is and this will all be revealed in time and we just gotta keep that in mind. Reminds me of all the times I’ve been disappointed by men and I thought “why can’t this guy want me?” and I was disappointed and angry BUT it was a good look because then I ended up with the RIGHT man and not just the man that I wanted at the time.

Chapter 19:

v.26 “and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” 

~

Danielle

Day 28: Luke 16-17

Chapter 16:

v.10-12: ¹⁰ “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. ¹¹ And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?¹² And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

v.15 “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts.”

Before I had any kind of personal relationship with Christ, it was this hypocrisy in the church that turned me off. The fact that people would constantly be corrected/ hassling/ degrading folks for their visible errors but because they were perfect on the outside, they felt like they were perfect period. When in fact, it is these people who have the evil and cold hearts which are not of Christ at all. 

v.22 This story confuses me. I’m not sure if it’s just a story or if it’s supposed to have baring on what actually happens in heaven & hell. Because in this case, the dead dude went straight to heaven. Or do people need to wait until Christ comes back and are then raised from the dead?

Part of me thinks it’s useless to speculate. I’ll just find out when I die I guess. If I live right, then no matter what the specific details are of what happens after death I’ll be fine. 

Chapter 17:

v.4 That’s rough. Even if someone wrongs you SEVEN times a day then you gotta forgive them. Of course, the caveat is that it says you must forgive them if they “ask” to be forgiven. Most of the time when folks do you wrong, they do it on purpose and then they don’t ask to be forgiven. Or maybe this translation is off and we’re supposed to automatically forgive even if we ain’t asked.

I think it’s a lot easier to forgive folks when a genuine apology is extended. That ain’t asking a lot. But for someone to purposely do something horrible & then not try to rectify the situation… to say that we supposed to feel positive about em is rough.

~

Danielle

Day 27: Luke 14-15

Chapter 14:

v.11 “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

v.33 “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.” 

Chapter 15:

v.1 Jesus associated with sinful people. He does not become sinful. But He does not turn away from folks who can be considered as sinful. 

v.7 “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away.” 

v.11-31 This is rough. I think I’d be mad too if I were the good son who never did anything wrong but the truant son came back home and got a big party. It’s jealousy because you’d think that if you work the hardest you deserve the most instead of realizing that we should want to do good not for a reward but because it is the right thing to do. It reveals that most of us have bad motives when it comes to doing the right thing. 

~

Danielle

daniellemertina:

I’m just going to put this out there.

I feel really…upset right now. Kind of. Because I don’t understand WHY I know so many great men on Tumblr but none in real life.

haha

I’m just trying to figure that one out.

ALL I ask for is an intelligent, ambitious, community-minded, altruistic, feminist, law school bound black man who loves to read and intellectualize and loves JESUS and his mother. I don’t feel like that’s a lot to ask for!

He gets bonus points if he likes bow ties and wears glasses! And is kind of short because I’m only 5 ft. And if he’s a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

YES.

This will ALWAYS make me laugh because I wrote this less than 2 weeks before I ended up dating Joshua. And this post was talking about Joshua (and he knew it was talking about him) but I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d end up dating him since I only knew him from Tumblr. 

I didn’t even really know people did that… date folks they hadn’t met in person (then of course, I later learned that Joshua and I weren’t in anyway alone). And I didn’t have much relationship experience never mind long distance relationship experience. 

BUT I did know that I liked him. A lot. And so when he asked me to be his girlfriend I went for it! And that will always be one of the best decisions I ever made. 

AND the other thing that is funny is that folks told me that I expected too much. My list was too long. But Joshua is every single thing on that list (except an Alpha and short!) lol. You never know what might happen with the 1st thing but I have grown to appreciate his height. It makes me feel warm, fuzzy, and protected! I can’t imagine him any other way. :) 

My Prayer for Joshua (written after dating for 2 days)

Dear Heavenly Father,

I am now wise enough to understand that I don’t understand anything at all. I’ve prayed for a heart that is closer to You. I’ve prayed for the ability to embody the Fruits of the Spirit. I’ve prayed for the patience to wait for the manifestation of your infinite sagacity. 

I don’t know what I did to deserve Joshua, but You have blessed me with him. I know this because he naturally became a part of my life - even though I was not expecting it. 

I am beginning to realize that I don’t deserve anything that I get at all. And that in fact, it is all grace. I am learning to accept grace. To find comfort in grace rather than being nervous because of it. 

I truly adore Joshua and although I don’t know much about relationships and I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past, I want this to work. Please give me the strength to never doubt. Please give me the courage to believe. Please give me the knowledge of how to properly cherish, respect, and honor a man. Please make me a helper and not a hindrance. Please help me become more like the Virtuous Woman of Proverbs 31. 

And most importantly, please help me to continue to focus on You. So that I will better learn how to love. 

Thank You so much for everything.

This is my humble prayer. 

Amen.