GSG Ketchup Challenge!

Oh, did I say Ketchup?

Oops.

I meant Catch-Up!

This week we challenge you to go back and look at the challenges that GSG has been making since the beginning of 2015. You can then decide to pick one you may have not participated in, or one that you want to re-do.

Regardless of the order you do the challenges, our desire is the same. We want to help you have a more meaningful year, a year full of great stories, memories and a year that marked a difference in the way you chose to Give. Send. Go.

Scroll through our past blogs here http://givesendgo.blogspot.com/ 

I want answers, don't you?

Do you believe God answers prayers?

I mean do you really truly believe God answers prayers?

I mean, today in 2015, do you believe that God answers prayers?

Have you ever asked God for something and seen your prayer answered? There are many Scriptures that tell us we should be continuously talking to God, requesting, and sharing with Him the things that concern us, and that He wants to answer.  I know it is easy to say a quick prayer when I am in the midst of something stressful, or if I hear of someone that is hurt or in trouble.  It can become a habit to just say a “quick prayer”, but not really expect my prayers to be answered. We give up on the answer before the prayer even leaves our mouths.

This week our challenge is to start (or continue) seeking God for needs, requests, and miracles in our lives and expect an answer. Put aside time every day this week to spend in talking with God. Not just at dinner or tucking kids in bed.  Every time we pray we need to be asking God to line up our desires with His. Truly believing that He can and wants to answer.

We encourage you to print out these verses below and place them around your home, office, the refrigerator,bathroom, your car dashboard, your TV or computer screen. Use these verses to remind yourself that God wants you to actively be asking and expecting from Him.

1 John 5:14-15English Standard Version (ESV)

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Isaiah 65:24New Living Translation (NLT)

24 I will answer them before they even call to me.

   While they are still talking about their needs,

   I will go ahead an­d answer their prayers!

John 15:7New Living Translation (NLT)

7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

James 4:3Living Bible (TLB)

3 And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

 

James 5:13-18New Living Translation (NLT)

13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17New Living Translation (NLT)

17 Never stop praying.

 

Micah 7:7New Living Translation (NLT)

7 As for me, I look to the Lord for help.

   I wait confidently for God to save me,

   and my God will certainly hear me.

This week we really want to have you let us know how your challenge went. We believe that God wants to hear from us and answer, so we expect awesome testimonies of God stretching your faith and answering you in ways you can’t even imagine. https://www.facebook.com/Givesendgo

Free Romantic Valentine’s Day Note.

Dear Valentine,

I love you.  I can’t imagine life without you. You are all I think about.  You are first on my mind when I wake up in the morning and the reason for the smile on my face when I lay down at night.  I want to make you happy and I want to be your everything.  I want to show you how much I love you every second of every day. It just feels so right!  You are perfect for me.  I love you!

xoxo,

Me

Now, what if I told you that this note was written by me, to me? You would probably stop here and go back to re-read it. Does it have a whole different meaning? If so, I am sure you would agree with me, that this note is not really about love. God has a different thought as to what love should look like:


“4 Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. 5 Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. 6 Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. 7 Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

In the Bible, love is about sacrifice. It is about giving up our rights, and putting others before ourselves. Did you know that different people feel loved, in different ways? Gary Chapman wrote about this in his book, “The 5 Love Languages”. Each person has a primary love language that we must learn to speak if we want that person to feel loved.


So, this week, our challenge is to uncover the love languages of the people around us. This will take time and prayer, but God will be pleased to direct and teach us as we line up our desires directly with who He is! After all, the Bible does say :

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  1 John 4:7-8

GSG Challenge

2/8/15- 2/15/15

The 5 Love Languages:

Monday

Use Words of affirmation: This language uses words to affirm other people.

Tuesday

Quality time: This language is all about giving the other person your undivided attention.

Wednesday

Receiving gifts: For some people, what makes them feel most loved is to receive a gift.

Thursday

Acts of service: For these people, actions speak louder than words.

Friday

Physical touch: To this person, nothing speaks more deeply than appropriate touch.

Saturday and Sunday:

Bonus Days: Repeat any of the above actions

The two hardest words in the English language.

Hand me a dictionary. I know there are some words in there that would be challenging for me to say.  Although I would have to admit, the two hardest words for me to learn to say were "I'm sorry".  Why is that? Why is 'I'm sorry' so hard for us?  What makes us choke back the words, put on our stubborn hats, and justify the defiance going on inside of us?

Here's my story:

1998. A wonderful year. I married my best friend, Dan. We were in love. Marriage was great, until our first disagreement. Do I remember what it was about? No, but I do remember a theme to our "fights". Not what they were about, or how they started, but with how they would end.  We would be upset at each other. Leave the room angry. Sometimes he was right, sometimes I was right, but it didn't matter. I was going to make sure I stoked the fires of self-pity, justification, and build a case about why I was allowed to be hurt and upset, angry etc.  Now when we allow ourselves to justify our behavior, thoughts, and actions, we become more and more self-righteous and stubborn and it becomes harder to break away from that pattern. 

So, there we were.  A few minutes, or a couple hours have passed. I would be stewing. Making sure he knew I wasn't happy. I wanted him to feel "in the doghouse". Sure enough he would come to me and look me in the eyes and apologize.  Let me know he didn't want to fight. Tell me he loved me and valued our relationship.

YESSSS!  I knew I was right!  He finally came to his senses!

Soon, I was realizing a pattern. I was never the one to admit I was wrong. Never the one to say I was sorry. I started to get frustrated that Dan was a bigger person than me, he could apologize more freely. That he could let go, put down his pride and love me. 

 Why couldn't I? I wanted to be the bigger person. I wanted to be mature. So, I would have inner dialogue." Ok - next argument I am going to apologize first. I am just going to spit it out."   Then it would come and I would sit there arguing with myself.

What was wrong with me? Why was saying I'm sorry so hard? My mind and heart were cheering me on "say sorry, say sorry, say sorry". My pride and my mouth were working hand in hand against me, "it's not your fault, it's not your fault,  it's not your fault".

Finally I did it. I apologized.  Did I do it for the right reason? I don't know. Do I think it matters? No, I think God was taking me on a journey to change my heart. He wanted to make me aware of this huge issue in my life. My pride. You can ask my husband.  We laugh and talk about it now. How far I have come, and how far I still have to go.

I love this verse below.

14-17 Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God’s generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.   Hebrews 12:14-17 The Message

Work at getting along with each other and with God. Sometimes that means being the one to say "I'm sorry". 

When is the last time you said I am sorry to someone in your life. When is the last time you said you're sorry to God? 

Are you keeping a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent that you might be allowing to grow?

Are you trading away God's lifelong gift to satisfy a short-term appetite? The appetite to be right, the appetite to prove a point, the appetite to ______. (You fill in the blank)

February 1st-8th

This weeks GSG challenge:

I bet you can guess:

SAY I'M SORRY

Need I say more? Think about people in your life. Is there anyone that you should have apologized to but were just too stubborn and let your pride justify your silence? 

Say sorry.  No excuses. I can tell you first hand, you will feel better. It doesn’t matter if the offense was today, last week or even years ago. Ask God to reveal a time that you let slip by without apologizing. 

Then say sorry! 

And as always

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