St. Mark's Quiet Time

Should Christians be Cussing?

stmarkqt — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:59:34 +0000

Have you ever seen the classic Christmas film Home Alone? (Yes, it’s a classic.) I hope the answer is yes because that film should be a staple for every family’s movie viewing during the holidays. I mean, it’s a little kid getting the better of two middle aged, bumbling crooks, while also beating the living crap out of them. What’s not to love? The best part of Home Alone isn’t Kevin McCallister bludgeoning Harry and Marv into painful oblivion (although that never gets old, let’s be honest). …

Cory has some great points about the language we use and how they portray ourselves as Christians and Christ. It is so true what he says: “How are we being “different” (read: Christ-like) if parts of our behavior are no different than those of someone who doesn’t subscribe to the teachings of Christ?”
Check it out!!!

Philippians 4:10-13 – Anything, Everything, Nothing.

stmarkqt — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:28:29 +0000

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This concept that Paul is talking about is not just huge – it’s VITAL! How often do I convince myself and try to convince God with me that I need something or someone? Far too often! Paul is saying here that whether he has everything or nothing, it makes no difference. He is able to be happy without anything and can be happy with things as well. The point is, he is sustained, he is fulfilled in all circumstances because he has Christ. He tells us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” ALL things! not some things or even many things, but all things! It’s so easy to repeat this verse without examining myself, but it is os crucial to examine myself. Do I believe that I can do all things through Christ, regardless of what or who I may or may not have? What is getting in the way of me saying this fully and truly? Am I content in Christ in all situations?

God bless!

Marina

PLEASE KEEP THE PERSECUTED AND THOSE SERVING THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!

Filed under: Music, Quiet Time

Everyday Grace

stmarkqt — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:23:45 +0000

Reblogged from :

I hold a grudge like you wouldn’t believe. Like, I’m still upset about something that happened in 2nd grade and I’m almost twenty-seven. It’s a small part of me that I don’t particularly like, but it’s always been there, resting in my heart. And even though I’ve tried my hardest to correct it, still it remains. I realize how pathetic it sounds, but the truth is I have a hard time of forgiving those who have slighted me; especially if they don’t feel the need to acknowledge their mistake and …

God’s grace is something we need to imitate daily!!! Check out Cory’s post on grace and forgiveness!

Food For Thought: Kindly Affectionate

stmarkqt — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:43:58 +0000

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;…Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:10,15)

I have been blessed in my short lifetime to have known people who exemplify these two verses. These people are such a blessing, the ones who act in brotherly love and empathize. Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep entail almost like becoming that person, in that you take on his or her sorry or burden or joy. This is part of being one Body of Christ. I have been blessed with people like this, but am I showing that love and blessing others in that way?

Food For Thought!

Filed under: Food For Thought

Psalm 119:1-8 (ALEPH) – Blameless

stmarkqt — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:17:38 +0000

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
         Who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
         Who seek Him with the whole heart!
They also do no iniquity;
         They walk in His ways.
You have commanded us
         To keep Your precepts diligently.
Oh, that my ways were directed
         To keep Your statutes!
Then I would not be ashamed,
         When I look into all Your commandments.
I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
         When I learn Your righteous judgments.
I will keep Your statutes;
         Oh, do not forsake me utterly!

Am I being blameless in the way? Am I walking aligned with the law of the Lord? It’s easy to just say yes and move on, but I think I need to take a step back and examine myself, examine my motivations and intentions. I know I say this a lot, Papa, but why can’t things just be simple? Why can’t things just remain uncomplicated?

This was His answer to me: TRUST IN THE LORD. Trust Me. If you keep your eyes on Me and leave everything to Me, I will conduct your life. I will create such beautiful melodies and perfect harmonies. Just trust Me and not yourself.

Oh, to be able to come before You blameless, Papa! I put it all in Your hands, and please don’t let me try to take it back! I know You put things in my life for a reason, whether I acknowledge it or not. I just have the tendency to take what You have given me and defile it. Don’t let me do that again. I can’t afford another loss as a result of my stupidity. It’s Yours.

God bless.

Marina

PLEASE KEEP THE PERSECUTED AND THOSE SERVING THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!

Filed under: Quiet Time

Food For Thought: Priorities

stmarkqt — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:00:45 +0000

Something I’ve noticed at the beginning of each New Year is the huge change in views that I get on this blog. The first week or so of each new year, my views double and sometimes even triple, but soon after, they take a dip and then rise back up just a bit. I hope this is not indicative of how we live our spiritual lives. Today I’m calling all of us to examine ourselves: do I live my spiritual life, live my relationship with God based on how I feel or based on New Year resolutions? Or am I consistent in my love for Him and in the time I invest in my relationship with Him?

Food For Thought!

Filed under: Food For Thought

Philemon – Matters of Life. Matters of the Heart.

stmarkqt — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:39:15 +0000

Greeting

¹ Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, ² to the beloved^[a] Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

⁴ I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, ⁵ hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, ⁶ that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you^[b] in Christ Jesus. ⁷ For we have^[c] great joy^[d]and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

The Plea for Onesimus

⁸ Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, ¹¹ who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
¹² I am sending him back.^[e] You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, ¹³ whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. ¹⁴ But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
¹⁵ For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Philemon’s Obedience Encouraged

¹⁷ If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. ¹⁸ But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. ¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. ²⁰ Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
²¹ Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²²But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.

Farewell

²³ Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴ as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
²⁵ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Recurring theme in the highlighted verses? People turning to God and becoming “profitable” for the souls of others. Is there a person in your life that you have seen a change in the way St. Paul saw a change in Philemon and his family? I know I have, and I thank God constantly for letting me witness such a wondrous thing! I love seeing this person’s “love and faith…toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints”! It brings joy to my soul to see all of this, to hear about all this! Also, St. Paul refers to Onesimus as his “heart”. “Heart” in this context means inward parts, heart, liver, and lungs. All three of these organs are vital to live. They allow a person to live, or you could say they help give the person life. In the same way, I feel like this friend of mine has helped bring me life, not earthly life, but eternal life. How? Through uplifting words and an uplifting countenance. Through showing me faith and feeding me spiritual words and thoughts.

Papa, I thank You for giving me such a friend! I thank You for giving me someone who continuously makes me think about and talk about You and Your servants! Thank You for such a beautiful blessing!

*Sorry if this post is a little ambiguous; it was a little harder to edit this journal entry without sounding kind of chopped up.*

God bless!

Marina

PLEASE KEEP THE PERSECUTED AND THOSE SERVING THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!

Filed under: Quiet Time

2 Peter 1:16-21 – Unbelievable Love

stmarkqt — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:54:49 +0000

In light of today’s feast of the Epiphany, I am reposting a post from last month that fits so perfectly! Take a look! And even if you have read it before, it doesn’t hurt to read it again! In fact, it is good to be constantly reminding yourself of all these things!
http://wp.me/pyFnD-16M
God bless!
Marina

Filed under: Quiet Time

Food For Thought: Wedding Day

stmarkqt — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:47:40 +0000

I have been listening to this song on repeat since yesterday, and it cuts straight to my heart every time I hear it. This song is how my life should be. I should be the “bride in white waiting on her wedding day, anticipation welling up inside while her Groom is crowned a King” each day of my life. Each day is a day in which life has been granted to me because my Groom hung on a cross and is now crowned King, blessed and glorified. What a full love Jesus’s love for me is! How wonderful and glorious and beautiful is Jesus’s love for me, His willingness to be tortured and put to death for my sake because I am beautiful to Him. I am the most beautiful bride He can see. Forget all my downfalls, my shortcomings, my sins, my destitution! He is in love with me! I am beautiful to Him! Imagine living in this knowledge day and night?! How beautiful would life look?

Food For Thought!

Filed under: Food For Thought, Music

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 – Copycat

stmarkqt — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:52:52 +0000

Therefore, putting away lying, “ Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Common denominator in these verses? Chapter 5, v. 1 sums it up: Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Why should the thief no longer steal but rather labor? To have something to give to those who are in need! Do I think like this? Is my mentality set toward the service of God and His children in everything? Because that is what it is to be imitating God. Why should I refrain from using corrupt words? To edify my brothers and sisters instead, to make grace known to them. Why put of malice, wrath, bitterness, evil speaking? Why become tenderhearted? For my brothers and sisters! And finally, but most crucially, why love? Why walk in love? To show God’s love to His children. Just as He bestowed His love on me, I need to spread that love to His other children. It’s all about serving others because, after all, Christ did not hesitate to come down and do us the greatest Service of all. I was talking on the phone with a bishop yesterday, and upon ending the phone call, he told me, “I pray that God fills you with His love so much that you spread it to all who are around you.” Being imitators of God, this is how we should live!

God bless!

Marina

PLEASE KEEP THE PERSECUTED AND THOSE SERVING THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!

Filed under: Quiet Time