"Show Yourself Approved"

Study to shew thyself approved unto God,a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth 2Timothy 2:15 KJV

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth 2Timothy 2:15 NIV84

Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. 2 Timothy 2:14,15 MSG

Happy New Year to all and today we embark on day one of a 13 day entrance into our renewed focus for 2013. The holiday festivities are over and a lot has transpired over the last few months in 2012. A lot of tears, a lot of pain and a lot of joy and excitement however during all of the fanfare God has still been tugging at the heartstrings of His people and now in this new year focus must return to His will, His way and our future. I opened our blog this time with a familiar scripture in the 2nd Epistle of Paul to Timothy. As I chose this scripture I also selected three different bible versions to get the core of what the apostle was speaking over his student and also to us today. He was telling us something extremely important in reference to how we study God's word and how we should apply the word to our lives. Many of us attend churches or listen online to ministry and although that is very good to do if there is no personal study or devotional structure to your life you are missing an opportunity to really understand or completely consume God's word. Study in  definition means to apply the mind to the acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or reflection: long hours of study and that's just a portion of the definition of the word study so what I'm saying is this if during the 45-60 minutes you hear preaching on any given Sunday or Wednesday bible study you are merely being introduced to the train of thought so you're not getting the entire idea of what God is saying to you therefore it takes further investigation into a thought to get the true meaning. Just as a cow eats grass and chews for hours to get the nutrients from the grass and digesting them and producing the milk that we drink and get the vitamins into our bodies the word of God must be consumed daily and studied in order that you are approved which the definition is to speak or think favorably of; pronounce or consider agreeable or good and that approval is not by man's standard but Gods standards. We all not just the priest or pastor that you hear each week must know Gods word in order to correctly handle His word in our everyday lives. Take time out of you day to build your word muscle as well as your physical muscle in this time or retrospect and focus so that you will be able to make right decisions in your year and prepare yourself for great success. I'm reminded of the scripture in Jeremiah  that says, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11(The Message)
Keep your head up, stay focused and in the word. God has you and you will not fail!! God has already approved you so get to know Him and you will only do that through prayer and studying His word and His method of operation. Be blessed!!