Monthly Archives: August 2009

procrastination(II)..

procrastin 2

Joshua De Gracia

Part II

How procrastination can hurt your relationships..

In part I, we talked about how procrastination is one of the devil’s major tools to pull us away from Christ and that delayed obedience is disobedience.

Relationships is one area that procrastination can really devastate your life. Think of a fight, disagreement, misunderstanding, or whatever it may be where you came into conflict with a friend in the past. After whatever it is the two of you got into, you went off in your own and had some sort of resentment, bitterness and ill feelings toward the other person right? Hey, it’s happened in my life.

From that point, what was a good relationship came tumbling downhill because of one conflict. That’s really sad but it’s the reality we live in. The Bible talks about reaping into what we sow. If we are sowing into bitterness with that person, we will continue to have ill feelings toward that person and it will be harder to resolve that friendship. Remember the wedge illustration I used in the first part. What starts out as bitterness can turn into a broken relationship that goes unresolved because you and the other person were unable to work things out. Once there is one shed of bitterness and anger in our hearts, the devil uses that as a foothold (opportunity) to break the love that we once had for that person.

Now what does this have to do with procrastination? Everything. Jesus taught that reconciling an offended brother/sister should be done immediately upon our remembrance of the situation.

Matthew 5:25

“Settle matters quickly.”

To make peace out of the situation and come to a resolution, you shouldn’t wait around. Instead, let those walls of pride down and do what it takes to make it right. One of my favorite verses when it comes to anger is..

Ephesians 4:26

“Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”

The longer we let things go, the stronger those feelings of bitterness and anger become.

What relationships do you need to come to a resolution with? A past boyfriend/girlfriend? A friend you into a fight with? Family?

Go and make things right because delayed obedience is disobedience.

procrastination.part I..

procrastination1

Procrastination, is it good or is it bad? If I asked you are a procrastinator, I bet 99.9% of you (including myself) would raise your hand.

Well, what exactly does “procrastination” mean? (1)  defer, delay action. (2) to put off until another time or day or in a spiritual sense, willfully delaying the doing of something that should be done.

Proverbs 18:9

“One who is a slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.”

John 4:35

“Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

Some of you might be saying, “procrastination is good, what are you talking about?” Well, I’d like to share that procrastination is one of the devil’s  most powerful way of attacking our spiritual and physical lives.

Think of procrastination as a wedge that the devil slowly puts into your heart. At first, you allow a little procrastination maybe with not doing your homework or a job that you need to do. Over time, the wedge wedges in so far deep that it has created a big gap in your heart. What you have allowed is yourself to compromise over and over again.

From what started as delaying doing your work can turn into you getting fired. Not doing a favor for someone that asked you to do something can lead to ill feelings. Procrastination is the start of what could be destruction and behind every little bit of work behind it is the devil.

God calls us to be obedient and do things when we are told, not wait til the last minute. The key thought I want you to get from these next few post is “delayed obedience is still disobedience.” So don’t delay and do it God’s way.

knowGodknowlove808@gmail.com

prayer request..


Copy of prayer

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

We here at Know God Know Love would like to pray for you.

Prayer is power and the Bible says “ask and it shall be given to you.” If you are in need of prayer in any area of your life (relational, economical, overcoming troubles, healing, etc.), out team would love to pray for your needs.

If you have any request whatsoever, please e-mail them a long with your first name to:

knowGodknowlove808@gmail.com

Prayer..

Copy of prayer

Prayer–what is it?

talking to God..

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

What is prayer? prayer is our direct line with heaven and a communication that allows us to talk one on one with God. it is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. when we talk to God, we acknowledge His presence and make known that He is BIG in our lives.

We  often come to the Lord with legitimate requests for healing, conversions, and needs and yet the answers we hope for often do not come.  We pray because we know that God hears us and because we desire to see results. We should pray by faith, trusting God. We should pray consistently, trusting God.

Take some time and ask yourself, “do I only go to God when I need something from Him or do I pray on a consistent basis?” Convicted question for some. Do you only call on Him when you need a job, money to pay that next mortgage, for you to get together with this person you like or for some kind of miracle? Just think if you had a kid and they only came to you when they wanted or needed something and ignored you the other times. Not too cool is it? Therefore God calls us to pray continually and be joyful always.

knowGodknowlove808@gmail.com

reflections 3..

reflectionThank you for all that e-mailed us testimonies. However, we’re going to move on after this reflection. God bless you all.

Okay, I’ve been following Know God Know Love since the 2nd to last week of July. And I have to say, I love it. Makes me love God even more, makes me want to serve Him more than ever before. And the letting love go series has helped me a lot. And basically, here’s my story.

So last year October 2008, I had a retreat with the youth ministry at my church,and the theme of the retreat was So You Think You Can Love. By the name, I automatically knew it was going to be about love. And what I got from it, was the God’s undying, unconditional love and an understanding of it. That in order to love fully, I need to forgive and to just look past the flaws of those around me and see that God is within, for He created everyone in His image.

During that retreat, I learned to let go of someone I loved since the 7th grade. So I let her go and started focusing more on God.  And then this other girl came along, who I met January 12, 2008 at a friend’s dance performance, but we only started talking in early November, due to myspace. She even told me she wanted to develop a relationship with God first, yet I still looked at her as more than a friend first.

And as the months wore on, I found myself thinking more about her, talking to her every night, instead of thinking about God and talking to Him every night.  I still did my prayers, I still talked to God, but not as much as I thought about her.

When I came back from a vacation, that’s when God started to tell me I needed to let her go. I didn’t want to listen and I didn’t want to let her go. I mean, we weren’t even dating yet, but I felt like she was mine. One problem though, I was up against the most formidable opponent out there: God. She was delving deeper in her faith, learning even more lessons from God, and I just sat there, thinking about her, thinking of when we going to become ‘official’.

Then towards the end of July, I found your site, knowGodknowlove. I saw the title, “Letting Love Go” and I knew, that’s exactly what I needed to do. If I wanted to serve God to the fullest, if I wanted to teach Confirmation 2 without distractions, if I wanted to be God’s paintbrush on the canvas of the world, I knew I needed to let her go. And it was… pretty hard. I mean, I knew I had to, but I didn’t want to. But I knew that God wanted me to serve Him, and that in order to do that fully, I needed to let her go. So I did.

InAugust,  we went to Kaka’ako Park and talked. We decided to let each other go so our relationship with God can flourish. Right now, I’d say I’m doing an okay job. I’ve taught my first class of Confirmation and I didn’t think of her at all. But deep inside, she’s still there. But I’m letting her go, each day at a time. Like Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.” And I’d like to say the Know God Know Love team has helped me to remember the words said at my Confirmation retreat and the words I’ve said millions of times. Trust in God and have Strength in your faith. And to Just Let Go and Let God, to let Him take the wheel of life.

Thank you for reminding me of the person I value most. I promise to Let Go and Let God, and I hope to read more. God bless. Much aloha.

reflection 2..

reflectionReal people. Real testimonies from the “letting love go” series.

-anonymous female

I recalled a dream I had & remembered I had to let go. I went to my friends list and deleted any guy who I had some kind of non-friendship only relationship with (example: puppy love, boyfriend, a date, a crush, fiancee, sexual partner, or even if he was just a guy who had once asked me for my number because he thought I was pretty or whatever… those kinds of relationships). Nobody knows these guys were little foxes but me. It’s only me who hold my own feelings.

It was hard deleting some of these guys! I argued with God…what if this is a life I can touch or turn around to you Lord? NO was the answer. Let go. Was I delirious? Anyways… like I said it was hard… the 2 guys I deleted last were hard-er. When you click on the X next to their name, it asks are you sure you want to remove this connection? My mouth was NO but somehow my heart & mind overcame & I clicked YES! Oh ya, while I’m doing this X-ing out/ deleting from my friends list, I’m crying. WHY? What the heck … they’re just names on the computer screen! Stop being sensitive. You’re not a crybaby! These were little foxes that were spoiling me… my heart, my mind, and maybe even my soul. So I broke these ties. As small as it maybe I know my outcome for my obedience will be greater. When I was done, maybe like 10 minutes after.. OK, maybe 30 minutes after… I felt a release. Like something was lifted…

OK, so after my long day, I check my facebook & see a new blog from a friend then an update from my other friend who wrote the note for that friend’s blog Guess what the title was? LETTING LOVE GO! Before I even read the blog, I already believe this is confirmation from God that I just did something really good today… even if it didn’t feel like it when I was doing it. The subtitle/title is “Before we can allow God to work in our lives, we need to first let go of the past and let God take hold of our lives.”

I took a moment of silence & reflection… thank you Jesus! I instantly knew & remembered (though I’ve heard it time & time again) that I need to FIRST let go of the past and let God take hold of my life. I’m not going to hold on to the past and let God take hold of my life. Thank you Jesus for letting this dream and blog fall before my eyes.

I’m loving the blog & all I read was that sentence/subtitle so far! It was better as I read on! I felt as if I was being spoken to directly. Thats just the season I’m in right now.

reflection..

reflection

We are all human and we go through the same problems. The difference is how we handle those problems and if we are  able to overcome them in our lives. If we do it the righteous way instead of the world’s way, it is that much better and easier.

These testimonies are from readers that have been following the “letting love go” series and are very inspiring and encouraging.

-from anonymous

The series even brought some old things in the past back, and understanding what a woman of God looks like and to know that in God’s hands you must not wait, but be obedient and move! Then the blessings will be there, but to know that God always has a different way of blessing you. It’s crazy man. I just wish I knew how to word it all.

Even through we stumble in life especially with relationships; it was all with good intentions, but that we just need to trust in God. Just like you said.. the trust.

Mannnn…. that’s what the first 2 things in the letting love go helped me understand.. So crazy just you talking about Letting Love Go helped me from that moment I read the first part, it hit me super hard.

Things I took to heart included choosing to cut soul ties, asking God for the help, getting near to Him, going through struggles, just to have it hit me in the head and be more trusting and in Love with Him. And to feel happy that two people who Love God find each other, and instead of being jealous, I was happy and jealousy was one of my biggest sins.

knowGodknowlove808@gmail.com

God is so good..

God is good

by team KGKL Keiko Adachi

When I think about how great God’s love is for me, it renders me absolutely speechless. He is so good. There is not a trial that I face that has not first passed through His perfectly loving and sovereign hands. It is that knowledge of the perfect goodness of God that enables me to accept suffering and pain with gratitude.

It’s in the storm where He tests the roots of a tree.

It’s in the valley where we redirect our focus Upward.

It’s in the fire where The Blacksmith forges purity.

It’s in the desert where we thirst desperately for the Living Water.

It’s in the pruning where we learn to trust The Gardener that holds the shears.

I STILL refuse to sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.

concluding letting love go..

letting love goteam Know God Know Love

Concluding the “letting love go” series..

Thank you to everyone who has took the time to read this series or at least look at the nice pictures we decided to use for it. I especially want to thank God who without giving us a second chance, none of this would have been possible. I thank my team for their hard work, dedication, perseverance and the ability to meet deadlines on time. I love you guys.

We pray that it has encouraged and impacted your lives in one way or another. If you have testimonies of if any of the series has helped you regarding relationships or letting something go, we would love to hear from you.  knowGodknowlove808@gmail.com

A bunch of people have e-mailed stories, so please feel free to send them in.

After a receiving one on one time with God, I felt Him speaking to me about different areas in my life and my past as well. The main word I got was “FOCUS.” Then I got inspired to write about “letting love go” So, I hope over this “love” series, you learn not to rush into relationships. If we prepare for love, it’ll be well more than worth the wait.

If we focus on Him and on His ways, I know that He’ll bless us abundantly. That is why I will continue to trust in Him and we will give me the desires of my heart. God knows my wants and my desires, heck He knows everyone’s. But to fully grasp what He has for us, we must be obedient to Him.

What are a few of my heart’s desires? First and foremost, I want a mighty woman of God. I want her to seek Him to find my heart. I want her to encourage me, pray with me, share bible verses with me, hold me accountable, keep no records of wrong and when we fight, be able to wipe the slate clean after we are able to forgive each other and not bring it up anymore.

I don’t want temporary. I want to live my life to glorify and honor Him. A servant can not serve two masters, and Lord, I choose you over the world because You’re all I need.

Thank you and God bless

reflection..

KGKL_clouds-fire

Hey everyone. I hope you are enjoying the “letting love go” series. My team and I have worked hard on it but it by the grace of God that a lot of people have been reading.

I have one thing to ask. If any of you readers, followers out there have learned something from this series and/or have a testimony to share about, please send it to us.

We would love to read it and post it here on Know God  Know Love.

Don’t be afraid to step out in faith and remember, there is no fear in God.

knowGodknowlove808@gmail.com