💡 THOUGHTS FROM ME
I. When should you stop asking God for something?
Matthew 7:7 — “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.”
Luke 18:1 — “Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.”
Romans 12:12 — “Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”
Philippians 4:6 — “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Colossians 4:2 — “Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 — “Pray constantly.”
James 5:16-18 — “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed…. Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.”
Here’s the point: don’t stop asking.
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II. There are many times when a non-Christian will tell a Christian how to be a Christian.
Do not take their advice.
It is never wise for a Christian to take advice on how to be like Jesus from someone who does not know Jesus, love Jesus, or follow Jesus.
This does not at all mean that non-Christians are dumb, but they are not spiritually wise (according to the Bible).
The Bible teaches that spiritual wisdom requires the Spirit of God. Without Him, spiritual truth remains unseen and misunderstood (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The Scriptures also put it this way in Ephesians 4:17–18:
“You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.”
So, if you want to follow Jesus faithfully, listen closely to those who know him, love him, and walk with him.
📖 UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
The Bible was written for you, but it was not written to you (unless you can time-travel).
This means it will not specifically address every situation you might encounter.
What it does do is offer wisdom that can be applied to all situations.
For example, the Bible will not tell you how much screen time is too much. But it does have guidance on being diligent with the time you have been given, not being lazy, and on how to intentionally live a life that honors God.
This does not mean you should never spend time on your phone!
But it does mean it would be wise to consider how much is too much in your current season of life.
Wisdom isn’t just knowing what the Bible says, but learning how to faithfully apply it to everyday life.
🤔 1 INTERESTING BIBLE FACT
Every book of the New Testament shares three remarkable things in common:
They were all written in the first century
Not hundreds of years later. The New Testament was completed within the lifetime of the earliest Christians.They come from eyewitnesses or direct eyewitness sources
The writers were either there themselves or carefully recorded the testimony of those who were.They were circulated independently across the Roman world
No printing press. No central publisher. Yet these writings spread rapidly among churches in different regions.
That’s also why these books are in the New Testament.
They weren’t randomly chosen centuries later. The earliest Christians recognized and preserved these writings because they were early, connected to eyewitnesses, and already being widely read in churches.
Many other “gospels” or books people hear about today were written much later and lack a firsthand connection to Jesus or the apostles.
📚 1 BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
A book about how to think about spending money.
Most people want more, but most people don't think about how to spend it if and when it comes. There is no science to how to best spend money, so this book shares wisdom and principles to think through and apply to your life.
This book was a fine read. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I enjoyed the author's other two books (granted, his previous two books were really good), but maybe my expectations going in were too high.
Overall, it was an easy read and I was glad that I read it. However, I would say the more disposable income you have and the more you make, the more beneficial and helpful this book would be.
The book felt a little repetitive at times, and I didn't necessarily finish the book with practical nuggets to implement (to be fair, I would need more disposable income to apply some of this), but it was still a decent read overall.
7/10
P.S. Wait, Santa should have known…
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