August 18
7“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:7, Life Application Study Bible)
Happy Friday Family! I hope you all had a wonderful week. My family and I had some wonderful milestones this week. The first, most major one was that SGZ3 has learned to walk! Now, little Miss “Hold-Me, Hold-Me” no longer is begging to be picked up but sneaking off to see what she can get into every second. She has got us all on our toes.
The second milestone was that we hosted our first “Bible Study” in our new neighborhood. It was a men’s night and three of my neighbors came to launch this new journey in my walk to become less of a Disciple and more of an Apostle. I finished the breakdown for the 9-month Reading Plan that will be part of Common Sense REBORN Daily Devotion: Deployed (CSRD3). After all the men shared their history with the church and with reading the Bible, each of us took a copy of the reading plan and agreed to immediately start it. With that being stated, I have started reading the Holy Bible over again (as you can see from the verse shared above). I am reading from the Life Application Study Guide, which was gifted to me a few months back. This is a really awesome study Bible that already has included many interesting historical facts, like showing the timeline of Jewish history and what was happening in the wider world at the same time. As God was making Himself known to the Fathers of the Jewish faith, many other religions were rising around the world at the same time, and some of the worlds biggest technological breakthroughs were coinciding with all of this. The world was racing toward the moment when Jesus entered humanity and changed the world forever.
If you still have not read the Holy Bible, cover-to-cover, now is the time to start. You could easily catch up this weekend as we are only ten chapters in. Remember, sin is crouching at your door. The only way to keep sin away is to know the Word of God. The only way to know it is to read it. My current reading plan can be found by clicking here.
Two big albums dropped today, but before I get to them, I need to circle back to last Friday’s big album release. My man, KB (he’s from St. Pete y’all!), shared his new collection to the world and it is a banger. Below is my favorite hype song of the set: Danza, dropping that beat to help you “Dance like David did”.
Common Sense Reborn 
Hey Jay, received this post from Hap it’s from a blog like yours. You’re not alone in this quest.
Jumpstart August 21st, 2023
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said,”Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we can know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
A few weeks back I woke up real early and decided to take Caleb, our dog, out for a walk. At this hour it was still dark and our surroundings were peacefully quiet. It seemed like Caleb and I were the only ones enjoying the moment, and that all of our “ nocturnal friends” had called it a day. It was a perfect time to give our Creator my undivided attention. Standing alone since Caleb had gone back to the house, I approached my Father above with a concern that had been tugging on my heart.
Am I making a difference in my efforts to share God’s Word in a world that is shrouded in “darkness?” And why do I feel so insignificant and alone in this endeavor?
Before these questions had time to leave my mind, God illustrated His answer for me.
Lifting my eyes to the heavens I saw what seemed like a million stars. Some were shining brighter than others but together they provided enough light to keep this world of ours out of total darkness. Though these stars may be millions of miles apart in proximity and seemingly “alone,” It’s the accumulation of each star’s light that makes the difference.
God has “scattered” this world with people like you and me.
Some of us “shine” brighter than others when it comes to honoring the commission of reflecting His Light. Though we may not be neighbors and see the results of their work in sharing God’s Word, together we are making a difference in casting His Light” on those living in and wanting to escape the darkness that surrounds them.
So when frustration and doubt narrows your view on how effective you may be in promoting God’s Kingdom here on earth, just look up and see you are not alone.
His brightness shines both day and night for us to share.
Daniel 12:3
Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.
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