Bless this Tribe

Is my mom looking down at me from Heaven? Honestly, I'd like to hope not. I don't want her to see me in my sadness. I'd like to think that Heaven is a happy place. How can she be happy if she sees that I'm missing her? " The Bible doesn’t specifically say that people in heaven  cannot  look down on us, so we can’t be dogmatic. However, it is unlikely that they can. People in heaven are likely preoccupied with other things such as worshipping God and enjoying the glories of heaven." (Source:  Can people in heaven look down and see us? ) Josh and I finally bought a house. The circumstances surrounding the process were very complex. Our plans were to wait a couple years. But our living situation was, for lack of better words, unsafe. By the grace of God, he opened up the doors for us and we literally had a house fall into our laps. While our reasons for moving don't matter, it should be a happy time in my life. Other than our children being born, this is one

S: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 O: “God thinks about us. In Psalm 40, David pondered the thoughts of God upon His people: Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order, if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered (Psalm 40:5; see also Psalm 139:17-18).” (Guzik) “God’s thoughts run upon his children, the children of affliction, especially, as a father’s do upon his dear children.” (Trapp) “The Lord not only thinks of you, but towards you. His thoughts are all drifting your way.” (Spurgeon) “Brethren, we cannot know the thoughts of the Lord because they are too high for our conception, or too deep for our understanding, yet the Lord knows them.” (Spurgeon) “God has a future and a hope for His people even when they suffer in exile, even when they hurt under deserved discipline or judgment. It is the devil’s deception

Recently while doing SOAP, I've been focusing on God's Attributes. With Christmas coming up, I decided to find some verses on "Immanuel," or God with us. Here's the verses I'm using:  Immanuel

How do I study the Bible, other than just reading it? I get asked this a lot. There are lots of different ways. One way is by reading free text commentary by David Guzik on Blue Letter Bible. Before I go further, realize this is only commentary and not the Bible itself. Please weigh commentary against the Bible itself and see where the Holy Spirit leads you. How do I pray scripturally? I use the SOAP method. This can also be used to understand the word better and apply it to your life. Here's a great blog post on how to do the SOAP method:  How to SOAP What do I do if I have a question about the Bible? I usually go to Got Questions . Again, please weigh all of this against the Bible.