Are You A Hypocrite?

“And He said to them, ‘Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.

Neglecting the commandments of God, you hold to the traditions of men.’”

Mark 7:6-8

Before this passage, the Pharisees were criticizing Jesus’ disciples because they were eating with unwashed hands. Jesus point to them and called them hypocrites. He told them that they honor Him with their actions, but their hearts were full of sin.

Then I had to ask myself, in what ways am I a hypocrite?

When I pray before I eat, am I doing it to actually thank God, or am I doing it because it’s the “Christian” thing to do?

When I obey my parents, am I fully submitting  myself to their God-given authority, or am I obeying them in deed, but rebelling in my heart?

When I sing songs in church, am I truly worshipping God? Or am I thinking about where we’re going to lunch?

The list could go on.

Sisters, what ways are YOU a hypocrite? I’ve known people who talk about God, Scripture, and such, but who are living in rebellion against God. Their lifestyles negate the words they speak.

Hypocrisy ruins ministry.

How do you avoid being a hypocrite?

1.      Pray

2.      Read your Bible

3.      Apply what you read

4.      Ask someone who knows you well to inform you of any hypocrisy in your life

5.      Humbly receive correction

To some degree, we all are hypocrites. We know most of the “right” answers, and we’re quick to point out the faults of others. But how quickly do we notice and strive to change those same faults in our own lives?

If you see hypocrisy in your life, it’s not too late. God can turn your life around and open your eyes to the sin in your own life that you previously missed.

Do you see hypocrisy in your life? What are some ways that you want to try to fix that? Share in the comments!

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Summer Goals!

Photo Creds

For many of us, school is over. Behind us—gone. We’re facing an exciting summer. Some of us have crazy amazing plans; some of us are looking forward to some down time.

Either way, most of us will have more time now that we are not studying constantly. It is so easy to let that time slip away from you. The last thing you want is, at the end of the summer, looking back and realizing you accomplished nothing.

Don’t let your summer become a waste, drowned in frivolous things like social media.

What is something to keep us motivated throughout the summer?

How about a list of goals?

I’m making my list of summer goals.

Here are some example goals for you:

1.      Read my Bible every day

2.      Read (insert number here) of books this summer

3.      Take a couple of my friends out for coffee periodically

4.      Spend more time with my siblings

5.      Get (insert project here) done

6.      Clean my room and keep it clean

7.      Etc.

They don’t have to be complicated goals. You can work on establishing good habits, getting something done, or investing more time in people—or all of the above.

Don’t let the summer slip through your grasp. Take hold of it—seize it—and get all its worth out of it. Each year in your life will go by faster and will get busier. You don’t want to miss what you can accomplish this summer!

What are your summer goals? Any exciting vacations happening? Share in the comments!

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10 Tips for Waking Up Early

        
            One of the best habits I have ever developed was establishing a pattern about a year ago of getting up at 5:00 am every weekday morning.

I know most of you probably want to stop reading at this point. But hang with me for a bit. I’m not saying everyone should get up at 5:00 am every day at all. I’m saying that it has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life. Getting up at 5:00 am doesn’t happen every single weekday for me. Especially during the school year when unexpected assignments can keep me up late, I have to get sleep when I can. However, it is a great pattern to establish.

Getting up at 5:00 is hard. Definitely. But here are some tips I use that I hope can help you with that very first battle we all face each day.

1.     Establish WHY you're getting up early

Why in the world WOULD you get up at 5:00 am in the morning? For me, it was because my mornings were busy, and often my afternoons, and I needed time to get school done. As I rolled into summer, I wanted a time dedicated to writing blog posts for Morning Glory as well as other various writing projects. Also, it is so refreshing to start the day off with my Bible in the peace of a quiet house of sleeping family members.

It feels amazing to have three fresh, productive hours before 8:00 am. For me, it makes me feel like a busy day is less daunting if I have several hours of quiet time with God and my school or writing.

2.     Make a firm decision the night before to get up no matter how you feel

When 5:00 rolls around, TRUST ME—you will not want to wake up. You will be lying there, “Do I have get up at 5:00?? I don’t have anything that needs to get done right now. I can get up early tomorrow.”

NO.

Don’t let those thoughts persuade you to go back to bed. You must make a firm decision the night before that you will get up. No matter if you feel like you’ve been mowed over by a truck.

3.     Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room

I’m a hard sleeper and I’m sorry, but having my alarm clock on the bedside table does not wake me up. Countless times I’ve flopped over and hit it and gone back to sleep. I keep it on my dresser on the other side of my room so I physically have to get up and turn it off. Days that I’m really, really exhausted, I still might crawl back into bed without thinking and fall asleep. But in general, physically getting out of bed helps me a lot.

4.     Turn on your light immediately

Sitting in the dark being like, “Wake up! Wake up!” isn’t going to help at all. Turning on the light helps a lot.

5.     Leave your room to make breakfast and coffee

Again, more movement to wake me up. You could take a shower or something like that. Making breakfast helps me.

6.     Do NOT read your Bible (or pray) in bed

Just don’t do it.

I have a specific memory of getting up to read my Bible and deciding I would “pray” in bed. I snuggled up in my warm comforter after reading the first couple chapters of Acts and started foggily praying, “God, thank You for…for…for giving the disciples Your Holy Spirit… And… thank You… Like… I love You…” And the clonk I was asleep.

Don’t do it.

7.     Have someone keep you accountable

My dad usually wakes up between 4:00 am and 5:00 am. He gives me a hard time if I sleep in later than 5:00. It is really helpful.

8.     After breakfast and quite time, get to work

No crawling back in bed. No lying on the couch or even floor. Sit down at your desk and get work done. It became such a joy to sit down at my desk at 5:30 and write for two hours before the house woke up.

9.     Make it routine

It’s crazy hard to get up at 5:00 am one or two days a week. You have to get up every day or every week day consistently so that your body gets used to it. After a few days, it gets a lot easier.

10. Discipline yourself to go to bed early, at a pre-planned time

I still needed to get sleep every night. It’s extremely hard for me to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:00 and it’s not healthy. Going to bed earlier makes it easier to wake up earlier.

Is this something you would like to work on in your life? If you do already wake up early, what are some helpful things that you’ve done? Share in the comments!

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Summer Ministry Opportunities

Summer is almost upon us! I have eight days left! Some of my friends still have like a month, but everything is finally winding down with the last stretch of exams.

With summer coming up, I bet many of you are already listing out all of the things you want to do this summer. If you’re like me, being more involved in ministry may be on that list. If so, I wanted to highlight a few ministry opportunities you can be part of here at Morning Glory this summer!

1.     Devotional Writer

A slot just opened up for a weekly devotional writer! If you wanted to write about what God’s doing in your life on a weekly basis, then this is for you! Each devotional is short and based off a Scripture. The devotionals may take only about ten or fifteen minutes to write and the impact you can have is incredible. Over 160 ladies all over the country read these devotionals every day.

2.     Guest Blog Poster

Has God taught you something recently? Maybe you have something to write, but it takes too many words to write in just one devotional. Depending upon how much interest there is in guest posting, Morning Glory may be able to go back to posting twice a week! This is a fantastic opportunity to share what God has been teaching you, as well as share any fun crafts/recipes/hair styles/modest fashion you have recently discovered! I absolutely love to write blog posts and I encourage you to think about it!

There you have it! Two great opportunities to impact girls all around the country this summer! If you are interested in either one, please check out the Submissions tab above and leave a message in the form below or leave a comment!

What are your summer plans? Any goals? Trips? Share in the comments! 

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