Day 6: Flats Comparison

This post is a little bit late! Yesterday was my 2 year anniversary and I did not have too much time to finish posting this blog, but it is finally here!

I am almost done with the flats and hand washing challenge! My hands feel very dry and a little itchy since I’ve been handwashing almost every day, but I am still enjoying this challenge very much. Since having cloth diapered over 11 months, I have purchased a few different kinds of flats. Today, I would like to do a mini comparison for anyone looking to expand their flat diapers collection.

1. Green Mountain Diaper’s Cloth-Eez Organic Birdseye Flat in size small
   

   
   • These were the first flats that I purchased and I fell in love with how versatile they are and how fast they dry.
   • What I love about them? I love that these are the squarest of my flat stash and that the fabric seems more durable than the rest of my flats.
   • What I don’t like? These are the least softest flats in my stash. Also, the edges have started to fray, but it could be because I bleached them once. This isn’t a big issue to me because I can sew the edges again or cut it to make half size flats for extra absorbency or even make some wipes out of them. I also find that the edges where the company has sewn is thicker than others. It doesn’t feel as flat.
2. Green Mountain Diaper’s One Size Unbleached Organic Muslin Flats
   

   

   Nicely squared

   

   

   GMD Muslin (bottom), GMD birdseye (top)
   • What I love about them? I love pretty much everything about these flats! They are soft, square, thick, very absorbent and fit perfectly in my flip covers when I fold them in half three times. For comparison, these are twice as thick as my AA blankets.
   • What I don’t like? I don’t have anything to complain about these flats, but I will say that these would be bulky on a newborn. Maybe they should come out with a  half size or lighter version for newborn.
3. Nicki’s Cotton Birdseye Flat in size small (unbleached)/large (white)
   

   

   
   • What I love about them? I like that these are softer than my GMD’s clotheez flats.
   • What I don’t like? These are not as square as GMD. They have a pretty large tag. I am actually thinking of cutting them off.
4. Nicki’s Bamboo Birdseye Flat in size unbleached small and large 
   

   

   
   • What I love about them? I like that these are a bit more absorbent than regular cotton and that they feel softer. However, I don’t find them to be super soft. I would say that they are just a little bit softer than their cotton version. I am not sure how other bamboo birdseye flats like Diaper Rite’s compare in terms of softness and squareness.
   • What I don’t like? Nicki’s bamboo flats have a weird shape. They are not square nor very rectangular. They are more like a parallelogram in my opinion so some people may find this annoying. Their tag is also big on these. While their large size is nice for extra absorbency, I find that I need to fold the rise when I pad fold in order to make these flats fit better in my covers.
5. Orange Diaper Co’s Bamboo Terry Flats in size newborn, infant, and toddler
   

   
   • What I love about them? These are super duper soft when you first get them! You just want to burry your face in them because of how soft they are. They are very stretchy, absorbent, and fit nicely around the legs. They contain everything better than my other flats because of the stretchiness. All three sizes are in my rotation. I sometimes use the toddler size as a nighttime diaper and it works fantastic! My son will be a year next month and I am still making the newborn flats work. I pair them with my Disana tie nappies as inserts, I use two newborn flats ( I quad fold one in the middle), and use it as a booster for nighttime.
   • What I don’t like? They start to loose their softness and stretchiness the more they get used.  I am starting to have some issues with getting my snappi to stay in place.
6. Flour Sack Towels 
   

   
   • What I love about them? I like that these are affordable, have cute prints, and that you can find them at your local Target or Walmart store.
   • What I don’t like? These are pretty thin. The don’t absorb as much and I don’t think they will be very durable in the long run. Personally, I think you get more bang for you buck just going with regular flats right off the bat because they are more absorbent and will last longer through many washes.

Flats Wish List

1. Blueberry Gauze Flats
2. Diaper Rite Bamboo/Cotton Flats
3. Fruit of the Womb Bamboo Terry Flats
4. Sweet Iris Bamboo Terry Flats
5. Geffen Baby Jersey & Fladdle Flats
6. One Love Diaper Co Cotton/Hemp and Interlock Flats

Day 5: My Favorite Flat Diaper Folds

Hello! I have made it to Day 5 of the flats and handwashing challenge! The topic for today is how I make flat diapers work. I have experimented with all kinds of folds and they are all great, but I do have some favorites. I like folds that have the most absorbency on the front since I have a boy and I prefer to pin or snappi them on my baby. I find that it fits better that way and that it also contains everything better. I do not own the copyrights for the following pictures that have an * next to the name of the fold. I found them online rather than having to reinvent the wheel.

Daily 

1. Jo fold* 

• This was one of the first folds that I learned and I loved that I could fold them after doing laundry and have them ready to be used. It’s like having a fitted. 🙂 This one is actually my husband’s favorite fold because it is already folded for him to put on our baby.

2. Airplane/Diaperbag Variation

• I came up with this fold in trying to get as many layers on the front for my son.  I am pretty sure someone already invented this fold since there is nothing new under the sun, but I haven’t seen a video on this so I thought I would share. If you do know the name of this fold, please let me now in the comment section. I find that I have a lot more absorbency in the front with this fold than with the Jo fold or Diaperbag fold.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

3. Kite Fold*

• This isn’t my first go-to-fold, but I do like it because it is pretty simple, it fits well, and it keeps things interesting when I want something different.

Outings 

1. Pad folding
   • I love pad folding flats in covers that have flaps and keeping them in my diaper bag for outings. It is just like using an all in one! I especially like using my Green Mountain Diapers’ muslin flat in flip covers. They hold a lot, are soft, and fit perfectly in my capri and flip covers. I fold it in half three times.
     

     

Poop Catchers

1. Neat fold*
   • This fold is fantastic for whenever I am expecting baby to poop. I like that it is one clean canvas that way I am not trying to rinse off the whole flat. I just need to rinse one side. I use this fold particularly with an Orange Diaper Co (ODC) bamboo terry flat because I can get a better fit around baby’s leg and it contain everything a lot better than when using a regular cotton or bamboo birdseye. Check out this video to learn how to create the neat fold using an ODC  flat.
2.  Disana Tie Nappy*
   • I like using this German brand diaper in conjunction with either a pad folded flat or any kind of “fitted” flat. Using this system helps to contain everything in case the flat doesn’t catch everything.

Napping/Nighttime 

1. Origami Fold 
   • I never really understood why so many moms love this fold when there are other folds that are “easier” to put on baby. However, I decided to give the origami fold a try for this challenge and I found that I actually really do like it. The long wings always turned me off, but I have learned to look passed it and make it work by folding the wings in. So for nighttime I use a Green Mountain Diaper’s muslin flat in an origami fold and pad fold a small bamboo terry flat (ODC). This combo works fantastic on my son and it is not overly bulky. I pair it with a disana wool soaker.
     

     

     
2. Jo Fold (bamboo terry)
   • I use a toddler size ODC bamboo terry in the Jo fold for night and I don’t add anything to it. This diaper is already super absorbent on its own. Again, I pair it with a wool cover.

Now that I have shared some of my favorite ways of using flats, you can see how versatile they are and how you can make them work as an everyday diaper. Like I said in a previous post, you simply cannot go wrong with having some flats in your stash.

Check out DDL to read how other mom’s make flats work for them! You will see how there is a fold for every mom!

I hope you enjoyed this post and that you will give flats a try.

 

Day 4: My Handwashing Routine

Today marks the halfway point of DDL‘s flats and handwashing challenge! By this point, most participants have a somewhat established routine. Up until today I have handwashed 3 small loads of dirty diapers and I have found it to be pretty easy and simple. It may seem  complicated, but it really isn’t. You just need to remember these 4 easy steps:

1) You somehow need to RINSE the poop/pee off.

2) You somehow need to throughly WASH the diapers with enough detergent.

3) You somehow need to RINSE the detergent off the diapers.

 4) You somehow need to DRY your diapers.

I  will walk you step by step on how I do it so you can see how easy it is!

1. Rinse/Pre-wash

Rinse soiled items.

Rub some detergent on soil items. Soak in warm water.

Rinse non-soiled items separately.

• I start off by rinsing any soiled diapers in a bucket with the strongest setting on my shower head. I drain the dirty water in my toilet and refill it with warm water. Then, I rub some Tide Powder detergent on the stains and let it soak in the warm water. I also add a little bit more detergent to the water. I set this aside while I rinse the rest of the diapers. I like to do this step because it gives the detergent some time to remove any stains. This works great for removing stains when the sun is not out! Try it!
• While the soiled diapers are soaking, I rinse the rest of the non-soiled diapers in another bucket with some cold water. I drain the water and press on the diapers to remove most of the water.

2. Main Wash

Soak removed stains off soiled diaper.

Scrub each article.

Place washed diapers in a clean basin.

• While the soiled diapers are still soaking, I add some HOT water to the bucket with the non-soiled diapers and add a little bit of detergent. I don’t measure it. I just eyeball it. I make sure to add enough water to cover the diapers. I let them soak for a couple of minutes.
• In the meantime, I check on the soiled diapers. By this time, the stains on the soiled diapers have diminished or are completely removed. I empty the dirty water in my toilet, rinse the diapers, and add them to the rest of my diapers for the main wash.
• I place the bucket of diapers on top of the toilet with the lid down and place my washboard in my bathroom sink. I add a little bit of water and some soap to the sink in case I need some more soapy water.
• I wash each item one by one using my washboard to scrub and place them in a clean bucket or in my other sink. Using a washboard ensures that each diaper is getting throughly cleaned. It may seem like it takes a long time doing one by one, but it actually doesn’t. Most of the stains and gunk has been removed with the first rinse.

3. Rinse

First Rinse.

Second rinse (with distilled white vinegar)

Wring out.

• After scrubbing each item, I fill the bucket with the clean diapers with some warm water. I swish them around and squeeze them in the water for about 30 seconds  to let the water go through the fabric.
• OPTIONAL– I drain the water in my bathtub and fill it with some more warm water. This time I add a little bit of distilled white vinegar to remove any extra detergent, but I make sure to remove pul covers because I don’t want them to get ruined. I swish the diapers around for like 10 seconds and let them soak. In the meantime, I will rinse off any diaper covers.
• I empty the bucket and quickly rinse each time one by one under some running water.
• Lastly, I wring out each item one by one and place them in a clean bucket.

4. Dry

My outdoors line dry.

Indoors line drying over a pack and play.

Indoors line drying for small load.

• The final step is to line dry the diapers. I dry them on my balcony if the weather is nice. I make sure to pin each item so they don’t get blown away.
• If it is raining or it is nighttime, I use my repurposed metal bed rack to dry my diapers indoors.

Quick Summary

1. Rinse soiled diapers and let them soak in some soapy water in a bucket.
2. Rinse non-soiled diapers in a separate bucket.
3. Add hot water and detergent to non-soiled diapers. Let them soak to remove stains.
4. Agitate each diaper using a washboard starting off with the non-soiled diapers.
5. Agitate the soiled diapers and add all the diapers to a clean bucket.
6. Rinse all diapers in a bucket. Drain.
7. If necessary, rinse again using distilled white vinegar. Drain.
8. Quickly rinse each diaper under running water to remove the vinegar smell.
9. Wring out each item.
10. Line dry.

I hope you found this explanation of my handwashing routine easy to follow and that you would give handwashing and/or line drying a try!

Tomorrow, Day 5 of the Challenge, I share with you my favorite folds using flat diapers.

Thanks,

Diana

Traveling & Cloth Diaper Consumerism

Next week I will be visiting my family in California for about a month. This will be my fourth time traveling with cloth diapers and honestly is has not been difficult at all. This trip will be my longest trip though and the hardest part for me is always deciding what kind of style of cloth diapers to take and how many. I  tend to often overthink things and overpack when traveling. I always like to prepare myself for the “what ifs” and at the end of my trips I always realize I could have done without so many things!

The last three times that I travelled, prefolds and flats made up my stash exclusively  with some few pul covers and wool soakers so the choice of what kind of style to take on my trips was a given. The only decision I had to make was how many to take. However, I recently added a few pockets and fitteds (as well as a couple of different wool covers) now that my baby likes to run away sometimes during diaper changes. So now the question is what do I take on this long trip? My husband suggested to buy disposables or to take the cloth diapers that would be the easiest to use. Well, disposable were out of the question. Not because I am totally against using them, but because I would rather use the money I would spend on disposables to buy some more cloth diapers or wool covers! I also looked into a diaper service and a month of service would cost a little over $100. Again, that got me thinking about the number of diapers that I could potentially buy with that money.

Well, I write all this to say that I will be using flats as my main traveling stash for this extended vacation time. The flats and hand washing challenge has been a trial run for me to see whether I can exclusively use flats on this trip and it is definitely very doable! Their versatility makes it great for daytime and nighttime use and are customizable to meet any need. For Day 5 of this challenge I will be posting about some of favorite folds so stay tune for that! Anyways, these flats wash very well and dry in no time! I plan on taking about 2 dozen flats with 4 covers  and 2 woolies and that should give me about three days worth of diapers before I have to do laundry. Taking flats instead of other diapering styles is very convenient for some of the following reasons:

1. Cuts down on bulk.
2. Wash very well in any washer.
3. Can be hand washed if needed. Hence this challenge.
4. Dry super fast!
5. There is no need to worry about washing in a different washer.
6. They can be folded in many ways to get a great fit for babies.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how cloth diapering has become about buying cute prints, different kinds of styles, and trying to find our favorite diapering system when in all reality, the only thing we need is something that works as a diaper for our babies’ bum bums. This challenge has reinforced my thinking that there is no need to spend $20-$30 on one diaper, not that I have, to have an effective diapering system. It is not about having the cutest prints. It is not about trying every single style of cloth diaper. It is not about buy every single color. It is not about having X diaper because X person has it. It is not about buying diapers just because it is on sale. And it is not about buying just because I want it. But it is about buying/using what you need.  I know everyone is different and I respect that, but personally, I think that keeping things simple and remembering why I am cloth diapering in the first place helps to cut down on unneeded expenses. I wouldn’t say I have a large stash, but I am planning on reducing it to what I actually am using. Variety can be nice, but it is also not needed.

If you are planning on cloth diapering and/or are on a tight budget, I hope my little ramble on consumerism can help you understand that it is possible to diaper with the bare minimum.

For Day 4 I will be sharing my laundry routine. Please come back again to read about it and
once again, thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time,

Diana

Flats and Handwashing Challenge-Day 2: 7 Stash Shots

Today is day numero dos of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and I will be taking about my diaper stash and how much it costs. Well, maybe I should say my diaper stashes! From what I gather,  most participants mainly try to stick with one stash and might tweak it if they find it absolutely necessary, but I am thinking about doing something totally different. I am actually planning on using different kinds of flats and diaper covers throughout the week to give families different options for economical cloth diapering. The cost value of “the diaper stash of the day” will be slightly higher each day, but even my most expensive diaper stash will be cheaper than using disposables.

While this challenge is mainly about showing the world how affordable and doable cloth diapering can be, I also want to shed light on flats as a wonderful diapering option regardless of one’s budget. Flats (and prefolds) are a great addition to any stash! You simply cannot go wrong with them! People who are interested in saving money often take the prefold and flats route, but many others unfortunately opt out of of this affordable diapering system because they are often intimidated by this “old school” diapering style. After much thought, and without further due, here is this week’s daily diaper stash and the price breakdown to diaper full-time an almost 11 month baby:

 Day 1: The I Can’t/Don’t Want too Spend Money Stash- $30-$50

• 7 Receiving blankets- Free
• 10 Washcloths- Free
• 3 Diaper covers- $10-$30 (2 were free)
• 1 Disana Wool Cover (Night)- $20

Day 2: The Buying Cheap Stash – $54

• 12 Flour sack towels (Fsts) – $12
• 2  Diaper Covers- $12 (pull on, sweet pea)*
• 1 Disana Wool Soaker (Day/Nighttime)- $20
• 15 Single Layer Cotton Wipes- $10                                                                                          *Bought on sale

Day 3: The Buying Durable Flats/Daycare Stash- $94

• 1 dz Birdseye Cotton Flats (GMD)-$24
• 3 OS Diaper Covers with Flaps*- $40
• 1 Wool Cover(Day/Nighttime)*- $15
• 24 Single Layer Cotton Wipes- $15                                                                                                                                        *Bought on sale

Day 4:  The Affordable Soft Bamboo Flats Stash- $111

• 1 dz Large Bamboo Birdseye flats (Nicki’s or DR)- $40
• 3 Diaper Covers- $41 (Capri, Flip, Sweet Pea)
• 1 Disana Wool Soaker (Day/Nighttime)- $20
• 15 Single Layer Cotton Wipes- $10

Day 5: The Something Different Stash- $115

• 2 dz  Cotton Birdseye Flats (GMD)- $24
• 6 Disana Tie Nappies- $32
• 2 Diaper Covers- $29  (Capri and Sweet Pea)
• 1 Engel Nappy Pants Wool Cover (Daytime)- $20
• 1 Disana Wool Soaker (Day/Nighttime)- $20
• 15 Single Layer Cotton Wipes-$10

Day 6: The Luxury Bamboo Flats- $110-$150

• 1 dz Newborn Bamboo Terry Flats or DIY- $32-$72
• 1 Diaper cover- $12
• 1 Babee Green Snap Wool Cover (Daytime)- $36
• 1 Disana Wool Cover
  (Day/Nighttime)- $20
• 15 Single Layer Cotton Wipes-$10

Day 7:  A Little Bit of Everything Stash- $169-$189

• 4 Muslin Cotton Flats (GMD)-$12
• 4 Bamboo Birdseye Flats (Nicki’s)- $13
• 6 Newborn Luxury Bamboo Flats (ODC) or DIY- $16- $36
• 2 Daytime Wool Covers (Storchenkinder and Babee Green)- $66
• 1 Day/Nighttime Wool (Disana)- $20
• 2 Diaper Covers- $32 (Capri and Flip)*
• 15 Single Layer Cotton Wipes- $10                                                                                     *Purchased on sale
  

  Some Washing and Storing Accessories

Accessories: $46- $54

• 2 Buckets- $5
• 1 Washboard- $20
• 2 Dollar Store Bins (Diaper Pail)- $2
• 1 Snappi- $5
• Plastic Bag/Wet Bag- $0- $8
• Detergent- $11
• Removable Shower Head- $0
• Clothes Line- $1
• Clothes Pins- $1
• Repurposed rack (indoor drying)- $1

Please keep in mind that the cost of these diapers, covers, and accessories can be cheaper if you buy them on sale, choose different brands, or get crafty with some DIYs.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my stashes and can see how affordable and doable cloth diaper can be! Please follow me on instagram for more updates on the challenge and make sure to check out DDL to read all the other wonderful blogs!

Keep Diapering On,

Diana

6th Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge– Day 1: The Why?

Hi! Thanks for stopping by and welcome to my humble blog! This year I decided to participate in the 6th Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry (DDL). In a nut shell, this challenge aims to bring awareness regarding the affordability of choosing cloth diapers over disposable ones and that not having a large budget, a washer, or a dryer is no impediment for cloth diapering. So for one week, the plan is to exclusively use flat diapers, handwash them, and line dry them. For more details regarding this challenge, please make sure to check out DDL.

I debated whether to blog my 7 days experience in diapering my almost 11 month baby as I am an inexperience blogger, but I hope that this blog might help some mamas out there who are on the fence on cloth diapering for whatever reason it might be. I hope that my experience may encourage other families to choose cloth diapers over disposables as I personally believe that cloth is better for babies’ sensitive bum and that it can be an economical choice for many families.

Why am I participating?

There are several reasons why I decided to participate in this year’s challenge. Besides encouraging parents to choose cloth diapers regardless of their economical position, I am also joining because I would like to challenge myself, to save water/electricity, to know that I can still cloth diaper in the event that  I don’t have a washer/dryer/electricity, and to have some experience using flat diapers exclusively should I choose it to be my go-to traveling stash for convenient purposes. As a matter of fact, I will be traveling out of state a couple of days after the challenge is over and this week will serve as a trial run for me as I plan to take mostly flats if not exclusively. I think this challenge will give me confidence to make flats my diaper of choice for traveling and will serve as a reminder that I can technically do without all other kinds of diapers by keep things simply and at a minimum.

I hope you will join me this week as I document my experience with flats, hand washing, and line drying. I plan on addressing what flats and diaper covers I used, how many of them, what my wash routine looks like, and any challenges I faced along the way.

Also, for the record, most of my diaper stash is currently composed of prefolds and flats with some few fitted and pocket diapers that I recently splurged on. Therefore, my experience will be much different from other participating families who mainly use all-in-ones, fitted, and pockets.

If you have not signed up for the challenge yet it is not too late! You can unofficially jump in at anytime and I hope to hear from your experience if you do decide to take on the challenge!

Have a happy diapering week!

Many blessings,

Diana Phillips

Being Ashamed of the Gospel

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” -Romans 1:16 KJV

Today, many self-proclaimed Christians live their lives in a way that appears as if they are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. One such example is being afraid to share the good news to our unsaved friends, neighbors, co-workers or strangers because of what they might think or say about us.

I heard a profound testimony of a man who was an ex-drug addict, a robber, and struggled with many other sins. He shared that in his 35 years of life, not one Christian shared the gospel with him. How many Christians walked passed him in 35 years who could have changed his life sooner had they been bold enough to share the gospel? He did confessed that he was not a person someone would want to approach, but still, as Christians we should know that we have the power of God! Matthew 10:28 says, “And fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Rather than fearing men, we should fear for their unsaved souls and warn every man so that we may present them perfect in Christ (Colossians 1:28). I think that if we honestly believe that the gospel of Christ is good news, believe that it can actually change a sinner’s life as it did ours, and believe that heaven and hell are real places, we would not be ashamed to share the gospel. Every person we see is either going to heaven or hell and perhaps we can change the course of their eternal lives by simply getting out of our comfort zone and boldly sharing the power of God.

MEDITATION: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” -Philippians 1:20-21 KJV

Day 2: Psalms 6-10

Psalm 6:5

• “For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give you thanks?”
  • Seek the Lord while He may be found and live for Him. It would be pointless to remember the Lord and seek Him after we die for it would be too late. 

Psalm 7:11

• “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”
  • God does not, and will not, pervert His righteous law for He is a just judge. If we are in sin, we need to repent and ask Him for forgiveness otherwise He will judge us for our sin(s). When we hear the word wickedness we often think of people who inflict great harm to humanity (e.g. Hitler), but in God’s eyes our sins (e.g. lying, fornication, lusting, hatred, etc.) are just as wicked. Why? Because He is a holy and righteous God! Sin is sin! If we are not living god-honoring lives, He is not content with us. God wants the best for us and He knows sinning is not our best for it separates us from Him. Just like parents want the best for their children, our heavenly father does so too.

Psalm 8:4

• “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”
  • This verse is beautiful! God does not have to consider our needs, but He does because He cares and loves us so much!

Psalm 9:9-10

• “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”
  • It is amazing how we can be confident that the Lord will not forsake those who are men and women after His heart! God is always faithful and always good! Whenever we have doubts, we should remember the times that God stood by us and did not forsake us. This should encourage us to trust Him even in our hardest hardships.

Psalm 10:4

• “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.”
  • It is so sad and heartbreaking to see people reject God because of their pride. The bible says that the Lord hates pride and I think it is because it stands between Him and God. God can’t work with a prideful person, but can with a humble spirit. 

Day 1: Psalm 1-5

Psalm 1:1-3

• “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.”
  • As godly men and women we need to examine our walk with the Lord to ensure we are not living like the world. Also, we should not find His laws/commandments to be burdensome, but rather something we delight in doing. His Word is something that needs to be in our hearts and minds throughout our day so that we walk in the spirt rather than in the flesh. Just like the roots of trees are deeply planted, our faith in Christ should be like so.

Psalm 2:11-12

• “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
  • Most people do not associate fear with the Lord. They have the perspective that Jesus is all love. However, this verse advises us to serve Him with fear, but to also rejoice. This kind of fear is different from what we commonly define it. Perfect love casts out fear. When we sin against the Lord, we need to reconcile with Him lest we die in our sin(s) and face His holy wrath on the day that would eternally separate us from Him. 

Psalm 3:4

• “I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.”
  • I just finished reading “Torture for Christ” and this verse remind me of the cries of those who are persecuted in restricted nations. The author shared stories of how God answered their prayers–bring Communists to repentance–while they were tortured in prison for believing/spreading the gospel. I am encouraged by this verse because I can be confident that the Lord hears my cries.

Psalm 4:3

• “But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.”
  • Set apart does not mean unconditionally elected for salvation. On the contrary, it describes those who are living godly lives. Just like a shepherd can tell the difference between his sheep and goat by their appearance and behavior, Jesus likewise knows those who are His children based on their pure hearts and godly living. These are the sheep that are separated from the goats. 

Psalm 5:4-6

• “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood: The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”
  • God is not the author of sin nor does he delight when his creation sins. God will never cause men to sin since there is absolutely no hint of evilness or malice in Him, but He is rather a holy and righteous God. We therefore cannot accredit the evil that humans do to God. These verses show us that love requires hating that which is not good. 

Philippians

Chapter 1

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (NKJV 1:9-10). 

• Paul’s prayer is that the believers in Philippi (and Christians in general) may approve the things that are godly. This means that we should discern what is good and evil, disprove everything that is ungodly, and not partake in those things that dishonor God, ourselves, or our neighbors. For example, yesterday my boss, who knows I am a Christian, said and inappropriate comment about another co-worker while I was counting my cashier drawer. I could see him looking at me waiting for me to laugh, but instead I represented Christ by ignoring his comment. If I had laughed, my laughter would have been a sign of approval. It is true though that I could of also “rebuked” my boss by telling him, “That is not a very nice thing to say about X.” Either way, I know he still felt convicted. People know when they say or do things that are not (morally) correct. Contrary to what many believe, humans are not hopeless victims of their actions, thoughts, and words (2 Cor. 10:5)
• Paul also prays that Christians live blameless, righteous, and holy lives until Jesus returns. In other words, Christians are suppose to examine their lives everyday to ensure that they are “without offense.” Reading our Bible daily, praying constantly, and fellowshipping much, enables us to live such a life that is only possible through Jesus Christ.