So, I know it has been a while--sorry about that, but life has been crazy with preparing for Tori to come home and her finally coming back! :) And incase any of you were wondering... Yes, we are so happy she is home and having a wonderful time with her back in the house after six months without her. :)
I'm still treking through wonderful Job and as a result we are now on part three. :)
`Job 19:25
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
Job knows God as his Reedemer. I love this name for God because without Him we are nothing. He yanked us out of the darkest, deepest night and brought us into His presence and gave us fullness of joy. Without Him we would still be worshiping our sinful selves.
Redeemer--someone who redeems or buys back.
I love this definition. Christ bought us back. He paid the highest price! How awesome and we should live every day telling ourselves that our Redeemer LIVES! And one day He will come back and take His stand on earth. What an awesome day that will be. :) Nothing can twart God's plan... not today or for the rest of eternity.
`Job 22:25-27
Then the Almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you. For then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; and you will pay your vows.
So in context Jobs friend is telling him that if Job would just turn from his sin and repent then God would be his Most High again. So, I like this verse, no because it is something the applied to Job, but because if applies to each and every one of us. We need to turn from our sin... that sin you commit every day and never think twice about. Ask God to reveal your heart to yourself and turn from all that your evil heart desires. And once we turn from ourselves, toward God, we will no longer strive for earthly things, but God will be our gold and choice silver, we will delight in Him and not man, and we will turn to Him in time of need. The Almighty should be our choice... over all gold and silver this world has to offer. We should continually be delighting in Him above all else. We should be lifting our faces up to Him minute by minute--telling Him of our fears and joys, and thanking Him for all His many blessings He has poured out on us. And we should be keeping short accounts of sin, so as not to have our prayers go unheard.
`Job 23:10
But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Love this verse! I love how Job, in the middle of everything, stops and reminds himself that God knows all that is going on. He not only knows Jobs path... He made the path especially for Job. And through all that is going on God is refining him. We should take Jobs example to heart and remind ourselves in the midst of hard times, in the midst of confusing times, and in the midst of joyous times that God is good and He has written our path. Everything that He is doing is making us look more like Him and we should rejoice in that. This is great encouragement for the weary soul. :)
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
God, Job, and me ~part 2~
So, I am still in Job and loving it. One thing I have really been convicted of though is Jobs complete trust in God and what He is doing. He knows his place and He knows that God is Creator and knows best. He is to continue to give God praise and glory even through this hard time. This is one quality I pray for... that I may be in complete surrender to our great God.
`Job 8:21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouting.
This is not Job speaking, it is one of his friends who is giving him advice. So many people give Jobs friends a hard time because of their counsel. But really I think the only thing we should give them a hard time for is assuming that Job had sinned and God was punishing him. All of Job's friends gave good advice, it just didn't apply to Job. I love this verse. It is a great reminder that God will again fill our mouth with laughter and we will again shout praises to Him. Though it may be a long time till that day, we can trust that it will happen in God's perfect timing. And sometimes that perfect timing in heaven. But we are called to trust Him and praise Him in the storm, even now. Believe that He is good and that He is being good to you now. He knows best.
`Job 9:12
If He snatches away, who can stop Him? Who can say to Him, "What are you doing?"
I love this verse! This is Job speaking and I love the power of God displayed in Job's words. Job knows his place before God. God will do what He pleases and no one will stand in His way. Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." I think Job knew this truth. God does what He pleases, and He is good and just in everything He does and we have no right to ever question Him. We are called to trust... the Christian walk is all about faith. Have faith in your God. He is being faithful to complete His work in you until the day of righteousness (Phil. 1:6) and sometimes that is going to hurt or seem harsh, but trust Him. Choose to worship Him no matter what your feelings tell you or the world tells you.
`Job 12:3
With Him are wisdom and might; to Him belong counsel and understanding.
I love the character of God shown in this verse. He has wisdom and might--He is the great Counselor--and understanding belongs to Him. We will not always (in fact most of the time we won't) understand what God is doing or "why", but He knows what is good and best and He sees the big picture. Once again, trust Him right now, in whatever you are going through trust Him. Understanding belongs to Him... how awesome is that. He knows it all and He loves you and He will not withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11). Trust that sometimes the good stuff hurts, sometimes the good stuff seems bad, and sometimes the good stuff it glorious. In all three give Him praise and in all three enjoy life. Enjoy the life God has given you, praise Him throughout it, and live for the prize.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
`Job 8:21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouting.
This is not Job speaking, it is one of his friends who is giving him advice. So many people give Jobs friends a hard time because of their counsel. But really I think the only thing we should give them a hard time for is assuming that Job had sinned and God was punishing him. All of Job's friends gave good advice, it just didn't apply to Job. I love this verse. It is a great reminder that God will again fill our mouth with laughter and we will again shout praises to Him. Though it may be a long time till that day, we can trust that it will happen in God's perfect timing. And sometimes that perfect timing in heaven. But we are called to trust Him and praise Him in the storm, even now. Believe that He is good and that He is being good to you now. He knows best.
`Job 9:12
If He snatches away, who can stop Him? Who can say to Him, "What are you doing?"
I love this verse! This is Job speaking and I love the power of God displayed in Job's words. Job knows his place before God. God will do what He pleases and no one will stand in His way. Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." I think Job knew this truth. God does what He pleases, and He is good and just in everything He does and we have no right to ever question Him. We are called to trust... the Christian walk is all about faith. Have faith in your God. He is being faithful to complete His work in you until the day of righteousness (Phil. 1:6) and sometimes that is going to hurt or seem harsh, but trust Him. Choose to worship Him no matter what your feelings tell you or the world tells you.
`Job 12:3
With Him are wisdom and might; to Him belong counsel and understanding.
I love the character of God shown in this verse. He has wisdom and might--He is the great Counselor--and understanding belongs to Him. We will not always (in fact most of the time we won't) understand what God is doing or "why", but He knows what is good and best and He sees the big picture. Once again, trust Him right now, in whatever you are going through trust Him. Understanding belongs to Him... how awesome is that. He knows it all and He loves you and He will not withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11). Trust that sometimes the good stuff hurts, sometimes the good stuff seems bad, and sometimes the good stuff it glorious. In all three give Him praise and in all three enjoy life. Enjoy the life God has given you, praise Him throughout it, and live for the prize.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
God, Job, and me
Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I meant to over the weekend and then things got busy with Mother's Day and everything. :)
Anyways, here we go... I have finished Ester and am now in Job. I LOVE Job! :) It is my favorite Old Testament book other than Psalms. I love how it is a story about an everyday person who is going through hardship and how he deals with it. His trust in the Lord shines forth throughout and God's goodness and grace are the whole reason this is possible. I love the everyday simplicity of it and how things we complicate, it gives clear simple answers for, such as God is good and don't ask questions. ;) Anyways, I thought I would share some of the verses that have encouraged me and caused me to think.
`Job 1:12
Then the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all hat he has is in your power, only so not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
I love, love, love this verse because it shows how small the power of Satan is compared to God. I think so often we tend to think of Satan as God's competition... like there is this huge battle raging and no one knows what the outcome will be, but it is not so. God is bigger and greater than Satan could ever even dream about being. Satan was created by God and has limitations, where our holy, awesome God is unlimited and all-powerful. Satan can't do anything to us without God's permission--nothing. He has to ask God every time. This is such a comforting and encouraging verse when you are going through a trial, to know that everything you are going through has been sifted through God's loving hand and that all of it is going to make you look more like Him.
`Job 1:21b
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
This is one of my absolute favorite verses in Job. So good, so encouraging, and such truth. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away and both are good and done in the exact right timing and His name shall be blessed no matter what! We are not called to understand why He gives us things and why He takes them away... we are called to trust Him and know that He is working it all out for our good, His glory, and our joy.
`Job 2:9-10
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Verse 9 always makes me stop and pray to God that I will never be that kind of wife. That instead I would comfort and encourage my husband through hardship, supporting him in all he does and help him to stay focused on Christ and His goodness.
And then I love the part of verse 10 when Job speaks about accepting good and not accepting hardship. God gives us BOTH for our good and we should thank Him for both, even if at times it is really hard to do so. They are both shaping us to look more like Him and we should praise Him for that. That He loves us so much that He isn't going to leave us in the ugly state that we are in. He instead is going to lovingly refine us. Sometimes that calls for good, happy, "easy" times and other times that calls for hardship, tears, and crying out to God. Both are good, both cause us to trust in God in different ways, and both deepen our love and dependency on God.
I pray that each of us would trust in God through our own hardships and praise Him for them and that our love for Him would deepen during those times, but I also pray that those of you who are experiencing joyous times would praise God for them and that your love would deepen through those times knowing the He gave you everything you have. May we all learn to love the Lord more daily and serve Him, praise Him, and glorify Him more each moment.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Anyways, here we go... I have finished Ester and am now in Job. I LOVE Job! :) It is my favorite Old Testament book other than Psalms. I love how it is a story about an everyday person who is going through hardship and how he deals with it. His trust in the Lord shines forth throughout and God's goodness and grace are the whole reason this is possible. I love the everyday simplicity of it and how things we complicate, it gives clear simple answers for, such as God is good and don't ask questions. ;) Anyways, I thought I would share some of the verses that have encouraged me and caused me to think.
`Job 1:12
Then the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all hat he has is in your power, only so not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
I love, love, love this verse because it shows how small the power of Satan is compared to God. I think so often we tend to think of Satan as God's competition... like there is this huge battle raging and no one knows what the outcome will be, but it is not so. God is bigger and greater than Satan could ever even dream about being. Satan was created by God and has limitations, where our holy, awesome God is unlimited and all-powerful. Satan can't do anything to us without God's permission--nothing. He has to ask God every time. This is such a comforting and encouraging verse when you are going through a trial, to know that everything you are going through has been sifted through God's loving hand and that all of it is going to make you look more like Him.
`Job 1:21b
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
This is one of my absolute favorite verses in Job. So good, so encouraging, and such truth. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away and both are good and done in the exact right timing and His name shall be blessed no matter what! We are not called to understand why He gives us things and why He takes them away... we are called to trust Him and know that He is working it all out for our good, His glory, and our joy.
`Job 2:9-10
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Verse 9 always makes me stop and pray to God that I will never be that kind of wife. That instead I would comfort and encourage my husband through hardship, supporting him in all he does and help him to stay focused on Christ and His goodness.
And then I love the part of verse 10 when Job speaks about accepting good and not accepting hardship. God gives us BOTH for our good and we should thank Him for both, even if at times it is really hard to do so. They are both shaping us to look more like Him and we should praise Him for that. That He loves us so much that He isn't going to leave us in the ugly state that we are in. He instead is going to lovingly refine us. Sometimes that calls for good, happy, "easy" times and other times that calls for hardship, tears, and crying out to God. Both are good, both cause us to trust in God in different ways, and both deepen our love and dependency on God.
I pray that each of us would trust in God through our own hardships and praise Him for them and that our love for Him would deepen during those times, but I also pray that those of you who are experiencing joyous times would praise God for them and that your love would deepen through those times knowing the He gave you everything you have. May we all learn to love the Lord more daily and serve Him, praise Him, and glorify Him more each moment.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)