So I was at Bible Study yesterday and Miss Wendy was talking about being a light to the world. That the world should be able to tell that we are different. And I got to thinking... the world should be able to see our faith through our trials. When they know we are going through hard things, yet our faith in God still stands and is visible to all. Which got me thinking (I know, rabbit trials that my mind takes--bear with me) about Job. So, please take this little rabbit trial of my mind with me and I hope that it gets you thinking, as it did me.
Job is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament. I love how it shows God and His power over Satan (Job 1:8-12). I love seeing Jobs faith... though he often asks questions of God and it seems that he has lost all hope, he never once sins or blames God (Job 1:22)--he trusts God, though he does not understand.
Anyway, so I got to thinking about Job and often when we think of Job, well, we think of Job and all the trials he went through and how he responded. But yesterday I got to thinking about Jobs wife. She is always very convicting to me. Her lack of faith and how she tells Job to curse God and die (Job 2:9). I think often though, we forget that both Job AND his wife were in trial. They had both just lost all their livestock and children (Job 1:14-19). They had both just lost all their wealth and all their family... they were both suffering.
After all of that Job then loses his health and this sends his wife over the edge, "Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!'" `Job 2:9 This has been very convicting to me, because Job and his wife were both in horrendous trial--Job even more so because he lost his health. Yet they both responded in very different ways. One held on with all his might to his faith in the One true God and the other lost all hope and only saw the hardship and not the light of God shining through the trial to show His awesome work. This is how Job responded to his doubting wife, "But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips." `Job 2:10 Job knew that everything comes from God's hand--both the good times and the hard times. And he trusted God in both.
When trials come (which they are always coming) we are being squeezed. What is going to come out of you, of me... is our faithlessness going to come out or is our unrelenting faith (by His grace) going to shine? Are we going to trust God in the good and the bad? Or do we only trust Him when He is giving us what we want?
We are all being squeezed every day of our lives. What is the world seeing from you? Are you different? Are you resting in God though life is harder than you could have ever imagined? Job knew hard... he lost everything he had on this earth. His wealth, his children, his wife (not physically, but you get what I mean), and his friends. All he had left was God and this is how he responded, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." `Job 1:21b And, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." `Job 42:2
Though Job never got the answer to why, he still held fast to God. He knew that there was a reason for it all, though he didn't know that reason. He trusted that it was the purpose of the Lord being done and that was enough. When life gets hard for you, is trusting that the purpose of God is being done enough? Are you willing to walk through life's hardest battles, with only Christ at your side, and know only that God's work is being accomplished? God is at work and we, as His bride, need to trust that and trust Him. Rely on Him and know that He will give you the strength to get through all of life's struggles. He is with you every step of the way, and He is the One giving Satan permission to do his work. Satan can do NOTHING without God's okay. That should be a great comfort to us in times of hardship.
So, today when those trials come knocking at your door, whether "big" or "small"... will you be Job or will you be his wife? Will you lift up your cares to the Lord and rest in Him knowing that He both gives and takes away or will you curse God? You are in battle... are you going to follow Christ or retreat?
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
God, Resting, and me
So, I know--it has officially been forever since I have updated this. Volleyball and work got the best of me. :)
So yesterday, I read Isaiah 41 which is all about God encouraging Israel. It was so good and came at just the right time for me. I know that God is good and always will be so, but my tendency is that when I have been going through a long, tiring trial, I forget that He is still at work and He is still being faithful--even now. I hope that if you have been going through a long trial and you are weary and trying to keep your head above water that you find these verses as encouraging as I did. They are a good reminder that God is good, faithful, sovereign, and He continually provides for His people.
`Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed and accomplished it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, and the first, and the with last. I am He.
God existed before time and will exist after it. He is above all--He has planned everything--His plans are the best and nothing can thwart them. He is God, the only Un-Created One.
`Isaiah 41:9-10
You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts and said to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
God has chosen you and me before He ever uttered the words, "Let there be light." We are His people. When He had every right to throw us far from Him, instead He drew us near to Himself. And since we are His people, we do not need to fear. We have no reason to fear, because the God that created and sustains the whole universe is leading you in battle. We have absolutely no reason to fear. And we never need to be anxious about something because He has it all under control. He knows exactly what He is doing and we can trust Him, He will remain faithful. And on those days when we feel the pressure and weight of life crushing us down, we only need to remember the God we serve. He supplies the strength, not us. We have never had the strength to do it alone, even if at times we think we do. He provides the strength, He is our Helper in times of distress, and no matter what comes our way, God is holding us up--we are in His hand and nothing can snatch us out of our Father's hand. Rest in Him. Trust in Him today. He is being faithful. He was faithful throughout all of History and He's not going to stop now. :) Rest in Him and His promises. When you find yourself being swallowed up by the trials of this life, stop and hand them over to God. Once you do you will find that you can serve Him and others around you so much better, because you are not focusing on yourself or your situation. But instead you have handed your situation over to God and you can now be at peace and know that whatever happens will be in His plan and for His purpose and will bring Him more glory, which should bring us more joy.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
So yesterday, I read Isaiah 41 which is all about God encouraging Israel. It was so good and came at just the right time for me. I know that God is good and always will be so, but my tendency is that when I have been going through a long, tiring trial, I forget that He is still at work and He is still being faithful--even now. I hope that if you have been going through a long trial and you are weary and trying to keep your head above water that you find these verses as encouraging as I did. They are a good reminder that God is good, faithful, sovereign, and He continually provides for His people.
`Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed and accomplished it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, and the first, and the with last. I am He.
God existed before time and will exist after it. He is above all--He has planned everything--His plans are the best and nothing can thwart them. He is God, the only Un-Created One.
`Isaiah 41:9-10
You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts and said to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
God has chosen you and me before He ever uttered the words, "Let there be light." We are His people. When He had every right to throw us far from Him, instead He drew us near to Himself. And since we are His people, we do not need to fear. We have no reason to fear, because the God that created and sustains the whole universe is leading you in battle. We have absolutely no reason to fear. And we never need to be anxious about something because He has it all under control. He knows exactly what He is doing and we can trust Him, He will remain faithful. And on those days when we feel the pressure and weight of life crushing us down, we only need to remember the God we serve. He supplies the strength, not us. We have never had the strength to do it alone, even if at times we think we do. He provides the strength, He is our Helper in times of distress, and no matter what comes our way, God is holding us up--we are in His hand and nothing can snatch us out of our Father's hand. Rest in Him. Trust in Him today. He is being faithful. He was faithful throughout all of History and He's not going to stop now. :) Rest in Him and His promises. When you find yourself being swallowed up by the trials of this life, stop and hand them over to God. Once you do you will find that you can serve Him and others around you so much better, because you are not focusing on yourself or your situation. But instead you have handed your situation over to God and you can now be at peace and know that whatever happens will be in His plan and for His purpose and will bring Him more glory, which should bring us more joy.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Monday, August 01, 2011
God, waiting, and me
So often I fail to remember that God does answer prayer. And not just some prayers, but every prayer. Sometimes that answer is yes; sometimes it is no. And yet sometimes God asks us to wait patiently until He answers. I have never enjoyed the waiting stage. I think if people were honest with themselves everyone would say they don't truly enjoy the waiting stage. It is never easy to wait. It takes lots of faith and trust. And I have learned that it takes a lot of faith to believe that God will answer... He will one day give you a yes or no. Though it will not be in your timing--it hardly ever is--the answer will come at just the right time, God's timing in always perfect. I want to encourage each of you that are in that long, seemingly endless waiting period, that God is still good, He is still loving, and He is growing you throughout this time. He is building your faith, trust, and dependence on Him. And one day He will answer that ever clinging question.
I would say that the waiting time is also that greatest time for you to learn contentment. To be content where you are now in the waiting, but also to learn to be content with whatever answer God gives you. To learn that He may say yes, and learn to glorify Him in the good times, or that He may say no, and to learn to be content though it may be hard and know that God is giving you what is best for you and He is always being good and loving. I pray that each of us uses our waiting time though, to the glory of God. That we would continue to serve Him and others with joyful attitudes, knowing that God's will is being done and His purpose is being accomplished.
`Psalm 38:15
For I hope in You, O LORD; You will answer, I Lord my God.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
I would say that the waiting time is also that greatest time for you to learn contentment. To be content where you are now in the waiting, but also to learn to be content with whatever answer God gives you. To learn that He may say yes, and learn to glorify Him in the good times, or that He may say no, and to learn to be content though it may be hard and know that God is giving you what is best for you and He is always being good and loving. I pray that each of us uses our waiting time though, to the glory of God. That we would continue to serve Him and others with joyful attitudes, knowing that God's will is being done and His purpose is being accomplished.
`Psalm 38:15
For I hope in You, O LORD; You will answer, I Lord my God.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Friday, July 29, 2011
God, being a helpmate, and me
So today I finished Proverbs! :) And as most of you know when I say I finished proverbs today, that means I read Proverbs 31 today. I could not help but update my blog. :) Nothing fancy, but I want to walk you through my road down proverbs and show you how chapter 31 did I really good job of closing the book for me in one area.
All throughout Proverbs there are verses about wives... good, bad, or ugly.
You will need three definitions to get the full meaning of some of these verse (it tends to help me to have a definition instead of bringing my own presuppositions into the text)...
Discretion--the quality of being discreet, especially with the reference to one's own actions or speech.
Contentious--tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome.
Vexing--to irritate; annoy; provoke.
Okay, the first verse I want to take you to has nothing to do with being a wife in specific, but it does have something to do with being a godly woman.
`Proverbs 11:22
"As a ring of gold in a swine's snout so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion."
Knowing what to say or not say, knowing what to do or not do, being able to make wise choices throughout daily life, that is what makes a woman beautiful. So you can have all that worldly beauty there is and yet if you don't have discretion you are ugly. You are not a delight to be around (I mean really does a ring being in a pigs snout make you want to be around the pig anymore). So keep discretion in mind and let's move on to the wife verses, and obviously I have no experience in this field, but I did learn a lot from all of these verses. I think all woman can learn from these verses, whether they are single and preparing for marriage, married, or living the single life for God's glory. These are things we all need to be learning... to glorify God and look more like Christ daily.
`Proverbs 12:4
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones."
`Proverbs 31:11-12
"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life."
`Proverbs 31:28-29
"Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her saying: 'Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.'"
Instead of your husband dreading what you will say when he walks in the door, he will praise you all the day long. Your children and husband will bless you. You will be the proper helpmate and no longer a hindrance to your husbands ministry.
`Proverbs 31:30
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
All throughout Proverbs there are verses about wives... good, bad, or ugly.
You will need three definitions to get the full meaning of some of these verse (it tends to help me to have a definition instead of bringing my own presuppositions into the text)...
Discretion--the quality of being discreet, especially with the reference to one's own actions or speech.
Contentious--tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome.
Vexing--to irritate; annoy; provoke.
Okay, the first verse I want to take you to has nothing to do with being a wife in specific, but it does have something to do with being a godly woman.
`Proverbs 11:22
"As a ring of gold in a swine's snout so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion."
Knowing what to say or not say, knowing what to do or not do, being able to make wise choices throughout daily life, that is what makes a woman beautiful. So you can have all that worldly beauty there is and yet if you don't have discretion you are ugly. You are not a delight to be around (I mean really does a ring being in a pigs snout make you want to be around the pig anymore). So keep discretion in mind and let's move on to the wife verses, and obviously I have no experience in this field, but I did learn a lot from all of these verses. I think all woman can learn from these verses, whether they are single and preparing for marriage, married, or living the single life for God's glory. These are things we all need to be learning... to glorify God and look more like Christ daily.
`Proverbs 12:4
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones."
`Proverbs 19:13-14
"A foolish son is destruction to his father, and the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping. House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD."
`Proverbs 21:9
"It is better to live in a corner of a roof then in a house shared with a contentious woman."
`Proverbs 21:19
"It is better to live in a desert land then with a contentious and vexing woman." (OUCH!)
`Proverbs 27:15-16
"A constant dripping on a day of steady rain and a contentious woman are alike; he who would restrain her restrains the wind, and grasps oil with his right hand."
So, the contentious, vexing, annoying, argumentative woman is not a blessing to her husband (or anyone else). We need to throw these things from us... but we can't just put off, we have to be putting something one or else the old habits will just come back. So what do we need to be putting on? Let's go to scripture to find out.....
`Proverbs 31:26
"She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."
I only picked out one verse for this part because if you want to know more about what you should put on you can read proverbs to understand what wisdom is all about and throughout scripture we learn what a follower of Christ should look like. But this verse is such a contrast to the others. Instead of arguing and vexing we should instead be opening our mouths in wisdom and understanding and teaching kindness to those around us. Instead of arguing with those around us we need to have discretion about what to say or not say.
Now finally, here is your earthly reward for putting off your flesh and putting on Christ...
`Proverbs 31:11-12
"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life."
`Proverbs 31:28-29
"Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her saying: 'Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.'"
Instead of your husband dreading what you will say when he walks in the door, he will praise you all the day long. Your children and husband will bless you. You will be the proper helpmate and no longer a hindrance to your husbands ministry.
`Proverbs 18:22
"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD."
`Proverbs 31:30
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Friday, July 15, 2011
God, trials, and me
So I know when you probably saw the title of this one you probably thought, "Wow. What is she going to talk about this time?" But it is not going to be about the purpose of trials, because I think we all agree on that point. It is going to be about things I have seen going on around me that I find very convicting. Things that I see myself and others do every day and don't even think twice about it.
As Christian's I think we tend to walk through trials with the "If I can just get past this" mentality. This scares me. If we focus too much on getting past the trial then we aren't going to learn what God would teach us through the trial. Yes, I believe it is okay to look forward to getting past your valley of the shadow and onto the other side and to find hope in the fact that it is only a season of life, but we should not be living for that. We should be living to became more like God and right now you will became more like God by going through this trail. I see myself doing this often. And I have come to realize that as I focus on just getting past this I not only don't learn things that I should be learning throughout this time, but I also miss the small, every day blessings that God has surrounded me with. It is all about learning to be content. Realizing that if you are living for God and His glory, you should be fine with wherever you are, because He has deemed it BEST for you and it is what will make you look more like Him.
Past trials are the biggest help in present trials. As Christians we need to realize this. So often I see people going through a trial and once they get through it they just want to forget that is ever happened. It is too painful a memory to hang onto and it isn't at all a happy one. But if we forget all our past trials then we aren't going to learn the lesson that God is good--yesterday, today, and forever. We lose the yesterday and as a result we aren't sure if He is good today and who knows about forever. Instead of wishing away our past trials, we should be remembering God's grace and faithfulness to get us through those trials. If we remember that God is the only One that got us through that trial (and He was faithful to get us through it) then we will remember in our current trials that He will once again be faithful and get us through. Instead of looking at all the pain and hardship throughout the trial, look to the grace of God and the growth in yourself through that trial to motivate you to be content in the trials you are in today. Remember God's faithfulness yesterday in order to help you get through today.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
As Christian's I think we tend to walk through trials with the "If I can just get past this" mentality. This scares me. If we focus too much on getting past the trial then we aren't going to learn what God would teach us through the trial. Yes, I believe it is okay to look forward to getting past your valley of the shadow and onto the other side and to find hope in the fact that it is only a season of life, but we should not be living for that. We should be living to became more like God and right now you will became more like God by going through this trail. I see myself doing this often. And I have come to realize that as I focus on just getting past this I not only don't learn things that I should be learning throughout this time, but I also miss the small, every day blessings that God has surrounded me with. It is all about learning to be content. Realizing that if you are living for God and His glory, you should be fine with wherever you are, because He has deemed it BEST for you and it is what will make you look more like Him.
Past trials are the biggest help in present trials. As Christians we need to realize this. So often I see people going through a trial and once they get through it they just want to forget that is ever happened. It is too painful a memory to hang onto and it isn't at all a happy one. But if we forget all our past trials then we aren't going to learn the lesson that God is good--yesterday, today, and forever. We lose the yesterday and as a result we aren't sure if He is good today and who knows about forever. Instead of wishing away our past trials, we should be remembering God's grace and faithfulness to get us through those trials. If we remember that God is the only One that got us through that trial (and He was faithful to get us through it) then we will remember in our current trials that He will once again be faithful and get us through. Instead of looking at all the pain and hardship throughout the trial, look to the grace of God and the growth in yourself through that trial to motivate you to be content in the trials you are in today. Remember God's faithfulness yesterday in order to help you get through today.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Monday, July 04, 2011
God, planning, and me
So, I am a big planner! Anyone who knows me well knows I like to plan ahead. Now planning, I don't think, is not a bad thing in and of itself, but here is where I hit problems--when I plan and I'm unwilling to hand those plans over to God knowing that my plans may not be His plans. It's not an easy thing for me to make plans and then hand them over, knowing that they might not happen. It has been a long hard road learning this lesson, which is not yet learned to the fullest. So I have come across a lot of good verses in Proverbs and I thought I would put them all on here for any others out there that are also struggling with handing their plans over to God. Hopefully this encourages you and challenges you. :)
`Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and so not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
So, we need to trust in the Lord who knows everything and not on our own tiny little amount of knowledge... God knows all and He knows what will be best for us and He will make our path according to that. He will always give us what is good and best for us, even if it doesn't seem like it to us at the time (Ps. 84:11).
`Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
MacArthur says that, "the path of the believer is one of increasing light, just as a sunrise begins with the faint glow of dawn and proceeds to the splendor of noonday." I think this is such a cool verse. It paints a beautiful picture of the work of God along our path and how He is constantly molding us to look more like Him until the day we become completely like Him. We need to remember in the midst of planning that whether our plans go through and they are what is best for us, or whether God has other plans in mind that are better, either way He is going to continue His work in us until the day we are completely holy and righteous. That should be a great comfort to us. :)
`Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Sometimes our plan are not good for us and we can't see that, but God can. He sees the big picture and sometimes He is saving us from ourselves. You could think that whatever you are planning is even pleasing to the Lord and will bring Him more glory, but God knows all and He sees the end result and He knows what will bring Him the most glory. We have to trust that. When your plans change and your not sure why and it's really hard to trust right now, just remember that God knows best and He may indeed be saving you from the "way of death".
`Proverbs 16:1
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
Plan and simple--we can plan all we like, but in the end God is the one who decides.
`Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.
MacArthur says that commit means, "total trust and submission to the will of God." And if you trust and submit to Him with our works then our plans will be established, but MacArthur says that Solomon is talking about God fulling our "righteous plans" here. We really need to be first and foremost living for Him and daily learning to love Him more and become more like Him and not focusing on our plans. But this verse also got me to thinking, "Are my plans righteous? Am I planning them because I think they will bring God more glory or am I planning them with selfish motives?" You need to think through your plans and know the reason behind them. And even if you think that they are righteous and will honor God and bring Him more glory... they might in fact not and God will take us off the "way of death" and keep our path toward light and righteousness.
`Proverbs 16:9
The mind of a man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Plan and simple once again--we can plan all we like, but the LORD is the one that makes our path and chooses what direction we will go, what direction will bring Him the most glory. And if our focus is on bringing God more glory through our lives, then we should be content with where we are. If we are focused on God and not ourselves then we will have humble and content spirits knowing that God is receiving more glory from where we are in the moment... whether the sun in shining down on you or the road is marked with suffering, you will be content and joyful knowing that God is receiving more glory.
`Proverbs 16:25
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
So, this verse was already in Proverbs and I already posted it in the blog, but I thought I would do it again because it is good to be reminded. We often think we know best, but most times we in fact don't.
Hope that this encouraged, but also challenged you to be content with where you are now. There are more in the first few chapters in Proverbs, but these are my favorites and the ones that stuck out most to me. I hope you are blessed by this and I pray that the next time your plans change you would remember that God is in control and your "new path" may just be saving you from the "way of death" and it will bring God more glory, and I pray that you find joy in that fact.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
`Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and so not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
So, we need to trust in the Lord who knows everything and not on our own tiny little amount of knowledge... God knows all and He knows what will be best for us and He will make our path according to that. He will always give us what is good and best for us, even if it doesn't seem like it to us at the time (Ps. 84:11).
`Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
MacArthur says that, "the path of the believer is one of increasing light, just as a sunrise begins with the faint glow of dawn and proceeds to the splendor of noonday." I think this is such a cool verse. It paints a beautiful picture of the work of God along our path and how He is constantly molding us to look more like Him until the day we become completely like Him. We need to remember in the midst of planning that whether our plans go through and they are what is best for us, or whether God has other plans in mind that are better, either way He is going to continue His work in us until the day we are completely holy and righteous. That should be a great comfort to us. :)
`Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Sometimes our plan are not good for us and we can't see that, but God can. He sees the big picture and sometimes He is saving us from ourselves. You could think that whatever you are planning is even pleasing to the Lord and will bring Him more glory, but God knows all and He sees the end result and He knows what will bring Him the most glory. We have to trust that. When your plans change and your not sure why and it's really hard to trust right now, just remember that God knows best and He may indeed be saving you from the "way of death".
`Proverbs 16:1
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
Plan and simple--we can plan all we like, but in the end God is the one who decides.
`Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.
MacArthur says that commit means, "total trust and submission to the will of God." And if you trust and submit to Him with our works then our plans will be established, but MacArthur says that Solomon is talking about God fulling our "righteous plans" here. We really need to be first and foremost living for Him and daily learning to love Him more and become more like Him and not focusing on our plans. But this verse also got me to thinking, "Are my plans righteous? Am I planning them because I think they will bring God more glory or am I planning them with selfish motives?" You need to think through your plans and know the reason behind them. And even if you think that they are righteous and will honor God and bring Him more glory... they might in fact not and God will take us off the "way of death" and keep our path toward light and righteousness.
`Proverbs 16:9
The mind of a man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Plan and simple once again--we can plan all we like, but the LORD is the one that makes our path and chooses what direction we will go, what direction will bring Him the most glory. And if our focus is on bringing God more glory through our lives, then we should be content with where we are. If we are focused on God and not ourselves then we will have humble and content spirits knowing that God is receiving more glory from where we are in the moment... whether the sun in shining down on you or the road is marked with suffering, you will be content and joyful knowing that God is receiving more glory.
`Proverbs 16:25
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
So, this verse was already in Proverbs and I already posted it in the blog, but I thought I would do it again because it is good to be reminded. We often think we know best, but most times we in fact don't.
Hope that this encouraged, but also challenged you to be content with where you are now. There are more in the first few chapters in Proverbs, but these are my favorites and the ones that stuck out most to me. I hope you are blessed by this and I pray that the next time your plans change you would remember that God is in control and your "new path" may just be saving you from the "way of death" and it will bring God more glory, and I pray that you find joy in that fact.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Monday, June 20, 2011
God, wisdom, and me
So I have moved on to Proverbs in my quite time and I have really been enjoying it. Learning lots and lots. I went through it a long time ago, but had a hard time with it... I would get confused really easily. I never got that at some points wisdom is talking and that is why there is a "she" talking. ;) Anyways, that is just a side note. I have really enjoyed it this time around. :)
So today I was reading chapter 9 which is all about they way of wisdom and then the way of folly. The part that stuck out most to me in this passage is verse 8-9.
"Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning."
So, as I was meditating on this verse I realized that it is wisdom to not reprove a scoffer. He won't receive your words and will hate you for saying them. And in the end it may have hindered rather than helped. But a wise man will reprove another wise man. The wise man will listen to your words and not just blow you off. He will instead take what you say and look at himself to see it is a true, and if it is he will work to change it.
On the other hand, as I was meditating I started to think of this situation being reversed...
What if I am the one being reproved. Do I listen and increase my learning or do I hate the one who is showing me my fault? It is a hard and convicting question, but one worth thinking through. Am I wise and listen to reproof and try to change for the better or do I blow people off, thinking that I am better than them or despising them for pointing out things that I love in my life. It is a wise person that listens to other reproof and takes what they have said to check yourself. To see if you are really in the fault and what area of your life needs change. It is wise to listen to reproof and it will make you all the wiser if you do so. So which are you? Do you listen to reproof and use it as a chance to change for the better? Or do you hate and despise those who see fault in your life and don't think you are perfect? Do you hate those who reprove because you love what is in your life and don't what to change? We need to be changing for the glory of God. And if we are not open to others reproof of us then will we really be open to Gods....?
`Proverbs 3:11-12
MY son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
So today I was reading chapter 9 which is all about they way of wisdom and then the way of folly. The part that stuck out most to me in this passage is verse 8-9.
"Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning."
So, as I was meditating on this verse I realized that it is wisdom to not reprove a scoffer. He won't receive your words and will hate you for saying them. And in the end it may have hindered rather than helped. But a wise man will reprove another wise man. The wise man will listen to your words and not just blow you off. He will instead take what you say and look at himself to see it is a true, and if it is he will work to change it.
On the other hand, as I was meditating I started to think of this situation being reversed...
What if I am the one being reproved. Do I listen and increase my learning or do I hate the one who is showing me my fault? It is a hard and convicting question, but one worth thinking through. Am I wise and listen to reproof and try to change for the better or do I blow people off, thinking that I am better than them or despising them for pointing out things that I love in my life. It is a wise person that listens to other reproof and takes what they have said to check yourself. To see if you are really in the fault and what area of your life needs change. It is wise to listen to reproof and it will make you all the wiser if you do so. So which are you? Do you listen to reproof and use it as a chance to change for the better? Or do you hate and despise those who see fault in your life and don't think you are perfect? Do you hate those who reprove because you love what is in your life and don't what to change? We need to be changing for the glory of God. And if we are not open to others reproof of us then will we really be open to Gods....?
`Proverbs 3:11-12
MY son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
God, Content?, and me
So wow, we had our ladies community group tonight and my mom taught. It was so good and it was all about contentment. This is definitely the lesson God is teaching my right now because I am getting it hammered into me from all sides, but thankfully it is now to the point of learning to praise God fully during hard times, learning to be COMPLETELY joyous in Him and the fact that He is receiving more glory and I am becoming more like Him.
Tonight in our community group we talked about the lie women tell themselves about how if their situations were different, they would be different and more holy. Whether little things or big things, it is a game we ladies tend to play and it is a very dangerous game to get involved with. It starts so little, but can grow so fast. We doubt that God is good, we lose sight of the fact that each thing is making us more like Christ, we lose focus of God and starting looking to ourselves and what we think would be best for us right now--and soon we start to blame our circumstances for how we are responding. We start to blame God and say that if only He wasn't making us go through this right now we would be able to worship Him more. What a sinner I am! Think about it... if you weren't go through the hard thing right now, you WOULD NOT be worshiping God more--you would be learning better how to depend on yourself. It makes me think of Job (I just finished Job in my quiet time this morning) and how he went on and on about his situation and how he did nothing to deserve it and questioning why God was doing all of those things to him. We often ask why us. Funny thing is God never answers Job, and He usually doesn't answer us plainly either. He does these things to make us look more like Christ. We tend to play the "if" game way to often... and sometimes it may not seem like your if's are so bad... "If they would stop singing so loud I could worship Jesus more." "If they would stop asking me questions I could just get my quiet time done." "If they would be quiet for two seconds I could serve someone." and the thing is, none of these are truly bad until you look at the heart. We are looking at our situations and what is going on outside and not stopping to look at ourselves and how we are responding. We are not asking how God is working on is through this situation or how we can better show others Him--we our focused on ourselves again. At some point, we once again de-throned God and re-throned ourselves. God has really been showing me lately, that as hard as our situations and trials are sometimes, we should be praising Him for them, not fighting with all our might against them. God loves us enough to send trials our way so that we can look more like Christ. Which is the goal.... right? It should be. So instead of fighting our trials and raging against God and asking why, stop for a second and think of your life and how it would be without any trials. It might seem really nice for a few moments, but then you would start to realize that you would never grow, you would never learn, and you would not need God or depend on Him anymore. Trials lead us to God before we know Him, trials keep us focused on God once we know God, and trials lead us on the path to perfection up until the day we see God face to face.
Our perspective needs to change... we need to stop focusing on ourselves and focus on God, we need to stop looking at the here and now and look to the future prize. You have an opportunity to worship God and praise Him NOW in a different way than you will ever get again. We only have so many days on this earth, and none of us know how many that is... so don't spend the day complaining, being angry, or worrying... trust God, surrender yourself once again to Him and His will, and be joyous that the Creator of the universe LOVES YOU and is crafting you into a perfect tool for His use. :)
I was talking to a friend the other day and I told her to think of me as a bulldozer when I first became a believer and God wanted to shape me into a nail to be used for His glory...... that is a lot of chiseling that needs to be done. I personally want to get to be that nail for the glory of God. And the path is going to be hard and hurt and sometimes seem unending and pointless, but we have to keep our eyes fixed on the end goal. We have to keep our eyes fixed on becoming a nail--on becoming the perfect tool for our loving Lord, to bring Him the most glory. It isn't an easy process, but it is a good one. So I have one challenge... when life seems hard and unending, remember to stay focused on God and that fact that He is molding and shaping you. And remember that there is an end--one day you will be perfect and be praising God face to face. Jesus will return! So don't worry... trust.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Tonight in our community group we talked about the lie women tell themselves about how if their situations were different, they would be different and more holy. Whether little things or big things, it is a game we ladies tend to play and it is a very dangerous game to get involved with. It starts so little, but can grow so fast. We doubt that God is good, we lose sight of the fact that each thing is making us more like Christ, we lose focus of God and starting looking to ourselves and what we think would be best for us right now--and soon we start to blame our circumstances for how we are responding. We start to blame God and say that if only He wasn't making us go through this right now we would be able to worship Him more. What a sinner I am! Think about it... if you weren't go through the hard thing right now, you WOULD NOT be worshiping God more--you would be learning better how to depend on yourself. It makes me think of Job (I just finished Job in my quiet time this morning) and how he went on and on about his situation and how he did nothing to deserve it and questioning why God was doing all of those things to him. We often ask why us. Funny thing is God never answers Job, and He usually doesn't answer us plainly either. He does these things to make us look more like Christ. We tend to play the "if" game way to often... and sometimes it may not seem like your if's are so bad... "If they would stop singing so loud I could worship Jesus more." "If they would stop asking me questions I could just get my quiet time done." "If they would be quiet for two seconds I could serve someone." and the thing is, none of these are truly bad until you look at the heart. We are looking at our situations and what is going on outside and not stopping to look at ourselves and how we are responding. We are not asking how God is working on is through this situation or how we can better show others Him--we our focused on ourselves again. At some point, we once again de-throned God and re-throned ourselves. God has really been showing me lately, that as hard as our situations and trials are sometimes, we should be praising Him for them, not fighting with all our might against them. God loves us enough to send trials our way so that we can look more like Christ. Which is the goal.... right? It should be. So instead of fighting our trials and raging against God and asking why, stop for a second and think of your life and how it would be without any trials. It might seem really nice for a few moments, but then you would start to realize that you would never grow, you would never learn, and you would not need God or depend on Him anymore. Trials lead us to God before we know Him, trials keep us focused on God once we know God, and trials lead us on the path to perfection up until the day we see God face to face.
Our perspective needs to change... we need to stop focusing on ourselves and focus on God, we need to stop looking at the here and now and look to the future prize. You have an opportunity to worship God and praise Him NOW in a different way than you will ever get again. We only have so many days on this earth, and none of us know how many that is... so don't spend the day complaining, being angry, or worrying... trust God, surrender yourself once again to Him and His will, and be joyous that the Creator of the universe LOVES YOU and is crafting you into a perfect tool for His use. :)
I was talking to a friend the other day and I told her to think of me as a bulldozer when I first became a believer and God wanted to shape me into a nail to be used for His glory...... that is a lot of chiseling that needs to be done. I personally want to get to be that nail for the glory of God. And the path is going to be hard and hurt and sometimes seem unending and pointless, but we have to keep our eyes fixed on the end goal. We have to keep our eyes fixed on becoming a nail--on becoming the perfect tool for our loving Lord, to bring Him the most glory. It isn't an easy process, but it is a good one. So I have one challenge... when life seems hard and unending, remember to stay focused on God and that fact that He is molding and shaping you. And remember that there is an end--one day you will be perfect and be praising God face to face. Jesus will return! So don't worry... trust.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
God, Job, and me ~Part 3~
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.
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 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.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
God, His provision, and me
Okay, so I am done with Nehemiah and I have moved on to Ester! :) I was very excited to finally be at Ester in my venture through the Old Testament. I have always loved the story of Ester growing up, but it's been a while since I read it. Well, today I was reading chapter 2-3 and something really cool got me thinking. So I am going to share it with y'all. :)
`Ester 2:17
"The king loved Ester more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti."
So, Ester becomes queen--end of story, right... wrong. This is where you really start to see God at work in providing for the Jews. He has molded Ester for this her whole life, she is chosen as queen so that God can work through her for His glory. Cool, right? Well, the thing that really stuck out to me is Haman doesn't even decide to strike out against the Jews until chapter 3 verse 6...
"...therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who where throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus."
God was already preparing a way of escape for His people back in chapter 2 (and really way before that). Such a cool picture of how God knows all, before it happens, and He is protecting His people. It made me think of those people that say that God is just a really good chess player and just counter acts with what humans do. Well, this scripture clearly shows that God knows all before it happens. He had already made His counter move before Haman even started playing the game. Truly awesome to see our God at work--in the Bible and all around us. How He is working perfectly to bring Him more glory. :) Such comfort, knowing that He knows exactly what is not only going on in our lives today, but already knows about tomorrow and has that all planned out as well. He has every one of our days planned out perfectly, whether we have 20 or 20,000 left. He is protecting us from the bad and giving us all that is good for us... whether it seems good or not. Trust Him. He's got in all under control. He made you, He knows what is best for you, and He is protecting you from evil, before you even know there is evil sometimes.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
`Ester 2:17
"The king loved Ester more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti."
So, Ester becomes queen--end of story, right... wrong. This is where you really start to see God at work in providing for the Jews. He has molded Ester for this her whole life, she is chosen as queen so that God can work through her for His glory. Cool, right? Well, the thing that really stuck out to me is Haman doesn't even decide to strike out against the Jews until chapter 3 verse 6...
"...therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who where throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus."
God was already preparing a way of escape for His people back in chapter 2 (and really way before that). Such a cool picture of how God knows all, before it happens, and He is protecting His people. It made me think of those people that say that God is just a really good chess player and just counter acts with what humans do. Well, this scripture clearly shows that God knows all before it happens. He had already made His counter move before Haman even started playing the game. Truly awesome to see our God at work--in the Bible and all around us. How He is working perfectly to bring Him more glory. :) Such comfort, knowing that He knows exactly what is not only going on in our lives today, but already knows about tomorrow and has that all planned out as well. He has every one of our days planned out perfectly, whether we have 20 or 20,000 left. He is protecting us from the bad and giving us all that is good for us... whether it seems good or not. Trust Him. He's got in all under control. He made you, He knows what is best for you, and He is protecting you from evil, before you even know there is evil sometimes.
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
God, worship, and me
So, I am in Nehemiah during my quiet times and the other day I was reading chapter 8 and it really got me thinking the rest of the day. Chapter 8 of Nehemiah is about Ezra reading the Law to the people. Verse 5 and 6 say,
"Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground."
Wouldn't you have loved to be apart of this worship service? What a wonderful picture. :) Verse 3 says that Ezra was reading from early morning until midday, yet the people stood. This is such an amazing picture of the people praising and worshiping the Lord--shouting Amen and bowing low, faces to the ground and hands raised high. What if for one service we all stopped thinking about what other people will think of us if we raise our hand while singing before the Lord or say "Amen" out loud during the sermon. Who cares what they think... you are worshiping God Most High.
Later in the day I heard the song, "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe. The chorus goes like this...
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine, I can only imagine
I love this song because it gets me thinking about how awesome and holy our God truly is... what will we do when we are in His presence? Who knows, but I know one thing--it will be a perfect, awesome, God honoring worship service for the rest of eternity. I cannot wait. To worship God without your sin getting in the way. To stand before Him unashamed because Christ died for you. What will it be like to worship the one true God, surrounded by His glory, all of it? And then I started to think about this chunk of scripture--Isaiah 6:1-7. Take a moment and read this slowly. Let it all sink in and picture what Isaiah is trying to explain to us, and then imagine if you were Isaiah. Let this passage of scripture help you to stand in awe of God and who He is today.
"In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.' And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of his who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.' The one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.'"
Can you imagine?
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
"Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground."
Wouldn't you have loved to be apart of this worship service? What a wonderful picture. :) Verse 3 says that Ezra was reading from early morning until midday, yet the people stood. This is such an amazing picture of the people praising and worshiping the Lord--shouting Amen and bowing low, faces to the ground and hands raised high. What if for one service we all stopped thinking about what other people will think of us if we raise our hand while singing before the Lord or say "Amen" out loud during the sermon. Who cares what they think... you are worshiping God Most High.
Later in the day I heard the song, "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe. The chorus goes like this...
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine, I can only imagine
I love this song because it gets me thinking about how awesome and holy our God truly is... what will we do when we are in His presence? Who knows, but I know one thing--it will be a perfect, awesome, God honoring worship service for the rest of eternity. I cannot wait. To worship God without your sin getting in the way. To stand before Him unashamed because Christ died for you. What will it be like to worship the one true God, surrounded by His glory, all of it? And then I started to think about this chunk of scripture--Isaiah 6:1-7. Take a moment and read this slowly. Let it all sink in and picture what Isaiah is trying to explain to us, and then imagine if you were Isaiah. Let this passage of scripture help you to stand in awe of God and who He is today.
"In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.' And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of his who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.' The one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.'"
Can you imagine?
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Monday, April 18, 2011
God, our comfort, and me
Well, I was reading Psalm 23 this morning in my quiet time and it was one of those moments were you had to stop and ask God to help you learn something new. To help you not to just read the verses that you have read a million times before. To help you to stand in awe of Him just a little bit more because of what you read that morning. As I said, this was one of those mornings as I began to read Psalm 23. Memories of memorizing it as a kid and not really know what it meant ran through my head. So I decided to lay all of the memories aside and all of my presuppositions about these verses aside and try to read it like I am doing so for the very first time. So I am reading along and it isn't working too well because they are all just the same words (bad, right? we should always be able to come away with something new. it is God's word.). Well, then I start to read MacArthur's study notes... we by no means need study notes, we only need the written word of God, but in this case the notes helped me to look into the wording of one of the verse...
Verse 4 (one that has been used so many times) says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
So, I go down to the study notes and MacArthur starts to talk about how the rod and staff are means of protection and direction, respectively. It really got me to go back through the verse and think it through again, as I am going to do with you now. :) Let's start at the beginning...
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."
When things get hard, when everything around you is difficult, tough, demanding, testing, and challenging; that is when you are in your own "valley of the shadow of death".
"I fear no evil..."
So even when things are at what seems like the absolute worse, we are not to fear evil. Why? Let's continue...
"for (because) You are with me..."
We need not fear any evil because God is with us always. He is by our side through it all.
And now for the part that was so encouraging to me...
Verse 4 (one that has been used so many times) says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
So, I go down to the study notes and MacArthur starts to talk about how the rod and staff are means of protection and direction, respectively. It really got me to go back through the verse and think it through again, as I am going to do with you now. :) Let's start at the beginning...
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."
When things get hard, when everything around you is difficult, tough, demanding, testing, and challenging; that is when you are in your own "valley of the shadow of death".
"I fear no evil..."
So even when things are at what seems like the absolute worse, we are not to fear evil. Why? Let's continue...
"for (because) You are with me..."
We need not fear any evil because God is with us always. He is by our side through it all.
And now for the part that was so encouraging to me...
"Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
His rod is an instrument of protection. God protects us from evil and anything that is not good for us. So we need not fear walking through the valley of the shadow because God will protect us and it is good for us (Ps. 84:11).
His staff is an instrument of direction. He is leading us. He led us into the valley of the shadow of death for a reason, which should bring comfort in it's self. He is working in us through it all. But also, He is leading us now through that valley. We are not left to walk the journey alone, God is giving us the strength and the grace for every step.
This should be a great encouragement and comfort to believers. He is with us even when things are hard and testing; and He is protecting us and leading us through it all. What an awesome God, who only does what is absolute best for us, even if it is what is hard on us. He loves us enough to not leave us where we are. He is shaping us to look more like Him through every situation in life. It is all an instrument in His hand to future His work in us until the day it is made perfect. :)
I encourage you to look deeper into those verses you know by heart, but that maybe you don't know the proper context or maybe there is truth in there that you never knew before--a comforting or a challenging thought. Dig a little deeper in His word. It after all has all that we need to know about life and godliness. Don't just read over the passages you know by heart, or the ones that don't seem necessary (like genealogies). They are all profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
God, Sidewalk Prophets, and me
So, this update is nothing major, but I was listening to this song and it so made me re-focus on God and really what it means to give my life to Him wholly. Hope you enjoy.
You Can Have Me
If I saw You on the street
And You said come and follow me
But I had to give up everything
All I once held dear and all of my dreams
Would I love You enough to let go
Or would my love run dry
When You asked for my life
When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?
Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love, You can have me
You can have me
If You’re all You claim to be
Then I’m not losing anything
So I will crawl upon my knees
Just to know the joy of suffering
I will love You enough to let go
Lord, I give you my life
I give you my life
When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?
Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love, You can have me
You can have me
I want to be where You are
I’m running into Your arms
And I will never look back
So Jesus, here is my heart
Father of love, You can have me
My Father, my love
You can have me
~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.
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