1 Corinthians 10:13
Based on the book 100 Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart by Robert J. Morgan
Sunday, January 29, 2012
100 Verses - Week 21
1 Corinthians 10:13
Based on the book 100 Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart by Robert J. Morgan
Sunday, January 22, 2012
100 Verses - Week 20 - The Hardest Verse of All
The verses for this week are probably going to be a huge sigh of relief for most long time Christians. My guess would be that next to John 3:16, this weeks 2 verse passage is probably one of the most well-known, commonly quoted passages of all of scripture. If you have not yourself recited it, I would be surprised if you didn't have it quoted to you or at least hear it said at some point and time in your own personal Walk of Faith.So other than the probable slight difference in the translation that we've been using, I am figuring that most of you will read the passage with a huge sigh of relief and mentally check your memory verses for this next week off your list. You might consider it a great week for catching up on verses from previous weeks in the Challenge. Woot! Woot! You've got this.
As for me, meditating on this week's passage is going to be tough. When I look at it, I see simple "kingdom math" - a + b = c, kind of stuff, the classic if/ then scenario. It's truth, and it sounds so simple, but I personally find myself in the thick of begging God to prove it true in my life, and I find myself waiting. I have confidence it will prove true, I just don't know when.
This week's verses:
and do not rely on your own understanding.
Think about Him in all your ways,
and He will guide you on the right paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
I trust the Lord, with all my heart. I take Him at His word, completely. I know if He said, He will surely do it, God is not a man that He should lie. God has proven Himself trustworthy to me, time and time again. So often it doesn't make sense to me, but I trust Him more than I trust me anyway. Too much flesh and emotion in the human psyche, including mine. I do think about Him all the time, in everything I do. He is the filter I run everything through. I'm constantly thinking about Him, and about how He feels about the things I do and the things I say. I seek His wisdom and direction constantly. I do my best (which of course in my humanness always falls short) to follow the three commands before the promise in this passage of scripture.
But I am waiting on the promise. I am waiting for the direction. I'm not seeing it, I'm not hearing it, but I am waiting for it. Right now I find myself feeling completely lost. I don't know where God wants me, or what He wants me to be doing. I feel adrift. I don't know where Go wants me to serve or how. I feel like I am supposed to know and make a decision, and I am terrified of finding myself in a place I don't belong for another ten years (even a year is too long.) I know my gifts, and I can find no place for them. I don't know what God wants me to do with the blog, I don't know what God wants me to do with my book. The speaking opportunity I have been praying for finally presents itself and then He tells me to say "no." I suppose that was "directing me on a right path." But the right path still feels like a whole lot of limbo, and I have been in limbo for a very long time, and the path ahead, looks like a whole lot more.
...He will guide you on the right paths. It's truth. But it isn't easy. This kingdom math is actually a lot like "kingdom algebra." There are a lot of unknowns in this equation. My heart aches at the difficulty of the problem. But as it says in the Psalms, "Whom have I in heaven BUT You, Lord?"
I'm going to be soaking the verse in this week. I'm going to believe and hold to it in faith, and hope for the day to soon come when the promise it holds is fulfilled in my life, in Jesus' name.
The 100 Verse Challenge is based on Robert J. Morgan's book 100 Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Hard Questions
Am I the only one who wants to demand an answer of God sometimes? The question may vary, but the attitude is the same, "Please Lord, ANSWER ME!"
Why?
When?
How?
So many different questions, but the heart behind it is the same, "Lord, I want some assurance, I want some encouragement, direction, insight, help..." I want something from You!
Sometimes the questions are big, "Why did He die Lord? He was so young, had so much to offer, had so much potential..." Sometimes not so much so, "Why Lord did the car have to break down today?"
"When" is my question often. "When Lord will the reaping season begin?" "When will I see answers to my prayers, hopes, dreams, aspirations...??" There are big "when's" too, "When will my loved one see their need for You?" "When will you return?" "When will suffering end?" "When will Your will be done on earth?"
"How" I find to often be a constant question. It's behind all the why's and when's, even when it isn't spoken. "How are we going to come up with the money to pay for the new tire?" "How is God ever going to get through to him?" "God, how will You ever answer my prayer?"
There is an accusation, albeit probably unintentional, in practically all of these questions. It says, "I don't trust You, God." For people of faith, that's a hard reality to wrestle with. Where is our faith and confidence in the God we proclaim to worship. Because the fact of the matter is, if we don't believe He has the power, ability, compassion, concern, desire to care for our needs, then why would we worship Him anyway?
Now make no mistake, I'm not talking about some "concession" God, enter prayer/ out comes the answer, but what I am saying is, when we DON'T get the answers to the questions we are answering, we need to check our hearts, and see if our faith is in the answers or in God! When we questions His actions (or lack of them) we need to be careful we don't allow it to accuse His character. We need to, with purpose, remember to take our eyes off of our circumstances and put them on our God. We have to remember WHO He is, and we we need to answer the "why's," "when's" and "how's" with the Who.
Do you know WHO God is?
Do you know He is the One who is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?
Do you know He is the One Who is faithful and just to forgive of us of all our sins? (Through Christ)
Do you know He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift?
Do you know He is the Lover of your soul?
Do you know He is the Author and Finisher of your faith?
And as such He is far more concerned with revealing Himself to you than He is with proving Himself to you.
So let me encourage you, next time you find yourself asking the hard questions, look for the One who is the answer, rather than the answers themselves.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD...
Jeremiah 29:11-14
(emphaisis mine)
Why?
When?
How?
So many different questions, but the heart behind it is the same, "Lord, I want some assurance, I want some encouragement, direction, insight, help..." I want something from You!
Sometimes the questions are big, "Why did He die Lord? He was so young, had so much to offer, had so much potential..." Sometimes not so much so, "Why Lord did the car have to break down today?"
"When" is my question often. "When Lord will the reaping season begin?" "When will I see answers to my prayers, hopes, dreams, aspirations...??" There are big "when's" too, "When will my loved one see their need for You?" "When will you return?" "When will suffering end?" "When will Your will be done on earth?"
"How" I find to often be a constant question. It's behind all the why's and when's, even when it isn't spoken. "How are we going to come up with the money to pay for the new tire?" "How is God ever going to get through to him?" "God, how will You ever answer my prayer?"
There is an accusation, albeit probably unintentional, in practically all of these questions. It says, "I don't trust You, God." For people of faith, that's a hard reality to wrestle with. Where is our faith and confidence in the God we proclaim to worship. Because the fact of the matter is, if we don't believe He has the power, ability, compassion, concern, desire to care for our needs, then why would we worship Him anyway?
Now make no mistake, I'm not talking about some "concession" God, enter prayer/ out comes the answer, but what I am saying is, when we DON'T get the answers to the questions we are answering, we need to check our hearts, and see if our faith is in the answers or in God! When we questions His actions (or lack of them) we need to be careful we don't allow it to accuse His character. We need to, with purpose, remember to take our eyes off of our circumstances and put them on our God. We have to remember WHO He is, and we we need to answer the "why's," "when's" and "how's" with the Who.
Do you know WHO God is?
Do you know He is the One who is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?
Do you know He is the One Who is faithful and just to forgive of us of all our sins? (Through Christ)
Do you know He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift?
Do you know He is the Lover of your soul?
Do you know He is the Author and Finisher of your faith?
And as such He is far more concerned with revealing Himself to you than He is with proving Himself to you.
So let me encourage you, next time you find yourself asking the hard questions, look for the One who is the answer, rather than the answers themselves.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
(emphaisis mine)
Monday, January 16, 2012
VLOG - 39 Years, 50 Million Dead
This is my first ever "vlog" or video blog, and honestly, I have to say, I could make a list of a thousand reasons why (aesthetically) not to post it, but the message is more important than the messenger.
I hope you will overlook the videos shortcomings and hear the heart behind it.
I hope you will overlook the videos shortcomings and hear the heart behind it.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
100 Verses - Week 19
This week is going to be one of the more "challenging" weeks of the Challenge. It's one of the rare weeks where we have THREE verses, but we're on our 19th - that's NINETEENTH - week of our challenge, and I have full confidence that you can rise to the... well, Challenge! So I hope you all feel up to it and are ready for this week. So we are continuing in 100 Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart in the section titled: "Promises: Verses to Stand On." Check out Robert J. Morgan's website, he has the book on sale and has updated the website as well. He has a new devotional available based on his "Then Sings My Soul" series, you might want to check that out.
I'm going to be honest, I am behind in reading the commentary about the verses in the book, but "commentary" is a far second to the verses themselves, so give thanks to the Lord, I'm going to be short and sweet and straight to the point, here are your THREE memory verses for week 19:
Verse 1:
Jeremiah 29:11
Verse 2:
1 John 1:7
Verse 3:
1 John 1:9
OK, there's lots of memorizing to work on this week, so you better get to it!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Intimate God
How do you picture God?
Do you imagine Him far off and distant? Uninterested in your daily life? Do you picture Him as the the Great Disciplinarian? Watching over you angrily, waiting for you to make a mistake so He can being down His holy hammer and punish you? Think a moment about that one. When something goes wrong, do you immediately assume it's because He is displeased with you? The car breaks down because you forgot to write your tithe check? Sickness comes because you aren't faithful enough in your prayers?
Maybe you think He isn't interested in the little details of your life. He's too busy concerning Himself with war and famine and "important issues" to pay any mind to what concerns you. Hard hearted and official? Like a bean counter for eternity, a naughty and nice list for heaven? How do you see Him?
When my oldest child was a toddler I used to pray about how to make God real to my son. One of the things I find hardest as a parent is passing on the "reality" of faith, the tangible sense of knowing God. Jacob used to carry around this little green frog with him. It was not bigger than a quarter, and he LOVED it. Needless to say, it was easily misplaced. One day Jake was beside himself after having lost it. The "thought" occurred to me, we should pray to find it. So we did. He stood before me as I sat on the couch and we bowed our heads and prayed together, he asked God to help him find his "froggie." After our "Amens" I lifted my head and looked across the room. I saw a glint of green that caught my eye. I walked across the room and found the frog wedged between our other couch and the end table. Froggie was added to the list, he "once was lost and now was found."
Sincerely though, it was a beginning, God revealed Himself not only to Jacob but to me. He cared enough about Jake's little heart to help us find it. Not because it was important, but because it mattered to Jake. And Jake matters to God. In the sixteen some years since then, we've prayed for many lost things. Just last year we went over to a friend's house and found her keys for her after they had been missing for a day and a half. We drove over and found them literally within minutes. I believe the lesson for me was if I would listen, God would lead.
That's an important lesson, and one God simplified in little things, so that I would have confidence to listen to Him in bigger and much more difficult tasks. I could dismiss the "still small voice" or I could train myself to listen, and learn to respond in faith.
That's how this blog was started. After a very difficult season of not being able to serve in my gifts, I was hurting and frustrated, and crying out before the Lord. It was alone in a hotel room at a women's retreat that I heard Him whisper, "write." Then He spoke to the heart of a trusted friend who knew nothing of what I had thought I'd heard, and praying for me, she felt she heard God encourage her to exhort me to "blog." It was a confirmation, and it was the direction I asked for, because when God said, "write," I asked "write what?" He answered.
Does that sound nuts to you? It shouldn't. The Bible says, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27) The Lord still speaks. He told us to follow Him,and so He leads. The Holy Spirit lives INSIDE of believers! I don't believe He lives there silently. In fact I wonder how often the still small voice goes unnoticed.
I've noticed alot lately how noisy and busy life has become these days. "Still" and "quiet" are words that only describe the dead these days. TV's, iPods, laptops, smart phones- often all at once. Even as I sit here now typing this on my laptop, the TV is on, I keep checking Facebook and Twitter and text messages. I don't fully focus one thing, much less fully focus on Him. I think about how often my husband sit in a restaurant at dinner both fiddling on our phones while we "talk." Facebook, Words With Friends, the "net," all distracting our focus- we barely focus on each other and we're sitting there face to face- how much harder is it to focus on the Lord?
I've been working a lot to still my heart and my mind, taking quiet walks with the Lord, trying to listen. I've stopped taking my phone in my room at night, I don't go and retrieve it in the morning until I have spent time reading the Word. Even still, I find my mind running a thousand directions. I know in my spirit, the Lord is calling me to come, to be still, to listen for His voice. Why? Because he cares about the things that concern me... because He cares about me.
But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself
him who is godly;
The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
Psalm 4:3-4
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Psalm 46:10-11
Selah is a musical term, it is a rest, a break. I believe it is made in anticipation of what is coming next. Like a gasp of air before submerging under water, it is a gasp for the breath of life before entering fully into Him. Perhaps? Could it be like the whispered beckon. God is our refuge, breathe deep, enter in. And listen for your Shepherd's voice.
Do you imagine Him far off and distant? Uninterested in your daily life? Do you picture Him as the the Great Disciplinarian? Watching over you angrily, waiting for you to make a mistake so He can being down His holy hammer and punish you? Think a moment about that one. When something goes wrong, do you immediately assume it's because He is displeased with you? The car breaks down because you forgot to write your tithe check? Sickness comes because you aren't faithful enough in your prayers?
Maybe you think He isn't interested in the little details of your life. He's too busy concerning Himself with war and famine and "important issues" to pay any mind to what concerns you. Hard hearted and official? Like a bean counter for eternity, a naughty and nice list for heaven? How do you see Him?
When my oldest child was a toddler I used to pray about how to make God real to my son. One of the things I find hardest as a parent is passing on the "reality" of faith, the tangible sense of knowing God. Jacob used to carry around this little green frog with him. It was not bigger than a quarter, and he LOVED it. Needless to say, it was easily misplaced. One day Jake was beside himself after having lost it. The "thought" occurred to me, we should pray to find it. So we did. He stood before me as I sat on the couch and we bowed our heads and prayed together, he asked God to help him find his "froggie." After our "Amens" I lifted my head and looked across the room. I saw a glint of green that caught my eye. I walked across the room and found the frog wedged between our other couch and the end table. Froggie was added to the list, he "once was lost and now was found."
Sincerely though, it was a beginning, God revealed Himself not only to Jacob but to me. He cared enough about Jake's little heart to help us find it. Not because it was important, but because it mattered to Jake. And Jake matters to God. In the sixteen some years since then, we've prayed for many lost things. Just last year we went over to a friend's house and found her keys for her after they had been missing for a day and a half. We drove over and found them literally within minutes. I believe the lesson for me was if I would listen, God would lead.
That's an important lesson, and one God simplified in little things, so that I would have confidence to listen to Him in bigger and much more difficult tasks. I could dismiss the "still small voice" or I could train myself to listen, and learn to respond in faith.
That's how this blog was started. After a very difficult season of not being able to serve in my gifts, I was hurting and frustrated, and crying out before the Lord. It was alone in a hotel room at a women's retreat that I heard Him whisper, "write." Then He spoke to the heart of a trusted friend who knew nothing of what I had thought I'd heard, and praying for me, she felt she heard God encourage her to exhort me to "blog." It was a confirmation, and it was the direction I asked for, because when God said, "write," I asked "write what?" He answered.
Does that sound nuts to you? It shouldn't. The Bible says, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27) The Lord still speaks. He told us to follow Him,and so He leads. The Holy Spirit lives INSIDE of believers! I don't believe He lives there silently. In fact I wonder how often the still small voice goes unnoticed.
I've noticed alot lately how noisy and busy life has become these days. "Still" and "quiet" are words that only describe the dead these days. TV's, iPods, laptops, smart phones- often all at once. Even as I sit here now typing this on my laptop, the TV is on, I keep checking Facebook and Twitter and text messages. I don't fully focus one thing, much less fully focus on Him. I think about how often my husband sit in a restaurant at dinner both fiddling on our phones while we "talk." Facebook, Words With Friends, the "net," all distracting our focus- we barely focus on each other and we're sitting there face to face- how much harder is it to focus on the Lord?
I've been working a lot to still my heart and my mind, taking quiet walks with the Lord, trying to listen. I've stopped taking my phone in my room at night, I don't go and retrieve it in the morning until I have spent time reading the Word. Even still, I find my mind running a thousand directions. I know in my spirit, the Lord is calling me to come, to be still, to listen for His voice. Why? Because he cares about the things that concern me... because He cares about me.
him who is godly;
The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
Psalm 4:3-4
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Psalm 46:10-11
Selah is a musical term, it is a rest, a break. I believe it is made in anticipation of what is coming next. Like a gasp of air before submerging under water, it is a gasp for the breath of life before entering fully into Him. Perhaps? Could it be like the whispered beckon. God is our refuge, breathe deep, enter in. And listen for your Shepherd's voice.
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