You know all your mistakes? Forget them. It is really all about God

2 Samuel 7
“ ‘THE LORD DECLARES TO YOU THAT THE Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me[b] ; your throne will be established forever.’ ” 

Today,  I was whining about how I do so many things wrong.  About this and that getting messed up.  How could I have done things differently? What did I do wrong? Continually paying I will do it better next time.

Then I read my devotion for the day.  In it David had wanted to honor God by building Him a temple.  God said NO! HE HAD OTHER PLANS! HE DIDN'T NEED DAVID TO BUILD HIM A TEMPLE. This was a different answer than usual David..."a man after God's own heart." God took care of David. Reassured him when things went wrong. Disciplined him when he made wrong choices. God already had plans for a temple and He didn't need David to jump ahead of them. 

In fact, God had even bigger and better plans. He sent the Saviour through David's lineage. He even told David about this ahead of time.  

Everything David did to try and prove his love for God,  was nothing compared to the love God was trying to show him. We, just like David, need to learn to accept God's love. We need to bask in the glow of it.  We need to focus on His love and not what we can do for Him! 

Father,  please help me to look to you every second. None of my choices are good if they aren't made with you.  Nothing I do will benefit me or your kingdom,  if it isn't done because of your love and through your love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

Genesis

I read Genesis chapters 37 & 38 today. Oh my! What a messy account of human sin. Genesis 1 starts with God and His great crayon and then add man. At first it is paradise, then man decides to sin and everything is changed for all of human history. No more Garden of Eden. No more walks in the garden with God. Humans have to toil and struggle. The first murder happens. Lying, cheating, stealing, prostitution, adultery, polygamy, more murder, and on and on and on! And I am only referring to Genesis right now!

Genesis is the first book in the Bible. The Bible is God's word to us. Yet, it is full of awful events and happening. Aren't you wondering why an all knowing, all powerful, God would let this happen and even worse put it all down in writing in His holy book?

He does it because He is all knowing and all powerful and He wants us to see that even though we mess things up, He still has a plan and His plan still wins in the end...no matter how messy we humans make it along the way. In the end, God wins! What is the end?

Well, God's end game, also in the Holy scriptures asking with the messy (and true) stuff, is the account of Jesus. He comes to the earth as a baby. Grows up and teaches us a deeper understanding of God...deeper than the ten commandments, The Law, and then gives His life on the cross as a substitute for the punishment we deserved for our sins. God raises Him from the dead, and now He is heaven. He sits at the right hand of God and INTERCEDEs for us when we ask for forgiveness, because we don't really deserve forgiveness do we? You don't have to look at Genesis to see the wrong we all do every day. God is holy and cannot tolerate unholiness (that is sin and that is all of us since the first sin). So, we only get to heaven through the work of Christ! Jesus Christ sits on His throne and covers all of our sin so that God can allow us in heaven when we die on this earth.

Having said all that, the connection between Genesis and Jesus is...   those people whose sins are documented in the Old Testament? The human part of Jesus blood line is in those people! In Genesis, we find the history of Jesus mother's family, His history, our history!

God had a plan. It might take thousands of years before we see the end game, but He has a plan, and His plans always happen even with sinful, human beings such as ourselves!

Father, thank you that you sent your son so that we can have forgiveness for our sins and spend eternity in heaven with a loving Father who will work for 1,000s of years, if that is what it takes, to help us. Thank you for loving us!

God's promises

Genesis 12
1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a] 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[b]

14When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. 17But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. 

In verses 1-3, God promises to Abraham (Abram) that He will make a great nation from him. That he will be a blessing to many and his name will be great. 

I am not sure that Abraham envisioned the same thing God did. After all, it took 2000 years for this promise to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is from the lineage of Abraham. Would you have thought it would never happen in your life time if God promises you this? I think I would have thought  Abraham would see it in his lifetime, but he didn't. The complete fulfillment of this promise (Jesus Christ) took nearly 2000 years!

Yet God was not quiet during those 2000 years. He protected Abraham and his family  and descendants time and time again. In fact, in verses 14-20 above, Abraham decides to protect himself; he decides he should lie about Sarah (Sarai) and say she is his sister. Then Pharaoh puts her in his Haram! Really? Abraham just went from God telling him He would bless him to Abraham basically prostituting his wife in order to save his own skin!

Maybe there is more to the story. Maybe pharaoh hadn't slept with Sarah yet as they usually have months of beauty treatments before going to Pharaoh (see the book of Esther). I really hope she was still in beauty treatments. Still, what guy would do that to his wife? How could Abraham have forgotten so quickly the promises of God? Did he think he needed to help God with theses promises and take matters in to his own hands? Would you have done what Abraham did if you feared for your life?

Well, God didn't leave Abraham to wallow in his mistakes. He takes care of the mess Abraham got Sarah into. He sends a plague on Pharaoh's household. Pharaoh returns Sarah to Abraham with lots of gifts to get them out of Egypt!

No matter what, God has made us a promise (the promise He made to Abraham)...He sent His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins. The Son who was of the lineage of Abraham! So that when we mess up (i.e. when Abraham gives his wife away, when I pass judgment on Abraham, etc.), God has allowed our mistakes to be completely washed away through Jesus Christ. What a great gift! What a great promise! God did not forget His promise. He just did it when the time was right...not when Abraham thought He should do it. 

We all need to learn to be patient and wait on God's timing!

Father, thank you that you are always watching out for us and preparing the road for our future. May we continually seek your guidance so that we follow your perfect path and not our imperfect and sinful path! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

The Tower of Bable is confusing on multiple levels!

Genesis 11
3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves;otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9THAT IS WHY IT WAS CALLED BABEL[c] —BECAUSE THERE THE LORD CONFUSED THE LANGUAGE OF THE WHOLE WORLD. FROM THERE THE Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. 

Everytime I read this passage I wonder why God did this. Was He afraid the human race would get all the way to heaven with the tower? Was He afraid these people would overrun heaven? Could they have possibly made it all the way to heaven anyway?  I wonder about all these things and then ask, in prayer, for guidance and understanding concerning this confusing passage. I know God puts everything in the Bible for a reason, I just needed to understand why He would destroy a project that everyone was working on together. Why He would say He didn't want them to make it to heaven?

Today, my prayer for understanding was answered. I started my devotions this morning and all they talked about was how God confused the people's speech so that they would focus on Him, not themselves. Well, that confused me, too! What a confusing morning! Where did they get the idea that these people were focusing on themselves? So, I reread the passages. Sure enough, there it was:

Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; 

There it was. It had snuck up on me. I had never noticed it before. In one sentence, the people, who were products of the flood and knew God's power and might...and His dislike for sin, sinned. They wanted to make a name for themselves so they would be glorified. It was all about them. If it is all about them, it is not about God, is it. So, God scattered them. He didn't scatter them to be mean of for some unknown reason. He scattered them in order to help them rely on Him, the all-knowing all-powerful God, instead of themselves.

It is amazing to me how one minute, I, too, am focusing on God and praising Him and the next minute I am clearly focusing on me and what would make me happy. So, I don't need to worry how the people of Babel forgot about God so quickly and focused on glorifying themselves...I do it all the time, too.

Father, please help me focus on and glorify only you and you alone...not me. Help me to rely on your wisdom, not mine. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Ready for a new start with a fresh outlook on life?

Read this!

http://shereadstruth.com/2016/01/01/the-creation-the-fall/

Or go to hereadstruth.com for the guys version!

Mary did you know?

Great message from John MacArthur  http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/80-152

Below is an excerpt from John MacArthur''s sermon, The True Christmas. This is where he talks about how Mary has become an idol to some religions. It starts with Mary's Magnificat in Luke 2. This is her praising and worshiping God. He then explains how religions have started worshiping Mary instead of God and why worshipping Mary, instead of Christ, has become a common, yet incorrect, practice today. 

My family and I were just talking about the difference between protestantism and catholicism. So this is very interesting...post a comment as to what you think if you disagree and why. 

"But only in the sense that he derived his human nature from her.  She bore the human being who was God incarnate. Unfortunately, many have perverted that reality into developing the worship of Mary as somehow contributing to the divinity of Jesus Christ.  That has become, historically a major separation between the Roman Catholic church and Protestantism.  And Roman Catholicism, in all candor and in all honestly, Roman Catholicism all over the world is a Mary cult, largely.  It is devoted to worshiping Mary.

In fact, in many case, you will find Jesus is somewhat incidental and Mary is the main figure.  And this is because the Roman Catholic Church has decreed the following doctrines as having always been true of Mary, and there are five of them.  These are unalterable, fixed, unchanging doctrines in the Roman Catholic Church and here are the five that related to Mary.  

Number one is called the immaculate conception of Mary.  It doesn’t mean that she immaculately conceived Jesus Christ.  It means that she was immaculately conceived by her mother, thus making Mary free from original sin. The immaculate conception has not to do with the birth of Christ, it has to do with the birth of Mary.  

The second doctrine the Roman Catholic Church decreed is the sinlessness of Mary, that she lived her entire life and never sinned. 

The third doctrine is the perpetual virginity of Mary, that is that she never knew a man all her life long.  She was a perpetual virgin, thus preserving in their system something of the singular purity and untouched character of Mary. 

Fourthly, the Roman Catholic Church has determined the doctrine and they call it the assumption of Mary, or the bodily ascension of Mary into heaven. 

Fifthly, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that when Mary assumed her place into heaven, when she ascended into heaven, she was coroneted as the queen of heaven.  A position of sovereignty and a position of authority, and in all honesty, in the Catholic system, Jesus himself is put in a position, on occasion to be appealing to his sovereign mother.  

So the Roman Catholic church came up with these doctrines.  The immaculate conception of Mary that is she is free from original sin, her sinlessness throughout her life, her perpetual virginity.  Her bodily assumption into heaven.  She is coroneted as the queen of heaven and the result of that kind of concocted theology is the Mary cult that is at the core of worldwide Romanism.  You see idols and shrines to Mary all over the world, in every church, in every cathedral, in homes, rooms, restaurants, hotels, businesses along the roads, the highways and the footpaths, Mary is worshiped.

And you may not know this, but Rome has even said, that when Gabriel came and announced to Mary that she would bear the Lord, that she would bear the son of the most high, that she would bear the savior, the angel was only asking of this could happen.  He was submitting to her authority, and Roman Catholic theologians say that he was asking her permission that this could happen and that she gave her permission when she said, in verse 38, “Behold the bond slave of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”  They interpret that as saying, Mary said you have my permission.  

So the whole redemptive plan rested then on Mary’s authority and Mary’s agreement and her command back to the angel set redemption in motion.  Now all of that presents a convoluted and perverse picture of Mary, and as a result does inestimable damage to the psalm.  And to an understanding of worship, because of that’s true of Mary then she is not the worshiper, she is the object of worship.  If she is a sinless being who never died, who is a sovereign in heaven, who had to give permission to Gabriel to do the redemptive plan, to carry it out, then this is something quite different than a worshipper.  

But in this hymn (the Magnificate in Luke 2), Mary is not the worshipped, Mary is the worshiper. It is a hymn of worship from Mary to God. And in it is such beauty and such magnificence that it can be looked at as a diamond with many facets and flashing brilliance on many different fronts."

Praise God

Psalm 98:1-9
1Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 
2The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. 
 3He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;  
5make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, 
6with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the Lord, the King. 
7Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 
8Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; 
9let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Why is the psalmist praising God? Do you praise God all the time for everything He does?  I know I don't. I wish I did, and to be perfectly honest, I don't even remember to think about Him in everything I do most of the time.  I just do things in my wisdom! Ouch! Like my wisdom is better than God's?

Oh sure, sometimes, I think, "Wow! That was a God thing!"  However, most times, I just think, "Okay that is done. Now on to the next task! " I think it is sad that I plow through my day doing all the things I think need to be done without consulting God or praising Him for all the things that turned out good today.  Maybe I don't consult Him every minute because I already prayed in the morning for everything and everyone, so I feel confident everything is covered. Well, that might be true, as I trust God answers the prayers that are asked according to His will.

However,  God is our Father. He wants a relationship with us. Not just a few minutes in the morning and evening.  Moreover, things will happen during the day that need His all knowing guidance and wisdom. 

I wonder what my day would be like if I included God in every tiny and big decision?  I wonder if I would be in awe of everything He does for me and everyone else then.  Instead I give pathetic thanks for some little things whuch I know He has answered my prayers for, but there are big and little things I know He is doing throughout the whole day.  I can't even bring them to mind when I want to because I don't think about them at all. 

I need to think about the things the Lord does all around me. Father please help me do that,  so that I can give you thanks, the glory, and honest praise all the time.  In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen

Psalm 103:1-19
1Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 7He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: 8The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 14for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 15The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; 16the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 17But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children 
18with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 19The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 20Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22PRAISE THE LORD, ALL HIS WORKS EVERYWHERE IN HIS DOMINION. PRAISE THE Lord, my soul.

This Psalm is about God's love for us,  His forgiveness of our sins, His mercies, and it praises Him for all of that!  Praise Him!  He should be glorified for all that He continually does for us (Jesus, the Holy Spirit). Yet the one thing that really stuck out for me today, through the Holy Spirit's prompting, is that OUR faithfulness will be with our children's children! 

How wonderful is that.  Everything may not go perfectly in our life and the lives of our children, and the lives of our grandchildren,  but our faithfulness, as imperfect as it is, will be with our children and grandchildren also!  

How comforting that is for me!

Father,  thank you for our children, their spouses, our grandchildren, and beyond.  Thank you that you will take the things we do for your glory, as imperfect as they are, and pass them down to generations after us.  Please keep our children and their spouses, grandchildren and  their future spouses close to you no matter what happens on this earth.  In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.

The Valley of Vision

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, You have brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see You in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Your glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Your stars shine; let me find Your light in my darkness, Your life in my death, Your joy in my sorrow, Your grace in my sin, Your riches in my poverty, Your glory in my valley.

---

Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett. Reformatted and updated in today's language by Eternal Life Ministries.

What a great perspective!  We should always look up! Some days are just depressing, and we can't figure out why we should be at peace and joyful,  even though yesterday we were. Those are the days to hold onto Christ, to look up from the valley and see Him even as we struggle. 

Father, please help me to get out of myself and look to you. Keep Satan's machinations far from me and my family and friends and the church. Help me to speak up for you when I should and to rely on you constantly! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

Look to the sky

Lamentations 3:22-24
22Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 

The Lord's great love is new every morning. Great is His faithfulness! I have heard those many times! Now, I know exactly where these praises come from, Lamentations. 

Lamentations is a book in the Bible in which the writer "laments" over all their problems and the unfairness of life.  Yet, through it all, the writer sees God, the maker of the universe!  He looks at the stars that twinkle at night, the sun that warms us during the day, the wind that cools our skin or warns us of impending storms,  the rain that replenishes the ground. None of these are by accident. They are all created by God, who cares for us...He gives us beauty, warmth, comfort, refreshment.

If you want to know if there is a god, if you want to know if there is a god up there caring for us, if you want to know there is a reason for you being here, look to the sky and behold His wonderful beauty and caring for us. 

Father,  thank you for loving us and showing that through creation. In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen

Why am I angry?

I woke up this morning in a rather foul mood.  I can't explain it. Things are bothering me that didn't bother me yesterday,  and they were still the same yesterday as they are today.  I was fine with some issues that I knew I couldn't resolve and needed to be patient for God to resolve. Today, I am angry and bitter about them. What happened to the peace I had yesterday?

I am worried about things. I am thinking about how I feel.  I am tired and ready to plop down on the sofa and be a couch potato and not do anything. I don't want to talk to people right now even though I know I should be sharing the love of Christ to everyone all the. How can I do that when I don't feel very loving? What is going on with me?

I know what is wronng with me...I am focused on me.  I should be focused on God! As soon as I start looking inward instead of upward, life starts to suck! I read these verses this morning, and they are screaming about where I should be focused!

Isaiah 6:1-3
1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

 Isaiah 57:15
15For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

God is holy. So holy that the word "holy" is repeated three times. Some say it is repeated three times  because of the trinity. Either way, God is perfect and has a perfect, loving plan for me and everyone else.  This gives me reason to be happy.  I am the lowly that God will revive and He will revive my dead and bitter heart if I an contrite...sorry I have taken control from Him...sorry for only focusing on me.

Father,  please,  please, help me to stay focused on you, not me!  In Jesus' Christ name I pray.  Amen

Be still my soul

From shereadstruth.com on November 11, 2015

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. -Psalm 37:7 

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! -Psalm 46:10

The old hymn: Be Still My Soul 
words by Ka­tha­ri­na A. von Schle­gel, 1752 trans by Jane L. Borth­wick, 1855 

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; 
In every change, He faithful will remain. 
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend 
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. 

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake 
To guide the future, as He has the past. 
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still
know 
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below. 

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart, 
And all is darkened in the vale of tears, Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, 
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears. 
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay 
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief and fear are gone, 
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past 
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last. 

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise 
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high; Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye. 
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Open your Bible

Isaiah 40:8
8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
Psalm 119:105:112
105Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 106I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. 107I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word. 108Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. 109Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. 110The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. 111Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.[a]

The word of God. That is the Bible.  People ask,  why do you read it? How do you know it is God's Word? Why should I believe anything it says? Because the the Bible says it?  How can it confirm its own self?

All good questions! I believe the Bible is God's word, because it says so. That is true. I am able to believe that because when I read it and study it, my cares become less worrisome, I feel joy, I feel peace.  Can I explain that? The only thing that explains it is: it has to be God speaking through these words! How else could YOU explain it?

Let's talk about the authenticity of the Bible. We know that many of the original scrolls that the Bible is based on have been found, so we can confirm they exist. Archaeological digs also confirm many of the cities and happenings mentioned in the Bible. So, we have confirmation for the Bible just like we would for any book of research we believe!

You've heard it said, the Bible is God-breathed. God told the writers what to say. Then you ask how can I trust that? How do I KNOW these words were written just as God wanted them to be written? I can only answer that you have to believe.

You think, how can I believe if I don't have proof...except the proof of the Bible?  That is a circular issue; you have to accept the Bible to believe, you have to believe to accept the Bible as God's inspired word? Well, my only answer is...

What if you pray about it? Read the Bible and pray about it! See what happens. See if the words make you feel better; see if the words don't give you something to think about; see if the words make you rethink things; see if the words give you wisdom in this crazy world, see if you are more joyful and at peace after you have read it than before. Just try it! How about it?

Want to know the answer to all your problems?

What do you do when everything is going wrong?  What do you do when you realize toy made a huge mistake and you wish it could be hidden, but it has come to light? What do you do when you accidentally screw something up and it doesn't seem fixable? 

Proverbs 3:5-6
5Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.[a] 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  

We should head straight to God...pray! Praying is talking to God. Talk to Him. Admit what you have done. Ask what you should do about it from this point on. Ask for forgiveness for anything you might have done wrong, even accidentally. Trusst in the Lord.

He will make your paths straight.  If you trust God, pray, ask for guidance,ask for forgiveness, you will find a peace you didn't know you could have. You will be quietly joyful among the turmoil.  You will confidently know what to do, or not to do, next. 

The inverse of the problem?  Next time, before you speak or do anything, pray about it first and wait for an answer. Then act, or not. That is what Proverbs 3:5-6 is trying to say. It doesn't mean once you mess up, everything will be okay if you pray THEN. It means you pray FIRST, then act. That is the best way to live this life. Then you will be joyful, at peace with your decisions, and loving to others. However, if you pray last, well, you have some forgiveness you will need to request from God and you may have some issues in your life that have gone differently than if you had prayed first and only acted on the results of your prayers, but you will get through it still. And you will get through it in peace once you are in pray and aligning your actions with what God is leading to you to do from this point forward.

Father help us to wait on you prayerfully, to trust you will help us through everything, and to make our paths straight through your guidance and wisdom, not ours.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.

Rest!

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OPEN YOUR BIBLE LAUNCH-WEEK SAMPLER: DAY 5

Rest in Truth

by AMANDA BIBLE WILLIAMS

TODAY'S TEXT: ISAIAH 40:28-31, PSALM 119:114, MATTHEW 11:28-30, LUKE 10:38-42

Text: Isaiah 40:28-31, Psalm 119:114, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 10:38-42

The following is an excerpt from Week 5 of Open Your Bible: God’s Word is for You and for Now, a 7-session group Bible study written by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams of She Reads Truth, in partnership with LifeWay.

My mom used to wake us up with pots and pans.

My brother and I would be sleeping soundly in our respective rooms, ignoring our alarms and Mom’s best efforts to lure us out of bed to get dressed for school. Eventually, up the stairs she’d come, banging a wooden spoon on a steel pot or metal pan or whatever was handy in the kitchen, a big grin on her face. She knew to relish moments like those.

Evidently rest was not a challenge for me when I was younger, no matter how loud life got. It came more naturally and more soundly, regularly and effectively pushing aside the activities and cares of life to make space for quiet and being.

Tack on twenty years and rest has taken on unicorn status. It is glorious and beautiful, but rare (almost fictional!). When it finds me, I know it in an instant. Like seeing a stranger walk into a family reunion, moments of true rest are recognizable not because they are familiar but precisely because they aren’t. In our days packed to the brim with running and doing and striving, pockets of rest feel so out of place they can make us—runners and doers and strivers that we are—feel out of sorts. It’s those moments of rest that jar us awake to the good stuff, that allow our hearts to come up for air and stir our curiosity toward God and our questions of faith.

>>>OPEN YOUR BIBLE and readMatthew 11:28-30. Rest doesn’t have to have unicorn status. Jesus promises to give it to us! What instructions does Jesus give for finding rest?

Speaking as the girl who still struggles to wake in the morning (though now from sleeping too little instead of too soundly), I’m uncomfortable with rest because it means loosening my grip. It means slowing my feet and temporarily, or even permanently, forfeiting my plans. Rest begs me to relinquish control—to cease striving and commence trusting. These reasons are precisely why rest is so key to our call to abide in God and His Word.

Mary of Bethany is my favorite example of a rest-er in Scripture. While her sister Martha (bless her!) was scurrying around the house, doing what needed to be done, Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet. She ceased readying her home, readying herself, she even ceased serving Jesus for the opportunity to sit with Jesus.

>>>OPEN YOUR BIBLE to Luke 10:38-42 and read the story for yourself. Do you see yourself more in Mary or Martha? Why so?

What does Jesus say to Martha? See verses 41-42.

Those things Martha busied herself with were good, even commendable, but only one thing was truly necessary—to sit at the feet of the Savior. Those other things were important, but listening to Jesus’ words wasurgent.

When I need written permission to rest in the presence of the Lord, I go to the Psalms. Those poems are like a permanent hall pass when I’m overwhelmed, a doctor’s note to skip class when all my papers are overdue.

>>> OPEN YOUR BIBLE and readPsalm 119:114:

You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.

The Hebrew words here for “shelter” and “shield” mean exactly that—a covering, a defense. The Psalmist runs to Scripture for cover! It is his best defense! God’s Word calls us to trust Him by setting our striving aside and acknowledging Him as our haven. Psalm 91 follows suit, calling the Lord a refuge and fortress: “He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings” (v. 4).

Be still. Stop. Sit with me awhile,we hear the Father say. And when we do? “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). When we rest in Him, our rest becomes our strength.

Friends, there is nothing we can do with our efforts that our almighty God cannot do by His Word. Likewise, there is nothing you or I can do to negate the truth of His Word. We cannot make it more true, we cannot make it less true. No, our job is to rest here in its truth.

Tonight my mom came to visit (I haven’t seen her bang any pots or pans lately, but she’s still a champ at relishing). When it came time for her to leave, I watched as the taillights of her car meandered down our gravel driveway. A flicker in the distance caught my eye—countless fireflies dotting the dark treeline along the creek. They looked choreographed yet whimsical, like strings of Christmas lights in July.

I stopped to watch, and I stayed awhile—no running, no doing, no striving. Just resting. It was one of the most beautiful and productive parts of my day.

This is an excerpt from Open Your Bible: God’s Word is for You and for Now, a 7-session group Bible study written by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams of She Reads Truth, in partnership with LifeWay. To purchase Open Your Bible for individual or group study (and receive FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING and a beautiful, free journal with purchase through Nov 30!), visitlifeway.com/openyourbible.

• 

  JennyBC

  5 hours ago

  I so enjoy starting my day in the Word instead of starting my mental to-do list. Rest seems illusion to me during the daytime. I sleep well but the endless stream of chores constantly calls my name. The ability to stop and savor a moment, gain a needed insight, truly listen to a friend (or be heard myself) is a gift. Lord, today let me practice resting in You instead forging ahead with the busyness that distracts me from more important things.

  REPLY
• 

  Heather C

  6 hours ago

  This life can be exhausting, can’t it? We spend so much time “doing” that we forget we are human “beings”. Let this be your invitation to rest…

  “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.

  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)

  Here’s the thing about eagles… as birds go, eagles’ wings are big, but the muscles that make them flap aren’t. Pound for pound, an eagle’s strength is no match for the strength of a hummingbird. The strength of eagles is not in their flapping but in their soaring. An eagle will perch high atop a canyon below. When the rising wind is just right, the eagle will fold its wings to its sides, literally cast itself into the chasm and plummet into the abyss. Then… when the speed is just right… the bird will spread its wings, catch the thermals, rise up into the sky and soar.

  What a beautiful picture of hoping in God! Through no strength of our own, we cast ourselves upon Him, fall into His mercy and soar on His promises. Our strength comes from trusting and soaring, not flapping and working. It takes courage to just let go. Our temptation is to frantically beat our wings and try to keep ourselves from falling when it seems like the bottom has dropped out from under us… but if we will wait on the Lord, our weakness (which honestly, is all our efforts amount to) will be exchanged for His strength, and He will become the wind beneath our wings, help us to rise above the circumstances that threaten to keep us grounded.

  I don’t know about you, but I want to soar. Here’s to the wind beneath our wings – Jesus. Have a great day! <3

  REPLY
• 

  ~ B ~

  6 hours ago

  This was perfect for me today. Upon waking each day, I feel as if I could have slept for many more hours and often immediately think to going to bed early in the coming evening. Today was one of those mornings, but as I sit here taking in each word, I listen to the rain hitting the tin cover on a window, the steady beat of the clock to my side and the quiet of a dark morning. These words make me stop and appreciate the symphony that is upon me this morning as all others still sleep. And it softens my heart to a request my teen daughter had yesterday and reminds me of what is most important. I’ll start by saying her best friend attends college about three hours from here and my Bella was missing her so after asking first, she booked her own bus ticket and headed north to see her. When my girl came home, not only did I hear all about the time with her friend, but I also heard her say multiple times how nice the bus ride was. She stated that she got to see so much of the state while listening to her favorite music and that the forced down time was really good for her. An understanding that I don’t think many teens connect with. Back to her request. Saturdays are, of late, really busy days for me and there is no real flexibility with them. This Saturday among the busiest. Yesterday my Bella asked, “Mom, could we wake early together and go somewhere to watch the sunrise?”, but my head was stuck in tasks and I reminded her that there was much to do that day, immediately her head nodded and she said, “You’re right. It’s too much” and she gave a disappointed smirk and walked away. My heart hurts to recall her expression and this has an idea brewing for me because these ideas valuable to encourage. Just the other day we were in the car and I was admiring the amazing sunset and said, “Bella, no matter how many sunsets you see, there are two that”, “are never the same” she chimed in. She finished my sentence. The girl gets it and I need to share that with her. Thank you for reminding me that resting in God’s word, God’s creation and in our days is imperative. That if I’m not doing that, I’m not teaching my children to do that and then we are all missing the cross. We are fluttering about looking for relief when it’s always right in front of us. Our resting place, no matter how tired, how worn or how stressed is the feet of Jesus.

  Prayerful that today I remember this. That today as I move through the day I desire to be a Mary, I want to see Jesus sitting, calling me to Him because only one thing is important and I want the good portion! ~ B

  REPLY
  • 

    ~ B ~

    In response to ~ B ~ 5 hours ago

    I have to add, I took “resting in truth” to a whole new level today, I literally forgot to wake my people up. 20 minutes later than normal. Whoops! :) ~ B

    REPLY

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OPEN YOUR BIBLE LAUNCH-WEEK SAMPLER: DAY 4  

Apply Truth Appropriately