Sunday, December 9, 2012

Dec 13-20


Monday: Genesis 49
Tuesday: 1 Samuel 20
Wednesday: Psalm 74
Thursday: Jeremiah 12
Friday: Ezekiel 6
Saturday: Matthew 14
Sunday: 1 Peter 5

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Genesis 49 Wow. All I can say is that being the mom of 4 growing boys, I have sympathy for Jacob and his wives. All these boys, all these personalities, strengths, weaknesses, challenges and idiosyncracies. The last time I read this my boys would have been too young for me to empathize so deeply, but now I can find both humor and sympathy in abundance. Oh Lord grant us patience and wisdom and grace to raise young men than will honor and desire all that you desire for them.

Unknown said...

1 Samuel 20. The ugly, festering disease of jealousy and bitterness that ate Saul alive. There is a root of this ugliness in me as well if I am honest. Nowhere near the point of hating someone or wanting someone dead, but just a real "you bug me so much I would just really like to knock you down a peg or two off your high horse" type mentality. Just having a really bad attitude towards the people in question and not wanting to not feel that way. Quite enjoying the feeling of judging them. This makes me sad that it is true, but it is true. I know that this is a root of sin that I have given a foothold in my life and so I confess it. Boyd Hopkins said that when you are not ready to let something go to ask God to make you willing. So I spent some time in prayer tonight asking God to make me truly repentant for these feelings, and truly desirous to be filled with His Holy Spirit. I have needed to confess and recieve deliverance in the area of this same relationship in the past, but old habits have sneaked back in and I find myself standing on familiar and not God honoring ground. The other people in question may have their weaknesses and faults, but that is not what this is about. If I was right with God then all would be right, no matter who they are or what they do. This is about my heart and my choosing to walk in the flesh or walk in deliverance.

Unknown said...

Psalm 74. I completely disagreed with something in my Bible notes today. It talked about God's patience enduring for generations but at last being set aside for judgement. And how if we persist in sinning against him, don't be surprised when his patience runs out.

I totally disagree with this. I have this wonderful book called "The Daily Discipler" by Neil Anderson. He outlines all the main doctrines/teachings of the christian faith over the course of one year, 5 readings per week. One section in there outlines the personality of God and how God is 100% of the qualities that He says He is. 100% love, 100% merciful, 100% Just. What that means is that when He exercises justice is not because His patience has run out. It's because He is 100% just. There is a big difference.

I am not a patient person. This is a quality I really need to grow in.

Unknown said...

"I knelt a long time, for I had much to offer up to God, and I placed before Him countless thoughts, so that He might winnow them like a thresher, leaving me the wheat and blowing away the chaff with the breath of His mercy."

from "I, Juan de Pareja"

This just totally resonated with me today, and was a reflection of my quiet time this morning. It warmed my heart like a cup of something steamy and delightful and just had to share.

blowing away the chaff with the breath of His mercy. *shivers*.

Unknown said...

Jeremiah 12.

wow. not exactly uplifting reading... I think the part that spoke to me the most was;

"if racing against mere men makes you tired how will you race against horses? if you stumble adn fall on open ground what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?"

this whole concept of being tested, learning discipline, being equipped for a race, a battle, for victory, however you want to look at it. How will we ever be prepared for the business of ruling the kingdom if we don't get stretched, tested, tried and prevail? In order to grow one must perforce experience growing pains. If we want to run with horses... animals of speed, might, glory... it's beautiful imagery.

Unknown said...

Ezekiel 6. I am so glad for my bible notes that brings some "hope" to the darkness and doom pictured in this chapter. "A ray of light appears in this prophecy of darkness- God would spare a small group, a remnant, of people but only after they had learned some hard lessons. God sometimes has to a break a person in order to bring him or her to true repentance. The people needed to change their attitudes but they wouldn't until God broke their hearts with humiliation, pain, suffering and defeat. Does your heart long for God enough to change those areas displeasing him? Or will God have to break your heart?"

I've been there and I'm sure I'll be there again. In a place of blindness, stubborness, pride... totally not getting what humility and grace and a heart of surrender looks like. for all I know I am there right now to a certain degree. It is so hard to see the callousness and the delusion of our own hearts. Indeed the heart is deceitful above all things and the enemy knows how to put his oar in and stir up the muddy waters as well. Someone told me recently "if my being broken brings me closer to God, bring on the brokeness." Profound, frightening, inspiring truth.

Denise said...

Ezekiel 6: 8-10
“A ray of light appears in this prophecy of darkness – God would spare a small group – a remnant – of people, but only after they had learned some hard lessons. God sometimes has to break a person in order to bring him or her to true repentance. The people needed to change their attitudes, but only after they had learned some hard lessons. God sometimes has to break a person in order to bring him or her to true repentance. The people needed to change their attitudes, but they wouldn’t until God broke their hearts with humiliation, pain, suffering, and defeat. Does your heart long for God enough to change those areas displeasing him? Or will God have to break your heart?”

Annette said...

Matthew 14
One of the things that struck me was Jesus' quick response to the disciples. When they saw him walking on the water they were afraid, but he spoke to them "at once" (v.24). Peter asked to let him walk on water, and Jesus said "yes, come" (v.29), but when Peter faltered, Jesus "immediately reached out and grabbed him"(v.31) Another thing that struck me was the compassion he had on the people. He healed the sick (v.14) and fed them (v.16-21). "All who touched him were healed." (v.36)

Unknown said...

matthew 15 notes "Seeking solitude was an important priority for Jesus. He made room in his busy schedule to be alone with the Father. Spending time with God in prayer nurtures a vital relationship with Him and equips us to meet life's challenges and struggles. Develop the discipline of spending some time alone with God. It will help you grow spiritually and become more and more like Christ."

Today is my day of solitude. My one saturday in four that I mark off on the calendar to retreat and find rest and peace in whatever ways I feel I need it. This morning that has meant sitting here in front of the window in the youth room with my bible and my coffee and time to reflect and listen and pray. This afternoon I will wander over to buy myself a bowl of wonton soup and then return to scrapbook or peruse my books or crash on the couch and watch a chick flick on my laptop. My word for 2012 came to me with force a month or so ago and there is no doubt that it is the quality I need to focus on pursuing in 2013.

Solitude. "Noun
The state or situation of being alone: an uninhabited place.
Synonyms
privacy - seclusion - isolation

beautiful words to a weary gal.