I don't think there are enough hours this weekend to get everything done that I need to! So because of that, I am going to take a few minutes to blog. I know it doesn't fit but I want to put down something that I have had on my mind.
On Wednesday, I had a Bible study with a friend. We are working through Beth Moore's study on the Patriarchs. As we were watching the video, Beth said something that made me think. This past week's lesson was on Jacob/Esau, how Jacob took Esau's birthright and Jacob's encounter with an "angel". God chose Abraham to be the one that a great nation would come from and of course, it passed through Isaac and Jacob, his descendants. They were the beginning. What was interesting to me was the part where God divides the family. He allowed the brothers to be against each other and He chose one over the other. In Romans 9:13 the verse states, "As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." I believe in election, God chose us from the beginning, we are predestined to be His children. I have taken that to heart personally, but I never really thought about that in terms of the people in the Bible. This is the question that I thought of. Could I name one person in the Bible that just happened to turn to God? If you can think of one, let me know, because I could not. Some of the people we don't know about, their stories started when God is already a part of their life. The "characters" that I thought of were some of the "big" ones, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, the 12 disciples, and Paul. All of them were called and chosen by God to do His work. What really hit me was that I am in the same category as the people that God called in the Bible. I think of them as people that are amazing and that I couldn't even compare myself to them. But...He has called me, just like He did them. My life should reflect the same characteristics that they did. He had a reason for calling me, He has a purpose for me. I must follow His leading and bring Him glory. I have a story just like everyone in the Bible and I am grateful that He called me to be a part of it all!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Stolen
Wow, two posts in less than a day! This one was easy though. I read the Morning and Evening Devotional by Charles Spurgeon every day (at least most days). I am stealing this mornings reading to put on my blog. It hit home for me and I wanted to pass it on:
"The Lord is my portion, saith my soul." - Lamentations 3:24
It is not "The Lord is partly my portion," nor "The Lord is in my portion"; but he himself makes up the sum total of my soul's inheritance. Within the circumference of that circle lies all that we possess or desire. The Lord is my portion. Not his grace merely, nor his love, nor his covenant, but Jehovah himself. He has chosen us for his portion, and we have chosen him for ours. It is true that the Lord must first choose our inheritance for us, or else we shall never choose it for ourselves; but if we are really called according to the purpose of electing love, we can sing--
"Lov'd of my God for him again
With love intense I burn;
Chosen of him ere time began,
I choose him in return."
The Lord is our all-sufficient portion. God fills himself; and if God is all-sufficient in himself, he must be all- sufficient for us. It is not easy to satisfy man's desires. When he dreams that he is satisfied, anon he wakes to the perception that there is somewhat yet beyond, and straightway the horse-leech in his heart cries, "Give, give." But all that we can wish for is to be found in our divine portion, so that we ask, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Well may we "delight ourselves in the Lord" who makes us to drink of the river of his pleasures. Our faith stretches her wings and mounts like an eagle into the heaven of divine love as to her proper dwelling-place. "The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage." Let us rejoice in the Lord always; let us show to the world that we are a happy and a blessed people, and thus induce them to exclaim, "We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
May the Lord be all-sufficient for you today!!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Looking back/Thankful
I little over a week ago I decided to read my blog from beginning to end. I started with my first post and worked my way to the current one. Rule #1: don't do that right before going to bed. Rule #2: have Kleenex handy. Rule #3: there isn't one, three rules just sounds better. :)
I couldn't help but notice how much difference a year makes. Last year on November 2nd I wrote that it would have been six months since I married Jared. This year, I didn't realize that mark until I read it in my blog and that was about a week after the fact. I read all about last year's holidays/my sister's wedding. (This was the part where I needed to keep the Kleenex handy.) It was a difficult part to read, but I thought about the upcoming holidays and the pit in my stomach isn't there like it was last year. I am not dreading those "marked" days in November and December like I was last year. After reading it all, I realized how far I have come. I can live life. I can (I've been told this is risky to say) move on. I have done life for over a year now. I know I'm not completely healed (will I ever be?), nor will I ever forget Jared, but it was good to read the past, how far God has brought me and the things I have learned about Him. I was reminded about how faithful God has been to me. I shutter to think about where I would be without Him in this journey. I am thankful that He has sustained me and that my faith in Him is even stronger than ever. I understand more about His sovereignty in everything. Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. Psalm 135:6. That verse doesn't say whatever pleases His people, it says whatever pleases Him. I am thankful that I've seen His hand work so vividly in my life. I said that I wanted Jared's life and death to speak to people, I just wasn't expecting to be one of the ones that got a major talking to! :) I am thankful that I can say that everything God says about Himself in Scripture is true. He will never fail us!
This song was sung on Sunday and you should have seen the smile on my face as I sang it. It is exactly what I was feeling yesterday. The pain of the past year or so will be nothing compared to joy that we will have in glory!
Would you dare to believe that you still have a reason to sing, cause the pain that you've been feeling, can't compare to the joy that's coming. So hold on, you got to wait for light, press on, and just fight the good fight, cause the pain that you've been feeling, it is just the dark before the morning.
~ Before the Morning, Josh Wilson
As far as life in general, it is good. I have lots to do in the next week and a half before I go on my next vacation. I've had a few more things pop up in my life this past week or two. One that I think will be fine, we'll see, but I'm not worried about it. The other one I am working through and I am just trying to remind myself that God knows the steps that I need to take and rest in that. All is going pretty well in this girl's life, at least until the next change!
I couldn't help but notice how much difference a year makes. Last year on November 2nd I wrote that it would have been six months since I married Jared. This year, I didn't realize that mark until I read it in my blog and that was about a week after the fact. I read all about last year's holidays/my sister's wedding. (This was the part where I needed to keep the Kleenex handy.) It was a difficult part to read, but I thought about the upcoming holidays and the pit in my stomach isn't there like it was last year. I am not dreading those "marked" days in November and December like I was last year. After reading it all, I realized how far I have come. I can live life. I can (I've been told this is risky to say) move on. I have done life for over a year now. I know I'm not completely healed (will I ever be?), nor will I ever forget Jared, but it was good to read the past, how far God has brought me and the things I have learned about Him. I was reminded about how faithful God has been to me. I shutter to think about where I would be without Him in this journey. I am thankful that He has sustained me and that my faith in Him is even stronger than ever. I understand more about His sovereignty in everything. Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. Psalm 135:6. That verse doesn't say whatever pleases His people, it says whatever pleases Him. I am thankful that I've seen His hand work so vividly in my life. I said that I wanted Jared's life and death to speak to people, I just wasn't expecting to be one of the ones that got a major talking to! :) I am thankful that I can say that everything God says about Himself in Scripture is true. He will never fail us!
This song was sung on Sunday and you should have seen the smile on my face as I sang it. It is exactly what I was feeling yesterday. The pain of the past year or so will be nothing compared to joy that we will have in glory!
Would you dare to believe that you still have a reason to sing, cause the pain that you've been feeling, can't compare to the joy that's coming. So hold on, you got to wait for light, press on, and just fight the good fight, cause the pain that you've been feeling, it is just the dark before the morning.
~ Before the Morning, Josh Wilson
As far as life in general, it is good. I have lots to do in the next week and a half before I go on my next vacation. I've had a few more things pop up in my life this past week or two. One that I think will be fine, we'll see, but I'm not worried about it. The other one I am working through and I am just trying to remind myself that God knows the steps that I need to take and rest in that. All is going pretty well in this girl's life, at least until the next change!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Thursday afternoons
On Thursday afternoons, I have the privilege of teaching kindergarten boys. Today was the last day of the semester. I have consistently had about 7 boys attend the ASK (after school kids) program and I love them all. There are couple who are a bit more rambunctious then the others but that is what makes it fun, right?! For the past two weeks, they've been more wired than ever, and I have barely been able to get through the main points of the Bible story. I knew that today's lesson (God telling David that Solomon would build the temple) wouldn't hold their interest, so I chose to barely touch on it and then move onto review. This semester, the lessons were all about David. When I have asked in the past what they had learned, the usual answer is "about God". True, but more details, please! The next answer is usually Goliath, I know, surprise, surprise! This pattern held true again today. I felt like I was spinning my wheels with them and was getting a bit frustrated.......that was until we went to large group (singing, object lesson, and mini video skit) . I don't usually get to sit with my boys in large group because by the time I arrive, large group has already started and they sit in the front. I don't do the front. By the way, the schedule got flipped today, usually we have large group first and small group afterward, but today it was vice versa. I was so impressed with them, they sat still in large group!!! They participated in song time by doing all the hand motions and they were really quiet when the "Willy" video skit came on. I came to the conclusion that even if I don't get through the lesson, they are catching some of it in the large group time. Next semester I will try a few different tactics to get them to sit still in small group. However, I may try to be the person they have fun with and not be one more teacher who makes them sit still......again. I am going to miss my boys!
This is what I learned in the lesson today. Part of the reading was 1 Chronicles 29:10-13:
10So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, "Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
12"Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
13"Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
David was a great man of God. He had been told that he was not going to be the one who built the temple for God. Here he wanted to do something great for God, and he was shot down. I would have been disappointed, but he wasn't. Look at his response, he continued to give Him the glory, honor, and praise that the Lord deserves from all of us, no matter what the response that He gives us when we ask for things. Sometimes He says yes, sometimes no, and other times, wait. I hope I have David's response the next time God gives me a response that I don't really care for. :)
This is what I learned in the lesson today. Part of the reading was 1 Chronicles 29:10-13:
10So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, "Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
12"Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
13"Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
David was a great man of God. He had been told that he was not going to be the one who built the temple for God. Here he wanted to do something great for God, and he was shot down. I would have been disappointed, but he wasn't. Look at his response, he continued to give Him the glory, honor, and praise that the Lord deserves from all of us, no matter what the response that He gives us when we ask for things. Sometimes He says yes, sometimes no, and other times, wait. I hope I have David's response the next time God gives me a response that I don't really care for. :)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Struggles
This past week has been a struggle for me. I am finding myself very overwhelmed and just overall exhausted. I finally got a good nights sleep last night so hopefully I'm working on the exhausted part. I have so much work to do at my job that I don't really even know where to start. I know that taking a week off to go to New York was what God wanted me to do, but the work piled up while I was gone.
I'm struggling in a different area of my life too. I thought I had surrendered this struggle to the Lord a while back, but I have been convicted that I really haven't. I have had to give myself a pep talk and constantly remind myself that God is in control. There are probably things that He still needs to teach me and I just don't see it. I sometimes ask myself, "haven't I been refined enough for now?" I know, how silly of me to even think that.
Today, the verse that was on my daily calendar was this:
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
Psalm 130: 5-6
I read this verse in my devo this morning:
For I, the LORD, do not change. Malachi 3:6
I pray that I faithfully remember to wait because the Lord promises that He knows what is best for me, and His ways are the best....that will never change.
I'm struggling in a different area of my life too. I thought I had surrendered this struggle to the Lord a while back, but I have been convicted that I really haven't. I have had to give myself a pep talk and constantly remind myself that God is in control. There are probably things that He still needs to teach me and I just don't see it. I sometimes ask myself, "haven't I been refined enough for now?" I know, how silly of me to even think that.
Today, the verse that was on my daily calendar was this:
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
Psalm 130: 5-6
I read this verse in my devo this morning:
For I, the LORD, do not change. Malachi 3:6
I pray that I faithfully remember to wait because the Lord promises that He knows what is best for me, and His ways are the best....that will never change.
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