My uncle was just commenting to me about how grateful he is for Psalms 23. When lying down at night, he thinks of how verse 2 says, "He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters."
"Wouldn't the meaning be so different if it said, ' He has me standing in green pastures'?" he said. "I'm so glad God lets us rest. He gives us plenty of good grass to eat, a calm cool breeze, and peaceful waters to drink from. He takes care of us and let's us lie down."
Yes, I agree. I'm grateful for the rest I get, but not as often as I should be. Think on this tonight as you go to bed. Thank Him for green pastures.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
God's Mr. Potato Head
I started thinking about the Church body the other day when talking to a friend. She felt like God was preparing her to move to another church in another city, and we were discussing some of the typical signs that go with that. It's a very fine line we walk at times between church hopping and listening for the Spirit at work in our lives. I know I've talked before about not moving around too much looking for just the right church. However, we also need to be willing to move to another church when the Lord calls us.
As I was discussing this with my husband, I suddenly thought of a great comparison:
We are the Church body, and we know Scripture says we are all parts of the same body with different gifts in order to work together for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 12) We need to be willing to do the tasks we are given and not try to do others. We need to be truly connected to the body, yet when God calls us somewhere, willing to go. Firm where we are, yet no set in stone.
We are all a part of God's Mr. Potato Heads.
Say each local church body is a Potato Head and we are the “accessories”. Until God pulls an arm, mustache, or fancy flowered hat off to fit on another Potato, we need to stay put. Otherwise the Body will be mismatched, silly, or just plain useless.
How is your Potato looking?
As I was discussing this with my husband, I suddenly thought of a great comparison:
We are the Church body, and we know Scripture says we are all parts of the same body with different gifts in order to work together for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 12) We need to be willing to do the tasks we are given and not try to do others. We need to be truly connected to the body, yet when God calls us somewhere, willing to go. Firm where we are, yet no set in stone.
We are all a part of God's Mr. Potato Heads.
Say each local church body is a Potato Head and we are the “accessories”. Until God pulls an arm, mustache, or fancy flowered hat off to fit on another Potato, we need to stay put. Otherwise the Body will be mismatched, silly, or just plain useless.
How is your Potato looking?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Hanging Out With God
This morning I was actually able to get up and have a quite breakfast – alone – and aimlessly read my Bible. I didn't realize how much I really missed it until I was in the midst of it.
I began wondering why we do that? It seems no matter how hard I try, and how close I may be getting to God, I suddenly find myself having gone three or four days without reading my Bible or actually listening to God and not just talking at Him. I've especially found it difficult as I've been writing this blog. I may be reading my Bible, talking, and even listening to God, but always through the eyes of what I can write about. Not that I think it's a bad thing, but I miss just hanging out with God at times. What a funny thing that we seem to be such creatures of habit, yet have such a difficult time holding onto the good ones.
My schedule has been up in the air lately, and I know that is part of the problem. My plan is to just snatch the little “down” times when I can.
Like now.
I began wondering why we do that? It seems no matter how hard I try, and how close I may be getting to God, I suddenly find myself having gone three or four days without reading my Bible or actually listening to God and not just talking at Him. I've especially found it difficult as I've been writing this blog. I may be reading my Bible, talking, and even listening to God, but always through the eyes of what I can write about. Not that I think it's a bad thing, but I miss just hanging out with God at times. What a funny thing that we seem to be such creatures of habit, yet have such a difficult time holding onto the good ones.
My schedule has been up in the air lately, and I know that is part of the problem. My plan is to just snatch the little “down” times when I can.
Like now.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Cowards
There is a word in the Bible that recently caught my attention.
The Greek word “delios”, means “to fear. Timid, fearful.” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament) This word is only used three times in the New Testament; Twice translated as fearful and once as coward. The first two times are talking about the same story in Matthew 8:26 and Mark 4:40.
“As he got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But He was sleeping. So the disciples came and woke Him up, saying, 'Lord, save us! We're going to die!' But He said to them, 'Why are you fearful, you of little faith?' Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm.” Matthew 8:23-27 (Emphasis mine)
I think we have all felt this way at times. We are following God's will when all of the sudden a storm will arise and we are crying out to Him to save us. There are times when we loose some of our nerve, and our faith may waver a bit. The point is that we aren't to remain in that state.
Something else I find interesting is, in order to be fearful or cowardly about something you have to believe. You can't be afraid of something you don't believe in. Think about it.
Now, with that in mind, we come to the verse which piqued my interest. Revelation 21:8 “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars – their share will be in the lake of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Emphasis mine.)
The cowards are not unbelievers. They are mentioned separately. Neither are they liars or people who let other things become their god. Who is this group then? I've come to think these are the people who live their life in fear. They believe in God and the may love Him, but their fear of what others may think, or of stepping out on a limb, outweighs their love. This, then, is their inheritance.
The disciples were described as having this kind of fear at one point, but they allowed the power of Christ to come through them and conquer it, and we can too. I can't imagine coming before the Creator of the universe at the Judgment seat expecting to hear, “Well done”, yet being called a coward and sent away from His presence for eternity. Let's be vigilant for ourselves and those around us.
The Greek word “delios”, means “to fear. Timid, fearful.” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament) This word is only used three times in the New Testament; Twice translated as fearful and once as coward. The first two times are talking about the same story in Matthew 8:26 and Mark 4:40.
“As he got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But He was sleeping. So the disciples came and woke Him up, saying, 'Lord, save us! We're going to die!' But He said to them, 'Why are you fearful, you of little faith?' Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm.” Matthew 8:23-27 (Emphasis mine)
I think we have all felt this way at times. We are following God's will when all of the sudden a storm will arise and we are crying out to Him to save us. There are times when we loose some of our nerve, and our faith may waver a bit. The point is that we aren't to remain in that state.
Something else I find interesting is, in order to be fearful or cowardly about something you have to believe. You can't be afraid of something you don't believe in. Think about it.
Now, with that in mind, we come to the verse which piqued my interest. Revelation 21:8 “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars – their share will be in the lake of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Emphasis mine.)
The cowards are not unbelievers. They are mentioned separately. Neither are they liars or people who let other things become their god. Who is this group then? I've come to think these are the people who live their life in fear. They believe in God and the may love Him, but their fear of what others may think, or of stepping out on a limb, outweighs their love. This, then, is their inheritance.
The disciples were described as having this kind of fear at one point, but they allowed the power of Christ to come through them and conquer it, and we can too. I can't imagine coming before the Creator of the universe at the Judgment seat expecting to hear, “Well done”, yet being called a coward and sent away from His presence for eternity. Let's be vigilant for ourselves and those around us.
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