Anger and God

Every time you have a great "Ah-ha!" God-moment, Satan attacks with a great "Why?" moment.

There was a point earlier today where I learned an amazing lesson from God on answered prayer. And tonight? I'm sitting here in tears because I can't even make my kids the soup they want. They've been asking for minestrone with Italian sausage for several days and I'm more than willing in an attempt to get more vegetables down Elijah. I got as far as the sausage cooking and my lungs are closing in and burning something horrible. (It's like a couple of big brothers sitting on your chest.) Next we are suppose to boil carrots, onions, pepper and pasta among other ingredients. The vapor from the carrots alone has almost had me in the hospital before.

So right now, I'm trusting God to handle my hurt. He made me this way and allowed my body to react in this manner. I don't have to like it, but at least I'm comforted knowing I can go to Him with my frustrations, anger, and pain. What a blessing to know He can handle all things when I can not.

Forced Down Time

I'm looking forward to today! I have an appointment with Dr. Tamara at Internal Balance  - a true blessing from God - for a detox. I have no idea how long I'll be there, but it will be at least an hour and a half. Not only will I feel much better, but I get all that forced still-time to read my Bible.

What are some forced down times you look forward to, and for what reason?

See You Later!

You know one of the most comforting things about being a Christian here on earth is?

Knowing that we, as brothers and sisters, never truly say goodbye. It's just, "See you later!"

Tip’eret

Scripture can be very rich in imagery and replete with meaning, but we have two things working against our understanding of this: We aren't reading it in it's original language with the cultural understanding of the time, and we, as modern Christian's, tend to read through the Bible fast, often not bothering to find the connections and beauty. 

I'm very guilty of both. Not only am I clueless when it comes to Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, but too often also read through my Bible in record speed with a "checklist marked" mentality. The latter is more easily fixed, yet I want to do what I can about both.

A few years ago I was blessed to be able to purchase The Complete Word Study Dictionary OT/NT. I can now look up in-depth descriptions of Greek and Hebrew words and am even given derivations and etymologies of each word along with other linguistic goodies for geeks such as I. I have my moments. 

All this to say, I really took a piece of Scripture apart the other day. Now, I admit that I didn't go so far as to dissect each word and phrase. I did, however, read into the richer meanings of particular words in order to try and understand the beauty of this passage. I will let you read it first as translated in the HCSB - a version I have found to be surprisingly accurate. Then I will re-write it adding some of the imagery and nuance I discovered. I'm also going to try and steer away from "church-y" words since they have almost lost their meaning in the fact that we often can only define them with themselves. (Example: Praise and glory) I pray you enjoy this and are encouraged to start diving into Scripture a little more on your own.  Digest slowly- there are a lot of words!

(Click here to discover the meaning of today's title as well as a site to use on your own.)

For God is my witness, how I deeply miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:8-11

For the one, true God is my witness and record, how I intensely crave and greatly long after all of you with the essence of inward affection and tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 

And I ask God specifically for this: that your affection - your love feast of charity - will continue, in greater degree, to grow in excess with more than enough to spare, of a powerful and influential understanding which you strive for and for an ability to build upon the experiences and knowledge you acquired to figure out their complete sum.

This is so you can distinguish and prove whether all things are worthy or not, and also so you can be free from spot or blemish to such a degree as to be able to bear examination in the full splendor of the sun - not taking or giving offense and not stumbling or falling, figuratively speaking, in the day of Messiah.

And may you be crammed full with the end product of an ability conform to the state of all God commands or appoints when standing the test of His just judgement: This is only able to come to you by means of Jesus Christ, in order that the honor due to God's perfect opinion will be applauded.

Philippians 1:8-11

Here Goes Nothing

How did your nothing go? Mine was quite eventful. Three things came about from just trying to listen to God and not do all the talking.

The first thing was that I felt drawn to get back into His Word on a deeper level. Reading my Bible everyday has become a good routine, but it had replaced much of my digging deeper. I love to find a few verses, go back to the original Hebrew or Greek and pull each word apart to find the nuisance and beauty of each sentence. You'll see the results of that tomorrow...

Secondly, God proved Himself to me once again. There hadn't been any activity on our mission front for two months. The trip was certainly right and still going to happen, but nothing had come in to help fund it. I had begun planing how we could try to start saving up a little here and there, but was honestly struggling with it a bit. We've had several expenses pop up and were starting to get a bit strained. Praise God for Kevin's overtime right now even though it is very hard on him. He knows God has provided the extra work because we need it, but it's still hard to deal with.

Although I decided to start saving up, I felt led to spend some extra this week on someone else. It was a challenge for me to let go and expect God to just hand the money over. I never want to be considered a poor steward, lazy, or wasteful in His kingdom. Yet I came to the point where I laid it out and told Him I totally trusted Him to eventually bring it in.

This Sunday two people handed me envelopes with some cash for the trip. I'm so glad I listened. If not, I wouldn't have been able to bless the other person earlier. I truly believe, "I blessed, so He blessed".

The last thing the happened while practicing nothing threw me for a loop. I've been blessed to help lead a women's Wednesday morning Bible study at my church for the last three years, but there is one thing I've always wanted to do: Have the same study offered one evening during the week for those who work during the day. Because of Kevin's schedule I have the children alone in the evening and living a half hour away from church has made the opportunity almost impossible. They need to get in bed at a decent time and we've never been a family to plan a ton of activities for the kids. They like to just be home with free time.

However, before I knew it while listening to Him one day, I sent off the email I always wanted- "How many of you ladies would be interested?" What a response! God is certainly working in this area so what excuse do I have not to join Him? The one prayer request I have for you is in what to do with my kids. I know God will work it out - and there are a few options already - I just need to have the faith and trust that it will be for the best.

It amazes me how much God is trying to say to us, if only we take the time to really listen.
What is He saying to you?