02.12.10
Posted in General at 12:46 am by Sarah
I love learning, and it brings me so much excitement and joy to see how the Lord is working in my life and to understand what He is teaching me. It is very frustrating, though when I cannot see or understand what He is doing. It is encouraging to see growth, and when things continue in confusion I get bogged down with weariness and discouragement. When days and days go by with no answers to the questions that continually spin around my head, I begin to lose hope.
But I know that my God is a faithful God. He does not stop working in our lives, though sometimes it may seem like it. “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 encouraged my heart tonight: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Even though it is still my desire to see and understand what the Lord is trying to teach me, sometimes His ways are not clear. But if we knew everything, there would be no reason to trust Him. It is in the times of confusion and “silence” from the Lord that we must trust Him the most.
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02.09.10
Posted in General at 11:00 am by Sarah
I am learning to LISTEN to the LORD’s promises instead of drowning them out with the voice of my fears. Last night the Lord spoke peace to my heart while reading Psalm 11. The following is a personal paraphrase taken from this Psalm.
“In the LORD I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul,
‘Flee like a bird to this fortress or that
because of your deep fears and the attacks from the enemy.
All these things that you know now — your living situation, your job, the comfort of Greeley, leading Bible study, going to Thirst, close friendships — if all these things of comfort are removed or destroyed, what will you do?’
How can you say this to me when the LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; His eyes see, His eyelids test, the children of man! The LORD will punish the wicked, but the righteous shall see His face and dwell in His presence forever!”
How can we fear when we know and believe that God is on His throne in heaven and controls every detail of our lives? Instead of giving in to fears and Satan’s lies, LISTEN to the promises of our LORD!
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)
“For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” (Psalm 107:9)
“Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” (Psalm 34:9-10)
“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
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02.03.10
Posted in General at 11:59 am by Sarah
Recently I have just been realizing the sin of unwillingness in my heart. The attitude of the heart is revealed in both words and actions. It is in the heart that sin develops and grows. This morning as I journaled about my thoughts on this matter, I opened my Bible randomly (this is a quirk of mine – when I write, I flip my Bible open to use as a surface on my lap). I don’t usually look at where my Bible is open, but this morning after journaling I looked down and began reading in Jeremiah 3. God used this passage both to convict me and encourage me:
The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to Me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.” (vs. 6-10)
In this passage, we see two “people”: Israel and Judah. They were both living in sin, committing adultery – seeking satisfaction, fulfillment, love, wholeness in things other than the LORD who will graciously provide us with all things. The way the story starts out makes you think that Judah is less guilty. At least Judah tried to keep serving the LORD; Israel was just blatantly sinful. But with this mindset, verse 11 comes as a shock: “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.”
The point is that sin is sin. In fact, throughout the Bible the LORD speaks very strongly of appearing to be righteous (returning to the LORD in pretense) when we do have sin in our lives. He expects wholeheartedness. Sin is not to be taken lightly, and it is impossible to continue loving and serving Him with sin hidden in our hearts.
I have also been learning more about what it means to fear the LORD. Here in this passage we see that Judah did not fear the LORD. Why? Because they took their sin lightly. Instead of repenting of the sin in their lives and turning to the LORD in wholehearted worship and service, they tried to hide their sin and continue a “righteous” life. This does not work. A healthy fear of the LORD is understanding that He is a just God and has the power to eternally destroy us (and divorce us as He did with Israel – separating us from Him forever) because of our sin. But when we run to Him and find mercy and grace through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are saved from the punishment we deserve. As sinners who have been saved by a gracious God, we must return to Him and respond to Him knowing who He is.
“Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You, for You are the LORD our God.” (vs. 22)
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