There was a time in my life, which when I think about it actually wasn't that long ago, when reading the Bible, the inspired Word of God always seemed like it was such a chore, like it was just hard work and would never really get much out of it. Occassionally I would pick up a revelation but most of the time I was doing it because I felt that I had to.
I could spend ages listening to worship music and just being before God in His presence and worshipping Him but as soon as I picked up the Bible it seemed to become boring... reading the Bible was such an effort for me.
I don't know if anyone else feels like this sometimes... or is it just me??
I would try to make it enjoyable with a nice hot cuppa or lighting some candles and it would help to make me feel good but I still wasn't really getting much out of it.
However, during the past year or so, I seriously haven't been able to live without God's Word in my life every single day. I don't know what changed or how it changed or what I did... perhaps it is just that I feel like I have more time and I don't need to rush... or that I pushed through without giving up... whatever it is, it is GOOD!!
I read something in the notes section of my Bible today which really spoke to me about how important God's Word is for our lives...
The Word of God will light your way;
it will help you make right choices;
it will heal your wounds and settle your heart;
it will protect you and cleanse you from sin;
it will lead you;
it will make you wise;
it is bread;
it is water;
it is a counsellor;
it is life;
it is satisfying;
it is sufficient;
it is supreme;
it is supernatural.
How absolutely amazing is the Word of God!! It is everything that we need for whatever path we are on in life... wherever we are at... whatever we are doing... God's Word is all that we ever need.
Psalm 119:162
"I rejoice at your Word as one who finds great treasure".
"I can't get no... satisfaction... and I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried... I can't get NO (do, do, do).... No, no, no!"
Now that I got you singing... haha!
As most of you probably know me quite well, you will know that I am someone who likes to set goals for my personal life and I have lots of dreams and visions. Every year my husband and I sit down and write out our goals for that coming year and the next five, ten, and fifty years... and then we revisit them every once in a while to make sure we are on track, etc.
Well, unfortunately, I have a dream which just doesn't seem to want to come to pass right now and it has been quite a few years of dreaming and praying and waiting... lots of waiting (sigh). I also have a few other desires which in themselves seems quite big and impossible from where I am sitting right now but I know that God is a God of the impossible!
However, just the last few days God has been speaking to me about being satisfied with where I am at right now and being satisfied in Him. Sometimes when I have a dream or a goal I become quite focussed on achieving it that I am looking so far ahead of myself and not enjoying what I am currently doing or where I am at in life right now.
Proverbs 19:23 'The fear of the Lord leads to life and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.'
Now, I'm not about to say that we shouldn't have goals because without any vision or purpose we will perish but perhaps my focus needs to change just slightly so that I am putting God first in every part of my life and I am not becoming distracted from Him with my own dreams and desires. Not that my dreams and desires are not of God... because I know that they are... they are good Godly desires but He needs to be my first focus and not my dream.
In Psalm 95:6-11 it talks about the Israelites in the wilderness after they had been set free from Egypt and they were being distracted by other things around them instead of focussing on what God was giving them right then and there. God was supplying every need for them... they should have been satisfied but they kept thinking about their past and their own desires. Because of this God said that they would not enter His rest... they would not be satisfied.
Psalm 106:13-15 'They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.'
Again it is talking about the Israelites in the wilderness and how even after God had done so much for them up until that point... like feeding them manner from Heaven, giving them water out of a rock, killing the Egyptians at the Red Sea... But still they kept forgetting about those amazing things that God had done and was doing for them and were distracted by what they wanted NOW! They 'lusted exceedingly' and God ended up giving them their request. BUT they were still dissatisfied... they had leanness in their souls!
Unless we put God first in everything that we do... in everything that we desire... in everything that we dream about... even though those dreams and goals my come to pass... we may not feel completely satisfied... we will not be completely fulfilled. Our satisfaction needs to be in God and not in fulfilling our own dreams and desires, even if those dreams and desires are good.
God wants us to live an abundant and fulfilled life and the only way we can do that is by putting Him first... letting Him become our complete satisfaction.
If we never achieved anything else in life... never got given anything else that we wanted... never had any more dreams come to pass... would we feel completely satisfied?
Something very challenging for me to think about.... what about you?
Psalm 42:5
'Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? HOPE in God: For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God'.
Sometimes as a woman my emotions can get the better of me... one minute I may be happy and jumping around with joy and then only minutes later I can start feeling a bit sad and a little depressed... but to top it all off, sometimes I don't even know why???!! WHY are you case down my soul? Sound familiar...lol!
Cast down means to sink or depress... And then there's the other side of the coin - disquieted... to make a loud sound, to be in great commotion or tumult, to rage, war, moan, clamour: clamorous, concourse, cry aloud, be disquieted, loud, mourn, be moved, make a noise, rage, roar, sound, be troubled, make in tumult, tumultuous, be in an uproar! My goodness there are a lot more descriptive words for that emotion! Definately the opposite end of the scale compared to 'cast down'.
But as women, that is sometimes what our emotions can be like - up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down. I also know for myself that when my emotions are like this, I can take it out on those who are closest to me and unfortunately at this point of my life, it is usually my poor husband! It has nothing to do with him at all or what he might have said or done but at the slightest push of my button...look out... my weaknesses begin to show and I don't like them at all!!
Our emotions are what we are made of and reflect the awesomeness of being made in the image of our God. However, we must learn to take control of our emotions so that they are submitted to God. They need to be expressed in a way that is godly and not like an uncontrolable freak!
'Lord, please help me in my weaknesses'...
I just love the movie 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days'... and this morning while I was reading my Bible I got the coolest picture in my mind and I just wanted to share it...
Proverbs 3:21-22 says 'My son, (or daughter) let them not depart from your eyes - keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck'.
Grace to your neck... just like the Isadora diamond in the movie right??!! Absolutely! When Andie (Kate Hudson) walks out in her gorgeous yellow cocktail dress she looks nothing but beautiful... however when they place the Isadora around her neck she becomes the object of everyone's attention... she instantly grows two inches taller, walking around proudly displaying those huge sparkling diamonds and everyone turns their heads to take a look... she is just stunning!
A little while later into the evening she goes quickly running out of the building with the Isadora around her neck and when everyone suddenly realises she is still wearing it... all they care about is chasing after that diamonds and the pursuit is on!
We need to chase after sound wisdom and discretion in our lives and never let it out of our sight just as though it is the huge Isadora diamond necklace. Wisdom and discretion will become that amazing 'Grace to our neck'.
The word Grace in this instance means - kindness, favour, gracious, pleasant, precious and well-favoured... who as a woman doesn't want all of that in our lives?? I know I certainly do!
We can shine and sparkle as we keep our eyes focussed on sound wisdom and discretion.
