Matthew 13:12
"12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."
I seem to be finding gems in the Word that point out more reasons to keep reading through God's Word this year! Today as I was making my way through my Matthew readings I saw this verse, and it struck me as very true. When we listen, we learn so much; but when we don't listen...well, not so much learning happens then!
I have the perfect example, my cousin posted on her facebook site yesterday (she works with kindergarten children) that one of her students was, yet again telling her about their day, and she tuned them out. All she heard was blah, blah, blah, so when the child was done talking, she said "that's amazing", but as it turns out, the child was trying to tell them about something "bad" because the child had a confused look on their face and said, but it really hurts! Now I know this is somewhat of a silly example, but it's true, how often do we just tune out what is going on around us and miss what we were to have learned? I've done this time and time again to my poor husband (granted, he's done it to me as well, but that doesn't make it right!) and about half way through the conversation...something will trigger and I'll have to make him start all over again.
If I've done this to my earthly husband, whom I can see and actually hear; how much have I done this to my Heavenly Father? I can't see Him, and I can't touch Him; so I KNOW it's that much easier to ignore Him. But His Word points out to me that the more I listen, the more understanding I'll have; not to mention the extra knowledge! If there is one thing I've longed for my entire adult life, it's more understanding of God's word, and here I find that it's MY issue that I'm not gaining that understanding!
As it turns out, this whole "thing" with Jesus, really IS a relationship! I don't know how I've read through the Bible so many times and haven't seen these verses until now, but I have a pretty large feeling that it may have something to do with my listening skills! I think that I've been reading my Bible, but trying to make it say what I want it to say and only paying attention to those parts of the story. Last year, I found so many verses that I normally just skim over that I've really had to slow my reading down and actually listen to the words I'm reading. As an avid reader, that's a really hard thing for me to do! I devour books in my spare time and since my spare time isn't overly abundant, I devour those books at a quick pace; add to that the fact that I read my devotions in the parking garage (it's amazing how quiet a parking garage can be in the mornings!) and sometimes I'm running behind and you've got a recipe for not listening. I wonder why I expect, and get upset, when I feel like God isn't listening to me and my complaints; when I can't be bothered to take the time to listen to Him and His instructions!
I think it all comes back to that two way road of relationships. I also think that I am not keeping my end of that road intact! I'm going to have to work real hard at actually stopping my day to listen to what God is saying to me, through His word and His still small voice! Thank you Jesus for showing me, again, how important it is to listen to You!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Why I keep reading
Proverbs 3:1
"1 My child,t never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart."
As I was reading my Bible this morning I saw this verse in Proverbs and it, of course, stopped me. Never forget the things I've taught you. That's not the easiest thing to do. I've found myself skimming through my Bible times and not really digesting what I've read, or even worse; this morning when I was reading I thought I'd use a verse for my blog and couldn't remember if I had blogged about it last year or not. I've now read through my "read it in a year" Bible 8 times and one would think that some of things would be sticking by now right? I promise, they are, but it's amazing what I find new each year. I have discovered that what I'm going through in my personal life will dictate what sticks out to me in my daily readings; but I've also discovered that as I read and reread the Bible every year, I make it past the "John 3:16"'s and start to get into more of the meat that I've been missing the last 30 or so years. Don't get me wrong, all those common verses are so wonderful and that's why we are taught them from birth; but what about the rest of the Bible? I'm finding that it's wonderful as well! I have had people tell me that 8 times through the bible is a lot and it is, but it's not near enough for me.
Let me give you this example. What is your favorite movie of all time? I can't even begin to narrow that one down, but let's say it's something like Lion King. So Lion King is your favorite movie of all time, how many times have you watched it? How much of the movie can you quote? I'm guessing the answer to both of those answers is "a lot" and if I'm right on that, are you board with the movie yet? Nope, and why is that? We aren't board with it yet because it's our favorite and every time we watch it, we see something new or learn another line from it that makes us smile. That's how I feel about reading the Bible every year. Although I do have to admit that I get confused with the order of the books because of the way my Bible is set up, but I am learning more and more of God's word though my constant re readings and I'm even starting to memorize more of it too.
So as my journey continues through this, my ninth time through the Bible, (that sure doesn't seem like a lot compared to my nearly 32 years of life) I'm looking to store as much of His commands into my heart as I can, and remember the many things He's taught me! I'm so thankful for whomever invented this blog thing, because it's just one more tool that I have to remember. I can go back and read everything I've written and see what lessons I've learned and which ones I need to continue learning. When I was checking to see if I'd used that other verse last year, I discovered there are several lessons that I need to revisit and relearn from this last year. Wish me luck!
"1 My child,t never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart."
As I was reading my Bible this morning I saw this verse in Proverbs and it, of course, stopped me. Never forget the things I've taught you. That's not the easiest thing to do. I've found myself skimming through my Bible times and not really digesting what I've read, or even worse; this morning when I was reading I thought I'd use a verse for my blog and couldn't remember if I had blogged about it last year or not. I've now read through my "read it in a year" Bible 8 times and one would think that some of things would be sticking by now right? I promise, they are, but it's amazing what I find new each year. I have discovered that what I'm going through in my personal life will dictate what sticks out to me in my daily readings; but I've also discovered that as I read and reread the Bible every year, I make it past the "John 3:16"'s and start to get into more of the meat that I've been missing the last 30 or so years. Don't get me wrong, all those common verses are so wonderful and that's why we are taught them from birth; but what about the rest of the Bible? I'm finding that it's wonderful as well! I have had people tell me that 8 times through the bible is a lot and it is, but it's not near enough for me.
Let me give you this example. What is your favorite movie of all time? I can't even begin to narrow that one down, but let's say it's something like Lion King. So Lion King is your favorite movie of all time, how many times have you watched it? How much of the movie can you quote? I'm guessing the answer to both of those answers is "a lot" and if I'm right on that, are you board with the movie yet? Nope, and why is that? We aren't board with it yet because it's our favorite and every time we watch it, we see something new or learn another line from it that makes us smile. That's how I feel about reading the Bible every year. Although I do have to admit that I get confused with the order of the books because of the way my Bible is set up, but I am learning more and more of God's word though my constant re readings and I'm even starting to memorize more of it too.
So as my journey continues through this, my ninth time through the Bible, (that sure doesn't seem like a lot compared to my nearly 32 years of life) I'm looking to store as much of His commands into my heart as I can, and remember the many things He's taught me! I'm so thankful for whomever invented this blog thing, because it's just one more tool that I have to remember. I can go back and read everything I've written and see what lessons I've learned and which ones I need to continue learning. When I was checking to see if I'd used that other verse last year, I discovered there are several lessons that I need to revisit and relearn from this last year. Wish me luck!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Hukuna Matata...right?
Matthew 6:25-34
"25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
33 Seek the Kingdom of Godt above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
I know this is a long section of scripture, but I needed to have the whole section to write my blog today. Today is the first blog entry of 2012 (I'm such a slacker huh?) and part of the reason it's my first is because of exactly what this verse is talking about. Worry, and faith; well lack there of really. I know I've posted about my fears associated with this pregnancy; and let me tell you that the moment I wrote those fears down, I was much better about laying them at God's feet. Here's my problem: once I laid those down, I seemed to develop NEW fears!
Let me explain a thing or two. We already have established that I'm a planner; and that being a parent is about as far as you can get from being able to control a plan! I think I've already established that I'm a "rules" person as well; meaning I don't like to be in trouble. What does all of this have to do with my fears, and lack of faith in believing those fears? Well I'm not sure that they even really connect anywhere but in my mind. As I see it, sometimes my fears are based on "what if I do this wrong and get in trouble?" how silly is that? REAL silly, not only is that unlikely to happen...if it DOES happen, my God is a forgiving God! That point was driven home to me this morning as I was reading about worrying. Verse 30 says "30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?" Right there in black and white, I could see that my worrying was actually a lack of faith. Since I started this blog (just about about a year ago now) I've been exploring what I thought was a study in patience; and while I have learned a lot about that subject, I've discovered that patience is directly related to faith. I'm not sure why it surprised me that worrying is directly linked to a LACK of faith then, but it did!
I recently got to spend some time visiting with my family and when I'd tell my mom about my worrying; and what it was that was worrying me; she'd give me the typical mom answer of "why? that's nothing to worry about!" While it's good to hear that, it wasn't exactly what my heart was looking for at that moment. Sometimes our parents can be harsh; but then so can God. Jesus plainly said that worrying was showing a lack of faith, and that's harsh; but so did my mom only I didn't see it that way. In fact, when we were growing up, I used to hear my mom say "praise the Lord" all the time and I started to notice that I heard it more often if she was struggling with something or frustrated with something. I asked her about it, and she said that she was practicing what she'd learned as a child "in all things, Praise the Lord". Psalm 34:1 says " I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises." and to my mom that meant even when she was scared or lonely; praise the Lord. To her it meant, when I don't know how this bill is going to be paid, or where this next meal is going to come from; Praise the Lord. My sister and I have adapted this but shorten it to PTL. I'll randomly say PTL and will get the most curious looks from people; which gives me an opportunity to explain it all to them!
In my worrying I'm learning some valuable lessons. The lessons are leading me straight back to my faith. I was going to pick a new word for the year 2012, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking I'll stick with my journey to learn patience, after all what would require more patience then having a baby right? And while I'm learning more about patience, I'm planning on learning so much more about my faith and how they are connected. Come along on the journey with me, who knows what gems I might find in the word this year!
"25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
33 Seek the Kingdom of Godt above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
I know this is a long section of scripture, but I needed to have the whole section to write my blog today. Today is the first blog entry of 2012 (I'm such a slacker huh?) and part of the reason it's my first is because of exactly what this verse is talking about. Worry, and faith; well lack there of really. I know I've posted about my fears associated with this pregnancy; and let me tell you that the moment I wrote those fears down, I was much better about laying them at God's feet. Here's my problem: once I laid those down, I seemed to develop NEW fears!
Let me explain a thing or two. We already have established that I'm a planner; and that being a parent is about as far as you can get from being able to control a plan! I think I've already established that I'm a "rules" person as well; meaning I don't like to be in trouble. What does all of this have to do with my fears, and lack of faith in believing those fears? Well I'm not sure that they even really connect anywhere but in my mind. As I see it, sometimes my fears are based on "what if I do this wrong and get in trouble?" how silly is that? REAL silly, not only is that unlikely to happen...if it DOES happen, my God is a forgiving God! That point was driven home to me this morning as I was reading about worrying. Verse 30 says "30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?" Right there in black and white, I could see that my worrying was actually a lack of faith. Since I started this blog (just about about a year ago now) I've been exploring what I thought was a study in patience; and while I have learned a lot about that subject, I've discovered that patience is directly related to faith. I'm not sure why it surprised me that worrying is directly linked to a LACK of faith then, but it did!
I recently got to spend some time visiting with my family and when I'd tell my mom about my worrying; and what it was that was worrying me; she'd give me the typical mom answer of "why? that's nothing to worry about!" While it's good to hear that, it wasn't exactly what my heart was looking for at that moment. Sometimes our parents can be harsh; but then so can God. Jesus plainly said that worrying was showing a lack of faith, and that's harsh; but so did my mom only I didn't see it that way. In fact, when we were growing up, I used to hear my mom say "praise the Lord" all the time and I started to notice that I heard it more often if she was struggling with something or frustrated with something. I asked her about it, and she said that she was practicing what she'd learned as a child "in all things, Praise the Lord". Psalm 34:1 says " I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises." and to my mom that meant even when she was scared or lonely; praise the Lord. To her it meant, when I don't know how this bill is going to be paid, or where this next meal is going to come from; Praise the Lord. My sister and I have adapted this but shorten it to PTL. I'll randomly say PTL and will get the most curious looks from people; which gives me an opportunity to explain it all to them!
In my worrying I'm learning some valuable lessons. The lessons are leading me straight back to my faith. I was going to pick a new word for the year 2012, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking I'll stick with my journey to learn patience, after all what would require more patience then having a baby right? And while I'm learning more about patience, I'm planning on learning so much more about my faith and how they are connected. Come along on the journey with me, who knows what gems I might find in the word this year!
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