Stuck

I'm stuck in two ways - Stuck inside because it's raining outside and stuck on a passage in 2 Samuel. I'll have to wait until Patrick comes home to help me figure that one out.

So after reading Samuel I went on to read, Disciplines of a Godly Woman, a book I got from the bookshop at our church. It really focuses on Scripture and bringing ourselves under what Scripture says. I'm only on the second chapter... did I mention I am a painfully slow reader.

I believe Christians tend to lose the importance of the Gospel in their hearts and their day-to-day living. Just like living with your spouse, after some time you just get "use" to their presence and slowly forget how much they mean to you. When they take a week long trip that's when you realize how much you miss and appreciate them. In a similar case I think we react to the scriptures that we've read or heard frequently into the "I know this one" category in our mind - whereas a new believer (as should we) finds the "wonder" in those scriptures that we take for granted.

The example given in this book is John 3:16. "For God . . . so loved . . . the world . . . that He . . . gave . . . His one . . . and only . . . Son . . . that whoever . . . believes . . . in him . . . shall not perish . . . but have eternal life." If your like me, I've memorized verse when I was younger and I tend to naturally want it to flow fast, but when I read it slowly and really let it soak in it really is an amazing thing being said!

So I hope today, that you and I will really take in what God's word is saying - and that we would see in Scripture what the Gospel is according to God's word (not a "gospel" according to our own ideas or opinions).

A Comparison

1 Samuel 27-31

I think we've all done it, you know, when you have an itching issue and you go to someone for advice. There is that one (or more than one) someone(s) that you always talk to. Sometimes Most of the time I can't even make it to my car without picking up my phone to call my sister/mom/husband.

Ring, Ring. "Hey Sis, what do you think about...."

Not that this is necessarily wrong, but it's also not the right first coarse of action. Instead, we should take David's example to heart and seek the Lord first before the council of others. In Chpt 23 when David saw that the Philistines were attacking the Jews in Keilah, He went to God and asked Him what he should do. So we should also go to God first. 

In contrast to this, Saul was always seeking the approval and guidance from man, and in Chpt 28  Saul even becomes desperate and seeks a witch so he could try and get in touch with Samuel (who died).  When he found out he (saul) would die with his sons the next day, this news made him so distraught and weak that he didn't get off the floor of this place for a long time. 

David, in Chpt 30, went to God before pursuing the Amelikites, and it says he built his strength upon God. 

In God alone can we find our strength - a strength that doesn't fail us. 

So this week, before you run to the aid of other's opinions/ approvals / support. Go to God. 

There is so much in these chapters and this is just a portion of what stood out to me as I face another opportunity in my life. I can only hope to be as steadfast in my devotion to God that I would seek Him first in all areas of my life. 

God Bless! 

Journey through the Bible

In this journey I am nearing the end of 1 Samuel. In all honesty there were days that I relied on myself and did not read the Word. The rest of those days most of my time had been taken up in surviving studying the Laws (in Leviticus-Deuteronomy) and another good slow pace in Judges - sometimes only getting through half a chapter. Now I find myself going through two chapters at once in Samuel. I'm sure everyone is different, but for me reading one or two chapters in Samuel at a time allows me to see the greater picture. 

This is where I am at: 

David has just fled "King" Saul and takes refuge in a cave. Chapters 20-22. Here in the beginning, 21:1-6, David takes bread from the priest, Ahimelech. This was referenced by Jesus in Mark 21:23-28 when He and the disciples picked grain on the Sabbath. 

The rest of Chapter 21-22 basically shows how David fears man. I for one can relate to this fear. "What will they think?"At least David's fears (death), are more reasonable than my own. 

Fear God: Hebrews 12:29 "For our God is a consuming fire". If we honestly believed this and had a godly fear for Him, then why do we find ourselves hiding in the shadows of man's opinions?  Though we shouldn't be purposefully offensive in conversation or living (Hebrews 12:14), we should still put Christ before man. 

Knowing this... God is good, He is great, He is all powerful and He is righteous. We fear Him knowing His righteousness and we fear Him knowing the grace He has given to us through Jesus. There is nothing we can do to ever be good enough to be completely righteous through our own means. We can only accept His grace through faith in Jesus (that's why it's grace!). The same God who can save me can also strengthen me.  

Today I pray for courage, increased faith, for a godly fear, and for understanding of His grace in my life.