The Bible study this morning left me speechless. So much said, so little time to absorb it all.
I did make a choice this morning to discipline myself to get my homework done a little each day, as I'm supposed to do cuz I realized I'm missing out by doing it all at once. I think it would do a lot more good if I could have some time to chew on what I've learned, swallow it down and regurgitate it to chew on it some more before moving on to the next thing. Ugh! That just sounds so gross!
I really enjoyed the discussion before we watched Session 2. Btw, Beth, just to clarify what I was talking about when I brought up the Job thing, was not that I can't imagine ever shaking my fist in the face of God (I do that way too often for my own safety) but that I have a feeling if either of us were actually face to face with God, directly in the presence of the terrible Almighty God -unveiled, I highly doubt we'd have the audacity to mock Him like Satan did regarding Job.
Satan's one angelic mass of stupidity, alright. Beautifully ugly, and intelligently stupid.
I determined within myself today that this day would mark a turning point in my walk with the Lord. That session really convicted me and gave me a renewed hope. When she was talking about how God is right there, and at any time He could open the sky, or open the heavens to us...Wow. I guess when we think of God as this little being somewhere off in the far, far distance, we imagine Him as not only being distant and uninvolved, but also incapable of solving our problems or intervening for us in the wonderful ways that He wants to.
I left the church and got in the van thinking, God, You are right there. You are here, and You are so unbelievably huge, and You are sooooo able. How could I have forgotten that?! How have I forgotten the terribleness of the LORD?
So...I am now persuaded that God can and will intervene for me and my family when I clear the path and...uhum...shut my mouth. I know this is what God was saying to me cuz I keep asking Him when He will ever intervene for my family and through a sermon by Paul Washer He has already told me that if I want Him to deal with certain people in my life that are helping me to stumble, I need to...
"MOVE!!!! GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY!"
And the suggestion sounded plenty more harsh than the way it looks here.
...I'm sensing God is quite grieved with me lately.
Goodness, am I ever thankful He loves me.
Yes. I've had a fair warning from my Father Who will chasten me if I don't shape up. If I want Him to run after and take hold of certain people in my life that I've been complaining about, I had better clear the path or He just might intervene and I'll be knocked down in the process. I don't know what it would be like to come into a collision with Jehovah God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, but I don't think I fancy finding out.
So I got plenty of practice of keeping the path clear on the way home. Every time I thought something was unfair or unjust I zipped it and urged God,
"See... Do you see?! IN-TER-VEEENE, God!"
Well, He said He wants me to come to Him as a child, and boy, don't I feel like one.
The other thing I just loved and took to heart was when she talked about the word consecrate, or being "treated as holy". This came as a fresh word to me this morning, although I've heard it said in plenty of other ways and it has never fell on me quite this way.
Man, I am holy. I am absolutely, 100% holy and believing any different is doubting the holiness of Jesus which covers me and the blood of God that cleansed me from all my sin.
Now...I just need to start acting like it.
EDIT:
I just remembered one more thing I absolutely loved from the weeks' homework.
It was heartening to see how the people who knew Jesus' family took offense at Him, not because of anything He had ever done, but because of who His family was. At least, that's what I inferred from this Scripture:
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but as Beth Moore said, there were at least 7 children in Jesus' home. I imagine His house was not very big either, and His earthly father being a carpenter, he would have worked long, hard hours.
Now I know Mary and Joseph were parents of faith, but let's face it. They were only human. Anybody who has several children should be able to relate when I say, there are definitely times when frustration, anger, noise and chaos, bickering and sibling rivalry, coupled with living on a tight budget (which they did), can produce some pretty shameful and guilt-spawning situations. The Lord knows, if any of my children ever grew to be mighty men or women of the Lord, people would definitely question how that could be.
Aren't you the son (or daughter) of Will? Isn't your mother Desley? Aren't your brothers and sisters... etc., etc.? How can anyone from that family turn out godly? Where did that man get such knowledge? Certainly not from that family.
You get my point.
As if God hasn't the power to prevent our dysfunctional habits and sinful shortcomings from infecting e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e in our home.
Besides, it would be just like our God to use the foolish things to confound the wise in this aspect as well.
It's a good thing God can show His wondrous works through anybody from any family, eh? I don't know about anybody else, but I find myself praying for God to minimize the damage I've caused my kids from my reactions to stress, frustration, and anger...and yes...my neighbours have many times heard an ear full coming from our home. I'm sure they anticipate the day my kids all turn into delinquents.
But God is merciful and powerful and wonderful.
I did make a choice this morning to discipline myself to get my homework done a little each day, as I'm supposed to do cuz I realized I'm missing out by doing it all at once. I think it would do a lot more good if I could have some time to chew on what I've learned, swallow it down and regurgitate it to chew on it some more before moving on to the next thing. Ugh! That just sounds so gross!
I really enjoyed the discussion before we watched Session 2. Btw, Beth, just to clarify what I was talking about when I brought up the Job thing, was not that I can't imagine ever shaking my fist in the face of God (I do that way too often for my own safety) but that I have a feeling if either of us were actually face to face with God, directly in the presence of the terrible Almighty God -unveiled, I highly doubt we'd have the audacity to mock Him like Satan did regarding Job.
Satan's one angelic mass of stupidity, alright. Beautifully ugly, and intelligently stupid.
I determined within myself today that this day would mark a turning point in my walk with the Lord. That session really convicted me and gave me a renewed hope. When she was talking about how God is right there, and at any time He could open the sky, or open the heavens to us...Wow. I guess when we think of God as this little being somewhere off in the far, far distance, we imagine Him as not only being distant and uninvolved, but also incapable of solving our problems or intervening for us in the wonderful ways that He wants to.
I left the church and got in the van thinking, God, You are right there. You are here, and You are so unbelievably huge, and You are sooooo able. How could I have forgotten that?! How have I forgotten the terribleness of the LORD?
So...I am now persuaded that God can and will intervene for me and my family when I clear the path and...uhum...shut my mouth. I know this is what God was saying to me cuz I keep asking Him when He will ever intervene for my family and through a sermon by Paul Washer He has already told me that if I want Him to deal with certain people in my life that are helping me to stumble, I need to...
"MOVE!!!! GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY!"
And the suggestion sounded plenty more harsh than the way it looks here.
...I'm sensing God is quite grieved with me lately.
Goodness, am I ever thankful He loves me.
Yes. I've had a fair warning from my Father Who will chasten me if I don't shape up. If I want Him to run after and take hold of certain people in my life that I've been complaining about, I had better clear the path or He just might intervene and I'll be knocked down in the process. I don't know what it would be like to come into a collision with Jehovah God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, but I don't think I fancy finding out.
So I got plenty of practice of keeping the path clear on the way home. Every time I thought something was unfair or unjust I zipped it and urged God,
"See... Do you see?! IN-TER-VEEENE, God!"
Well, He said He wants me to come to Him as a child, and boy, don't I feel like one.
The other thing I just loved and took to heart was when she talked about the word consecrate, or being "treated as holy". This came as a fresh word to me this morning, although I've heard it said in plenty of other ways and it has never fell on me quite this way.
Man, I am holy. I am absolutely, 100% holy and believing any different is doubting the holiness of Jesus which covers me and the blood of God that cleansed me from all my sin.
Now...I just need to start acting like it.
EDIT:
I just remembered one more thing I absolutely loved from the weeks' homework.
It was heartening to see how the people who knew Jesus' family took offense at Him, not because of anything He had ever done, but because of who His family was. At least, that's what I inferred from this Scripture:
["Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they
asked. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't
his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us?
Where then did this man get all these things?" And they took offense at
him.] (Emphasis mine)
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but as Beth Moore said, there were at least 7 children in Jesus' home. I imagine His house was not very big either, and His earthly father being a carpenter, he would have worked long, hard hours.
Now I know Mary and Joseph were parents of faith, but let's face it. They were only human. Anybody who has several children should be able to relate when I say, there are definitely times when frustration, anger, noise and chaos, bickering and sibling rivalry, coupled with living on a tight budget (which they did), can produce some pretty shameful and guilt-spawning situations. The Lord knows, if any of my children ever grew to be mighty men or women of the Lord, people would definitely question how that could be.
Aren't you the son (or daughter) of Will? Isn't your mother Desley? Aren't your brothers and sisters... etc., etc.? How can anyone from that family turn out godly? Where did that man get such knowledge? Certainly not from that family.
You get my point.
As if God hasn't the power to prevent our dysfunctional habits and sinful shortcomings from infecting e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e in our home.
Besides, it would be just like our God to use the foolish things to confound the wise in this aspect as well.
It's a good thing God can show His wondrous works through anybody from any family, eh? I don't know about anybody else, but I find myself praying for God to minimize the damage I've caused my kids from my reactions to stress, frustration, and anger...and yes...my neighbours have many times heard an ear full coming from our home. I'm sure they anticipate the day my kids all turn into delinquents.
But God is merciful and powerful and wonderful.
No comments:
Post a Comment