God loves to take the very unqualified and raise them up. God delights in it. He delights in taking the most unlikely kind of people and doing the most unlikely kind of things...just because they say "yes" to Jesus.
When I think about this, I always think about "unqualified" women in the Bible like Esther and Ruth and how God took the most everyday kind of woman and did the most extraordinary things. My prayer this week is that I would daily say "yes" to Jesus so He can can take an everyday kind of girl that often feels "unqualified" and raise me up to who He wants me to be. Enjoy my portion this week.
Philippians 1:6
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
In my attempt to keep busy this summer, a few of my girlfriends and I decided to join a Wednesday morning Bible study that is being offered at our church. We're studying Beth Moore's Here and Now, There and Then, which is a lecture series on the book of Revelation. Revelation is a very intimidating book of the Bible and can at times read more like a fantasy novel than anything else. I have to constantly remind myself that this is God's Word and it is very real. Let me share with you how this book of the Bible that seems so very foreign became very personal to me this week.
In chapter two of Revelation, the Apostle John is reading a prophetic letter from Jesus to the church in Ephesus. Not really remembering much about the church of Ephesus, I looked it up and found out that it was one of the most prominent churches in the Roman province of Asia around 95 AD. In this letter, Jesus commends the Ephesians for their good deeds, their hard word, their perseverance, as well as their recognition and intolerance for falseness. The Ephesians endured many hardships, yet they did not grow weary. Just after Jesus commends the Ephesians for their good works, He goes on to explain one thing that He has against them..."You have forsaken your first love." Beth Moore commented that the Ephesians hated what Christ hated, but they didn't love what Christ loved. The Ephesians got so good at policing that they lost their passion for Jesus.
Ouch...when I heard this I thought, ughh...this is me. How many times have I put Jesus on the back burner? How many times have I detested what I see in the world around me, yet I don't recognize my own sin? Have I lost my first love too? A sweet lady that was part of our discussion group said that when you lose your first love, you can tell because you always resort back to loving what you do best more than you love Jesus. For Peter, it might have been fishing. For me, it's probably shopping and decorating...or even eating sweets. I've found this year to be very challenging for me spiritually. I've let many distractions keep me from focusing my life, my marriage, my relationships, and my work on Jesus. Adam and Eve took their focus off of God in the garden, and confess, I've done it too. God would not settle for 2nd place in their lives and He will not settle for 2nd place in mine. What is so encouraging about being a Christian is that even when you take your focus away from Jesus, He still stands planted at the cross. His love for you remains unmoved and unchanged. My memory verse for the week is from Ephesians 3:17-19. It shows how great our Father is and His wonderful love for His children.
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge---that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
The Ephesians needed a reminder to refocus on Jesus, and I needed a reminder too. Thanks for reading today. I'm leaving you with the words from one of my favorite old hymns. I'll be humming it in my head this week and remembering Jesus as my first love.
Be Thou My Vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word,
I ever with thee and thou with me Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight;
Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower:
Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
Thou mine inheritance now and always;
Thou and thou only first in my heart;
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright Heaven's sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
In chapter two of Revelation, the Apostle John is reading a prophetic letter from Jesus to the church in Ephesus. Not really remembering much about the church of Ephesus, I looked it up and found out that it was one of the most prominent churches in the Roman province of Asia around 95 AD. In this letter, Jesus commends the Ephesians for their good deeds, their hard word, their perseverance, as well as their recognition and intolerance for falseness. The Ephesians endured many hardships, yet they did not grow weary. Just after Jesus commends the Ephesians for their good works, He goes on to explain one thing that He has against them..."You have forsaken your first love." Beth Moore commented that the Ephesians hated what Christ hated, but they didn't love what Christ loved. The Ephesians got so good at policing that they lost their passion for Jesus.
Ouch...when I heard this I thought, ughh...this is me. How many times have I put Jesus on the back burner? How many times have I detested what I see in the world around me, yet I don't recognize my own sin? Have I lost my first love too? A sweet lady that was part of our discussion group said that when you lose your first love, you can tell because you always resort back to loving what you do best more than you love Jesus. For Peter, it might have been fishing. For me, it's probably shopping and decorating...or even eating sweets. I've found this year to be very challenging for me spiritually. I've let many distractions keep me from focusing my life, my marriage, my relationships, and my work on Jesus. Adam and Eve took their focus off of God in the garden, and confess, I've done it too. God would not settle for 2nd place in their lives and He will not settle for 2nd place in mine. What is so encouraging about being a Christian is that even when you take your focus away from Jesus, He still stands planted at the cross. His love for you remains unmoved and unchanged. My memory verse for the week is from Ephesians 3:17-19. It shows how great our Father is and His wonderful love for His children.
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge---that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
The Ephesians needed a reminder to refocus on Jesus, and I needed a reminder too. Thanks for reading today. I'm leaving you with the words from one of my favorite old hymns. I'll be humming it in my head this week and remembering Jesus as my first love.
Be Thou My Vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word,
I ever with thee and thou with me Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight;
Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower:
Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
Thou mine inheritance now and always;
Thou and thou only first in my heart;
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright Heaven's sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Portion for the Week...
I'm involved in a community group with some wonderful girls. We've decided this summer to invest some of our time and memorize scripture. We're going to commit to learning one new verse a week. On the right hand side of my blog, you'll notice there's a heading titled "My Weekly Portion." This is the verse we're going to commit to memory. Every Monday I'll be posting a new verse. Please join us if you want to! I'm not wonderful with scripture memory, so this is a big challenge for me too. However, I have come up with a list that might help us on our journey:
1. Break the verse down into sections and commit yourself to memorizing a new section every day
2. Write the verse down on an index card and put it somewhere you'll see all the time (this past week I wrote the verse down on two index cards and also had it on my Blackberry...I used all three throughout the week)
3. Discipline yourself to reading the verse several times a day. Make it a part of your routine.
4. Pray through the verse. Use it every day in your time with the Lord.
5. Make the verse personal to you. How does this verse relate to your day? Your week? How is the Lord speaking to you through this verse?
This past week "My Weekly Portion" was from Lamentations 3:22-24
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, says my soul,
Therefore I will hope in him.
When I look at this verse I see four main themes that are personal to me:
1. The Lord has love for me
2. He is merciful to me
3. He is faithful to me
4. He is my portion. He can fill my needs and I will hope in Him.
Throughout the week, I can keep these themes of love, mercy, faith, and hope in my head and pray through them. My prayer doesn't have to be fancy. I keep it simple and make it personal.
My prayer might look like this:
Dear Jesus, thank you for your love. Thank you that you love me so much and have mercy on me. You have always been faithful and I know that you will never leave me. As I make my way through this week, I pray that you would be my portion. That you would fill my every need. Thank you, Jesus, that I can hope in you alone. Amen.
Good luck to anyone that is going to memorize with us! I've already posted the new "My Weekly Portion" on the right hand side of my blog. May it bless you this week.
1. Break the verse down into sections and commit yourself to memorizing a new section every day
2. Write the verse down on an index card and put it somewhere you'll see all the time (this past week I wrote the verse down on two index cards and also had it on my Blackberry...I used all three throughout the week)
3. Discipline yourself to reading the verse several times a day. Make it a part of your routine.
4. Pray through the verse. Use it every day in your time with the Lord.
5. Make the verse personal to you. How does this verse relate to your day? Your week? How is the Lord speaking to you through this verse?
This past week "My Weekly Portion" was from Lamentations 3:22-24
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, says my soul,
Therefore I will hope in him.
When I look at this verse I see four main themes that are personal to me:
1. The Lord has love for me
2. He is merciful to me
3. He is faithful to me
4. He is my portion. He can fill my needs and I will hope in Him.
Throughout the week, I can keep these themes of love, mercy, faith, and hope in my head and pray through them. My prayer doesn't have to be fancy. I keep it simple and make it personal.
My prayer might look like this:
Dear Jesus, thank you for your love. Thank you that you love me so much and have mercy on me. You have always been faithful and I know that you will never leave me. As I make my way through this week, I pray that you would be my portion. That you would fill my every need. Thank you, Jesus, that I can hope in you alone. Amen.
Good luck to anyone that is going to memorize with us! I've already posted the new "My Weekly Portion" on the right hand side of my blog. May it bless you this week.
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