Showing posts with label scripture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scripture. Show all posts

Plain and Simple

In preparation for a teaching I will be doing later this week via Skype, I was reading Micah 6:8. This may sound kind of silly, but as a caregiver sometimes it seems like the way we have understood some scriptures through our traditional church teachings...from here they just don't fit the way we learned them. (that may just be me...)

 For example (and this is just one of many), forsake not the assembling of yourselves together...has been taught as though it is some grave sin to not go to church on Sunday morning. So what are you supposed to do when you are shut-in? (God forbid it be taught to go out and visit those who cannot come!!)

 But anyway - Micah 6:8 is one of those that is so simple it works anywhere for anyone. It's a scripture that there just is no way of reasoning around or making so religious that it no longer applies to real life! It's pure and simple and exempts no one.

 do what is right
love mercy
walk humbly with your God

These are required from us no matter what our circumstances are. God does not look down and say, oh, yeah, I forgot about that you don't have to worry about it then. It's plain and simple! And it is applicable no matter what the trial is. If you think about it there are those times you are in the furnace. It's hot as you know where but it's over in a short time. Then there are the times when the trials are like Joseph's, who sat in prison for years waiting on God to fulfill His promises. Either way...and any where in between... we must walk humbly with our God!

Where Do You Run?

Proverbs 18:10 says simply: the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. There is nothing like tragedy or trouble to find out how fast we can get there! Throughout life there are many times we can find ourselves running to Him as our source of safety. Honestly, I wouldn't have any idea where else to go; and I really don't mind that at all.

Those of us about 50ish remember the 70's and how in some church circles it became the norm to sing choruses. This scripture was one that was sung frequently. If we could put a tune to it - we'd sing it! Old King James and all! And we could sing them over and over and over again! But we actually memorized them while we were doing so!

And now we see a new generation coming up behind us and you know what, they are not singing it like us - but the song really hasn't changed much. And I'm finding out that even young people know where to run when trouble strikes! They have found the same comforting refuge as we've sung about all along. They don't use the old KJV. But the song is the same. We sang "How Great Thou Art" and they sing "How Great is Our God!" We sang, "What a Friend We have in Jesus" and their version of that is "I'm a Friend of God!" And the list could go on, but the point is He is the same refuge, the same source of strength the same high tower that He was when Solomon wrote this verse.And we are continuing to run to Him...there is no rock like our God!

Conquerors!

A very quoted scripture comes from Romans 8. Verse 28 is probably way overused and highly misunderstood! We tend to use it for everything in our lives that does not make sense. But it is so comforting to know that no matter what is going on in our lives He can somehow work it out for good, and for His own purposes. That sounds good, but I'm not sure we'll ever really understand it!

Further on in this chapter (one of my favorites!) is verse 31 - if God is for us who could be against us? I really love that scripture. It holds so true for all our Bible heroes that we've studied all these years.We just forget that it's true for us as well. Actually, we would not worry about this aspect too much if there were not situations or persons who were against us!

Immediately following this favorite is a list of some terrible things. tribulation, distress, persecution, famine...and that is followed by two things that I will meditate on today and I hope you will too. One - that we are more than conquerors in Him. Whether or not we are immediately facing stressful situations. We maybe don't fully understand what more than a conqueror is. A conqueror is a winner, but what would be more than that? And two - His unchangeable love for us.

It looks something like this. Just imagine that you've worked your way up the ranks to a successful position in a company. It's taken years and much hard work. You had to go to school and learn so many different things. Then find the right first job and work your way up in that company. It's taken you years of toil and stress to arrive but you have finally worked your way up to the top ranks and are now the CEO of a huge corporation. You  did all the work to get there...years and years of struggles and learning and hassle. you are a conqueror! Today you got your first check...and took it straight to your spouse! They are more than a conqueror! You did all the work - they reaped all the benefits!

Jesus did all the work for us - we just get to reap the benefits of His work in our lives. In this same passage, verse 32 stands out. Basically it says - God gave His son - why would He withhold anything from us? He is waiting for us to rest in Him today - so that we can reap the benefit of His work...and be more than conquerors!

Oblivious to God

Everyone seems to be living very hectic lives these days - not just caregivers. It's interesting that with all our modern conveniences we actually have less time to spend with people. We have machines that wash and dry our clothes, wash the dishes and phones so we do not have to travel about to get things done. We even have the internet to pay bills and conduct business. There are microwaves to cook our meals quickly and crockpots to cook them all day! Yet we have less time it seems to be still before the Lord.

A friend sent me a scripture the other day from the message Bible and I felt it was very appropriate for the caregiver. We have so many responsibilities to do every day that we can easily become overloaded.

From Romans 13 (the Message)  - But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. 

It is so easy to get busy with our day to day activities that we forget Him. And yet He is the One who sustains us. My encouragement today is to find just a moment...a quiet moment (and I know that they can be difficult to find), and just be still before Him. And it's a good idea from where we are to find something to thank Him for! We enter His gates with thanksgiving. So just take a moment today to acknowledge Him as your God one more time! (It'll feel great!)

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...