We all have them...challenges. We face them every day, whether big or small. It can be work, relationships, family responsibilities, physical, spiritual, mental...and whatever they are we are given Truth in 2 Corinthians 4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
Before I even read this today, I was thinking about my own challenges. I had a thought that really got me thinking. I ask God to help me deal with them, or (more often) to take them away. But, what if the struggles I have or challenges I face...what if it's only me who is hanging onto them, and God has already released me from it? What do I do then?
Verse 18 continues "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." This is not just for the biggest trials in life, but the little ones we see everyday as well. For instance (a little one), I struggle to keep up with housework/laundry/meal preparation/etc.. But, when I remember that I am being renewed day by day and keep my focus on what is unseen, I see my housework in God's light. When I do that - I see my work at home as just what God has blessed and trusted me with...and if I'm serving God, my work transforms into worship.
If you have time, watch this video of the song "Do Everything" by Steven Curtis Chapman
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Knowledge
I really liked reading Proverbs 18:15 today...
It's probably because we're entering into yet another new month of our reading challenge, and every day we open to read our Bible we are acquiring knowledge...but not only are we acquiring it - we're seeking it out, new each day!
When I looked up the word knowledge in my Bible dictionary/concordance it is defined as "the state or fact of knowing; learning; awareness; sum of what has been learned or discovered". Not a very moving or encouraging description, in my opinion. So I checked out the master index to see what it had to say...
Knowledge
knowing what is right vs. doing right - 1 Sm 28:3-8
different than wisdom - Prv 1:7-9
knowing about Jesus is not enough for salvation - Mk 3:7-11
knowing the Bible is not enough for salvation - Jn 3:10, 11
knowing God vs. knowing about God - Mt 15:8, 9
faith isn't what you know but whom you know - Col 1:4, 5
must be applied - Col 1:9-14
no believers have secret spiritual knowledge - Col 1:26, 27
Not sure where you guys are at these days, but I know I easily fall into the habit of making my reading each day part of a mental checklist to get through...and fail to focus on where I am in my relationship to God. Just seeing how the word is defined, and then the coordinating Bible verses was a big eye opener to what "acquiring knowledge" is really all about.
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge;
the ears of the wise seek it out.
the ears of the wise seek it out.
It's probably because we're entering into yet another new month of our reading challenge, and every day we open to read our Bible we are acquiring knowledge...but not only are we acquiring it - we're seeking it out, new each day!
When I looked up the word knowledge in my Bible dictionary/concordance it is defined as "the state or fact of knowing; learning; awareness; sum of what has been learned or discovered". Not a very moving or encouraging description, in my opinion. So I checked out the master index to see what it had to say...
Knowledge
knowing what is right vs. doing right - 1 Sm 28:3-8
different than wisdom - Prv 1:7-9
knowing about Jesus is not enough for salvation - Mk 3:7-11
knowing the Bible is not enough for salvation - Jn 3:10, 11
knowing God vs. knowing about God - Mt 15:8, 9
faith isn't what you know but whom you know - Col 1:4, 5
must be applied - Col 1:9-14
no believers have secret spiritual knowledge - Col 1:26, 27
Not sure where you guys are at these days, but I know I easily fall into the habit of making my reading each day part of a mental checklist to get through...and fail to focus on where I am in my relationship to God. Just seeing how the word is defined, and then the coordinating Bible verses was a big eye opener to what "acquiring knowledge" is really all about.
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