As I sit in the quiet of my comfortable home today and think about my life, the good and bad, twists and turns, ups and downs, pure joy and indescribable sadness my mind can't help but consider all that is happening currently in and around me. It could get extremely discouraging to dwell on the chaos around me and admitedly there are times all the sadness in the world consumes me for awhile as I wonder how it will all play out....not for long though...not any more.
Since I made the choice to seek out real Truth which led me to faith in the Creator of all things, namely God, I have made knowing who He is and what He is all about my mission in life. I am keeping this post reasonably short today which also means I won't be getting all that detailed. Let me just say I am convinced that God is real and that He orders my steps daily and will until the day I die, at which time I will join Him in heaven for all eternity. Having said that, I talk to Him daily, throughout the day and He speaks to me too in various ways.(1 Cor. 2:9-16)
I read my Bible most mornings. At the beginning of the year, I usually decide on a format for a few months, or even for the year and that is what I stick to. It could mean reading through the Bible in a year or choosing certain books in the Bible or researching a topic. That is my personal time each day reading, meditating and praying. Since I love to study with other people I usually am involved in a Bible Study with a few women. This fall I decided on two studies. One is in the New Testament and is a short book, the book of James. Something that I find so thrilling and exciting about life with God is how He speaks to me through all the ways that I have chosen to immerse myself in filling my mind with His Truth. For example what I study in James is confirmed by what I am reading in Thessalonians and that is cemented by how He leads me victoriously through three days of intense and difficult issues I need to work through. The icing on the cake is often a coffee with a friend as she shares how God has spoken, taught, helped her along the same lines. As I think about this I am reminded that He works all things out together for good to those that love Him, who are called according to His purpose. God uses all our past, combines it with the present and uses it to conform us to the image of His Son.
God has proven Himself faithful in my life consistently. He has never failed me yet. I have often failed Him though by running ahead of Him instead of exercising patience, choosing my own path and ignoring Him and thinking I know a better way but it always ends up being the wrong decision.
The last number of years I have been challenged to truly believe that what I ask IN HIS NAME (to me this means knowing from Scripture what God would want in a particular situation considering who God is....for instance, as an example we need never doubt that God will help us extend forgiveness to another when He instructs us to forgive "70 X 7"). In other words, when I pray I have to believe it's a done deal and then act on it! "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt...." (James 1:6).
How interesting that this topic came up the first lesson in the study of the book of James I find myself in this fall.
How interesting that after spending much time this week praying intensely my reading in 2 Thess. 2 today ended with "...stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you....our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word!"
It is good to be able to sit and think; to ponder and reflect; to remind myself where my roots of faith are grounded and to be encouraged by my Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God my Father and be completely satisfied.
