Be still and know that I am God - Ps. 46:10

Listen to The Message translation of this verse:

"Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

loving look at me, your High God,

above politics, above everything."

 

When was the last time we took a "long, loving" look at our Father?  There is not much stillness in our lives...we fill each day up with busyness; when we're not talking or texting, we're planning to.  We prefer to be in the midst of chaos rather than to sit quietly and thoughtfully and gaze upon the One who has given us "blessing after blessing".

 

God did a huge work in His creation of the world and everything in it.  It was, however, exhausting work and He chose to make the 7th day of Creation a day of rest.  The Layman's Commentary said He rested just "from the work of bringing the world into being to mark the successful completion of the creative event".  We see throughout the Bible references to God not "slumbering or sleeping", but He did almost in celebration of the work completed.  The 4th of the Ten Commandments tells us to "observe the Sabbath (rest) Day by keeping it holy."  He wants us to have a day of renewal, celebrating and worshipping His work in our lives.  Why do we fill it - the day He wants us to set aside for Him alone - with work, shopping, entertainment, sports...and no special time set aside for Him?  Is your Sunday just another 24 hours to fill with stuff?

 

It is key to knowing the Jesus of the New Testament to see many times he went off  by himself to be still.  That was how He kept in communion with His Father.  How He knew the work God wanted Him to do.  It was the quietness of the Garden that inspired Him to know and yield to the sacrifice He would make on the Cross.  Do we have any pictures of Him rushing here and there filling every hour with busyness?  I think we see from the verse today that it is in the stillness that we can "know" God.  If we never are still, how can that knowledge occur?  What do we say to our children when we overbook and overschedule?

 

Just for fun, let's do a chart on our week...time spent to eat, sleep, work, shop, quietness....see if Sunday wouldn't be a good day to begin a new chapter of stillness. It might be amazing to see what we can know about the great "I am".

 

For further study:  Genesis 2:2-3, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Psalm 23:2, Isaiah 30;15, Isaiah 32:17, Jer. 6:16, Jer. 24:7, Zec. 2:13, Matt. 6:33, Matt. 11:28-30, Mark 8:36, 1 Timothy 2:11, 1 Peter 3:4

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

The Lord your God is with you..." - Zeph. 3:17

This may be one of my very favorite promises in the whole Bible!  It is a word of hope and encouragement for those who fear and doubt.  The prophet Zephaniah had no easy task to warn those in Judah of impending destruction and yet offer them ultimate victory and hope.  His name, oddly enough, means "the Lord hides" or "the Lord protects".He wanted those who believed - especially the humble ones - to know they would be protected and rejoiced over by the Lord.  There was still time for all to "call on the name of the Lord" (v. 3:9).

The story of Joseph in Gen. 37-45 is a wonderful picture of how the Lord protects.  Many times in those chapters we see "the Lord was with him" in the various predicaments he finds himself in.  I'm wondering if his confidence that the Lord would help him caused him to be used in such a mighty way in the kingdom of God.  Would we be more humble, more obedient, more faithful if we truly believed that God was with us.  But then that's the mystery of faith, isn't it?  God wanted us to believe that so much He gave us his Son, Jesus - Immanuel which literally means "God with us"!

Max Lucado in YOU'LL GET THROUGH THIS says:

God surrounds us in the same way the Pacific surrounds an ocean

floor pebble.  He is everywhere - above, below, on all sides.  We

choose our response - rock or sponge?  Resist or receive?

Everything within you says harden the heart.  Run from God;

resist God; blame God.  But be careful.  Hard hearts never heal.

Spongy ones do.  Open every pore of your soul to God's presence.

 

John Wooden says:  "Things turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out."  How about you?  Are you resisting what God promises you?  He is with you, He saves you, He delights in you, He quiets you.   Let us live as if we really believe that!  There is still time!

 

For further study:  Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 34:7, Psalm 46:7, Psalm 125:2, Isaiah 7:14,  Isaiah 58:11, Joel 2:32, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 28:28

 

Be blessesd in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly



The Lord bless you and keep you - Numbers 6:24

We have just finished the study of Ruth in our women's Bible study and it was a rich study.  One of the sweet things I learned was about blessing others...about showing kindness to others.  Ruth was a daughter-in-law of a bitter woman...but she chose to go with her and help provide for her care.  She went into the fields of a man named Boaz and was to "glean" or pick up the leftovers from the workers who were his.  It's a very exciting love story (and you will have to read for yourself), but there is a much deeper meaning to it.  In fact it is a picture of our redeemer, Jesus Christ, who cares for us and takes responsibility for His people, the church. 

Back to the love story, Boaz, on Ruth's first day in the field, greeted all the harvesters with this greeting:"The Lord be with you" and they returned the greeting with: "The Lord bless you".  When was the last time you went to work and you were greeted that way?  The Hebrew word for blessing in the second phrase (barak) is the same word as 'bless" in our pillow scripture today.  It is a blessing from those who are blessed.  Boaz blessed them and they blessed him...what a great combination!  Last night on the Olympics, Shaun White lost a very important - maybe his last - race to another athlete.  When the other athlete found out he had won, Shaun was the closest to him and he just required a huge celebration hug - from the man who had lost the most!  But Shaun just hugged him back...hard, not in a wimply way, but returning the blessing.  I want to be more like that.  I want to bless because I have been so blessed!  Boaz went on to be a very important player in the lineage of Jesus...read Matthew 1 to see why.  His obedience and response to being blessed was a big step toward our blessing today.  Is it possible He has kingdom work for us to do today?

Today, think about how you have been blessed.  This Numbers blessing was from the priest to those who were the Lord's people.  Are you His and have you received His blessings?   Think about how you can go out today and bless someone else.   We might be the ones used by the Lord to further His kingdom...wouldn't that be a blessing as well as a privilege?

For further study:  Gen. 12:3, Psalm 41:1-2, Psalm 121:7-8, Ezekiel 34:26,  Matt. 5:1-12, Luke 6:35, Romans 12:14,  Ephesians 4:32, 2 Tim. 2:24.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly

LOVE - 1 Corinthians 13

Love is patient; love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 

As you probably are already aware, the Bible speaks of three kinds of love: agape (Godly love), phileo (brotherly love) and eros (romantic love).  For our upcoming holiday, what you see advertised tends toward the eros kind of love.  Our pillow today speaks strictly of a Godly love.  John Bisagno in LOVE IS SOMETHING YOU DO describes that kind of love as:

 

"...marked by total absence of any selfish motive.

It is love because God is love.  It loves because the

object of love is there and that is enough...that is the kind

of love which He gives to us and which He desires that we

should give to others."

 

John 13:34 uses this same word for agape love:

 

A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I

have loved you, so you must love one another."

 

He has loved us unselfishly and that's how he wants us to love others!  A tall order, but by His indwelling Spirit we have His fruit:  "The fruit of the spirit is LOVE...". Guess what kind of love?  AGAPE!  What an amazing gift!  Anything else is not patient nor kind; it's jealous and boastful and proud.  It dishonors others and is self-seeking.  It is easily angered and keeps track of wrongs.  It delights in wrong and does not rejoice in the truth.  It does not protect nor trust. 

 

Ann Voskamp tells a story about being in a pretty funky mood - easily angered, frustrated and stressed beyond belief.  She was walking with a friend - someone who probably had a few needs of her own - when she stopped cold.  There in the middle of the sidewalk was this graffiti:

 

HEY, BEAUTIFUL.  YOU ARE LOVED!

 

She realized God had been shouting from the heavens to her about His love...but she was so frustrated with the things that weren't going well, she never even heard Him.  His sweet and precious grace comes to us in every size and shape, but this day, it came in the form of graffiti!  So they started shouting it to the wind and to each other:  "Hey, Beautiful.  You are Loved!!".  And the mood passed.  She was grateful and patient with those around her.

 

Jeremiah 31:3 says: "I have loved you with an everlasting love...".  We can ask for no better kind of love than His kind of love.  And we can give no better kind of love, than His kind of love.  This Valentine's Day, think of shouting to someone in need:  "Hey, Beautiful.  You are loved!" And while you have their attention, tell them about the Greatest Love of all!

 

For further study:  Proverbs 3:3, Proverbs 17:9, John 15:12-17,  Romans 12:9-10, 13:8-10,  1 Cor. 8:1, Phil. 1:9, Col. 3:14, 1 Thes. 4:9, 1 John 4:7-21

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY,

Holly