WOW! It's been 3 months since I have posted on my blog. We have been consumed with welcoming our "soon-to-be-adopted" 15-year old daughter into our home. It has been a BIG, but wonderful change. I will say that I attempted to take the "Bible in 90 days" challenge but I was not successful. It was a big undertaking that really was too lofty a goal for the time I needed to focus on our daughter and the biblical truths that we are learning and sharing every day with her! I am not giving up for attempting this again in the future. Now that Sept. has arrived, I am returning to my goal of blogging about my Bible discoveries, hoping to inspire others to dive in and embrace God's word as daily food through the SOAP method. It's so amazing how this VERY scripture that God shared with me today is about just that! Read on and please share your thoughts!
My SOAP devotional for 9/2/10.
S - Ezekiel 3:1-2
" 1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat."
O - Ezekiel is a prophet that has just seen a pretty amazing and powerful vision of God's glory, coming down from the sky. I have studied the 4 faces of this vision before in comparison to the 4 sides of God and also 4 personalities of us, his people. I find all of that very fascinating, but I won't go into the details of that here for there is a tremendous amount of visual information. But what is profound is that with all the description of God's appearance, and being that this is my FIRST reading back in routine with the SOAP method, God gave this verse to me where He is telling Ezekiel to simply "eat, and speak".
A - We are not to get so focused on the majesty of God that we forget that He wants a relationship with us. AND that He is calling us to simply act! He wants us to do what He is calling us to do! Even while we should have reverence and awe for God's power and might, we must remember that we are called to "eat" His word, and CONSUME His wisdom, every day, so that we can share it with others. For those that perhaps only see His majesty from a distance...perhaps they believe that God exists, He created the world, and is to be feared...they do not know that He is a God of compassion and closeness. We discover God's character through in-depth study of His word and pray for revelation.
P - God, give me the drive and commitment to consume your word daily so that I might be bold to open my mouth and share your character and your wisdom with others. Amen.
Showing posts with label prophet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prophet. Show all posts
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
On the same team when Jesus is on FIRST!
Here is my SOAP devotional for Feb. 8th
S - Matthew 10:34-39
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'[a]
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
O - This is a challenging passage because it appears to be a contradiction. Jesus is drawing a line. Most would say "how can Jesus who is the supreme example of love, ask you to go against your own family, especially when it is one of the original 10 commandments?" What Jesus is saying is that people are flawed and not dependable. They will let you down but Jesus will never let us down. Jesus has proven to be dependable and has sacrificed much in spite of people that even deny who He is. So if we place our faith in people instead of Him, especially those that are not following His ways, then we will always find disappointment. Sometimes love means making tough choices if that is doing what is best. Jesus is always going to choose to love us, therefore we must choose to put Him first in our life...to choose His way over the way of people.
One note of interest is that Jesus quotes Micah 7:6 here. Micah is a book in the Old Testament and he was a contemporary of Isaiah. He is considered one of the "minor" prophets and he spoke of God's judgment and the offer of pardon to all those who repent. The book of Micah contains many prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah, who will come to unite all of God's people. He writes of God's extreme dislike of pride and injustice, and also His willingness to provide a way to forgiveness and mercy. It is clear to me that Jesus IS the only way that God could be both the judge and merciful.
A - We cannot control the choices of the people in our life. If we cling to what is actually temporary on this earth, we will miss the purpose of Jesus' coming. Jesus is not asking us to NOT love people - He is asking us to love Him MORE. He calls us to choose His way above any earthly way as the way to eternal life with Him. Jesus brings a "sword" against anything that seeks a path of destruction, and the enemy prowls in an attempt to take us with him (1 Peter 5:8). In our human nature we will not always be "on the same path"...some will have their own best interest in mind, or be blinded by the enemy's schemes, even if we are family. Therefore, in order to fully love each other, we must FIRST love the Lord of Life. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we will always be on the "same team".
P - Oh Lord, I plead with you to strike the heal of the enemy and keep him far from me and my family. When the enemy seeks to destroy, he will put us against each other. But putting our eyes on you (Hebrews 12:2) as the author and perfector of our faith, we will experience a peace beyond understanding, (Philippians 4:7) for following your ways ensures that we are always on the "same team". I pray most earnestly for protection and that each of those I love, and that I call "family", will put YOU first in their lives so that we might cling to your promises together. I am truly thankful that you found a way to be both the judge of all evil and yet sent Jesus to show us mercy. Amen.
S - Matthew 10:34-39
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'[a]
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
O - This is a challenging passage because it appears to be a contradiction. Jesus is drawing a line. Most would say "how can Jesus who is the supreme example of love, ask you to go against your own family, especially when it is one of the original 10 commandments?" What Jesus is saying is that people are flawed and not dependable. They will let you down but Jesus will never let us down. Jesus has proven to be dependable and has sacrificed much in spite of people that even deny who He is. So if we place our faith in people instead of Him, especially those that are not following His ways, then we will always find disappointment. Sometimes love means making tough choices if that is doing what is best. Jesus is always going to choose to love us, therefore we must choose to put Him first in our life...to choose His way over the way of people.
One note of interest is that Jesus quotes Micah 7:6 here. Micah is a book in the Old Testament and he was a contemporary of Isaiah. He is considered one of the "minor" prophets and he spoke of God's judgment and the offer of pardon to all those who repent. The book of Micah contains many prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah, who will come to unite all of God's people. He writes of God's extreme dislike of pride and injustice, and also His willingness to provide a way to forgiveness and mercy. It is clear to me that Jesus IS the only way that God could be both the judge and merciful.
A - We cannot control the choices of the people in our life. If we cling to what is actually temporary on this earth, we will miss the purpose of Jesus' coming. Jesus is not asking us to NOT love people - He is asking us to love Him MORE. He calls us to choose His way above any earthly way as the way to eternal life with Him. Jesus brings a "sword" against anything that seeks a path of destruction, and the enemy prowls in an attempt to take us with him (1 Peter 5:8). In our human nature we will not always be "on the same path"...some will have their own best interest in mind, or be blinded by the enemy's schemes, even if we are family. Therefore, in order to fully love each other, we must FIRST love the Lord of Life. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we will always be on the "same team".
P - Oh Lord, I plead with you to strike the heal of the enemy and keep him far from me and my family. When the enemy seeks to destroy, he will put us against each other. But putting our eyes on you (Hebrews 12:2) as the author and perfector of our faith, we will experience a peace beyond understanding, (Philippians 4:7) for following your ways ensures that we are always on the "same team". I pray most earnestly for protection and that each of those I love, and that I call "family", will put YOU first in their lives so that we might cling to your promises together. I am truly thankful that you found a way to be both the judge of all evil and yet sent Jesus to show us mercy. Amen.
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