Showing posts with label study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label study. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Feasting on the Manna is So Fulfilling


Danny and I don’t cook like we used to. When we had children at home, fresh meals daily were on the table for their benefit as well as ours. As part time jobs and band and ballgames and dates took over their lives, it was more quick meals and carry outs.

I laugh as I look into my cupboard to see all the “instant” food available. From cocoa to soup, from potatoes to coffee everything we might need is available. Sometimes though, I want a “real meal” so we cook!  You just can’t instantly have a pot of pinto beans or a roast.

We have become the victims of instant everything. From our “smart” phones to our computers and televisions, it’s instant on, instant search and instant information.  We find ourselves frustrated if one of them doesn’t respond as quickly as we want.  Funny that the very things we were told would make our life better have given us more frustration and annoyance.

For our spiritual life, it’s pretty much become the same. A snippet of a good speaker on the television, a little Christian music on the way to work, looking up a verse on our phones or searching the internet for answers to our heart problems has become the norm.  We have overvalued the quick pick me ups and undervalued steady preparation. 

The Lord will give us instant help, constant strength and eternal hope. But to live in the light of His Word, we will always have to take His yoke upon us and learn. Learning takes time. Preparing to be all God wants for us takes time. Ask the ones you know who are strong Christians. They will tell you. Years of learning, years of studying, years of living in the light of the One Who loves us beyond all imagination.

Oh beloved, God knows your busy life. He sees you running here and there, helping your family, doing your job and all that is expected of you.  He sees the burdens, the weariness, the sorrow. He knows you’ve worked hard to get where you are and yet there are times that you wonder if it was worth it. He knows your heart longs to feel the peace that only His presence can give. He says to your heart this morning, beloved, slow down and feast on My Manna so richly provided for you because I love you. It’s free. It’s nourishing. It’s always available just on time. I love you, He says to your precious heart, I Am for you, He says to your wounded soul. I have this, He speaks to your hard situation.  I AM the One Who gives you enough time in those times you don’t think there’s a way.  Rest in Me and I will give you all that you need and more, for I AM a More Than God!

Run to His Word and lay your face on His shoulder for He is love and He is provision and He is there for you always…you will find what you really need nowhere else, ever…

Matthew 6:32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

Acts 17:25 and human hands can’t serve His needs—for He has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.

2 Peter 3:18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to Him, both now and forever! Amen.

2 Peter 1:3 By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.

Psalm 25:5 Lead me by Your truth and teach me, for You are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Bogged Down? Get Out God's Assignments and Praise Him!

When we lived in Tyler we had a huge detached double garage at the back of our lot. This is where I learned to love being a teacher. I had a chalkboard and I loved to write assignments on the board. Oh they’d be long, long assignments! Usually playing school only involved me and Dee Dee, a neighbor. But we’d play! Assignment seemed to always fascinate me. I liked having something to do, a list to remind myself and then to cross it off the list as I accomplished it.  I think that’s one of the reasons Precept Bible Studies was so appealing to me.  We had homework assignments during the week. We would be sent home to glean from the Word.  If you didn’t do your homework, you could not share in class the next week.  I’ll forever be grateful for our time as both Precept students and as Precept teachers.  Learning to study the Bible in depth and find nuggets of Truth for yourself – learning what it really means – gave us an incredible foundation for our faith.

Just as there were assignments in school and in Bible study, there are assignments in life. Some are wonderful – love, joy, peace, faithfulness, gifts of the Holy Spirit, to name a few.  Others aren’t so good.  Fear, condemnation, pessimism, gloominess, hopelessness, despair, to name a few.   One set of assignments is given to us freely by the Lord when we are saved.  The other set of assignments is from the enemy of our very souls. As with all homework we must be careful of what we’re working on – for what you “work on” is what you become proficient in. 

Oh beloved! Run to the Lord this morning and learn your rightful coursework! His Assignment Book is full of good words to learn, great precepts to walk in and awesome power for living!  Every good and perfect gift is from Him! Every sorrowful and depressing gift is from another. God says to you this morning, Come to me, Your Teacher, and learn of Me. When you know Me and My Word, you won’t be tempted to follow the wrong assignments. All of my gifts, every single one of them, are good and pleasing and kind.  I love you, and because of My Great Love, you have no worries concerning learning of Me. I AM for you, so you have no worries concerning following Me! The only way to reject untruth being spoken into your life is to learn MY Truth! Come, beloved, you are heavy laden with lies and discouraging words! Let Me speak Truth into your life so that when it’s all said and done, you will be able to live as more than a conqueror!

God loves you and His Word proves it.  He’s for you and His precepts light the path for you. Hallelujah to the King!

John 17:17 “Make them holy by Your Truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.”

Psalm 19:8  The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. (NAS)

Psalm 119:14-16 I will study Your commandments and reflect on Your ways.  I will delight in Your decrees and not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:110  The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts. (NAS)

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.