Just Keep Reading…

Posted on January 27, 2012

It’s been one of those weeks where everything has just seemed sort of off. So as I approached my Tuesday/Wednesday deadline of a weekly devotion based on the 20+ chapters of Scripture I’ve read in the previous days without a message that seemed appropriate for this space, all I could tell myself was, “Just keep reading…”

So I did.

Yet still unsure regarding a message from a specific passage, and with my mind still freshly aware of The Story, I stepped back from the details and specifics to observe the big picture of all that I’ve been soaking in over the past few weeks.

And that’s when I saw it.

God’s love woven through each story and each person on the pages of Scriptures.

God’s love throughout the creation account.

God’s love to Noah, who was preserved through the flood because he found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

God’s love to the Israelites as they rebuilt the temple and restored their relationship and identity post exile.

God’s love to the prophet Nehemiah through answered prayer.

God’s love to the church as it spread and multiplied by the power of the Holy Spirit, even as it faced persecution.

God’s love to Paul through his powerful conversion and ministry.

God’s love to the apostles, the chosen twelve, as Christ walked with them, lived with them, and ministered to them.

God’s love to so many people who witnessed and experienced Christ’s wonders and miracles because of their faith.

God’s love in this as spoken in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch by Paul:

“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

- Acts 13:38-39 (NIV)

It all comes back to this, doesn’t it? To Jesus Christ. To his sacrifice on the cross. Out of His perfect love. For us.

“Amazing love, how can it be? That you, my King, would die for me.

Amazing love, I know it’s true. It’s my joy to honor you.

In all I do, let me honor you.”

Sometimes, it’s all we can do to just keep reading, to soak in His love, His faithfulness, His goodness, and to remember all that He’s done.

Just keep reading…

The 2012 Blogging Adventure(s)

Posted on January 8, 2012

As I mentioned here, I’m changing things up a little this year:

1. I have decided to use a new read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan for 2012 (the M’Cheyne plan…which goes through the New Testament and Psalms twice and the rest of the Old Testament once). As part of my effort to stay accountable to both the reading plan and to writing, on Tuesday or Wednesday of each week I will be posting a devo thought based on the previous week’s reading {at least for now}. As I have always considered devotions to be the heartbeat and core of this blog, I’m really looking forward to a more systematic approach to the devo thoughts this year, and pray that this walk through Scripture will be an encouragement to you as well!

2. Although I’m technically already a week behind (unless if you count the above photo…), in an attempt to improve in and further my knowledge of all things photography, I will also be doing an unofficial 52-week photo project and posting one photo per week (hopefully on Friday, but that is totally subject to change at this point). These posts probably won’t be super long or wordy (shocking, I know) as they’ll mainly serve to document the photos throughout the year, and I have no rules for myself other than that the photo must have been taken within the prior seven days.

Of course, you can still expect to see recipes and life thrown randomly into the mix here and there as well. Thanks for hanging in there with me and continuing to read this humble little blog…I am so grateful for each one of you!

To Seek the Lord

Posted on January 4, 2012

While I don’t typically make true New Year’s resolutions, given my personality, I do tend to get a bit introspective around this time of year and spend some time ~~evaluating~~ over-analyzing areas in which I’m doing well and areas in need of {sometimes serious} improvement.

This time of introspection, lasting anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks, often does lead to setting a few goals, which more often than not tend to fall into the lofty-and-completely-unattainable-because-I-really-just-want-to-be-perfect category.

But this year, while I did set a few {mostly realistic} goals to improve in a few very specific areas, I also did something I’ve never done before. I came across a passage {quite unexpectedly and I honestly can’t even remember how…} in 1 Chronicles that resonated so deeply within me, that after spending some time praying over it and going back to it several times, I decided I needed to claim it as a sort of theme for 2012.

In 1 Chronicles 16, we find the Israelites placing the ark of the covenant inside the tent in Jerusalem that they had prepared {according to the Lord’s instructions and plans}, and then David appoints the Levites as ministers and instructs them to give thanks and praise to the Lord. And while David’s entire song of thanks in verses 8-36 is powerful and worth the read, two verses especially captured my attention:

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered…”

1 Chronicles 16:11-12 (ESV)

And in those two verses I knew I had found a goal far more worthy of defining this year {and this life, for that matter} than any I could set for myself:

To seek the Lord.

To seek His presence. Intentionally. Faithfully. Continually.

To seek after and rely upon His strength and His Spirit dwelling within.

To remember the Lord, to choose faith, to choose worship.

To surrender to the Sovereign and Everlasting God of both miracles and judgments.

To seek the Lord.

Have you ever chosen a verse or passage to bring focus to a given year or season of your life? If so, I’d love to hear the verse(s) you chose and how the Lord revealed them.

*Linking with Thought-Provoking Thursday*

The Miracle and Mystery of the Incarnation

Posted on December 24, 2011

It began well over a month ago with lyrics from a choral piece, “The Mind of Christ”, based on Philippians 2:5-11:

“He laid aside his crown, from glory He came down. Divinity within a human soul. God in the form of a man.”

Words that gripped my every emotion, words that prompted intense theological discourse within me, words that registered in the depths of my soul.

It came softly … yet it was all-consuming in the way that only Truth can be … until it overwhelmed every song, every Scripture, every message. It hasn’t been far from my mind ever since.

A recognition that this Truth should have even deeper roots, should be even more significant, should have an even greater impact on everyday life.

Then after reading this post written by Melissa with a translation of The Mystery of the Incarnation: A Scriptural Tapestry of Jesus as Man and God by Gregory of Nazianzus on the Living Proof Ministries Blog, the beauty and the weight of this Truth was fully exposed:

The miracle and the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the only Son of God (John 3:16) and God Himself (John 1:1), became incarnate man (John 1:14). The promised one (Matt. 1:22-23). Fully man, yet fully God.

Jesus Christ became man for us. To be Emmanuel, God with us. To be love in our hatred. To be light in our darkness. To be peace in our chaos. To be strength in our weakness. To be rest in our weariness. To be Savior in our sinfulness.

Jesus Christ became man in the form a baby, humbly born in Bethlehem. He grew and lived and walked among us, yet He was sinless … perfect and blameless … so that He could humbly and obediently approach the cross to be our Salvation.

And this Truth about the Incarnation, this gift of God becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ … for humanity, for us … though it seems to be most often remembered and most eagerly discussed at this time every year, it’s Truth eternal.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

Let us worship Christ, the Lord! Merry Christmas!

For When the Words Don’t Come

Posted on November 17, 2011

I sit and stare at a blank screen, distraction free, all white space except for the two light gray words in the bottom right hand corner encouraging me to “just write.”

I have thoughts and ideas suitable for full-length and substantial posts.

But the words just don’t come.

Moving from thoughts and ideas to coherent and well-written sentences seems impossible, burdensome, heavy.

I love the process of writing. The release that it brings. I enjoy the experience of blogging.

But I feel weighed down by the practical issues and responsibilities of life this side of the computer screen. Somehow unable to reawaken the creative energy necessary to keep going, to press on, to continue when the blank screen stares back.

I have even uttered five of the saddest words to my soul, “I want to quit blogging.”

But I don’t really want to quit. I simply feel uninspired, unmotivated and exhausted. I’m in a lull of sorts.

And while picking up and heading to the beach – allowing the expanse of the ocean, the peacefulness of the shore to restore my perspective – sounds close to the perfect solution, that is simply not a possibility at the moment.

One of my dearest friends suggests that I should read. Anything. Finally taking her up on that advice, I read something relatively easy and mindless. And it feels good. Refreshing even.

Yet I still find myself coming up short in the words department.

My mom suggests that I should focus my thoughts on gratitude. So I begin a list of the small, trivial, forgotten and everyday things for which I’m grateful. I quickly list 25 items in a matter of moments.

Knowing I have been blessed far beyond what I deserve and saddened by the reality that I fail to acknowledge it far too often, I purposefully and intentionally seek opportunities to get out of myself. To serve others. Even when all I want to do is retreat. To fold in rather than reach out.

I take action and make commitments. Some of them relatively easy, others seemingly big and life-changing.

And I give myself a break from the guilt that so often wears me down. Of not doing enough. Of doing too much. Of lacking proper balance.

My thoughts turn to Scripture, so I read John 6:22-71.

“Jesus answered them…’Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal…For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to this world…I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.’”

- John 6:26, 27, 33, 35, 63 (ESV – emphasis added)

And I am reminded that Jesus is the bread of life.

When my words just. don’t. come.

His words are life.

Jesus is [More Than] Enough

Posted on January 22, 2011

I could literally burst with excitement about this message!

But I’m trying to contain myself enough to at least form a handful of coherent sentences. (You can thank me later…)

Here’s the thing: a title like I chose for this post could go A LOT of different ways. And where I’m going with it may seem a little “off the beaten path” as it were, but I am choosing to trust the Holy Spirit on this one and to roll with it.

You see, I had a completely different devo post in mind for this week. But I’ve spent the last two days praying over my half-written post because it just. wasn’t. working.

[At least not yet.]

And maybe it was because the Lord had something better.

For me and for you.

I am fairly confident that I have mentioned a time or two (or a hundred) that I’m taking Koine Greek as part of my seminary studies. Well, tonight (and tomorrow) began a new semester of said Greek studies, and at the end of class we were reading and discussing John 4:7-14 in the Greek (which actually has very little to do with this post, but I would encourage you to go read it for context anyways).

As we were reading, I was struck with a [what I have always deemed to be sacrilegious] thought that has plagued me before:

“Conversations in Scripture (even between Jesus and others) often seem to be abbreviated and/or poeticized…perhaps to reflect the nature and direction of a given conversation in order to emphasize the important elements rather than a word-for-word recording of said conversation.”

Maybe I’m the only one who thinks this? It’s just that I tend to be wordy (shocking, right?) and detailed in my conversations, and rarely do I have conversations as succinct as they appear in Scripture. And it’s not like they walked around with voice recorders back in those days…

But tonight, as I was processing this thought, I was promptly reminded of the following:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God

and profitable for teaching, for reproof,

for correction, and for training in righteousness,

that the man of God may be competent,

equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16 (English Standard Version)

If “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (which I firmly believe that it is), then whether or not conversations throughout its pages are “word-for-word recordings” is irrelevant.

Why?

Because the words that ARE recorded are what matters.

Because the words that ARE recorded are the important elements.

Because the words that ARE recorded are the exact parts of the conversations that we were intended to read about and know.

ESPECIALLY when it comes to the words of Jesus.

And as my professor had to use no less than four or five English words (words including “fountain, bubbling, and overflowing”) to define and describe the phrase “welling up” as it occurs in John 4:14…

“The water that I will give him

will become in him a spring of water

welling up to eternal life.”

(ESV – emphasis added)

…I was made keenly aware that as an example for how my conversations with others should go, as an example for sharing the gospel, as an example of how life is to be lived, and as the essence of life itself…

Jesus’ words are enough.

Jesus is enough.

Jesus is MORE THAN enough.

The Inner Harbor

Where God is evidenced. Where my soul is anchored. Where my heart is filled.

Tag Archives: Scripture