I have two Bible verses that I refer to a lot.
The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
-Zeph 3:17
For I am convinced that neither death
nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 8:38-39
The main thing that stands out to me in these two is Love. Not just any love, but God's love. His intense, perfect love for His children. Love that can not be thwarted or stopped by any power found in Heaven or Earth. Love that quiets and saves. We talk about it all the time in church, we sing about it in worship songs and it gives us warm fuzzy feelings. Bottom line: God loves us.
I get that.
Or do I?
It seems to me that if God's love is as big as He says it is, and I believe in it as I say I do, I should let it do more in me and through me, but for some reason it isn't. The problem is obviously not with God, His love is perfect and unconditional. He reaches to us long before we ever acknowledge Him. He does, however, require us to accept it on our own. I think even once we've accepted Christ we have to believe Him, not just in Him, as well as the power of His love.We instead have the tendency to listen to lies and look to the things of this world to heal and do what His perfect love is intended for.
I've seen this in myself quite a bit lately, and I'm not proud of it.
When I let lies overcome me, I fail to let His love be enough.
His love isn't enough to make me feel worthy.
It isn't enough to fill the empty spaces of lonliness.
It isn't enough to heal my brokenness.
It isn't enough to quiet me.
It isn't enough to cover the guilt of past mistakes and regrets.
It isn't enough to bridge the gap in failed relationships.
It isn't enough to give me hope for a future I can't see.
It isn't enough to bring me contentment in the difficult situations.
It isn't enough to bring me joy when it seems the most impossible.
It isn't enough to rescue me from myself.
It isn't enough when there is nothing else.
It's time to start trusting in the Love that set me free, that died for me, and pursues me daily even when I feel ready to give up on it.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Bible in 90 Days: Week 1
I am a part of a group of women on Facebook who are reading through the Bible in 90 days this summer. I am very excited about this as I have only read through the entire Bible once. Today marks the end of the first week of reading, and though I'm still a little behind, I decided to go ahead and share my thoughts and the things God has shown me over the past week's reading.
Genesis
God created everything by speaking it into existence. This still blows my mind. He just says and and it just...is. The best part is that he could have spoken man into existence but he wanted our creation to be more intimate, so He created man from dust with his hands. God never actually has to touch anything for it to happen, but I love seeing throughout the Bible (including Jesus in the NT) where He has touched people when He didn't have to, but chooses instead to reinforce the relationship and intimacy He desires with His children. Eve was tempted in the garden by the serpent. She knew she wasn't supposed to touch the fruit but she did because it appealed to her senses in the moment. Like Eve, we want that instant gratification and let that desire rule over what we know is better.
Adam and Eve were ashamed once they sinned. They hid from God. Even though they were in the wrong, God still sought them out in the garden. They could not properly cover their shame/nakedness, only God could properly cover them. Then people became increasingly corrupt on Earth. God was getting ready to send the flood, which is a foreshadowing of baptism. He wanted to end all flesh, which is exactly what he wants to end in us. All the flesh of earth goes in the water and comes up with a new, fresh start. After the flood God establishes a covenant. A new promise. A new beginning.
As I read I was wondering why God said He was physically going to go down to Sodom and Gomorrah, since He obviously already knew what was happening there. I'm wondering if he wanted to give Abraham a chance to plead for them. I am thinking God wanted to leave room for compassion from Abraham.
Lot lived with his daughters in Sodom, and later they do shameful things with their father. I believe this was a result of them living in such a sinful place, they were a product of their environment.
When reading the account of Abraham and Isaac, I can't help but think of the sorrow Abraham must have felt to know he was going to kill his son, and the fact that the God that he followed and loved was the one who asked him to do it. Nevertheless, he still was willing to do what was asked. That is faith. I'm always going to wonder how awkward the walk home was after that episode.
Exodus
We tend to hate what we fear. The Egyptians saw that the Israelites were getting numerous and they feared them, so they enslaved them. God called Moses to be the one to set them free, and when He tells him what He wants him to do, Moses argues with God that surely there is someone better for the job. He tells God that he isn't so hot at the public speaking. God answers back that it was He who made the mouth, but when Moses insists, I love that God allows Moses to use Aaron to speak for him. (and what faith Aaron must have had to agree to do it!) When the Israelites begin to gripe against Moses because they were made to work harder by the Egyptians, Moses again questions God. I think he expected the deliverance to be instantaneous, and was not waiting on God to bring it about in His own time. I love the picture of grace in the plagues. God gives Pharoah a chance to change his mind each time before releasing a plague on him.
Once the Israelites were in the wilderness, once their leader was gone for a period of time on the mountain, they so quickly turned to other gods. They made a calf out of gold, mostly thanks to Moses' brother Aaron, whom God set aside as a priest. I love that even though Aaron made such a huge mistake, God didn't disqualify him from priesthood. God asked for an offering of gold and silver from the people that were willing to give. He didn't require these offerings to make his tabernacle and other things because everything already belongs to Him. He wanted the people to be a part of what he was doing and I'm guessing people appreciate His work more when they are a part of it. I believe the same is still true today of our giving.
Genesis
God created everything by speaking it into existence. This still blows my mind. He just says and and it just...is. The best part is that he could have spoken man into existence but he wanted our creation to be more intimate, so He created man from dust with his hands. God never actually has to touch anything for it to happen, but I love seeing throughout the Bible (including Jesus in the NT) where He has touched people when He didn't have to, but chooses instead to reinforce the relationship and intimacy He desires with His children. Eve was tempted in the garden by the serpent. She knew she wasn't supposed to touch the fruit but she did because it appealed to her senses in the moment. Like Eve, we want that instant gratification and let that desire rule over what we know is better.
Adam and Eve were ashamed once they sinned. They hid from God. Even though they were in the wrong, God still sought them out in the garden. They could not properly cover their shame/nakedness, only God could properly cover them. Then people became increasingly corrupt on Earth. God was getting ready to send the flood, which is a foreshadowing of baptism. He wanted to end all flesh, which is exactly what he wants to end in us. All the flesh of earth goes in the water and comes up with a new, fresh start. After the flood God establishes a covenant. A new promise. A new beginning.
As I read I was wondering why God said He was physically going to go down to Sodom and Gomorrah, since He obviously already knew what was happening there. I'm wondering if he wanted to give Abraham a chance to plead for them. I am thinking God wanted to leave room for compassion from Abraham.
Lot lived with his daughters in Sodom, and later they do shameful things with their father. I believe this was a result of them living in such a sinful place, they were a product of their environment.
When reading the account of Abraham and Isaac, I can't help but think of the sorrow Abraham must have felt to know he was going to kill his son, and the fact that the God that he followed and loved was the one who asked him to do it. Nevertheless, he still was willing to do what was asked. That is faith. I'm always going to wonder how awkward the walk home was after that episode.
Exodus
We tend to hate what we fear. The Egyptians saw that the Israelites were getting numerous and they feared them, so they enslaved them. God called Moses to be the one to set them free, and when He tells him what He wants him to do, Moses argues with God that surely there is someone better for the job. He tells God that he isn't so hot at the public speaking. God answers back that it was He who made the mouth, but when Moses insists, I love that God allows Moses to use Aaron to speak for him. (and what faith Aaron must have had to agree to do it!) When the Israelites begin to gripe against Moses because they were made to work harder by the Egyptians, Moses again questions God. I think he expected the deliverance to be instantaneous, and was not waiting on God to bring it about in His own time. I love the picture of grace in the plagues. God gives Pharoah a chance to change his mind each time before releasing a plague on him.
Once the Israelites were in the wilderness, once their leader was gone for a period of time on the mountain, they so quickly turned to other gods. They made a calf out of gold, mostly thanks to Moses' brother Aaron, whom God set aside as a priest. I love that even though Aaron made such a huge mistake, God didn't disqualify him from priesthood. God asked for an offering of gold and silver from the people that were willing to give. He didn't require these offerings to make his tabernacle and other things because everything already belongs to Him. He wanted the people to be a part of what he was doing and I'm guessing people appreciate His work more when they are a part of it. I believe the same is still true today of our giving.
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