I have been struggling to keep up the act of studying my bible everyday, with the desire in my mind, fortunately i stumbled upon these passages, which i merged into one.
This post goes out to all those who desire to spend quality time with God but have difficulty to, its a mind-opener.
Enjoy!
'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.' JOHN 8:31
You cannot be a disciple of Jesus without a regular intake of God's Word. Jesus said, 'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.' This word 'continue' means to live each day by its principles. The story's told of a man who came to pick his wife up after church: 'Is the sermon over?' he asked. A turned-on member replied, 'No, it has just begun. Now the rest is up to us!' The common denominator of every great man and woman of God in history is that they disciplined themselves to spend regular time with the Lord in His Word. What made George Muller so successful? During his lifetime he read through the Bible over 200 times; more than half of those readings on his knees, praying over the Word while studying it. When you know God that well, you'll pray specifically and get specific answers. Most of us who say we believe the Bible from cover to cover have never read it from cover to cover! We are more faithful to the advice columnists and the sports pages of the newspaper than we are to God's Word. People who are not professing Christians wouldn't dream of leaving their homes in the morning until they've read their horoscope. Imagine what would happen if you committed yourself with equal vigour to reading your Bible before you leave for work, school, or wherever? It would change your life, and impact those around you! So, read your Bible!
''Continue in...the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise.' 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-15
Why don't we read God's Word more? Three reasons: 1) We don't know how! We hear the pastor preach a great sermon and think, 'Why didn't I see that?' Because the pastor spends hours praying over it and studying the Scriptures; we don't! 2) We're not motivated! That's because we haven't experienced the joy that comes from personally discovering great truths from God's Word. We've become satisfied with getting what we need from somebody else rather than finding it out for ourselves. Understand this: If you ever get serious about studying the Bible on your own, you'll never fully be satisfied with a second-hand knowledge of the Scriptures. Dr. Paul Lyttle once compared personal Bible study to eating peanuts: 'Once you start doing it, you're hooked! When you discover how good Bible study 'tastes' you'll find yourself going back for more and more. Yes, personal Bible study can be habit-forming!' 3) We are lazy! Bible study is hard work. There are no shortcuts to it. It takes time, effort, concentration and persistence. Most of its great truths don't lie on the surface; we have to dig for them. Dr Howard Hendricks describes the three stages of Bible study: a) The 'castor oil' stage - we study the Bible because we know it's good for us, but it's not too enjoyable b) The 'cereal' stage - our Bible study is dry and uninteresting, but we know it's nourishing c) The 'peaches and cream' stage - we are really feasting on the Word of God. Bottom line? 'Continue in...the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Managing pain.
I bumped into this passage, while doing my personal study. It would be of tremendous benefit for those who find it difficult to manage pain, hurt, and the like, it goes thus, enjoy...
When you lose what you love you go through five stages: 1) Denial - 'No, it can't be happening.' 2) Anger - 'God, why are You permitting this?' 3) Bargaining - 'Please make it go away.' 4) Depression - Silence and withdrawal. 5) Acceptance - 'Not my will but Thine be done.' Whether it's the loss of a child, a marriage, a job, your health, etc when you turn to God He'll give you the grace to embrace it, grieve it, express it, release it, and go on to become stronger. Sometimes we seek quick relief by releasing it before we've gone through these stages. That's because we fear the process. We've been taught that any show of emotion is a show of weakness, so we hide it. But we only stuff it into our emotional garbage can, then spend all our time and energy sitting on the lid, trying to keep the contents from spilling out. 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8:32 NKJV). It's knowing and embracing the truth, including its painful aspects, that sets you free. You must be willing to forgive. But until you come to grips with the enormity of your loss, including any injustice of what was done to you, you are not ready to forgive. When you rush to forgive, you forgive only in part and you're released only in part. Are you running from pain today? Are you trading it in prematurely for some other feeling? That's not God's way. Jesus said, 'You will weep and mourn...but [eventually] your grief will turn to joy...and no one will take [it] away' (John 16:20-22 NIV).
God Bless
When you lose what you love you go through five stages: 1) Denial - 'No, it can't be happening.' 2) Anger - 'God, why are You permitting this?' 3) Bargaining - 'Please make it go away.' 4) Depression - Silence and withdrawal. 5) Acceptance - 'Not my will but Thine be done.' Whether it's the loss of a child, a marriage, a job, your health, etc when you turn to God He'll give you the grace to embrace it, grieve it, express it, release it, and go on to become stronger. Sometimes we seek quick relief by releasing it before we've gone through these stages. That's because we fear the process. We've been taught that any show of emotion is a show of weakness, so we hide it. But we only stuff it into our emotional garbage can, then spend all our time and energy sitting on the lid, trying to keep the contents from spilling out. 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8:32 NKJV). It's knowing and embracing the truth, including its painful aspects, that sets you free. You must be willing to forgive. But until you come to grips with the enormity of your loss, including any injustice of what was done to you, you are not ready to forgive. When you rush to forgive, you forgive only in part and you're released only in part. Are you running from pain today? Are you trading it in prematurely for some other feeling? That's not God's way. Jesus said, 'You will weep and mourn...but [eventually] your grief will turn to joy...and no one will take [it] away' (John 16:20-22 NIV).
God Bless
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Openess or Diplomacy
Hey! Thought to drop a short post before shutting down my system.
Something striking happened yesterday evening- March 24,2008 . For me, it indicated entry into another phase of my life- having had to share my past experience with someone really special, i had choices to make, either to be open and real or to be diplomatic and play safe.
Sharing these experiences was somewhat traumatising and painful, each word i spoke reawakened already expunged memories... but as i shared these experiences all i saw was the bright side and the gain of it all, it made me realise i was not ashamed to be me, it was a re-affirmation for me that i was single, whole, complete and happy, for me it was some form of test. I was torn in-between possibilities of an irrational reaction , rejection and possibilities of drawing the curtains to what we shared, considering all these i didn't give a damn(excuse me!) i simply wanted to be me, to be responsible for my actions, face the truth and see if i could live with it, see if we could embrace the truth, pain, feelings and emotions .
Bless God, this is the second day after sharing it, i am most thankful to God for the happiness and hope i feel within because all is rooted in him , he has made me and taught me all that i am today. A burden has been lifted off my shoulders.
I am free!
Thank you for sharing your time with me, but i really need to run now, its kinda late!
Something striking happened yesterday evening- March 24,2008 . For me, it indicated entry into another phase of my life- having had to share my past experience with someone really special, i had choices to make, either to be open and real or to be diplomatic and play safe.
Sharing these experiences was somewhat traumatising and painful, each word i spoke reawakened already expunged memories... but as i shared these experiences all i saw was the bright side and the gain of it all, it made me realise i was not ashamed to be me, it was a re-affirmation for me that i was single, whole, complete and happy, for me it was some form of test. I was torn in-between possibilities of an irrational reaction , rejection and possibilities of drawing the curtains to what we shared, considering all these i didn't give a damn(excuse me!) i simply wanted to be me, to be responsible for my actions, face the truth and see if i could live with it, see if we could embrace the truth, pain, feelings and emotions .
Bless God, this is the second day after sharing it, i am most thankful to God for the happiness and hope i feel within because all is rooted in him , he has made me and taught me all that i am today. A burden has been lifted off my shoulders.
I am free!
Thank you for sharing your time with me, but i really need to run now, its kinda late!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Busy Busy Busy
Wow! it's been a while i have had some spare time to do a post, these past months of this year have been so occupying.
It's been work, work, work and work...been doing some soul searching and i am like ... God help me! if i am starting on this note then how would it be like in 5-10 years. As much as i love to be a career woman, i am not one who subscribes to work first, husband second, kids third, friends and family no spare time to catch up on old times, though on second thoughts it's near that.
My resolution after the exercise is to slow it down, my new song is Balance, Balance, Balance, i sing this to myself everyday, my friends and family shouldn't be the sacrifice i have to slaughter on the altar of my work/career.
Next time i would be doing a post on Crossroads- its basically about choices and decisions one has to make.
Just before i leave, ponder on this quote:
"A winner knows how much he has to learn, even when he his considered an expert by others, but a loser wants to be considered an expert by others, before he has learned enough to know how little he knows".
Thank you!
Ciao! Ciao!
It's been work, work, work and work...been doing some soul searching and i am like ... God help me! if i am starting on this note then how would it be like in 5-10 years. As much as i love to be a career woman, i am not one who subscribes to work first, husband second, kids third, friends and family no spare time to catch up on old times, though on second thoughts it's near that.
My resolution after the exercise is to slow it down, my new song is Balance, Balance, Balance, i sing this to myself everyday, my friends and family shouldn't be the sacrifice i have to slaughter on the altar of my work/career.
Next time i would be doing a post on Crossroads- its basically about choices and decisions one has to make.
Just before i leave, ponder on this quote:
"A winner knows how much he has to learn, even when he his considered an expert by others, but a loser wants to be considered an expert by others, before he has learned enough to know how little he knows".
Thank you!
Ciao! Ciao!
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