Reviewing Words of Life!

 

How do I live this today, right now in this hour...in this moment? As so many people all around me seek the things of this world, how do I instead live as a citizen of heaven? It is hard to put into words what this may look like, but I do know what I will do today...I will say "Yes" to the Lord. Whatever He may have for me today, whatever people He sends my way to love and show kindness to, and whatever He may bring I will rejoice in Him and in His love for me. I am His very special child! And that is why I must love those around me and show them by my actions that they too are made in God's image and desperately need Him to save them.

 In the midst of this broken world and the discouragement of my own sin, I will rejoice! Not in me...but in the Lord! I suppose I could ask why should I rejoice in the Lord, but I think the bigger quest is...WHY NOT?! The Lord has saved me, taken my sins away from me, given me new life and abundant life, He has washed me in the blood of the Lamb, and I am a child of God! I have every reason to rejoice today and so I will no matter what my circumstance may be.

Christ has showed me such love, such kindness, and in His suffering and brokenness He brought me near to the Father's heart. And so this same attitude that Christ demonstrated must be my own as well. At work I want people to see Jesus in me...and I want to show them the Father's heart of love and compassion...His righteousness and holiness, which requires Him to punish sin, and His grace and mercy in sending Jesus to take our place if we believe.

 As I continue to wait for Fidele's visa to come in, I set my heart on prayer and thanksgiving. O those awful worries and anxieties flood my soul, but the Father whispers His love in my heart and says be still. And I find that if a heart cannot be both worried and thankful...I cannot live in a state of anxiety and thanksgiving at the same time. So I put on thanksgiving and fill up the moments with thanks to the Lord. This is not an option for me either, but is a command from the Lord. So I work at this and look to Him for strength to continually fill up my heart with thanksgiving and prayer instead of the constant worries that bombard me.

And so as each day comes and I live out my life more and more and little by little my thoughts are being transformed by Scripture. And I seek to think on these things above so that my heart may rest in the peace of God and be protected by it.

 

Always remembering that I can do everything through Jesus! I do not try and live this life alone anymore. I am a child of God, and He is with me. He wants me to fix all that I am on Him and trust Him. He wants me to live for Him and rejoice in Him and live life in Him. And all of this He wants me to do in His strength!

His Word in My Heart

 

The Book...

 

I recently enjoyed reading a book not too long ago by Janet Pope, His Word in My Heart. I was quite surprised to find it waiting for me outside my doorstep one day towards the end of February. When I I first saw it, I tried to remember when I had ordered a new book, but then I realized that I hadn't! It was actually a wonderful gift, and such a life-transforming one!

In her book, Janet shares her experience of memorizing Scripture and how it completely changed her life. I know how easy it is to think, "If only I had started when I was younger! My brain doesn't work as good as it used too!" And I am only twenty-three!! So I am sure that many of you probably feel much worse...and the thought of trying to memorize Bible verses seems rather daunting. Well, Janet addresses all of these things in her book, because she didn't start memorizing until she was thirty-five!

I love how this book is not some "formula focused"  book, but is a testimony of one woman's journey of learning to meditate and treasure God's Word. I highly recommend this book for all Believers because I know that my life is drastically different now that I have gleaned from Janet's testimony.

Transformation...

I have always grown up memorizing Bible verses, whether it was in Sunday School, AWANA, Youth Group, or just on my own. But as I read Janet's book, I realized that I have always been more focused on my accomplishment instead of on meditating and treasuring God's Word by memorizing it. So after reading His Word in My Heart I took on a new strategy. I followed Janet's lead as she led her readers in memorizing Psalm 1 (one verse every day). So I wrote down my verse of the day and carried it with me and recited it to myself all throughout the day. I sought to fill up all my "empty moments" like when I am getting dressed, brushing my teeth, doing the dishes, cleaning, driving, walking, and what have you with God's Word. And it was like enjoying a delicious feast all day long! I also have been working on 1 John, doing just a couple verses every day so that I take the time to think deeply, meditate, ask questions and find every bit of nourishment for my soul that I can find from my couple verses. This change in attitude has completely transformed the way I look at life. I feel a joy and peace like never before because I am thinking about God's Word all throughout the day...I feel His presence so deeply and close because I am keeping His Word before me all throughout the day. And really it does not take up that much time to memorize and recite...we just have to discipline our minds to capture those "empty moments". 

I have been working on memorizing my verses now for two weeks. And God has been testing my resolve and motives. It is easy to begin something new because it is exciting and fresh. The joy and happiness you get at the beginning can push you on at first, but as I have gone through the past two week, I can see that memorizing Scripture does not take away difficulties, frustrations, laziness, lack of motivation, weariness, heartache, fear, or all these human sins and weaknesses; but through it all when I corral my mind back to God's Word I find peace in just looking to Jesus through all the circumstances we face in life. Memorizing the Bible will not keep away the storms of life but it certainly prepares us for them and enables us to sail through them with our eyes fixed on Jesus. 

I look forward to doing my verses each day now...before it had really been a chore---something I had to do, but now my attitude has changed. I love memorizing God's Word and thinking on what He is saying to me in it. Right now I have just finished 1 John 2 and I cannot wait to begin chapter three.

So I challenge all of you who would like to know the Lord deeper and learn to meditate on His Word...pick a book, psalm, passage and start by memorizing one verse every day. You will find that you cannot wait for the next day to begin so that you can find out what new nugget of gold from God's Word you will be uncovering that day.

It is an adeventure...a beautiful one though!! I'll keep ya all posted on how my memorizing journey goes as I continue to press on to know the Lord by memorizing His Word.     

Philippians 1

Philippians 2

Philippians 3:1-4:1

Philippians 4:2-23