"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
Friends. If you are not in the Word every single day...GET IN IT! Seriously. Even if you just start out by reading a paragraph or two at a time...do it! You are missing incredible revelation, insight, joy, healing, wisdom, conversation with the Lord & so much more!
[Quick run-down of what my Bible Reading & Bible Study look like. (I know it's in another blogpost somewhere.) I read one chapter of the Bible as soon as I wake up (Gen-Rev), I do my Bible Study when I can at work-sometimes lunch (This year I've started a book-by-book Bible Study, but currently I'm doing No Other Gods by Kelly Minter. That's just where the Lord led me.) Then, at some point in the day I read Jesus Calling. (The book stays in our bathroom if that tells you anything. ;)) That's what my time with the Lord looks like at this phase in my life. It has been much more (during my college years) & much less (right after I had my first child). I used to think Bible Reading & Bible Study had to look a certain way, but the Lord delivered me from that kind of thinking. I'm constantly having to reevaluate to figure out what works best for my relationship with the Lord.]
Never more than in the past few months has the Bible been so incredibly ALIVE to me. I have no doubt that every day God speaks to me through each of those moments I give Him & things I read. Lately the Lord has spoken to my heart, to my exact NEED, every day. He's even spoken to me about how He speaks to me! In my Bible Study this past week Kelly Minter describes these moments, "...moments when we have no doubt that God is speaking. Suddenly black & white text becomes a life-transforming revelation in our specific lives in our specific circumstances."
I'm not gonna lie. In my morning readings I have been in the OLD Testament & we've built that tabernacle, "begat" more people than I can count, wandered in that wilderness, & eaten manna for more days than I can imagine. Basically I'm saying, that I can understand that some parts are not as exciting as others. I'm also saying to keep on! Pray before you read & ask the Lord to speak & reveal Himself to you. At the very least, the Lord will bless your obedience in reading His Word.
I think it's so cool when all three separate sources of the Word will coincide so that the Lord can tell me one thing. I think it's even cooler when the Lord uses the "begats" to drive home that same truth. NONE of what I read from the Bible is in vain. The Bible tells me that His Word never returns void. (Isaiah 55:11) I recently was so very touched by the story of the Israelites wandering & wandering in the desert. It is a story I had read a thousand times & had just finished reading in my morning reading time. But all the sudden one day, it coincided with my No Other Gods study, as well as the "wandering" I felt I had been doing since Feb. 2012, & it meant more to me than it ever had. So even when I'm reading & reading & may not glean from the Word much other than just what it says doesn't mean that I'm doing it for nothing. That passage is getting hidden in my heart and the Holy Spirit is waiting for just the right moment to remind me of it when it can mean SO MUCH MORE than just words.
I have some very specific examples of the way the Word has been used & applied to my life in miraculous ways. I can't wait to tell y'all about each one.
First let me tell you that the Lord spoke to me thru reading of your blog today. I've gotten rather laz in my leading and I am now fired up. Gonna change that immediately. Feeling better already. Thanks for following His leadership especially today. I really needed this today. Love you sandra
ReplyDeleteAwesome! :) Love you too!
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