Love Reunited!
Good Morning Girls! A lot of things have happened over the summer. The most exciting thing that has happened for me is that I have fallen in love with my Bible again! I mean truly fallen in love with it. Now I had been in love with my Bible before; but somewhere over the course of the last year, I lost the passion for my study time that I once had. And it showed.....in many areas of my life!
Here are some of the areas that were affected, in no particular order: my writing, my relationships with my husband, kids, family, and friends, my energy and enthusiasm, my health, my emotional peace, my relationship with Jesus, my faith, my courage, my focus, my discipline, my ability to encourage others, my........
Hmmmmm....it would appear that just about every area of my life was affected, and not in a good way! Now don't misunderstand me here. I am not saying I had a horrible year last year. I am not saying I was of no value and was unable to minister and encourage anyone, or accomplish anything for the Lord. I know that is not true. I know the Lord used me. I know He still spoke through me, despite myself.
I'm sure nobody else had a clue that this area of my life had changed. After all, I still had a Word of encouragement for most people. I was confident when others ask me to pray for them (not in myself but the Lord.... I still used to freak out and think "boy oh boy did you ask the wrong person for prayer, you are probably going to want to go ask someone else after we are done here") I had enough scripture and "spiritual wisdom" stored up from the last 10 years of study time to carry me through. Nobody knew any different. Nobody but me anyway.
Now I am not saying I never read my Bible. I still did that.....most of the time. What I am saying is that I lost my passion, my love for that time. It happens to a lot of us, and when it happens, we vow it will never happen again, but often times it does. It does because we are human, and sometimes we let life get in the way.
We don't wake up and say "I have decided that I am no longer going to read my Bible. It is a waste of time". Usually what happens is one day life gets away from us and we miss out on our time in the Word, and the day still goes well so the next day we (whether we admit it or not) think "it's okay if I miss another day" and soon not reading, rather than reading, becomes the new habit.
For those who were ever taught that you "had to" read your Bible to earn God's favor and grace, this is an especially tempting situation. When you finally realize that God loves you and favors you regardless of whether or not you read your Bible, you feel liberated. "Yeah! One less thing on my to-do list"!!!! You feel so free....but you are missing the point. And you are missing out...big time!
What you are missing out on is the personal relationship with Jesus that occurs when you spend time in the Word. Yes. God still loves you. Yes. He still wants you to prosper and have a good life. It's not about reading to get "more". God is not holding out on you until you cross off another chapter and verse. The funny thing is, when you spend time in the Word, you will "get more". You will get more in the form of getting more encouragement, more confidence, more ideas, more confirmation, more understanding, more EVERYTHING!!!!!
God is not withholding these things from you until you spend a certain about of time in the Bible. The simple truth is that there are some things that can only be revealed to you in the Word. Think of it this way, you can join a gym. You can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that by going to the gym and exercising you will improve your health. But until you actually go, and exercise, you will not see any results.
Let me say it again. If you never read your Bible again......God still loves you. He still favors you. You are still the apple of His eye. He does not think "yeah, that (insert your name here) is good, but I love and favor Jen more because she spent 15 more minutes in my Bible this morning". No! Absolutely not! Don't even go there.....especially if you have not been in your Bible for awhile. HE LOVES YOU JUST AS YOU ARE AND JUST WHERE YOU ARE AT!!!!! the thing is....He wants you to realize just how much He loves you.....and this only occurs when you spend time with him! Sure, it makes you feel good to hear me or someone else assure you that God loves you......but NOTHING compares to hearing it from the Lord himself!
I love to encourage you Girls in all things. If I could pick one thing above all else......it would be to find some time in the Word. Not so you can be a "better" Christian....but so you can be a more confident one. I pray you all fall in love with Jesus as you get to know Him more personally!
2 Peter 1:3 by his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
Love, peace, and a greater revelation of how much God loves you to you all,
Jen
Here are some of the areas that were affected, in no particular order: my writing, my relationships with my husband, kids, family, and friends, my energy and enthusiasm, my health, my emotional peace, my relationship with Jesus, my faith, my courage, my focus, my discipline, my ability to encourage others, my........
Hmmmmm....it would appear that just about every area of my life was affected, and not in a good way! Now don't misunderstand me here. I am not saying I had a horrible year last year. I am not saying I was of no value and was unable to minister and encourage anyone, or accomplish anything for the Lord. I know that is not true. I know the Lord used me. I know He still spoke through me, despite myself.
I'm sure nobody else had a clue that this area of my life had changed. After all, I still had a Word of encouragement for most people. I was confident when others ask me to pray for them (not in myself but the Lord.... I still used to freak out and think "boy oh boy did you ask the wrong person for prayer, you are probably going to want to go ask someone else after we are done here") I had enough scripture and "spiritual wisdom" stored up from the last 10 years of study time to carry me through. Nobody knew any different. Nobody but me anyway.
Now I am not saying I never read my Bible. I still did that.....most of the time. What I am saying is that I lost my passion, my love for that time. It happens to a lot of us, and when it happens, we vow it will never happen again, but often times it does. It does because we are human, and sometimes we let life get in the way.
We don't wake up and say "I have decided that I am no longer going to read my Bible. It is a waste of time". Usually what happens is one day life gets away from us and we miss out on our time in the Word, and the day still goes well so the next day we (whether we admit it or not) think "it's okay if I miss another day" and soon not reading, rather than reading, becomes the new habit.
For those who were ever taught that you "had to" read your Bible to earn God's favor and grace, this is an especially tempting situation. When you finally realize that God loves you and favors you regardless of whether or not you read your Bible, you feel liberated. "Yeah! One less thing on my to-do list"!!!! You feel so free....but you are missing the point. And you are missing out...big time!
What you are missing out on is the personal relationship with Jesus that occurs when you spend time in the Word. Yes. God still loves you. Yes. He still wants you to prosper and have a good life. It's not about reading to get "more". God is not holding out on you until you cross off another chapter and verse. The funny thing is, when you spend time in the Word, you will "get more". You will get more in the form of getting more encouragement, more confidence, more ideas, more confirmation, more understanding, more EVERYTHING!!!!!
God is not withholding these things from you until you spend a certain about of time in the Bible. The simple truth is that there are some things that can only be revealed to you in the Word. Think of it this way, you can join a gym. You can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that by going to the gym and exercising you will improve your health. But until you actually go, and exercise, you will not see any results.
Let me say it again. If you never read your Bible again......God still loves you. He still favors you. You are still the apple of His eye. He does not think "yeah, that (insert your name here) is good, but I love and favor Jen more because she spent 15 more minutes in my Bible this morning". No! Absolutely not! Don't even go there.....especially if you have not been in your Bible for awhile. HE LOVES YOU JUST AS YOU ARE AND JUST WHERE YOU ARE AT!!!!! the thing is....He wants you to realize just how much He loves you.....and this only occurs when you spend time with him! Sure, it makes you feel good to hear me or someone else assure you that God loves you......but NOTHING compares to hearing it from the Lord himself!
I love to encourage you Girls in all things. If I could pick one thing above all else......it would be to find some time in the Word. Not so you can be a "better" Christian....but so you can be a more confident one. I pray you all fall in love with Jesus as you get to know Him more personally!
2 Peter 1:3 by his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
Love, peace, and a greater revelation of how much God loves you to you all,
Jen
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