Glenda LeighFeb 14, 2013
I have felt God leading me to share this with my Aslan's Song family.. I hope it blesses you or grows you in some fashion!
" I was less than a week old the first time I was in church. Every week of my life I walked through those church doors twice on Sunday, often on Wednesday, and faithfully on Saturday evening for a youth program aimed toward my age roup. I was in Sunday school by the time I was 3 and not long after that I could have told you every Bible story in the book. When I graduated from high school I went on to Bible school where I worked hard enough for three years to earn a diploma in biblical studies. I knew my Bible! Or did I?
I thought I did. In the recent months God has been teaching me otherwise. I have had my nose in a book just like always, only this time it’s frequently been my Bible. I am seeing things that not only do I not remember seeing before but that go against things I have believed for as long as I can remember!!!
For example. I was always taught that God doesn’t bring bad things our way. He USES them to teach us what we need to learn, He allows them, but He never causes them. Yet now I read Isaiah 30:19b-21 and I see differently. Lets look at what the verse says.
“How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
The LORD GIVES YOU the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. He GIVES it! It doesn’t say He allows it, or He uses it, it says HE GIVES IT. That completely floored me when I heard it the first time. I ran for my Bible to see if it REALLY said that – and it does! What a different perspective that puts on life!!! God FEEDS us difficult times. This gives us perfect opportunities to grow in our faith, to grow our faith muscles SO THAT… when Satan does come our way with temptations we are STRONG enough in our faith, in our walk with our LORD that we see and know him for who he is and we are ninja like in our responses. Being aware of what is going on is absolutely necessary to winning the battle against the enemy. The moment we recognize exactly WHAT is going on and WHO is behind it we are able to make the necessary changes in our thoughts and then our behaviours; this means we can now aware that we need to be doing TWO things. Speaking the TRUTH outloud, to ourselves and to anyone else who will listen and we need to be LIVING Hebrews 13:15!
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
A SACRIFICE of PRAISE!!! Start PRAISING God! If you need help, ask for it! I could share story after story about circumstances where I was certain there was NOTHING I could find to be praising God for – but I wanted to be obedient so I asked God to show me.. Show me He did! He left me not only praising Him but in tears of PRAISE, amazed at His GOODNESS to me… at the very time I thought I had nothing to be thankful for!!!
Our God is an amazing God who deserves our praise, our sacrifice of praise, at all times. When we walk in obedience to Him He is able to work in our heart and lives in ways that we can’t fathom. It doesn’t mean life will be easy or that we’ll always have things the way we want them but it DOES mean that we will live lives pleasing to God and what more can we ask for?
I have so much more to share but that is for another time. God is teaching me so much!!! We are all on this journey together, on a path of growing, learning, sharing and becoming more and more like the God who loves us!"
I have felt God leading me to share this with my Aslan's Song family.. I hope it blesses you or grows you in some fashion!
" I was less than a week old the first time I was in church. Every week of my life I walked through those church doors twice on Sunday, often on Wednesday, and faithfully on Saturday evening for a youth program aimed toward my age roup. I was in Sunday school by the time I was 3 and not long after that I could have told you every Bible story in the book. When I graduated from high school I went on to Bible school where I worked hard enough for three years to earn a diploma in biblical studies. I knew my Bible! Or did I?
I thought I did. In the recent months God has been teaching me otherwise. I have had my nose in a book just like always, only this time it’s frequently been my Bible. I am seeing things that not only do I not remember seeing before but that go against things I have believed for as long as I can remember!!!
For example. I was always taught that God doesn’t bring bad things our way. He USES them to teach us what we need to learn, He allows them, but He never causes them. Yet now I read Isaiah 30:19b-21 and I see differently. Lets look at what the verse says.
“How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
The LORD GIVES YOU the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. He GIVES it! It doesn’t say He allows it, or He uses it, it says HE GIVES IT. That completely floored me when I heard it the first time. I ran for my Bible to see if it REALLY said that – and it does! What a different perspective that puts on life!!! God FEEDS us difficult times. This gives us perfect opportunities to grow in our faith, to grow our faith muscles SO THAT… when Satan does come our way with temptations we are STRONG enough in our faith, in our walk with our LORD that we see and know him for who he is and we are ninja like in our responses. Being aware of what is going on is absolutely necessary to winning the battle against the enemy. The moment we recognize exactly WHAT is going on and WHO is behind it we are able to make the necessary changes in our thoughts and then our behaviours; this means we can now aware that we need to be doing TWO things. Speaking the TRUTH outloud, to ourselves and to anyone else who will listen and we need to be LIVING Hebrews 13:15!
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
A SACRIFICE of PRAISE!!! Start PRAISING God! If you need help, ask for it! I could share story after story about circumstances where I was certain there was NOTHING I could find to be praising God for – but I wanted to be obedient so I asked God to show me.. Show me He did! He left me not only praising Him but in tears of PRAISE, amazed at His GOODNESS to me… at the very time I thought I had nothing to be thankful for!!!
Our God is an amazing God who deserves our praise, our sacrifice of praise, at all times. When we walk in obedience to Him He is able to work in our heart and lives in ways that we can’t fathom. It doesn’t mean life will be easy or that we’ll always have things the way we want them but it DOES mean that we will live lives pleasing to God and what more can we ask for?
I have so much more to share but that is for another time. God is teaching me so much!!! We are all on this journey together, on a path of growing, learning, sharing and becoming more and more like the God who loves us!"