This was yet another amazing chapter, guiding me into becoming a powerful praying woman God has intended me to be! (AMEN!)
So a little background on my relationship with the Word:
During the 2009 Reveillon (NY's eve celebration at church), there was a game where very specific questions about the Bible were asked; I was soooo ashamed/embarrassed not to be able to answer any of those questions that, as a NY resolution, I decided to start reading the Word. Although the decision was made in Jan 2010, it was not until Summer 2011 that I really started reading the Bible (maybe not daily), and it was not until this past Spring that I bought my very first (English) Bible :-). So my first motivation to dwell in the Word was not necessarily to find answers to unanswered questions, to find hope, encouragement, etc .. but to be knowledgeable/familiar about/with the Bible. As a result, when I started reading the Bible, I would only choose to read the New Testament, neglecting the Old Testament, because I felt like the Old Testament did not quite apply to today's society, as in it did not match some of the Church's belief - for example: hate your enemy, divorce, polygamy, an eye for an eye (yet Jesus says to return your other cheek if anyone slaps (Matthew 5:39)), etc ... This morning, however, as I was reading this chapter and going over the study guide, Romans 15:4 spoke to me clearly: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that, through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope." Now that there is absolutely no doubt that I need to read the OT, I pray that I find answers, encouragement when all hope is gone,faith strengthener, that God whispers to me while I am reading, that I bond with God, that it feeds my soul, to guide my life, for I know it is THE best way to live !
Ok now back to the book:
One thing I really liked about this chapter is the fact that it continuously encouraged us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. According to James 1:23-24, I have been "forgetting my face after walking away from looking at myself in a mirror" (lol) because I have not been a faithful doer of the Word. For example, there are certain points in this book that I told myself that I would start doing, that I would start including in my daily prayer, and none of that has happened. The Word also tells me not to repay evil with evil (Romans 12:17), yet when I am faced with situations where I need not to return evil with evil, I still do it. So please pray for me, as I am deciding to become, not just a hearer, but a doer of the Word in every aspect of my life (whoosh big decision ) ! Let's pray for strength to overcome what is keeping us stuck in the hearer phase, blocking us from becoming doers of the Word. If you have any idea/suggestion on how to implement this decision, how to remember the Word, how to be a doer, not just a hearer, how to practice it daily, how to NOT forget about it - whether through visual: posters, sticky notes; reminder: calendar, phone - please share !
& as always,
BeBlessed <3
Thank you Vanessa! This chapter also spoke to me a lot. At the core of my being, my #1 desire is to have a pure heart and please God... more than anything else that I want. Yet I find myself doing the same things that I want to stop doing over and over. So the 4th reason to read God's Word that she gave us (pg 89) was a major motivation. My new favorite verse(s) is actually Psalm 1:1-3. I want to be that person who does not withers and this scriputre tells us that the key to that is to remain in God's Word.
ReplyDeleteAs for implementing this, maybe we could do a buddy pair up system for those who are interested... for accountability purposes... What do you guys thing?
and not being consistent with decisions that I make (i.e. making daily confessions, praying/getting in the Word daily), etc.