Saturday, December 3, 2011

Let your light so shine before men...

Yipee I found it finally!

The last few days God has been speaking to me through different ways about letting my light shine.
Mathew 5:
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Sometimes I find myself hesitant to speak about God in different circles for fear of offending someone. But now that I think about it, he reminds me again in 2 Timothy 1:
7 For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control. 8 Do not be ashamed, then, of witnessing for our Lord;

And so in anticipation of another year beginning in my life, I will let my light shine that others may see my good deeds and glorify my Father in heaven...


Monday, November 28, 2011

Encourage one another daily...

Here I am the one writing again.  This blog has been on my mind for a while... and to be honest, I feel like closing it down.  No one else has written... we are all so busy.  I really hope that doesn't give an indication of us being too busy to read the Word, even though we are not writing anything here.  It's been almost 7 weeks since the first post.

Ah, well, I'll write something anyway.  In the last couple of weeks I have started going through the book of Hebrews.  Just looking at it again today, even the first four chapters, there are so many things I could point to or write about.  Today I am choosing Hebrews 3:12-14:

"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end of the confidence we had at first."

This text is actually quite in line with the purpose of us starting this blog - to encourage each other.  Do we?  Do we build each other up?  Do we encourage each other not only in the positive, but to turn away from sin?  My first answer would be... not enough.





Tuesday, October 11, 2011

In the Word

I didn't think that I would be the one to start the blog, but it's actually been on my mind lately, especially since we are to be meeting again this coming weekend!  When we were in Kelowna, we had agreed that it might be a good idea for us to keep a blog, and each of us taking a day during the week to post what we have learned through our time in God's Word.

Since we are to encourage each other to be in the Word, I thought a good place to begin would be for us to read Psalm 119.  It is the longest psalm, having 176 verses.  When you read through this psalm (I'm reading an NIV translation), you will see how many different ways the psalmist describes the Word of God.  He uses words like:  the law, statutes (not statues... ha ha... almost let that slip by), precepts, decrees, commands, word, ways.  These are noted just in the first few verses!  In fact, one note from my ESV Bible states, "Only a few verses in this psalm lack an explicit mention of God's Word."  In this psalm, the writer talks about how much he longs, loves, desires, yearns after the word of God.

Now before I get myself into a long commentary on this psalm, here's my challenge to each of you.  In the next few days, read through Psalm 119.  Then publish a post here for us to all read:  Let it be your favourite verse (or two) of this passage, and explain why it resonates with you.  So, I'll start:

Psalm 119:92
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

Without God's grace, without his love, without His Word to guide me, I would have gone my own way, and what that way would be would have been to my own detriment.  I am daily amazed at how God chose me, a sinner, a person who's thoughts are not His thoughts.  Yet He loves me still, forgives me, and uses me.  And it is because of this love that I delight in his law.  When I delight in it, I love Him even more and desire to do his will all the more. And this not just for me... for all of you!

I look forward to how we can spur each other on.  Please don't be scared by my long post... a few phrases from each of you... that is all.  Blessings to you all!

Dolly