Post by cspain03 on Sept 29, 2014 12:57:06 GMT
Good morning everyone!! I pray you each had a restful weekend and were revived by whatever worship service you were able to participate in.
These are the verses that stood out to me:
Ch. 34:
14 If God were to set his heart on it, and gather in his spirit and his breath,
15 all flesh would perish together and human beings would return to dust.
19 who shows no partiality to princes, and does not take note of the rich more than the poor, because all of them are the work of his hands?
21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual, he observes all a person's steps.
22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide themselves.
These verses again play to the vastness of God (v. 14-15)and also remind me to be grateful that God is in control and not man (21-22) and I think verse 19 ties them together well. I think we benefit from the reminder of God's power because we are reminded to stay humble and to be more appreciative of what we have. Even though the situations we face can be frustrating, draining, stressful, confusing, hurtful, etc. God could just as easily return us to dust with a simple breath. I think with this I am reminder of a co-worker who is always complaining about getting old, for me, it's better than the alternative (since we aren't getting any younger). I appreciate the difficulties that can come with life because I'd rather face them and make it to the other side than not have the opportunity at all. I know I'm the first one to say that it is not comforting to hear "well, it could be worse" - trust me, I'm old enough to realize that (and I personally believe that true growth comes when someone can tell themselves that it could have been worse as opposed to accepting that from someone else...but I digress). But I think the magnitude behind these first verses really reminds me to keep myself and my emotions in check and work to be more appreciative in the moment (oh how HARD this is). It's certainly not about lying to yourself or other people when you're not okay or your really bother by something, but I do think its a sense of personal accountability to realize that this is all on loan and God could easily take it all away (the bad AND the good). For verse 19 I'm reminded again to stay humble because who am I to judge what God blesses me with versus someone else? He is The Creator and I have to trust HIS judgement. But I also see the reminder in v. 19 that, unlike this world, God puts know value in material riches or earth success. That's nice, congrats and all that, but God cares more about a person's actions and heart/mind set (v. 21) - PRAISE GOD! We will ALL be judge before God and those scales are just and fair. Unlike the world we live in, people won't be able to bribe their way into Heaven, they won't be able to cheat or steal their way in either - AMEN! It's not about political influence or your net worth, it's about how much work, with the Heart Of Christ, we did for the Kingdom while on earth. I am glad it won't matter how much money I've got in my bank account, but it's also a reminder that I MUST do right with this blessing of life I've been given. And in doing right, I can't think that I can hide from God my wrongs (v. 22). We've got to have pure hearts and live right!!!
Ch. 35:
9 "People cry out because of the excess of oppression; they cry out for help because of the power of the mighty.
13 Surely it is an empty cry - God does not hear it; the Almighty does not take notice of it.
So when I read verse 9 all I could think about was the gospel song Midnite by Brent Jones
CHORUS
Don't wait til midnight
When there is no sunshine
You are a stranger until there is danger
And that ain't right
RUN
You say that you love me
And can't live without me
Then why do you call me
Only when you need me
And I think this really can be true but it puts us in an unfortunate position. Now I do realize that sometimes that is just the opposite and we're real tight when God when things are good and get in our feelings when things are bad. But I think we need to be careful in any case and work to be consistent with God because He is consistent with us (AMEN AMEN). Just like we want consistency in our earthly relationships, we should strive to be consistent with our devotion and relationship to God, it shouldn't be one side (for the good or the bad) - God wants to love on us ALWAYS not just when we are happy and not just when we are sad. We have to do better - myself included - to make space for God to be involved in EVERY area of our lives, at all times, no matter how we feel (and with that I am sure our actions will line up with His Will, because I am sure we can think of a few situations where we didn't want God in the mix because we knew what we were doing was wrong!).
I also highlight verse 13 because I DON'T AGREE with it. I believe God hears EVERY cry, no matter what time of day, how loud or soft, or from whom it comes from, whether we're in church or a prayer closet or our cars, no matter the situation, I believe God hears it all. And THAT'S what makes God so great. I think it's actually would go against His power and true reign if we were to believe He didn't hear all and know all and perceive all. And I think a text like this can be really dangerous to "let loose" on those struggling to build their relationship with God (at whatever stage in life or your walk). We have to be careful the message that we share and the words that we accept from those around us - we need not condemn or judge someone else on their walk, because we don't know the whole story, no matter how much we've sat back and listened.
These are the verses that stood out to me:
Ch. 34:
14 If God were to set his heart on it, and gather in his spirit and his breath,
15 all flesh would perish together and human beings would return to dust.
19 who shows no partiality to princes, and does not take note of the rich more than the poor, because all of them are the work of his hands?
21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual, he observes all a person's steps.
22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide themselves.
These verses again play to the vastness of God (v. 14-15)and also remind me to be grateful that God is in control and not man (21-22) and I think verse 19 ties them together well. I think we benefit from the reminder of God's power because we are reminded to stay humble and to be more appreciative of what we have. Even though the situations we face can be frustrating, draining, stressful, confusing, hurtful, etc. God could just as easily return us to dust with a simple breath. I think with this I am reminder of a co-worker who is always complaining about getting old, for me, it's better than the alternative (since we aren't getting any younger). I appreciate the difficulties that can come with life because I'd rather face them and make it to the other side than not have the opportunity at all. I know I'm the first one to say that it is not comforting to hear "well, it could be worse" - trust me, I'm old enough to realize that (and I personally believe that true growth comes when someone can tell themselves that it could have been worse as opposed to accepting that from someone else...but I digress). But I think the magnitude behind these first verses really reminds me to keep myself and my emotions in check and work to be more appreciative in the moment (oh how HARD this is). It's certainly not about lying to yourself or other people when you're not okay or your really bother by something, but I do think its a sense of personal accountability to realize that this is all on loan and God could easily take it all away (the bad AND the good). For verse 19 I'm reminded again to stay humble because who am I to judge what God blesses me with versus someone else? He is The Creator and I have to trust HIS judgement. But I also see the reminder in v. 19 that, unlike this world, God puts know value in material riches or earth success. That's nice, congrats and all that, but God cares more about a person's actions and heart/mind set (v. 21) - PRAISE GOD! We will ALL be judge before God and those scales are just and fair. Unlike the world we live in, people won't be able to bribe their way into Heaven, they won't be able to cheat or steal their way in either - AMEN! It's not about political influence or your net worth, it's about how much work, with the Heart Of Christ, we did for the Kingdom while on earth. I am glad it won't matter how much money I've got in my bank account, but it's also a reminder that I MUST do right with this blessing of life I've been given. And in doing right, I can't think that I can hide from God my wrongs (v. 22). We've got to have pure hearts and live right!!!
Ch. 35:
9 "People cry out because of the excess of oppression; they cry out for help because of the power of the mighty.
13 Surely it is an empty cry - God does not hear it; the Almighty does not take notice of it.
So when I read verse 9 all I could think about was the gospel song Midnite by Brent Jones
CHORUS
Don't wait til midnight
When there is no sunshine
You are a stranger until there is danger
And that ain't right
RUN
You say that you love me
And can't live without me
Then why do you call me
Only when you need me
And I think this really can be true but it puts us in an unfortunate position. Now I do realize that sometimes that is just the opposite and we're real tight when God when things are good and get in our feelings when things are bad. But I think we need to be careful in any case and work to be consistent with God because He is consistent with us (AMEN AMEN). Just like we want consistency in our earthly relationships, we should strive to be consistent with our devotion and relationship to God, it shouldn't be one side (for the good or the bad) - God wants to love on us ALWAYS not just when we are happy and not just when we are sad. We have to do better - myself included - to make space for God to be involved in EVERY area of our lives, at all times, no matter how we feel (and with that I am sure our actions will line up with His Will, because I am sure we can think of a few situations where we didn't want God in the mix because we knew what we were doing was wrong!).
I also highlight verse 13 because I DON'T AGREE with it. I believe God hears EVERY cry, no matter what time of day, how loud or soft, or from whom it comes from, whether we're in church or a prayer closet or our cars, no matter the situation, I believe God hears it all. And THAT'S what makes God so great. I think it's actually would go against His power and true reign if we were to believe He didn't hear all and know all and perceive all. And I think a text like this can be really dangerous to "let loose" on those struggling to build their relationship with God (at whatever stage in life or your walk). We have to be careful the message that we share and the words that we accept from those around us - we need not condemn or judge someone else on their walk, because we don't know the whole story, no matter how much we've sat back and listened.
