Thoughts on common verses
I’m going to comment on a couple of verses I was reading in Philippians 4 today. You’ve probably heard both of these verses mentioned a lot if you have been in the church for awhile. Phillipians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I’ve even mentioned this one in my blog about dreams. I was thinking, “It doesn’t say not to think about other things in these verses, so how can I tell people not to think of bad things using this verse only?” I know there are other verses about not thinking about or doing bad things, but I was just thinking about this one specific verse. But here’s the thought: If we are thinking about these things, there won’t be time or space to think about the bad or negative things. Cool, huh?
Okay, second verse we’re focusing on in the same chapter: verse 19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” I’ve heard this verse mentioned a lot to mean whatever we want it to mean. Pastor Chilly challenged us this past week to think about things we’ve taken out of context in the Bible & I think this verse, although God can do anything & he does love to bless us, is one that is taken out of context (at least by me?) sometimes. If you read the few verses before it, you can see that Paul & Timothy are praising the Philippians for all the help they have received from them… monetarily. So, basically, here’s the thought on this verse: Be faithful to God, & give to those who need it to minister to others, and God will meet all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Don’t always expect to be blessed if you are not actively blessing others.
Thanks for listening, or, well… reading!
Forgiveness, Part 2
So remember the post on forgiveness that I wrote a few weeks back? Well I’ve been meaning to follow up on that. I am glad to say that I still am free of the hurt & have still truly forgiven that person of my past. But that’s not the type of forgiveness I’m talking about this time. Let me explain.
Do you ever do anything personally that you regret doing? If you are human (or have ever been one…j/k), you probably have. Well I do that a LOT. Just ask any member of my household. (Oh no! You know I’m not perfect now!) I oftentimes “lose it” and get upset at my 2 year old. He doesn’t even understand why. I even get upset at my 5 month old & tell her to “stop pinching me” or “don’t pull my hair” (I’m not mean, but I still say those words, and does she understand? Of course not.). And I especially make mistakes with my husband. Oh the stories he could tell…
When I make those mistakes, I am not very quick to forgive. If other people offend me, I can get over it fairly quickly, especially if it a small offense. However, when I do something to hurt someone else, I think about it constantly, even after I’ve asked for forgiveness, and even after it is long gone. So what does that make me? According to my previous post, it makes me hypocritical. I can forgive others yet I seem to not be able to forgive myself.
So I am asking myself these questions, just as I did before about someone else: Am I worth being forgiven? Am I worth being loved just like I was before I made the mistake? The answer, plain & simple:YES! That’s kinda hard for me to think about cuz I never want to be prideful, but God wants me to know that I am created by Him, loved by Him, and definitely worth everything to Him. And if HE forgives me, then who am I to hold my mistakes/sins against myself? No one.
God, help me to remember to continually give everything to you. When I make mistakes, let me move past them quickly, asking for forgiveness, then forgiving myself as others forgive me and as you have forgiven me. Thank you for your mercy & thank you for showing me that I am worth it. I love you, Lord! Amen.
The Psalms
I was reading in the book of Psalms today in our Archaeological Study Bible (thanks, TJ & Jess!) and there was a little snippit in the side notes about the Eholistic Psalms. Without getting into all that (cuz I’m not really positive what “all that” is!) I just wanted to share a fun fact. Did you know that Psalm 14 & Psalm 53 are almost exactly word for word the same? I didn’t until tonight. I sometimes think I’m reading what I just read in another chapter, but just thought it was coincidence. Also, Psalm 40:13-17 & Psalm 70:1-5 are almost exactly the same! The main difference is that chapters 14 & 40 have the word “LORD” (translated from Yahweh in Hebrew) more often whereas the chapters 53 & 70 have “God” instead. The little snippit I was telling you about says that maybe when the psalters were writing/transcribing the psalms, the later ones were written at a time where the Jews were hesitant to say or write the name Yahweh out of fear of blaspheming God. In the earlier books it was okay to write or say that name I guess (I always thought they were never allowed to say Yahweh. Guess I didn’t do my research!). Just thought it was a cool little bit of info. Read the 4 psalms & compare them. It’ll be fun!
Dreams
I was reading through the book of Daniel for the last few weeks (yes, it took me awhile!) and Daniel had some CRAZY dreams! In Daniel 8, after his dream of a ram & a goat & after the interpretation of it, this is what was said in verse 27: “I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.” Also, in Daniel 7:15, he says: “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.” and in verse 28: “This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.“
Why am I saying all this? Because I feel a little like Daniel sometimes. Let me tell you why. I’ve always been one to have some crazy, wacky dreams. Now, they intensified when I was pregnant, but they are still pretty crazy when I’m not. A lot of the times these dreams are scary and I wake up thinking they are so real & many times will lay there crying. After getting married, my husband has been there for me in the middle of the night many times praying for me & holding me. He is such a comfort. But, back to the point. Since I am so sensitive to having these dreams, I have to be careful what I watch, read, or listen to sometimes. I think that God wants to use me by giving me HIS dreams, and I want my head to be clear of all evil so I can think on him & his goodness even while sleeping.
This past week, I posted about finding forgiveness & gaining a new mindset from God. It has been amazing to see how I react differently & how God has really changed me. But guess who’s NOT happy with that? You guessed it. The devil himself. So I think he was so upset that I had given my mind to God during the waking hours of the day that he decided to try to take back the nighttime hours. I hadn’t had really bad dreams for awhile, but last week I had 2 horrible realistic dreams concerning my children. (He knows right what to go for, doesn’t he?!) The only thing he wasn’t remembering was that while I am awake I react differently now. Instead of getting upset & dwelling on the dreams, I quoted 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (fear), but of power and love and discipline (sound mind).” (parantheses mine). And the 2nd night it happened I quoted Philippians 4:8: ” Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I reacted differently! Isn’t it amazing how the power of God can change a person?
Since the night of the 2nd dream, Chris & I have been praying before we go to bed that God not only keeps my mind pure & away from bad dreams, but that I have godly dreams as well. I would love for God to speak to me at night as well as during the day.
Daniel was troubled & scared, and so was I. But we both “got up & went about the king’s business”. The devil isn’t going to get the best of me… day or night!
Forgiveness
I’ve learned a lot over this weekend. I had been holding onto some emotional baggage not necessarily because I wanted to, but because I didn’t know how to completely give it up. I was talking to my husband, Chris, about this. I said that even though I had grown up in the church & been a Christian for several years, I still didn’t know how to truly “give something to God”. If I gave it to God, I’d just pick it back up. I had heard pastors preach that if you’ve given it to God, you won’t pick it up again. And if you do pick it up again, then you haven’t given it to God. Huh!? Well, what am I supposed to do then? How do I truly give something to God? Chris shared with me how he understood it, and I’m so glad he did. He (in his godly wisdom) told me that when you give something to God you tell him you don’t want to have it in your life anymore, you want it gone, etc. But then it doesn’t mean you won’t struggle with it or the thoughts or emotions won’t come back. It just means that when you do begin to feel that lie or whatever creeping back in, you react differently. For example, if you hear the lie that you are ugly & fat, and you give that mindset to God, when you feel fat & ugly again, instead of saying to yourself, “yeah… I am…” you react with the TRUTH – That you are a child of God, created in HIS image, wonderfully & fearfully made. You are beautiful & God is at work in you – a new creation in him. Whether it be Scripture or just godly truth that was spoken to you by other people in your life, pull it out & quote it when you are faced with the temptation to believe a lie. It is a process of continually giving it to God & reacting in a godly way.
The second thing I learned this week along the same lines is something my friend Shelby told me at our Saturday night church service, NightLight. I had shared that I was trying to forgive someone in my past & I had said over & over that I forgave her but how could I really feel like I had forgiven her? I had so much hurt I was still dealing with as a result of that offense. I had heard other Christians say that you just say you forgive them and the feelings would follow… eventually. But this particular offense happened over 10 years ago. And I was still struggling with it. I wanted to be free of this & really truly forgive & move on. Here’s the gist of what Shelby said: When you forgive someone, you have to remember that they are worth it. They are worth trying to mend the relationship (even if it is a different relationship for the purpose of protecting yourself from more harm, or whatever the reason). They are worth being loved. They are worth everything in God’s eyes that you are worth. They are no less than you. This simple statement really helped me see this person in a different light, and for the first time in YEARS, I feel free. Before Shelby shared this with me, whenever I would think of this person I would cringe & feel the hurt that I felt when she hurt me years ago. But now – praise God! – I can think of her and NOT feel that pain! I feel free – SO FREE!! It is an awesome feeling. I really do praise God for it. I thought it couldn’t happen. It is so amazing!
So, what do you need to give to God that you’ve been continually trying to give to him? How can you react differently next time you are tempted to do or think whatever you shouldn’t? What scripture(s) or other people’s positive godly comments can you quote when faced with that temptation? Who do you need to forgive & see in a different light? Can you see them as worth it to God? Do you have someone in your life that will speak truth to you & help you see things in a new light?
A big THANK YOU to Chris & Shelby for allowing themselves to be used by God in my life this weekend. God is great & I am so thankful that he is changing me & hasn’t left me alone. He loves ME & and he loves YOU just as much! Let him change you too this week!
